Schwarzeneger 2 For 2 On Gay Bills  
by Mark Worrall
365Gay.com Newscenter
San Francisco Bureau


(Sacramento, California) For the second time in just over a week California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a major gay rights bill.

Wednesday evening Schwarzenegger signed into law the Omnibus Hate Crimes Act which creates a uniform definition of a hate crime that includes crimes against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The new law also includes crimes against individuals based on their association with people who are gay or transgender, as well as association based on other protected categories, and provide tools designed to reduce such crimes.


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Michigan Senate Panel Considers Bills to Deny Medical Treatment for Moral Reasons
Gfn.com News


Gay men and lesbians could be hurt by legislation to protect health care providers and insurers from liability for refusing to perform a procedure for moral, ethical or religious reasons, say opponents to a Michigan bill.

Hospitals and medical groups told a Michigan Senate panel that health workers' beliefs and needs are important, but patients' health is the top priority, saying the bill’s “refusal cause” will hurt patients.

"The patient is the center of all we do," said Ron Lilek, human resources vice president for Beaumont Hospitals in Royal Oak and Troy.

While some in the medical community opposed the legislation and its effect on patients, supporters said health care providers have a constitutional right to religious freedom, particularly when it comes to abortion and stem cell issues.


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Gender bender: will and way to cross over
RAJRUPA GHOSH


While youngsters his age were going to college and checking out career options, Sushanto Das was fielding a volley of questions from Rabindra Bharati University, where he had been denied admission, because of his sexuality. While his earlier para friends where enjoying gully cricket, he was dealing with insults from neighbours who took it upon themselves to make his and his family’s life miserable. He was scared, upset and totally at a loss.

Now 29-year-old Sushanto is Tista — confident with a new name, sexuality and identity. Decked in all prettiness in a saree with a hint of lipstick, bangles, bindi and bead jewellery, she is through with her days of apprehension and misery, as she takes up a career in acting.

A transexual woman, Tista, already has two films in her booty. “I had been working as research assistant in Calcutta for a University of Berkeley fellow on gender identity disorder. I had amassed a whole lot of material on the subject and had written a script for a film to deal with the topic.”

When Tista had taken her idea to film-maker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, he made her act in a 25-minute documentary I could not be your son, mom, which was eventually shot partly in her Agarpara home and Calcutta.


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TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBERANCE TO COME TO COLUMBUS
by: Kellye Pinkleton, OIA Newswire


Transgender Days of Rememberance and Action is to be held in Columbus in November.
The transgender Day of Rememberance is an international event held every November 20 to commemorate the lives of individuals who have been murdered in the past year because of their gender identity or expression. In Columbus, the Day of Rememberance will be observed on November 17 with a candlelight vigil at the shelter house in Goodale Park at 7 p.m.

In addition to honoring the lives of transgender people who have been killed, the Columbus Day of Rememberance planning committee will be holding a series of events to educate people about transgender issues and to get them involved.


The largest event of the month is the Days of Rememberance and Action conference, Ohio's annual transgender and trans allies conference, which will be held from 8:30-4:30 on November 6 at King Avenue United Methodist Church (299 King Ave.). The keynote speakers are Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Paisley Currah, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS). They have written Transgender Equality: A Handbook for Activists and Policymakers and edited Transgender Rights: History, Politics, and Law. The conference is free, but people are asked to pre-register, so we know the number of people to expect for breakfast and lunch (both of which are provided for free!).


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French lesbian parents granted family status


PARIS, Sept 22 (AFP) - France has for the first time extended official recognition to a family headed by a homosexual couple, giving legal rights to two lesbians raising three daughters one of them bore through artificial insemination, Le Monde newspaper reported.  

The authorisation, given by a Paris judge on July 2, sets a precedent in a country which is still grappling with a marriage of two gay men in June that the government has declared annulled.  

According to Thursday's edition of Le Monde, the lesbian couple, identified only as Carla and Marie-Laure, and their three children, aged 5, 7 and 10, received permission to establish "a legal link between each of the parents and the children as well as joint exercise of parental authority".


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Book Talk: Steven G. Fullwood - On Working Toward A Revolution
Steven G. Fullwood

How does Black LGBT/SGL culture relate to hip hop?

Well, consider the literature.

Black LGBT/SGL literature is underground hip hop. We are telling our truths and we have an audience. We are not anomalies. We have been writing for over a century and the mainstream is beginning to notice. We are more than E. Lynn Harris. We are women and men who are on a mission to see our lives, triumphs and defeats, reflected in art and ourselves. We are not afraid. We will ultimately succeed.

Why is homophobia so rampant in hip hop culture?

Hip hop is no different from the cultures it mixes and distills. Frankly the rabid fraternity amongst black men reeks of homoeroti


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Tombstone's defacing rankles mom
By CAROLYN LORIÉ
Reformer Staff


GUILFORD -- Next week, when Shirley Squires visits the grave of her son Ron, who died of AIDS in 1993, she will not bring flowers to lay down or spring bulbs to plant. Instead the 74-year-old will arrive with sandpaper and a wet cloth and attempt to erase the words "AIDS" and "Fag" that were carved into her son's tombstone.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Squires. "I would really like to know who would do this kind of thing."

When Squires reported the incident to the police, they asked if Ron had had enemies. She could think of no one.

Ron Squires was loved and respected by many, said his mother. He was the first openly gay Vermont state legislator and succumbed to the disease while still in office. Over 400 people braved a snowstorm to attended his funeral, including two busloads of mourners from Montpelier. To this day, donations to the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont are given in his name. Passers-by still stop his mother on the streets to tell her how much he was admired.


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Cardinal McCarrick Reverses His Decision to Meet with Gay Catholics in Conjunction with the National Council of Catholic Bishops Meeting in November

WASHINGTON, -- Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was scheduled to meet with members of the Rainbow Sash Movement in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC for a Listening Session." This meeting was to be in conjunction with the National Council of Catholic Bishops meeting in November. The Cardinal notified Joe Murray, the US Convener of the Rainbow Sash Movement that he had changed his mind, saying he thought now was not a good time to meet, and he felt this was in the best interest of the Church and the Rainbow Sash Movement. The Rainbow Sash Movement is a national Catholic Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Organization.


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The Rev. Rigby Welcomes Same-Sex Showdown
BY AMY SMITH


When the Rev. Jim Rigby learned that a formal complaint had been filed against him that could ultimately cost him his standing in the Presbyterian Church, the minister's initial reaction was something along the lines of "Yahoo!"

The response might have left a pew of by-the-book Presbyterians reaching for their smelling salts, but Rigby, who is accused of conducting same-sex marriage ceremonies in violation of his denomination's rules, believes the church needs a wake-up call like this one to force an open discussion on homosexuality. The pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in North Austin is a longtime ally of gay rights causes, and he says he's willing to put his frock on the line in this particular fight.