**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbdig10126nboct12,0,2052639,print.story
Fort Lauderdale: Latino AIDS awareness Is focus of program
October 12, 2007
The Broward County Health Department will host an education and preventionoutreach event at 10 p.m. today for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.
Members of various community groups, including FUSION, Mpowerment Project,the Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Care Resources, will distributefree condoms at STEEL nightclub, 1951 NW Ninth Ave.
Free HIV testing and counseling with bilingual counselors will also beavailable at various sites throughout the community from Monday to Oct. 19.
For more information, call 954-762-3639.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/legislature/sfl-flfmoney1012nboct12,0,675317,print.story
Gambling interests donate $844,000 to GOP legislators
By Aaron Deslatte
Tallahassee Bureau
October 12, 2007
TALLAHASSEE
With a Seminole Tribe gambling expansion hanging over the Legislature, othercasinos, pari-mutuel race tracks and gambling interests have poured $844,000during the past three months into the party coffers of Republicanlegislators.
The take - roughly $1 of every $5 the state Republican party raised betweenJuly and September - comes as Gov. Charlie Crist tries to finalize a compactwith the Seminoles that would let them install such table games as blackjackand craps that are not permitted at other Florida casinos.
House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, has been the fiercest critic ofallowing gambling expansion. But while Republicans in Rubio's campfrequently rail against the industry, they've also been quick to take itsmoney.
The top three party contributors in the July-September quarter were the PalmBeach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach at $165,000, Jacksonville greyhoundtrack at $137,000 and Mardi Gras Gaming at the Hollywood Greyhound Track at$120,000, according to reports filed with the state's Division of Elections.
"It just shows you the power of the party in power," said Senate DemocraticLeader Steve Geller of Cooper City, whose political committee received$10,000 from the Palm Beach Kennel Club.
more . . . . .
=
Local10.com
http://www.local10.com/news/14309437/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_8pm&tmi=mia_8pm_1_07000210102007&ts=H
Hit-And-Run Victim Targeted For Being Gay
31-Year-Old Remains In ICU Three Weeks Later
POSTED: 11:29 am EDT October 10, 2007
MIAMI -- Family and friends of a man who remains hospitalized in criticalcondition three weeks after being the victim of a hit-and-run believe he wastargeted because he was gay.
Tommy Davis, 31, has been hooked up to a ventilator in the ICU at BrowardGeneral Medical Center since Sept. 18. He has a lacerated liver, broken leg,bruised kidney and, perhaps most devastating, a head injury.
"He's a wonderful kid with a bright future," said his mother, Sue Davis, whohas been by his bedside every day since he was admitted. "You know, I justdon't understand."
Marcus Hopkins thinks he does. He was there that night outside Ramrod, apopular bar primarily for gay men where Davis works as a bartender.
It was shortly after 10 p.m. Sept. 18 when Davis was crossing NortheastFourth Avenue to return to work. Hopkins said Davis got halfway into theright lane when Davis, he and another friend heard an engine rev.
more . . . . .
=
GLCC CELEBRATES "YOU!"
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida(GLCC) proudly announces a celebration of "YOU!" honoring all volunteers,both past and present, with a fantastic event in your honor. Theappreciation event will be held at the beautiful home of GLCC Founder CircleMember, Michael Trost on Wednesday, October 24th from 6-8 pm. The event hasbeen aptly named "YOU!" to recognize and thank each and every one of theseremarkable people who contribute so much.
"The GLCC is grateful beyond words for all of our volunteers, from our Boardof Directors and HIV testing program volunteers, to over 40 volunteers thatstaff our switchboard - we simply could not operate without YOU," reportedNicole Martin, Operations Manager, GLCC. "At the national equivalent rate ofpay for volunteers of $18.77 per hour, our volunteer program is valued atover $500,000 annually. This is a very significant donation of time fromeach and every one of YOU!," adds Martin.
All About Food Catering has graciously donated a fantastic buffet, andCrown Wine & Spirits, along with Boardwalk Bar, will generously be providingliquor and other beverages with a complimentary bar. "It is promised to bea night filled with good people, fun, and is a cherished opportunity foryour GLCC to thank "YOU!", our volunteers, and the community" shares PaulHyman, Executive Director, GLCC.
Volunteers and their guests, Board members past and present, and our friendsat the press are invited to attend. We ask that everyone RSVP by October22nd to nicole@glccsf.org or 954-463-9005.
For more information about volunteering at the GLCC please visit our websiteat www.glccsf.org.
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpinsurance1011pnoct11,0,2493008,print.story
Palm Beach County health district to add domestic partner benefits
By Patty Pensa
October 11, 2007
It's an issue that splits public governing boards: domestic partnerbenefits.
On Wednesday, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County joined otherlocal governments by adding the benefit to its 2008 health insurancecoverage for employees. But it came through a narrow 3-2 vote.
The district, funded by taxpayers, offers free or low-cost health coverageto uninsured residents, a point Commissioner Jonathan Satter used to arguefor the benefit. About 20,000 people are covered by the district's programs.
"This is the agency where one of its largest missions is to make sureeveryone has coverage," he said. "Everyone should be entitled to healthinsurance, if it's appropriate, and I believe it's appropriate."
In August, Palm Beach Community College split its vote when it decided notto include domestic partners in its health benefits. Adding domesticpartners, who can be gay or straight, would not have added an expensebecause the college doesn't pay premiums for employees' spouses or children.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flplake1011sboct11,0,6540222,print.story
S. Floridians alarmed by U.S. plan to lower level of Lake O by 1 foot
By Andy Reid
October 11, 2007
Even with Lake Okeechobee dipping to historic lows, powerful South Floridaforces are sounding the alarm over a new federal plan for what to do whenthe water returns.
Sugar cane growers, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and South Florida watermanagers question a proposal by the Army Corps of Engineers to keep LakeOkeechobee about a foot lower than normal year round.
The corps proposes holding less water in Lake Okeechobee - South Florida'sprimary backup water supply - because of safety concerns about the agingearthen dike that surrounds the 730-squre-mile lake.
But opponents argue that lowering the lake threatens to leave less wateravailable to bail out growers and other water users during future droughts.
As this year illustrated, a drought leaves less lake water to refillirrigation canals and replenish underground drinking water supplies.
more . . . . .
=
Election Bulletin: Frank Kruszewski Needs Your Help
Frank Kruszewski for
Miami Beach City Commissioner, Group VI
No matter where you live in Florida, you can help elect Florida's next openly gay official.
Frank Kruszewski is in a tight four-way election race for City Commission of Miami Beach and, as an openly gay candidate, he has a strong record of support for our community.
Frank and two other Commission candidates have been targeted by a bigoted attack campaign. A group is distributing an offensive flyer depicting each candidate as a doll connected to the candidate's sexual orientation, gender, and/or ethnicity. In Frank's case, the doll is Tinky Winky of the Teletubbies, and the flyer carries the message, "Stop the Candidates that represent Special Groups of Voters."
Help Frank represent the fair-minded citizens of Miami Beach and show the world that Miami Beach and Florida will not tolerate hatred and bigotry!
For information, visit www.frank4mbc.com.
If you live in Miami Beach, vote for Frank on November 6!
*If the link is not working, cut and paste this URL into your browser:
https://frank4mbc.com/contribution.php
Equality Florida Action PAC is dedicated to highlighting key local and state races for our strategic donors to consider for investment.
=
Broward
Mental Health Association Celebrates Golden Anniversary
The Mental Health Association of Broward County(MHA Broward) will celebrate 50 years of service to the community with a 50th Anniversary Party on Saturday, November 3, 2007. The party will begin at 7:00 PM and be hosted by The Atlantic Resort and Spa, 601 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd in Fort Lauderdale. The evening will feature a spectacular venue, delicious food, music and a silent auction. Tickets are $100 and can be ordered by calling 954-746-2055.
In 1957, a dedicated group of locals citizens formed the Mental Health Association of Broward County, an organization committed to working for mental health for all in our community. It was a time when the rights and opportunities were denied based on fear and ignorance, when the label of illness was a badge of shame. In the fifty years since, and through the dedicated work of mental health advocates, much has changed. The MHA Broward of today offers a diverse menu of programs ranging from "Listen to Children" to Parenting Classes to the 9Muses Art Center. The 9Muses Art Center teaches art skills, and members produce works that are then displayed and sold from the adjacent gallery space.
The 50h Anniversary Party will celebrate the accomplishments of MHA Broward, and bring together many of those who played a part in their success. The funds raised will support the current programs as well as help MHA Broward prepare for the future needs of our community.
This memorable event is sponsored in part by GeoCare, The Atlantic Resort and Spa, and Tropical Financial Credit Union.
=
October 12, 2007
Dear GLBT activists and allies,
At the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Representative Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) and Senator Ted Deutch (D- Boca Raton) have eintroduced legislation in the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate to amend the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida's Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Representative Skidmore's bill (HB. 191) also includes provisions to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. "Talking Points" on HB. 191 will be sent to you later today.
Currently, the Florida Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment only on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. Florida's Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing and public accommodation based on race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, familial status, or religion.
After consulting with their colleagues prior to the 2007 regular session of the Florida Legislature, Senator Deutch and Representative Skidmore agreed to focus their attention on prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. As a result, several statewide and national organizations did not support the legislation. Moreover, few Florida GLBT activists and allies made any effort to educate legislators about the discrimination our community faces in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations.
In light of the current debate in Washington concerning including transgender protections in the Employment Non- Discrimination Act (ENDA), it was decided that pursuing a "two bill strategy" was the best approach in Tallahassee.
The language included in the comprehensive Skidmore bill was the product of the combined efforts of Representative Skidmore and her staff, Senator Deutch and his staff, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Florida and the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
Representative Skidmore is encouraging those legislators who co-sponsored her previous bill to co-sponsor the more comprehensive bill. Those legislators include Representatives Mary Brandenburg (D-West Palm Beach),Susan Bucher (D-West Palm Beach), Faye Culp (R-Tampa), Keith Fitzgerald (D-Sarasota), Richard Machek (D-Boca Raton), Ari Porth (D-Coral Springs), Scott Randolph (D-Orlando), Priscilla Taylor (D-West Palm Beach), Shelley Vana (D-West Palm Beach), Elaine Schwartz (D-Hollywood) and Jim Waldman (D-Coconut Creek).
Having spent the past few days conferring with colleagues in Tallahassee, Senator Deutch determined that it made the most sense strategically to refile last year's bill (which addressed only "sexual orientation.")
Our "two bill strategy" allows the subject of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to be fully addressed in Tallahassee -- even if only (initially) by the House of Representatives.
All agree that it is essential that we move forward in a united manner seeking equal protections for the entire GLBT community throughout Florida.
PBCHRC is deferring to Senator' Deutch's insight, expertise and belief that moving forward with last year's language in the Florida Senate will increase the chances that the bill will attract more co-sponsors and will move forward.
Ultimately, when progress is made on both bills, a joint committee of the Florida House and Senate will be required to address the inclusion of gender identity and gender expression.
In the next few days, a bill number will be assigned to Senator Deutch's bill by the Florida Senate. When that number is provided, PBCHRC will forward "talking points" to assist you in your efforts to educate your legislators.
PBCHRC hopes that GLBT and GLBT-supportive activists attending the Florida Democratic Convention in a few weeks will encourage their legislators to sign on as co-sponsors to these bills.
Last year, PBCHRC hired an openly gay Republican lobbyist to assist with our efforts in Tallahassee. He was able to touch base with moderate legislators whom otherwise may have been non-responsive. (PBCHRC's Board of Directors not yet determined if the organization will fund the lobbyist again in 2008).
Although there was only one Republican co-sponsor last year, it is essential that there is strong bipartisan support for these two bills in the upcoming egislative session.
Please begin the process of educating your legislators concerning the need to amend the Florida Civil Rights Act and Florida's Fair Housing Act to protect the GLBT community from discrimination.
PBCHRC will continue to keep you posted of the bills' progress.
Judge Rand Hoch (retired).
President and Founder
Palm Beach County Human Rights Council
=
[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Saturday, October 13, 2007
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST October 12, 2007
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Caricature-Campaign.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Candidates Seek to Define Themselves
October 12, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:14 a.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- John Edwards once lived in the heart of Washington'sGeorgetown district, was squired around the Capitol by Sen. Edward M.Kennedy and led the presidential field in fundraising thanks to donationsfrom trial lawyers.
Today the Democrat is running for president as an anti-Washington candidatewho will take public financing to avoid the influence of special interestgroups.
Mitt Romney used to greet illegal immigrants who worked on his yard with afriendly ''Buenos dias'' and expressed moderate positions on abortion rightsand gay rights. Today the Republican is running for the presidency as astrict opponent of illegal immigration and a conservative on social issues.
Those are just two of the campaign caricatures to emerge in the 2008election cycle, a White House race overflowing with simplified depictionsthat belie some of the candidates' life histories or define the rest oftheir records in shorthand.
Political consultants and marketing experts often strive for bumper-stickerlabeling, but the current White House campaign has gone even further,devolving into a battle of philosophical code words and a relentless focuson issues buttressing those themes.
more . . . . .
=
WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102407_pf.html
Va. Poll Gives Mark Warner Wide Lead in Senate Race
By Tim Craig and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 12, 2007; A01
Former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner holds a 30-point lead over his twopotential Republican rivals in next year's U.S. Senate race, boostingDemocrats' chances of expanding their congressional majority andhighlighting the party's ascendancy in the state, according to a newWashington Post poll.
Warner, a Democrat who announced his candidacy last month, would get morethan 60 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup against Rep. Thomas M.Davis III or former governor James S. Gilmore III, the two Republicans whohave indicated they are considering running against him.
The Senate race will unfold against the backdrop of next year's presidential campaign, and the poll suggests that the state's 13 electoral votes could beup for grabs. By a margin of 11 percentage points, Virginians would preferthat the next president be a Democrat, indicating that even a reliably redstate could flip in 2008.
The election is 13 months away, and other Senate candidates could emerge.But the new numbers could dampen the GOP's hopes for keeping the seat, heldsince 1979 by Sen. John W. Warner, who is retiring, along with three otherSenate Republicans.
Virginia's GOP leaders will meet tomorrow to decide whether to select theirnominee in a primary or convention. If a primary were held today, the pollshows, Gilmore would beat Davis by 19 percentage points.
more . . . . .
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/26819
Survey Finds Huge Gap Between How Republicans and Democrats View Media
From Editor & Publisher, October 8, 2007
A new Gallup poll released today show a wide gap between how Republicans andDemocrats view the mass media. Nearly 3 in 4 Republicans say the media is"too liberal." But overall, Gallup's director Frank Newport reports, "lessthan half of Americans, regardless of partisanship, have a great deal or afair amount of trust in the mass media."
Newport explains: "Republicans in America today remain deeply distrustful ofthe national news media - in sharp contrast to Democrats, who have a greatdeal more trust in the media's accuracy." Exactly twice as many Democrats(66%) express some faith in the media compared with Republicans (33%).
More than twice as many Americans say the news media are too liberal (45%)rather than too conservative (18%). But Newport adds: "Americans' views ofthe bias in news media are highly related - as would be expected - tounderlying political orientation."
Some 22% of Democrats find the media "too conservative," but this is a muchlower number than the Republican assertion (77%).
The survey of 1,010 adult Americans, taken in mid-September, revealed thatonly 9% of Americans say they have a great deal of trust and confidence inthe mass media to report the news "fully, accurately, and fairly," whileanother 38% say they have a "fair amount" of trust in the media to do this.This total of 47% trust stands in contrast to the Gallup finding in 1976which pegged it at 72%.
But Gallup adds: "Americans are less likely to perceive bias in their localnews media than in the national news media."
This article is from Editor & Publisher. If you found it informative andvaluable, we strongly encourage you to visit their Web site and register anaccount, if necessary, to view all their articles on the Web. Supportquality journalism.
=
You are cordially invited to join President William Jefferson Clinton
For a reception in honor of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
In support of her Presidential Campaign
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Vice-Chair VIP Reception: 6:00 PM
General Reception: 6:30 PM
James L. Knight Center
400 SE 2nd Ave
Miami, FL
Vice Chair: $1,000 (VIP Seating and pre-event reception with President BillClinton)
Host: $500 (Priority Seating and Recognition)
Friend: $250 (Priority Seating)
General Admission: $50
Student, Teacher, DEC Member, Union Member Ticket: $25
Please make personal checks payable to"Hillary Clinton for President"
For information about becoming a Vice-Chair, Host, Friend or individualticket sales, please contact
Jon Adrabi at (305) 569-2888 or email jadrabi@hillaryclinton.com
To RSVP online, please visit: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/miami
=
Local10.com
http://www.local10.com/news/14324170/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_7am&tmi=mia_7am_1_06000310122007&ts=H
Gore, U.N. Panel Share Nobel Peace Prize
U.N. Panel Shares Prize With Ex-VP
POSTED: 5:34 am EDT October 12, 2007
UPDATED: 10:59 am EDT October 12, 2007
OSLO, Norway -- Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.
"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won an Academy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the Nobel prize.
He said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan, nonprofit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the Nobel citation said. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."
It cited Gore's awareness at an early stage "of the climatic challenges the world is facing.
Gore, 59, has said he does not plan to run for president next year, despite a national movement to draft him, and Peace Prize committee Chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said a possible run was not his concern.
"I want this prize to have everyone ... every human being, asking what they should do," Mjoes said. "What he (Gore) decides to do from here is his personal decision."
=
[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
#####
=
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Caricature-Campaign.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Candidates Seek to Define Themselves
October 12, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:14 a.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- John Edwards once lived in the heart of Washington'sGeorgetown district, was squired around the Capitol by Sen. Edward M.Kennedy and led the presidential field in fundraising thanks to donationsfrom trial lawyers.
Today the Democrat is running for president as an anti-Washington candidatewho will take public financing to avoid the influence of special interestgroups.
Mitt Romney used to greet illegal immigrants who worked on his yard with afriendly ''Buenos dias'' and expressed moderate positions on abortion rightsand gay rights. Today the Republican is running for the presidency as astrict opponent of illegal immigration and a conservative on social issues.
Those are just two of the campaign caricatures to emerge in the 2008election cycle, a White House race overflowing with simplified depictionsthat belie some of the candidates' life histories or define the rest oftheir records in shorthand.
Political consultants and marketing experts often strive for bumper-stickerlabeling, but the current White House campaign has gone even further,devolving into a battle of philosophical code words and a relentless focuson issues buttressing those themes.
more . . . . .
=
WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102407_pf.html
Va. Poll Gives Mark Warner Wide Lead in Senate Race
By Tim Craig and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 12, 2007; A01
Former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner holds a 30-point lead over his twopotential Republican rivals in next year's U.S. Senate race, boostingDemocrats' chances of expanding their congressional majority andhighlighting the party's ascendancy in the state, according to a newWashington Post poll.
Warner, a Democrat who announced his candidacy last month, would get morethan 60 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup against Rep. Thomas M.Davis III or former governor James S. Gilmore III, the two Republicans whohave indicated they are considering running against him.
The Senate race will unfold against the backdrop of next year's presidential campaign, and the poll suggests that the state's 13 electoral votes could beup for grabs. By a margin of 11 percentage points, Virginians would preferthat the next president be a Democrat, indicating that even a reliably redstate could flip in 2008.
The election is 13 months away, and other Senate candidates could emerge.But the new numbers could dampen the GOP's hopes for keeping the seat, heldsince 1979 by Sen. John W. Warner, who is retiring, along with three otherSenate Republicans.
Virginia's GOP leaders will meet tomorrow to decide whether to select theirnominee in a primary or convention. If a primary were held today, the pollshows, Gilmore would beat Davis by 19 percentage points.
more . . . . .
=
Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/26819
Survey Finds Huge Gap Between How Republicans and Democrats View Media
From Editor & Publisher, October 8, 2007
A new Gallup poll released today show a wide gap between how Republicans andDemocrats view the mass media. Nearly 3 in 4 Republicans say the media is"too liberal." But overall, Gallup's director Frank Newport reports, "lessthan half of Americans, regardless of partisanship, have a great deal or afair amount of trust in the mass media."
Newport explains: "Republicans in America today remain deeply distrustful ofthe national news media - in sharp contrast to Democrats, who have a greatdeal more trust in the media's accuracy." Exactly twice as many Democrats(66%) express some faith in the media compared with Republicans (33%).
More than twice as many Americans say the news media are too liberal (45%)rather than too conservative (18%). But Newport adds: "Americans' views ofthe bias in news media are highly related - as would be expected - tounderlying political orientation."
Some 22% of Democrats find the media "too conservative," but this is a muchlower number than the Republican assertion (77%).
The survey of 1,010 adult Americans, taken in mid-September, revealed thatonly 9% of Americans say they have a great deal of trust and confidence inthe mass media to report the news "fully, accurately, and fairly," whileanother 38% say they have a "fair amount" of trust in the media to do this.This total of 47% trust stands in contrast to the Gallup finding in 1976which pegged it at 72%.
But Gallup adds: "Americans are less likely to perceive bias in their localnews media than in the national news media."
This article is from Editor & Publisher. If you found it informative andvaluable, we strongly encourage you to visit their Web site and register anaccount, if necessary, to view all their articles on the Web. Supportquality journalism.
=
You are cordially invited to join President William Jefferson Clinton
For a reception in honor of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
In support of her Presidential Campaign
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Vice-Chair VIP Reception: 6:00 PM
General Reception: 6:30 PM
James L. Knight Center
400 SE 2nd Ave
Miami, FL
Vice Chair: $1,000 (VIP Seating and pre-event reception with President BillClinton)
Host: $500 (Priority Seating and Recognition)
Friend: $250 (Priority Seating)
General Admission: $50
Student, Teacher, DEC Member, Union Member Ticket: $25
Please make personal checks payable to"Hillary Clinton for President"
For information about becoming a Vice-Chair, Host, Friend or individualticket sales, please contact
Jon Adrabi at (305) 569-2888 or email jadrabi@hillaryclinton.com
To RSVP online, please visit: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/miami
=
Local10.com
http://www.local10.com/news/14324170/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_7am&tmi=mia_7am_1_06000310122007&ts=H
Gore, U.N. Panel Share Nobel Peace Prize
U.N. Panel Shares Prize With Ex-VP
POSTED: 5:34 am EDT October 12, 2007
UPDATED: 10:59 am EDT October 12, 2007
OSLO, Norway -- Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.
"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won an Academy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the Nobel prize.
He said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan, nonprofit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the Nobel citation said. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."
It cited Gore's awareness at an early stage "of the climatic challenges the world is facing.
Gore, 59, has said he does not plan to run for president next year, despite a national movement to draft him, and Peace Prize committee Chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said a possible run was not his concern.
"I want this prize to have everyone ... every human being, asking what they should do," Mjoes said. "What he (Gore) decides to do from here is his personal decision."
=
[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
#####
Friday, October 12, 2007
GLBT DIGEST October 12, 2007
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
=
WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101200006.html
Billy Crystal Wins Twain Humor Prize
By BEN NUCKOLS
The Associated Press
Friday, October 12, 2007; 12:34 AM
WASHINGTON -- Carl Reiner, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg have all won it.Now, to borrow a famous movie line he wrote, Billy Crystal is having whatthey're having.
The comedian, actor, Broadway star and Yankees fan's many talents andpassions were celebrated Thursday night at the Kennedy Center as he acceptedthe 10th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
"Does this mean I have to retire now?" Crystal asked as he cradled theaward, a bust of Twain. "Usually when someone is given an evening like this,they're way too dead to say thank you."
Rob Reiner, who directed the Crystal movie "When Harry Met Sally," creditedhim with the lasting success of the famous restaurant scene in which MegRyan fakes an orgasm. Afterward, a woman cracks, "I'll have what she'shaving."
"Billy Crystal wrote that line," said Reiner, thanking his friend forgranting cinematic immortality to his mother, Estelle Reiner, who deliveredit.
more . . . . .
=
WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102404.html
Police Still Trying to Piece Together Puzzle of 2 Deaths
In Affidavit, Tenant Gives Information About Medication in D.C. Apartment
By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 12, 2007; B01
Even without his high heels, Dean Johnson was a towering fellow, a 6-foot-6gay icon with a lean frame and shiny shaved head. A flamboyant rock singer,coffeehouse poet and paid escort, he was a celebrity among the drag queensand leathered denizens of Manhattan's boisterous downtown club scene -- aparty promoter in a plus-size black cocktail dress and Carol Channingshades.
So in a way, friends said, it was fitting that in the end, he would not goquietly. Instead, three weeks after he died in an elegant Washingtonapartment building, Johnson, who was 45, remains at the center of aninvestigation that a D.C. police inspector called "a bit bizarre, to say theleast."
On Sept. 20, when patrol officers answering a 911 call found him dead in anapartment at the historic Envoy building, at 2400 16th St. NW, Johnson wasnude, "lying on a mattress on the floor in the living room area," accordingto a police affidavit filed in court. He had arrived in Washington from NewYork just hours earlier to visit for a few days with a recent acquaintance,47-year-old Steven Saleh, in Apartment 227.
Turned out Johnson's body wasn't the only one in Saleh's living room thatweek.
Jordan "Jeremy" Conklin, 26, stood 6-foot-5, with a chiseled physique. Abusiness graduate of Arizona State University, he was a gay man at looseends, a friend said, bouncing from place to place, living with friends andworking at low-paying jobs. After Conklin posted an ad on Craigslist,looking for temporary housing in Washington, he and Saleh began e-mailinglast month, and Conklin moved into Apartment 227 on Sept. 14.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flatransgender1012nboct12,0,7684265,print.story
Gay activists split on job bias bill
By ANDREW MIGA
The Associated Press
October 12, 2007
WASHINGTON
Rep. Barney Frank, a leading gay rights champion in Congress, on Thursdayurged fellow gay rights advocates not to let their dispute over protectingtransgender workers doom a job discrimination ban that could mark a majorcivil rights advance for gays in the workplace.
The debate over including transgender people has sharply divided gay rightsactivists, many of whom are trying to kill a stripped-down bill withoutprotections for transgender workers that Frank and Democratic leaders hopewill win House passage this year.
"We're not going to be split off this way," said Matt Foreman, executivedirector of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "We're driven byprinciple. No civil rights movement has ever left a part of its communitybehind - and we're not about to be the first."
Frank, D-Mass., one of two openly gay members of Congress, supportstransgender protections, but said they don't have the votes.
"Politically, the notion that you don't do anything until you can doeverything is self-defeating," he said.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sns-ap-skorea-size-matters,0,7171620,print.story
Condom Experts Told That Size Matters
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
7:37 AM EDT, October 12, 2007
SEOGWIPO, South Korea
As the world's top condom experts convene this week to update international standards, one American entrepreneur has a simple message: Size matters.It's shaking up an industry that has generally taken a one-size-fits-allapproach.
Frank Sadlo, founder of TheyFit, which makes what he claims are the world'sfirst custom-fit condoms, is pushing for updated standards to allow greatervariation in condom size.
It's not just about well-endowed men in cramped prophylactic quarters, Sadlotold a meeting Thursday of delegates from 21 countries under theGeneva-based International Organization for Standardization.
When given a choice, he said many men prefer condoms smaller than thestandard minimum 6.3 inches long, with more than half ordering those lessthan 5.12 inches.
At the session in Seogwipo on South Korea's Jeju Island, more than 100representatives -- including leading manufacturers, government standardsbodies and aid groups -- pored over 42 pages of specifications and testingrequirements for condoms.
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=487091&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
16,000 gay couples 'married' in first year of new law
Last updated at 19:51pm on 11th October 2007
More than 16,000 gay weddings took place in Britain last year, it wasrevealed today.
A National Statistics study shows that in the first full year since civilpartnerships were introduced, 16,106 same-sex marriages were registered.
London was the area with the highest number of ceremonies, about 4,000,followed by the South-East, which accounted for about 2,700.
Today's report also reveals that 10 per cent of the men and almost a quarterof the women involved in a gay wedding were previously married.
The average age for males registering a same-sex partnership was 47 and forfemales nearly 44.
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=5718
Animation will help parents with LGBT teens
11th October 2007 14:10
Asavin Wattanajantra
An animated DVD aimed at aimed at parents with LGBT teenagers will be madeby a Leeds studio with lottery funding.
Leeds Animation Network will produce and distribute Out to the Family,designed for individuals, families and groups to watch so that they candiscuss, communicate and be aware of the issues related to teenagers who areLGBT or questioning their sexuality.
The Network will distribute 4000 copies of the 12-minute DVD free of chargeto audiences throughout the country, including organisations who work withteenagers and families.
Work will start on the DVD after the Network researches and consults withparents and teenagers as well as organisations such as Families and Friendsof Lesbians and Gays (FFLAG), and the Consortium of LGBT voluntary andcommunity organisations (LGBT Consortium).
Leeds Animation Network is a co-operative, a business owned by the peoplewho use its services.
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49701.asp
Family of Man Who Died in Bondage Sex Act Files Lawsuit
October 12, 2007
Adrian Exley was wrapped tightly in heavy plastic, then bound with ducttape. A leather hood was put over his head, with a thin plastic strawinserted for air, and he was shut in a closet.
It may not have been exactly what the 32-year-old stripper from London hadbeen expecting when he traveled to Boston to stay with a man he met througha bondage and sadomasochism Web site.
Exley's body was discovered last June, two months after he was bound up in abondage ''playroom'' Gary LeBlanc built in the basement of his suburbanBoston home.
LeBlanc -- a 48-year-old Gulf Oil sales executive -- detailed hisresponsibility in the fatal bondage session in a five-page suicide note,just before he put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
Now the question is: Since Exley consented to the sex, is he responsible forhis own death?
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.kcra.com/print/14318356/detail.html
Same-Sex Marriage TV Ad Begins Rotation In Sacramento
Campaign Is Based On Emotion, Creators Say
POSTED: 8:55 am PDT October 11, 2007
UPDATED: 1:44 pm PDT October 11, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A controversial television ad supporting same-sexmarriage will start airing Thursday in Sacramento.
The new commercial shows a bride running into obstacles on her way to herwedding, then says, "What if you couldn't marry the one you love?"
The makers of the ad said an appeal based on emotion, rather than law, is areal change for the movement.
The 60-second ads will run in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, SanDiego and Palm Springs.
It's part of a months-long campaign to spark open discussion about same-sexmarriage among families.
Legislation that would permit same-sex marriage is sitting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.
Two years ago he vetoed a similar bill and is vowing to do the same thistime around.
=
ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14755
Attorney General: Gay couples can adopt children in Tennessee
Cooper says there are no constitutional obstacles
NASHVILLE (AP) | Oct 11, 3:12 PM
Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper says there are no constitutionalobstacles to gay couples adopting children.
The opinion released Wednesday was requested by Wilson County Circuit JudgeClara Byrd.
In it, Cooper wrote that, under the state constitution, same-sex couplesshould be eligible to adopt children as long as the court finds theplacement to be in the child's best interest.
Cooper found the constitution doesn't mention adoption, meaning the processis governed solely by statutes.
Tennessee law doesn't require people petitioning for adoption to be married.
more . . . . .
=
ExpressGayNews.com
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jkmGoS4IyOzF1Aq9IeMaziLEmQ0A
More than half of straight Americans want gays treated equally: poll1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) - More than half of straight Americans back equal treatmentfor gays, and seven out of 10 said they have spoken out for the homosexualcommunity in the face of verbal attacks, a poll said Thursday.
One third of poll respondents said they would not speak out in defense ofgays to avoid confrontation, the online Harris Poll survey of nearly 2,200adults conducted late September showed.
And one in five cited religious or moral grounds for not speaking out indefense of gays -- but an equal percentage gave the same reasons for doingso.
The poll was released to coincide with the launch of the Straight forEquality program by the non-profit organization Parents, Families andFriends of Lesbians and Gays.
Straight for Equality "is reaching out to straight people who don't have animmediate relative who is gay or lesbian to start speaking up" for therights of the homosexual and transgender community, PFLAG spokeswomanJean-Marie Navetta told AFP ahead of the launch, which will kick off thegroup's four-day national convention in Washington.
The first openly gay Episcopal Bishop, Gene Robinson, will be one of thekeynote speakers at the convention, during which PFLAG members will lobbylawmakers for "pro-equality legislation, including a fullytransgender-inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,"according to the event program.
US popstar Cyndi Lauper and globally syndicated agony aunt, Dear Abby, arealso due to attend.
=
ExpressGayNews.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-diversity11oct11,1,3976211,print.story
Big L.A. law firms score low on diversity survey
The numbers of female, black, Latino, Asian and gay partners and associateslag significantly behind their representation in the city's population,according to a study.
By Henry Weinstein
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 11, 2007
Large Los Angeles law firms have poor diversity records, with the numbers offemale, black, Latino, Asian and gay partners and associates laggingsignificantly behind their representation in the city's population,according to a study released Wednesday.
The 17 Los Angeles-area firms in the report have three or fewer AfricanAmerican partners; all but one have three or fewer Latino partners, and halfhave three or fewer Asian American partners, placing the percentage ofpartners in those ethnic groups at less than 5%. In contrast, 2005 censusdata show that African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans constitute9.7%, 46.8% and 13.1% of the population in Los Angeles County.
Although more than half the county's residents are women, no firm has nearlythat percentage of female partners; the firm with the highest femalerepresentation among partners has 27.7%. Moreover, at every firm surveyed,women are significantly less represented as partners than as associates. Forexample, fully 60% of the associates at one firm are women, but only 14.6%of its partners.
The highest percentage of African American partners at a firm in Los Angelesis 4.6%, while the top percentage of Latino partners is 8.2%. The highestpercentage of Asian American partners is 11.1%, and the top percentage ofpartners who are openly lesbian, gay or bisexual is 7.4%.
Three firms have no African American partners, one has no Latino partners,one has no Asian American partners, and three firms have no publiclydeclared lesbian or gay partners.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/2007/10-11/news/localnews/4117.cfm
Julian Bond praises local NAACP chief for stand on Naugle
Oct. 11, 2007
NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond sent a letter commending Marsha Ellison,president of the organization's Fort Lauderdale branch, for her supportivestance on gay rights in response to the Jim Naugle controversy.
Ellison read Bond's letter at an NAACP branch meeting Sept. 27. The letter,dated Sept. 18, begins with Bond thanking Ellison for her "courageous standagainst homophobia."
Ellison spoke in front of Fort Lauderdale's City Hall on Aug. 28 at a pressconference that was called by local community leaders to respond to MayorNaugle's recent anti-gay statements. In his letter, Bond reiterates whatEllison said at the press - that gay rights are civil rights.
"Gay and lesbian rights are not special rights in any way," Bond writes. "Itisn't special to be free from discrimination - it is an ordinary, universalentitlement of citizenship."
Bond's statement resonates in the black community, where there is someresentment when gay activists parallel their struggle with that of the civilrights movement.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101107ark.htm
Judge Upholds Arkansas Law Allowing Opposite-Sex Toddlers To Wed
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 11, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(Little Rock, Arkansas) An inadvertently added word in a law passed earlierthis year and unnoticed when it was signed into law by Gov. Mike Beebe isthe law of the state a judge has ruled.
Only the legislature can change it, Circuit Judge Tom J. Keith ruled.
The legislation was intended to establish 18 as the minimum age to marry butalso allow pregnant teenagers to marry with parental consent.
An extraneous "not" in the bill, however, allows anyone who is not pregnantto marry at any age if the parents allow it.
The law reads: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18)years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, theperson must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent tothe marriage."
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101207gore.htm
Gore, UN Environment Body Win Nobel Peace Prize
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 12, 2007 - 5:30 am ET
(Oslo) Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts tospread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations forcounteracting it.
Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won anAcademy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the prize.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films andbooks, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the citationsaid. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to creategreater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."
It cited Gore's awareness at an early stage "of the climatic challenges theworld is facing.
The committee cited the Panel on Climate Change for two decades ofscientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensusabout the connection between human activities and global warming."
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101207clinton.htm
Clinton Changes Position On Meeting Iran Leaders
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 12, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Canterbury, New Hampshire) Hillary Rodham Clinton called Barack Obama naivewhen he said he'd meet with the leaders of Iran without precondition. Nowshe says she'd do the same thing, too.
During a Democratic presidential debate in July, Obama said he would bewilling to meet without precondition in the first year of his presidencywith the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.
Standing with him on stage, Clinton said she would first send envoys to testthe waters and called Obama's position irresponsible and naive.
But asked about it Thursday by a voter, the New York senator said twice thatshe, too, would negotiate with Iran "with no conditions."
"I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because wedon't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside,but I think that is misleading," she said at an apple orchard.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101207marketing.htm
Spin Doctors, Ad Agencies Create Candidate Images
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 12, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) John Edwards once lived in the heart of Washington's Georgetown district, was squired around the Capitol by Sen. Edward M.Kennedy and led the presidential field in fundraising thanks to donationsfrom trial lawyers.
Today the Democrat is running for president as an anti-Washington candidatewho will take public financing to avoid the influence of special interestgroups.
Mitt Romney used to greet illegal immigrants who worked on his yard with afriendly "Buenos dias" and expressed moderate positions on abortion rightsand gay rights. Today the Republican is running for the presidency as astrict opponent of illegal immigration and a conservative on social issues.
Those are just two of the campaign caricatures to emerge in the 2008election cycle, a White House race overflowing with simplified depictionsthat belie some of the candidates' life histories or define the rest oftheir records in shorthand.
Political consultants and marketing experts often strive for bumper-stickerlabeling, but the current White House campaign has gone even further,devolving into a battle of philosophical code words and a relentless focuson issues buttressing those themes.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49711.asp
McCain Unveils Health Care Plan
October 12, 2007
John McCain proposed an overhaul of the nation's health care systemThursday, aiming to give people more control, encourage greater competitionand lower costs.
The Republican presidential candidate's plan contrasts sharply with hisDemocratic rivals' proposals.
He focuses on expanding access for individuals and families but would notrequire people to carry health insurance. To varying degrees, Democrats wantto make health coverage mandatory.
''The solution, my friends, isn't a one-size-fits-all, big-governmenttakeover of health care,'' he told the Rotary Club of Des Moines. ''Itresides where every important social advance has always resided -- with theAmerican people themselves, with well-informed American families makingpractical decisions to address their imperatives for better health and moresecure prosperity.''
He said of the Democrats, ''They promise universal coverage, whatever itscost, and the massive tax increases, mandates, and government regulationthat it imposes.''
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49712.asp
Morgan Stanley Settles Lawsuit for $46 Million
October 12, 2007
A federal judge on Thursday approved a $46 million settlement of aclass-action lawsuit filed by a group of women alleging genderdiscrimination by their employer, investment bank Morgan Stanley.
The settlement was reached in April and received preliminary approval fromU.S. district court judge Richard Roberts in July. Roberts will formallyapprove the settlement October 24 after individual members of the lawsuithave been notified, said James Wiggins, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley.
Six women sued the securities firm last year, alleging that female financialadvisers and trainees were discriminated against in compensation, promotion,work assignments, and other areas. The suit was expanded to cover a class ofapproximately 3,000 women who worked at Morgan Stanley between August 5,2003, and June 30, 2007.
As part of the settlement, Wiggins said the company will institute a numberof programs ''designed to advance the success of women financial advisers atMorgan Stanley.''
The $46 million will be split among parties to the lawsuit and to payattorneys' fees. Morgan Stanley also will spend about $7.5 million ontraining and other diversity programs.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49702.asp
Frank Reiterates Support for Sexual Orientation-Only ENDA
October 12, 2007
Responding to criticism over the House Democratic leadership's potentialdecision to move forward with a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Actthat would cover sexual orientation but not gender identity, Rep. BarneyFrank said Thursday that opponents of the bill "can't handle the truth,unfortunately." In remarks at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursdaymorning, Frank said that a sexual orientation-only ENDA could pass in theHouse with a margin of 15 or 20 votes but that a transgender-inclusive billwouldn't even garner an up-or-down vote on the floor of the chamber due tothe lack of political support.
Since Frank and his colleagues, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi,decided a few weeks ago to champion a sexual orientation-only bill insteadof the original trans-inclusive measure, the LGBT movement has been roiledby debate, with many advocacy groups calling for an ENDA that would includeboth sexual orientation and gender identity -- or nothing at all. Frank, oneof the bill's cosponsors, forcefully disagreed.
"Should we kill the whole bill?" he asked rhetorically. "I have a veryprofound difference with people who say we should.. I do not think you denypeople protection if you can. A sexual orientation-only bill would be veryhelpful."
Frank asserted that pulling the sexual orientation-only bill would send abad message to the country and would only hurt the LGBT rights movement."The headline will be, 'Pelosi pulls gay rights bill from agenda,' that theydidn't have enough votes to pass it. I don't understand how that helps us."
And echoing remarks he made on the House floor days earlier, Frank decriedthe personal nature of some of the criticism he's faced in recent weeks. Hissupport for the sexual orientation-only bill, he said, has been "treated asa betrayal, as a failure of moral will."
more . . . . .
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Billy Crystal Wins Twain Humor Prize
By BEN NUCKOLS
The Associated Press
Friday, October 12, 2007; 12:34 AM
WASHINGTON -- Carl Reiner, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg have all won it.Now, to borrow a famous movie line he wrote, Billy Crystal is having whatthey're having.
The comedian, actor, Broadway star and Yankees fan's many talents andpassions were celebrated Thursday night at the Kennedy Center as he acceptedthe 10th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
"Does this mean I have to retire now?" Crystal asked as he cradled theaward, a bust of Twain. "Usually when someone is given an evening like this,they're way too dead to say thank you."
Rob Reiner, who directed the Crystal movie "When Harry Met Sally," creditedhim with the lasting success of the famous restaurant scene in which MegRyan fakes an orgasm. Afterward, a woman cracks, "I'll have what she'shaving."
"Billy Crystal wrote that line," said Reiner, thanking his friend forgranting cinematic immortality to his mother, Estelle Reiner, who deliveredit.
more . . . . .
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/11/AR2007101102404.html
Police Still Trying to Piece Together Puzzle of 2 Deaths
In Affidavit, Tenant Gives Information About Medication in D.C. Apartment
By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 12, 2007; B01
Even without his high heels, Dean Johnson was a towering fellow, a 6-foot-6gay icon with a lean frame and shiny shaved head. A flamboyant rock singer,coffeehouse poet and paid escort, he was a celebrity among the drag queensand leathered denizens of Manhattan's boisterous downtown club scene -- aparty promoter in a plus-size black cocktail dress and Carol Channingshades.
So in a way, friends said, it was fitting that in the end, he would not goquietly. Instead, three weeks after he died in an elegant Washingtonapartment building, Johnson, who was 45, remains at the center of aninvestigation that a D.C. police inspector called "a bit bizarre, to say theleast."
On Sept. 20, when patrol officers answering a 911 call found him dead in anapartment at the historic Envoy building, at 2400 16th St. NW, Johnson wasnude, "lying on a mattress on the floor in the living room area," accordingto a police affidavit filed in court. He had arrived in Washington from NewYork just hours earlier to visit for a few days with a recent acquaintance,47-year-old Steven Saleh, in Apartment 227.
Turned out Johnson's body wasn't the only one in Saleh's living room thatweek.
Jordan "Jeremy" Conklin, 26, stood 6-foot-5, with a chiseled physique. Abusiness graduate of Arizona State University, he was a gay man at looseends, a friend said, bouncing from place to place, living with friends andworking at low-paying jobs. After Conklin posted an ad on Craigslist,looking for temporary housing in Washington, he and Saleh began e-mailinglast month, and Conklin moved into Apartment 227 on Sept. 14.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flatransgender1012nboct12,0,7684265,print.story
Gay activists split on job bias bill
By ANDREW MIGA
The Associated Press
October 12, 2007
WASHINGTON
Rep. Barney Frank, a leading gay rights champion in Congress, on Thursdayurged fellow gay rights advocates not to let their dispute over protectingtransgender workers doom a job discrimination ban that could mark a majorcivil rights advance for gays in the workplace.
The debate over including transgender people has sharply divided gay rightsactivists, many of whom are trying to kill a stripped-down bill withoutprotections for transgender workers that Frank and Democratic leaders hopewill win House passage this year.
"We're not going to be split off this way," said Matt Foreman, executivedirector of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "We're driven byprinciple. No civil rights movement has ever left a part of its communitybehind - and we're not about to be the first."
Frank, D-Mass., one of two openly gay members of Congress, supportstransgender protections, but said they don't have the votes.
"Politically, the notion that you don't do anything until you can doeverything is self-defeating," he said.
more . . . . .
=
Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/sns-ap-skorea-size-matters,0,7171620,print.story
Condom Experts Told That Size Matters
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
7:37 AM EDT, October 12, 2007
SEOGWIPO, South Korea
As the world's top condom experts convene this week to update international standards, one American entrepreneur has a simple message: Size matters.It's shaking up an industry that has generally taken a one-size-fits-allapproach.
Frank Sadlo, founder of TheyFit, which makes what he claims are the world'sfirst custom-fit condoms, is pushing for updated standards to allow greatervariation in condom size.
It's not just about well-endowed men in cramped prophylactic quarters, Sadlotold a meeting Thursday of delegates from 21 countries under theGeneva-based International Organization for Standardization.
When given a choice, he said many men prefer condoms smaller than thestandard minimum 6.3 inches long, with more than half ordering those lessthan 5.12 inches.
At the session in Seogwipo on South Korea's Jeju Island, more than 100representatives -- including leading manufacturers, government standardsbodies and aid groups -- pored over 42 pages of specifications and testingrequirements for condoms.
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=487091&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
16,000 gay couples 'married' in first year of new law
Last updated at 19:51pm on 11th October 2007
More than 16,000 gay weddings took place in Britain last year, it wasrevealed today.
A National Statistics study shows that in the first full year since civilpartnerships were introduced, 16,106 same-sex marriages were registered.
London was the area with the highest number of ceremonies, about 4,000,followed by the South-East, which accounted for about 2,700.
Today's report also reveals that 10 per cent of the men and almost a quarterof the women involved in a gay wedding were previously married.
The average age for males registering a same-sex partnership was 47 and forfemales nearly 44.
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=5718
Animation will help parents with LGBT teens
11th October 2007 14:10
Asavin Wattanajantra
An animated DVD aimed at aimed at parents with LGBT teenagers will be madeby a Leeds studio with lottery funding.
Leeds Animation Network will produce and distribute Out to the Family,designed for individuals, families and groups to watch so that they candiscuss, communicate and be aware of the issues related to teenagers who areLGBT or questioning their sexuality.
The Network will distribute 4000 copies of the 12-minute DVD free of chargeto audiences throughout the country, including organisations who work withteenagers and families.
Work will start on the DVD after the Network researches and consults withparents and teenagers as well as organisations such as Families and Friendsof Lesbians and Gays (FFLAG), and the Consortium of LGBT voluntary andcommunity organisations (LGBT Consortium).
Leeds Animation Network is a co-operative, a business owned by the peoplewho use its services.
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49701.asp
Family of Man Who Died in Bondage Sex Act Files Lawsuit
October 12, 2007
Adrian Exley was wrapped tightly in heavy plastic, then bound with ducttape. A leather hood was put over his head, with a thin plastic strawinserted for air, and he was shut in a closet.
It may not have been exactly what the 32-year-old stripper from London hadbeen expecting when he traveled to Boston to stay with a man he met througha bondage and sadomasochism Web site.
Exley's body was discovered last June, two months after he was bound up in abondage ''playroom'' Gary LeBlanc built in the basement of his suburbanBoston home.
LeBlanc -- a 48-year-old Gulf Oil sales executive -- detailed hisresponsibility in the fatal bondage session in a five-page suicide note,just before he put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
Now the question is: Since Exley consented to the sex, is he responsible forhis own death?
more . . . . .
=
NationalGayNews.com
http://www.kcra.com/print/14318356/detail.html
Same-Sex Marriage TV Ad Begins Rotation In Sacramento
Campaign Is Based On Emotion, Creators Say
POSTED: 8:55 am PDT October 11, 2007
UPDATED: 1:44 pm PDT October 11, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A controversial television ad supporting same-sexmarriage will start airing Thursday in Sacramento.
The new commercial shows a bride running into obstacles on her way to herwedding, then says, "What if you couldn't marry the one you love?"
The makers of the ad said an appeal based on emotion, rather than law, is areal change for the movement.
The 60-second ads will run in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, SanDiego and Palm Springs.
It's part of a months-long campaign to spark open discussion about same-sexmarriage among families.
Legislation that would permit same-sex marriage is sitting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.
Two years ago he vetoed a similar bill and is vowing to do the same thistime around.
=
ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14755
Attorney General: Gay couples can adopt children in Tennessee
Cooper says there are no constitutional obstacles
NASHVILLE (AP) | Oct 11, 3:12 PM
Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper says there are no constitutionalobstacles to gay couples adopting children.
The opinion released Wednesday was requested by Wilson County Circuit JudgeClara Byrd.
In it, Cooper wrote that, under the state constitution, same-sex couplesshould be eligible to adopt children as long as the court finds theplacement to be in the child's best interest.
Cooper found the constitution doesn't mention adoption, meaning the processis governed solely by statutes.
Tennessee law doesn't require people petitioning for adoption to be married.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jkmGoS4IyOzF1Aq9IeMaziLEmQ0A
More than half of straight Americans want gays treated equally: poll1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) - More than half of straight Americans back equal treatmentfor gays, and seven out of 10 said they have spoken out for the homosexualcommunity in the face of verbal attacks, a poll said Thursday.
One third of poll respondents said they would not speak out in defense ofgays to avoid confrontation, the online Harris Poll survey of nearly 2,200adults conducted late September showed.
And one in five cited religious or moral grounds for not speaking out indefense of gays -- but an equal percentage gave the same reasons for doingso.
The poll was released to coincide with the launch of the Straight forEquality program by the non-profit organization Parents, Families andFriends of Lesbians and Gays.
Straight for Equality "is reaching out to straight people who don't have animmediate relative who is gay or lesbian to start speaking up" for therights of the homosexual and transgender community, PFLAG spokeswomanJean-Marie Navetta told AFP ahead of the launch, which will kick off thegroup's four-day national convention in Washington.
The first openly gay Episcopal Bishop, Gene Robinson, will be one of thekeynote speakers at the convention, during which PFLAG members will lobbylawmakers for "pro-equality legislation, including a fullytransgender-inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,"according to the event program.
US popstar Cyndi Lauper and globally syndicated agony aunt, Dear Abby, arealso due to attend.
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-diversity11oct11,1,3976211,print.story
Big L.A. law firms score low on diversity survey
The numbers of female, black, Latino, Asian and gay partners and associateslag significantly behind their representation in the city's population,according to a study.
By Henry Weinstein
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 11, 2007
Large Los Angeles law firms have poor diversity records, with the numbers offemale, black, Latino, Asian and gay partners and associates laggingsignificantly behind their representation in the city's population,according to a study released Wednesday.
The 17 Los Angeles-area firms in the report have three or fewer AfricanAmerican partners; all but one have three or fewer Latino partners, and halfhave three or fewer Asian American partners, placing the percentage ofpartners in those ethnic groups at less than 5%. In contrast, 2005 censusdata show that African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans constitute9.7%, 46.8% and 13.1% of the population in Los Angeles County.
Although more than half the county's residents are women, no firm has nearlythat percentage of female partners; the firm with the highest femalerepresentation among partners has 27.7%. Moreover, at every firm surveyed,women are significantly less represented as partners than as associates. Forexample, fully 60% of the associates at one firm are women, but only 14.6%of its partners.
The highest percentage of African American partners at a firm in Los Angelesis 4.6%, while the top percentage of Latino partners is 8.2%. The highestpercentage of Asian American partners is 11.1%, and the top percentage ofpartners who are openly lesbian, gay or bisexual is 7.4%.
Three firms have no African American partners, one has no Latino partners,one has no Asian American partners, and three firms have no publiclydeclared lesbian or gay partners.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/2007/10-11/news/localnews/4117.cfm
Julian Bond praises local NAACP chief for stand on Naugle
Oct. 11, 2007
NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond sent a letter commending Marsha Ellison,president of the organization's Fort Lauderdale branch, for her supportivestance on gay rights in response to the Jim Naugle controversy.
Ellison read Bond's letter at an NAACP branch meeting Sept. 27. The letter,dated Sept. 18, begins with Bond thanking Ellison for her "courageous standagainst homophobia."
Ellison spoke in front of Fort Lauderdale's City Hall on Aug. 28 at a pressconference that was called by local community leaders to respond to MayorNaugle's recent anti-gay statements. In his letter, Bond reiterates whatEllison said at the press - that gay rights are civil rights.
"Gay and lesbian rights are not special rights in any way," Bond writes. "Itisn't special to be free from discrimination - it is an ordinary, universalentitlement of citizenship."
Bond's statement resonates in the black community, where there is someresentment when gay activists parallel their struggle with that of the civilrights movement.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101107ark.htm
Judge Upholds Arkansas Law Allowing Opposite-Sex Toddlers To Wed
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 11, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET
(Little Rock, Arkansas) An inadvertently added word in a law passed earlierthis year and unnoticed when it was signed into law by Gov. Mike Beebe isthe law of the state a judge has ruled.
Only the legislature can change it, Circuit Judge Tom J. Keith ruled.
The legislation was intended to establish 18 as the minimum age to marry butalso allow pregnant teenagers to marry with parental consent.
An extraneous "not" in the bill, however, allows anyone who is not pregnantto marry at any age if the parents allow it.
The law reads: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18)years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, theperson must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent tothe marriage."
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101207gore.htm
Gore, UN Environment Body Win Nobel Peace Prize
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 12, 2007 - 5:30 am ET
(Oslo) Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts tospread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations forcounteracting it.
Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won anAcademy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the prize.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films andbooks, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the citationsaid. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to creategreater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."
It cited Gore's awareness at an early stage "of the climatic challenges theworld is facing.
The committee cited the Panel on Climate Change for two decades ofscientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensusabout the connection between human activities and global warming."
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101207clinton.htm
Clinton Changes Position On Meeting Iran Leaders
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 12, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Canterbury, New Hampshire) Hillary Rodham Clinton called Barack Obama naivewhen he said he'd meet with the leaders of Iran without precondition. Nowshe says she'd do the same thing, too.
During a Democratic presidential debate in July, Obama said he would bewilling to meet without precondition in the first year of his presidencywith the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.
Standing with him on stage, Clinton said she would first send envoys to testthe waters and called Obama's position irresponsible and naive.
But asked about it Thursday by a voter, the New York senator said twice thatshe, too, would negotiate with Iran "with no conditions."
"I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions, because wedon't really understand how Iran works. We think we do, from the outside,but I think that is misleading," she said at an apple orchard.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101207marketing.htm
Spin Doctors, Ad Agencies Create Candidate Images
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 12, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Boston, Massachusetts) John Edwards once lived in the heart of Washington's Georgetown district, was squired around the Capitol by Sen. Edward M.Kennedy and led the presidential field in fundraising thanks to donationsfrom trial lawyers.
Today the Democrat is running for president as an anti-Washington candidatewho will take public financing to avoid the influence of special interestgroups.
Mitt Romney used to greet illegal immigrants who worked on his yard with afriendly "Buenos dias" and expressed moderate positions on abortion rightsand gay rights. Today the Republican is running for the presidency as astrict opponent of illegal immigration and a conservative on social issues.
Those are just two of the campaign caricatures to emerge in the 2008election cycle, a White House race overflowing with simplified depictionsthat belie some of the candidates' life histories or define the rest oftheir records in shorthand.
Political consultants and marketing experts often strive for bumper-stickerlabeling, but the current White House campaign has gone even further,devolving into a battle of philosophical code words and a relentless focuson issues buttressing those themes.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49711.asp
McCain Unveils Health Care Plan
October 12, 2007
John McCain proposed an overhaul of the nation's health care systemThursday, aiming to give people more control, encourage greater competitionand lower costs.
The Republican presidential candidate's plan contrasts sharply with hisDemocratic rivals' proposals.
He focuses on expanding access for individuals and families but would notrequire people to carry health insurance. To varying degrees, Democrats wantto make health coverage mandatory.
''The solution, my friends, isn't a one-size-fits-all, big-governmenttakeover of health care,'' he told the Rotary Club of Des Moines. ''Itresides where every important social advance has always resided -- with theAmerican people themselves, with well-informed American families makingpractical decisions to address their imperatives for better health and moresecure prosperity.''
He said of the Democrats, ''They promise universal coverage, whatever itscost, and the massive tax increases, mandates, and government regulationthat it imposes.''
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49712.asp
Morgan Stanley Settles Lawsuit for $46 Million
October 12, 2007
A federal judge on Thursday approved a $46 million settlement of aclass-action lawsuit filed by a group of women alleging genderdiscrimination by their employer, investment bank Morgan Stanley.
The settlement was reached in April and received preliminary approval fromU.S. district court judge Richard Roberts in July. Roberts will formallyapprove the settlement October 24 after individual members of the lawsuithave been notified, said James Wiggins, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley.
Six women sued the securities firm last year, alleging that female financialadvisers and trainees were discriminated against in compensation, promotion,work assignments, and other areas. The suit was expanded to cover a class ofapproximately 3,000 women who worked at Morgan Stanley between August 5,2003, and June 30, 2007.
As part of the settlement, Wiggins said the company will institute a numberof programs ''designed to advance the success of women financial advisers atMorgan Stanley.''
The $46 million will be split among parties to the lawsuit and to payattorneys' fees. Morgan Stanley also will spend about $7.5 million ontraining and other diversity programs.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49702.asp
Frank Reiterates Support for Sexual Orientation-Only ENDA
October 12, 2007
Responding to criticism over the House Democratic leadership's potentialdecision to move forward with a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Actthat would cover sexual orientation but not gender identity, Rep. BarneyFrank said Thursday that opponents of the bill "can't handle the truth,unfortunately." In remarks at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursdaymorning, Frank said that a sexual orientation-only ENDA could pass in theHouse with a margin of 15 or 20 votes but that a transgender-inclusive billwouldn't even garner an up-or-down vote on the floor of the chamber due tothe lack of political support.
Since Frank and his colleagues, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi,decided a few weeks ago to champion a sexual orientation-only bill insteadof the original trans-inclusive measure, the LGBT movement has been roiledby debate, with many advocacy groups calling for an ENDA that would includeboth sexual orientation and gender identity -- or nothing at all. Frank, oneof the bill's cosponsors, forcefully disagreed.
"Should we kill the whole bill?" he asked rhetorically. "I have a veryprofound difference with people who say we should.. I do not think you denypeople protection if you can. A sexual orientation-only bill would be veryhelpful."
Frank asserted that pulling the sexual orientation-only bill would send abad message to the country and would only hurt the LGBT rights movement."The headline will be, 'Pelosi pulls gay rights bill from agenda,' that theydidn't have enough votes to pass it. I don't understand how that helps us."
And echoing remarks he made on the House floor days earlier, Frank decriedthe personal nature of some of the criticism he's faced in recent weeks. Hissupport for the sexual orientation-only bill, he said, has been "treated asa betrayal, as a failure of moral will."
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[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
#####
Thursday, October 11, 2007
GLBT DIGEST October 11, 2007
**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
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Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org
TRUTH WINS OUT RELEASES 'EX-GAY = EX-WIFE' VIDEO THAT DETAILS HOW EX-GAYMARRIAGES LEAD TO HEARTBREAK AND DIVORCE
Groups That Encourage Marriage As A Cure For Homosexuality Destroy Families
And Treat Spouses and Children As Collateral Damage
NEW YORK - Truth Wins Out released an exclusive National Coming Out Dayvideo today, "Ex-Gay = Ex-Wife," that features the stories of fourcourageous women whose families fell apart after their closeted husbandscame out. This video is the latest in TWO's "Talking Truth" campaign andhighlights the harm of ex-gay programs from a unique perspective - that ofthe spouse who gets left behind when the promised "cure" does not endure.
"Ex-gay programs love to show the wedding photos, but they never show youthe divorce papers that result from such ill-conceived marriages," saidTruth Wins Out's Executive Director, Wayne Besen. "These programs holdmarriage up as the Holy Grail to heterosexuality, but the truth is, thesemarriages wholly fail, leaving shattered lives and broken families."
Bonnie Kaye, an author and director of the organization www.GayHusbands.com,has dedicated her life to counseling women after the demise of her ownmarriage. She blames anti-gay activists, such as Alan Chambers of ExodusInternational and James Dobson of Focus on the Family, for creating suchmiserable and doomed marriages.
"Alan Chambers and James Dobson are destroying the lives of families, nothelping them...It's not a choice, people are who they are. Learn to lovethem and learn to embrace them and help them love themselves so they don'thave to go and get married to be somebody they're not," said Kaye.
In the video, Nancy Davis shares how her former father-in law, apsychologist, recommended that his son meet a woman, get married and lead astraight life. "I feel like I was used, I was like an innocent lamb lead toslaughter," Davis said.
The pain of such marriages can linger, long after the divorce is final."Many of us are severely damaged...the spouses and children end up being thecollateral damage," said Carol Silverman of the Straight Spouse Network, whowas divorced after being married for nearly three decades.
Ignoring the failure and destruction all around them, ex-gay groupsarrogantly and selfishly continue to use such families as pawns in theirdivisive culture war. "These organizations that try to convince people thatthey can be cured need to be stopped," asserted Tracy Rosenberg, whodivorced her husband after almost 20 years.
"This video is a powerful reality check and a warning for those who wouldmarry thinking that it will help them go from gay to straight," said Besen."We are now looking to tell the stories of husbands whose marriages endedwhen their ex-gay wives came out as lesbians."
Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wingpropaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life.For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
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News Max
http://www.newsmax.com/koch/hillary_for_president/2007/10/08/39113.html?s=al&promo_code=3B19-1
Monday, October 8, 2007 4:09 PM
By: Edward I. Koch
I'm backing Hillary Clinton for president.
I predict the Democratic ticket will ultimately be headed by Hillary, withBarack Obama as her vice presidential nominee. Some political commentatorssay that America is not ready to elect a ticket headed by a woman with ablack running mate. Many say that one or the other would be acceptable, butnot both.
I disagree.
Those people do not appreciate how far America has come in race and genderrelations. This is the Golden Age of America, an age of opportunity for all.We had an intimation of this new age in the 2000 presidential race, when JoeLieberman was more popular running as vice president on the Democraticticket then Al Gore at the top of the ticket.
Having said that, and still of the same mind, I am troubled by a recentcomment by Sen. Obama. On Oct. 3, according to The New York Times, "SenatorBarack Obama said Thursday that he stopped wearing an American flag pin inhis lapel years ago, saying the symbol has become an empty substitute fortrue patriotism."
Obama's statement was "My attitude is that I'm less concerned about what you'rewearing on your lapel than what's in your heart." The Times reported, "hetold a television reporter one day earlier that he stopped wearing anAmerican flag pin shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks." In a televisioninterview, he said such symbols "become a substitute for, I think, truepatriotism," adding, "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest."
more....
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Larry Craig's New Music Video [humorous]
As seen on
http://ronnmills.blogspot.com/2007/10/larry-craigs-new-music-video.html
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thegaymilitarytimes.com/071009Russ.html
TUCSON TRANS VET SPEAKS OUT
Profiles in Patriotism
By Denny Meyer
Erin Russ, a transgender American, was a US Army Infantry Captain who servedhonorably for 9 years from 1981 to 1990. The Russ family in which Erin wasraised was archetypal, normal Americana. The family was involved in BoyScouts, Girl Scouts, and church; her father had served as a sergeant in theKorean War, a brother was in the Air Force, a nephew is a Marine, and fourcousins, both grandfathers and all three uncles served their countryproudly. Her father, a mechanical engineer, taught his children to think forthemselves, to find out for themselves why things are the way they are andhow to achieve results. That proved to be the sort of cognitive qualitydesired by the Army for a modern military officer.
Growing up, Erin was always aware of being different from the expectationsof others. As a boy, she knew that she was supposed to 'belong' to onegroup, and that there was no choice in the matter, and yet, she knew thatexpectation was wrong as it applied to her; she knew she was the wronggender. As any LGBT American child growing up in the 1950s and 60sinstinctively realized, Erin simply knew that a boy does not tell anyonethat "he" is a girl. As Erin put it, "I had a lot of fun as a kid in the BoyScouts; its just that I wanted to be a girl." She occasionally cross dressedin high school and college, when it was possible to do so. At the same time,she dreamed of being a fighter pilot; not an unreasonable possibility as inthe 1970s America's first female U2 jet pilots and astronauts wereheroically deflating gender role stereotypes. Erin later opted for the Armyon discovering that the planes did not come in size XL
Yet, despite the Sturm und Drang of dealing with that alone while growingup, without any advice nor solace from anyone, the strength of her familyand rearing allowed Erin to become a self-confident self-sufficientintelligent young adult who had all the qualifications and qualities to beamong the best, an US Army Infantry officer.
In 1978, Erin Russ was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US ArmyNational Guard. You might ask, "What was she thinking? How could atransgender person imagine serving as a leader in our military?" It was notas simple as the fact that in reality, to be a leader, it simply does notmatter if one is male or female, nor does it matter what one chooses to wearwhen out of uniform. There was also the societal pressure to conform, tomeet the expectations of others, to try to force oneself into the "right"role. Erin was already militarily inclined; in fulfilling that dream role,she'd hoped it might resolve the gender disparity within by "making a man"out of her. It would have been most ideal to be able to serve as a woman;but at the time that option was not available, nor is it quite yet today inthis country.
As an Army Infantry officer, Erin served ably as a paratrooper, an infantryplatoon leader, scout platoon leader, company commander, logistics officer,assistant brigade ops officer, and as an infantry division air ops officer(in Alaska responsible for all army aircraft flying below 500 feet --workingwith a multi-million-dollar budget). She served at Ft. Hood, Ft. Benning,Ft. Wainright in Alaska, and traveled to Europe and Japan in support ofjoint military exercises. She was respected as a thorough trainer and leaderof troops in the field, and as a student of military history, wrote paperson international terrorism, accurately predicting current trends and foroversight detail analysis that averted munitions supply errors that couldhave resulted in the Army's European mission's failure. Captain Russ alsocollaborated on the production of one of the Army's counter insurgencymanuals in the mid 1980's, lending one of her college papers to the project.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thegaymilitarytimes.com/071009TucsonRes.html
Tucson Arizona enacts DADT repeal resolution
By Denny Meyer
Last month the City of Tucson Arizona joined the growing list of cities,counties, and the State of California, that have sent a resolution toCongress advocating the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. In thespring of 2005, the New York City Council, by an overwhelming vote, sent thefirst such resolution. West Hollywood and San Francisco followed. Over thenext two years, resolutions were enacted in Cathedral City, CA, Chicago, St.Louis, Atlanta, Portland, OR, and Dekalb County, GA. Similar resolutionswere also enacted by the California legislature, Stonewall Democrats, andJewish War Veterans.
As the sixth largest GLBT community in the nation, Tucson has a highlyactive GLBT Commission that brings issues to the attention of theseven-member City Council and the Mayor who jointly vote on issues, as theydid unanimously to urge their congressional delegation to repeal DADT.According to John-Peter Wilhite, a GLBT Commission Member, the nearlyyear-long process that led to the vote was a joint effort by commissionersAmanda Simpson, Pam Liberty, Brenda Kazen, himself, and out Council MemberKarin Uhlich. Speaking at a press conference after the vote was transgenderveteran Erin Russ, whose presence, at the invitation of CommissionerWilhite, symbolized the City's commitment to full inclusion of the rights ofall its citizens and a municipal intolerance of discrimination.
Tucson GLBT Commission Member Wilheite, originally from Indianapolis, withdegrees in Human Communications and fashion (well, he is gay, after all),began being a gay activist in college by helping to establish the first gayand lesbian student association at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Helater was a member of ACTUP in San Francisco and has served on numerousboards, advisory councils, and sub-commissions as well as politicalcampaigns on behalf of gay candidates.
Erin Russ, a former Army Infantry Captain, who spoke at the Tucson pressconference regarding Don't Ask Don't Tell, is featured in a Gay MilitaryTimes profile of her life and service.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2007/10/08/polinsider1008.html
GOP officials religiously avoid nomination issue
POLITICAL INSIDER:
By Bob Kemper, Jim Galloway
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/08/07
Saturday night was proof positive that while national punditry may foreseethe declining influence of a splintered Religious Right in politicalaffairs, few Republicans in Georgia are willing to test the theory.
The 50-plus tables at a Cobb County dinner for the Georgia ChristianAlliance were snapped up by GOP officials at every level, even if a certainnumber didn't feel the need to show up in person.
They sent substitutes who were willing, even eager, to escape theafternoon's Georgia-Tennessee game. Despite the lack of any alcoholicanesthesia.
This was Sadie Fields' opportunity to show she didn't need the name of theChristian Coalition to preserve the clout of her group. She severed therelationship with the fading national organization last year, and adopted anew moniker.
To remind elected officials why they respect her -- and perhaps fear her,too -- Fields thoughtfully included on every seat in the house a brochurescoring the 2007 votes of 236 state lawmakers.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/64465/
The War on Pot: America's $42 Billion Annual Boondoggle
By Rob Kampia, AlterNet
Posted on October 9, 2007, Printed on October 11, 2007
What would you buy if you had an extra $42 billion to spend every year? Whatmight our government buy if it suddenly had that much money dropped onto itslap every year?
For one thing, it might pay for the entire $7 billion annual increase in theState Children's Health Insurance Program that President Bush is threateningto veto because of its cost -- and there'd still be $35 billion left over.
Or perhaps you'd hire 880,000 schoolteachers at the average U.S. teachersalary of $47,602 per year.
Or give every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise (at a cost of$15 billion, according to the American Federation of Teachers) and usewhat's left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit.
Or use all $42 billion for a massive tax cut that would put an extra $140 inthe pockets of every person in the country -- $560 for a family of four.
more . . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5693.html
Inheritance tax allowance raised for civil partners
9th October 2007 17:50
Tony Grew
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has doubled the inheritance tax thresholdfor civil partners and married people.
Presenting his pre-Budget report to the House of Commons, Alastair Darlingannounced that from today the threshold will rise to £600,000. By 2010-11the threshold will rise to £700,000.
Until now all estates worth more than £300,000 were taxed at 40%, althoughassets left to a civil partner or spouse are exempt from taxation.
Civil partners and married couples can combine their allowances after theirone of them dies, allowing the remaining partner's estate to be tax-free upto £600,000.
The new threshold will be backdated for three million widows or widowers,meaning that those whose spouse or civil partner predeceased them will stillsee their estate be tax-free upon their death up to the £600,000 limit.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5686.html
Muslims join Christian condemnation of gay protection law
9th October 2007 12:31
Tony Grew
The Islamic Human Rights Commission has condemned a proposed new offence ofincitement to hatred on the basis of sexual orientation, adding its voice toa chorus of complaints from evangelical Christians.
The IHRC, an "independent, not-for-profit, campaign, research and advocacyorganisation based in London," attacked the concept of a gay incitement law.
"If someone is reading the Bible and calls homosexuality an abomination, isthat going to be incitement?
"There are similar passages in the Koran and the Talmud," Massoud Shadjarehof the IHRC told the Daily Express.
"I was against the incitement to religious hatred legislation. Either youwater it down until it becomes pointless or you have a situation where youdeprive people the right to have access to freedom of speech."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/10/gay-papers-weig.html
Gay papers weigh in on ENDA
October 08, 2007
Gay newspaper editorials this past week reflect the divide among GLBsgenerally on whether to adopt a "trans or bust" strategy for the EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act. The vigorous debate on LGBT editorial pages furtherputs the lie to Matt Foreman's claims of "unity" on the subject, and alsooffers a convenient way to drill down to the core issues here.
The Bay Area Reporter published a harshly worded editorial taking to task"two stalwarts of our community" -- Barney Frank and the Human Rightscampaign -- for their ENDA positions. The editorial chastised HRC for its"inexplicable and inexcusable" silence during much of the debate over ENDA,which HRC has defended as necessary to "staying in the game" with BarneyFrank and other Congressional leaders. (As if Barney Frank would refuseHRC's phone calls if they publicly opposed him.)
HRC has managed to alienate many on both sides of the ENDA issue, while nodoubt remaining popular with those who want to ride the fence on ENDA untilthey can see how it all comes out in the end. After "heartbreaking" and"wrenching" internal debate -- one can imagine the hand-wringing -- JoeSolmonese has described HRC's position as "unequivocally" in support oftrans-inclusive ENDA and opposed to gay-specific ENDA.
That said, Solmonese does equivocate on what HRC do if Barney and NancyPelosi go forward with a gay-specific version. When push comes to shove, HRCwill apparently abandon its "unequivocal" position and will not activelyoppose a gay-specific version.
The BAR editorial closes by noting:
What's amazing to us is that Frank and HRC are blind to the fact that thegutted ENDA bill weakens workplace protections for all members of the LGBTcommunity, not just those who are transgender. By removing genderexpression, the bill leaves out a key element to protect any employee,including lesbians and gay men, who may not conform to their employer's ideaof how a man or a woman should look and act, according to a preliminaryanalysis by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.bilerico.com/2007/10/the_evolution_of_lynne_cheney.php#more
The Evolution of Lynne Cheney
Filed by: Steve Ralls
October 8, 2007 5:29 PM
Lynne Cheney wants you to know that she's evolved. Or at least evolving.
America's "second lady" is on a media blitz promoting her new book, BlueSkies, No Fences, and appeared yesterday on CBS Sunday Morning to talk abouteverything from criticisms about her husband (which she finds "surreal"), toher future in politics (she doesn't seem inclined to run for anything), and,yes, her views on gays. Cheney, mother to America's "second lesbian" (isEllen the first?) told CBS that, "I think the society has evolved. I'veevolved in my way of thinking, but I think the whole society has evolved.You know, my mother had a rule which was people are just people."
CBS says that the issue of LGBT Americans "is sensitive to her as the motherof a gay daughter."
Thinking back to her own school-yard days, Cheney remembers that, the "worldof prom dates and being homecoming queen was not open to everyone - AfricanAmericans, for example. And she writes that the times 'were hard on kids whowere gay,'" according to CBS.
So there you have it: Lynne knew a few gay people long before Mary camealong, thank you very much.
Mrs. Cheney, who has served as chairwoman of the National Endowment for theHumanities, also has more of a history with the gay community (inliterature, as well as family) than most people might know. She was theauthor of the cult classic Sisters, a pulp fiction tale of love, lust andlonging . . . among lesbians. Cheney's ode to Sapphism has become such acollectors' item, in fact, that it regularly fetches hundreds of dollars onwebsites like eBay.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Black_Pastors_AIDS.html
Black Pastors Step Up in HIV/AIDS Fight
By DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Black ministers called on the federal government Tuesday todeclare HIV/AIDS among blacks a public health emergency and proposedlegislation to address the disease in their community.
Almost half of all new HIV diagnoses are among blacks. Black men werediagnosed with the disease at a rate eight times that of white men, whileblack women were diagnosed at a rate almost 23 times that of white women,according to 2005 figures, the most recent available, from the U.S. Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention.
The church leaders also pledged to promote HIV/AIDS testing and awarenessamong their congregations.
"Just as African-American clergy fervently came together 50 years ago tofight for civil rights, we are banding together today to bring an end toHIV/AIDS and its potential to obliterate our community," said Bishop T.D.Jakes, leader of the Dallas megachurch, The Potter's House.
Jakes spoke at a two-day conference of black clergy organized by theNational Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. The event drew more than 150members of the clergy, politicians and medical professionals.
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http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/23740
Scientist: Greenhouse Gas Levels Grave
From: Meraiah Foley -Associated Press
Published October 9, 2007 08:45 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Strong worldwide economic growth has acceleratedthe level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to a dangerousthreshold scientists had not expected for another decade, according to aleading Australian climate change expert.
Scientist Tim Flannery told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that an upcomingreport by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will containnew data showing that the level of climate-changing gases in the atmospherehas already reached critical levels.
Flannery is not a member of the IPCC, but said he based his comments on athorough review of the technical data included in the panel's three workinggroup reports published earlier this year. The IPCC is due to release itsfinal report synthesizing the data in November.
"What the report establishes is that the amount of greenhouse gas in theatmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially causedangerous climate change," Flannery told the broadcaster late Monday. "Weare already at great risk of dangerous climate change, that's what thesefigures say. It's not next year or next decade, it's now."
Flannery, whose recent book "The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing theClimate and What It Means for Life on Earth," made best-seller listsworldwide, said the data showed that the amount of carbon dioxide and othergreenhouse gas emissions had reached about 455 parts per million bymid-2005, well ahead of scientists' previous calculations.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid49635.asp
Bisexuals Get Their 15 Minutes
October 08, 2007
MySpace celeb Tila Tequila discusses her new MTV dating show which posessixteen straight men against sixteen lesbians. One giant step for bi-kind?
By Job Brother
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 8, 2007
We're living in the age of the cyber-celebrity. People like Perez Hilton,Jessica Lee Rose, and Markos Zúniga have circumvented the standard avenuesto stardom in lieu of the Information Superhighway. Tila Tequila (born TilaNguyen) is one of the latest self-made celebrities poised on the brink ofcrossing over into mainstream stardom. She is best known as the "mostpopular person on MySpace," having more "friends" in the online communitythan anyone, save its president, the ubiquitous Tom Anderson.
Tequila's new "reality" TV show, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila willpremiere October 9 on MTV. In it 16 straight men and 16 lesbians will livein Tila's house and compete for her affection, the twist being that thecontestants will not be aware of her bisexuality until later in the series.
Before her dating romp hits the nation, Tequila took a break to sit down andflirt with The Advocate.
So what's your new show all about?
My quest to find someone I love, male [or] female.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5688.html
Gay Prince to appear on Oprah show
9th October 2007 13:15
PinkNews.co.uk writer
One of the most prominent openly gay people in India is to appear on theworld-famous Oprah Winfrey talkshow.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, from the Royal family of Gujarat in north westIndia, made headlines around the world last year when he publicly came outof the closet.
He was initially disowned by his family, but has continued to work withHIV-awareness programmes and he will discuss his work with Oprah.
The Prince has never really sought to hide his sexual orientation, producingand staring in the gay film Emotionally Yours and setting up anHIV-awareness charity to educate gay men about the dangers of the disease.
This charity, Lakshya, has solemnised gay "marriages" and is conductingresearch into acceptance for homosexuality in Holy Scriptures.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5684.html
York to host lesbian festival
9th October 2007 11:35
PinkNews.co.uk writer
The biggest Lesbian Arts Festival in the country will be taking place in thecity of York later this month. There are a range of events, some open toeveryone, others women-only.
On Saturday 27th October a Book Festival will be held at York Racecourse.
The event and be packed with talented and inspiring authors and artists fromthe UK and USA.
Authors in attendance include Val McDermid, Stella Duffy, Rhona Cameron,Manda Scott and Sarah Waters.
The Book Festival is open to all women and men as guests of women.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
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http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5687.html
Tennis coach denies she is a lesbian
9th October 2007 12:53
Gemma Pritchard
A top female tennis coach accused of having an affair with a 13-year-oldgirl denied she is a lesbian, a Liverpool court heard yesterday.
Ex-tennis pro Claire Lyte, 29, told police "I like men," when asked abouther sexuality.
Transcripts of the police interview with the former Lawn Tennis Associationcoach of the year were read to a jury yesterday.
Lyte, from Solihull, is accused of five counts of unlawful sexual activitywith a pupil, which she denies.
Liverpool Crown Court court has already been told by the girl's mother shefound Lyte naked with her daughter at the family home in 2005.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://www.starbanner.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071009/APN/710091003&template=printpicart
School board bans clubs based on sexual orientation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKEECHOBEE, Fla.
The Okeechobee County School Board decided Tuesday that clubs based onsexual orientation are not allowed.
Schools Superintendent Patricia Cooper recommended the change to strengthenthe district's existing policy. Cooper wrote in a memo that the change would"assure that student clubs and organizations do not interfere with theSchool Board's abstinence only sex education policy."
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the district lastyear over whether the student Gay-Straight Alliance should be allowed tomeet at Okeechobee High School. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of YasminGonzalez, who graduated last year.
A judge ruled earlier this year the club should be allowed to meet until thelawsuit is settled. The case is expected to be heard in March.
Because of the judge's ruling, the Gay-Straight Alliance still will beallowed to meet at the school, assistant superintendent Ken Kenworthy said.But the rule change will prevent future clubs from meeting at the school.
A message left for the ACLU after hours Tuesday was not immediatelyreturned.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hfX8e3TIntUZM8Q0hPTYBs3gRvjQD8S5DB3G0
Work Fails to Block Ore. Gay Rights Law
By BRAD CAIN - 2 days ago
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Opponents of Oregon's new same-sex domestic partnershiplaw failed to turn in enough valid signatures to block the measure, clearingthe way for it to take effect next year, state elections officials saidMonday.
Oregon will join eight other states that have approved spousal rights insome form for gay couples - Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey,Maine, California, Washington and Hawaii. Massachusetts is the only statethat allows gay couples to marry.
The Oregon measure covers benefits related to inheritance rights,child-rearing and custody, joint state tax filings, joint health, auto andhomeowners insurance policies, visitation rights at hospitals and others. Itdoes not affect federal benefits for married couples, including SocialSecurity and joint filing of federal tax returns.
Former state Sen. Marylin Shannon, a spokeswoman for the opponents' petitiondrive, and other social conservatives believe the domestic partners billviolates the intent of voters who in 2004 adopted a constitutional ban ongay marriage.
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14722
Probe continues in deaths of two gay D.C. visitors
N.Y. men reportedly had worked as escorts; witness says both took pills
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | Oct 10, 12:47 PM
D.C. police are awaiting results of toxicology tests conducted by the city'sMedical Examiner's office in their investigation into the unexplained deathsof two gay men whose bodies were found four days apart in an apartment inWashington.
The men, who did not know each other, had traveled separately last monthfrom New York City to stay with Steven Saleh, who resides in a one-bedroomapartment at the upscale Envoy Towers at 2400 16th St., N.W., according to apolice affidavit in support of a search warrant for the apartment.
Friends said the two victims were acquaintances of Saleh's, with one of thetwo, Dean Johnson, 46, having met Saleh in the past in Johnson's role as anescort, according to one friend. The other victim, Jeremy Conklin, 26, mayalso have met Saleh through Conklin's occasional work as an escort, peoplewho knew Conklin said.
The friends have said they are stunned that two men, who appeared healthy atthe time of their departure from New York, could turn up dead in the sameapartment due to unknown causes.
"Isn't it a little ridiculous that two people died the same way in the sameplace within four days?" said John Allen, Conklin's boyfriend.
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=%27Abby%27+to+Be+Honored+Saturday+for+Her+Support+of+the+Gay+Community&expire=&urlID=24355534&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fdepartments%2Fsyndicates%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003656399&partnerID=60
'Abby' to Be Honored Saturday for Her Support of the Gay Community
By E&P Staff
Published: October 10, 2007 3:45 PM ET
NEW YORK "Dear Abby" writer Jeanne Phillips will be recognized this Saturdayin Washington, D.C., for her support of the gay community by Parents andFriends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), according to Universal PressSyndicate.
PFLAG's convention runs from Oct. 11-14 -- during which time openly-gayEpiscopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson will also be honored.
The "Straight for Equality" award -- part of PFLAG's new campaign to engagemore heterosexuals as allies -- is being given to Phillips for "viewsespousing tolerance, understanding, and acceptance" in the "Dear Abby"column distributed by Universal to about 1,400 newspapers.
Jeanne's mother Pauline, who founded "Dear Abby," helped promote PFLAG as aresource in 1984 when she first referred a distraught parent to theorganization. Jeanne has continued to recommend the group, its affiliate forparents with children who identify as transgender, and a suicide hotlineaimed at gay teenagers.
"I'm trying to tell kids if they are gay, it's OK to be gay. I've tried totell families if they have a gay family member to accept them and love themas they always have," Phillips said in an Associated Press interview.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101007military.htm
Gays Banned But Military Recruits Increased Number Of Convicted Criminals
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 10, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Washington) The Army last year again increased the number of its recruitswho have prior criminal records by granting them special exceptions.
The Pentagon's top personnel official defended the policy, saying it's sostringent that many in Congress would have difficulty getting into themilitary today, too, because of things they did in their youth.
The military routinely grants waivers to recruits with past criminalbehavior, medical problems or low aptitude scores that would otherwisedisqualify them from service.
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 18 percent of recruits needed waivers forproblems with the law - up from 15 percent the previous year, Maj. Gen.Thomas Bostick, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, told aPentagon news conference. He said 87 percent of those were for misdemeanorssuch as joy riding or violating curfew.
Appearing with him, defense personnel head David S.C. Chu said the waiverpolicy, taken as a whole, is a tough one and takes into consideration thewhole person and his or her future abilities, not just mistakes the personmay have made in the past.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101007mdunion.htm
Support For Civil Unions Grows Among Maryland Dems
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 10, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Annapolis, Maryland) Top state Democrats say they are warming to the ideaof civil unions for same-sex couples in Maryland but the idea is being metwith opposition from both LGBT rights groups and Republicans.
The latest to sign on to civil unions is Democratic House Speaker MichaelBusch.
"I believe in civil unions," Busch told Baltimore radio station WYPR-FM.
"I think people should have the same rights as far as probate is concerned,as far as health care is considered, as far as visitation and all thosethings."
The remarks followed a statement by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) that he wouldsupport civil unions.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101007suicide.htm
Pediatricians Told To Be On Lookout For Suicide Signs In Gay Teens
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 10, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(New York City) The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelinesfor helping doctors identify potential signs of suicide among teenagers.
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for adolescents 15 to 19 yearsolds the Academy says in its updated guidelines, published in the journalPediatrics.
"Pediatricians can take steps to help reduce the incidence of adolescentsuicide by screening for depression and suicidal ideation and behavior," thereport by Benjamin N. Shain, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Committee onAdolescence says.
"Throughout adolescence, routine history taking should include questionsabout mood disorders, suicidal thoughts, sexual orientation, and other riskfactors for suicide. Ideally, this should occur during acute care as well asroutine care visits."
Among the risk factors listed in the report is gay or bisexual orientation.Other factors include a family history of suicide, parental history ofmental health problems, history of physical or sexual abuse, and thepresence of firearms in the home.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101107brownback.htm
Low Iowa Finish To End Brownback Presidential Bid
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 11, 2007 - 8:00 am ET
(Washington) Republican Sam Brownback says he will drop out of the race forpresident if he finishes lower than fourth place in the Iowa caucuses.
The Kansas senator had previously said he would consider ending his campaignfor the GOP nomination if he could not finish in the top four.
Brownback made the comments Wednesday while fielding questions in a liveInternet discussion on washingtonpost.com.
In response to a questioner who asked whether Brownback planned to end hisbid if he places outside the top four contenders, Brownback said, "That iscorrect. I need to finish in that group to move on forward."
A poll conducted for The Des Moines Register earlier this month showsBrownback in seventh place and drawing support from just 2 percent ofRepublicans surveyed.
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101107clinton.htm
Iowa Political Glass Ceiling Presents New Challenge To Clinton
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 11, 2007 - 8:00 am ET
(Des Moines, Iowa) For Hillary Rodham Clinton to win Iowa, she'll have toget past the men challenging her for the Democratic presidential nominationand the state's tradition of turning a cold shoulder to female candidates.
Iowa is one of only two states - Mississippi is the other - that have neversent a woman to Congress or the governor's mansion. None have been tested inIowa's presidential caucuses; any who campaigned here dropped out before thevote.
But Clinton is campaigning in large part on her gender; she noted during aswing through the state this week that she couldn't run as anything else.She is making appeals to women and the voters who support them in subtle anddirect ways.
She says she's not running because she's a woman, but because she is themost qualified and experienced person for the job. But at every stop, sheused her potential to break through the ultimate glass ceiling as part ofher closing argument for voters to elect her.
"I was so touched the first time I shook the hand of a woman and she reachedout and grabbed my hand and said to me, `I'm 95 years old. I was born beforewomen could vote and I'm going to live long enough to see a woman in theWhite House!'" Clinton said in Dakota City.
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49689.asp
Alabama Elects First Openly Gay Male Official
October 11, 2007
Alabama voters selected the state's first openly gay male official for aseat on the Birmingham board of education, according to the Victory Fund, agroup that helps LGBT politicians win elected office.
Howard Bayless, 42, is a former board chairman of Equality Alabama and iscurrently the cochair of the Equality Federation. He is also the corporatedirector of development for Bradford Health Services, according to theBirmingham News.
Bayless, who won with 4,059 votes, defeated his opponent, Earnest Lumpkin, amanager of the Woodlawn branch of Regions Bank, who took 1,154 votes,according to the newspaper. Neither candidate had political experience.
"Howard Bayless is a hero to gay people in Alabama, but his election provesthat all kinds of voters respond to real leadership," said Chuck Wolfe,president and CEO of the Victory Fund. "There will come a time when gay andlesbian candidates will be able to win across the state, and people likeHoward will be remembered as the trailblazers."
His election follows that of Alabama representative Patricia Todd, who lastyear became the first gay or lesbian candidate elected to any office in thestate.
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49690.asp
Law Firms Rated on LGBT Partners, Associates, Other Diversity Criteria
October 11, 2007
About one fifth of large New York law firms do not have gay, lesbian,bisexual, or transgender partners or associates, according to new data byBuilding a Better Legal Profession, a grassroots organization composed oflaw students. The findings, released Wednesday in Washington, D.C., are partof a larger report rating law firms in six markets -- New York, Washington,Boston, Chicago, Northern California, and Southern California -- on thediversity of their partners and associates.
In New York, 14 of the 69 New York firms included had no openly LGBTpartners, while 16 had no LGBT associates. Women, another category rated,made up less than 25% of partners at every Manhattan firm surveyed,according to the report.
Sullivan & Cromwell, which faced allegations of sexual harassment from a gayassociate earlier this year, topped the list in the partner category, with10 partners (8.8%) identifying as LGBT.
In D.C., 17 out of the 42 firms included in the survey had no openly LGBTpartners, while nine of them had no out associates. (The Advocate)
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49680.asp
Craig's "Wide Stance" Excuse Finds Way Into Lexicon
October 11, 2007
Among the most famous excuses ever given for questionable behavior, ''I have
a wide stance'' must fall somewhere between the schoolchild's favorite,
''The dog ate my homework,'' and President Clinton's ''I didn't inhale.''
But Sen. Larry Craig's contention -- made just after his arrest in a
restroom sex sting -- has permeated the public consciousness, showing up as
more than just the punch line to late-night talk show jokes.
The online Urban Dictionary defines ''wide stance'' as a euphemism for a
closeted homosexual. David Kurtz of the blog Talking Points Memo called
Craig's wide stance claim ''The Best Legal Defense of 2007.'' And Beau
Jarvis, who writes about wine, travel, and food on the blogBasic Juice,
notes that the phrase has become less than innocent and proposes
''cleansing'' it by using it to describe a well-balanced wine.
Craig uttered the now-famous phrase after an undercover police officer at
the Minneapolis airport arrested him on June 11, according to police
reports.
Sgt. Dave Karsnia claimed Craig entered a neighboring stall after peering at
him through a crack in the door, then slid his foot underneath the stall
divider, tapping it several times before moving it so it touched the
officer's foot. Then, Karsnia said, Craig waved his hand underneath the
divider. Karsnia said he recognized the gestures as a coded invitation for
gay sex.
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49684.asp
Study: Most States Don't Enforce Mandatory HIV Testing
October 11, 2007
More than 30 states have laws barring doctors from heeding a call by U.S.health officials to routinely test Americans for the AIDS virus, researchersreport. And states don't seem to be in any rush to change that.
None have chosen to remove all barriers since the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention announced new testing guidelines last year, theresearchers said in a new study Tuesday.
''I think if they were going to change, they would have done so by now,''said Lawrence Gostin, a public-health law expert at Georgetown University.He was not involved in the research but agreed with its findings.
But CDC officials disagreed. They cited more than a half dozen states thathave made some kind of law change to simplify HIV testing. Other changesappear to be pending in California and other states, they said.
''I don't think it's a done deal,'' said Bernard Branson of CDC's HIV andAIDS prevention division.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:2:./temp/~r110xXIuNC:e0>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:2:./temp/~r110xXIuNC:e0:
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mahoney of Florida). Under theSpeaker's announced policy of January 18, 2007, the gentleman fromMassachusetts (Mr. Frank) is recognized for 60 minutes as thedesignee of the majority leader.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, let me do what I thinkyou cannot do under the rules and reassure your constituents inFlorida that you have not become a Tennesseean when they weren'tlooking. I believe the gentleman from Tennessee left the chair, andwe do now have the gentleman from Florida in the chair.
Mr. Speaker, I want to address today a very important issue thatis generating an intense discussion among a fairly small segment ofpeople who follow things, and it seems to us it's not healthy andthat we ought to have a broader discussion, both of the specificissue, which is a question of how to protect people againstdiscrimination based on their sexual orientation and at some pointI would hope their gender and their gender identity, and also howdo political parties relate to those in the population who are themost passionate, the most committed and the most legitimatelyzealous about their feelings, often on one particular issue to theexclusion of a broader set.
Before I came to Congress in 1981, former Members, thegentlewoman from New York (Ms. Abzug), gentleman from Massachusetts(Mr. Tsongas) and others, in the House filed legislation to make itillegal to discriminate against people in employment based on theirsexual orientation; that is, they would have made it illegal in thesame way that the 1964 Civil Rights Act made it illegal based onrace, but in a different statute for a variety of reasons, forpeople to be fired, for people to refuse to hire people, for peopleto be denied promotions or in other ways discriminated against inthe job based on their being gay or lesbian or bisexual. That was,and has been, the number one legislative goal of gay and lesbian,bisexual people for more than 30 years.
much more.....
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Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Rep. Frank to Hold Press Conference on ENDA
WASHINGTON, DC - Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) willhold a press conference tomorrow, Thursday,October 11, at 11:30 a.m. The subject will bethe obligation of the Democratic Party to governresponsibly when confronted by a demand to reactemotionally by a deeply committed, single-issuefaction insisting on putting ideological purityover achievable advancement of our values.
The specific example discussed will be thecurrent demand that the Democratic leadershipkill the Employment Non-Discrimination Act(ENDA), which has been the prime legislativegoal for gay and lesbian people for over 30years, because we do not have the votes to include people who are transgender.
WHO: Rep. Barney Frank
WHAT: Press Conference to discuss the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
WHEN: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:30am
WHERE: Room 2219, Rayburn House Office Building
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Congressman Frank's Extraordinary Call to Action
by Mara Keisling
Executive Director
National Center for Transgender Equality
Tuesday, October 9
It is clear that it is time to step it up another notch. Our collectiveefforts are obviously working spectacularly. Congress is hearing us.Tonight our amazing ally the Equality Federation told us that they havedocumented over 14,000 individual contacts to members of Congress. That'sjust the contacts we know of. Tens of thousands of transgender people andour allies have reached into their hearts and mobilized to make the case fortransgender rights and LGBT unity. Almost 300 organizations have chosen tostand with us and attach their names to our joint effort.
Another significant thing happened tonight. Up to this point, no member ofCongress has done more to advance transgender rights in Washington, DC thanCongressman Barney Frank. I am truly distressed when transgender or alliedpeople misunderstand the great work and tremendous heart he thus far has putinto this lifesaving work-lifesaving work for transgender and all LBGTpeople. But tonight we respectfully cannot disagree more with his proposedstrategy, nor agree more that there is additional work to do.
This evening Congressman Frank took to the House floor to discusstransgender rights-this time with a message he correctly noted we would beless happy to hear. He reminded us that we have not yet finished theimportant education of Congress and the public that we diligently set aboutdoing a decade or more ago. Mr. Frank's words are a call to action, and wemust step up our educational efforts with new found focus and intensity.
There are, no doubt, others who are disheartened by the Congressman's words,but just that he spoke them, tells a story of our success and of the needfor us to finish the education we have done so well together.
People do not ask for their civil rights when Congress is ready to givethose rights happily and wrapped neatly. They ask for, they demand, theirrights when they need them. And LGBT people need job protections rightsnow. Transgender people need job protection rights now. My friend Angelareminded me this weekend that ENDA is a matter of life and death.
Transgender people around the country are still having their lives destroyedby the ignorance and discrimination that Congress can help us end. Sometransgender people are losing our jobs, our homes, our families, and evenour very lives to the despair, to the hopelessness that discrimination canlead to.
We will continue doing this education and we agree with Congressman Frankthat we must continue stronger and with greater purpose.
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INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
International Human Rights Group Demands Accountability from U.S. HIV/AIDS Fund
Is the U.S. Financing Homophobia in Africa?
October 10, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, IGLHRC Communications Coordinator, 212-430- 6016
(New York, October 10, 2007) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has uncovered evidence that the U.S. government has funded groups in Uganda that actively promote discrimination against lesbians and gay men. In a letter to U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul, IGLHRC has criticized funding the groups and has asked for assurances that U.S. government funds are not being used to support homophobic organizations anywhere in the world.
IGLHRC's investigation followed a series of distressing events in Uganda. At an August 16 press conference, Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG), a coalition of LGBT groups, launched Let us Live in Peace Campaign, calling for understanding and respect of sexual minorities. SMUG's campaign was met with an increase in hate speech by religious groups. The primary instigator of the backlash was Pastor Martin Ssempa, leader of the Makerere University Community Church and spokesman for the Interfaith Family Culture Coalition Against omosexuality in Uganda. Ssempa organized an August 21 rally in Kampala, the country's largest city, at which more than one hundred demonstrators, including several government officials, demanded official action against LGBT people. Ssempa has called homosexual conduct, "a criminal act against the laws of nature," and has said that, "there should be no rights granted to homosexuals in this country."
According to the U.S. Embassy in Uganda's website, Makerere University Community Church received a grant under a program designed to provide funds for AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs in Africa. Mr. Ssempa and his coalition, which includes Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, and Evangelicals, have threatened the safety of Ugandan LGBT rights activists by posting their names, photos and addresses on a website http://kobsrugby.com/demo/). With support from conservative organizations such as Family Watch International in the United States, Ssempa has launched attacks not only on homosexuals but on Uganda's women's rights and HIV activists as well.
"The U.S. government's funding is meant to alleviate suffering and support effective AIDS initiatives in Africa, not to further blame and stigmatize already marginalized groups," said IGLHRC Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick. IGLHRC provided Ambassador Dybul with evidence of grants made by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Makerere University Community Church.
Furthermore, IGLHRC found that the Uganda Muslim Tabliqh Women's Desk has also received a grant under the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to implement HIV programs in Masaka District. Recently, Muslim Tabliqh youth announced a plan to form an 'Anti-Gay Squad' to fight homosexuality in Uganda. On 28 August 2007, Sheikh Multah Bukenya, a senior cleric in the Tabliqh Organization, was quoted during prayers at Noor Mosque in Kampala as saying that his followers are "ready to act swiftly and form this squad that will wipe out all abnormal practices like homosexuality in our society."
PEPFAR is a $15 billion Bush administration fund to fight AIDS in Africa. According to IGLHRC's 2007 report, "Off the Map: How HIV/AIDS Programming is Failing Same-Sex Practicing People in Africa," less than U.S. $1 million targets HIV programs for men who have sex with men in Africa, despite strong vidence that HIV has a disproportionate impact on LGBT communities throughout the continent. According to IGLHRC, the complicated PEPFAR sub-granting process lacks transparency and makes it difficult to track the funding.
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President misquoted over gays in Iran: aide
Wed Oct 10, 11:38 AM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president was misrepresented by Western media when he was quoted saying there were no gays in Iran, and actually meant there were not so many as in the United States, a presidential aide said on Wednesday.
Addressing New York's Columbia University last month, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad replied to a question about gays in the Islamic Republic saying: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."
Speaking through a translator, he also said: "In Iran we don't have this phenomenon."
The remarks drew widespread criticism in the West.Homosexuality is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic."What Ahmadinejad said was not a political answer. He said that, compared to merican society, we don't have many homosexuals," presidential media adviser Mohammad Kalhor said.
Kalhor told Reuters that because of historical, religious and cultural differences homosexuality was less common in Iran and the Islamic world than in the West.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in May the last person known "with reasonable certainty" to have been sentenced to execution in Iran for consensual homosexual conduct was in 2005. But it did not know if the sentence had been carried out.
Scott Long
Director
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY USA 10118
Tel. +01 (212) 216-1297
Fax +01 (212) 216-1876
E-mail: longs@hrw.org
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UK
Christians warn against Incitement to Hatred laws based on sexuality
Any new incitement to hatred law should be written with care to avoidintolerance of free speech, the Evangelical Alliance has said followingGovernment proposals this week.
by Daniel Blake
Posted: Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 15:00 (BST)
Christian Today
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.warn.against.incitement.to.hatred.laws.based.on.sexuality/13826.htm
Any new incitement to hatred law should be written with care to avoidintolerance of free speech, the Evangelical Alliance has said followingGovernment proposals this week.Christians warn against Incitement to Hatred laws based on sexuality
The Alliance, which represents more than a million evangelical Christians inthe UK, has reiterated its opposition to any incitement of homophobic orother forms of hatred.
However, it has added that it is hopeful the Government will consultcarefully if it decides to go ahead with banning incitement on grounds ofsexuality in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.
Evangelical Alliance head of public affairs Dr Don Horrocks said: "Wesupport legislation that seeks effectively to prevent the stirring up ofhatred, but our view remains that the existing law was adequate to deal withoffences relating both to religion and sexuality.
"The obvious difficulty in attempting to legislate in this area is thatthere is a real risk of free speech being severely curtailed and peopleconsequently feeling afraid to engage in legitimate debate, unless the lawis clearly defined."
In Monday's debate of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill the LordChancellor, Jack Straw, announced that the Government intended to table anamendment to extend the offence of incitement to racial hatred to coverhatred against persons on the basis of their sexuality.
The homosexual rights lobbyists Stonewall has been pushing for just such anamendment.
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UK
Incitement law won't protect gay people
10.10.2007
Brett Lock
Index of Censorship
http://www.indexonline.org/en/news/articles/2007/3/britain-incitement-law-wo
n-t-help-gay-people.shtml
The government's proposed law against homophobic hate speech is unworkableand disingenuous, says Brett Lock
Unless the government has it in mind to ban the Bible, the new law announcedby the government this week proposing to outlaw homophobic hate speech willbe ineffective.
The major source of homophobic hatred in our society is from religiousgroups. Almost every single anti-gay group in Britain is religious. Thesegroups hide behind their 'holy' texts, and unless the law has the backboneand resolve to ban these texts and to prosecute the priests, imams andrabbis who quote them, it is wasting its time trying to clamp down onanti-gay hate-speech.
The proposed law will bring itself into disrepute and serve only totrivialise homophobic violence if it were only ever used against dim-wittedBig Brother contestants and drunk Oxford students, while ignoring religiousleaders - the most guilty.
Leviticus 18:22 says: 'If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with awoman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be putto death; their blood shall be upon them.'
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[Send your comments about articles to rays.list@comcast.net]
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Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org
TRUTH WINS OUT RELEASES 'EX-GAY = EX-WIFE' VIDEO THAT DETAILS HOW EX-GAYMARRIAGES LEAD TO HEARTBREAK AND DIVORCE
Groups That Encourage Marriage As A Cure For Homosexuality Destroy Families
And Treat Spouses and Children As Collateral Damage
NEW YORK - Truth Wins Out released an exclusive National Coming Out Dayvideo today, "Ex-Gay = Ex-Wife," that features the stories of fourcourageous women whose families fell apart after their closeted husbandscame out. This video is the latest in TWO's "Talking Truth" campaign andhighlights the harm of ex-gay programs from a unique perspective - that ofthe spouse who gets left behind when the promised "cure" does not endure.
"Ex-gay programs love to show the wedding photos, but they never show youthe divorce papers that result from such ill-conceived marriages," saidTruth Wins Out's Executive Director, Wayne Besen. "These programs holdmarriage up as the Holy Grail to heterosexuality, but the truth is, thesemarriages wholly fail, leaving shattered lives and broken families."
Bonnie Kaye, an author and director of the organization www.GayHusbands.com,has dedicated her life to counseling women after the demise of her ownmarriage. She blames anti-gay activists, such as Alan Chambers of ExodusInternational and James Dobson of Focus on the Family, for creating suchmiserable and doomed marriages.
"Alan Chambers and James Dobson are destroying the lives of families, nothelping them...It's not a choice, people are who they are. Learn to lovethem and learn to embrace them and help them love themselves so they don'thave to go and get married to be somebody they're not," said Kaye.
In the video, Nancy Davis shares how her former father-in law, apsychologist, recommended that his son meet a woman, get married and lead astraight life. "I feel like I was used, I was like an innocent lamb lead toslaughter," Davis said.
The pain of such marriages can linger, long after the divorce is final."Many of us are severely damaged...the spouses and children end up being thecollateral damage," said Carol Silverman of the Straight Spouse Network, whowas divorced after being married for nearly three decades.
Ignoring the failure and destruction all around them, ex-gay groupsarrogantly and selfishly continue to use such families as pawns in theirdivisive culture war. "These organizations that try to convince people thatthey can be cured need to be stopped," asserted Tracy Rosenberg, whodivorced her husband after almost 20 years.
"This video is a powerful reality check and a warning for those who wouldmarry thinking that it will help them go from gay to straight," said Besen."We are now looking to tell the stories of husbands whose marriages endedwhen their ex-gay wives came out as lesbians."
Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wingpropaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life.For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
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News Max
http://www.newsmax.com/koch/hillary_for_president/2007/10/08/39113.html?s=al&promo_code=3B19-1
Monday, October 8, 2007 4:09 PM
By: Edward I. Koch
I'm backing Hillary Clinton for president.
I predict the Democratic ticket will ultimately be headed by Hillary, withBarack Obama as her vice presidential nominee. Some political commentatorssay that America is not ready to elect a ticket headed by a woman with ablack running mate. Many say that one or the other would be acceptable, butnot both.
I disagree.
Those people do not appreciate how far America has come in race and genderrelations. This is the Golden Age of America, an age of opportunity for all.We had an intimation of this new age in the 2000 presidential race, when JoeLieberman was more popular running as vice president on the Democraticticket then Al Gore at the top of the ticket.
Having said that, and still of the same mind, I am troubled by a recentcomment by Sen. Obama. On Oct. 3, according to The New York Times, "SenatorBarack Obama said Thursday that he stopped wearing an American flag pin inhis lapel years ago, saying the symbol has become an empty substitute fortrue patriotism."
Obama's statement was "My attitude is that I'm less concerned about what you'rewearing on your lapel than what's in your heart." The Times reported, "hetold a television reporter one day earlier that he stopped wearing anAmerican flag pin shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks." In a televisioninterview, he said such symbols "become a substitute for, I think, truepatriotism," adding, "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest."
more....
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Larry Craig's New Music Video [humorous]
As seen on
http://ronnmills.blogspot.com/2007/10/larry-craigs-new-music-video.html
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thegaymilitarytimes.com/071009Russ.html
TUCSON TRANS VET SPEAKS OUT
Profiles in Patriotism
By Denny Meyer
Erin Russ, a transgender American, was a US Army Infantry Captain who servedhonorably for 9 years from 1981 to 1990. The Russ family in which Erin wasraised was archetypal, normal Americana. The family was involved in BoyScouts, Girl Scouts, and church; her father had served as a sergeant in theKorean War, a brother was in the Air Force, a nephew is a Marine, and fourcousins, both grandfathers and all three uncles served their countryproudly. Her father, a mechanical engineer, taught his children to think forthemselves, to find out for themselves why things are the way they are andhow to achieve results. That proved to be the sort of cognitive qualitydesired by the Army for a modern military officer.
Growing up, Erin was always aware of being different from the expectationsof others. As a boy, she knew that she was supposed to 'belong' to onegroup, and that there was no choice in the matter, and yet, she knew thatexpectation was wrong as it applied to her; she knew she was the wronggender. As any LGBT American child growing up in the 1950s and 60sinstinctively realized, Erin simply knew that a boy does not tell anyonethat "he" is a girl. As Erin put it, "I had a lot of fun as a kid in the BoyScouts; its just that I wanted to be a girl." She occasionally cross dressedin high school and college, when it was possible to do so. At the same time,she dreamed of being a fighter pilot; not an unreasonable possibility as inthe 1970s America's first female U2 jet pilots and astronauts wereheroically deflating gender role stereotypes. Erin later opted for the Armyon discovering that the planes did not come in size XL
Yet, despite the Sturm und Drang of dealing with that alone while growingup, without any advice nor solace from anyone, the strength of her familyand rearing allowed Erin to become a self-confident self-sufficientintelligent young adult who had all the qualifications and qualities to beamong the best, an US Army Infantry officer.
In 1978, Erin Russ was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US ArmyNational Guard. You might ask, "What was she thinking? How could atransgender person imagine serving as a leader in our military?" It was notas simple as the fact that in reality, to be a leader, it simply does notmatter if one is male or female, nor does it matter what one chooses to wearwhen out of uniform. There was also the societal pressure to conform, tomeet the expectations of others, to try to force oneself into the "right"role. Erin was already militarily inclined; in fulfilling that dream role,she'd hoped it might resolve the gender disparity within by "making a man"out of her. It would have been most ideal to be able to serve as a woman;but at the time that option was not available, nor is it quite yet today inthis country.
As an Army Infantry officer, Erin served ably as a paratrooper, an infantryplatoon leader, scout platoon leader, company commander, logistics officer,assistant brigade ops officer, and as an infantry division air ops officer(in Alaska responsible for all army aircraft flying below 500 feet --workingwith a multi-million-dollar budget). She served at Ft. Hood, Ft. Benning,Ft. Wainright in Alaska, and traveled to Europe and Japan in support ofjoint military exercises. She was respected as a thorough trainer and leaderof troops in the field, and as a student of military history, wrote paperson international terrorism, accurately predicting current trends and foroversight detail analysis that averted munitions supply errors that couldhave resulted in the Army's European mission's failure. Captain Russ alsocollaborated on the production of one of the Army's counter insurgencymanuals in the mid 1980's, lending one of her college papers to the project.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.thegaymilitarytimes.com/071009TucsonRes.html
Tucson Arizona enacts DADT repeal resolution
By Denny Meyer
Last month the City of Tucson Arizona joined the growing list of cities,counties, and the State of California, that have sent a resolution toCongress advocating the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. In thespring of 2005, the New York City Council, by an overwhelming vote, sent thefirst such resolution. West Hollywood and San Francisco followed. Over thenext two years, resolutions were enacted in Cathedral City, CA, Chicago, St.Louis, Atlanta, Portland, OR, and Dekalb County, GA. Similar resolutionswere also enacted by the California legislature, Stonewall Democrats, andJewish War Veterans.
As the sixth largest GLBT community in the nation, Tucson has a highlyactive GLBT Commission that brings issues to the attention of theseven-member City Council and the Mayor who jointly vote on issues, as theydid unanimously to urge their congressional delegation to repeal DADT.According to John-Peter Wilhite, a GLBT Commission Member, the nearlyyear-long process that led to the vote was a joint effort by commissionersAmanda Simpson, Pam Liberty, Brenda Kazen, himself, and out Council MemberKarin Uhlich. Speaking at a press conference after the vote was transgenderveteran Erin Russ, whose presence, at the invitation of CommissionerWilhite, symbolized the City's commitment to full inclusion of the rights ofall its citizens and a municipal intolerance of discrimination.
Tucson GLBT Commission Member Wilheite, originally from Indianapolis, withdegrees in Human Communications and fashion (well, he is gay, after all),began being a gay activist in college by helping to establish the first gayand lesbian student association at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Helater was a member of ACTUP in San Francisco and has served on numerousboards, advisory councils, and sub-commissions as well as politicalcampaigns on behalf of gay candidates.
Erin Russ, a former Army Infantry Captain, who spoke at the Tucson pressconference regarding Don't Ask Don't Tell, is featured in a Gay MilitaryTimes profile of her life and service.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2007/10/08/polinsider1008.html
GOP officials religiously avoid nomination issue
POLITICAL INSIDER:
By Bob Kemper, Jim Galloway
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/08/07
Saturday night was proof positive that while national punditry may foreseethe declining influence of a splintered Religious Right in politicalaffairs, few Republicans in Georgia are willing to test the theory.
The 50-plus tables at a Cobb County dinner for the Georgia ChristianAlliance were snapped up by GOP officials at every level, even if a certainnumber didn't feel the need to show up in person.
They sent substitutes who were willing, even eager, to escape theafternoon's Georgia-Tennessee game. Despite the lack of any alcoholicanesthesia.
This was Sadie Fields' opportunity to show she didn't need the name of theChristian Coalition to preserve the clout of her group. She severed therelationship with the fading national organization last year, and adopted anew moniker.
To remind elected officials why they respect her -- and perhaps fear her,too -- Fields thoughtfully included on every seat in the house a brochurescoring the 2007 votes of 236 state lawmakers.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/64465/
The War on Pot: America's $42 Billion Annual Boondoggle
By Rob Kampia, AlterNet
Posted on October 9, 2007, Printed on October 11, 2007
What would you buy if you had an extra $42 billion to spend every year? Whatmight our government buy if it suddenly had that much money dropped onto itslap every year?
For one thing, it might pay for the entire $7 billion annual increase in theState Children's Health Insurance Program that President Bush is threateningto veto because of its cost -- and there'd still be $35 billion left over.
Or perhaps you'd hire 880,000 schoolteachers at the average U.S. teachersalary of $47,602 per year.
Or give every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise (at a cost of$15 billion, according to the American Federation of Teachers) and usewhat's left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit.
Or use all $42 billion for a massive tax cut that would put an extra $140 inthe pockets of every person in the country -- $560 for a family of four.
more . . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5693.html
Inheritance tax allowance raised for civil partners
9th October 2007 17:50
Tony Grew
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has doubled the inheritance tax thresholdfor civil partners and married people.
Presenting his pre-Budget report to the House of Commons, Alastair Darlingannounced that from today the threshold will rise to £600,000. By 2010-11the threshold will rise to £700,000.
Until now all estates worth more than £300,000 were taxed at 40%, althoughassets left to a civil partner or spouse are exempt from taxation.
Civil partners and married couples can combine their allowances after theirone of them dies, allowing the remaining partner's estate to be tax-free upto £600,000.
The new threshold will be backdated for three million widows or widowers,meaning that those whose spouse or civil partner predeceased them will stillsee their estate be tax-free upon their death up to the £600,000 limit.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5686.html
Muslims join Christian condemnation of gay protection law
9th October 2007 12:31
Tony Grew
The Islamic Human Rights Commission has condemned a proposed new offence ofincitement to hatred on the basis of sexual orientation, adding its voice toa chorus of complaints from evangelical Christians.
The IHRC, an "independent, not-for-profit, campaign, research and advocacyorganisation based in London," attacked the concept of a gay incitement law.
"If someone is reading the Bible and calls homosexuality an abomination, isthat going to be incitement?
"There are similar passages in the Koran and the Talmud," Massoud Shadjarehof the IHRC told the Daily Express.
"I was against the incitement to religious hatred legislation. Either youwater it down until it becomes pointless or you have a situation where youdeprive people the right to have access to freedom of speech."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/10/gay-papers-weig.html
Gay papers weigh in on ENDA
October 08, 2007
Gay newspaper editorials this past week reflect the divide among GLBsgenerally on whether to adopt a "trans or bust" strategy for the EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act. The vigorous debate on LGBT editorial pages furtherputs the lie to Matt Foreman's claims of "unity" on the subject, and alsooffers a convenient way to drill down to the core issues here.
The Bay Area Reporter published a harshly worded editorial taking to task"two stalwarts of our community" -- Barney Frank and the Human Rightscampaign -- for their ENDA positions. The editorial chastised HRC for its"inexplicable and inexcusable" silence during much of the debate over ENDA,which HRC has defended as necessary to "staying in the game" with BarneyFrank and other Congressional leaders. (As if Barney Frank would refuseHRC's phone calls if they publicly opposed him.)
HRC has managed to alienate many on both sides of the ENDA issue, while nodoubt remaining popular with those who want to ride the fence on ENDA untilthey can see how it all comes out in the end. After "heartbreaking" and"wrenching" internal debate -- one can imagine the hand-wringing -- JoeSolmonese has described HRC's position as "unequivocally" in support oftrans-inclusive ENDA and opposed to gay-specific ENDA.
That said, Solmonese does equivocate on what HRC do if Barney and NancyPelosi go forward with a gay-specific version. When push comes to shove, HRCwill apparently abandon its "unequivocal" position and will not activelyoppose a gay-specific version.
The BAR editorial closes by noting:
What's amazing to us is that Frank and HRC are blind to the fact that thegutted ENDA bill weakens workplace protections for all members of the LGBTcommunity, not just those who are transgender. By removing genderexpression, the bill leaves out a key element to protect any employee,including lesbians and gay men, who may not conform to their employer's ideaof how a man or a woman should look and act, according to a preliminaryanalysis by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.bilerico.com/2007/10/the_evolution_of_lynne_cheney.php#more
The Evolution of Lynne Cheney
Filed by: Steve Ralls
October 8, 2007 5:29 PM
Lynne Cheney wants you to know that she's evolved. Or at least evolving.
America's "second lady" is on a media blitz promoting her new book, BlueSkies, No Fences, and appeared yesterday on CBS Sunday Morning to talk abouteverything from criticisms about her husband (which she finds "surreal"), toher future in politics (she doesn't seem inclined to run for anything), and,yes, her views on gays. Cheney, mother to America's "second lesbian" (isEllen the first?) told CBS that, "I think the society has evolved. I'veevolved in my way of thinking, but I think the whole society has evolved.You know, my mother had a rule which was people are just people."
CBS says that the issue of LGBT Americans "is sensitive to her as the motherof a gay daughter."
Thinking back to her own school-yard days, Cheney remembers that, the "worldof prom dates and being homecoming queen was not open to everyone - AfricanAmericans, for example. And she writes that the times 'were hard on kids whowere gay,'" according to CBS.
So there you have it: Lynne knew a few gay people long before Mary camealong, thank you very much.
Mrs. Cheney, who has served as chairwoman of the National Endowment for theHumanities, also has more of a history with the gay community (inliterature, as well as family) than most people might know. She was theauthor of the cult classic Sisters, a pulp fiction tale of love, lust andlonging . . . among lesbians. Cheney's ode to Sapphism has become such acollectors' item, in fact, that it regularly fetches hundreds of dollars onwebsites like eBay.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Black_Pastors_AIDS.html
Black Pastors Step Up in HIV/AIDS Fight
By DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Black ministers called on the federal government Tuesday todeclare HIV/AIDS among blacks a public health emergency and proposedlegislation to address the disease in their community.
Almost half of all new HIV diagnoses are among blacks. Black men werediagnosed with the disease at a rate eight times that of white men, whileblack women were diagnosed at a rate almost 23 times that of white women,according to 2005 figures, the most recent available, from the U.S. Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention.
The church leaders also pledged to promote HIV/AIDS testing and awarenessamong their congregations.
"Just as African-American clergy fervently came together 50 years ago tofight for civil rights, we are banding together today to bring an end toHIV/AIDS and its potential to obliterate our community," said Bishop T.D.Jakes, leader of the Dallas megachurch, The Potter's House.
Jakes spoke at a two-day conference of black clergy organized by theNational Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. The event drew more than 150members of the clergy, politicians and medical professionals.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/23740
Scientist: Greenhouse Gas Levels Grave
From: Meraiah Foley -Associated Press
Published October 9, 2007 08:45 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Strong worldwide economic growth has acceleratedthe level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere to a dangerousthreshold scientists had not expected for another decade, according to aleading Australian climate change expert.
Scientist Tim Flannery told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that an upcomingreport by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will containnew data showing that the level of climate-changing gases in the atmospherehas already reached critical levels.
Flannery is not a member of the IPCC, but said he based his comments on athorough review of the technical data included in the panel's three workinggroup reports published earlier this year. The IPCC is due to release itsfinal report synthesizing the data in November.
"What the report establishes is that the amount of greenhouse gas in theatmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially causedangerous climate change," Flannery told the broadcaster late Monday. "Weare already at great risk of dangerous climate change, that's what thesefigures say. It's not next year or next decade, it's now."
Flannery, whose recent book "The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing theClimate and What It Means for Life on Earth," made best-seller listsworldwide, said the data showed that the amount of carbon dioxide and othergreenhouse gas emissions had reached about 455 parts per million bymid-2005, well ahead of scientists' previous calculations.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid49635.asp
Bisexuals Get Their 15 Minutes
October 08, 2007
MySpace celeb Tila Tequila discusses her new MTV dating show which posessixteen straight men against sixteen lesbians. One giant step for bi-kind?
By Job Brother
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 8, 2007
We're living in the age of the cyber-celebrity. People like Perez Hilton,Jessica Lee Rose, and Markos Zúniga have circumvented the standard avenuesto stardom in lieu of the Information Superhighway. Tila Tequila (born TilaNguyen) is one of the latest self-made celebrities poised on the brink ofcrossing over into mainstream stardom. She is best known as the "mostpopular person on MySpace," having more "friends" in the online communitythan anyone, save its president, the ubiquitous Tom Anderson.
Tequila's new "reality" TV show, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila willpremiere October 9 on MTV. In it 16 straight men and 16 lesbians will livein Tila's house and compete for her affection, the twist being that thecontestants will not be aware of her bisexuality until later in the series.
Before her dating romp hits the nation, Tequila took a break to sit down andflirt with The Advocate.
So what's your new show all about?
My quest to find someone I love, male [or] female.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5688.html
Gay Prince to appear on Oprah show
9th October 2007 13:15
PinkNews.co.uk writer
One of the most prominent openly gay people in India is to appear on theworld-famous Oprah Winfrey talkshow.
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, from the Royal family of Gujarat in north westIndia, made headlines around the world last year when he publicly came outof the closet.
He was initially disowned by his family, but has continued to work withHIV-awareness programmes and he will discuss his work with Oprah.
The Prince has never really sought to hide his sexual orientation, producingand staring in the gay film Emotionally Yours and setting up anHIV-awareness charity to educate gay men about the dangers of the disease.
This charity, Lakshya, has solemnised gay "marriages" and is conductingresearch into acceptance for homosexuality in Holy Scriptures.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5684.html
York to host lesbian festival
9th October 2007 11:35
PinkNews.co.uk writer
The biggest Lesbian Arts Festival in the country will be taking place in thecity of York later this month. There are a range of events, some open toeveryone, others women-only.
On Saturday 27th October a Book Festival will be held at York Racecourse.
The event and be packed with talented and inspiring authors and artists fromthe UK and USA.
Authors in attendance include Val McDermid, Stella Duffy, Rhona Cameron,Manda Scott and Sarah Waters.
The Book Festival is open to all women and men as guests of women.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5687.html
Tennis coach denies she is a lesbian
9th October 2007 12:53
Gemma Pritchard
A top female tennis coach accused of having an affair with a 13-year-oldgirl denied she is a lesbian, a Liverpool court heard yesterday.
Ex-tennis pro Claire Lyte, 29, told police "I like men," when asked abouther sexuality.
Transcripts of the police interview with the former Lawn Tennis Associationcoach of the year were read to a jury yesterday.
Lyte, from Solihull, is accused of five counts of unlawful sexual activitywith a pupil, which she denies.
Liverpool Crown Court court has already been told by the girl's mother shefound Lyte naked with her daughter at the family home in 2005.
more . . . . .
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NationalGayNews.com
http://www.starbanner.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071009/APN/710091003&template=printpicart
School board bans clubs based on sexual orientation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OKEECHOBEE, Fla.
The Okeechobee County School Board decided Tuesday that clubs based onsexual orientation are not allowed.
Schools Superintendent Patricia Cooper recommended the change to strengthenthe district's existing policy. Cooper wrote in a memo that the change would"assure that student clubs and organizations do not interfere with theSchool Board's abstinence only sex education policy."
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the district lastyear over whether the student Gay-Straight Alliance should be allowed tomeet at Okeechobee High School. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of YasminGonzalez, who graduated last year.
A judge ruled earlier this year the club should be allowed to meet until thelawsuit is settled. The case is expected to be heard in March.
Because of the judge's ruling, the Gay-Straight Alliance still will beallowed to meet at the school, assistant superintendent Ken Kenworthy said.But the rule change will prevent future clubs from meeting at the school.
A message left for the ACLU after hours Tuesday was not immediatelyreturned.
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NationalGayNews.com
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hfX8e3TIntUZM8Q0hPTYBs3gRvjQD8S5DB3G0
Work Fails to Block Ore. Gay Rights Law
By BRAD CAIN - 2 days ago
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Opponents of Oregon's new same-sex domestic partnershiplaw failed to turn in enough valid signatures to block the measure, clearingthe way for it to take effect next year, state elections officials saidMonday.
Oregon will join eight other states that have approved spousal rights insome form for gay couples - Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey,Maine, California, Washington and Hawaii. Massachusetts is the only statethat allows gay couples to marry.
The Oregon measure covers benefits related to inheritance rights,child-rearing and custody, joint state tax filings, joint health, auto andhomeowners insurance policies, visitation rights at hospitals and others. Itdoes not affect federal benefits for married couples, including SocialSecurity and joint filing of federal tax returns.
Former state Sen. Marylin Shannon, a spokeswoman for the opponents' petitiondrive, and other social conservatives believe the domestic partners billviolates the intent of voters who in 2004 adopted a constitutional ban ongay marriage.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14722
Probe continues in deaths of two gay D.C. visitors
N.Y. men reportedly had worked as escorts; witness says both took pills
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | Oct 10, 12:47 PM
D.C. police are awaiting results of toxicology tests conducted by the city'sMedical Examiner's office in their investigation into the unexplained deathsof two gay men whose bodies were found four days apart in an apartment inWashington.
The men, who did not know each other, had traveled separately last monthfrom New York City to stay with Steven Saleh, who resides in a one-bedroomapartment at the upscale Envoy Towers at 2400 16th St., N.W., according to apolice affidavit in support of a search warrant for the apartment.
Friends said the two victims were acquaintances of Saleh's, with one of thetwo, Dean Johnson, 46, having met Saleh in the past in Johnson's role as anescort, according to one friend. The other victim, Jeremy Conklin, 26, mayalso have met Saleh through Conklin's occasional work as an escort, peoplewho knew Conklin said.
The friends have said they are stunned that two men, who appeared healthy atthe time of their departure from New York, could turn up dead in the sameapartment due to unknown causes.
"Isn't it a little ridiculous that two people died the same way in the sameplace within four days?" said John Allen, Conklin's boyfriend.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=%27Abby%27+to+Be+Honored+Saturday+for+Her+Support+of+the+Gay+Community&expire=&urlID=24355534&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fdepartments%2Fsyndicates%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003656399&partnerID=60
'Abby' to Be Honored Saturday for Her Support of the Gay Community
By E&P Staff
Published: October 10, 2007 3:45 PM ET
NEW YORK "Dear Abby" writer Jeanne Phillips will be recognized this Saturdayin Washington, D.C., for her support of the gay community by Parents andFriends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), according to Universal PressSyndicate.
PFLAG's convention runs from Oct. 11-14 -- during which time openly-gayEpiscopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson will also be honored.
The "Straight for Equality" award -- part of PFLAG's new campaign to engagemore heterosexuals as allies -- is being given to Phillips for "viewsespousing tolerance, understanding, and acceptance" in the "Dear Abby"column distributed by Universal to about 1,400 newspapers.
Jeanne's mother Pauline, who founded "Dear Abby," helped promote PFLAG as aresource in 1984 when she first referred a distraught parent to theorganization. Jeanne has continued to recommend the group, its affiliate forparents with children who identify as transgender, and a suicide hotlineaimed at gay teenagers.
"I'm trying to tell kids if they are gay, it's OK to be gay. I've tried totell families if they have a gay family member to accept them and love themas they always have," Phillips said in an Associated Press interview.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101007military.htm
Gays Banned But Military Recruits Increased Number Of Convicted Criminals
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 10, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Washington) The Army last year again increased the number of its recruitswho have prior criminal records by granting them special exceptions.
The Pentagon's top personnel official defended the policy, saying it's sostringent that many in Congress would have difficulty getting into themilitary today, too, because of things they did in their youth.
The military routinely grants waivers to recruits with past criminalbehavior, medical problems or low aptitude scores that would otherwisedisqualify them from service.
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 18 percent of recruits needed waivers forproblems with the law - up from 15 percent the previous year, Maj. Gen.Thomas Bostick, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, told aPentagon news conference. He said 87 percent of those were for misdemeanorssuch as joy riding or violating curfew.
Appearing with him, defense personnel head David S.C. Chu said the waiverpolicy, taken as a whole, is a tough one and takes into consideration thewhole person and his or her future abilities, not just mistakes the personmay have made in the past.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101007mdunion.htm
Support For Civil Unions Grows Among Maryland Dems
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 10, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Annapolis, Maryland) Top state Democrats say they are warming to the ideaof civil unions for same-sex couples in Maryland but the idea is being metwith opposition from both LGBT rights groups and Republicans.
The latest to sign on to civil unions is Democratic House Speaker MichaelBusch.
"I believe in civil unions," Busch told Baltimore radio station WYPR-FM.
"I think people should have the same rights as far as probate is concerned,as far as health care is considered, as far as visitation and all thosethings."
The remarks followed a statement by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) that he wouldsupport civil unions.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101007suicide.htm
Pediatricians Told To Be On Lookout For Suicide Signs In Gay Teens
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 10, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(New York City) The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelinesfor helping doctors identify potential signs of suicide among teenagers.
Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for adolescents 15 to 19 yearsolds the Academy says in its updated guidelines, published in the journalPediatrics.
"Pediatricians can take steps to help reduce the incidence of adolescentsuicide by screening for depression and suicidal ideation and behavior," thereport by Benjamin N. Shain, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Committee onAdolescence says.
"Throughout adolescence, routine history taking should include questionsabout mood disorders, suicidal thoughts, sexual orientation, and other riskfactors for suicide. Ideally, this should occur during acute care as well asroutine care visits."
Among the risk factors listed in the report is gay or bisexual orientation.Other factors include a family history of suicide, parental history ofmental health problems, history of physical or sexual abuse, and thepresence of firearms in the home.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101107brownback.htm
Low Iowa Finish To End Brownback Presidential Bid
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 11, 2007 - 8:00 am ET
(Washington) Republican Sam Brownback says he will drop out of the race forpresident if he finishes lower than fourth place in the Iowa caucuses.
The Kansas senator had previously said he would consider ending his campaignfor the GOP nomination if he could not finish in the top four.
Brownback made the comments Wednesday while fielding questions in a liveInternet discussion on washingtonpost.com.
In response to a questioner who asked whether Brownback planned to end hisbid if he places outside the top four contenders, Brownback said, "That iscorrect. I need to finish in that group to move on forward."
A poll conducted for The Des Moines Register earlier this month showsBrownback in seventh place and drawing support from just 2 percent ofRepublicans surveyed.
more . . . . .
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365gay.com
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/10/101107clinton.htm
Iowa Political Glass Ceiling Presents New Challenge To Clinton
by The Associated Press
Posted: October 11, 2007 - 8:00 am ET
(Des Moines, Iowa) For Hillary Rodham Clinton to win Iowa, she'll have toget past the men challenging her for the Democratic presidential nominationand the state's tradition of turning a cold shoulder to female candidates.
Iowa is one of only two states - Mississippi is the other - that have neversent a woman to Congress or the governor's mansion. None have been tested inIowa's presidential caucuses; any who campaigned here dropped out before thevote.
But Clinton is campaigning in large part on her gender; she noted during aswing through the state this week that she couldn't run as anything else.She is making appeals to women and the voters who support them in subtle anddirect ways.
She says she's not running because she's a woman, but because she is themost qualified and experienced person for the job. But at every stop, sheused her potential to break through the ultimate glass ceiling as part ofher closing argument for voters to elect her.
"I was so touched the first time I shook the hand of a woman and she reachedout and grabbed my hand and said to me, `I'm 95 years old. I was born beforewomen could vote and I'm going to live long enough to see a woman in theWhite House!'" Clinton said in Dakota City.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49689.asp
Alabama Elects First Openly Gay Male Official
October 11, 2007
Alabama voters selected the state's first openly gay male official for aseat on the Birmingham board of education, according to the Victory Fund, agroup that helps LGBT politicians win elected office.
Howard Bayless, 42, is a former board chairman of Equality Alabama and iscurrently the cochair of the Equality Federation. He is also the corporatedirector of development for Bradford Health Services, according to theBirmingham News.
Bayless, who won with 4,059 votes, defeated his opponent, Earnest Lumpkin, amanager of the Woodlawn branch of Regions Bank, who took 1,154 votes,according to the newspaper. Neither candidate had political experience.
"Howard Bayless is a hero to gay people in Alabama, but his election provesthat all kinds of voters respond to real leadership," said Chuck Wolfe,president and CEO of the Victory Fund. "There will come a time when gay andlesbian candidates will be able to win across the state, and people likeHoward will be remembered as the trailblazers."
His election follows that of Alabama representative Patricia Todd, who lastyear became the first gay or lesbian candidate elected to any office in thestate.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49690.asp
Law Firms Rated on LGBT Partners, Associates, Other Diversity Criteria
October 11, 2007
About one fifth of large New York law firms do not have gay, lesbian,bisexual, or transgender partners or associates, according to new data byBuilding a Better Legal Profession, a grassroots organization composed oflaw students. The findings, released Wednesday in Washington, D.C., are partof a larger report rating law firms in six markets -- New York, Washington,Boston, Chicago, Northern California, and Southern California -- on thediversity of their partners and associates.
In New York, 14 of the 69 New York firms included had no openly LGBTpartners, while 16 had no LGBT associates. Women, another category rated,made up less than 25% of partners at every Manhattan firm surveyed,according to the report.
Sullivan & Cromwell, which faced allegations of sexual harassment from a gayassociate earlier this year, topped the list in the partner category, with10 partners (8.8%) identifying as LGBT.
In D.C., 17 out of the 42 firms included in the survey had no openly LGBTpartners, while nine of them had no out associates. (The Advocate)
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49680.asp
Craig's "Wide Stance" Excuse Finds Way Into Lexicon
October 11, 2007
Among the most famous excuses ever given for questionable behavior, ''I have
a wide stance'' must fall somewhere between the schoolchild's favorite,
''The dog ate my homework,'' and President Clinton's ''I didn't inhale.''
But Sen. Larry Craig's contention -- made just after his arrest in a
restroom sex sting -- has permeated the public consciousness, showing up as
more than just the punch line to late-night talk show jokes.
The online Urban Dictionary defines ''wide stance'' as a euphemism for a
closeted homosexual. David Kurtz of the blog Talking Points Memo called
Craig's wide stance claim ''The Best Legal Defense of 2007.'' And Beau
Jarvis, who writes about wine, travel, and food on the blogBasic Juice,
notes that the phrase has become less than innocent and proposes
''cleansing'' it by using it to describe a well-balanced wine.
Craig uttered the now-famous phrase after an undercover police officer at
the Minneapolis airport arrested him on June 11, according to police
reports.
Sgt. Dave Karsnia claimed Craig entered a neighboring stall after peering at
him through a crack in the door, then slid his foot underneath the stall
divider, tapping it several times before moving it so it touched the
officer's foot. Then, Karsnia said, Craig waved his hand underneath the
divider. Karsnia said he recognized the gestures as a coded invitation for
gay sex.
more . . . . .
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Advocate.com
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49684.asp
Study: Most States Don't Enforce Mandatory HIV Testing
October 11, 2007
More than 30 states have laws barring doctors from heeding a call by U.S.health officials to routinely test Americans for the AIDS virus, researchersreport. And states don't seem to be in any rush to change that.
None have chosen to remove all barriers since the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention announced new testing guidelines last year, theresearchers said in a new study Tuesday.
''I think if they were going to change, they would have done so by now,''said Lawrence Gostin, a public-health law expert at Georgetown University.He was not involved in the research but agreed with its findings.
But CDC officials disagreed. They cited more than a half dozen states thathave made some kind of law change to simplify HIV testing. Other changesappear to be pending in California and other states, they said.
''I don't think it's a done deal,'' said Bernard Branson of CDC's HIV andAIDS prevention division.
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:2:./temp/~r110xXIuNC:e0>http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:2:./temp/~r110xXIuNC:e0:
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mahoney of Florida). Under theSpeaker's announced policy of January 18, 2007, the gentleman fromMassachusetts (Mr. Frank) is recognized for 60 minutes as thedesignee of the majority leader.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, let me do what I thinkyou cannot do under the rules and reassure your constituents inFlorida that you have not become a Tennesseean when they weren'tlooking. I believe the gentleman from Tennessee left the chair, andwe do now have the gentleman from Florida in the chair.
Mr. Speaker, I want to address today a very important issue thatis generating an intense discussion among a fairly small segment ofpeople who follow things, and it seems to us it's not healthy andthat we ought to have a broader discussion, both of the specificissue, which is a question of how to protect people againstdiscrimination based on their sexual orientation and at some pointI would hope their gender and their gender identity, and also howdo political parties relate to those in the population who are themost passionate, the most committed and the most legitimatelyzealous about their feelings, often on one particular issue to theexclusion of a broader set.
Before I came to Congress in 1981, former Members, thegentlewoman from New York (Ms. Abzug), gentleman from Massachusetts(Mr. Tsongas) and others, in the House filed legislation to make itillegal to discriminate against people in employment based on theirsexual orientation; that is, they would have made it illegal in thesame way that the 1964 Civil Rights Act made it illegal based onrace, but in a different statute for a variety of reasons, forpeople to be fired, for people to refuse to hire people, for peopleto be denied promotions or in other ways discriminated against inthe job based on their being gay or lesbian or bisexual. That was,and has been, the number one legislative goal of gay and lesbian,bisexual people for more than 30 years.
much more.....
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
Rep. Frank to Hold Press Conference on ENDA
WASHINGTON, DC - Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) willhold a press conference tomorrow, Thursday,October 11, at 11:30 a.m. The subject will bethe obligation of the Democratic Party to governresponsibly when confronted by a demand to reactemotionally by a deeply committed, single-issuefaction insisting on putting ideological purityover achievable advancement of our values.
The specific example discussed will be thecurrent demand that the Democratic leadershipkill the Employment Non-Discrimination Act(ENDA), which has been the prime legislativegoal for gay and lesbian people for over 30years, because we do not have the votes to include people who are transgender.
WHO: Rep. Barney Frank
WHAT: Press Conference to discuss the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
WHEN: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:30am
WHERE: Room 2219, Rayburn House Office Building
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Congressman Frank's Extraordinary Call to Action
by Mara Keisling
Executive Director
National Center for Transgender Equality
Tuesday, October 9
It is clear that it is time to step it up another notch. Our collectiveefforts are obviously working spectacularly. Congress is hearing us.Tonight our amazing ally the Equality Federation told us that they havedocumented over 14,000 individual contacts to members of Congress. That'sjust the contacts we know of. Tens of thousands of transgender people andour allies have reached into their hearts and mobilized to make the case fortransgender rights and LGBT unity. Almost 300 organizations have chosen tostand with us and attach their names to our joint effort.
Another significant thing happened tonight. Up to this point, no member ofCongress has done more to advance transgender rights in Washington, DC thanCongressman Barney Frank. I am truly distressed when transgender or alliedpeople misunderstand the great work and tremendous heart he thus far has putinto this lifesaving work-lifesaving work for transgender and all LBGTpeople. But tonight we respectfully cannot disagree more with his proposedstrategy, nor agree more that there is additional work to do.
This evening Congressman Frank took to the House floor to discusstransgender rights-this time with a message he correctly noted we would beless happy to hear. He reminded us that we have not yet finished theimportant education of Congress and the public that we diligently set aboutdoing a decade or more ago. Mr. Frank's words are a call to action, and wemust step up our educational efforts with new found focus and intensity.
There are, no doubt, others who are disheartened by the Congressman's words,but just that he spoke them, tells a story of our success and of the needfor us to finish the education we have done so well together.
People do not ask for their civil rights when Congress is ready to givethose rights happily and wrapped neatly. They ask for, they demand, theirrights when they need them. And LGBT people need job protections rightsnow. Transgender people need job protection rights now. My friend Angelareminded me this weekend that ENDA is a matter of life and death.
Transgender people around the country are still having their lives destroyedby the ignorance and discrimination that Congress can help us end. Sometransgender people are losing our jobs, our homes, our families, and evenour very lives to the despair, to the hopelessness that discrimination canlead to.
We will continue doing this education and we agree with Congressman Frankthat we must continue stronger and with greater purpose.
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INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
International Human Rights Group Demands Accountability from U.S. HIV/AIDS Fund
Is the U.S. Financing Homophobia in Africa?
October 10, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, IGLHRC Communications Coordinator, 212-430- 6016
(New York, October 10, 2007) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has uncovered evidence that the U.S. government has funded groups in Uganda that actively promote discrimination against lesbians and gay men. In a letter to U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul, IGLHRC has criticized funding the groups and has asked for assurances that U.S. government funds are not being used to support homophobic organizations anywhere in the world.
IGLHRC's investigation followed a series of distressing events in Uganda. At an August 16 press conference, Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG), a coalition of LGBT groups, launched Let us Live in Peace Campaign, calling for understanding and respect of sexual minorities. SMUG's campaign was met with an increase in hate speech by religious groups. The primary instigator of the backlash was Pastor Martin Ssempa, leader of the Makerere University Community Church and spokesman for the Interfaith Family Culture Coalition Against omosexuality in Uganda. Ssempa organized an August 21 rally in Kampala, the country's largest city, at which more than one hundred demonstrators, including several government officials, demanded official action against LGBT people. Ssempa has called homosexual conduct, "a criminal act against the laws of nature," and has said that, "there should be no rights granted to homosexuals in this country."
According to the U.S. Embassy in Uganda's website, Makerere University Community Church received a grant under a program designed to provide funds for AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs in Africa. Mr. Ssempa and his coalition, which includes Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, and Evangelicals, have threatened the safety of Ugandan LGBT rights activists by posting their names, photos and addresses on a website http://kobsrugby.com/demo/). With support from conservative organizations such as Family Watch International in the United States, Ssempa has launched attacks not only on homosexuals but on Uganda's women's rights and HIV activists as well.
"The U.S. government's funding is meant to alleviate suffering and support effective AIDS initiatives in Africa, not to further blame and stigmatize already marginalized groups," said IGLHRC Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick. IGLHRC provided Ambassador Dybul with evidence of grants made by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Makerere University Community Church.
Furthermore, IGLHRC found that the Uganda Muslim Tabliqh Women's Desk has also received a grant under the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to implement HIV programs in Masaka District. Recently, Muslim Tabliqh youth announced a plan to form an 'Anti-Gay Squad' to fight homosexuality in Uganda. On 28 August 2007, Sheikh Multah Bukenya, a senior cleric in the Tabliqh Organization, was quoted during prayers at Noor Mosque in Kampala as saying that his followers are "ready to act swiftly and form this squad that will wipe out all abnormal practices like homosexuality in our society."
PEPFAR is a $15 billion Bush administration fund to fight AIDS in Africa. According to IGLHRC's 2007 report, "Off the Map: How HIV/AIDS Programming is Failing Same-Sex Practicing People in Africa," less than U.S. $1 million targets HIV programs for men who have sex with men in Africa, despite strong vidence that HIV has a disproportionate impact on LGBT communities throughout the continent. According to IGLHRC, the complicated PEPFAR sub-granting process lacks transparency and makes it difficult to track the funding.
more....
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President misquoted over gays in Iran: aide
Wed Oct 10, 11:38 AM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president was misrepresented by Western media when he was quoted saying there were no gays in Iran, and actually meant there were not so many as in the United States, a presidential aide said on Wednesday.
Addressing New York's Columbia University last month, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad replied to a question about gays in the Islamic Republic saying: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."
Speaking through a translator, he also said: "In Iran we don't have this phenomenon."
The remarks drew widespread criticism in the West.Homosexuality is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic."What Ahmadinejad said was not a political answer. He said that, compared to merican society, we don't have many homosexuals," presidential media adviser Mohammad Kalhor said.
Kalhor told Reuters that because of historical, religious and cultural differences homosexuality was less common in Iran and the Islamic world than in the West.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in May the last person known "with reasonable certainty" to have been sentenced to execution in Iran for consensual homosexual conduct was in 2005. But it did not know if the sentence had been carried out.
Scott Long
Director
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program
Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY USA 10118
Tel. +01 (212) 216-1297
Fax +01 (212) 216-1876
E-mail: longs@hrw.org
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UK
Christians warn against Incitement to Hatred laws based on sexuality
Any new incitement to hatred law should be written with care to avoidintolerance of free speech, the Evangelical Alliance has said followingGovernment proposals this week.
by Daniel Blake
Posted: Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 15:00 (BST)
Christian Today
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.warn.against.incitement.to.hatred.laws.based.on.sexuality/13826.htm
Any new incitement to hatred law should be written with care to avoidintolerance of free speech, the Evangelical Alliance has said followingGovernment proposals this week.Christians warn against Incitement to Hatred laws based on sexuality
The Alliance, which represents more than a million evangelical Christians inthe UK, has reiterated its opposition to any incitement of homophobic orother forms of hatred.
However, it has added that it is hopeful the Government will consultcarefully if it decides to go ahead with banning incitement on grounds ofsexuality in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.
Evangelical Alliance head of public affairs Dr Don Horrocks said: "Wesupport legislation that seeks effectively to prevent the stirring up ofhatred, but our view remains that the existing law was adequate to deal withoffences relating both to religion and sexuality.
"The obvious difficulty in attempting to legislate in this area is thatthere is a real risk of free speech being severely curtailed and peopleconsequently feeling afraid to engage in legitimate debate, unless the lawis clearly defined."
In Monday's debate of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill the LordChancellor, Jack Straw, announced that the Government intended to table anamendment to extend the offence of incitement to racial hatred to coverhatred against persons on the basis of their sexuality.
The homosexual rights lobbyists Stonewall has been pushing for just such anamendment.
more....
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UK
Incitement law won't protect gay people
10.10.2007
Brett Lock
Index of Censorship
http://www.indexonline.org/en/news/articles/2007/3/britain-incitement-law-wo
n-t-help-gay-people.shtml
The government's proposed law against homophobic hate speech is unworkableand disingenuous, says Brett Lock
Unless the government has it in mind to ban the Bible, the new law announcedby the government this week proposing to outlaw homophobic hate speech willbe ineffective.
The major source of homophobic hatred in our society is from religiousgroups. Almost every single anti-gay group in Britain is religious. Thesegroups hide behind their 'holy' texts, and unless the law has the backboneand resolve to ban these texts and to prosecute the priests, imams andrabbis who quote them, it is wasting its time trying to clamp down onanti-gay hate-speech.
The proposed law will bring itself into disrepute and serve only totrivialise homophobic violence if it were only ever used against dim-wittedBig Brother contestants and drunk Oxford students, while ignoring religiousleaders - the most guilty.
Leviticus 18:22 says: 'If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with awoman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be putto death; their blood shall be upon them.'
more....
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