'Gay-straight' clubs in schools anger foes
By Christina Bellantoni
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Family groups and state lawmakers say "gay-straight" student clubs in the region — some even are operating at middle schools — promote homosexuality and encourage teens to be sexually active.
 
   Students in Virginia, Maryland and the District have formed dozens of such school clubs in an attempt to foster tolerance.
 
   The formation of these clubs has become an issue in Virginia, where homosexual-rights advocates say the clubs help communities bridge divisions — but more conservative groups fear students will be lured into engaging in behavior they don't support.
 
   "They are teaching acceptance and that it's OK to be a homosexual and to practice homosexual sex acts," said John Elledge chairman of the Republican Party of Harrisonburg, Va. "I'm all for just getting along, but I'm not at all for having a sexually oriented club in our high school."


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Protest denounces Prop. 2
By RONEISHA MULLEN
The State News


No-preference freshman Kate Walquist, right, Japanese and marketing junior Brian Casey, center, and Japanese freshman Jessica Storrison, left, protest the passage of Proposal 2 in front of the Capitol.

About 100 angry and confused protesters stood on the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday night with signs that read "What is wrong with wanting equality," and "How many people have to die for us to have equal rights."

The event was a demonstration by protesters voicing their disapproval of the passing of Proposal 2, which will amend the state constitution to define the union between one man and one woman as the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union.

The protest was organized by Rally for Equality, a group of Haslett High School students who said they want equality for everyone.

"People should be free to make their own choices," said Haslett High School sophomore Ashley Nalett, the organizer of the event. "There should be separation of state and religion and there's not."


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National Field Director for Republican Party sought unsafe sex, multiple partners online; Admits to profile but can’t recall content
By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor


The National Field Director and deputy political director for the Republican National Committee Daniel Gurley solicited unprotected sex and multiple sex partners in an online profile at Gay.com, in seeming contradiction with the Party’s call for abstinence and positions on gay issues.

His adult chat profile soliciting men for unprotected sex and said he has sex three to five times weekly was discovered yesterday by activist Michael Rogers of blogACTIVE.com.

Gurley admitted to RAW STORY Tuesday he had a profile in his America Online screenname.


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Civil Partnerships to become law
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


The House of Lords has voted to back Civil Partnerships in the final vote on the bill.

Same-sex couples across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will now be allowed to register their relationship and be legally recognised for the first time. Scotland is expected to adopt the laws in the near future.

The historic step forward will see lesbian and gay couples have access to the rights and responsibilities on offer to heterosexual couples who wish to hold a civil wedding.

The vote of support comes despite fears that the bill would be blocked by peers just a day before the end of this parliamentary session.


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French scientists claim major AIDS vaccine breakthrough
Christopher Curtis, Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network


In what could be a major breakthrough, French researchers may be on the way to developing a vaccine against the AIDS virus.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that under laboratory conditions, antibodies were able to prevent the AIDS virus from infecting human immune cells.

Researchers at the Pasteur Institute and National Centre for Scientific Research say this is the first time such a success has ever been achieved against such a wide genetic range of the virus.

This discovery will "open up interesting prospects for the development of a vaccine against AIDS," the team said in a press release.


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Gay American Smoke Out set for Thursday


The 10th annual Gay American Smoke Out, which urges lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to stop smoking, is set for Thursday, November 18. The American Legacy Foundation, which sponsors the yearly event, says gay people are considerably more likely to smoke than their heterosexual peers, with up to half of all LGBT adults reporting smoking. As many as 59% of gay adolescents smoke, according to the foundation, significantly higher than the 35% of all adolescents who do so. Fewer gay people have attempted to quit smoking, according to the foundation; about 75% of gay smokers have attempted to quit at some point, compared with 80% of all adults who smoke. Smokers are at greater risk of developing heart disease, cancer, stroke, and emphysema.


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Protest angers alderman
By Scott Aust, Journal Staff Writer


RAPID CITY - A Rapid City Council member has been mounting a personal protest for the past couple of weeks by refusing to stand for the invocation or Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of council meetings, actions that have outraged another alderman.

Alderman Tom Murphy said during an interview Wednesday that the nation is heading so far to the right that civil liberties and the Constitution are threatened. He said the only way he can fight back is to make a small gesture of dissent.

"I think a lot of people would understand. They may not agree with how I'm doing it or how I'm saying it, but how can I really look at a country I love that's going the wrong way, and look at the symbol, the cloth that it represents when that cloth no longer represents the ideals it was based on?" he said. "It's starting to fade. The colors are starting to fade into white."


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100,000 South Africans Call on Drug Giant Glaxo to Create AIDS Treatment Fund Reports NetCom SA and AHF


DURBAN, South Africa and LOS ANGELES, November 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- South African AIDS Advocates to Host March & Rally Demanding GSK Set up 10 Billion Rand Trust Fund for AIDS Treatment

Up to 1,000 People Expected to Join in March & Rally in Durban on Thursday Nov. 18th; More than 100,000 South Africans Signed Petitions Calling on Drug Giant to Set up Fund; Move is Spearheaded by the Network of AIDS Communities in South Africa and Supported by AIDS Healthcare Foundation,


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Mugabe bans human rights groups
From Jan Raath in Harare


Zimbabwe’s parliament was rushing through legislation yesterday that will shut down human rights groups and other organisations critical of President Mugabe and his Government. It is regarded as the most repressive legislation since independence in 1980. The Zimbabwe Non-Governmental Organisations Bill will force all the estimated 3,000 private voluntary organisations to register with a state commission or be closed, have their staff arrested and their assets seized. Those not already on the Social Welfare Ministry’s voluntary register will be regarded as illegal as soon as the law comes into force. The Bill also threatens charities that serve as an alternative Civil Service for impoverished Zimbabweans in a society where the state infrastructure is largely in ruins. These organisations bring water supplies, famine relief, seed and farming implements, literacy and support to much of the one third of the population stricken by HIV/Aids. The jobs of up to 20,000 people working for the charities are at risk.

Agencies devoted to what is broadly described as “governance” will be banned from receiving foreign funding. Foreign human rights organisations, including the local office of Amnesty International, will be outlawed. David Coltart, legal director of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said: “It attacks the churches, human rights organisations, trade unions, everything.” In Zimbabwe, private organisations have managed to keep alive a semblance of democracy and independence. Observers say the face of the country will be changed rapidly when Mr Mugabe signs the Bill into law. Announcing the Bill in July, he declared that “we cannot allow them (voluntary organisations) to be conduits of foreign interference in our national efforts”. Since then, the state propaganda mill has incessantly denounced the groups as “puppets of imperialist forces seeking to destabilise the country to effect regime change”.



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New national gay group forms
A NEW PHILANTHROPIC GROUP HAS FORMED IN MELBOURNE TO REMEDY the UNDER-FUNDING OF GAY AND LESBIAN HEALTH PROJECTS. TIM BENZIE REPORTS ON THE GAY AND LESBIAN FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA.

According to a 2002 survey by peak body Philan-thropy Australia, only two percent of grant givers fund lesbian and gay needs. It’s a statistic members of The Gay and Lesbian Foundation of Australia hope to change.

“My experience has been that we can’t rely on heterosexually oriented or mainstream organisations to appropriately and relevantly respond to GLBTI issues,” Chris Gill, interim chair of GALFA, told Sydney Star Observer