Commission won't place petitioner on agenda
By: Chris Shackleford
Source: The Herald-News


For the second time in as many months, Rhea County commissioners have indicated they will deny Spring City resident Ilaeka Villa’s request to be put on the county commission agenda.

Villa is currently spearheading a drive calling for the commissioners’ resignations and public apologies following their recent actions on issues involving homosexuals living in the county.

Villa was denied a request to be placed on April’s county commission agenda and her attempt to be added to the June 15 meeting agenda seems unlikely as well, although she would be allowed to speak at a workshop session.

“She is welcome to attend the county commission workshop on June 8 and speak,” said County Commission Chairman Terry Broyles.


~

Canada's Anglicans Pick Liberal Leader
By RICHARD N. OSTLING
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario (AP) - Montreal's Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, regarded as a liberal in the divisive dispute over homosexuality, was elected Monday as new national leader of Anglican
Church of Canada.

Hutchison was chosen as primate on the fourth ballot over Bishop Ronald Ferris of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, a conservative on the issue.

Church delegates face a Wednesday night showdown on whether to give dioceses the go-ahead to provide blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.

In 1998, after a meeting the world's Anglican bishops voted overwhelmingly to oppose actively gay clergy and blessing rituals for same-sex couples as ``incompatible with Scripture,'' Hutchison joined 146 bishops in issuing a dissent.

The group, which included Canada's retiring primate, Archbishop Michael Peers, apologized to gays and lesbians over the action and pledged to ``work for your full inclusion in the life of the church.''


~

YOUTH DETAINED OVER HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK

A young man was arrested and placed in provisional detention in western city of B—thune (Pas-de-Calais), after allegedly taking part alongside several other unidentified individuals in a homophobic attack on January 16.

Sebastien Nouchet, 35, was attacked in his garden where petrol was poured over him and ignited with a lighter.

The victim has suffered severe burns.

Yannick C, 21, denied participating in the attack.

The homosexual couple, together since November 2001, has been the target of threats, violence and attacks on their car and home.


~

Old Anti-Gay Sex Laws Remain On he Books In Many States 
by Doreen Brandt
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau

(Washington) Despite the landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court last year that overturned laws against sodomy many states still retain old laws on the books that target gay sex.

In an effort to determine just how many states have anti-gay sex laws and how they are being used two civil rights groups are embarking on a major project to scour criminal law books across the country.

The laws which the project will address range from the archaic - like Michigan's law prohibiting unmarried people from having sex and living together - to the grossly unjust - like Kansas' differing age of consent laws based on the gender of the persons involved - to those addressing facially valid public policy concerns - like laws against public lewdness, but which are routinely misused to persecute and prosecute people who participate in non-traditional forms of sexual expression.

Last week the Kansas Supreme Court said it would revisit the case of Matthew Limon a gay teenager who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for consensual sex. Limon would have been given a maximum of 15 months in jail under the Kansas law had the other teenager been female. 


~

Gay Soldiers Still Fighting For Recognition 
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter


(Washington) As America honors its veterans this Memorial Day LGBT vets and current members of the military battle for recognition and an end to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

Approximately 10,000 service members - linguists, infantry members, doctors, pilots, nurses, engineers, navigators, tankers, mechanics and members of virtually every other specialty - have been discharged in 10 years under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," according to statistics from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

These discharges have cost taxpayers between $250 million and $1.2 billion, the SLDN research shows.

"Americans are paying dearly to subsidize military discrimination," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of SLDN. "With overwhelming opposition to the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, the nation's security at risk and a pressing need for Americans who are willing to serve, there are more than enough reasons for members of Congress to agree that the current laws are wrong."