Gay Marriage Ban is Costing San Francisco $15 Mil
Paul Adam Haber

Gay marriage rights advocates and the city of San Francisco last week began opening arguments to persuade a California court that denying same-sex couples the ability to marry violates the state's constitution, and is costing San Francisco upwards of $15 million in lost revenue and social services payouts.

Last month, the Supreme Court voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages that were sanctioned in the city before it intervened, ruling that local officials lacked the authority to contravene state law.

Now, proponents of marriage rights are seeking to have those laws overturned on constitutional grounds, a process that must begin in Superior Court and is expected to percolate back up to the California Supreme Court in about a year.

Arguing Thursday before a San Francisco Superior Court, lawyers representing 12 same-sex couples and the city said laws prohibiting same-sex marriages violate the Constitution's due process, privacy, free expression and equal-protection provisions. The city is also arguing that the marriage laws interfere with constitutional rights to liberty, privacy and equality.


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ANTI-GAY CHURCH THREATENS NON-PROFIT STATUS
by: Michael Wilhoit & Beth Maple-Bays, Out & About Newspaper


An East Tennessee church may have threatened its non-profit status by actively involving itself and its' members in the politics surrounding the debate over marriage.

As members of Manley Baptist Church of Morristown prepare to head to Washington for an October 15 rally for the Federal Marriage Amendment, concerns are being raised regarding church participation in the rally, potentially threatening their tax-exempt 501(c)3 status. As a nonprofit organization, the church must adhere to federal tax laws to retain that status.
IRS regulations prohibit churches from involvement in influencing legislation.

A posting on the church's website, which is labeled as "MayDay for Marriage", appears to be encouraging church members to actively try to influence pending legislation.

"Because of the recent legalization of homosexual marriages, our President has asked for a Constitutional amendment for marriage to be between a man and a woman," The site reads. "October 15 has been set aside for people to rally at the D.C. Mall. The purpose? To petition Congress to pass legislature for this to happen."

Washington Judge Rules on Gay Marriage
By Associated Press


OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Echoing the ruling of another local court, a Thurston County judge ruled Tuesday that Washington state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

A King County judge had ruled in favor of gay marriage rights in a separate case last month. Both cases will now go to the state Supreme Court, where they will likely be consolidated.

"For the government this is not a moral issue. It is a legal issue," wrote Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks in his ruling, posted Tuesday on the court's Web site.

Hicks acknowledged that the intent of the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act was very clear: Legislators wanted to limit marriage to a union between one man and one woman. But, Hicks said, that law directly conflicts with the state constitution.

Thursday, September 23 at 7 pm
The Best American Poetry 2004
The Best American Poetry 2004 showcases diverse talent including Lyn Hejinian, Jennifer Scappettone, Jane Hirshfield, kari edwards and Rae Armantrout.
A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books
601 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA 94102

Black Gay Pride ends on high note
By JINGLE DAVIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


With the wind from Tropical Storm Frances at their backs, about 100 marchers in the Black Gay Pride parade on Monday sang, chanted, waved banners and made their way from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center to the state Capitol.

Zandra Conway of Smyrna, who co-chairs the board of In the Life Atlanta, said the only protesters along the parade route were white Christians who said they disapproved of homosexuality. They also passed out roses.

Malika Hadley Freydberg leads marchers Monday at the Stand Up and Represent Black Gay Pride March and Rally, which capped a long weekend of education, activism and celebration.

The Black Gay Pride event, which began Wednesday, drew participants from around the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada who socialized but spent most of their time attending workshops, films and other sessions on such issues as HIV, the need for political activism and homophobia in the black church.


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Suit Paints Same-Sex Marriage As Ordinary
By DANIELA ALTIMARI, Courant Staff Writer


Seven same-sex couples suing for the right to marry in Connecticut are basing their case on state constitutional provisions markedly similar to those used to validate gay marriage in Massachusetts.

At the lawsuit's core is the principle of equal protection, which holds that all citizens are entitled to the same rights.

But social change is about much more than legal arguments. Through what promises to become a landmark lawsuit, gay and lesbian activists are asserting that, like any other committed couples, they are entitled to the privileges and protections of marriage.


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Bettendorf mayor wants input on policy
By Tory Brecht


Bettendorf Mayor Mike Freemire is turning to the people to ask whether they want protection from discrimination extended to gay men and women.

Last month, the Bettendorf Human Rights Commission voted 4-2 to ask the City Council to consider adding sexual orientation to the protected categories in the city’s civil rights ordinance.
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Although the council is not obligated to act on that recommendation because the commission fell one vote short of a super-majority, Freemire said he senses a desire by aldermen to resolve the issue.
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However, he believes a scientific poll or market study should be conducted before the council takes up the issue.

Calls for more security, after anti-gay attack
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Police in Bournemouth have been accused of neglecting the city's gay community, after a group of revellers were attacked when leaving a club.

Around 15 young people hurled bottles and rocks at the group of men leaving the Opera House club last weekend. Although usually a straight club, the Opera House also has a gay night once a week.

One of the attacked said that because of the known animosity in the area, some police officers should already have been situated outside the club.

The unnamed victim told the Bournemouth Daily Echo that this foresight could have protected him and his friends from the abuse.


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Local group to protest Banton concert
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Gay groups in Milton Keynes are set to protest an appearance by Buju Banton later this month, as the campaign against homophobic lyrics continues to spread.

Banton is set to appear at the city's Empire nightclub on September 22 and, so far, the venue owners have refused to pull the plug on the gig.

Previous threats of protests have seen cancellations of concerts by the stars at the centre of the row across Europe and North America.


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Cardinal challenged to gay debate


LESBIAN activist Monica Hingston has challenged her cousin, Catholic Cardinal George Pell, to a public debate on the church's attitude towards homosexuality.
Cardinal Pell is well known for his public sermons against homosexuality and sparked controversy when, as Archbishop of Melbourne, he refused gay activists holy communion.

In January, he refused to respond to a publicised letter from Ms Hingston calling on him to condone same-sex relationships, an action the Vatican has ruled out.

In her latest invitation, Ms Hingston, a former Catholic nun, urged her second cousin to debate the issue with gay Catholics at the closing of gay film festival QueerDOC.


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NGO helps gay couples tie knot
Samrat Choudhury
Vadodara, 


For the deeply-in-love couple who are waiting for their wedding date — which has tentatively been set "a month from now" — there's trepidation. "We met four months ago at a party, and it was love at first sight," says B, a 21-year-old M Com student. His life partner-to-be is a 28-year-old engineer.

All of which is the way it is in most weddings, but this one is different: both the people getting married are male.

Lakshya, a Vadodara-based organisation that works for the rights of gay people, is planning to facilitate the marriage. “It's a way to prevent the spread of AIDS,” says Sylvester Merchant, the organisation's 25-year-old programme officer.

"In multi-partner relationships, the chances of HIV infection are more. In the MSM population -- men having sex with men — people often have multiple partners. Marriage would discourage this," says Merchant.


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More companies providing benefits to gay couples
By EVAN PONDEL
LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS


As the debate surrounding same-sex marriage plays out across the country, companies in increasing numbers have quietly decided to offer the same insurance benefits to gay couples as they do to married couples.

The Walt Disney Co., The Boeing Co., Parsons and Amgen Inc. are among several high-profile companies that provide insurance benefits for gay couples.

In all, about 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies offered health benefits to gay couples at the end of 2003, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. And of the top 50 firms, about 68 percent provided such coverage.

That's because about a decade ago a cluster of health plans introduced "domestic partner benefits" -- policies that target same-sex and opposite-sex partners who live together.



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Gay Rights Group Lobbies BBC over Mobo Awards
By Tony Jones, Showbusiness Reporter, PA News


A gay rights group today called on the BBC to drop a planned broadcast of the MOBO awards if two singers they accuse of homophobia are not removed from the nominations.

OutRage! has written to the BBC’S director-general Mark Thompson and chairman of the board of governors, Michael Grade, outlining their concerns about the Jamaican artists Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel who are up for honours in the best reggae artist category.

Organisers of the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) awards, launched in 1996, have stated they do not condone homophobic lyrics and work closely with the Black Gay Men’s Advisory Group.

Controversial singer Beenie Man, who has also been accused of homophobia, did not make it onto the reggae artist shortlist this year after organisers emphasised on the public ballot forms they did not support music that clearly incited violence towards gay people.


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Oklahoma Politicians Want Say In Court Decision On Anti-Gay Amendment
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Oklahoma City) Two Oklahoma Republican lawmakers who support a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban gay marriage want to intervene in a lawsuit which seeks to disallow the issue from going to voters.

Senate Republican leader James Williamson of Tulsa and Representative Thad Balkman of Norman are asking the Supreme Court of Oklahoma to let them intervene in the case.

The Oklahoma Civil Liberties Union and a gay rights group filed suit in the state Supreme Court to have asks the justices to declare the question illegal and prevent it from going to voters in November.

The suit says that the wording of the ballot question is vague and violates the rights of gays and lesbians.


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Maine Governor To Reintroduce Gay Rights Bill
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Augusta, Maine)  Maine Gov. John Baldacci on the weekend said that he will reintroduce gay rights legislation next year.

If passed the state-wide anti-discrimination law would combat bias based on sexuality in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit.

The Legislature has twice passed such a law in recent years, only to have it rejected by voters.

Lawmakers passed a gay-rights bill in 1997 and then-Gov. Angus King signed it into law. But opponents forced a so-called "people's veto" referendum in 1998, and voters killed the law. The Legislature embraced a gay-rights law once again in 2000. That time, lawmakers sent it to voters for final action, and it was defeated again.

SEVEN MARINES, THREE IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS KILLED IN CAR BOMB ATTACK 9/6/2004

Analysis: Proposed Amendment May Conflict with Constitution


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A new analysis of the proposed state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages raises the possibility of a conflict with the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

It said that it might be argued that the amendment "creates a classification of persons to whom the right to marry is not available."

It also raises a question about the amendment's second part, which prevents any other union from being given the same or substantially equal legal effect as a marriage.


"The scope of that prohibition may be more precisely defined by Utah courts as they interpret the provision in the context of lawsuits that may arise," said the analysis, which will be available Tuesday online at the state Elections Office, http://www.elections.utah.gov, and in printed form in October.

Our Common Cause: Equal rights for same-sex couples


Outgoing President George W. Bush is hoping to use the rights of same-sex couples as a battering ram in this year’s US presidential election campaign. It’s an old tactic of ruling elites to exploit religious bigotry.

But the Republicans and the religious right failed in their attempt to amend the US constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. This is significant in a country where 40% of the population are regular churchgoers, and there is a large coalition of ultra-conservative religious groups.

Public opinion swung against Bush’s wedge politics. People said ``we don’t want you to spend days in the White House debating the outlawing of same-sex marriage when you should be talking about the health crisis, jobs, education, and the large numbers of our young people coming home from Iraq in body bags’‘.


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Homophobic Attack In Bournemouth
A group of gay men had bottles and rocks thrown at them as they left a Bournemouth gay club in the early hours of Monday morning.


The attack by 15 youths took place outside McDonalds in Christchurch Road, Boscombe, as they left the Opera House from a gay club night at Bolt.

"Everyone knows Boscombe is a rough area but it is still a shame this incident happened. They are part of a growing homophobic group,” one of the victims told This Is Bournemouth.

"Dorset Police support the gay community and they are made aware of the event. But they didn't even have a presence outside the Opera House,” he added.

"We thought the police would be there. We don't want armed guards and escorts but Boscombe isn't that nice an area so we expected some form of protection for us.


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New project focuses on media homophobia
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A new project organised by Stonewall Cymru will focus on the levels of homophobia in the media, as well as increase awareness of LGB people in Wales.

Funded by Comic Relief, the Look Out project was launched earlier this week, and will also respond to homophobic and negative portrayals of LGB people in the media.

"The Look Out project is about working with the media in Wales to tackle homophobia and to improve the portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people," Stonewall Cymru's Derek Walker said in a prepared statement yesterday.

"It's about changing the way gay issues are reported and the way LGB people are represented," he added.


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Pastor: Anti-gay marriage referendum's success not certain


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- At least one poll shows solid support among Michigan residents for a constitutional ban on gay marriage, but a clergyman says that doesn’t guarantee voters will endorse the idea.

The state Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage in Michigan as a union between one man and one woman should appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.

TWO DEAD IN MORTAR ATTACK 9/6/2004

India News: Fourth accused in gay murders arrested in Nepal


New Delhi Sep 5 (IANS) The fourth suspect allegedly involved in the brutal murder of USAID official Pushkin Chandra and his gay partner has been arrested in Nepal, India :, who was one of the two men who allegedly murdered Chandra (38) and his male companion Kuldeep (19), was Sunday produced in a city court that remanded him in police custody.


A senior police officer said police in Nepal had helped a Delhi Police team that visited the Himalayan kingdom to arrest Moti. The team had visited Nepal after the external affairs ministry requested authorities there to help trace Moti.

Rajesh Kumar, the main accused in the murders that shocked the national capital, was arrested Aug 28 from his hometown in Madhya Pradesh. Two other men -- Parveen and his father Jai Kishore -- were arrested for aiding and sheltering the suspect.

Take Action! Take Action! Take Action! Take Action!

Tell Your Representatives to Protect All Students from Harassment and Bullying


On July 7, Representative Shimkus (R-19th IL) introduced H.R. 4776, a bill that would amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to protect all students from harassment and bullying. Contact your Congress Member to help protect students from gender-based bullying and harassment. The bill would hold schools and districts accountable for:


* initiating policies to prevent harassment and bullying
* providing appropriate training, and complaint procedures when policies are violated

Harassment and bullying would include conduct that is threatening or offensive based on students' “actual or perceived identity with regard to race, color, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion,” or other characteristics.


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On July 30, Ford Motor Company has added "Gender Identity" as a category that is protected against discrimination, to Corporate Policy Letters 2 and 6. Ford is the first of the Big 3 automotive companies to take this step. Official updates to the Policy Letters are in underway. (A link to the revised documents will be added in the near future)


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CALL FOR PRESENTERS


The 19th Annual IFGE Convention will be held at the Red Lion Hotel in Austin, TX, April 26 through 30, 2005. Proposals for presentations are being sought at this time. New ideas, new topics and new faces are of particular interest.

The theme this year is "Sex, Gender and Politics: Exploring the Connections." We have a special need for presentations for cross-dressers (from still-in-the-closet to out-and-about), "Are you a CD, TV, TS?," Basic Hormones, Standards of Care discussions, and other social and medical programs for those considering going beyond being a crossdresser. We are expecting a large number of FtMs at this event, so if you have experience with this group, we welcome your input.

If you are interested in presenting, complete the Program Proposal Form and submit it before October 1, 2004. Although submissions after that date will be accepted on a space-available basis, you may not be included in our registration brochure and advanced advertising. If you will need some type of A/V equipment, please be sure to make that fact known on the enclosed form. A/V equipment is VERY expensive to rent, so use it sparingly.

No submissions by email, please. Send proposals by postal mail or fax to:
Alison Laing, P O Box 473, Portsmouth, RI 02871
fax: 401-624-8753
email for inquiries: alng@mindspring.com


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ISNA Outeach 2004


ISNA works hard to educate the world about intersex. Over the last 11 years of our work, we have reached millions of people through our outreach work! Here's a small sampling of what we've been up to in just the first half of this year.

Just since January 2004:

Time magazine did a feature on intersex including interviews with Debbie Hartman and Thea Hillman (ISNA board members).

The popular online newspaper Slate did a feature article on our founder and Executive Director, Cheryl Chase, and on the work of ISNA.

Our website continues to draw upwards of 1,600 visitors (and many more “hits”) each month; it provides them with basic information, news, access to videos, etc.

Don’t Just Sue the Bastards!
A Strategic Approach to Marriage
By Matthew A. Coles
Director, ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project


A lot of people don’t understand why the ACLU and other groups working on equality for LGBT people haven’t just gone into court everywhere to get same-sex couples the ability to marry.  But there are good reasons not to do that.

1.  If we just sue in as many states as possible, we are likely to lose a lot of the cases.

To get the courts to strike down a law, you have to convince them that the law violates one of the specific rights in either the U.S. or the state Constitution.  There are two possible legal arguments we can use in marriage cases: the right to “equal protection,” and the “right to marry.”  

Equal protection: Over the years, the Courts have decided that government discrimination against some groups is “suspicious.” They said that because they found there was a long history of treating people in the group differently out of prejudice. Among the kinds of discrimination courts have said are “suspect” are race and sex discrimination. It is very difficult to get a court to strike down a law under equal protection unless the discrimination in the law is considered “suspect.”  But odd as it may seem, the U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t decided whether discrimination against gay people is suspicious, and neither have most state Supreme Courts. To make matters worse, most of the lower court cases have said discrimination against gay people is not suspicious.


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Take Our Couples Survey!
 

The American Civil Liberties Union is looking for gay couples to help us in the fight for marriage equality. Stories of real couples are what put a face on the issue and help change public and legal opinion. Between now and November, your stories can compel voters to say no to discriminatory state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.  

By submitting your story here you give Freedom to Marry, the American Civil Liberties Union, and their coalition partners your authorization to use the information you provide. Your story will be shared anonymously unless you are contacted directly for permission to use your name/s.

Mugabe fuels 'Reformation' against gays
TREVOR GRUNDY


MORE than 30 million African Anglicans are set to form a breakaway church in the biggest schism since the Reformation prompted by a backlash against liberal attitudes to gays and lesbians in the west.

The church is taking its cue from the unlikeliest champion of family values, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who in 1993 flamboyantly but infamously branded gay people as "worse than dogs and pigs".

Nigerians clerics, who are led by the fearfully homophobic Archbishop Peter Akinola, say they are linking up with Evangelicals who not only support Mugabe, but also President George W Bush and the Republican Party in the US, Ben Mkapa in Tanzania and Sam Nujoma in Namibia, to wipe clean the "evil stain" of homosexuality from the face of Africa.

"This could be the biggest split since the Reformation," said Richard Kirker, General Secretary of the small but vocal Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. "Personally, I’d rather see a split within the ranks of the Anglican community than for people of principle to bow to the demands of homophobic Africans."


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The campaign of hate set to oust gay Tory
Homophobia clouds deselection vote for Howard's candidate in Cornwall
Mark Townsend
The Observer


The caller stayed on Pat's line long enough to denounce her son as a 'queer who should be put in a dustbin and pissed on'.

When the phone rang she had hoped for another Tory well-wisher offering support for Ashley Crossley, the gay Conservative candidate seeking to secure a winnable seat in west Cornwall. She was half right: the voice did belong to a staunch Tory.

But it was one hellbent on destroying the political career of Crossley, hailed as the fresh-faced future of the Tories and one of Michael Howard's brightest prospects, before it has barely begun.

In three days, the Conservative Association of Falmouth and Camborne will vote on whether to deselect the 31-year-old barrister amid a backdrop of homophobic bullying. The Observer has uncovered a campaign of systematic anti-gay abuse, allegedly involving Conservative supporters, that has divided the fishing town of Falmouth.


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Pope Attacks Canadian Gay Marriage 
by Canadian Press


(Vatican City) Pope John Paul II kept up his campaign against gay marriage Saturday, telling the ambassador from Canada -- where some provinces allow same-sex couples to wed -- that such unions create a "false understanding" of marriage.

In past months, the pope urged authorities to stop approving gay marriages, saying that they degrade the true sense of marriage.

The pope spoke Saturday to the new Canadian Ambassador to the Holy See, Donald Smith.

"The institution of marriage necessarily entails the complementarity of husbands and wives who participate in God's creative activity through the raising of children," said the pontiff, according to the text of the speech released by the Vatican.m


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Indian activists to challenge anti-gay ruling

NEW DELHI: Gay activists in India on Saturday vowed to challenge a High Court decision to dismiss a petition seeking to legalise homosexuality.

The petition, filed in December 2001, sought to overturn laws which make homosexuality between consenting adults punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

“After three years of going back and forth the High Court has thrown out our petition on the flimsiest and most baffling grounds,” Shaleen Rakesh from the Naz Foundation told AFP.

“But we are not prepared to sit back and accept what the court is throwing at us. We are studying legal options in front of us and will file a review petition in the High Court or take the matter to the Supreme Court,” he said.


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Would voter 'I do' ban gay marriage or undo gains?
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press


Conventional wisdom says the amendment to ban gay marriage in Michigan has a better-than-even chance of passing.

The Rev. Doug VanDoren believes that underestimates voters.

"People like to paint Michigan and particularly West Michigan as far more reactionary than it is," he said. "I think there is a good chance it will not pass."

The proposal, cleared Friday by the Michigan Court of Appeals to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot, would enshrine in the state constitution the definition of marriage as "the union of one man and one woman."

its easy to *not* see this as a trans murder in the wording, especially in the use of transvestite which implies a man (?) in woman's clothes.... this is a gender bias hate crime again a trans female.. make no mistake about it...!!


Arrest made in transvestite (sic) murder
(New Haven-WTNH)


Police have made an arrest in the year-old murder of a transvestite.

32-year-old Michael Streater is charged with fatally stabbing Jessica Mercado.

Detectives found the body of Mercado, once known as Horacio, following a fire in Mercado's Chapel Street apartment in May of 2003.

Police say Streater stabbed Mercado to death and then tired to burn the body.



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PROTEST WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION AND DEMAND EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION


On July 1, 2004, Alex Franco Acebo was fired from Invescol, a private security company in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He had worked for the company for two years. According to Invescol Manager, Mr. Franklin Gallegos, the company’s internal regulations bar the employment of "physically disabled people and gays."

In 1997, Ecuador was the first in Latin America (and the second in the world, following South Africa) to include specific protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation in its Constitution. In this context, the action of Invescol, especially Mr. Acebo’s sexuality, are irrelevant to his job performance and should not, in any context, be compared to a "physical deficiency" that might render him unable to perform his job properly.

Indeed, while Invescol’s position is impossible to justify, the consequences of their policy are dramatic and conclusive: Alex Franco Acebo is currently unemployed, and is thus unable to attend to his basic survival needs, lacking any support if he happens to fall ill. In this context, if the government of Ecuador does not take action against Invescol, they will have failed to protect and fulfil Mr. Acebo's rights to be free from discrimination and his right to work. Fundación Amigos por la Vida (FAMIVIDA), a local LGBT Rights and HIV/AIDS prevention group, has submitted a complaint against Invescol to the Ecuador’s Labour Ministry.


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HRC STATEMENT ON HOSTILE CLIMATE AT CONVENTION
‘Their platform and policy record is so divisive and at times discriminatory that it might have even driven Mary Cheney from the RNC stage,’ said HRC President Cheryl Jacques.


WASHINGTON — Human Rights Campaign President Cheryl Jacques released the following statement today regarding the climate at the Republican National Convention.

“All week long, the Republicans have been trying to put forth a moderate message, while their platform and policy record is so divisive and at times discriminatory that it might have even driven Mary Cheney from the RNC stage.

“Instead of talking about the Cheneys being divided on stage, we should be talking about the divide between the president’s discriminatory platform and the fair-minded moderate voters he is appealing to.

“Some of the most notable speakers at this week’s convention — Senator John McCain, Governor Schwarzenegger and former Mayor Giuliani — demonstrate compassionate, moderate Republican leadership. At the same time, the party’s platform is the most discriminatory in modern history. There has been absolutely no mention of important issues like hate violence and workplace discrimination, and the silence from the party leadership following Alan Keyes’ outrageous remarks has been deafening.

W.V. Court to Hear Lesbian Custody Case
By Associated Press


CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether state law recognizes the parental rights of same-sex partners.

Tina Burch is appealing for custody of the 4-year-old son of her lesbian partner, Christina D. Smarr, who died in a 2002 car accident. Within hours of Smarr's death, Smarr's brothers-in-law took the child from Burch and handed him over to his grandparents.

A lower court ruled in December that state law does not give a homosexual the right to win legal guardianship of a former partner's child; Burch appealed.

On Thursday, the state high court agreed to hear the case, and voted 3-2 to grant Burch temporary custody.


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Homophobe Preacher Banned From Big Easy Gay Fest
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(New Orleans) A fundamentalist pastor who led a protest march through last year's Southern Decadence has been banned from going near this year's festival.  Southern Decadence is the largest gay event in the South and runs until September 6. 

Reverend Grant Storms led a group of church members down Bourbon Street attempting to disrupt crowds. When he was refused entry into a gay bar where he wanted to protest Storms charged the doorman with assault.  The charge was later thrown out of court.

Today, Civil District Judge Michael Bagneris granted an area business group a restraining order against Storms to prevent him from disrupting this year's party.

Storms and his followers will be allowed to hold signs denouncing homosexuality but are barred from using megaphones, bullhorns or other noisemakers.




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Bishop seeks harmony over gay rights
With release of report, O'Neill asks Episcopalians to try to 'work together'
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News


Colorado Episcopal Bishop Rob O'Neill called on fellow Episcopalians to seek common ground Tuesday, as he formally released a diocesan study on how to mend rifts over same-sex policies and other controversies.

"That we disagree is evident; the consequences of disagreement are not," O'Neill said in an interview.

Indeed, in the report he insisted that it's still possible "to establish policies that will facilitate our living together in disagreement."

The bishop endorsed the 23-page report, which he commissioned, and its recommendations drawn up by 10 clergy and lay members, including a gay representative. However, O'Neill noted the report will take time and the help of further committees to implement.



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Attorney General's Office defends state's gay marriage ban
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI
Associated Press Writer


TRENTON, N.J. -- The Attorney General's Office defended the state's ban on same-sex marriage in legal papers filed late Thursday, reiterating its position that New Jersey's Constitution does not permit gay unions and that the power to change the definition of marriage rests with the Legislature, not the courts.

The state's 60-page brief, filed with the Appellate Division of Superior Court, challenges a a civil lawsuit by seven same-sex couples and supported by the national civil rights organization Lambda Legal seeking the right for gay and lesbian couples to wed.

Both sides have said they will appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.

"Our response continues to be that the courts have a traditional role to play to assess whether lines that the Legislature draws _ in this case to exclude a class of citizens _ are constitutional or not," said Gary Buseck, legal director at Lambda Legal in New York. "The courts are to answer these questions no matter how controversial they are."

TASK FORCE OLYMPIA SOLDIER DIES, TWO INJURED IN IED ATTACK 8/30/2004

Greetings from (rainy) Camp Trans


Dear BTL,

Camp Trans is the ongoing protest of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival's policy of excluding any womyn who they can identify as transgender.

I attended Camp Trans for my second year- this time for a full week. CT is an amazing space where the varieties of gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and sexual interests go beyond a two-dimensional rainbow into some bizarre mathematical construct of combinations and possibilities. As an out and proud transwoman I love the novelty of a space where I'm not only normal, but even a little bit boring.

Activism provides the focus for Camp Trans. We get our message to MWMF attendees through approaching them as they line up to enter, talking with visitors, and the assistance of many wonderful allies within their borders. Toys in Babeland (a vendor) was amazingly helpful all week. Ember Swift (a performer) was another amazing ally. (Buy their stuff.) Many other allies took actions from handing out fliers, to wearing armbands, to speaking positively about including transwomyn. And many more quietly agree that all womyn should be allowed to attend MWMF.

Our allies are helping to get transwomyn's voices heard on the land. Toys in Babeland displayed a posterboard full of written statements by transwomyn and many allies passed out fliers with excerpts from these statements. I was particularly proud to be able to say, "The policy doesn't keep out transwomyn. Some transwomyn can and do attend. The policy excludes transwomyn's voices. It silences us."


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WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) - With help from a Christian legal rights group, the school board voted to sue the state Department of Education in an effort to change the definition of the word "gender" in the anti-discrimination policy for all California schools.

Board members Judy Ahrens, Helena Rutkowski and Blossie Marquez consider a state law that defines gender as "a person's actual or perceived sex" as immoral and they voted Thursday to challenge the definition in court.

The Westminster School District board members believe the state education definition conflicts with the state penal code - which defines gender as "a person's biological sex" - and therefore schools should not be required to comply with it

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian organization that wages legal battles promoting traditional religious views, agreed to represent the district and pay all legal costs.



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Transmissions: Going it alone
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith


The transgender community is a diverse one, containing any number of identities and presentations. More than this, the larger lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community contains four distinct larger categories.

I have often spoken of some of the frictions that came come up between transgender people and the larger community. This friction can be unavoidable when discussing the Human Rights Campaign in recent weeks, or the recent Michigan Womyn's Music Festival - or quite frankly just about anything. It often seems that if there's the possibility of friction, then there's the probability of friction.

Because of this often frustrating and seemingly endless series of conflicts, the thought often gets floated of just going it alone. That is - rather than continuing to try and work with organizations and others who can not or will not consider trans needs as equal with their own - why not simply promote "transgender" as something separate from the larger community and avoid all these problems.


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Court Says Anti-Gay Amendment Should Go To Michigan Voters
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Lansing, Michigan) The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage should be placed on the November ballot.

Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, gathered far more than the 317,757 signatures required to place the issue on the ballot but the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked on whether the issue should go to voters.

Under the rules of the election board the issue died.  But the CPM went to court.

The main issue of contention was the wording of the question to be put to voters. Democrats on the committee and LGBT rights groups said it was misleading.

GENDER RIGHTS
Turning HRC’s Promise Into Action
By DONNA CARTWRIGHT


A resolution adopted earlier this month by the board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) represents an enormous step forward for the transgender community. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community’s leading voice in Washington is now clearly on the record saying that transgender inclusion in federal anti-discrimination legislation is essential, not optional.

And it seems that, at last, HRC is ready to treat the trans community as a full partner in the LGBT civil rights struggle.

But it is much too early to “declare victory” or even to assume that the most difficult struggles are over. Instead, they may be just beginning. It is important to take note of the fact that HRC’s action has not led to immediate pledges by members of Congress to broaden the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) to cover transgender and gender-different people. In fact, Rep. Barney Frank, the gay Massachusetts Democrat who wields great influence on LGBT legislation, has been quoted in recent days as arguing against broadening the bill.

A good deal remains to be done, by both HRC and the transgender community.



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Gay bashing incident resolved
UP, Safe Zone settle conflict over comedian
By Megan Nichols
Student Life Editor


University Programs and Safe Zone, a watchdog group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students' rights on campus, have resolved a conflict stemming from an incidence of gay bashing at a UP-sponsored event Friday night.

Kevin Locke, UP president, acknowledged the incident occurred, but said his organization is not apologizing for the acts of a comedian who insulted a UA student during his show at the Ferguson Center Theater.

"Gay bashing was not a part of his show," Locke said. "This was a public conversation between two people. No one could hear what the student was saying, but the comedian had a mike."

Amanda Schuber, Safe Zone coordinator, said her organization has been in touch with the student and he asked that his name not be released.



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ORANGE COUNTY
School District Votes to Sue State
Westminster trustees agree 3 to 2 to become the plaintiff in Christian group's lawsuit over a regulation on gender anti-discrimination.
By Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writer


Months after narrowly avoiding severe financial sanctions because of its controversial stand against a state anti-discrimination regulation, the Westminster School District resumed the fight Thursday, voting to sue the state Department of Education.
Voting 3 to 2, the small Orange County district agreed to become the plaintiff in a case planned and funded by the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian legal organization that recently argued against same-sex marriages before the California Supreme Court.   

   
   At issue is a part of the state education code — and the accompanying regulation written to enforce it — that is meant to protect transsexual teachers and students, as well as others who do not conform to traditional gender roles, from discrimination at school.
Mark Bucher, the lawyer the district hired in April, said the definitions of "gender" in the education code and the regulation contradict each other. The lawsuit, he said, is aimed at forcing state education officials to rewrite the regulation.


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School Board bans bias over 'gender ID'
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF


The School Board decided Wednesday to add "gender identity" to the list of personal characteristics protected against defamation and discrimination in educational opportunity or employment in the schools, for students and staff members.

Race, creed, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, economic status, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status and mental, physical and sensory disability already are protected, with some exceptions for fitness for work.

Although few students are likely to undergo sex-change operations before they graduate from high school, school district lawyer Holly Ferguson said some are contemplating the procedure and may experiment with the clothing or lifestyle of a gender different from the one their biology suggests.



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Record 80 Percent of Fortune 500 Companies Protect Gay and Lesbian Employees


PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A record 400 (80 percent) of the 2003 Fortune 500 Companies have adopted personnel policies that protect sexual orientation from workplace discrimination.

In fall 2003, Equality Forum in collaboration with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) wrote to the 177 CEOs of the 2003 Fortune 500 Companies that did not provide workplace protection based on sexual orientation requesting that inclusion in their anti-discrimination policy.

"Over the past ten months, 77 (43 percent) of the 177 noncompliant Fortune 500 Companies added sexual orientation to their workplace discrimination policies. These 77 companies employ over 5.1 million workers. The inclusion of sexual orientation sends a message that their company provides a level playing field with merit as the standard for career advancement," stated Malcolm Lazin, executive director, Equality Forum.


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Anti-amendment effort spreads beyond metro Atlanta
‘Biggest obstacle’ in rural areas is coming out, volunteer says
By RYAN LEE


The effort to convince Georgia voters to reject Amendment 1 on Nov. 2 is headquartered in metro Atlanta.

But volunteers are fanning out across the state to win over allies, reaching out in areas like Dahlonega, Athens and Savannah.

Volunteer Donna Waddell, a lesbian and home health nurse, said she is sometimes surprised where opponents of the measure, which would ban same-sex marriage in Georgia, are found.

After Waddell addressed a group in Ellijay last week — Republicans, Independents & Democrats to Defeat Bush — a Vietnam veteran and former POW spoke about the issue.


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Gay vote may split in Council race
Long-shot is only Democrat to back gay marriage
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, September 03, 2004


Incumbent D.C. Councilmember Harold Brazil (D-At-Large), who has been in office for 14 years, is facing one of his toughest re-election efforts in the city’s Sept. 14 primary, and Brazil is turning to gay voters for support.

But activists familiar with the at-large Council race say the gay vote is likely to split this year between Brazil and his Democratic opponents, Kwame Brown and Sam Brooks, with many gays expected to base their vote on non-gay issues.

Brazil and Brown, who is considered Brazil’s closet rival, have expressed strong support for virtually all gay civil rights and AIDS-related issues except same-sex marriage. The two say they support civil unions over gay marriage, although they have pledged to support D.C. recognition of same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts or other states.

Gay Marriage Ruling Expected Today


Today, the State Court of Appeals is expected to decide on whether to put the same-sex marriage question on the ballot in November.

Last week, the state elections board deadlocked on whether to certify all the signatures gathered.
So right now, the issue is off the ballot, but that could change depending on today's ruling.


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Home Depot to insure domestic same-sex partners
Jennifer Waters


CHICAGO (CBS.MW) -- Home Depot said Thursday that health insurance will be available to employees' same-sex domestic partners beginning next year. The country's largest do-it-yourself retailer said eligible employees can start signing up their domestic partners next month. The company said the benefits revision had been in the works for about a year. Home Depot has been criticized for insuring employees' pets but not their same-sex domestic partners. Shares of Home Depot (HD) were trading at $37.65, up 77 cents, or 2.1 percent.


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Antibullying policies in place for Vermont schools


New antiharassment and antibullying policies are in place to mark the start of the new school year in Vermont. The laws are meant to clarify what constitutes harassment in schools and how better to handle reported incidents and also to require school boards to update their discipline plan to include the new legislation on bullying. The harassment law introduces a new review process that allows the family lodging the complaint to seek a third party to discover what actions were followed in dealing with the situation.



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Recognizing gay marriages may be left to Legislature
By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter


OLYMPIA — In defending Washington's ban on gay marriage before a judge here yesterday, the state appeared to concede that same-sex couples may be owed some kind of legal recognition.

Assistant Attorney General William Collins, arguing before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks, suggested that the court might uphold the ban, but the Legislature could consider allowing same-sex civil unions.

Collins told the court that the claims of 11 couples suing the state for the right to marry come down to two questions:

The first is whether Washington's constitution requires the state to extend to same-sex couples benefits and rights identical to those offered to heterosexual married people, Collins argued.


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Calif. Supreme Court to Clarify Gay Parents' Rights
Mike McKee
The Recorder


Gay rights lawyers celebrated on Wednesday after the California Supreme Court granted review in three cases that could have significant impact on the rights of thousands of same-sex parents statewide.

All three involve lesbian break-ups -- one in which the birth mother was granted sole parental rights, another in which a woman was granted rights as a "presumed father," and the third involving whether one parent could be forced to pay child support.

"I couldn't be happier," San Francisco attorney Jill Hersh, who represents a plaintiff in one of the cases, said about the court's action. "I hope in the long run it means children of same-sex couples are going to be treated with the same regard as those of opposite-sex couples."


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A Party for Some
By Joshuah Bearman, LA Weekly


The big tents have been well guarded at the Republican convention in New York. It took some doing to penetrate the several layers of security at the Log Cabin Republicans' Big Tent party Sunday to hear them complain about their own difficulty getting inside the symbolic big tent pitched over Madison Square Garden this week. "There are two Republican parties," Patrick Guerriero, Log Cabin's executive director, said to the crowd assembled at the Bryant Park Grill. "The party has to make a choice: Is it an inclusive Republican Party, or one hijacked by the radical right?"

He was highlighting the tension between a conservative base drifting so far into the outer reaches of ideological space that they're red-shifting from the Doppler effect, and the increasingly anomalous social moderates in the prime-time speaker lineup.

Everyone else on the itinerary at the Bryant Park Grill tried to celebrate the party's deep cleavage as "diversity," but the right-leaning imbalance was in evidence at the platform committee meetings held earlier in the cavernous and strangely vacant Javits Center, where the grip of the social conservatives tightened. They successfully dodged an attempt by the Log Cabin Republicans, along with fellow moderates from the Republicans for Choice, to soften language on constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage and abortion.


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LLEGÓ esta muerto, finito
By JOE CREA


WASHINGTON, D.C. — Officials with the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Organization abruptly shut down the organization last week laying off all 14 of its employees in the face of a $700,000 deficit, sources familiar with the group said.

Rodger McFarlane, the executive director of the Gill Foundation, which gave LLEGÓ $90,000 this year and a total of $400,000 over the past 10 years, said that “sheer financial desperation” and a complete reliance on government contracts instead of a donor base was the death knell for the “the only national nonprofit organization devoted to representing” the needs of gay and lesbian Latinos.

“My heart is broken because we were utterly committed to the work of LLEGÓ,” McFarlane said. “No other organization can speak credibly for Latino queers. This is a tragedy. I’ve spoken to a number of other funders and we all remain committed to their mission. When the dust settles, we will talk about how we can carry on that mission.”

LLEGÓ faces an operating debt of more than $700,000 between now and next March and a $200,000 operating deficit over the next two months, McFarlane said.


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S.F., gays argue for 'marriage equality'
Court briefs charge state ban based on 'archaic stereotypes'
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer


A dozen gay and lesbian couples and the city of San Francisco launched a legal attack on California's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday, arguing that the law enshrines bigotry, discriminates arbitrarily and violates a constitutional right to marry one's chosen partner.

"Exclusion from marriage ... marks lesbian and gay couples as second- class citizens. It dashes their hopes and dreams, and labels them and their children as inferior, based only on archaic stereotypes,'' lawyers for the couples said in written arguments in San Francisco Superior Court.

"The time for marriage equality has arrived,'' declared lawyers from City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office, which is suing on the city's behalf to overturn the marriage law.

India court rejects gay petition
By Ayanjit Sen
BBC corespondent in Delhi


The high court in the Indian capital Delhi has dismissed a legal petition that sought to legalise homosexuality.

The petition challenged laws which deem homosexual acts to be "unnatural criminal behaviour".

The court ruled that the "validity of a law" cannot be challenged by anyone who is "not affected by it".

The petition, filed by a voluntary organisation, argued that it is wrong for homosexuality to be a punishable offence in 21st century India

Dear friends,

The petition challenging the anti-sodomy law in India, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was dismissed by the Delhi High Court, by the bench comprising Chief Justice BC Patel and Justice BD Ahmed, today, i.e. 2 September 2004.

The petition had been admitted on 15.1.2003, meaning thereby that the petition had to be fully heard on merits. Notice had also been issued to the Attorney General in view of the constitutional importance of the issue. However, two of the Respondents to the petition, i.e. the Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS) and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) had not filed their affidavits despite the order of 15.1.2003.

Today, when the matter was taken up as the last item just before the Court rose at approximately 4.15 pm, the advocate for the Petitioner, Trideep Pais, pointed out that the two Respondents, DSACS and NACO, had not filed their affidavits despite the order of the court dated 15.1.2003. The Court in turn asked whether there was any case or FIR filed against the Petitioner, i.e. NAZ Foundation (India) Trust, under S.377 of the IPC, to which the advocate mentioned that there was none. The Court dismissed the petition on the ground that since there was no FIR, there was no ‘cause of action’ for the petition. The exact court order is not yet available.

Thurston County judge hears gay-marriage arguments
By REBECCA COOK  / Associated Press


A Thurston County judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the legality of gay marriage on Wednesday morning.

The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged Washington state's ban on same-sex marriage on behalf of 11 gay and lesbian couples from around the state.

"Same-sex couples who have formed families are being discriminated against solely because of their gender," said Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the ACLU of Washington, in a news release before the hearing. "The state of Washington has long acknowledged that gay and lesbian couples are suitable to be parents. We must no longer deny them the right to marry."


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Rainbow tassel incident unresolved
Students still upset over U. blacking out LGBT tassel in May graduation brochure students still upset
By alex dubilet


The Office of the University Secretary sent a short apology earlier this summer to Arshad Hasan, who graduated from the College in 2003, for altering his photograph used by the University in commencement material without his permission.

But, Hasan said, neither the form nor the substance of the apology was adequate, adding that he was looking for a public apology that would circulate as widely as the original publication.

The apology came in the wake of The Summer Pennsylvanian article covering the incident. In the article, University Secretary Leslie Kruhly stated that the alteration of the photograph blackening Hasan's rainbow tassel that represented Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender pride was part of a general University policy of making the photographs reflect "official academic regalia."

She stated that there were no political motivations for the alteration



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Anwar goes free on final appeal
Ruling reflects new era in Malaysia


SINGAPORE The high court in Malaysia overturned the sodomy conviction of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday and allowed him to walk free after serving six years in jail.
.
The decision, which took many Malaysians and officials in surrounding countries by surprise, was the clearest sign yet of a new era since the election of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi six months ago.
.
Anwar, who attended the hearing seated in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace, had been abruptly fired by the former Malaysian leader Mahathir bin Mohamad in 1998 over differences about how to handle the Asian financial crisis. The high court ruling came exactly six years after Anwar's removal from office.
.
Soon afterward Anwar, 57, was arrested, tried and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges in what was interpreted by the deputy prime minister's supporters as personal revenge by Mahathir against the man who was his probable successor.


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Opponents of gay marriage intervene in Arkansas court challenge


Groups supporting and opposing a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage have been gearing up for a legal battle for months. The Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee and the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will have their chance to argue before the state supreme court on September 23. This week the high court granted a request from the amendment committee to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The committee had turned in more than 200,000 signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. Briefs from both sides are due September 15. "We've been preparing for the case. We knew it was going to happen and that it was just a matter of time," said Chris Stewart, executive director of the amendment committee. "We've done all our legal work already."


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Amendment on November ballot
By DALE WETZEL, Associated Press Writer


North Dakotans will vote in November on a constitutional amendment to limit marriage rights to man-woman couples, Secretary of State Al Jaeger says.

Jaeger on Wednesday said a petition that requires a statewide vote on the amendment had 42,093 legal signatures, considerably more than the 25,688 names needed to put the idea on the statewide ballot.

The North Dakota Family Alliance, a Bismarck group that supervised the initiative campaign, had said it collected more than 52,000 petition signatures. Jaeger said his office counted 44,105 names, and rejected 1,647 signatures for various reasons, including incomplete signatures and addresses and notary errors.


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Illinois Republicans Denounce Keyes' Remarks
Keyes Attacks Daughter Of Vice President


NEW YORK -- Illinois Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes is causing a stir at the party's national convention in New York City -- and among Illinois Republicans.

According to the Chicago Tribune, when Keyes told two interviewers on Sirius OutQ, a New York-based satellite station that provides 24-hour gay and lesbian programming, that homosexuality is "selfish hedonism," his hosts asked if Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney is a "selfish hedonist."

Supreme Court kills challenges to gay marriage amendment


NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Louisiana Supreme Court has refused to take up legal challenges aimed at keeping a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriages and civil unions off the September 18th ballot.

Acting late yesterday on three requests to hear appeals of three lawsuits, court spokeswoman Katherine Fontana says the justices refused to consider two and said the third had not been filed in time.

The suits were filed on behalf of a group called Forum for Equality, arguing that the "Defense of Marriage" amendment is unconstitutional because it would deprive unmarried couples -- gay or straight -- of the right to enter into certain contracts.

Supporters of the ban disagree. The amendment, passed by state lawmakers earlier this year, would also ban state officials and courts from recognizing out-of-state marriages and civil unions between homosexuals.


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Lawyers draft gay weddings bill
  By Sheena Adams


The SA Law Commission is sifting through hundreds of public submissions on same-sex marriages before drawing up a draft bill.

In a written reply to a parliamentary question from the DA, Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla said the investigation was aimed at "harmonising family law with the provisions of the Bill of Rights and the values of equality and dignity".

Mabandla said the probe was also looking at whether marital rights should be extended to opposite and same-sex domestic partnerships and also whether specific rights should be awarded to people living in "interdependent relationships without a sexual element".


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Tired Of Waiting, Gay Couple Takes Legal Path
Colchester women cite discrimination in suit against state


Colchester — They were born in the same Connecticut town, attended the same high school, fell in love after graduation and have never parted since. This fall they'll celebrate 29 years together in sickness and in health, in the dream house they saved for and helped build.

“That was our 20th anniversary party,” says Janet Peck at home on Tuesday, explaining one of many framed photos chronicling their romance through the years.

It's been a good, old-fashioned marriage in most respects, with one notable exception. Because the partners are women, they can't legally wed.

Now, Peck and Carol Conklin are going to court for what they say is their due. Last week, along with six other gay or lesbian couples from Connecticut who were denied marriage licenses in Madison, they filed suit in New Haven Superior Court charging that the state's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is discriminatory.


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Gay man's partner seeks share of estate
The deceased left no will, and his son says he and his siblings should get the inheritance
By JOSEF MOLNAR and BILL MURPHY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle


When he died in January 2003, John Green left no will designating who should be given his town house, another home under renovation in Katy and stock worth $88,000.

As administrator of his father's estate, his son, Scott Goldstein of South Florida, says all of the proceeds belong to him and his siblings.

But Green's partner for 7 1/2 years, William Ross, has asked Harris County Probate Judge Russell Austin to grant him many of the same rights as a man or woman who has lost a spouse — meaning he could claim a good portion of the estate.

Lawyers on both sides said a favorable ruling could set a precedent in Texas, which does not recognize same-sex marriages, especially if an appellate court were to uphold such a decision in a written ruling.



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Testimony helps gay dads' case
The owner of a day care center where the sisters stay and a behavioral specialist say the children excel in the home.
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer


LARGO - Both young sisters hit other children and threw tantrums. The younger child was mean to animals and scratched her legs until they bled.

After state officials took the girls from their natural parents because of abuse or neglect, one behaved so badly that foster parents refused to keep her, some giving her up after just one night.

Then the girls were taken into a home headed by two gay men. Their behavior improved. They became friendlier toward other children. They began listening to adults.

That was testimony offered in court Wednesday from the owner of a day care center where the girls stay, and a behavioral specialist who has studied one of the girls.


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OutRage! wants 'anti-gay' gig axed
By Sarah Probert, Birmingham Post
 

A gay rights campaign group has urged a Birmingham nightclub to cancel a reggae concert following claims the singer incites violence against homosexuals.

Top Jamaican reggae star Sizzla Kalonji is due to appear at the White Pearl Club in Upper Trinity Street, Aston, tomorrow as part of a national tour.

He is among eight artists whose material is being examined by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over claims their lyrics incite violence against homosexuals.

The gay campaign group OutRage! made a complaint to police about the content, who in turn have asked the CPS to consider whether performance or promotion of the material might amount to a criminal offence

Baina beach demolitions: What about the sex worker’s right to shelter?
By Rakesh Shukla


 
Acting on orders by the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, around 250 huts belonging to sex workers, on Goa’s Baina beach, were bulldozed in an effort to ‘clean up’ Goa. ‘Operation Monsoon Demolition’ appears to have been based on the assumption that sex workers have no right to shelter

This year, the rains that bring joy to millions of people in India brought only grief to the residents of Baina beach in Goa. Carrying an order by the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, for the identification and demolition of 250 huts being used by sex workers, the state government set about bulldozing hundreds of hutments right in the midst of heavy rains lashing the area.

The rationale: The restoration of an ‘unspoilt Goa’ by cleansing it of the ‘sin’ of prostitution.

The huts are the homes of women who have been living here for the past 40 years. They have valid ration cards, voter identity cards, electricity bills and tax receipts as proof of their being bonafide residents of Baina; their children attend schools in the area. In fact, many children born in Baina are, today, vote-casting adults. Now, attempts are being made to class them as ‘outsiders’ from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and send them back once their homes have been demolished.

Using the ‘outsider’ bogey as the cause of all ills and whipping up chauvinism is a populist strategy often used by unscrupulous politicians. Like the Shiv Sena campaign ‘Maharashtra for Maharashtrians’ in the ’60s-’70s, there have been similar campaigns all over the country including Goa. Displaying remarkable foresight, the Constitution of India -- under Articles 19 (1) (d) and (e) -- specifically guarantees, as a fundamental right, the right ‘to move throughout the territory of India’ and the right ‘to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India’.

Arundhati Roy:
Public power in the age of empire


ARUNDHATI ROY is one of the leading voices in the international struggle against war, poverty and injustice. Roy first came to worldwide prominence as the author of the novel The God of Small Things, which won the prestigious Booker Prize for literature in 1997.

But since then, she has become an outspoken activist in the international antiwar and global justice movements, and an author of numerous essays and books on political issues and struggles. Her latest book is An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire, a collection of essays and speeches that follows previous collections War Talk, Power Politics and The Cost of Living.

In August, Roy spoke out in San Francisco on the subject "Power Politics in the Age of Empire"--in one of her only speaking engagements in the U.S. this year. Here, with permission, Socialist Worker reprints her speech.

Family kidnaps youth living with transsexual
IANS


JAIPUR: Police here are investigating the case of a youth who was allegedly kidnapped by his family members to prevent his living with a transsexual.

Police arrested the youth Nafees' uncle and another person on a complaint that they along with some hired goons beat up a group of transsexuals that had visited the youth's house to free him after the family locked up Nafees to prevent his going back to the transsexual.

Nafees was living with a transsexual as "man and wife" in the city's Bibi Fatima Colony for some time, something to which his family had objected, a police official told IANS


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Battle over 'Defense of Marriage' amendment reaches La. high court


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The battle over a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriages and civil unions was in the hands of the Louisiana Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The final appeal in three separate cases brought by opponents of the ban was filed with the high court on Wednesday.

Opponents, led by gay rights activists, lost the latest round of legal arguments on Monday when the state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal overturned a New Orleans judge's ruling that the ban was unconstitutional and should be stripped from the Sept. 18 ballot.

The ruling came in one of three lawsuits filed by gay activists to keep voters from casting ballots on the amendment. The state Supreme Court had already been asked to hear arguments in the first two cases and attorney John Rawls said he hoped the court would consider all three together.

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Missouri delegates are heckled by gays
By DAVID LIEB ~ Associated Press Writer


NEW YORK (AP) -- Protesters jeered and chanted "Missouri is a hate state" Tuesday as delegates of one of the first states to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage headed to dinner.

Missouri delegates were heckled as they arrived and left a downtown restaurant before the convention's evening speeches.

Although protests have abounded in New York, Tuesday's was the first protest specifically targeted at Missouri's delegation.

"The reason why we're targeting the Missouri delegation is because they have already passed the amendment," said Ray Dries, 50, of New York. "They're anti-American. These people are fascists."


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University of Pittsburgh to offer same-sex benefits
By MIKE CRISSEY, Associated Press Writer


The University of Pittsburgh has agreed to offer health benefits to same-sex partners, ending eight years of legal wrangling over coverage for employees.

The state-affiliated university's decision to offer benefits to same-sex partners was included in an eight-page memo sent to employees Wednesday. The benefits will be offered starting Jan. 1.

Transvestite(sic..) trial the talk of Nigeria
By Amina Waziri
BBC correspondent in Kano
A transvestite faces trial in September in a case which has become a big talking point in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.


The issue of sexual orientation is a controversial one in Africa and the existence of transvestites usually gets little attention.

But 19-year-old Abubakar Hamza has become famous with posters of him dressed in women's clothes selling well among male admirers.

He is charged with living and dressing as a woman in the first case of its kind in this conservative city.

But what is shocking for many Nigerians is that he lived as a young woman in the heart of a family for seven years, without his secret being suspected

Gay marriages groom anti-Aids battle
PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR
TIMES NEWS NETWORK


VADODARA: Married in both Hindu and Muslim traditions, Hanif and Zubair — in their early 20s — may draw flak from society. But in the gay community, they are treated as role models. Admired for their commitment to a single partner, the couple is also spearheading the HIV prevention campaign of Lakshya, an NGO working for homosexuals' rights.

Hanif and Zubair are Vadodara's one of the many same sex couples, who have dared to exchange vows. The couple had a 'nikah' ceremony attended by friends and well-wishers. And for the Hindu ceremony, they brought in a pandit.

Lakshya Trust project officer Sylvester Merchant says, "In four years, we have facilitated at least 15 gay marriages and soon hope to introduce a gay couple club to extend emotional support. Gay marriages are a boon as the group is already at a high risk of contracting Aids. The marriages will promote single-partner sex, which will help the HIV prevention campaign."

Although such marriages don't have legal sanction, activists believe rituals can have a dual impact. On the one hand it sends a message to society that they have equal rights and on the other, it is an indication to other gays that the couple is 'going steady'.

To Governor Schwarzenegger on 'Girlie Men'

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

On behalf of "girlie men" everywhere I'm perplexed. Last night while you were speaking at the Republican National Convention, you said, "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: "Don't be girlie men.""

I've never known girlie men to be pessimistic about much of anything. Think of our leading girlie men icons - Liberace, Paul Lynde, Charles Nelson-Reilly, Freddy Mercury, Nathan Lane, and Harvey Fierstein - all hopeless optimists, smiling and fighting on in the face of adversity.

Oops. Now I get it. You simply misread the teleprompter. You obviously meant to say, "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: "BE girlie men." I look forward to someone in your office setting the record straight, so to speak.

All the best,

Matt Foreman
Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

shameless self promotion:

Submodern Fiction #2 is now available.

This issue features fiction and innovative prose by kari edwards, Eric Basso, Alan Sondheim, Bill Marsh, Vernon Frazier, and Elizabeth Burns, and includes an essay by Stephen-Paul Martin on "Submodern Death: Preventing the Death of Submodernism."

Submodern Fiction is published once a year. Subscriptions are $6 for one issue and $10 for two. Make checks payable to Mark Wallace and send them to Mark Wallace, Submodern Fiction, 10402 Ewell Ave., Kensington, MD 20895.

Submissions of short innovative fiction and prose, or short critical articles about them, are encouraged; please contact me at this e-mail address for details. The goal of the magazine is to encourage conversation about alternative fiction, so I look forward to hearing from you.

Transgenders thwart AIDS education
by Judy Nichols
The Arizona Republic


This article explores gender flexibility among Native Americans and other indigenous societies in the context of HIV/AIDS education initiatives. Wesley Thomas, a Navajo professor (University of Indiana) and author quoted in the article, explains that historically many tribes accepted and revered people with ambiguous or both male and female sex organs, as well as those whose sex was not in dispute but who took on both gender roles. Though Christianity and Westernisation led many members of these communities to embrace much stricter gender categories, some Native peoples do not identify with dualisms like male/female. This means that a man who has sex with a male who presents himself to the world as a female may not call himself gay. Such a person may not relate to - see the implication of - materials distributed by HIV/AIDS workers who are advocating safe sex for gay men.


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Tour opens way for sex-change (sic) players
By Peter Stone


Transsexual Mianne Bagger's long and emotional journey to be accepted in the ranks of women's professional golf has taken a decided turn for the better with a decision by the Ladies' European Tour to change its membership regulations to remove the barrier against sex-change players.

At a meeting of the tour players' council and board of directors in Cheshire, England, on Tuesday, it was decided to approve a change in regulations that previously stated that applicants for membership must be female at birth.


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Sexologist eyes classes for cops
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, AP  


HAVANA -- In the four years since she became a transvestite, life hadn't been too difficult for Gillian. But this summer, she says, she was detained twice by police who threatened her with prison for the crime of "peligrosidad" -- dangerousness. Her "dangerousness," apparently, is her dress and makeup.

Cuban transvestites say police have come to their homes lately to warn them to dress "in a corresponding manner." Gillian, 19, says she is afraid to go outdoors dressed as a woman.

But help is on the way.

Mariela Castro Espin, an internationally renowned sexologist who happens to be the niece of President Fidel Castro, wants Cuba's National Revolutionary Police to undergo gender-sensitivity training.


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Police investigating string of campus hate crimes
By Michael Gluskin
Staff writer


University Police are investigating a string of hate crimes that occurred over the weekend in two North Campus dorms after students awoke to profanity, racial slurs and anti-gay graffiti written in stairwells and on walls and elevator doors.

The words were found on the third and fourth floors in Cambridge Hall and the third and eighth floors of Centreville South Hall Saturday morning. Police surveyed the scenes, and Facilities Management cleaned up the writing.

"It was written in very big lettering on the wall. It was almost illegible," said freshman information systems major Jesse Chen, a fourth-floor Cambridge resident. "The walls were pretty much covered with graffiti."


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Protesters confront Republican delegates
By SHAWN McCARTHY


NEW YORK -- Roving bands of activists engaged in direct confrontation with Republican delegates and targeted the headquarters of major corporations yesterday as arrests continue to mount outside the Republican National Convention.

Anti-war protesters, conducting a largely peaceful weeklong effort in their opposition to the administration of President George W. Bush, designated yesterday as a day for "direct action."

Two of the largest demonstrations involved a memorial march at the World Trade Center site, which police prevented from moving toward the convention at Madison Square Garden, and a "shut-up-a-thon" at the headquarters of Fox News, the conservative TV channel that has been accused of bias in favour of Mr. Bush.



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First report on state of human rights:
Wednesday, 1 September 2004, 12:21 pm
Press Release: Human Rights Commission

. . .Over five thousand New Zealanders contributed to the report that identifies where we must do better. "The fundamental right to be who we are and to be respected for who we are - whether a disabled person, Pakeha, Màori, Pacific, Asian, gay, lesbian, a transgender or intersex person, male, female, young or old - is still not a reality for all New Zealanders," Ms Noonan says. "Violence, bullying and harassment represent the most flagrant human rights abuses and are present in too many New Zealand homes, schools, workplaces, playgrounds and playing fields.


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Group's Target: Same-Sex Marriage
By DANIELA ALTIMARI, Courant Staff Writer


The Family Institute of Connecticut intends to file a motion today seeking to become a party to a lawsuit brought by seven same-sex couples seeking the right to marry.

"We're doing this because we don't want to happen in Connecticut what happened in Massachusetts," said Brian Brown, the group's executive director. "To use the court to rewrite the law [is] an attack on the democratic process."

The lawsuit, filed last week in New Haven Superior Court by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, claims that the state's marriage laws violate the equal protection and due process provisions of the state constitution. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will defend the state.


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Gay-rights groups give to defeat measure
Two national gay and lesbian groups donate thousands of dollars to oppose a measure banning same-sex marriage
BILL GRAVES


National gay-rights groups are spending heavily to defeat a measure banning same-sex marriage in Oregon, a state they say has the best chance of defeating such measures.
 
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has given $500,000 to the Oregon group opposing Measure 36, which is on the Nov. 2 ballot. It would amend the state Constitution to say that marriage only between a man and a woman is legal.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay and lesbian rights group in the country, also has pledged $100,000 to the opposition group, called No on Constitutional Amendment 36.



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Published by The Guardian/UK
President Admits War on Terror Cannot Be Won
by Julian Borger
 
George Bush admitted yesterday the war on terror could not be won, as the Republican party convention, designed to showcase the president as a resolute leader at a time of national peril, was launched in New York.

The White House rushed to limit the potential damage as Democrats seized on the remarks as a sign of defeatism. A spokesman for the president said he was simply pointing out the unconventional nature of the conflict.


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Bettendorf, IA
Mayor wants voters to consider anti-discrimination law which protects sexual orientation
By Karetha Dodd


BETTENDORF - Same sex marriage rights may be the more high-profile issue, but many gay activists say their biggest fight is to get anti-discrimination protection in America's cities and states. Bettendorf is considering adding the protection to its anti-discrimination laws.

Bettendorf's Mayor is bringing the controversial issue to City Hall.  What's being considered is a law that would make it illegal for an employer or a landlord to turn someone away based solely on their sexual orientation. Mayor Mike Freemire wants to conduct a survey to find out what Bettendorf residents think about the issue.

American Arrested For Sex With Afghan Male
(Kabul)  Police in Kabul have arrested an American adviser to the Afghan government for allegedly having homosexual relations with an Afghan man, officials said on Tuesday.


A spokesperson for the government said the man met several times with a male Afghani citizen in a hotel in the capital.  The Afghan citizen was questioned and confessed to police that the American had paid him for sex.

Homosexuality it a crime in Afghanistan, punishable by lengthy prison terms with hard labour.  Under the Taliban, which was ousted in 2001, the country was under tight Shariah, or Islamic, law.  At that time gays were crushed to death by having walls toppled on them.

“Islam doesn’t allow homosexuality,” said Abdul Halim Samadi, a prosecutor dealing with the current case in Kabul.  

Nevertheless, Samadi acknowledged that a gay "underground" exists in the country.


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"Social partnership" plan to halt Northern Ireland gay attacks
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A conference is being planned in the Northern Ireland city of Derry, in a bid to help stop the ongoing homophobic attacks taking place in the city.

Community leaders and members of local Churches and political parties are expected to attend the meeting to discuss how to combat the crisis in the town, which has seen an increase in attacks against gay men.

These have included death threats, violence and graffiti on homes of those suspected of being gay. The latest attack involved a man in his 50s, as Gay.com reported yesterday, being hounded in his own home because of his sexuality.


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Brazil to give gay teenagers sex education
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Brazil is set to launch its first ever sex education campaign targeted at gay adolescents, according to press reports, in a bid to curb the rise of HIV amongst gay men.

The country's Ministry of Health launched a campaign to work with non-governmental organisations that focus on the health of gay, teenage boys yesterday.

The campaign will also look at preventing the increased transmission of HIV amongst gay adults.


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Honduras recognizes 3 gay groups
Associated Press


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Catholic and Protestant churches joined Tuesday in criticizing a government decision to grant legal recognition to three homosexual rights groups.

"It's sad that the government is giving its blessing to homosexuals," Roman Catholic Church spokesman Jesus Mora told a news conference. He said the government measure implies "that kind of behavior is acceptable."

The government on Friday granted legal recognition to three groups - the Violet Collective, the Gay Community and the Gay-Lesbian Group - a relatively mundane step that essentially gives them the right to act before courts and government institutions.

The deputy justice minister, Fernando Suazo, said the measure does not authorize gay marriage, but would help overcome discrimination.



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Gay minister scared by hard stance


A gay Hamilton church minister who supports the Civil Union Bill says the hardline stance of people such as Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki scares her.

Rev Dr Susan Thompson, a minister at St Paul's Methodist Church, says loud conservative Christian voices do not represent the majority Christian opinion.

"The thing that scares me about Destiny Churches is the absolute certainty people like Brian Tamaki have that they know what God wants and [that] they know the difference between right and wrong and good and evil."


Last week, Mr Tamaki organised a march involving 5000 protesters outside Parliament as a stand against the Civil Union Bill, which legally recognises same-sex relationships.


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Court weighs harsher sentence in gay underage sex case
By John Hanna - Associated Press Writer


Topeka — The state can punish illegal underage sex more harshly when it involves homosexual acts, even if the only goal is promoting traditional sexual roles, an official told the Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday.
  
Deputy Atty. Gen. Jared Maag said legislators had such broad latitude in setting policy that "any conceivable, rational basis" would justify the different treatment.

Maag argued in favor of upholding a sentence of more than 17 years in prison for Matthew R. Limon, convicted of criminal sodomy for having sex at age 18 with a 14-year-old boy in 2000.

Had the victim been a girl, Limon could have been sentenced to one year and three months in prison under a 1999 law. His attorneys argued the different treatment represents discrimination against gays and lesbians -- and is unconstitutional.


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Keyes defends comments about Cheney’s gay daughter
By Jennifer Skalka and Ofelia Casillas
Tribune staff reporters


NEW YORK -- Madison Square Garden, home of many prizefights and hockey brawls, seems a fitting venue for Alan Keyes to be meeting his fellow Republicans.

The candidate for U.S. Senate has miffed many members of the Illinois delegation by spending more time on national talk shows than schmoozing with them.

He has been prickly with the media, chastising reporters for asking "inappropriate" questions.

As the Republican National Convention focused on unity Tuesday, Keyes lashed out at the vice president's gay daughter.



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E-mail: Eatery wants no gays
BY STEVE ROTHAUS


Gay South Beach party promoter Edison Farrow is less than touched by an e-mail inadvertently forwarded to him after an event at Touch on Lincoln Road.

''I am not crazy about having a room full of gay men in our restaurant,'' reads an e-mail supposedly sent by Touch co-owner David Tornek to operations manager Shai Zelering and publicist Susan Scott. ``Interestingly enough, the day after we had that party we had a table of gay men in the restaurant and at the bar . . . not what I am looking for.'