Bush Fails AIDS Test Gay Health Group Says 
by Doug Windsor
365Gay.com Newscenter
New York Bureau 


(New York City) New York's Gay Men's Health Crisis gave President Bush a failing grade today on his platform for AIDS issues, while giving Democratic candidate John Kerry a near perfect score.

In a report entitled Prescriptions for Reform: A Comparison of the Bush and Kerry Health Care Access Proposals and their Impact on People with HIV/AIDS," the group examined the two candidates positions on funding, treatment, and other issues.


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Barred From Library For Reading Gay News
by B. J. Reyes
The Associated Press


(Honolulu, Hawaii)  A man who was kicked out of the Hawaii State Library for using its computers to access a gay and lesbian Web site has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state law that allows authorities to ban people from public property.

The law prohibits people from entering a public place for up to one year after a written warning or request to leave the premises has been issued. It was aimed at removing squatters from public campgrounds, parks and beaches.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, filing on behalf of Carlos Hernandez, said people or groups could be thrown off public property for no reason and said the law could be used to keep voters out of polling places or to bar groups such as native Hawaiians from the grounds of the state Capitol.

Attorney General Mark Bennett, who along with Gov. Linda Lingle was named as a defendant, said the ACLU's lawsuit is based on the flawed premise that authorities would abuse the law.


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On the campaign trail Bush takes swipes at Kerry, gays


Traveling by bus through the southwest corner of Michigan, President Bush tried to improve voters' perceptions of his domestic policies by condemning Democrats for going negative--even as he held Kerry's plans up to the harshest possible light. "I'm running against a fellow who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision making in health care," the president said.
"Not only is his plan going to increase the power of bureaucrats in your life, but he can't pay for it unless he raises your taxes."


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Family court approves sex change in registry records for transsexual


TOKYO — The Tokyo Family Court approved Friday a bid by Masae Torai, a campaigner for transsexual rights, to alter his officially registered sex to male from female.

"It has become possible for me to lead a life as other people do. It was our desire," Torai, a 40-year-old freelance writer, said after receiving the court's decision. (Kyodo News)


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Canada grants world's first same-sex divorce


TORONTO : A court in Canada has granted what is believed to be the world's first same sex divorce to a lesbian couple, barely a year after the country gave the green light for gays and lesbians to wed.

A landmark ruling Monday by Judge Ruth Mesbur of the Ontario Supreme Court found that the definition of a spouse in the country's marital laws was unconstitutional.

Canadian law currently specifies that only a couple, defined as a man and a woman may seek divorce.

The two women, who were not identified in court documents other than as "M.M." and "J.H." tied the knot on June 18, 2003, a week after Ontario's court of Appeal cleared the way for gay marriage in Canada's most populous province.


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Governor signs first major gay rights bill
By Bill Ainsworth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER


SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the first major gay rights legislation to reach his desk yesterday when he approved a bill that would require insurance companies to offer coverage to registered domestic partners.

The governor's office announced his approval late yesterday without any fanfare or even a signing message explaining his decision.

AB 2208, sponsored by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, would require companies that offer health, life, homeowners and auto insurance to offer policies that cover domestic partners in the same way they cover spouses.

Current law requires insurers to offer domestic partners coverage equivalent to a dependent, rather than a spouse.