Anti-gay preacher told he's not welcome
South Wales Echo

 
CONTROVERSIAL American preacher Luis Palau has been told he is not welcome in Cardiff because of his "anti-gay" views.

Cardiff council has withdrawn a civic reception next week, which was to have been hosted by Lord Mayor Jacqui Gasson and the city's first citizen has also pulled out of a dinner organised as part of 04theCity, a Christian celebration to mark the centenary of the Welsh reviv


~

Bigotry in our backyard: a wake-up call


 Most of the homophobia I have encountered and confronted is subtle. Many modern homophobes are getting smart enough to avoid open displays of bigotry, so you rarely see anyone standing on the street corner holding a "God hates fags" sign (unless, of course, you are looking at the Rev. Fred Phelps). But sometimes it doesn't take much provocation for ignorance to surface.

Anyone who spent time on York Street last Tuesday night learned this firsthand. Tuesday was the six-year anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay student in Wyoming who fell victim to a homophobic hate crime. Toad's Place invited the musician Beenie Man, whose lyrics explicitly call for the burning and hanging of homosexuals, to perform in New Haven on that very evening.


~

Coming out's effect lasts a lifetime
By John Johnston
Enquirer staff writer


Steve Howe knew his parents' expectations for him. They mirrored society's: Get married and have children.

His parents tried to expedite the process by introducing him to a woman when he was in his early 20s. But even as the couple dated, then lived together and eventually married, Howe was suppressing his true feelings. He was a gay man trying to live a heterosexual existence


~

Suit alleges man fired for being gay
By Iowa City Press-Citizen


A former MCI Mass Markets employee is suing the company for allegedly firing him because he is gay.

In a suit filed last week in Johnson County District Court, Shannon L. Derifield alleges he was denied promotions, treated unfairly and ultimately fired in January from MCI Mass Markets, 1925 Boyrum St., after nearly three years of employment. The lawsuit also names Derifield's former supervisor Jane Williams as a defendant.

The lawsuit alleges MCI violated its own non-discrimination policy by firing Derifield and that Williams "orchestrated, manipulated and encouraged an unfair accusation of poor performance on the part of (Derifield)," which resulted in his ineligibility for a promotion within the company. Derifield also alleges he was subject to an "intimidating, hostile and offensive" work environment.


~

Civil Partnerships "wrecking" amendment rejected
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Baroness O'Cathain's amendment to the Civil Partnerships bill, which MPs, legal experts and gay lobby groups claimed would make the laws offered unworkable, has been rejected in the House of Commons.

The amendment was tabled to extend the bill from lesbian and gay couples to other persons in non-sexual relationships such as carers and disabled people, and elderly siblings.


~

Who would Jesus invade?
By Avery Walker |RAW STORY COLUMNIST


Something caught my attention in the last debate and I was wondering if you caught it, too. Did anybody else out there happen to catch that the President of the United States, commander of the most powerful military on Planet Earth and leader of the free world, said that God told him to invade another country? And did you find that at all … alarmin


~

Gay man hits out at Northern Ireland police
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A gay man is threatening to sue the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), accusing the force of violent homophobia and victimisation.

Jeff Hoskin says he will sue the force after he was cleared of assaulting a police officer in Belfast.

The 27 year old was said to have verbally abused an officer and pushed him.

The encounter took place in the city after he was attacked by a gang of 10 homophobic youths while leaving a local gay club.


~

The Pink Paper returns from the brink
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Free gay newspaper The Pink Paper is set to return to clubs and bars across the UK, after one of the country's biggest gay publishing groups announced it was buying the troubled publication.


~

Bloomberg Loses Bid To Toss Gay Benefits 
by Doug Windsor 365Gay.com New York Bureau 


(New York City) New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg lost round one Monday in his bid to overturn a law that would force companies doing business with the city to provide domestic partner benefits.

A judge refused to grant Bloomberg a temporary restraining order to prevent the law from going into effect October 26.


~

Lebanese group wants ban on homosexuality lifted
Hurriyyat Khassa seeks to abolish law which stipulates one-year jail sentence for sexual intercourse against nature.
By Salim Yassine - BEIRUT


A rights group has launched a campaign in Lebanon to overturn the country's ban on homosexuality, in the first publicity offensive of its kind to take place in the Arab world.

The group, Hurriyyat Khassa or Private Liberties, started the campaign with a screening at the American University in Beirut of the British movie "Victim" which helped change the law banning homosexuality in Britain in the 1960s.

Pointing to recognition for the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the constitution, Hurriyyat Khassa is seeking to abolish Article 534 of Lebanon's penal code which stipulates a one-year jail sentence for "sexual intercourse against nature".

The screening of "Victim" was followed by a heated debate between activists fighting for gay rights and others who believe homosexuality flies in the face of public morality and religious beliefs.


~

Vatican Official: Gays Are Treacherous 
by Malcolm Thornberry 365Gay.com European Bureau Chief


(Vatican City) A high ranking Vatican official has denounced what he calls a powerful cultural, economic and political lobby that is drowning out the voice of the Pope - gay civil rights groups and organizations supporting a woman's right to choose.  

Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, the former Papal Nuncio to the UN and now the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said the groups were "inspired mainly by anti-Christian prejudices".

"It is enough to think of how nonchalantly and blithely, yet tenaciously, these lobbies promote confusion over the role of gender identity, mock marriage between a man and a women, and take aim against life itself which is made the object of absurd forms of experimentation," Cardinal Martino said Monday.


~

Kansas anti-gay group pickets Alabama churches
The Associated Press  


BAY MINETTE, Ala. (AP) — A Kansas-based anti-gay group ended a series of protests in Alabama with a demonstration outside a church that conducted the funeral of a slain gay man.



~

Nasty Lesbian Visitation Battle Goes To Appeals Court 
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Galveston, Texas) A nasty court battle between a Galveston lesbian and her ex-partner over visitation rights to their six year old daughter is heading to the appeals court.

The birth mother, Julie Anne Hobbs, is fighting a district judge's ruling earlier this month that Hobbs' ex-partner, Janet Kathleen Van Stavern had equal parenting rights.

Hobbs had become pregnant through artificial insemination. The man who donated the semen voluntarily terminated his parental rights and Van Stavern legally adopted the girl when she was a 3-years old. 


~

Nicole Brodeur / Times staff columnist
Mary Cheney, say something


The Bush and Kerry girls are on the campaign trail, telling family tales aimed at giving us a glimpse of the private men — the fathers — fighting for the White House.

But Mary Cheney may be telling us the most, without ever saying a word.

The lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney — really, the very idea of her — has become a lightning bolt, setting off small fires about gay rights, activism and privacy all over the political landscape.

And in her silence, Mary Cheney has given us a glimpse of a family trying to reconcile its politics with its heart.


~

Episcopalians will continue to bless same-sex unions
By Andy Netzel
Free Press Staff Writer


Vermont Episcopal priests will continue to bless same-sex unions despite criticism of the practice from an Anglican church commission.

Vermont Bishop Thomas C. Ely said that until the governing body of the Episcopal Church says not to allow the practice, parishes in the state will continue to celebrate and bless the civil unions of homosexuals


~

Bishop expresses regret for hurt but not decisions over same-sex blessings -


A bishop in British Columbia says he regrets contributing to an international rift in the Anglican communion, but won't apologise for the decision to permit same-sex blessings or immediately go along with a proposed moratorium.

Bishop Michael Ingham said he will continue to allow same-sex blessings in the diocese of New Westminster until his synod meets next May and decides what course to follow.

"I have not acted apart from the diocesan synod and I don't intend to begin now," he said.

The report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, called on bishops who have allowed same-sex blessings and those who took part in the consecration of gay Bishop Gene Robinson, to express regret for the hurt the actions have caused the global church. It asked that bishops cease actions that are causing further division in the church — blessing gay unions and electing gay bishops.