Group plans counterpicket at 'Laramie'
Gay-advocacy group to stand up to protesters
By REED DUNN
Times Herald


EAST CHINA TWP. -- Protest threats from an anti-gay church in Kansas have members of a local gay-pride organization ready to silently fight back.

Blue Water Pride, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy and education group, announced Tuesday it would counter a protest planned by Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The church plans to picket this week's production of The Laramie Project at the East China Performing Arts Center.


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Vermont Episcopal church will continue to bless civil unions
Associated Press


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

Vermont Bishop Thomas C. Ely said Monday that parishes in the state will continue to celebrate and bless civil unions until the governing body of the Episcopal Church says not to.
The U.S. Episcopal Church, a branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, was criticized in a report released Monday for electing openly gay Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. The Anglican church commission urged the Episcopal Church not to elect any more gay bishops and asked bishops not to "authorize public Rites of Blessing for same sex unions."


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Outraged pundits ignore Bush's lies
False indignation remains cornerstone of post-debate strategy


For reasons known only to America's leading conservative thinkers, it is far more offensive to utter an inconsequential truth than to tell a long series of important falsehoods. Or so we are learning in the wake of the final Presidential debate, as Republicans and their noisemakers proclaim grave indignation over John Kerry's innocuous reference to the sexual preference of Mary Cheney.


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New Europe and its old attitudes
AFP , WARSAW


Poland's only openly gay politician, 28-year-old Robert Biedron, should be in a celebratory mood as senators discuss a bill to legalize same-sex partnerships in this devoutly Roman Catholic country.

But despite a Europe-wide trend towards giving equal rights to homosexuals, with Spain the latest country to have liberalized its laws, Biedron says that zero-tolerance prevails in Poland despite joining the European Union this year.


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Professor decries homophobia
By Laura Francoviglia
Kansan staff writer

At the end of the 20th century, American culture was probably the most homophobic society ever to exist, said Robert Minor, professor of Religious Studies. Minor led a workshop titled Scared Straight: How Homophobia Hurts Us All last night at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. Minor said he presents workshops around the nation, though only seven people participated in last night’s workshop.