Transgenders thwart AIDS education
by Judy Nichols
The Arizona Republic


This article explores gender flexibility among Native Americans and other indigenous societies in the context of HIV/AIDS education initiatives. Wesley Thomas, a Navajo professor (University of Indiana) and author quoted in the article, explains that historically many tribes accepted and revered people with ambiguous or both male and female sex organs, as well as those whose sex was not in dispute but who took on both gender roles. Though Christianity and Westernisation led many members of these communities to embrace much stricter gender categories, some Native peoples do not identify with dualisms like male/female. This means that a man who has sex with a male who presents himself to the world as a female may not call himself gay. Such a person may not relate to - see the implication of - materials distributed by HIV/AIDS workers who are advocating safe sex for gay men.


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Tour opens way for sex-change (sic) players
By Peter Stone


Transsexual Mianne Bagger's long and emotional journey to be accepted in the ranks of women's professional golf has taken a decided turn for the better with a decision by the Ladies' European Tour to change its membership regulations to remove the barrier against sex-change players.

At a meeting of the tour players' council and board of directors in Cheshire, England, on Tuesday, it was decided to approve a change in regulations that previously stated that applicants for membership must be female at birth.


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Sexologist eyes classes for cops
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, AP  


HAVANA -- In the four years since she became a transvestite, life hadn't been too difficult for Gillian. But this summer, she says, she was detained twice by police who threatened her with prison for the crime of "peligrosidad" -- dangerousness. Her "dangerousness," apparently, is her dress and makeup.

Cuban transvestites say police have come to their homes lately to warn them to dress "in a corresponding manner." Gillian, 19, says she is afraid to go outdoors dressed as a woman.

But help is on the way.

Mariela Castro Espin, an internationally renowned sexologist who happens to be the niece of President Fidel Castro, wants Cuba's National Revolutionary Police to undergo gender-sensitivity training.


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Police investigating string of campus hate crimes
By Michael Gluskin
Staff writer


University Police are investigating a string of hate crimes that occurred over the weekend in two North Campus dorms after students awoke to profanity, racial slurs and anti-gay graffiti written in stairwells and on walls and elevator doors.

The words were found on the third and fourth floors in Cambridge Hall and the third and eighth floors of Centreville South Hall Saturday morning. Police surveyed the scenes, and Facilities Management cleaned up the writing.

"It was written in very big lettering on the wall. It was almost illegible," said freshman information systems major Jesse Chen, a fourth-floor Cambridge resident. "The walls were pretty much covered with graffiti."


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Protesters confront Republican delegates
By SHAWN McCARTHY


NEW YORK -- Roving bands of activists engaged in direct confrontation with Republican delegates and targeted the headquarters of major corporations yesterday as arrests continue to mount outside the Republican National Convention.

Anti-war protesters, conducting a largely peaceful weeklong effort in their opposition to the administration of President George W. Bush, designated yesterday as a day for "direct action."

Two of the largest demonstrations involved a memorial march at the World Trade Center site, which police prevented from moving toward the convention at Madison Square Garden, and a "shut-up-a-thon" at the headquarters of Fox News, the conservative TV channel that has been accused of bias in favour of Mr. Bush.



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First report on state of human rights:
Wednesday, 1 September 2004, 12:21 pm
Press Release: Human Rights Commission

. . .Over five thousand New Zealanders contributed to the report that identifies where we must do better. "The fundamental right to be who we are and to be respected for who we are - whether a disabled person, Pakeha, Màori, Pacific, Asian, gay, lesbian, a transgender or intersex person, male, female, young or old - is still not a reality for all New Zealanders," Ms Noonan says. "Violence, bullying and harassment represent the most flagrant human rights abuses and are present in too many New Zealand homes, schools, workplaces, playgrounds and playing fields.


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Group's Target: Same-Sex Marriage
By DANIELA ALTIMARI, Courant Staff Writer


The Family Institute of Connecticut intends to file a motion today seeking to become a party to a lawsuit brought by seven same-sex couples seeking the right to marry.

"We're doing this because we don't want to happen in Connecticut what happened in Massachusetts," said Brian Brown, the group's executive director. "To use the court to rewrite the law [is] an attack on the democratic process."

The lawsuit, filed last week in New Haven Superior Court by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, claims that the state's marriage laws violate the equal protection and due process provisions of the state constitution. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will defend the state.


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Gay-rights groups give to defeat measure
Two national gay and lesbian groups donate thousands of dollars to oppose a measure banning same-sex marriage
BILL GRAVES


National gay-rights groups are spending heavily to defeat a measure banning same-sex marriage in Oregon, a state they say has the best chance of defeating such measures.
 
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has given $500,000 to the Oregon group opposing Measure 36, which is on the Nov. 2 ballot. It would amend the state Constitution to say that marriage only between a man and a woman is legal.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay and lesbian rights group in the country, also has pledged $100,000 to the opposition group, called No on Constitutional Amendment 36.



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Published by The Guardian/UK
President Admits War on Terror Cannot Be Won
by Julian Borger
 
George Bush admitted yesterday the war on terror could not be won, as the Republican party convention, designed to showcase the president as a resolute leader at a time of national peril, was launched in New York.

The White House rushed to limit the potential damage as Democrats seized on the remarks as a sign of defeatism. A spokesman for the president said he was simply pointing out the unconventional nature of the conflict.


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Bettendorf, IA
Mayor wants voters to consider anti-discrimination law which protects sexual orientation
By Karetha Dodd


BETTENDORF - Same sex marriage rights may be the more high-profile issue, but many gay activists say their biggest fight is to get anti-discrimination protection in America's cities and states. Bettendorf is considering adding the protection to its anti-discrimination laws.

Bettendorf's Mayor is bringing the controversial issue to City Hall.  What's being considered is a law that would make it illegal for an employer or a landlord to turn someone away based solely on their sexual orientation. Mayor Mike Freemire wants to conduct a survey to find out what Bettendorf residents think about the issue.