Many Ga. trans killings remain unsolved
By LAURA DOUGLAS-BROWN


As Georgia transgender activists prepare to host their fifth annual Day of Remembrance vigil Nov. 20, several recent killings of transgendered people in the state remain unsolved.

“Education goes a long way in preventing hate crimes,” said Monica Helms, executive director of Trans=Action, organizer of the Atlanta observance. “We hope people will come away from the event feeling empowered.”

Trans=Action also plans a fund-raiser for Nov. 19 at LeBuzz, a gay club in Marietta.

More than 60 cities in six countries will hold Day of Remembrance services this year, according to organizers. The event was created to honor transgendered people who have died as the result of violence, prejudice or suicide.


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Transsexual escort backed out of call
By CARY CASTAGNA, POLICE REPORTER


She says it may just be a coincidence, but it has left her terrified. A 25-year-old transsexual prostitute who claims she works for a Winnipeg escort agency told The Sun a john called her out to a Portage la Prairie truck stop just days before the body of fellow transgender sex worker Divas B was found east of the city.

When the escort -- who didn't want her name published for safety reasons -- arrived at the truckstop, she spotted a red semi-trailer and immediately had a bad feeling, she recalled.

"The door was open, but nobody was there," she said, adding she decided to turn around and head back to Winnipeg. "I had an intuition. I don't know why. That's how I felt."


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WHO USING INTERNET TO HELP PROSTITUTES
by: Bradley S. Klapper
The Associated Press


GENEVA (AP) - The U.N. health agency Thursday said it plans to use the Internet to help prostitutes in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

Launching its computer-based information campaign, the World Health Organization said that prostitutes -- whether male, female or transsexual -- are at high risk of HIV infection but rarely have access to treatment. They often also miss out on general medical care, WHO added.

Once infected, prostitutes are likely to pass the HIV virus on to their clients, spurring the AIDS pandemic, the agency said.

However, many prostitutes -- and the organizations which help them -- lack the information they need to cut the risk.


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Gay killing 'filmed on mobile'
By Ross Lydall, Local Government Correspondent, Evening Standard


Mobile phone photographs were taken as a gang beat gay barman David Morley to death, Ken Livingstone claims.

Mr Morley, 37 , from Chiswick, was attacked last month as he sat chatting to a friend on the South Bank.

Police believe he was set upon because he was gay. He suffered a ruptured spleen, fractured ribs and 40 separate bruises from a hail of punches and kicks.


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Protest of marriage definition set
Gay couples plan mock wedding at Capitol
By Todd Wright
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER


Members of Tallahassee's gay and lesbian community are outraged by a recent proposal that would further prohibit the recognition of same-sex unions, and they're ready to fight back.


"They are, in effect, forcing us to become second-class citizens by treating us differently than heterosexuals in this community," said the Rev. Paul Anway, pastor of the Gentle Shepherd Metropolitan Community Church. "It is very much an issue of separation of church and state. The government should not be saying who can and cannot be married."