State Senate urges Congress to reject constitutional amendment
Associated Press


SACRAMENTO - The California Senate urged Congress on Wednesday to reject a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages.

By a 21-13 vote, senators approved a resolution by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, that urges Congress to reject any legislation that would "prohibit or restrict" the rights of same-sex couples.

Last month, the U.S. Senate scuttled an amendment banning gay marriage, but supporters said they wouldn't give up.

A little over a week later, the House of Representatives approved legislation that would bar federal judges from ordering states to recognize same-sex marriages that took place in other states.

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Mass. Judge Denies Relief to Gay Couples
JENNIFER PETER
Associated Press


BOSTON - A state judge on Wednesday rejected a challenge of a 1913 law barring out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts, where residents have had that first-in-the-nation right since May.

Superior Court Judge Carol Ball denied a request by eight gay couples from other states for a preliminary injunction blocking Massachusetts from enforcing the law, which prohibits marriages that would not be legal in couples' home states.

An attorney for the plaintiffs said they are considering several avenues of appeal, and believe the case ultimately will be decided by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

"We always knew this was really just round one, and round two will be at the appellate court," said Michele Granda, an attorney with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.

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Beenie Man Concert Tour Caves Under Gay Pressure
by Tom Garvey


Not long ago, Jamaican reggae star Beenie Man (real name: Anthony Moses Davis) seemed on the verge of mainstream success. His last album had featured collaborations with Janet Jackson and L’il Kim, both a European and American tour were scheduled for the summer, and he would reach a national U.S. audience for the first time via an appearance on Conan O’Brien.

But there was a dirty little secret behind his pulsing “riddims” and Jamaican patois: Beenie Man explicitly incited the murder of gay people. In his hit “Damn”, for instance, the singer called on fans to come to Jamaica to “execute all the gays”, and earlier songs had described hanging lesbians “wit a long rope” and killing gay DJs. Perhaps not coincidentally, gay bashing had recently become something of a blood sport on his home island, and Jamaica’s only “out” gay activist, Brian Williamson, was found murdered in his home earlier this year.


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Still 'nay' to gays?
ALLEN O'BRIEN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK


The recent murder of a USAID employee may or may not be linked to his sexual preferences but it has certainly lifted the wraps from what still lingers as a subterranean culture in the Capital. Yes, the gay community of Dilli still hasn't been able to come out of the closet, despite a growing permissiveness. Delhi Times on the 'underground' network in our 'cosmopolitan' city...

In 2003, a case was registered when a gay was blackmailed by a 'straight' friend who managed to get hold of a few photographs where the victim held another man's hands.

* The same year, another doctor from Central Delhi became a victim when the man he picked up from CP looted not just Rs 5,000 from him but also took away his medical equipment.

* In 2002, a college student was sent for psychiatric treatment by his parents after he confessed to them that he was gay. Apparently, the electric shocks made him a vegetable.

* In 2001, an NGO that fought for the cause of AIDS and gays was raided and charged of running a sex shop. Incidentally, according to Article 377 (an archaic law since 1863), same sex relationships are nothing less than a criminal offence. All that needs to be done is to accuse one of them and the case shall be registered as a criminal offence immediately.