AIDS Organizations Warn State That Voter Challenges Will Result In Voter Inaccessibility


Today the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, with support from a national coalition of AIDS organizations, demanded that elections officials provide full and equal access to people living with disabilities. The large number of voter registration challengers promises a situation where voters will experience lengthy delays standing on line to be able to cast their ballots. For a person living with a disability, such a wait will make voting difficult or impossible.

"We believe the State of Ohio has a duty to ensure that voters on November 2 can cast their ballots without unreasonable delays," said Earl Pike, Executive Director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland. "For people living with HIV and other disabilities, a long wait may be physically impossible, and illegal interrogations about physical or mental health status may be so offensive that they limit participation."


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Ashcroft Intervenes In Gay Marriage Suit
by The Associated Press


(Santa Ana, California) A couple seeking to overturn government bans on same sex marriages will have to contend with the legal weight of the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice has asked to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Christopher Hammer and Arthur Smelt that claims federal and state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

A Department of Justice attorney filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in response to an Oct. 14 invitation from U.S. District Court Judge Gary Taylor.

Hammer and Smelt, both 45, of Mission Viejo are the first couple to file a suit challenging marriage laws in federal court in California. Other challenges have been filed in state courts.

Hammer and Smelt want an order requiring Orange County to issue them a marriage license on the basis that the laws against same-sex marriage violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Their goal is to take the case to the Supreme Court.



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Video: Republican candidate supports EXECUTION of GAYS
by scottmaui


You've got to watch this video.

My Democratic state Senator here on Maui, J. Kalani English, has a Republican running against him named Robb Finberg, a Pastor for the Christian Fellowship Church.

In this video, Finberg actually says that he would support a law for the execution of people found guilty of performing homosexual acts.

Yes, that's right, he favors the death penalty for gays.

Watch the video here:


http://mikegabbard.info/rob_finberg.htm


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Churches Key to Mich. Fight on Gay Marriage
Faithful Line Up on Both Sides of Issue
By Alan Cooperman and David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writers


ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Inside the National Shrine of the Little Flower, a Knights of Columbus honor guard stood watch with swords drawn as several hundred Roman Catholics prayed that Michigan voters will "uphold the sanctity of marriage" Tuesday.

Outside the towering granite sanctuary -- once the most famous suburban church in the United States -- Anthony Kosnik and a few dozen other Catholics paced the sidewalk with signs saying "U.S. Is Not a Theocracy" and "Vote NO!!! on Proposal 2."

Michigan is one of 11 states where constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage will appear on the November ballot. Much of the grass-roots support for these initiatives is church-based. But so is much of the opposition.



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HIV In Canadian Prisons Rising At 'Alarming' Rate
by Canadian Press


(Toronto, Ontario)  The alarming increase of HIV and hepatitis C in Canadian prisons must be combated through government-led needle exchange programs, medical and legal groups said Wednesday.

John Rapin, president of the Ontario Medical Association, says the general population is put at risk when infected prisoners are released from jail.

"The frequent movement of individuals between prisons and the community means that any transmission of the disease within prisons will increase the risk of disease transmission in the community,'' he said.


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Minneapolis Catholic church censured for Gay Pride support
Matt Mckinney, 
Star Tribune

JOAN1028

 
A Catholic church in Minneapolis known for its progressive stands on social issues has been ordered by the Vatican and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to remove

Gay Pride material from its Web site and stop allowing unordained guests to speak during mass.

The order was delivered by two bishops in person two weeks ago to the pastor of St. Joan of Arc and again in a statement issued Wednesday.

The Rev. George Wertin of St. Joan's said he intends to comply with the order.
But in keeping with his church's long-standing practice of community decisionmaking, he said several parish committees are considering precisely how to respond.


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"Disturbing" hate crime figures revealed in Belfast
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


The true extent of homophobic attacks in Belfast has been revealed, with new figures suggesting more than 5 hate crimes based on anti-gay feeling or racism take place in the city each week.

The revelation has occurred during the current the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee visit to the province, which is intended to help find solutions to some of the problems minority groups in Ulster face.


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Irish Bishop backs gay rights
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A senior Catholic bishop has gone against the Pope's recent comments, and backed equal rights for lesbian and gay couples.

Dr Willie Walsh, Bishop of Killaloe in Ireland, said that, while he has "difficulty" with same-sex marriage, he does not see any problem with civil unions that are similar to the Civil Partnership bill currently being debated for the UK.


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Some stations agree to pull gay-amendment ad; opponents revise spot
JOE BIESK
Associated Press


FRANKFORT, Ky. -Five television stations pulled a commercial opposing the state's proposed same-sex marriage amendment, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration announced Wednesday.

But opponents of the amendment later revised the commercial to include a recording of an interview with Fletcher on the amendment, The Courier-Journal reported Thursday.

The administration on Tuesday asked stations across the state to consider pulling the ad created by the anti-amendment group No on the Amendment, claiming it misquoted the governor and misrepresented something he said at an Oct. 13 news conference.

Executives at WDRB-TV and WHAS-TV in Louisville both said they decided to stop running the ad after comparing its content to what Fletcher said at the news conference. The administration said two other Louisville stations, WAVE-TV and WLKY-TV, and one Lexington station, WTVQ-TV, also decided to stop running the ad