TRANSGENDER WOMAN POISED TO WIN PRIMARY
by: GLBTSSS, OIA Newswire


A Tucson woman is running for the Arizona House of Representatives and
making history.

Amanda Simpson is head of advanced and special programs at Raytheon. KOLD News 13 introduced you to her three years ago, when she went public with her sex change. Now,

Simpson is set to be the first transsexual in the nation to win a primary.

Simpson doesn't want her gender to take away from her plans for the future of Arizona. Her political platform includes improving education, dealing with Arizona's explosive population growth, and affordable healthcare.

But politics can get dirty. And Simpson says she plans to stay away from the
mud slinging by sticking to the issues.


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Gayscape: Not quite in the pink of health
NINA MARTYRIS
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[


MUMBAI: The murder of two gay men in an upscale New Delhi apartment last week provided a ready excuse for gay baiters to go ill-will hunting.

There were rich pickings for those who hissed about the underbelly of gay life what with the murdered couple found in the midst of a scatter of risque polaroid photographs.

Perfect grist for those who subscribe to the stereotype that gay men are promiscuous and have little else on their minds.

But if there is some cold solace to be drawn from this gruesome crime and the resulting sleaze offensive, it is that the murder was most probably not a gay-hate crime but the result of a personal fallout.

This wasn't like the Matthew Shephard case, where he was tied to a fence post in freezing Wyoming temperatures, pistol whipped and left to die primarily because he was gay.


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Pushkin case: Activists slam sensationalisation
TIMES NEWS NETWORK


NEW DELHI: In a sharp reaction to media reports on homosexuality, following Pushkin Chandra and his friend Kuldip's murder in Anand Lok, a gay rights group on Thursday said the whole incident had been sensationalised.

The speakers of the group protested against the way the police and the media had hijacked the Pushkin incident to focus on his sexuality rather than the crime itself.

Pramada Menon, one of the speakers, said: "One person's death has brought an entire community into focus. Newspapers are suddenly full of stories about homosexual life - and not in a celebratory way."

Others said that reportage over the past few days had chosen to focus on the 'dark lives' of the gay community. "A stray incident has been used to stereotype them all and an already marginalised community is further being pushed into the margins," said Menon.


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Media, cops slammed
Naziya Alvi


Prominent NGOs criticised the Delhi Police and the media for their 'role' in the investigations into the Anand Lok murder case. These NGOs dealing with human rights and rights of same sex desiring people held a conference on Wednesday, where they aired their views.


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Lawyer: Gay marriage amendment flap on fast track to high court
The Associated Press  


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Lower courts have the issue now but the legal wrangling over a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions is quickly heading toward the Louisiana Supreme Court, a lawyer said on Thursday.

Lawyers supporting gay rights have filed lawsuits in Baton Rouge and in New Orleans to keep the amendment off the upcoming ballot on Sept. 18.

"All of this will ultimately be decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court, as it should," said Randy Evans, a New Orleans lawyer who represents Forum for Equality and three other plaintiffs challenging the constitutional amendment.

Forum for Equality argues that the ban would violate the Louisiana Constitution's guarantee of individuals' rights to enter into contracts and own property; they say it would invalidate contracts which gay and lesbian partners have drawn up to own houses together or to share responsibility for children. Backers of the amendment in the Legislature say it does not go that far.



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Federal judge: DOMA is constitutional

A federal judge in Washington State has backed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The decision, made public Tuesday, is the first to address the constitutionality of the federal law, which defines marriage as a "legal union between one man and one woman." Two American women, Lee and Ann Kandu, were married in British Columbia and filed a joint bankruptcy petition in Tacoma a short time later. Their petition was opposed by the Justice Department on the grounds that the federal marriage law prohibited it. Federal bankruptcy judge Paul B. Snyder found that the bankruptcy code allows spouses to file joint petitions, noting, however, that the marriage law specifies that spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex.
Snyder found that gays and lesbians have no fundamental right to marriage and that the 1996 law does not violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing members of the opposite sex to wed but not members of the same sex


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Police study CCTV footage after gay attack
By William Allen


POLICE in Londonderry were today studying seized CCTV footage in their bid to crack down on homophobic attacks in the city.

The PSNI appealed again for information about an attack on a gay 29-year-old man at Glendermott Road last Saturday.

And, following a series of assaults throughout Derry, they urged all victims to come forward, or to contact a local gay rights organisation.

"The weekend incident is currently under investigation and CCTV footage has been seized to establish if video evidence of the attack is available," said a PSNI spokesman.


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Indian lesbians fight for their right to be happy and 'gay'


BHOPAL: Two girls in this conservative Madhya Pradesh capital have broken the shackles of prejudice and asserted their right to live as a same sex couple with police telling their parents that they had not committed any crime.

On Wednesday, 24-year-old Kajal and 19-year-old Nisha went missing again after their parents approached the police who expressed their helplessness and advised them to consult counsellors. The girls just did not turn up at the counsellors'.

Their disappearance caps a two-year saga with all the elements of a dramatic romance including running away together, a forced marriage and massive parental opposition - all the more extraordinary as the girls come from a working class background, have studied till only Class 8 and don't really have the means to sustain themselves.

Both the girls have reportedly made their intentions clear to their parents and declared that that they want to live together for the rest of their lives.