~
~

The Duma on Friday rejected a bill proposed by Gennady Raikov, the head of the Credentials and Ethics Commission, calling for a reinstatement of the Soviet-era ban on male homosexuality.

(at the bottom of the page)

~
~

Group tries to prevent gay Catholics from taking communion
ELIZABETH DUNBAR
Associated Press


ST. PAUL - A group of Roman Catholic laymen tried to prevent gay Catholics and their supporters from taking Holy Communion on Sunday by standing and kneeling in the church aisles at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

About three dozen men calling themselves "Ushers of the Eucharist" confronted members of the Rainbow Sash Alliance, a group that donned rainbow-colored sashes and ribbons in support of a right for gay Catholics to receive communion.

The men took turns kneeling in front of the altar to block the path of those wearing rainbow sashes and ribbons. There were no physical altercations, but the 100 or so sash wearers and others attending Mass were forced to walk around them.


The priest allowed everyone to take Holy Communion and encouraged people to use the side aisles to approach the communion rail.


~

Catholic Gay Activists Denied Communion in Chicago 
By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Priests denied Holy Communion on Sunday to a group of rainbow sash-wearing gay activists who showed up to protest a directive from Chicago's prelate that they violated church teachings by advertising their homosexuality.

The volatile issue of denying Communion to Catholics who disagree with church teachings, a controversy that has recently entangled U.S. politicians, was fueled in Chicago after Cardinal Francis George sent a memo to priests in the second-largest U.S. archdiocese, ordering them not to offer Communion to sash-wearers.

More than a dozen men and women activists sang and prayed with other parishioners filling the pews at Holy Name Cathedral but were offered only blessings when they sought to receive Communion with the others.

"The bishop just said 'God Bless,"' Joe Murray, a spokesman for the American Sash Movement, said afterward outside on the cathedral steps. "We're good enough to be blessed, but we're not good enough to receive the Holy Eucharist."


~

Williams envoy hopes to turn gay marriage vote
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent

The liberal Canadian Church has been told that worldwide Anglicanism could disintegrate if it paved the way to homosexual "marriages" this week.

In unusually blunt language, Canon Gregory Cameron, a senior official close to the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave the warning to the Canadian General Synod in Niagara on Saturday.

Canon Cameron said the decision it was about to make was "about as serious as it could get".

His comments reflected the growing fears of Anglican leaders that their efforts to avert schism over homosexuality would be "holed below the waterline" if the Canadians permitted gay blessings.



~

San Francisco probes intersex issues
Patrick Letellier, PlanetOut Network


The San Francisco Human Rights Commission held a public hearing Thursday on the topic of intersexuality, making it the first governmental body in the nation to address the subject.

Intersex activists hailed the hearing as a groundbreaking event for human rights, and pointed to homophobia as one of the culprits driving the medical response to intersex people.

Broadly defined, intersexuality refers to anatomies that are in some way not considered "standard" because they have a combination of male and female sex characteristics. Girls born with large clitorises and boys with extremely small penises are considered intersex, as are infants with ambiguous genitals, or variations in their internal sex organs or chromosomes.

Experts estimate that between 1 in 150 and 1 in 2,000 infants are born with intersex anatomies. Many are subject to surgeries and other invasive treatments to alter or "normalize" their anatomies, and their conditions are often shrouded with secrecy.


~

Battle continues on homefront for discharged lesbian
By Christopher Curtis


SLDN's Texas Delegation to Washington: Stacy Vasquez (left), Noel Freeman, Calen Chirvan, Virgil Richard and Dixon Osburn. Photo by B. Proud Photography

“I woke up one morning and had no idea my career was over.”

When Sgt. First Class Stacy Vasquez reported to her job as an Army recruiter, she was summoned by her commanding officer, who told her he had a statement describing how Vasquez was seen making out with a woman at Sue Ellen’s in Dallas.

“I was given a choice of leaving or I could face charges of an indecent act for kissing a girl.”

Her commander told her the statement was reliable coming from someone associated with the unit.


~

Activist accuses PACHA member of conflict of interest
Complaint sent to HHS inspector general for review
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, May 28, 2004


Abner Mason, a gay Republican member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, may have violated government ethics rules or practices by using his position on the advisory panel to promote the interests of U.S. pharmaceutical companies, an AIDS activist has charged.

Genevieve Clavreul, who describes herself as an advocate for accountability of AIDS organizations, said in a May 9 letter to PACHA co-chair Tom Coburn that Mason appears to be using his position as chair of PACHA’s International Committee as a platform for promoting drug industry causes through an organization he helped create called the AIDS Responsibility Project.

Coburn told the Blade on May 26 through an e-mail message that he instructed PACHA’s executive director, Josephine Robinson, to forward Clavreul’s letter to the inspector general’s office at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The Inspector General’s office investigates allegations of potential violations of laws or regulations by HHS officials or related agencies. HHS provides administrative support for PACHA.

The possible investigation of Mason by the HHS inspector general comes at a time when Mason and his AIDS Responsibility Project have taken positions in sharp disagreement with AIDS activists over the proposed use of low-cost, generic AIDS drugs produced in foreign countries.


~

City AIDS registry used for research studies
By Timothy Cwiek
PGN Contributing Writer
© 2004 Timothy Cwiek

A debate has emerged in the local AIDS community concerning appropriate use of the city''s AIDS registry for research studies.

City officials say limited use of information in the registry is appropriate for research studies that are extensions of routine AIDS surveillance.

But some opponents say all such studies should cease until a public dialogue can take place, and community-based standards on proper use of the AIDS registry for research studies can be enacted.