below is an quick note I sent of to CHRIS CRAIN @ CCRAIN@houstonvoice.com, who wrote ENDA gets trans-jacked.

I would encourage everyone to write this hateful person and get them removed from the staff of the Houston Voice on line... we do not need people like this in the ranks and file when we are struggling for our rights...

you can also respond @

houstonvoic's SOUND OFF


Window Media (the publisher of the Washington Blade, New York Blade, Houston Voice and Eclipse and the Southern Voice Eclipse, which all ran the editorial)
Window Media
1408 U Street, NW
2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 797-7000
http://www.window-media.com/

info@window-media.com


Dear Chris,

just a note on you article Aug. 13, ENDA gets trans-jacked. Your reaction of the MAJORITY is always right falls flat in the face of the debate on Gay marriage and Gay rights. You should know by now equal right has nothing to do with THE MAJORITY...


really shame on you in a time of overt queer oppression, to write such a divisive article... have you not ever heard of united we stand divided we fall?

I can see that the GBLTIQ population will never come together when it rules by phollocentricism such as yours..

kari edwards
San Francisco




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Newsom, unbowed by decision, says he is 'more resolved'
s.F. mayor reacts: Suit against state ban will continue
Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writer


Even in defeat, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declared victory Thursday after the state Supreme Court ruled that he had no right to authorize the marriages of nearly 4,000 gay and lesbian couples at City Hall.

With the confidence and defiance that catapulted Newsom into national prominence only weeks into his new term when he approved same-sex marriages, the mayor said his fight for equal rights has put a human face on discrimination for the world to see.

"Now we have these 4,000 couples to tell their stories. We have their immediate family, their extended family, their grandparents, their sons, their daughters, their cousins, aunts and uncles," Newsom told a City Hall room packed with reporters from around the country. "So I'm not in any way discouraged. I'm frankly more resolved."


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City's gays, lesbians disappointed but determined
ONWARD: Setback strengthens push for marriage rights
Julian Guthrie, Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Staff Writers


The 114-page ruling is laden with footnotes, dry legal terms and austere questions about the role of the rule of law in society and the Constitution's separation of powers.

The words within the California Supreme Court's decision released Thursday had the power to rock a city.

Though the ruling invalidating same-sex marriages in San Francisco was anticipated, it still stung. Throughout the day and across the city, numbness was replaced by what many described as a determination to continue to fight for the rights of gays and lesbians.

"I guess I've learned to expect these types of decisions in this race for equality," said Dave Chandler, 40, who was on the Internet when he read of the court's decision.


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Gay marriage ban passes parliament
By Paul Osborne


Prime Minister John Howard has won his fight to ban gay marriage, but faces a possible High Court challenge to the laws.

Labor voted with the coalition in the Senate to pass the marriage amendment bill after an emotion-charged debate.

But Equal Rights Network spokesman Rodney Croome said the bill may be unconstitutional.

"Our lawyers are exploring the possibility that the constitutional basis for the new law is too weak to sustain it," Mr Croome said.


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Councils urged to take action on new employment rules
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Councils across England and Wales are receiving advice on adhering to the recently introduced employment legislation, which protects lesbian and gay workers for the first time.

The guidelines, from the Employers' Organisation (EO) for local government, are intended to help bosses ensure discrimination and prejudice does not take place in their council, and that their gay employees are not subjected to harassment.

Additionally, those behind the guidelines say introducing ways to monitor how minority communities are treated at work will lead to "higher productivty".

“For the first time, employers have a responsibility to actively introduce measures to prevent discrimination in their workplaces on the grounds of religion, belief and sexuality," Ellen Reynolds, Principal Diversity Advisor at the EO said today.


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HRC snubs Specter in Pa. Senate race
Republican has history of support for gay rights
By JOE CREA


The Human Rights Campaign announced its endorsement of Democratic Congressman Joseph Hoeffel over Republican Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Senate race, despite Specter’s support for many gay rights initiatives.

The Log Cabin Republicans, a gay GOP political group, endorsed Specter, noting that the four-term senator nearly lost his primary race this spring to conservative Rep. Patrick Toomey, in part because of his support for gay rights issues.

Should Republicans maintain control of the Senate this year, Specter is likely to become head of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the committee’s current chair, is vacating that position.

“Specter has been one of the strongest allies for the gay community,” said Chris Barron, political director for the Log Cabin Republicans. “He’s a co-sponsor of the hate crimes legislation, opposes the [Federal Marriage Amendment], backs the [Employment Non-Discrimination Act] and has been a strong supporter of increasing HIV/AIDS funding.