Vandals Attack Contraversial Billboards
Apr. 19, 2004
A billboard which appears to promote gay marriage draws the wrath of vandals in Utah County.

But why did they hit the sign which talks of alternative lifestyles?

Sam Penrod is looking into it.

As you look at the sign, it would seem to from be a gay rights group--because it talks of an alternative lifestyle.

And now one of these signs is being targeted by vandals, who apparently are opposed to sign's message.


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Newspaper's Refusal To Print Lesbian Wedding Announcement Moves To National Spotlight    
By GNN News Editor  
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON -- Like most newly married couples, Rev. Jane Newall and her same-sex partner, Deborah Vuillemot, decided to share their wedding announcement in the local newspaper, the Yakima Herald-Republic, in Yakima, Washington.

But their wedding joy quickly turned to confusion and hurt when the newspaper refused to publish their wedding announcement.

"Our commitment is no different from other couples, our love is no different, our joy is no different. The Yakima Herald excluded our wedding announcement solely because we are lesbians," said Rev. Jane Newall, pastor of the predominantly LGBT Rainbow Cathedral Metropolitan Community Church in Yakima.

Now the debate has moved to the national spotlight.


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Group releases 2004 report on hate Web sites

Online hate games that encourage gay bashing, gunning down illegal immigrants at the border, hunting Jews, and shooting blacks are among the thousands of extremist Web sites described in a report released Monday by an international human rights organization.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which has been tracking hate Web sites for nine years, describes more than 200 of about 4,000 online hate sites it monitors. The group said it has seen a surge this year in the number of sites that promote terrorist recruitment, urging young people to join "holy wars" and become suicide bombers. The report includes sites that deny the Holocaust, theorize September 11 conspiracies, and glorify al-Qaeda. The hate sites leave nothing out: racism, anti-Semitism, and gay bashing are among the more common.

"People need to realize how much hatred there is...and the extraordinary technological advance of people who are spreading these lies," said New York city council speaker Gifford Miller, who attended the news conference where the report was released.


The Simon Wiesenthal Center uses the report to help inform parents, teachers, public officials, and law enforcement. The intent is not to interfere with free speech and shut down the sites, said Mark Weitzman, director of the center's Task Force Against Hate. "This is for public awareness," Weitzman said.