Custody Battle Involves Gender Of Child

In Jefferson County, common please judge Joseph Bruzzese has a custody ruling to make.

The ruling, whether a 10 year old boy of a divorced couple should live with his mother or father.

What makes this case unique, the boy wants to live his life as a girl. Sources close to the custody case say the mother is in support of the child's request, but the father is not.

The center of this custody battle is a condition called Gender Identity Disorder, the young child involved is an example of G-I-D.


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It isn't easy to change name, sex
Transgender people face extra security hassles
By JEAN-PAUL RENAUD
Los Angeles Times


LOS ANGELES - Looking for the right name, Luca Brenna scoured baby books for months. Jennifer, Sandra, Vanessa. None of them fit.

But with a few strokes of mascara and some dabs of blush, the choice of name became obvious. In the mirror, he saw a woman with flawless skin, blond hair, deep blue eyes and thin red lips.



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Police to rain on drag queens' parade
Riaan Wolmarans | Johannesburg, South Africa


The gay community is up in arms after a newspaper reported on Wednesday that drag queens will not be allowed to participate in this year's Gay and Lesbian Pride parade in Johannesburg. Furthermore, several businesspeople claim they are still owed money from last year's Pride festival, and a top advertising agency dropped the Pride publicity campaign for this year due to non-payment.

The parade, due to take place on September 25, forms part of a yearly week of celebrations -- the biggest of its kind in South Africa.

According to The Citizen, authorities are citing the Regulation of Gatherings Act, which prohibits any person participating in a gathering, march or protest from wearing a disguise or mask that obscures facial features and therefore prevents identification.

The report quotes Johannesburg Metro Police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar as saying the decision was taken to ensure consistency and that no one in disguise or wearing a mask will be allowed to take part in the march.


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Gay students still angry
By Myles Wearring
 QUEER STUDENTS CLAIM WOLLONGONG UNIVERSITY STILL ISN’T DOING ENOUGH TO KEEP THEM SAFE.

The University Of Wollongong has responded to the queer collective’s recent sit-in protest by establishing a committee to tackle prejudice on campus.

Vice-Chancellor Gerard Sutton also met with a group of queer students and released a statement urging “tolerance and mutual respect”.

However queer collective AllSorts believes Sutton’s response is inadequate and says their demand for a safe meeting space is still being ignored.


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Spanish Government drops appeal filed against Basque Autonomous Community law
The PP Government opposed the article that recognises adoption rights of homosexual couples; the promoters have welcomed this measure
Editorial Staff – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian)


When the PP enjoyed an absolute majority in the Spanish Government, it lodged an appeal against Article 8 of the law on Common Law Couples that had just been passed by the BAC-Basque Autonomous Community Parliament. This article acknowledges the right of homosexual couples to adopt children. The PP decided that the law violated the Spanish Constitution and lodged an appeal.

Jordi Sevilla, the Spanish Minister for Public Administrations, yesterday announced on behalf of the PSOE, which succeeded the PP in the Madrid Government, that the appeal was being dropped. He made the announcement in the Senate (upper chamber of parliament) in Madrid in reply to a question put by Isabel Lopez Aulestia of the EB-Berdeak. The Minister said: “The Government is preparing a law on common law couples in order to reach consensus for improving any law previously passed. That is why we have dropped the appeal.” In July the PSE-EE had called on the Spanish Government to drop the appeal.



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Gay couples challenge adoption law


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Three homosexual couples filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to overturn a law that prohibits Oklahoma from recognizing adoptions by same-sex couples from other states and countries.

The lawsuit alleges the measure, which is an amendment to the Oklahoma Adoption Code, "appears to sever legal ties between parents and their children whenever families led by same-gender couples enter the state of Oklahoma."

Gov. Brad Henry signed the law in May. It was drafted by 17 state lawmakers after Attorney General Drew Edmondson issued an opinion in April requiring the state to recognize all adoptions, regardless of the gender of parents.

A gay couple from Washington state, Ed Swaya and Greg Hampel, sought the opinion when they asked for a birth certificate listing both of them as their daughter's parents. The state Health Department had initially refused to list Swaya because he was not the birth mother.


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An Office of One's Own
Mayor creates Office or LGBT Affairs, with Wanda Alston at the helm
By Will O'Bryan


Wednesday, Sept. 8, was a gray day in Washington. Among Mayor Anthony Williams's announcements at that day's routine press briefing were what flood preparations the city was making as expiring Hurricane Florence chugged northward. Through the windows, the slate skies offered an appropriate Day After Tomorrow backdrop, as Williams opined that this year's volatile hurricane season was a forewarned byproduct of global warming.



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City Council opposes gay marriage ban
FRED LEESON


Law, history and emotion played into the unanimous vote by Portland's City Council on Wednesday against a state ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriages.

"The issue for me is one of equality," said Commissioner Randy Leonard, who introduced the resolution opposing Measure 36. "Equality is not the privilege of the majority. We must send the message today that civil rights are not negotiable."


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Partnership bill nears vote
KDU-CSL calls same-sex unions step toward population decline
By Margot Buff
For The Prague Post


If Parliament approves a bill allowing civil unions for same-sex couples, Honza Bretl and Ladislav Zikmund may be among the first to file for one. The couple has been together for more than a year and they want to see their relationship formalized by law. "It's practical," said Bretl, a 24-year-old from Prague, pointing out that if one partner has legal or financial problems or winds up in a hospital, the other wants to have full authority to help.

But beyond the practicalities, Bretl said, "It's a symbol of change in society. We want to be not only tolerated but accepted. When we are accepted by the law, it will be very important."

Legislators have put forward four unsuccessful proposals for laws on same-sex unions since 1995. Earlier this year, the Czech Gay and Lesbian League worked with several deputies to draft a new bill that was approved on its first reading in June.

Deputies are now scheduled to debate the bill during the session starting later this month. Although the legislation will face a third reading before being sent on to the more conservative Senate and the president, the second reading is considered an important test.


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Federal judge refuses to order a Nov. 2 election for governor
BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG
Star-Ledger Staff


A federal judge ruled yesterday there will be no special election for governor this fall, dismissing claims that Gov. James E. McGreevey's drawn-out departure is robbing voters of their right to pick his replacement.

U.S. District Court Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. said McGreevey's Aug. 12 announcement that he will resign Nov. 15 did not trigger rules to hold a special election.



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Briefs filed in marriage amendment legal challenge
By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau


LITTLE ROCK - Arkansans should be given the opportunity on Nov. 2 to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, supporters of the measure said Wednesday in a brief filed with the state Supreme Court.

The Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee in its brief described the proposal as "an important issue of public policy" and said opponents don't want the public to vote on the measure.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the measure before the Supreme Court, argued in its 17 page brief that the measure's ballot title and popular name are "misleading, tinged with partisan coloring, and fail to adequately inform the voter as to the nature and consequence of his vote."


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Ga. groups working to block ban on same-sex marriage
By Andy Peters
Telegraph Staff Writer


ATLANTA - Several advocacy groups are working to convince Georgia voters that a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage goes too far and would strip basic rights from gays and lesbians, including hospital-visitation rights and Social Security benefits.

The proposed ban, which was hotly debated during this year's legislative session, will be listed on the Nov. 2 ballots for the general election.

"It's just a very deceptive move," said Lizella resident Jane Darby, a retired AT&T employee. "They're trying to sneak this by and write discrimination into the constitution."

The groups, working under the banner of Georgians Against Discrimination, have set a goal of raising $350,000 by Oct. 1 to fund a statewide drive for voter-education sessions and advertising.