Bush boosts HIV/AIDS funding but still backs abstinence-only education
by Andrew Noyes
PlanetOut Network


The Bush Administration will immediately commit more money to a program that delivers life-saving medications to Americans with HIV and AIDS and has greased the skids for a second round of funding for the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

On a fund-raising trip to Philadelphia on Wednesday, the president announced that $20 million will be poured into state-run AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAPs) and $500 million will soon be on its way to organizations working to provide antiretroviral therapy, promote prevention, care for orphans and build the health system capacity in Africa and the Caribbean.

Bush unveiled the emergency plan, a five-year, $15 billion initiative to turn the tide in the global effort to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in his 2003 State of the Union address.

"We hope that this is just the beginning of increased financial support for state ADAPs," Human Rights Campaign President Cheryl Jacques said. "Experts estimate that more than double that sum is needed to eliminate the emergency conditions faced by thousands nationwide who are on wait lists for life-saving drug therapies."


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Kolkata Lone Indian City to Host Gloriously Gay Gala
Ranjita Biswas
OneWorld South Asia



KOLKATA, June 25 (OneWorld) - The streets of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata will reverberate to the sounds of sexual freedom Sunday when homosexuals and rights activists from across the world take out a parade to commemorate a pioneering gay revolt in the US in 1969.

Activists from India, the US, Britain, Canada, Sri Lanka and Thailand will participate.

In a country where people frown upon homosexuality though it was depicted in ancient texts and statues thousands of years ago, Kolkata is the only Indian city to be included in international functions marking the StoneWall Riots of 1969.

On June 27 in 1969, homosexuals frequenting a pub meant especially for them in New York city decided to fight back during a routine police raid. The landmark protests marked the launch of concerted gay rights movements across the world.


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Judge says no more gay weddings in New Paltz

Ulster County State Supreme Court Justice E. Michael Kavanagh yesterday issued a temporary restraining order against all officials of the Village of New Paltz stopping them from “marrying” same-sex couples. On June 7, 2004, Kavanagh signed a permanent order against Village Mayor Jason West directing him to stop solemnizing same-sex “marriages.” After the June 7 order was entered against West, Rebecca Rotzler and Julia Walsh – two other Village Board trustees -- began solemnizing same-sex “marriages.”

Yesterday’s order puts a halt to these “marriages.” The order also set a hearing on the case for July 19.

The TRO issued yesterday was in a lawsuit filed by Liberty Counsel on behalf of Robert Hebel, a member of the New Paltz Board of Trustees. Hebel is represented by Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, and Rena Lindevaldsen, senior litigation counsel for Liberty Counsel.