Outrage That Rings False
By Hilary Rosen


Nicolle Devenish, communications director for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said Thursday that John Kerry will pay a heavy political price for what he did. Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife, said, "This is a bad man."

The crime? John Kerry in the final presidential debate suggested that we are all God's children and used Mary Cheney as an example of a healthy gay person loved by her family.

The response from the Cheneys and the Bush campaign has been blatantly political. In fact, it is they who are using Mary Cheney -- using her now to score points against Kerry and John Edwards over an issue on which they themselves are guilty of the wrongs that Kerry and Edwards are fighting against. Even after almost 30 years in Washington, I am surprised by the overwhelming hypocrisy and meanness of the Bush reelection campaign.

Let's review the facts. Before the election season, this administration opposed every initiative to offer equality for gay men and lesbians. Indeed, it has gone out of its way to be punitive, with such actions as the Office of Personnel Management's announcement that the federal government has no intention of honoring the Clinton administration's order to add sexual orientation to anti-discrimination rules in the federal government.


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NGOs call for equality and social justice
by Charlotte Bonavia, di-ve news



Reclaim the World Activity in Freedom Square
VALLETTA, Malta (di-ve news) -- Seventeen non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Saturday organised a Reclaim the World activity at Freedom Square, Valletta.

The NGOs included Moviment Graffiti, Nature Trust, Malta Gay Rights Movement, Malta Council of Disabled Persons, The Arts Collective, Gaia Foundation and Third World Group.

Moviment Graffitti stated that there should be global resistance against global dominance and endorses the "Think-Global-Act-Local concept". Thus this would help in the plea for the globalisation of justice and against the division between the rich and the poor.


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SAN FRANCISCO
Gay-nuptials foes win right to defend state law
Ruling allows groups to join suit of attorney general
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer


Two groups opposed to same-sex marriage won permission from a San Francisco judge Friday to join in the defense of the state law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer was a victory for the Campaign for California Families and the Proposition 22 Legal Defense Fund, who say Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a supporter of gay rights, can't be trusted to vigorously defend the law against constitutional challenges currently in the court.

Twelve same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco sued to challenge the marriage law after a California Supreme Court ruling in August that voided nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages performed at San Francisco City Hall in February and March. The marriages were authorized by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who contended the state law banning such unions -- which was passed by the California Legislature in 1977 and reaffirmed in 2000 by voters' approval of Proposition 22 -- was unconstitutional


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HIV rate soaring among Latinos
Cases of the virus among Hispanics are being diagnosed at twice the rate as those among African-Americans.
BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
The Wichita Eagle


HIV infections among Latinos are outpacing all other ethnic groups, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported Friday.

New cases among Hispanics are being diagnosed at twice the rate of African-Americans, the health department found, and the HIV infection rate among Hispanics is more than four times that of Caucasians


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Cross-dresser alleges bias by feds
IRS agent Edwards F. Snarski II challenges his prosecution on charges of fradulently obtaining loans.
By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER


SCRANTON - An Internal Revenue agent charged with identity fraud is seeking to have the charges dismissed, arguing he was unfairly targeted for prosecution because he is a cross-dresser who plans to have a sex change operation.

Edward F. Snarski II says the U.S. Attorney's Office undertook his prosecution because the IRS "did not want a transsexual as an employee." He is asking a judge to dismiss the case based on legal doctrine known as "vindictive and selective" prosecution.

amrika home to the brave and stupid.. home of the bigot and hate monger, amrika.. you better straight, white, and christian here or you will die...


Gay Student Viciously Attacked By Teen Thugs
by 365Gay.com Staff


(Cleburne, Texas)  A gay high school student was beaten so badly by three teens he needed reconstructive face surgery and may have permanent damage.

He still is so frightened for his safety that police will not release his name. 

Police say the 17 year old student had gone to a party being thrown by other teens.  Soon after he arrived, according to the police report,  "one of the three individuals asked [him] if he was gay or bisexual."

When he answered yes, he was struck in the face.  When he fell to the floor the others then beat and kicked him until he was nearly unconscious.


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Maryland MD Refuses To Treat AIDS Patients 
by The Associated Press


(Frederick, Maryland) An infectious-disease specialist says he will stop treating HIV-positive and AIDS patients Nov. 30 to limit his exposure to lawsuits and higher malpractice insurance premiums.

Dr. Paul G. Rausch said the closure of his infectious-disease practice will leave just one private physician in Frederick County to care for about 130 HIV-positive patients.

Rausch, a hematologist and oncologist, said he and his colleagues at Oncology Care Consultants will continue seeing cancer and hematology patients.

"I can no longer assume the additional liability of caring for complex and complicated infectious-disease patients," Dr. Rausch wrote in a letter to his patients at the end of September.


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Students protest speaker who claims to be a recovering homosexual - by Leigh Frillici


(New Haven-WTNH, Oct. 14, 2004 11:10 PM) _ A controversial speaker sparks protest at Southern Connecticut State University tonight. The Evangelist Stephen Bennett claims to be a recovering homosexual and compares being gay to drug addiction. 

"Anti-Racist-Sexist-Anti-Gay-Right Wing- Bigot- Go Away" chanted many students outside protesting Bennett.


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Rally Against Gay Marriage Draws Thousands to Capital
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK




WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 - Tens of thousands of conservative Christians gathered on the Mall here Friday for a demonstration against same-sex marriage that doubled as a rally to turn out conservative Christian voters on Election Day.


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Federal court: Bush's recess appointment of antigay judge legal


A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that President Bush did not overstep his authority when he appointed William Pryor to the bench while the Senate was on a holiday break. The 11th U.S. circuit court of appeals rejected a challenge by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who argued that the Alabama judge's appointment to the same court was an end-run around the Senate's right to confirm or reject the president's judicial nominees.


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MIKE SUES OVER 'PARTNER' LAW
By FRANKIE EDOZIEN


 Print  ReprintOctober 15, 2004 -- Mayor Bloomberg yesterday filed suit to block enactment of a law that would force contractors who do business with the city to offer benefits to domestic partners of their employees.

The City Council passed the legislation in May. Bloomberg, who supported the measure during his campaign, later changed his mind, saying he the contracting process should not be used to effect social change.

The mayor vetoed the bill in June and the council overwhelmingly overrode the veto weeks later.

The law would have taken effect on Oct. 26, but city lawyers marched into Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday to block it.


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Guerriero attacks Bush and Cheney for "feigning outrage" over discussion of Mary Cheney's sexuality


CNN reports that the head of the gay political group Log Cabin Republicans has come out angrily against the Bush-Cheney campaign for "feigning outrage" over Sen. John Kerry's comments in Wednesday night's presidential debate regarding Mary Cheney's homosexuality while asking that President Bush "stop attacking gay families on the campaign trail." Patrick Guerriero, interviewed on CNN's American Morning Friday, acknowledged that Kerry was "not wise" to bring up Mary Cheney in response to a question during the debate about homosexuality. But Guerriero also pointed out that Republicans "who are expressing outrage at the debate comments really have been outrageous themselves."


~

British Intelligence
Sing If You're Glad to Be "A"


This whole gay or straight thing is getting a little boring, don’t you think? Being straight has always been boring. And being gay went through all sorts of changes – naughty, cool, the lipstick lesbian thing, and now, well, it’s kind of everyday and normal. Boring. Then there was that metro thing – but it wasn’t much more than a blip, was it?

But fear not, there’s a new sexuality to get all excited about! The New Scientist, a seriously posh and respected scientific journal, is reporting that people are identifying themselves as "asexual." They even have a society, and wear cool t-shirts proclaiming "it’s not just for amoebas!" –and we all know that if it’s on a t-shirt, it just has to be for real.

TASK FORCE OLYMPIA SOLDIER KILLED IN CAR BOMB ATTACK 10/16/2004

Army probes if GIs refused dangerous Iraqi mission


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army is investigating reports that several members of a reservist supply unit in Iraq refused to go on a convoy mission, the military said Friday. Relatives of the soldiers said the troops considered the mission too dangerous.

TRANSGENDER VETERANS TO MARCH AGAIN
OIA Newswire


WASHINGTON - After assessing the success of the first Transgender Veterans March to the Wall held last May, the Transgender American Veterans Association is moving once again to gather transgender veterans in Washington, DC.

With the addition of a tour of the newly opened WWII Memorial, the March will be expanded. As with this year's tour, the 2005 March will also visit the Vietnam and Iwo Jima Memorials and will dedicate a wreath at the Tomb of the Unkowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

Fifty-five Transgender Veterans and significant others from across the country attended this year's March to the Wall. The event was also supported and witnessed by many others in the GLBTI community from Washington, D.C. and around the country.

"No one could have anticipated the tremendous success of this year's March to the Wall in bringing together so many Transgender Veterans for the first time," said Angela Brightfeather, event organizer and TAVA Special Projects Chairperson. "By honoring our past, we will be able to more effectively and emotionally gather together to create the motivation that will change our future."


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Transsexual convict sues her attorney


A transsexual serving a 20- to 40-year prison sentence for second-degree murder is suing her defense attorney, saying he did not represent her adequately in negotiations with prosecutors over a plea arrangement.

Vonlee Titlow, 37, is suing Pontiac attorney Frederick Toca Jr. in Oakland County Circuit Court, seeking $6 million in damages. Titlow was accused of helping her aunt, Billie Jean Rogers, kill Rogers' husband, Donald Rogers, in August 2000. Her aunt, according to prosecutors, promised to give Titlow money to complete her sex-change operation once Rogers was dead


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Serbia: Official silence greets homophobic poster campaign


The Serbian right-wing group, Obraz, launched an anti-gay and lesbian poster campaign across Serbia in July this year as part of their continuing homophobic activities. The posters, which bore the slogan "Better Prevention than Cure (Better safe than sorry)", were illustrated with mock road signs suggesting that same sex couples should be prohibited.

Eight LGBT groups in Serbia sent an open letter to government officials following the appearance of the posters. They demanded that the officials, including the Minister for Human and Minority Rights, make a public statement against homophobia.

They said in the letter that they were turning to the officials publicly, "for it is important not to stay silent about any kind of discrimination, including discrimination against homosexual citizens".


The groups were extremely concerned at the homophobic threats implicit in the Obraz posters. They pointed out that the Obraz campaign, by claiming that gay men and lesbians are sick, breaches the provisions of both European and international human rights conventions, and defies the stance of the World Health Organization.

Do You Condemn Gays Because the Bible Tells You So?
by Lee Salisbury
www.dissidentvoice.org


As a former Bible-believing pastor, I've seen religion used to give hope for many mysteries of life and death. But, religion is also used by self-appointed biblical literalists as a tool to manipulate and impose their values and their rules of right and wrong, good and evil on one and all with virulent intolerance for competing views. Their apocalyptic declarations are enveloped in threats of destruction, hell and damnation. No subject attracts more distorted, bellicose commentary from the Jerry Falwell type biblical literalists among us than homosexuality and same-sex marriage.  

Biblical literalists state that their condemnation of homosexuality is based on an infallible, inerrant Bible. They claim, "the Bible is true because the Bible says so." This is the ultimate example of the "bare assertion" logical fallacy. This fallacy says "it's true because I said so" or in the case of the Bible "it's true because God said so." If a car salesman told you "this car is the world's best car," you might ask "what's the evidence?" If he answered, "the manufacturer's brochure says so," we'd leave thinking how valid is such biased evidence? This salesman is a con-artist. Yet, if a preacher uses this tactic, people think, "oh, oh, he's a man of the cloth, he must be right."


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Civil Partnership Bill gathering momentum
By Gareth Vorster


The government has received the backing from MPs' for its Civil Partnership Bill, with junior Scottish minister, Anne McGuire announcing late on Tuesday that same-sex couple’s in future will be able to benefit from deceased partners' public service pensions.

The Bill was approved by MPs at its second reading, by 426 votes to 49 and will go to committee stage for consideration.


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Anti-amendment coalition falling short in fund-raising
Gay marriage foes using religion to bolster support for constitutional ban
By RYAN LEE


Georgians Against Discrimination has raised less than $77,000 to finance its campaign to defeat Amendment 1 on the Nov. 2 ballot, well short of the amount organizers said would be needed to sink the proposed gay marriage ban.

According to its Oct. 6 campaign disclosure report filed with the Secretary of State, Georgians Against Discrimination received $67,957 in contributions since July, bringing the total amount raised by the coalition since its inception in June to $76,932.

With less than three weeks remaining before voters decide whether to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, the coalition has $48,194 remaining in its campaign war chest


~

Model boss fights to sue airline over gay kiss
 By Karyn Maughan


A city model boss claims he suffered homophobic discrimination from two British Airways cabin crew when he kissed his gay partner on a flight to London - but he may not be given the right to sue.

Neal Vincent Potgieter, owner of Base Models in Cape Town, wants to sue British Airways for R1.6 million in the Cape High Court, following an altercation that occurred on a September 2000 flight.

Justice Dennis Davis must decide whether Potgieter is legally able to make his claim against British Airways.


~

GOP officials announce they’re gay
Activist Michael Rogers outs two GOP officials
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.


WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two high level officials with the Republican National Committee acknowledged they are gay after becoming the latest GOP targets in an outing campaign by D.C. gay activist Michael Rogers.

Jay Banning, the RNC’s chief financial officer and director of administration, and Daniel Gurley, the RNC’s national field director and deputy political director, each confirmed that they are gay in telephone conversations that Rogers recorded last month and released to the media two weeks ago. Rogers disclosed details of his conversations with Banning and Gurley, including their acknowledgement that they are gay, on his Web site, Blogactive.com.

~

UND student group promotes 'no' vote on marriage amendment
Associated Press


A student group at UND that is promoting a "no" vote on a proposed marriage amendment is organizing a campuswide student walkout the day before the Nov. 2 election.

Chris Stoner, a spokesman for the Ten Percent Society, said the group is opposed to the constitutional amendment aimed at banning same-sex marriages and civil unions for gay couples.

"We're hoping that some of the people in classes see people walk out and say 'What's going on?'" Stoner said. "They'll find out about the issue."

from:
INTERNATIONAL NEWS #543
September 20, 2004
by Rex Wockner
members.aol.com/wockner


Journalists report discrimination


More than half of the GLBT members of the United Kingdom's and Ireland's National Union of Journalists say they've faced workplace discrimination because of their sexuality, a union survey has found.

Of the 150 GLBT journalists questioned, 35 percent said they'd been refused a promotion, 11 percent said they'd been denied work, 13 percent said they'd faced verbal abuse, and 2 percent reported sexual assault or disciplinary action because of their sexual orientation.

A third of the respondents cited managers as the perpetrators of the antigay activity.

Ireland banned antigay discrimination in the workplace in 1999 and the U.K. did so last year.

TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIER KILLED 10/14/2004

Hong Kong transsexual wins right to use female name


A transsexual woman said Thursday she has won a landmark fight to list only her female name and add her gender to secondary school certificates after filing complaints about employment discrimination. The woman, who would agree to be identified only as Ms. J, said her school certificates revealed that she had been a man before undergoing a sex-change operation in 2000. She was allowed to add her female name to the documents, but authorities retained her old male name. They later agreed to exclude any mention of gender. Still, the revised paperwork caused problems when she tried to find clerical work because employers didn't want to hire a transsexual, said Ms. J, who is in her 20s. "I suffered discrimination," Ms. J told the Associated Press. "The employers would not even consider my capability, education level, and experiences. I feel very unhappy that I've been deprived of work."

~

UN To Africa: Brace For AIDS Time Bomb
by Anthony Mitchell
The Associated Press


(Addis Ababa) Africa must brace itself for an AIDS time bomb as 8,000 people are infected with HIV a day in the region worst hit by the pandemic, the United Nations warned Thursday.

Seventy per cent of the 45 million people worldwide infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa _ even though the region is home to only 11 per cent of the world's population, said a fund set up to combat three of the world's most devastating diseases.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said that per capita growth in half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa is falling by 0.5 to 1.2 per cent each year as a direct result of AIDS. By 2010, per capita GDP in some of the hardest-hit countries may drop by eight per cent and per capita consumption may fall even farther, the Geneva-based fund said.

``If we think we are seeing an impact today, we have to brace ourselves because it is set to get very much worse in the future,'' warned Alan Whiteside, member of a commission set up by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to deal with HIV/AIDS and governance in Africa

this is a transgender hate crime, this paper is participating in a hate crime. they go into gruesome detail of the shooting, call the victim "he" over and over and keep perpetrating a hate crime... stop them today.. the war is at home ... look around..

please stop this hate and overrt gender aslaute.. please please write letters today

again:



Dear Editor,

Concerning your article on “Richfield teen charged with attempted murder,” By Seth Rowe Sun Newspapers, (Created 10/14/2004)

There seems to be some major acts of ignorance and thoughtlessness in this article by Seth Rowe.

1. the victim who Seth Rowe labeled "a transvestite prostitute," who supposedly received that information from the Police, goes on to state this individual, “described as a transvestite prostitute. ((by) Hennepin County court records . . . had been cited for prostitution in 2003 and 2004. " does this make a difference in a hate crime or is this voyeurism and and a act of discrimination?

So, the question would be, what do the police in your community know of the difference between; transgender, transvestite and transsexual. I would take it none! And is it the reporters place to defer all knowledge and reporting to the police in labeling humans. it is a known fact that police are aggressive in their labeling, and that is backed by criminal code and pathological behavior models that are usually outdate, not an understanding of the diversity of humanity. basicly are to you labeled a "bad" person, so they can arrest you. not how to understand individuals.

and I am sure you know in most cases, many Transfemales cannot afford surgery or can get good jobs; they are reduced to prostitution, just like the history of woman in society. and just because this individual may or may not have had a penis does not make them a transvestite or male.

also, your are speaking here of a victim, who you further victimize by using overt prejudicial and discriminatory language. Is there a reason to know a history of some one who was shot, or is it you slight of hand, back handed way of justify it? very poor journalism.

2. the victim was 19, the alleged shooter was 16, what makes one a man and one a boy?

or is it in this case, more apprehensible for a "man" to be cross-dressed, or to be transgender, then a boy. the way you wrote this creates a vast power differential i.e, boy over man... it sound like "the boy" had to protect himself from the terrible deviant prostitute with a criminal record." come on, there's only three years apart in age...

please, clean up your reporting, get some training on gender diversity, and stop victimizing females.


kari edwards
San Francisco, CA

where to send letters t0 Sun Newspapers

Main Headquarters
10917 Valley View Road
Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
Phone: (952)829-0797
Email: webinfo@mnsun.com

parent company American Community Newspaper's


Gene Carr
 Chief Executive Officer, American Community Newspapers, L.L.C.
Chief Executive Officer
Gene Carr
Phone: 952-392-6851
Fax: 952-944-7583
gcarr@mnsun.com

Executive Editor
Yvonne Klinnert
Phone: 952-392-6822
Fax: 952-806-0133
yklinnert@mnsun.com




Richfield teen charged with attempted murder
By Seth Rowe
Sun Newspapers


A 16-year-old Richfield boy has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting of a man in Minneapolis.

Carlos Harris was charged in Hennepin County Juvenile Court Oct. 1 with a count of premeditated attempted murder and a count of attempted murder without premeditation. He was also charged with assault in the first degree. All three charges are felonies.

Harris is accused of firing two shots into the victim’s head from three or four feet away, according to court documents. He then allegedly stood over the victim and fired several more shots.

The victim was hit once in the leg, once in the spine and twice in the face, causing a brain injury, court documents state.


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Faces of Berkeley: Finding Harmony of Body, Soul
By GRANT HENDERSON
Contributing Writer


Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand / Why she walks like a woman but talks like a man …”

The lyrics by the Kinks’ Ray Davies could hardly be more appropriate when sung late on Wednesday nights inside the brick walls of Downtown Berkeley’s Beckett’s Irish Pub. They’re coming from Nicole McRory, fueling the buzz of a half-drunk dance floor.

Nicole sways with the bouncing chorus, wearing a sly smile, her cherry-red guitar and a “Got Pussy?” tank top—a question likely to elicit a chuckle before a serious head-scratching. She’s wearing a skirt, but she does a killer Johnny Cash impressio


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Teen: Dance decision 'gay discrimination'
Principal: Sexual preference was not the issue
By VANESSA McCRAY
Record-Eagle staff writer


      BENZONIA - Marie Hood invited her date to Benzie Central High School's homecoming dance and signed the guest's name to a list - just as other students are required to do when inviting someone from another school.

      But Marie's guest was another girl. Marie, a bisexual, ended up going to the dance alone.

      Her principal, she said, told her, "Girls aren't allowed to invite girls, and guys aren't allowed to invite guys."

      "I asked him why, and he said he was trying to limit people from other schools," said Marie, 17, who this week organized a sit-in protest at the school.



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Teens charged in possible hate crime
From Staff Reports
WFAA-TV


Three teenagers from Johnson County are facing felony charges following an alleged hate crime.

Police believe the three suspects attacked one of their peers at a party at the Northridge Court Apartments in Cleburne last week because they think he is a homosexual.

"They were kicking him, hitting him in the face, things like that," said Cleburne police Sgt. Amy Knoll. "He fell to the ground and they continued to kick him and hit him.


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WOMEN VOTERS SHUN AMENDMENT 1
by: Andrew Plant, OIA Newswire


ATLANTA - In its Voter Guide, which will soon be available on the organization's web site, the League of Women Voters of Georgia is recommending Georgians vote "no" on Amendment 1, the anti-gay marriage ballot item that will face voters November 2.


Though the LWVGA does not take a stand on the marriage issue itself, the voter guide says the organization specifically rejects the misleading nature of the proposed amendment, including the potential of misplaced motives behind the amendment effort.


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USG votes to stand in opposition of Issue One to retain faculty
By Ryan Green


Undergraduate Student Government held its general session yesterday and equal benefits for all faculty members at Ohio State was the focus of the meeting.

State Issue One is an issue that could keep certain faculty members from having equal benefits because of their sexual orientation or their not being married and it will go to vote in Ohio in November along with the presidential election. The issue is a ban on gay marriage and states that "this state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for the relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."

USG opposes the issue and members expressed this in the session by voting 37 to five in support of a resolution stating their dissent


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UMM students plan event to protest harassment on campus


MACHIAS - Faculty members at the University of Maine at Machias heard Wednesday that harassment of some students is taking place on campus, and they agreed they are not going to stand by and watch. One student's presentation at the faculty's regular monthly meeting alerted them to what has become a troubling issue, that some gay and lesbian students are being mocked by others


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'Bill of rights' for gay couples


A West Midlands Euro MP has welcomed the second reading of the Civil Partnerships Bill in the House of Commons.

Gay rights campaigner Michael Cashman, a founder member of the Stonewall pressure group, said he was pleased that the Bill was now "one step closer to becoming law".

The Labour MEP, who represents Coventry and Warwickshire, said: "This is a radical and ground-breaking Bill which will transform the lives of millions of same-sex couples across the country.


"For the first time, gay and lesbian couples will get the legal rights and recognition they have been denied up to now simply because of their sexuality.


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Ordinance would protect sexual minorities
A Beaverton measure aims to ban discrimination against gays, lesbians, and transgender people
RICHARD COLBY


BEAVERTON -- It soon may be illegal in Beaverton to discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations such as stores and restaurants.

The proposed city ordinance comes from the Beaverton Human Rights Advisory Commission, which has been working on it for the past year.


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Gephardt's daughter speaking out on gay issues
By SCOTT MacKAY


Since Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in May, the state hasn't "broken off from the United States and floated off into the Atlantic," the daughter of Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri says.

Chrissy Gephardt, a gay-rights activist, asserted in a speech this week at Brown University that all of the doomsday predictions about gay marriage in Massachusetts have turned out not to have come to fruition.

"Where's their evidence?" said Gephardt. Traditional relationships, Gephardt said, appear as strong as ever in Massachusetts. And there has been no cataclysm in Vermont, which has permitted civil unions since 2000, she said.


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Hevesi ruling recognizes same-sex marriages
By KEITH EDDINGS
THE JOURNAL NEWS


ALBANY — State Comptroller Alan Hevesi has told a gay state employee who is planning to marry in Canada that his partner will be able to inherit the employee's retirement benefits, making the massive retirement system the first state program to recognize gay marriages

Now Laura says whoa
on gay-wedding ban


While President Bush clearly opposes gay marriage, Laura Bush said yesterday she has not made up her mind.

"I haven't really made an absolute personal opinion," the First Lady said on "Good Morning America."

"I definitely agree that there should be the debate," she said. "The people of the United States don't want the mayor of San Francisco or the Supreme Court of Massachusetts making that decision for the country.


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Europe Controlled By 'Faggots' Italian Cabinet Member Asserts  
by Malcolm Thornberry
365Gay.com Newscenter
European Bureau Chief


(Rome) An Italian cabinet minister Wednesday launched into a homophobic tirade in response to this weeks rebuke of the country's nominee for the European Union's Commissioner for Justice.

Mirko Tremaglia, the minister with responsibility for Italians overseas called the rejection of Rocco Buttiglione by the EU civil liberties committee "outrageous". Buttiglione was called unsuitable for calling homosexuality "a sin".


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Taft rejects gay marriage ballot issue
Proposed ban unnecessary, governor says
By JAMES DREW
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF


COLUMBUS - Sixteen days after Ohio's Republican attorney general said he would vote no on Issue 1 and six days after Ohio's two GOP U.S. senators took the same stance, Gov. Bob Taft has jumped on the bandwagon.

In a written statement yesterday, Mr. Taft said the Nov. 2 ballot issue to add a ban on same-sex marriage to Ohio's Constitution is "unnecessary and overbroad."

Mr. Taft noted that in February, he signed an anti-same-sex-marriage bill into law. Although Ohio law previously defined marriage as between one man and one woman, the U.S. Constitution says courts are obligated to give "full faith and credit'' to decrees and acts of other states unless they violate a "strong public policy.''

Backers of the bill that Mr. Taft signed into law said without Ohio joining other states in that declaration, gay couples could go to Canada, Vermont, or Massachusetts and then return to Ohio and claim the benefits of marriage.


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Same-sex partners married in Canada qualify for New York pension


Same-sex marriages performed in Canada are as valid to New York State's largest public employee pension fund as the U.S. weddings of heterosexuals, state comptroller Alan Hevesi said. In an advisory decision released Wednesday, Hevesi said New York State court rulings and a March opinion by state attorney general Eliot Spitzer dictate that full benefits be extended to the partner of a public employee if the couple has been married in Canada.

Court rulings starting in June 2003 have validated same-sex marriages in six Canadian jurisdictions, including Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Judges have ruled Hevesi was asked by an Albany-area state worker, Mark Daigneault, whether Daigneault's partner of 10 years would qualify for his pension benefits if the two are married in Canada. Hevesi said he would. "This was absolutely clear," Hevesi said. "The law was clear."


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Gephardt's daughter speaking out on gay issues
By SCOTT MacKAY


Since Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in May, the state hasn't "broken off from the United States and floated off into the Atlantic," the daughter of Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri says.

Chrissy Gephardt, a gay-rights activist, asserted in a speech this week at Brown University that all of the doomsday predictions about gay marriage in Massachusetts have turned out not to have come to fruition.

"Where's their evidence?" said Gephardt. Traditional relationships, Gephardt said, appear as strong as ever in Massachusetts. And there has been no cataclysm in Vermont, which has permitted civil unions since 2000, she said.

What happened since gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts on May 17, Gephardt said, is that gay couples "are in these loving, committed, boring marriages."

Obituary of Sabira
14th October 2004
From: lgbt-india


We take this opportunity to announce the death of Sabira.Sabira, 45, was a sex worker and worked to promote the health and human rights of sex workers in her locality, Kozhikode, Kerala.

Sabira is one of the first women in Kerala to declare that "I AM A SEX WORKER" in a public meeting held in the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.Unfortunately she died of AIDS at Santhi Nagar Colony, Kozhikode, last week. She has been an active member of the Vanitha Society, a Sex workers' society in Kozhikode.

IED KILLS ONE SOLDIER, WOUNDS TWO OTHERS 10/14/2004
TWO TASK FORCE OLYMPIA SOLDIERS KILLED IN CAR BOMB ATTACK 10/14/2004

NY Retirement System Recognizes Canadian Marriages
by Beth Shapiro
365Gay.com Newscenter
New York Bureau


(New York City) New York state employees who married their same-sex partners in Canada will have those marriages treated by the New York State and Local Retirement System in the same way as heterosexual marriages. It is the first time that married gay and lesbian couples in New York have been recognized by a state agency.

The decision was made by New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, whose office has jurisdiction over the retirement system. It was communicated in a letter dated October 8, and made public today, from the Comptroller to Mark Daigneault, a state employee who wrote in September asking how getting married in Canada would affect retirement benefits for him, his same-sex partner and their two children.


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Christian group sues Penn State over selection of officers


STATE COLLEGE, Pa. An evangelical Christian student group is suing Penn State University and university president Graham Spanier.

The group, called DiscipleMakers, says the school's policies could force the group to accept non-Christian or homosexual students into leadership positions.

The group's lawyer says university policy requires that all student groups agree to abide by the school's nondiscrimination policy, which includes religion and sexual orientation.

Arkansas Gay Rights Groups Struggle As Marriage Vote Looms
by David Hammer
The Associated Press


(Little Rock, Arkansas) As a campaign for a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage picks up strength, the voice of the Arkansas gay-rights community has become muted.

When the state Supreme Court ruled last week against an American Civil Liberties Union challenge of the ballot language for the marriage amendment, Arkansas' leading spokesmen for gay rights could not be found.

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Gay marriage ban goes to Louisiana supreme court


An appeals court decided Wednesday that the Louisiana supreme court should be the next stop for the state's disputed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, prolonging uncertainty over whether the ban will hold. The first circuit court of appeals ruled that the state's highest court has purview over the ban since it involves a constitutional amendment.

I am getting so tired of reading about one more vigil for one more hate crime... when will it stop? when will see stand in the streets and yell enough!!!


Gay teens hold vigil for victims of hate
Group urges tolerance, inclusion to educate
By Elbert Starks III
Beacon Journal staff writer


At a Tuesday evening candlelight vigil for hate crime victims, a group of teens talked about how sexual orientation can lead to violence and harassment, but also of how inclusion and tolerance can be used to reach out and educate others.

The vigil, held at the Church of Our Saviour on Crosby Street, was part of a program titled ``Love Against Hate.'' About 50 people attended the program, now in its second year, and it featured poems, play excerpts and a song performed by members of Glamour Pride, which stands for Gay and Lesbian Adolescents Modeling Our Pride.

Erin Wyles, 24, a facilitator for Glamour Pride, said the group isn't a support group in the traditional sense, but rather a social group for youths ages 13 to 20.



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Civil rights panel's draft criticizes Bush
By Michael Janofsky
The New York Times


WASHINGTON - The report is right there on the Internet as a "highlight" on the agency home page: "U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Assails Bush Administration Record on Civil Rights."

It refers to a lengthy draft report that churns out in footnoted detail how President Bush "has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues nor taken actions that matched his words."

The draft, prepared by the commission staff, criticizes Bush for civil rights failures in education, voting, gay and lesbian issues, affirmative action, housing, environmental justice, racial profiling and hate crimes. It concludes by saying, "Failing to build on common ground, the Bush administration missed opportunities to build consensus on key civil rights issues and has instead adopted policies that divide Americans."



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below is the country king george bush has created...
don't talk, dont think and kill the queer...

Targeted as gay by attackers, teen faces surgery
Associated Press


FORT WORTH - A North Texas high school student faces reconstructive surgery after he was severely beaten at a party by attackers who believed he was a homosexual, law officers say.

The 17-year-old's injuries in Cleburne earlier this month are under investigation as a hate crime because the three attackers made slurs derogatory to homosexuals, police Sgt. Amy Knoll said Tuesday.

Three teenagers were arrested in the Oct. 3 attack, which left the Cleburne High School senior with broken bones in his face.

"We have found no other reason whatsoever for the attack other than their belief that he was a homosexual," Knoll told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Wednesday's editions.


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watch what you say and what you think!


McCarthyism Watch
Secret Service Calls on Owner of "King George" Sign
by Matthew Rothschild

 
Secret Service Calls on Owner of "King George" SignIt was August 26, and Derek Kjar, 19, was in the backyard of his home in Salt Lake City stringing up plants in his garden


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Colombia
"Scarred bodies, hidden crimes":
Sexual Violence against women in the armed conflict


INTRODUCTION

"A stick was pushed into the private parts of an 18-year-old pregnant girl and it appeared through [the abdomen]. She was torn apart. (…) They [army-backed paramilitaries] stripped the women and made them dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped. You could hear the screams coming from a ranch near El Salado [Department of Bolívar]..."(1)

"The girls spend their lives being intimidated and threatened by guerrillas and paramilitaries. They are accused of having relationships with men from the other side. Between February and March [2004] the bodies of three girls who had been raped were found in the area. They mark their territory by leaving scars on the bodies of the women. It is a terror without sound. Sometimes they punish women for wearing low-slung jeans but other times they make them wear low-cut tops and miniskirts so that they can accompany them to their parties".(2)

All the armed groups – the security forces, paramilitaries and the guerrilla – have sexually abused or exploited women, both civilians or their own combatants, in the course of Colombia's 40-year-old conflict, and sought to control the most intimate parts of their lives. By sowing terror and exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, bodies have been turned into a battleground. The serious abuses and violations committed by all the parties to the armed conflict remain hidden behind a wall of silence fuelled by discrimination and impunity. This in turn exacerbates the violence that has been the hallmark of Colombia's internal armed conflict. It is women and girls who are the hidden victims of that conflict.


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Groups talk LGBT political issues
by Emily Tan
Staff Writer


When the Princeton Review names New York University one of the most accepting schools for gay and lesbian students in the country each year, not many people are surprised.

Transgender rights are a new primary battleground for LGBT groups, according to a lively discussion yesterday between students and members of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender political organizations at the Kimmel Center.

Naomi Clark, representing the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, said one of her organization's main goals is to raise awareness about transgender people's difficulties in filling out government documents like driver's licenses, which require everyone to specify a gender.



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Law School rally pushes to end JAG recruitment
BY HEATHER RICHELS
Contributing Reporter


About 50 law students and faculty gathered on the steps of the Yale Law School Tuesday afternoon to reaffirm to U.S. Department of Defense recruiters -- and the rest of the University -- that they stand by the school's decades-old non-discrimination recruitment policy.

The rally marked the 25th anniversary of the policy, which Yale suspended in 2002 to allow military recruiters on campus after the Defense Department threatened to cut over $300 million in federal funding. The University had prevented the Judge Advocate General recruiters from participating in the Law School's interviewing program because the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on sexual orientation did not comply with the University's non-discrimination recruitment policy.


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Special report: House of Commons
Yesterday in parliament
Press Association
Wednesday October 13, 2004
(near the bottom of page)


Civil partnerships
The government pledged to overturn an attempt by peers to derail legislation that would effectively legalise gay marriage. Equality minister Jacqui Smith said the Lords was aiming to "wreck" the plans when it extended new rights for same-sex couples to long-term carers and family members.

She warned that peers' amendments would make the civil partnerships bill unworkable and claimed that some of those who had backed them were anti-gay.

Alan Duncan, the only openly gay Tory MP, backed the bill from the frontbench, insisting it promoted Conservative values. He denied civil partnerships amounted to "gay marriage" or undermined marriage, insisting the two institutions were on "similar ... but parallel lines". But former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe warned that the bill was "wrong" and would undermine the uniqueness of marriage.


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GOP Senate candidate in Oklahoma speaks of 'rampant' lesbianism in schools
By: RON JENKINS - Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Republican Senate candidate in Oklahoma warns of "rampant" lesbianism in some schools in the state in a tape released Monday by his Democratic opponent.
The remark by Republican Tom Coburn drew a skeptical response from state educators.

"I don't believe that," said Keith Ballard, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. He said the group's attorneys "haven't said anything to me about that."


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Fundamentalists Issue 'Mayday' Over Gay Marriage
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief


(Washington) A conservative Christian group is predicting tens of thousands of people will fill the National Mall in Washington on Friday to denounce gay marriage.

Called Mayday For Marriage, the demonstration is being organized by Ken Hutcherson a former NFL player turned minister and will feature a virtual who's who of anti-gay religious leaders including James Dobson of Focus on the Family, and include GOP Senate candidate from Illinois Alan Keyes.


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State files response to appeal in gay marriage lawsuit
The Associated Press - ATLANTA


The Georgia attorney general's office has filed court papers asking the state Supreme Court not to stop a Nov. 2 vote on gay marriage.

The state filed a brief Tuesday in answer to an appeal filed by the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and Atlanta law firm of Alston and Bird last week.

That appeal was in response to a lower court's ruling that refused to stop the statewide vote on a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage


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Banning Gay Marriage 'Would Help Polygamists' 
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Salt lake City, Utah)  Same-sex couples got some unexpected support Tuesday from a group that fights polygamy.  

One of the arguments used by conservative groups which support amending the Utah constitution to ban same-sex unions has been that allowing gay marriage would open the floodgates of polygamy.

The issue of multiple spouses is an area of concern in predominantly Mormon Utah. Small breakaway Mormon sects still practice polygamy despite efforts by the state to break up the practice.


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Pensions Boost Announced for Gay Couples
By Trevor Mason, Parliamentary Editor, PA News


A pensions boost for gay couples was announced tonight by the Government following cross-party pressure.

Junior Scottish minister Anne McGuire said in future same-sex couples would be able to benefit from deceased partners’ public service pensions.

The announcement, which was cheered by MPs, will put gay couples on the same footing as married couples over public service pension rights.

It came as the Civil Partnership Bill was given a second reading by 426 to 49, majority 377, in a vote forced by Tory backbench opponents to the measure.

TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIER DIES IN IED ATTACK 10/13/2004
EXPLOSION IN EASTERN BAGHDAD KILLS THREE 10/13/2004

THE ULTIMATE SILENCE
October 12, 1998



Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts,
The impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves,
Then listen close to me ...
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.

~ Shel Silverstein

Six years ago today, Matthew Shepard was murdered for being homosexual.

What will you do to end the silence?

Click here to post this on your own page or weblog

~

Indian writer to donate Sydney Peace Prize to Aborigines


Controversial Indian author Arundhati Roy has accused Australia of genocide and reportedly plans to donate her $50,000 Sydney Peace Prize to Aboriginal political activists.

The 1997 Booker Prize winner for her novel The God of Small Things is due to accept the award in Sydney on November 4.

In an interview to be published in Wednesday's edition of The Bulletin magazine, Ms Roy compares Aborigines to India's Untouchables, or Dalits as they're now known.

CUBA: Familiarity Breeds Tolerance for Sexual Diversity, Specialists Hope
Dalia Acosta


HAVANA, Oct 12 (IPS) - They were born men, but they rarely refer to themselves as such. They are Cuba's transvestites and transsexuals, who are increasingly determined to defend their right to be themselves when they leave the refuge of their homes dressed as women.

In their own neighbourhoods, they are usually well-known and largely accepted, but the real world starts when they venture out into the rest of the city. Nevertheless, very few say they have been the targets of physical violence or any other direct attacks in public places.

In Cuba, murders of gays, transvestites or transsexuals are almost unheard of, unlike many other parts of the world.

An alarming example is Brazil, where the murders of 132 homosexuals were reported in 2001 alone, and 41 of the victims were transvestites.


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GAYS LIKE COCKROACHES CARDINAL SAYS
Associated Press


MEXICO CITY (AP) - A prominent Mexican cardinal denounced legalization of same-sex weddings in an interview published Tuesday, saying it would be like considering cats or cockroaches part of a family.

Javier Lozano Barragan complained that defenders of same-sex marriage argue that people living together constitute a family, according to the newspaper Reforma.

Log Cabin Republicans files suit over "don't ask, don't tell"


The gay political group Log Cabin Republicans planned to file a lawsuit Tuesday in a federal district court in Los Angeles to overturn the U.S. government's "don't ask, don't tell" policy covering gays in the military. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, put into place in 1993 during the Clinton administration, allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they do not disclose their sexual orientation and do not engage in homosexual acts.

Log Cabin members serving in the military asked the group's leaders over the past four months to take legal action, the group's attorney, Marty Meekins, said Tuesday. They did not come forward because of a specific incident but simply because "of fear of the military finding out their sexual orientation if they are gay and lesbian," Meekins said. "This case is fundamentally about correcting a misguided governmental policy based on prejudice toward gay and lesbian Americans," he added.

While it's not the first challenge of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Log Cabin officials say they are encouraged by a historic Supreme Court decision in 2003 that struck down a Texas law that made gay sex a crime. The court, in the ruling, said that what gay men and women do in the privacy of their bedrooms is their business and not the domain of government.


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Baby 'J' Gets Two Moms
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Cincinnati, Ohio) An Ohio appeals court unanimously ruled Tuesday that lesbian and gay couples must be allowed to protect their relationships with children they are raising together.

The case involved Cheryl and Jennifer McKetrick who were denied a shared custody agreement for their child, "Baby J," by a Warren County court last year.

Breaking from legal precedent, the lower court found that because Cheryl and Jennifer might provide some security for "Baby J" through other documents like powers of attorney or wills, the court didn't need to approve a formal custody agreement.

Today, the 12th District of Ohio Appeals Court overturned the lower-court ruling. The judgment said that a child "benefits from having two caregivers, legally responsible for his welfare. Both will have the ability to make medical decision on his behalf and be able to interact with teachers and school administers without executing additional documents."

First pro-trans decision in the United States IGLHRC
Human Rights Spanish Network


The Civil Rights Law of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of amendment XIV prohibits employment discrimination against transsexuals. The U.S. Third Court of Appeals for the sixth Circuit, which covers Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio , recently defined this. Legal background Federal Courts of Appeals for different circuits are – after the United States Supreme Court – the highest Federal authority regarding federal legal cases. In addition, either federal civil rights laws or Michigan 's civil rights laws include discrimination due to gender identity or expression, which is the one that affects the transgendered community. Likewise, the Civil Rights Law of 1962 is a law that deals with sexual employment discrimination and it is applicable for the State as well as for private employers. Lastly, the Equal Protection Clause of amendment XIV of the US Constitution is used in cases where a group of people has been discriminated by the government. After effects If this decision holds up in future appeals, it could result in the useless efforts by transgendered rights activists that want gender identity to be included in the Employment Non Discrimination Act, which has Federal coverage and is still pending approval. The Civil Rights Law of 1962 gives more protection than ENDA, which demands that an employer have a certain minimum number of employees to be reached under their instructions and that allows employers to use religion as a defense if they are accused of discrimination.

Human Rights Spanish Network
Chile: Movlih reports discrimination against a lesbian mother to the government Santiago de Chile, movilh.org .-

The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movlih, initials in Spanish) this past August reported to the Ministry of National Women's Service (Senam, initials in Spanish), Cecilia Perez, a new discrimination case against a lesbian mother, who faces a child custody lawsuit. We are talking about Karina Arenas, whose husband filed a child custody suit at the Fourth Circuit Courthouse for Minors in San Miguel. “A few weeks ago, a social worker from that courthouse advised me not to mention my lesbianism because not even a Judge (Karen Atala) had won custody of her children when her homosexuality was made public”, stated Arenas. This fact, added to the fact that Karina still doesn't know under what grounds is she being challenged for custody of her children, was reported by Movlih directors, Sofia Velasquez and Rolando Ramirez directly to Perez, who they asked to make a concrete argument about the issue. “The minister told us that if she is consulted in any way (by media or legally) about Serna's situation around homosexual maternity, she will defend an ample view about the concept of family”, explained Velasquez. The concept of family This concept is based on the Report by the National Family Commission, which after gathering groups and people from various areas, beliefs and ideologies, defines a family as “a social group joined by its blood ties, affiliation (biological or adoptive) and of an alliance, including unions that are in fact stable”. According to Movilh's president, Rolando Ramirez, such “an integral concept of a family coming from the government should prevent or stop a mother from being torn from her children only because she is a lesbian”. Minister Perez stated that even when homosexual rights are not a part of the governments agenda, it is clear that in the future of the next State should make a clear announcement about the subject because discrimination against sexual minorities is a real fact. Having Sernam's backing, Karina and Movilh will start legal actions to defend the custody of her four children, mainly showing that the father is “morally, psychologically and economically unable to take care of them”.

Activist speaks up for transgender equal rights
By Jiwon Lee and Alexandra Sloan, For the Daily


Jamison Green never fit in as a woman, so after several medical procedures he became male at the age of 40. Green, a transgender activist and author, was yesterday’s National Coming Out Day keynote speaker.

Green said although it is easier to come out today than ever before, there are still many barriers to equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

He emphasized the need for more progress in transgender rights because of the extra barriers they face. For instance, a member of the audience described being turned away by his primary-care physician because he asked about a sex-change operation.

Green also said under some policies, transgender people can be denied jobs, health care and custody of children.


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Vigil honors transgender shooting victim
Karl Surkan, PlanetOut Network


Approximately 130 people gathered in Minneapolis last Tuesday for a march and candlelight vigil for Tameka McCloud, a transgender youth who was shot repeatedly in the head and body at close range by a teen in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Sept. 29.

McCloud survived the attack and remains in serious condition at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Police arrested 16-year-old Carlos M. Harris shortly after the incident. Harris allegedly had a relationship with McCloud and shot her after learning that she was transgender. He has been charged in juvenile court with attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

McCloud, 19, is one of many Twin Cities young people served by District 202, a community center for LGBT youth aged 21 and under. Ben Peterson, a District 202 youth activist, felt moved to organize others after he heard about the shooting


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Kuwait sex-change case overturned
A Kuwaiti court has overturned a ruling that a 26-year-old man who underwent sex-change surgery can be officially regarded as a woman.


The landmark ruling by a lower court came after the plaintiff told of mental and physical torment since childhood due to hormonal imbalances.

The lawyer for the plaintiff, who goes by the name of Amal, said he would appeal the ruling to a higher court.

Correspondents say gender change is not seen as acceptable in Kuwait.

There is no law in Kuwait to govern sex-change cases and judges base their verdicts on their personal convictions, Agence France Presse news agency reports


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Gay rights activists fail to open dialogue with Marshall
Sari Krieger
Potomac News


As the 2005 General Assembly session approaches in January, Kirk Marusak and other Equality Prince William Members still have their gripes from last session with Prince William Delegate Robert Marshall, R-13th district.

Marshall sponsored a controversial bill, which passed the General Assembly during the 2004 session. Gay rights groups strongly opposed the bill.

HB 751 prohibits people of the same sex from entering into civil unions, partnership contracts or any arrangement "purported to bestow the benefits and obligation of marriage."

Marusak has been asking to meet with Marshall since March but has been largely ignored, he said.


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Despite First Dance's Success, Queer Groups Still Fractured
By Rachel Trager
Columbia Daily Spectator


With the lights dimmed and the music energizing, Lerner Hall's basement provided a perfect setting for students who identify themselves as bisexual, gay, transgender, and questioning to lose all inhibitions and meet and greet each other at the First Friday Dance.

The event seemed like an accomplishment for organizations that have been struggling to please Columbia's queer community for some time. Though the dance brought in a large crowd, many students still expressed dissatisfaction with Columbia's Queer Alliance.


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Judge denies he's promoting homosexual agenda


ORANGE CITY, Iowa A District Court judge who dissolved a lesbian couple's Vermont civil union defended himself against charges that he is promoting a homosexual agenda.

The judge from northwest Iowa faces an effort this fall from a group trying to vote him off the bench. Only four Iowa judges have been removed from the bench since the retention system was adopted more than 40 years ago.

Judge Jeffrey Neary first met with a group of Sioux County attorneys and others who endorsed him for retention


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First Canadian Gay and Lesbian Television Dating Series Begins Second Season.
Onlypunjab.com Correspondent


Hiltz Squared Media Group Inc. and PrideVision TV are proud to announce the return, for a second season, of the hit television dating series, Fairy Tale.

In the guise of other dating series, Fairy Tale achieves what has never before been done in Canadian television history. Individuals who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, are invited to find their perfect match while the world watches

Civil Partnerships come to the House of Commons
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Civil Partnerships will finally be debated by MPs today, as the much-delayed bill comes to the House of Commons.
Although MPs will see their second reading of the bill, amendments tabled by peers in the House of Lords are expected to be the main focus of gay rights groups.

The amendment stretched the rights and responsibilities on offer for same-sex couples to people in other relationships, including carers and siblings. Observers expect it to be dropped by MPs after critics accused the Conservative peers who tabled it of attempting to wreck the bill.

The amendment has also been slammed by legal experts and organisations for carers, who want to see a separate bill created to deal with the issues. They say that by including it, the Civil Partnerships bill will be unworkable.


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Appeal court to hear gay marriage dispute
Ban making its way to state's top court
By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau


BATON ROUGE -- A Baton Rouge appellate court, not the state Supreme Court, will have the next crack at deciding the battle over the legitimacy of a controversial constitutional amendment defining marriage as an institution only between one man and one woman and banning same-sex marriages and other civil unions.

Attorneys in the case had asked the Supreme Court to hear the matter next, bypassing the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge, but Supreme Court spokeswoman Valerie Willard said the high court decided to allow the normal appellate process to be followed.

No matter how the 1st Circuit rules, both sides in the ongoing controversy said the case will eventually wind up in the state's highest court, possibly by late this week or early next week.


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Black, Asian Clerics Unite to Support Gay Marriage
By Kai Ma,


BERKELEY -- Calling for an end to discrimination and homophobia, seven local Asian-American and African-American religious ministers united yesterday at Berkeley's Pacific School of Religion in an emotional call supporting the rights of gays and lesbians to marry.

To an audience of more than 60 people, the ministers charged that Asian and Black religious leaders who in recent weeks have expressed support for President Bush's efforts to ban gay marriage do not speak for their entire communities.



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Saudi women denied vote, candidacy


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Women may neither vote nor run in Saudi Arabia's first nationwide elections, the government has announced, dashing hopes of progressive Saudis and easing fears among conservatives that the kingdom is moving too fast on reforms.

An electoral official cited administrative and logistical reasons Monday for the decision to ban women from the municipal elections, scheduled to be held in three stages from February 10 to April 21.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there are not enough women to run women's-only registration centers and polling stations, and that only a fraction of the country's women have the photo identity cards that would have been needed to vote.

Many women in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, have balked at getting the ID cards -- introduced three years ago -- because the photographs would show their faces unveiled.


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Caution: slippery slope
The natural limits of marriage


The lawyer representing Canada's Attorney General shocked supporters and opponents of marriage equality last week when he fell down the fabled "slippery slope" of same-sex marriage and into what the Supreme Court of Canada called "deep waters".

Peter Hogg, considered by many to be Canada's leading authority on constitutional law, performed more like a professor than a legal advocate during a spectacular misunderstanding of a question from the Supreme Court of Canada.

It happened early on Oct. 6, during the reference hearing on proposed legislation that will roll-out marriage equality to the remaining have-not provinces and territories. The court was concerned about the government's response to jurisdiction concerns raised by Alberta and Quebec (both interveners opposed to the proposed federal legislation, for different reasons)


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Insurance Equality


The insurance industry has reached an agreement with Pink Finance to publish new guidelines on HIV, which should see the end of gay questions on life assurance application forms.

The agreement with the Association of British Insurers means the removal of the personal questions that are asked of gay men when applying for insurance products.

The 'gay' question on Life Assurance application forms is to be replaced with a new 'common question' that is to be asked of all risk groups regardless of sexuality.

Chris Morgan, editor of pinkfinance.com said: “We're very proud to have played the leading role in securing 'equal' treatment for gay men when applying for insurance products.


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Is Bush Planning To Listen In On Gay Chat Rooms?
by Michael Hill
The Associated Press


(Washington) Amid the torrent of jabber in Internet chat rooms — flirting by QTpie and BoogieBoy, arguments about politics and horror flicks — are terrorists plotting their next move?

The government certainly isn't discounting the possibility. It's taking the idea seriously enough to fund a yearlong study on chat room surveillance under an anti-terrorism program.


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Candace Gingrich argues gay rights are about equality
  By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW


Candace Gingrich wonders about the options that might be available to her partner if she were to be involved in a car crash.

Would she be permitted to visit her at the hospital? Would she have any say about the type of care offered?

These are the questions heterosexual couples don't have to think about when they tie the knot, Gingrich says, because the federal government grants them 1,048 benefits. These are the marital privileges that allow for health-care coverage for the other half, the ability to refuse to testify against a significant other, and the retention of a child's custody if one of the parents dies.


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Gays, lesbians rally for right to marry
BY LAURA MECKLER
Associated Press


WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Capitol at their backs, supporters of gay marriage pleaded, demanded and sang out for equal rights yesterday, hoping they will succeed in the long term but mindful of the hostile political environment they face today.

Opponents of gay marriage, led by President Bush, are trying to amend the U.S. Constitution to outlaw gay and lesbian marriages. Voters in 11 states will consider such amendments to state constitutions this fall, and most, if not all, are expected to pass. Even many politicians friendly to gay rights say they oppose same-sex marriage.


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Gay Rights: U.S. More Conservative Than Britain, Canada
by Josephine Mazzuca, PhD
Senior Staff Writer, Toronto Bureau


If the issue of gay marriage seems to generate more vitriol in the United States than in Great Britain or Canada, then it’s probably because Americans are particularly likely to oppose it.


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Sandals Resorts Ends Anti-Gay Policy 
by Peter Moore
365Gay.com Newscenter 
London Bureau


(London) After years of refusing to accept gays and lesbians one of the world's biggest chains of resort hotels has announced it will now welcome same-sex couples.

Sandals Resorts, faced with a threatened human rights complaint in Canada, and a negative media campaign in the UK, Monday night said it was lifting its ban on gay couples from 13 resorts it operates in the Caribbean. The ban had been in place since 2001.


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Jerry Falwell urges Christians to vote


The Reverend Jerry Falwell, taking a break from his tour of battleground states, has urged members of a Central Texas congregation to get active in politics. "There's a revival sweeping our land," Falwell told several hundred people at Bannockburn Baptist Church on Sunday. "Our people are getting saved.... They're getting registered to vote, and they're voting Christian."


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US mobile marriage campaign reaches Washington
Andrew Noyes, Gay.com/Planetout.com Network


An eight-day, cross-country caravan of same-sex newlyweds, religious leaders and activists culminated in a spirited rally on the steps of the US Capitol yesterday to speak out against the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

The mid-day event boasted a laundry list of speakers, including Democratic California state Assemblyman Mark Leno, who introduced his state's same-sex marriage bill, and Chrissy Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of former presidential candidate Dick Gephardt.

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Indigo Girls urge fans to vote ‘no’ on gay marriage amendment
By Doug Gross

ATLANTA — Urging fans to shoot down a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, Atlanta’s Indigo Girls took the stage at a lunchtime rally Monday, just over three weeks before Georgia voters will decide the issue.

About 100 supporters listened and cheered as the folk rock duo performed two of their songs — ‘‘Let It Be Me’’ and ‘‘Hammer and a Nail’’ — and called the initiative discriminatory and misleading.

AFL-CIO Tells Union Members To Oppose Gay Marriage Amendment

(Detroit, Michigan) Opponents of a proposed amendment to the Michigan state constitution to ban same-sex marriage have gotten some powerful support from the AFL-CIO.

The biggest umbrella organization of labor unions in the country is urging its 600,000 members to oppose the amendment.

AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said that the organization views the amendment as a cynical and divisive political ploy.

The proposed amendment would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and bar recognition of domestic partnerships.


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Inquiry into Dutch schools' refusal of gay magazine


Education Minister Maria van der Hoeven and Deputy Health Minister Clémence Ross-Van Dorp are holding an inquiry into the refusal by numerous schools to allow a magazine for young homosexuals. The Education Minister will today be contacting the editors of the magazine ExpresZo and the schools which refuse to help distribute it.


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Wynonna Under Fire For Gay Cruise 
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Nashville, Tennessee)  Country superstar Wynonna Judd is being slammed by a conservative Christian group for agreeing to perform on a cruise for lesbians.

The Caribbean cruise will set sail January 29.  The Traditional Values Coalition calls it "disgraceful".

"Wynonna Judd has been misled by the mainstream media on the origins of same-sex attractions and the self-destructive results of such attractions,"  the organization says in a statement released Monday.


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Gay Americans Marry In Belgium
by Rex Wockner
365Gay.com Editor-At-Large


Two American men who work in Belgium have become the first U.S. same-sex couple to be married in that country.

The wedding took pace Oct. 9, in the city of Enghien.

Phillip Sorensen, 46, and Christopher Staker, 49, both of whom work for NATO in Brussels, tied the knot in the City Hall civil-weddings room before local friends and 37 other friends and family members from around the world, including 25 who came from the U.S. for the event.

An Oct. 1 law change made it possible for any foreign same-sex couple to marry in Belgium if at least one of the spouses has lived there for at least three months. Previously, foreign same-sex couples could marry in Belgium only if their home country or countries also allowed same-sex marriage.

here in the us of a ... there's a national holiday of the cult that worships martyrdom, birth and death.. and in of itself I suppose it is not all that bad, except this practice is soaked in blood, mass slaughter, bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, and genocide...

here in the us of a . . . there are no national holidays for a woman...

here in the us of a . . . there's a holiday for war heros

here in the us of a . . . there is a holiday for independence, but it should be noted there was a strong bourgeoisie component to the revolution that has been romanticized into a peoples war, which would later have echos in the us of a's dealings or non-dealings with the slavery issues, that turned into jim crow, that on some level still goes on... which is all to ionic, since there is a holiday for labor, that has turned into a mass venture of the commodity with mega-sales and super saver travel, all benefiting bourgeoisie...


here in the us of a . . . there is one black man who is celebrated with a national holiday, who was murdered, assassinated, and the now residing vice president who voted against this holiday of a leader who advocated peaceful change, is running for a second turn, who was head of one of the largest companies in the us of a, do I smell bourgeoisie again


here in the us of a . . . a land conquered by force, by a christian, who started a genocide barley mentioned in the history books, who traded in slaves; in a land that was sacred now filled with highways and landfills, there is not one holiday for those whose land it is /was, instead there is a holiday for the conquerer, the war hero, another bourgeoisie marketer

EU panel opposes justice nominee
A European Parliament committee has voted to oppose Italian Rocco Buttiglione as the EU's next Justice commissioner, officials say.



Correspondents say Mr Buttiglione's views on issues such as homosexuality and the role of women have prompted unease at the commission.

The move, by the Civil Liberties Committee, is not binding.

Mr Buttiglione, who is Italian European Affairs Minister, is set to take office at the commission on 1 November.

Please respond to the article below from the Jamaica Observer
@
feedback@jamaicaobserver.com
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editorial@jamaicaobserver.com

let us not forget, it takes every voice to be seen as human... write today and be heard...


Dear editor,

in INDI MCLYMONT article, "From He to She: A Jamaican hermaphrodite tells his painful story," Monday, October 11, 2004, the pronoun " he" is used over and over like a hammer to signify someone who is already in pain, even though this person states, "I am a transsexual woman," a female, not male. I think the correct female pronoun would be she, out of respect.

And as this person states they are intersexed, which shows there is no solid line of gender, and yet, you keep using he over and over. are you missing something in your reporting or is it the intent of your paper to cause further harm to intersexed, transgendered and transsexual people..

I will make your article public around the world, and through the US, to demonstrate how homophobic, and transphobic your paper is. The intersexed, transgendered and transsexual community world wide needs to respond to your thoughtlessness.

kari edwards
San Francisco, USA



From He to She
A Jamaican hermaphrodite tells his painful story
BY INDI MCLYMONT all woman co-ordinator
Monday, October 11, 2004


"I am not gay," he states adamantly as he fiddles with the steering wheel of his car.

His fingernails are painted a soft pink. So too are the nails on his pedicured feet.
He is wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt without sleeves that subtly shows his small but shapely and well-developed breasts.

After almost a year-and-a-half of taking hormone treatment, he is happy that his breasts have developed. It shows that he is well on his way to becoming what he says he truly is - a woman.


"I am a transsexual woman - that is a male who is in transition to becoming a female. I am a woman trapped in a man's body," says the six footer, who prefers to be referred to as Barbara.


~

MEASURING gender
By Ailee Slater
Columnist


“Measure 36 sends a simple, positive message to children that marriage should be between a man and a woman. It just makes sense.”

So reads an argument found in the Oregon voters’ pamphlet in favor of Ballot Measure 36, which would amend the Oregon Constitution to define marriage as valid and legal only between one woman and one man. Besides the obvious issue of discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, another less prominent matter is presented in two specific words of this initiative: “man” and “woman.” These terms and this ballot measure are anything but simple.

Doctors estimate that one in 2,000 babies is born with ambiguous sexual organs, or has sex chromosomes different from his or her phenotypic reproductive organs. This percentage of the public is biologically neither male nor female. Many are assigned a sex as children. Medical procedures may be undergone in an attempt at classification. Still, most simply accept their bodies as they are and live normal lives as either the gender that their parents appoint to them, or that of their own choosing. The question then rises, what or who defines a person’s legal sex when the genetics are ambiguous?


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The reluctant queen
That a transvestite has become a superstar in a nation known for its machismo has many Argentines baffled
By Colin McMahon
Tribune foreign correspondent


BUENOS AIRES -- Florencia de la V may rule as la reina of Argentina's entertainment world, but please don't call her a queen.

Florencia wants to get past all that, past the insults and the snickers and the fears. She wants to get past her former life as Roberto Carlos Trinidad. She wants to be seen not as a transvestite or a novelty or a curiosity. She just wants people to see her as Flor.

Shockingly to many Argentines, Florencia de la V is getting her wish.

You see Florencia everywhere now. On the big stage, in a Buenos Aires musical and comedy review called, "Diferente." On the small screen, as a star of "Los Roldan," the most popular
Argentine television series in recent memory. And at newsstands across the capital: The current cover of the Argentine Rolling Stone shows Florencia in a manipulated photo -- mostly naked and extremely


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The great Kuwait sex debate
Kuwait City, Kuwait


Kuwait's Appeals Court on Monday overturned a landmark verdict by a lower court granting a Kuwaiti who underwent sex-change surgery the right to register as a female, a lawyer said.

"The judge overturned the initial verdict and threw out the case ... We will challenge this verdict to the Court of Cassation [the highest court in the Gulf Arab state]," Adel al-Yahya said.

The lower court, in the first verdict of its kind in conservative Kuwait, agreed in April to a request by Ahmad, a Kuwaiti male, and ordered the government to change officially his sex to female and his name to Amal.

The verdict was based on a number of medical reports and a forensic examination carried out on the complainant, who stressed that the transsexual surgery was decided for "biological reasons".


~

CHELSEA TRANNY TRAGEDY
By TATIANA DELIGIANNAKIS and CYNTHIA R. FAGEN

A transsexual porn model who recently starred in a film about her troubled life leaped to her death from the 20th-floor window of her luxury apartment in Manhattan yesterday, cops and friends said.


Susan Shah, 36, had been depressed over health problems that included her 10-year battle with AIDS, said Dimitris Berylese, co-writer of Shah's film, "A Step Ahead," which chronicles her sex change from a man into a woman.


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Remembering the victims of hate crimes
NewsCenter16 Reporter
Michelle Relerford


South Bend, IN - The flames of hope brightened the sky at IUSB Sunday night.  

The University's gay-straight alliance held a candlelight vigil, remembering those killed in hate crimes.  

Speakers said it took a lot of courage for members of the alliance and their supporters to hold such and event, but they believe that with their courage they can light a new path in this community where differences are accepted and even embraced


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Free, confidential HIV tests for gay men in Guangdong Province, China


Gay men in the Guangdong Province, China, are to have free and confidential HIV tests at the AIDS Prevention and Treatment Institute, Guangdong Provincial Centre for Disease Control.

The Vice Presdient of the Institute, He Qun, said that the test results would remain confidential.


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Man told to pay gay man $1,000 for 'disgraceful' comment


MONTREAL -Quebec's Human Rights Commission has ordered a used car salesman in Sorel to pay a gay man $1,000 for a derogatory comment he made three years ago.

In 2001 Marcel Bardier told the man's travelling companion to keep an eye on him because he was a "fag."

The man, who cannot be identified because of a court order, filed a complaint with the Commission which said the comment caused him to feel dehumanized, humiliated and degraded.

Bardier told the Commission that he had nothing against homosexuals, but was simply acting in a fatherly way to the man's companion by warning him of his sexuality.

The Rights Commission ruled that the term was an inappropriate way of referring to homosexuals and adds to the disgrace and lack of respect of human dignity people are entitled to.





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Gay people to get government support in fight against discrimination


Discrimination against gays is to be policed by the new Equality and Human Rights Commission, according to reports.

The Government has decided to give gay people the same protection as that enjoyed by ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

At present, homosexuals have no statutory body to represent them and must take a case to an employment tribunal if they feel they have been discriminated against on the grounds of their sexual orientation.

The new body - which is expected to have a budget of £50 million - will offer advice, support test cases and may even provide legal representation.


~

GREENS CALL FOR GAY MARRIAGE
by: OutRage! News Service, OIA Newswire


"The ban on same-sex marriage is discriminatory and must be repealed," according to the Green Party. It's MEPs, Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert, are joining the call for marriage equality.

The Greens are the first UK political party to join the campaign for gay civil marriage.

In the run-up to the House of Commons debate on the Civil Partnership Bill (Tuesday 12 October), the Greens say "excluding gay couples from marriage is an affront to democracy and human rights."

"Denying people the right to marry because of their sexual orientation violates the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that every adult person has a right to marry," said gay campaigner Peter Tatchell, who recently joined the Green Party.


~

UI kicks off National Coming Out Week events
By Kristen Schorsch
Iowa City Press-Citizen


A film, information about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights movement and panels of high school students sharing personal experiences highlight a weeklong celebration at the University of Iowa.

Today marks the anniversary of National Coming Out Day and the first day of events at UI to encourage those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender to talk about their lives.



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First National Gay Marriage Rally to be Held on Upper Senate Park, Washington D.C.: Monday, Oct. 11, 11 AM - 4 PM


WASHINGTON, -- Seventeen years to the day after the historic 1987 Gay March on Washington, the Marriage Equality Caravan arrived in DC for a rally tomorrow following a cross country tour.

For daring to push the marriage issue prior to the Presidential elections, the press has followed this group of activists across the country with enormous interest. En route, they rallied in 10 cities across the country.

"We did this project because we thought America needed to hear the voice for equal marriage rights from those directly impacted by marriage discrimination," said Molly McKay, Associate Executive Director of Marriage Equality California. "Our rights and our lives should not be used as political footballs. We refuse to accept second class citizenship in this country," said Dr. Davina Kotulski, author of "Why You should Give A Damn About Gay Marriage." "From Laramie to Pittsburgh we were greeted with open hearts by so many fair minded Americans."


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Mayor Autry Defends Decision

The mayor is setting the record straight and defending his position after refusing to sign a proclamation that would make Monday "Coming Out Day" in Fresno.

Mayor Alan Autry says he's for gay rights, and even for civil unions between gay and lesbian couples. But, he does not think it's appropriate to sign a proclamation making Monday a city-wide "Coming Out Day."

In a statement to Action News, Fresno Mayor Alan Autry said, "Whether a person comes out or not is solely up to each individual. A city proclamation serves no useful purpose in this deeply personal and private decision."

Around 100 people turned out at Fresno City Hall on Sunday to sign a proclamation declaring Monday as "Coming Out Day."


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Their turn to speak
Gay Fresnans give their answer to Autry event.
By Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee


Members of Fresno's gay, bisexual and transgender community were placed behind barricades in August while heterosexual couples renewed marriage vows on Fresno City Hall steps.

On Sunday, about 125 members of the community had a chance to say their piece in front of City Hall, too.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Fresno-area residents, their relatives and friends were in front of Fresno City Hall demanding the same rights that heterosexuals receive