A call to lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender workers
Following are excerpts from a call being circulated across the country:


On Oct. 17, people from across the country will converge on Washington, D.C., for the Million Worker March under the slogan, "Organizing in our own name." March demands include jobs, health care, a national living wage, repeal of the USA Patriot Act, bring the troops home now, slash the military budget, and end all racist and discriminatory acts in the workplace and communities.

The voices and issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers will be raised at the Million Worker March. We will be there as union members and unorganized employees, unemployed, immigrants and youths, joining hundreds of thousands of other workers and supporters.

We will be there because we need what all workers need: jobs for all, higher wages, shorter hours and freedom to organize a union.

We will be at the Million Worker March because we need a movement that is independent of the major parties.


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Bay Area groups seek tolerance for transgender youth
By Ron Harris
ASSOCIATED PRESS


SAN FRANCISCO – Two years after the killing of the transgender teenager born Edward Araujo made national headlines, gay, lesbian and transgender groups in the San Francisco Bay area are reaching out to young people in hopes of teaching tolerance and acceptance.

AdvertisementThe Santa Cruz County Task Force for Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders is one of several Bay Area groups working to create an atmosphere of greater tolerance their communities. Monday marks the second anniversary of Araujo's death, and October is recognized nationally as Queer History Month.

Stuart Rosenstein, chair of the Santa Cruz County task force, said the often cruel forms of bullying and harassment begin in grade school, and misplaced anger is often tagged with derogatory terms related to gender issues.

One way to confront the issues head on is to get back in the schools and talk about them. Rosenstein's task force does just that, working directly with school administrators to help quell climates of harassment before they take hold.


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Eugene revives efforts to accommodate transgendered people
The Associated Press  

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The University of Oregon has already set aside several unisex bathrooms to accommodate transgendered students, or those who cross dress, have had a sex change or say they identify with the opposite gender.

 The city's Human Rights Commission runs educational seminars for city employees about the needs of such individuals.

City staff and community activists are now reviving an effort to expand Eugene's anti-discrimination laws to include protections for transgendered people.

Supporters say they are encouraged by the growing number of public bodies such as the university that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, and by the increased visibility and activism of local transgendered people.


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Free speech fight lives on
Legacy of 40-year-old movement can be seen at UC Berkeley, beyond
By Michelle Maitre, STAFF WRITER


As the University of California, Berkeley, prepares to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the free speech movement this week, one need only walk through Sproul Plaza to trace the legacy the movement left for today's students.

Dozens of tables for causes large and small line the walk that years ago was crowded with thousands of students rallying for the right to promote civil and political discourse on campus.


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Bush breaks historic grammatical ground


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Briton jailed in Morocco homosexuality trial


RABAT (Reuters) - A Moroccan court has sentenced a British citizen to one year in prison for committing homosexual acts and seducing a minor, official media report.

Such cases are rare in Morocco, where authorities often turn a blind eye to homosexual practices despite their illegality and rising pressure from the local media on authorities to crack down on homosexuality and what they call sex tourism.

Kenneth Watson, 66, was tried last week by a court in the southern city of Taroudant after he was caught having sex on September 25 with an 18-year-old Moroccan man, who was also jailed for one year, official news agency MAP said.


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Gay leaders to fight proposed ballpark
By S.A. Miller
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Leaders of the District's homosexual community say they will use their political clout to save a homosexual nightclub mecca that is likely to be razed to make room for a Major League Baseball stadium in Southeast.

    Bob Siegel, landlord of several of the neighborhood's homosexual strip bars and adult theaters, said Mayor Anthony A. Williams and the D.C. Council cannot continue to ignore the displacement of the homosexual entertainment district.

    "The most gay commercial strip in D.C. is going to be wiped out, and [Mr. Williams] doesn't say anything about that," said Mr. Siegel, who is an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member for the area. "It's like a fly swatter coming down and — boom — we are gone."


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Family First aide disciplined


RELIGIOUS party Family First has disciplined a campaign volunteer for saying lesbians should be burned to death.

The man's comments came shortly before a group of youths hurled eggs at Greens supporters yesterday from a passing car at Dayborough, in the marginal Brisbane seat of Dickson.


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Homeless Man Found Beaten, Later Dies
Potential Hate Crime Being Investigated


WAVERLY, Ohio -- A homeless man was found beaten Saturday in Waverly and later died at a local hospital. Now prosecutors are investigating whether the incident was a hate crime, NBC 4's Elizabeth Scarborough reported.

Daniel Fetty, 39, had recently lost his apartment in a fire and was living out of his car. He was found early Saturday morning in a Dumpster after police were called to the scene of a fight. Fetty was naked and beaten. He died 12 hours later at a local hospital.


Police arrested Matthew Ferman, 22, James Trent Jr., 19, and Martin Baxter, 28. All three were charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, according to Pike County Prosecutor Robert Junk. They are being held in the Ross County Jail.

Waverly police are calling the incident a robbery, but Fetty's friends said he was gay and wonder if that was why he was killed, Scarborough reported.

Junk, who said this was one of the most gruesome cases he had seen, said he will investigate whether Fetty's sexuality played a role in his death.


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Derry 1968-2004: The Struggle Goes On
by Various from Derry
Celebration of Civil Rights March Anniversary Expresses Outrage at Racist and Homophobic Attacks


From The Newswire: I don't really think yesterday's march should be described as a commemoration march. Sure, it was held to coincide with the 36th anniversary of the Oct. 5th march that is seen as starting the whole civil rights movement. But the idea for the march came first and then got hooked into the Oct. 5th thing. Basically, the SEA (Socialist Environmental Alliance) was looking for some way of responding to the high level of homophobic attacks in the city and also wanting to do something about racist attacks (there have been verbal attacks in Derry, but no physical ones). We thought we should link these two hate crimes and then thought the obvious thing to do was to call a "civil rights for all" march and link it to the history of civil rights activism in Derry.


We contacted the Rainbow Project and the people there thought it a really great idea. Since three of the organisers of the original 5th Oct march are associated with the SEA - Eamonn McCann, Dermie McClenaghan and Johnny White - they spearheaded the calls for the march. Having decided to make it a civil rights march, it was clear that the demands had to include Seamus Doherty, a republican 'dissident' who is being framed by the PSNI. In fact, his framing is so obvious that even the police ombudsman is suggesting the officer in charge of his case should be prosecuted for 'perverting the course of justice'. The march managed to smoke out Sinn Fein and even the SDLP to support the campaign against this miscarriage of justice. It was great to see something between 700 and 1,000 people march down Shipquay Street in support of gay rights and civil liberties and against racism - in spite of it being a wet and blustery day.


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Lesbian couple's activism changes path of gay rights
By Randy Myers
CONTRA COSTA TIMES


SAN FRANCISCO - The phone's loud and abrasive ring temporarily unhinges the conversation, but Phyllis Lyon ignores the intrusion.

She remains intent on completing a thought on same-sex marriage and her 50-plus-year relationship with the woman seated next to her, attired in a nearly identical purple dress shirt.

The caller persists. Mildly annoyed, Del Martin, Lyon's 83-year-old partner, picks up the phone, carriage and all, and plunks it with a clang in front of Lyon.