EIGHT MARINES KILLED, NINE WOUNDED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Eight Marines assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in action and nine others were wounded in action today while conducting increased security operations in the Al Anbar Province.

Organizations Rally against Gay Marriage Amendment

One of the issues on the ballot for the entire state is an amendment to the Mississippi Constitution banning gay marriage. The ACLU and gay and lesbian organizations are rallying against the amendment that says marriage may take place only between a man and woman. The measure also states that Mississippi won't recognize same-sex marriages in other states.

"I don't need government permission to spend the rest of my life with someone I'm in love with. However, the government decided to make marriage a government issue. So, therefore, I want that same recognition," said Jody Renaldo of Equality Mississippi.


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Keep law out of gays' bedrooms, says Harding
BY DWIGHT BELLANFANTE Observer staff reporter


THE law has no business in the private bedrooms of consenting adults, such as homosexuals and prostitutes, former attorney-general and justice minister, Dr Oswald Harding is insisting.

Harding remains unconvinced by the argument that the law should be used to enforce moral codes, and argued that the private activities of consenting homosexuals and prostitutes should not be criminalised.

Harding, who was attorney-general and justice minister and later foreign minister in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration of the 1980s, is basing his argument on the findings of the Wolfden Committee in Britain in 1954. He noted that the report recommended by a majority of 12 to one that homosexual practices between consenting adults in private should no longer be a crime. And it unanimously recommended, he said, that in the case of prostitution, though it should not itself be made illegal, there should be legislation "to take it off the streets" on the grounds that public soliciting was an offensive nuisance to ordinary citizens.

Proposal 2: anti-gay, anti-straight, and anti-trans
by Dawn Wolfe / Between the Lines


DETROIT - Members of the trans community gathered at the American Civil Liberties Union office in Detroit on Oct. 18 to hear about the possible effects of Proposal 2 at an event sponsored by TransGender Michigan.

The news was not good.

According to Jay Kaplan of the ACLU'S LGBT Project, "Any time you have laws limiting marriage, that can complicate things for trans people because it will then be up to judges to define 'gender.'"

Kaplan was joined at the forum by Coalition for a Fair Michigan spokesperson Michelle Brown and Sean Kosofsky, director of policy for the Triangle Foundation.

Kaplan added, "It's possible that if Michigan had to define gender for this purpose that [the state judicial system] could take a very narrow view." Kaplan told the audience that the Michigan Supreme Court has already handed down a decision allowing landlords to discriminate against unmarried tenants.


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Blackwell accused of breaking law by pushing same-sex marriage ban
Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief


Columbus - A complaint filed Thursday accuses Secretary of State Ken Blackwell of breaking the election laws his office is responsible for enforcing.

The dispute, before the Ohio Elections Commission, centers on comments Blackwell made in a recorded telephone message that urges the passage of a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, which appears on Tuesday's ballot as Issue 1.

In the message, Blackwell points to studies that show children fare better in households with a mother and father. "That's why government has always recognized marriage between one man and one woman," he says. "Why change that?"

Legal experts agree that Issue 1's passage or defeat would not change Ohio's existing same-sex marriage ban


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Don't Know, Don't Care
HIV/AIDS offers one more example of how the health care system is failing Americans.
By Abby Christopher


In these last, heated, days before the election, health care has come to the fore as a major political issue, with George W. Bush raising the specter of health care rationing to put voters off John Kerry, and Kerry pointing to the de facto rationing of flu vaccine as proof of Bush's incompetence. Very little has been said, though, about the continuing problem of HIV/AIDS in this country. This is surprising, because AIDS stands as one more example of how the health care system -- thanks to shortages, budget cuts, government neglect and mismanagement -- is failing Americans.

The topic attracted notice, briefly, during the vice-presidential debate on October 5, when moderator Gwen Ifill, pointing out that black women aged 25-44 are 13 more times more likely than other U.S. women to die of the disease, asked what the government should do to counter the spread of the epidemic. To judge by their halting responses, neither candidate had a clue about the problem. ("I have to say that I was surprised that neither the vice president nor the senator had an answer on this. As a black woman, I also found it depressing," Ifill wrote in an email to MotherJones.com shortly after the debate.)


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Warning as burglar targets gays
Police are hunting a man who befriends gay men and then burgles their homes.


Several incidents have happened in Brighton, Sussex, where the offender has made friends with men on the gay scene and gets to know where they live.

After becoming familiar with the layout and means to get into the properties he goes on to burgle them at a later date.

The offender is described as white with a tanned complexion, about 6ft, and in his mid to late 30s. He is of a muscular build and has tattoos.


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Gay people part of the inner circle now


I was walking around Mount Maunganui at Labour Weekend, on the lovely track at the base of the mountain, writes Denise Irvine, and two middle-aged men out for a similar stroll nodded and said hello as they passed by.

One was Maori and one Asian, and they were unremarkable apart from the fact that they were casually holding hands. Like another older couple, a man and woman, I'd overtaken a few minutes earlier. The thought popped into my head that the two men were rather brave, announcing their relationship to the scores of other weekend walkers.


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New Poll Shows Shift in Military Attitudes Toward Gays


Fifty percent of junior enlisted service members say that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey. The number is a significant increase since 1992, when two similar surveys found 16 percent of male service members held the same view.

The Annenberg poll follows a report last week from the Urban Institute which estimates 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans serve in the armed forces. “Despite the military’s gay ban, service members have seen first hand the contributions of lesbian and gay Americans,” said Sharra E. Greer, Director of Law and Policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). “Heterosexual service members serve alongside lesbian and gay colleagues every day and they are increasingly comfortable doing so.”


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Gays ‘viable’ in races nationwide
Idaho, Carolinas eyed as ‘breakthroughs’
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.


Most gay political activists, like their straight counterparts, will likely be riveted to television sets on election night watching the returns in a presidential race expected to have a major impact on gay rights issues.


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The Soldiers Who Said No
by Tom Robbins


No matter how the military ultimately decides to deal with Staff Sergeant Michael Butler for disobeying orders, once the war in Iraq is through with him, he'll be welcomed home by an adoring family and the big yellow ribbon that is pinned to the tall long-leaf pine tree outside his one-story brick house in Jackson, Mississippi.


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Former FHS student punished by Missouri school for gay-pride shirts
BY TRISH HOLLENBECK Northwest Arkansas Times



A gay student who formerly attended Fayetteville High School has been disciplined by his new high school in Webb City, Mo., for wearing T-shirts bearing gay-pride messages.

The American Civil Liberties Union has come to the defense of high school junior Brad Mathewson, who was sent home twice to change his shirts this month because the principal, Stephen Golhofer, cited concerns that other students may be offended by the shirts. "This school allows its students to freely express their views on gay and lesbian rights, but only if they’re on the anti-gay side of the issue," said Jolie Justus, a member of the legal panel for the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, noting that bumper stickers in favor of Missouri’s recently passed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment are ubiquitous in the school’s hallways and parking lot. "This is a classic case of censorship. Brad Mathewson has the same constitutional right to political speech and expression that the Supreme Court says all students have," Justus said.

Webb City Superintendent Ronald Lankford said Friday that he had to be careful about commenting on the case and was still investigating all the details. He said he was not prepared to make a comment at this time on a letter faxed to the district by the ACLU. He also said a St. Louis attorney specializing in school-related legal issues is being consulted on the school district’s behalf.


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'To be attacked is the not infrequent experience of homosexuals. But, reluctant to be enrolled in the ranks of gay martyrdom, I kept quiet'
By Harry Mount


The playwright and actor Alan Bennett has revealed that he was so severely beaten up in a homophobic attack that he almost died.

While holidaying in Italy, he and his partner were set upon by two youths. Mr Bennett was struck on the head with a length of steel scaffolding and taken to an emergency clinic, where he needed 12 stitches from a doctor he later nicknamed Dr Death.

The assault took place in 1992, while Mr Bennett and the journalist Rupert Thomas were taking an evening stroll in Ladispoli, a small seaside town 12 miles north of Rome. Mr Thomas, editor of World of Interiors, shares Mr Bennett's home in Camden, north London.


Writing in the 25th anniversary edition of the London Review of Books, the playwright relates how he was attacked on the eve of his 58th birthday, after being confronted on the seafront in "harsh, assertive, jabbering" Italian by two young men. At first, he says, he tried to veer away from them.


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African hardliners set deadline in gay bishop row
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent


Conservative Anglican Archbishops in Africa have set a February deadline for the liberal American Church to "repent" for consecrating a homosexual bishop.

In a statement issued yesterday, the leaders of most of the continent's 20 provinces challenged liberal bishops to comply with the Windsor report, published 10 days ago to heal rifts over homosexuality.

The African Archbishops did not announce plans to develop a rival Anglican Church, but the threat remained implicit in their statement, which showed that they did not intend to apologise to liberal bishops for illicitly "adopting" conservative parishes in America.

They said that the onus was on the liberals to "move beyond informal expressions of regret for the effect of their actions to a genuine change of heart and mind".


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Berlusconi backs down on EU justice post

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will find another candidate to replace his controversial nominee as Justice Commissioner of the European Union.

Giving in to criticism from the European Parliament, Italy has decided to withdraw its controversial candidate for EU Justice Commissioner Rocco Buttiglione.


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Chicago's Gay & Lesbian Hall Of Fame Display


The State of Illinois will host a display based on the 2004 inductees into Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in the lobby of the James R. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago, on Monday, November 1 and Tuesday, November 2, 2004 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Photos and biographies of inductees will be on display, highlighting their achievements and contributions to the City of Chicago.

This display is sponsored by the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in celebration of Gay and Lesbian History Month, which is traditionally observed in October.


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The 365Gay.com Election Special




Voters go to the polls in 4 days and with the race a virtual dead heat the outcome is of vital importance to all of us. We examine the top 5 Senate races, the top 10 in the House, and the states with proposed anti-gay constitutional amendments.

Kerry Criticizes Delay in Hunger Report
By JIM ABRAMS


WASHINGTON (AP) - The Kerry campaign on Friday criticized the administration for putting off, possibly until after the election, issuing an annual report that could show an increase in the number of households that either don't have access to enough food or have experienced hunger.

The Agriculture Department report, originally scheduled to be made public either Thursday or Friday, is being reviewed by the department. No new date has been set for its release.

Alisa Harrison, the USDA's press secretary, said the Food Nutrition Service had some questions about definitions and other matters and called the review ``a normal part of our process.'' Kerry's campaign, she said, was ``attempting to make an issue where there isn't one.''

VoterCall is a non-partisan campaign to mobilize over one million young, low income and minority voters for the November Elections

The election on November 2nd may be the most important of our lives, but millions of people, including many of those most affected by unjust government policies, will not show up to vote on election day. VoterCall provides a simple way for individuals anywhere to make a huge difference - placing brief phone calls to encourage low-income, minority and young voters to go vote. Register to call voters now!

6th Annual Transgender Day Of Remembrance Honors Victims


While news of this year's election and the conflict in Iraq has dominated the media, anti-transgender violence has continued to occur at the same levels set more than a decade ago. The 6th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance will be held on November 20th, 2004, to honor those who might otherwise have been missed by the media, as well as to draw attention to this continuing problem.


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Transmissions: For President? No option
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith


The air has turned crisp, heavy clouds hang on the horizon, and the barest hint of Winter's promise is in the air. This can only mean one thing: election time. Unfortunately, there seems so few options that I, as a transgendered woman and a voter, can really get excited about.

You see, both presidential candidates have been less-than-thrilling when it comes to transgender rights, and the presidential race lies at the heart of this election.
George W. Bush has made no public statements that I know of, supportive or otherwise. About as close as we've seen was when a former classmate met him at the White House after her transition. Bush was indeed cordial, even supportive of her -- but it is unlikely that his support for her is any better than it is for his running mate's daughter when it comes to the political arena.

John Kerry, meanwhile, did go on record during the primaries. He was the only one of the candidates to go on record as not supporting a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This is in line with his Massachusetts contemporaries on Capitol Hill -- Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy -- who have opposed the inclusion of transgender language for some time, and still seem resistant to the concept.



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Gay marriage foes who won before California high court seek fees
Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO -The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian advocacy law group from Arizona, asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to award it $229,000 in fees and costs to reimburse the litigation efforts that led to the blocking of San Francisco's gay marriages.

The group was the first party to request the justices block San Francisco from issuing any more same-sex marriage licenses. The court halted the wedding spree in March, after 4,000 licenses were issued.


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Jamison Green speaks
Internationally-known trans activist talks about the history of transgender, current trans issues and the future of organizing
By Dawn Wolfe


I think identity politics are somewhat like an adolescent phase in life, where you're trying to figure out who you are, and you need that space. Which you might need to retreat to every now and then, you know, that's why we have clubs for, you know, Blues lovers, and clubs for gay people, and we do this and that, but we don't live in that club.


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Germany Expands Gay Couple Rights
by The Associated Press


(Berlin) German lawmakers expanded the rights of same-sex couples Friday, allowing registered domestic partners to adopt each other's children and making rules on splitting up and alimony similar to those for heterosexual marriages.

Parliament's lower house passed the changes drafted by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's center-left government over the objections of opposition conservatives

"This is a good day for gays and lesbians," Green Party lawmaker Volker Beck told his colleagues. "We are making another step on the long road to equal rights."


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Chicago mayor backpedals on marriage petition


Chicago mayor Richard Daley said he didn't read a pro-gay marriage petition before signing it at a gay event on Wednesday evening and now says he doesn't fully back what the petition calls for. The petition, presented to Daley by the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network as he made his way through the crowd during the annual Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame celebration at the Cultural Center, demanded that Cook County clerk David Orr defy state law and "immediately issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples." Daley says he signed the petition without reading the fine print.
The Chicago Anti-Bashing Network then faxed press releases to media outlets touting the mayor's apparent position, which would have been broader than previously stated.


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Lesbian opposes mother's effort to pass gay marriage ban


Tess Fields, the lesbian daughter of Georgia Christian Coalition leader Sadie Fields, is speaking out against her mother's campaign to amend the Georgia state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Just days before Tuesday's referendum, Tess Fields sent a letter to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's editorial page, criticizing what she called her mother's "bigotry" and "abject hostility toward gay and lesbian people." Tess Fields, a 35-year-old mother who lives in Oregon, said in an interview with the newspaper that she was speaking out partly to answer an opinion piece her mother previously wrote in the newspaper.
She also wanted to offer encouragement to people


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Homosexuality lectures popular on campus
(eastday.com)


"Homosexuality and Sociology", a postgraduate course offerred by the Medical School at Fudan University, drew an unexpectedly large audience, Youth Daily reported.

While only five students are actually enrolled in the course, the real attendance figure ranges from 60 to more than 100.

Without Reservations: Native American Lesbians Struggle to Find Their Way
Written by: Diane Anderson-Minshall


Beverly Little Thunder has been issued a death sentence. Not by the government; by one of her own. Leonard Crow Dog, a Native American* activist, has sworn to kill the 55-year-old Lakota nurse for performing the Sun Dance, one of the most important — and grueling — ceremonies for Plains Indian tribes. Participants dance for four days, eight hours a day, without food or water, as a ritual of sacrifice, renewal and strengthening.

The U.S. government outlawed the dance in 1904 as a way to squelch Indian gatherings, but Little Thunder has danced the Sun Dance since she was 19 years old. Years ago, at South Dakota’s Standing Rock Reservation, she got a rude awakening: “I was told that women like me were taken out and shot. I was not permitted to participate in the ceremonies.”




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a wo’mn called sir
Written by: Sharon Bridgforth
Curve: Vol. 12#4

people often assume me to be a black man and in some ways i am but mostly i’m a Black butch/which to me is about gender identity/in combination with energy sensibility style and Spirit. for me to claim myself butch was a process. the first time someone called me butch/i was deeply insulted. for years i’d been called tomboy mannish a stud and sir/none of which was a bother. however butches/in my mind were white women who wanted to be men and i ain’t white/i’ve never wanted to be a man/and i wasn’t interested in engaging with women who wanted a woman to be a man. so to be called butch to me/was like being called an oreo. during the process of working to understand why people saw me/called me butch a lot of things surfaced. like/i remembered being ten years old looking at the sears & roebuck’s catalogue over and over daydreaming about the outfits i wanted-all those great color coordinated boys’ shorts and tees that would be mine one day/when i had money. i realized that as an adult i dreamt about stylish men’s clothes i wanted to buy. it became clear that in my mind/my body was a man’s body. not because i wanted to be a man but because i didn’t see my body as a woman’s/and i couldn’t imagine women’s clothes ever accurately expressing how i felt/inside. this has caused many a fashion crisis. my Black gurl hips and thighs don’t look right in men’s pants/my big woman titties don’t really work in men’s shirts and even if i considered women’s clothes something to dream about-they always feel too small too short and too confining.
the gregory hines que suave/Coloured man sleek city gq look that was the me i saw/inside was too phat for my wallet.

FROM:HRC
Bush and Kerry on GLBT Issues


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HRC LAUNCHES AD SPOTLIGHTING MEL MARTINEZ’S OPPOSITION TO HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION
‘Attempts to divide Americans for political purposes are mean-spirited and will not succeed,’ said HRC President Cheryl Jacques.


WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign political action committee launched a $250,000 independent expenditure campaign yesterday on Florida radio stations highlighting Mel Martinez’s opposition to a federal hate crimes law, which seeks to add sexual orientation, gender and disability to existing hate crime statutes.

During his primary race, Martinez’s outspoken opposition to the bipartisan legislation, which has been endorsed by more than 300 law enforcement officials, cost him the endorsement of the St. Petersburg Times , which called his campaign “embarrassing” and “unprincipled.” Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, also rebuked Martinez for the remarks and asked him to pull the ads.

Gay candidates ‘viable’ in races across country
Idaho, Carolinas eyed as ‘breakthrough’ states
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.


Most gay political activists, like their straight counterparts, will likely be riveted to television sets Tuesday watching the returns in a presidential race expected to have a major impact on gay rights issues.

But a small cadre of gay election strategists and fund-raisers with the Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund plan to look toward the state houses in Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, the Carolinas and other states, where a growing number of openly gay candidates are said to have a good chance of winning.

“The state legislatures are where the big battles over gay marriage and other issues of importance to our community are taking place,” said Dave DeCicco, the Victory Fund’s spokesperson. “Where there is not a single gay voice in a legislature, our community is not being heard.”

Twenty-eight gay candidates endorsed by the Victory Fund in state legislative races across the country enter balloting Nov. 2 with a good chance of winning, DeCicco said, following campaigns marked by gay-baiting as well as strong support from hometown newspapers and straight allies.


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Heterosexuals have ‘overthrown’ marriage
Symposium papers discount ‘threat’ from gay couples
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.


In a newly released collection of academic papers, sociologists, psychologists and historians argue that the institution of marriage has changed dramatically during the past century and that legalized same-sex marriage would have little or no impact on the viability of marriage in the future.

“In my view, marriage as we have known it for 5,000 years has already been overthrown,” said history professor Stephanie Coontz, who is writing a book on the history of marriage.

“But it was heterosexuals, not gays and lesbians, who accomplished this revolution,” she said in a paper called the “World Historical Transformation of Marriage.” “The demand of gays and lesbians for legal recognition of their unions is a symptom, not the cause, of how much and how irreversibly marriage has changed,” Coontz said


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Newspapers oppose anti-gay amendments
By JOE CREA
Friday, October 29, 2004


A surprisingly large number of newspapers, even some with staunchly conservative reputations, have come out against state amendments to ban same-sex marriage and in some cases, any form of legal recognition of gay couples.

The traditionally conservative Arkansas Democrat Gazette wrote on Oct.17, “Most of us don’t want to deny homosexuals the right to share their pension benefits or inheritance rights or discriminate against them in economic matters, … but if this proposed amendment passes in Arkansas, such mutually beneficial arrangements may be illegal in the future. And the Legislature may never have a chance to do the fair and enlightened thing some day, as other states have done, and approve civil unions outside of marriage.”

The Salt Lake Tribune noted that proponents of Amendment 3 went “beyond the simple reservation of marriage to traditional couples” and instead sailed “into the murky waters of ‘domestic union’ and ‘substantially equivalent.’ There be dragons. Or, at least, litigious lawyers and activist judges enough to frighten even the strongest legal eagles.”

All the top dailies in North Dakota have come out against that state’s proposed amendment.


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School group OKs gay literature
By Deidre Bello
Iowa City Press-Citizen


SOLON -- A smile spread across Sue Protheroe's face Thursday as, one by one, members of a review committee agreed to keep gay-themed literature in her eighth-grade curriculum.

For the past month, Protheroe has been under fire for including the controversial literature in her language arts class at Solon Middle School. Despite the heated discussion it has spurred in the community, she said she has been receiving about 15 e-mails a day, letters and phone calls of support from across the nation. She said she was not surprised with the committee's recommendation.


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Governor to back gay marriage ban in radio ad
FLETCHER HAS SAID HIS WORDS MISUSED IN SPOT BY OTHER SIDE
By Joe Biesk
ASSOCIATED PRESS


FRANKFORT -Gov. Ernie Fletcher is going to be heard on radio commercials across the state starting today supporting a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriages.

Fletcher will be encouraging Kentuckians to vote "yes" on the measure, and telling voters that both he and first lady Glenna Fletcher intend to do the same, said Kent Ostrander, executive director of the Lexington-based Family Foundation


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Lesbian seeks damages for partner’s death
BILLY BRIGGS

A LANDMARK legal action was launched yesterday that may have profound implications on how lesbian relationships are viewed under the law.

A woman is seeking damages against a drink-driver jailed for causing the death of her female partner in a road accident.


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ACLU accuses LA school officials of harassing gay students
The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES -- A lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday accuses teachers, administrators and other employees of a Los Angeles high school of harassing gay and lesbian students and staff members.

The Washington Preparatory High School staff has created "a climate rife with hostility toward and discrimination against students and staff based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation," according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

The action asks that discrimination at the school end and that the Los Angeles Unified School District be ordered to "institute proper training procedures for all staff to put an end to the hostile and intolerant school environment."

School district attorney Kevin Reed denied any such behavior exists, adding the district is a national leader in providing a safe environment for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual students. He said the school also has offered numerous training programs for its staff, including three at Washington Preparatory High School in the past year.


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Interracial-marriage ban used in Measure 36 comparisons
Some say the 1862 law is related; others say it's not
PETER WONG
Statesman Journal


Much of Oregon's marriage law remains intact from 1862, but the ban on interracial marriages is long gone.

Yet some of the arguments for and against that earlier ban have resurfaced during the debate about Measure 36, which would write into the Oregon Constitution a ban on marriage by same-sex couples.

Voters will decide the fate of Measure 36 in Tuesday's election.


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Inquiry after offensive emails are found on police computers
David Ward
The Guardian


Merseyside's chief constable launched an inquiry yesterday after "grossly offensive" emails about gay people, women and black people were found on a police computer system.

Thirty-five members of staff, 22 police officers and 13 support workers are to be investigated and could face disciplinary action, including the sack.

The messages were said to range from the mildly funny to the "disgusting".

Chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe's inquiry is supported by the Merseyside Police Federation and the Merseyside Black Police Association.


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Gay rights issue signs targeting blacks ruled OK
By Gregory Korte
Enquirer staff writer


A yard sign asking African-American voters to "save civil rights and marriage" by voting no on a Cincinnati gay rights issue is not false and confusing, the Ohio Elections Commission found Thursday.

The unanimous ruling of a four-member panel was a victory for the Equal Rights Not Special Rights campaign, a conservative group opposed to Issue 3 on the ballot next Tuesday.

Issue 3 would repeal Article XII from the city's charter - a move proponents say would make Cincinnati more tolerant by allowing City Council to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination.


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Homosexuality Dispute: African Priests Will No Longer Train in the West


Nairobi, Kenya (CNSNews.com) - Anglican Church leaders in Africa have decided they will no longer send priests to the United States and Europe for training, so as not to expose them to teachings that condone same-sex "marriage" and ordination of homosexuals.

"We have to find ways of developing our own theology," Archbishop Peter Akinola, the head of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, told a summit of 300 bishops meeting in Lagos, Nigeria.


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U. Senate opposes ban on gay marriage in Georgia
By Chris Megerian
Staff Writer


In a decision praised by President James W. Wagner, the University Senate unanimously passed a resolution opposing the wording of Amendment One to the Georgia Constitution.

“The resolution is consistent with Emory’s values, including our value of full disclosure and debate,” Wagner wrote in an e-mail to the Wheel. “It is the proper position for Emory to take, in my view.”

The Senate passed the resolution because, while the question of whether to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman does appear on the ballot, Section B of the amendment, which would make civil unions or any marriage benefits for same-sex couples impossible, does not.


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Black gay film festival debuts Sunday
By Ron Wynn

 
Noah's Arc, a comedy about the adventures of four friends in Los Angeles, will have its official premiere Sunday as the concluding feature in the first annual black gay film festival. The event, which also includes four other movies and a step show, begins at noon Sunday and is being billed as Nashville Black Pride: An Afternoon at the Theatre.


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YSU trustees OK benefits for same-sex partners
Four of nine voting trustees expressed concerns about rising benefit costs.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER


YOUNGSTOWN — Four days before Ohio voters will decide on a marriage-protection ballot issue, Youngstown State University has become the fifth public university in the state to extend health benefits to same-sex domestic partners.

www.globalvote2004.org where non-Americans can log in and cast their vote for US president.

Even if you are not a US citizen, the November 2 presidential election will have a huge impact on your life. The very idea of democracy requires that you should have a say in choosing who determines your destiny. This site therefore allows non-Americans to vote in the 2004 US presidential election.


GLOBALVOTE2004.ORG is totally neutral. You may vote for any candidate. Your vote will be kept secret. And you may only vote once.We will count the votes 48 hours before the election and submit the result to the US media. Just letting US citizens know how the world has voted could influence what looks like a tight race.


also-

World finds voice on US vote online
By Clark Boyd
Technology correspondent


The refrain "What happens in America affects us all", is a common one coming from all four corners of the globe these days, especially with the US elections just days away.

Study: 100,000 Excess Civilian Iraqi Deaths Since War
By Patricia Reaney


LONDON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violence since the U.S.-led invasion last year, American public health experts have calculated in a report that estimates there were 100,000 "excess deaths" in 18 months.

The rise in the death rate was mainly due to violence and much of it was caused by U.S. air strikes on towns and cities.

"Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq," said Les Roberts of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a report published online by The Lancet medical journal.

"The use of air power in areas with lots of civilians appears to be killing a lot of women and children," Roberts told Reuters.

The report came just days before the U.S. presidential election in which the Iraq war has been a major issue

ANTI-TRANSGENDER VIOLENCE REMAINS THREAT
OIA Newswire


SAN FRANCISCO - While news of this year's election and the conflict in Iraq has dominated the media, anti-transgender violence has continued to occur at the same levels set more than a decade ago. The 6th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance will be held on November 20 to honor those who might otherwise have been missed by the media, as well as to draw attention to this continuing problem.

"What we have is a long-term problem," said event founder, Gwendolyn Ann Smith. "Even if you are not hearing much about it in the media, there are still anti-transgender murders happening, and they are continuing to happen at a little more than one every month."

In response to this violence, the Transgender Day of Remembrance hopes to draw attention to this problem. The event continues to grow, with 110 locations in eight countries in 2003. Growth this year is already looking to eclipse that number.

Joining Day of Remembrance as sponsors this year are the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educators Network (GLSEN) and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, which is promoting this event amongst its members. GLSEN is known for the Day of Silence, which is held in April.

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Anti-gay group plans protests
BY ELIZABETH GIBSON AND DAN MILLEROf Our Carlisle Bureau


CARLISLE - Administrators at three Cumberland County schools and a private, Christian elementary school say they won't let students be distracted by a visit from a hostile anti-gay group.

The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church notified Carlisle, Cumberland Valley and Mechanicsburg Area school districts of its plan to picket the three high schools Nov. 15 because they have groups supporting gay and bisexual students.


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Lesbian Loses Bias Claim
Employee of Billy Graham’s association fired for kissing a woman
By ARTHUR S. LEONARD


A Minnesota appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lesbian employee by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, finding that the organization qualified for a religious exemption from the state’s statutory ban on sexual orientation discrimination.

The unanimous October 19 ruling affirmed a decision by a Minneapolis trial court.
As a result, a closeted 30-year employee who slipped up once by kissing another woman in the company parking lot has no legal recourse.

Sara Thorson, who began working in the mailroom for Graham’s organization in 1971, never did work related to “development or production of evangelical media,” according to Judge Wilhelmina Wright’s opinion for the court. In her most recent position, Thorson served as the company’s bulk-mail services coordinator.


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Honduras votes to bar homosexual marriage, adoption
By Freddy Cuevas
ASSOCIATED PRESS


TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras' congress voted Thursday to ban homosexual marriages and adoptions – a constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by a future legislature before taking effect.

The motion was approved unanimously by the 128 congressmen from five political parties. It was sponsored by Celin Discua of the governing National Party.

The modifications specify that "only matrimony between a man and a woman is valid,"
Under Honduran law, constitutional amendments must be ratified by a second elected legislature. The next begins in 2005.


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Police Told to Probe MUK Gays
The Monitor (Kampala)
Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi & Hussein Bogere
Kampala

The government yesterday directed the police to investigate reported activities of gays at Makerere University.

The Minister of Information, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo, said the government was concerned that activities of foreign funded local groups as well as individuals are threatening to undermine our values.

Butoro told journalists at Nakasero, that "police will investigate and take appropriate action against reported activities of homosexual associations such as the one reported at Makerere University," he said.

Makerere reportedly has an established association mainly for lesbians and bi-sexual students. The association runs a website,www.gayuganda.com.


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Swedish boys "more intolerant than girls"


Gender was on the agenda this week as the results of a major survey revealed that Swedish schoolgirls are more tolerant than boys.

The Living History Forum asked 10,500 students aged 14 and above how they felt about certain minority groups. The Forum's Helen Lööw told Svenska Dagbladet that the survey was carried out to help monitor and influence the attitude of youths.

The results gave researchers some cause for optimism, showing that "a majority, six out of 10, are positively disposed towards Muslims, Jews and homosexuals", as SvD put it.


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Paper pulls endorsement over ad
By DAN KANE, Staff Writer


Four years ago, when Julia Boseman successfully ran for a seat on the New Hanover Board of Commissioners, she didn't hide that she is a lesbian.

Now she's a Democratic candidate for state Senate, looking to oust Woody White, a Wilmington Republican. In the waning days of the campaign, the N.C. Republican Party has focused on Boseman's sexual orientation -- and the party's take on what she would push for as a legislator.


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Mississippi Gay Marriage Confusion 
by The Associated Press


(Jackson, Mississippi) Gov. Haley Barbour says he thinks some Mississippians are confused about a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

"A lot of people think 'It's about homosexuality and I'm against it,' so they're going to say 'No, I'm against same-sex marriage.' We've got to teach them to vote 'yes' to ban same-sex marriage," Barbour told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.


 
Barbour and the Rev. Donald Wildmon, founder of the Tupelo-based American Family Association, are having a news conference today in Tupelo to urge people to vote for the amendment.

Chicago mayor signs petition supporting same-sex marriage


At the close of the annual Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame celebration at the Chicago Cultural Center on Wednesday evening, Mayor Richard M. Daley reportedly signed a petition that calls for "immediately repealing the discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage" in the state and "demand[ing] that Cook County immediately issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples." According to members of the gay rights group Chicago Anti-Bashing Network and the Equal Marriage NOW! coalition, the mayor was making his way through the crowd when a gay rights activist called out, "Mayor Daley, would you like to sign a petition for equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians?" The mayor briefly glanced at the petition and then signed it in the presence of several witnesses, including his official liason to Chicago's gay and lesbian community, Bill Greaves.


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Atlanta Golf Course To Fight Gay Civil Rights Law
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Atlanta, Georgia) An Atlanta golf course ordered to provide family memberships to gay and lesbian couples is planning to fight the city's non discrimination law in court.

Groups help transgender, HIV+ voters
by Christopher Curtis
PlanetOut Network


With Election Day less than a week away, LGBT-friendly organizations are trying to protect the voting rights of those in the community who could face intimidating obstacles while trying to cast their ballots.

On Wednesday, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) released a guide, "Overcoming Voting Obstacles: Resources for Transgender People." The guide covers the most common issues transgender voters face: identification documents that don't match their new names, ID photos that do not match their gender expression, and discrimination at the polls.

"This is a very significant election to trans people, and it is important that every qualified voter be allowed to vote. Our new guide is meant to help people advocate for themselves at their polling place," said Mara Keisling, NCTE executive director, in a prepared statement.

"Transgender people have as much right to vote as anyone else, and our votes are vital this election," Keisling added. "Bring appropriate ID and if anyone tells you that you can't vote for any reason, ask for a provisional ballot and immediately call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) for assistance."


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Transgender Awareness Project Moving Into Schools
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor


(CNSNews.com) - A transgender advocacy group announced it is teaming up with two homosexual advocacy groups to raise awareness about violence against transgender people -- and to move the issue into America's public schools.

The 6th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance will be held on November 20th, 2004, "to honor those who might otherwise have been missed by the media, as well as to draw attention to this continuing problem," said the event's organizer announced.

Gwendolyn Ann Smith, founder of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, said the event continues to grow; and this year, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Educators Network (GLSEN) and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network are joining the Transgender Day of Remembrance as sponsors.

"I am very excited to work with GLSEN and the GSA Network, as they will help this event make it into middle and high schools," Smith said in a press release


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Con gripes state stalling sex change
By J.M. Lawrence


Aconvicted killer who sued to get a sex change operation says state prison officials are ignoring a 2002 federal court order to make him a woman.

     Michelle Lynne Kosilek, whose name was Bob when he strangled his wife, Cheryl, in 1990, gets female hormones, but has yet to get laser hair removal, a nose job, voice alteration and other surgeries approved by doctors for severe ``gender identity disorder.''

     ``Plaintiff has completed the recommended year of living as female, with no adverse effect, medical or social,'' Kosilek, 55, said in new court papers. ``Without judicial intervention, this delay and plaintiff's suffering will continue indefinitely.''

     Two years ago, U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf found the Department of Correction failed to properly treat the demons that compelled Kosilek to attempt self-castration with a shoestring and suicide.


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Transsexual aiming to be one of the girls
By Claire Middleton 


Mianne Bagger today begins her attempt to become the first transsexual golfer to win playing privileges on the Robe di Kappa women's European Tour.

Bagger, who started life as a man but had a sex-change operation, is teeing up alongside 133 other women in an effort to claim one of 30 Tour cards up for grabs


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An interview with Jennifer Finney Boylan
by Gwen Park


For Jennifer Finney Boylan and her family, the biggest event of the last five years was not, as you or I might have guessed, her gender transition, but the death of her sister-in-law. It's one of the stories Boylan left out of "She's Not There," her memoir about life, love and coming into one's own. Make that best-selling memoir, for, as unlikely as it might seem, a book by a trans author did make the best-seller list. Boylan chatted with us recently about her book and gender


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Manhood questioned in Kentucky U.S. Senate campaign
By John Cheves
HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU


OWENSBORO -A top state Republican called Demo-cratic U.S. Senate candidate Dan Mongiardo "limp-wristed," and another GOP state legislator said she questions whether "the word 'man' applies to him" in speeches during Sen. Jim Bunning's campaign bus tour yesterday.


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Latino AIDS project to hold summit and health fair October 28 in Bronx, N.Y.

The Somos Project of the Latino Commission on AIDS is holding a Latino and Latina leadership summit meeting and health fair October 28 in Bronx, N.Y. The event will be held from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Bronx Lesbian and Gay Health Resource Consortium, 448 E. 149th St. The summit meeting will focus on developing an action plan to fight discrimination against Latino gay people, which can cause depression, anxiety, stress, and frequently leads to higher risk for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, event organizers say. The health fair will include information on HIV treatment, education, treatment adherence, counseling, and referrals. For more information, go online to:


www.latinoaids.org


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Eminem Video


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Howard wins Senate control
By Myles Wearring


Prime Minister John Howard will have control of the Senate after the National Party was today declared the winner of Queensland's last Senate seat. ......

......Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convenor Rob McGrory said it was unlikely there would be any positive reforms under the new Howard government and is concerned of further attacks to LGBT rights.

Rodney Croome recently told Sydney Star Observer the government already has a number of anti-gay policies up their sleeve. He expects the Coalition to move swiftly to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to allow states to block single and lesbian women from accessing artificial reproductive technology. It will also re-introduce its ban on same-sex couple overseas adoption and re-consider overriding same-sex couple adoption in the ACT, Croome said.
The government will also consider banning marriage between transgender couples, Croome predicted.

Further down the track they may also consider amending the federal constitution to ban same-sex marriages and all partnership registers. He said Howard will attempt to water down and even eliminate federal unfair dismissal laws, including provisions protecting employees from discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.

AIDS Organizations Warn State That Voter Challenges Will Result In Voter Inaccessibility


Today the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, with support from a national coalition of AIDS organizations, demanded that elections officials provide full and equal access to people living with disabilities. The large number of voter registration challengers promises a situation where voters will experience lengthy delays standing on line to be able to cast their ballots. For a person living with a disability, such a wait will make voting difficult or impossible.

"We believe the State of Ohio has a duty to ensure that voters on November 2 can cast their ballots without unreasonable delays," said Earl Pike, Executive Director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland. "For people living with HIV and other disabilities, a long wait may be physically impossible, and illegal interrogations about physical or mental health status may be so offensive that they limit participation."


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Ashcroft Intervenes In Gay Marriage Suit
by The Associated Press


(Santa Ana, California) A couple seeking to overturn government bans on same sex marriages will have to contend with the legal weight of the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice has asked to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Christopher Hammer and Arthur Smelt that claims federal and state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

A Department of Justice attorney filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in response to an Oct. 14 invitation from U.S. District Court Judge Gary Taylor.

Hammer and Smelt, both 45, of Mission Viejo are the first couple to file a suit challenging marriage laws in federal court in California. Other challenges have been filed in state courts.

Hammer and Smelt want an order requiring Orange County to issue them a marriage license on the basis that the laws against same-sex marriage violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Their goal is to take the case to the Supreme Court.



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Video: Republican candidate supports EXECUTION of GAYS
by scottmaui


You've got to watch this video.

My Democratic state Senator here on Maui, J. Kalani English, has a Republican running against him named Robb Finberg, a Pastor for the Christian Fellowship Church.

In this video, Finberg actually says that he would support a law for the execution of people found guilty of performing homosexual acts.

Yes, that's right, he favors the death penalty for gays.

Watch the video here:


http://mikegabbard.info/rob_finberg.htm


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Churches Key to Mich. Fight on Gay Marriage
Faithful Line Up on Both Sides of Issue
By Alan Cooperman and David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writers


ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Inside the National Shrine of the Little Flower, a Knights of Columbus honor guard stood watch with swords drawn as several hundred Roman Catholics prayed that Michigan voters will "uphold the sanctity of marriage" Tuesday.

Outside the towering granite sanctuary -- once the most famous suburban church in the United States -- Anthony Kosnik and a few dozen other Catholics paced the sidewalk with signs saying "U.S. Is Not a Theocracy" and "Vote NO!!! on Proposal 2."

Michigan is one of 11 states where constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage will appear on the November ballot. Much of the grass-roots support for these initiatives is church-based. But so is much of the opposition.



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HIV In Canadian Prisons Rising At 'Alarming' Rate
by Canadian Press


(Toronto, Ontario)  The alarming increase of HIV and hepatitis C in Canadian prisons must be combated through government-led needle exchange programs, medical and legal groups said Wednesday.

John Rapin, president of the Ontario Medical Association, says the general population is put at risk when infected prisoners are released from jail.

"The frequent movement of individuals between prisons and the community means that any transmission of the disease within prisons will increase the risk of disease transmission in the community,'' he said.


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Minneapolis Catholic church censured for Gay Pride support
Matt Mckinney, 
Star Tribune

JOAN1028

 
A Catholic church in Minneapolis known for its progressive stands on social issues has been ordered by the Vatican and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to remove

Gay Pride material from its Web site and stop allowing unordained guests to speak during mass.

The order was delivered by two bishops in person two weeks ago to the pastor of St. Joan of Arc and again in a statement issued Wednesday.

The Rev. George Wertin of St. Joan's said he intends to comply with the order.
But in keeping with his church's long-standing practice of community decisionmaking, he said several parish committees are considering precisely how to respond.


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"Disturbing" hate crime figures revealed in Belfast
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


The true extent of homophobic attacks in Belfast has been revealed, with new figures suggesting more than 5 hate crimes based on anti-gay feeling or racism take place in the city each week.

The revelation has occurred during the current the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee visit to the province, which is intended to help find solutions to some of the problems minority groups in Ulster face.


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Irish Bishop backs gay rights
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A senior Catholic bishop has gone against the Pope's recent comments, and backed equal rights for lesbian and gay couples.

Dr Willie Walsh, Bishop of Killaloe in Ireland, said that, while he has "difficulty" with same-sex marriage, he does not see any problem with civil unions that are similar to the Civil Partnership bill currently being debated for the UK.


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Some stations agree to pull gay-amendment ad; opponents revise spot
JOE BIESK
Associated Press


FRANKFORT, Ky. -Five television stations pulled a commercial opposing the state's proposed same-sex marriage amendment, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration announced Wednesday.

But opponents of the amendment later revised the commercial to include a recording of an interview with Fletcher on the amendment, The Courier-Journal reported Thursday.

The administration on Tuesday asked stations across the state to consider pulling the ad created by the anti-amendment group No on the Amendment, claiming it misquoted the governor and misrepresented something he said at an Oct. 13 news conference.

Executives at WDRB-TV and WHAS-TV in Louisville both said they decided to stop running the ad after comparing its content to what Fletcher said at the news conference. The administration said two other Louisville stations, WAVE-TV and WLKY-TV, and one Lexington station, WTVQ-TV, also decided to stop running the ad

Bush Wedsite theories Darken skies
By John Leyden


The official Bush re-election website - which blocked access to most of the world outside the US this week - is still visible to Canadians.


We don't know if it's fears about future attacks by hackers, concerns about keeping bandwidth costs to a minimum or an aggressive response to pinko UK broadsheet The Guardian's recent shameful pro-Kerry political lobbying efforts in Ohio which are behind moves that have rendered GeorgeWBush.com inaccessible to world + dog. Or, to be strictly accurate, most of the world bar the US and Canada which is presumably considered bandwidth-friendly, hacker-free and mercifully bereft of pinko broadsheets.

FIRST INFANTRY DIVISION SOLDIER KILLED IN RPG ATTACK 10/28/2004
SUSPECTED CAR BOMB KILLS ONE SOLDIER, WOUNDS TWO IN SOUTHERN BAGHDAD 10/28/2004

RUSLAN SHARIPOV GRANTED A U.S. ASYLUM
Source: RFE/RL's Newsline


Ruslan Sharipov, an independent Uzbek journalist whose imprisonment in 2003 sparked international outrage, arrived in the United States last week, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) announced in a 25 October press release. "We are relieved that Mr. Sharipov is beyond the reach of the Uzbek authorities, and we hope that he can one day return to a free and democratic Uzbekistan," said Kajsa Tornroth, director of press freedom programs for WAN.

Sharipov was sentenced to four years' imprisonment in 2003 for homosexual acts; many saw the move as retaliation for his coverage of human rights violations. According to the press release, Sharipov fled Uzbekistan "in the face of serious threats to his safety," leaving for Moscow in June and eventually arriving in California after being given asylum.


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Not so gay: Lesbians in India
TIMES NEWS NETWORK


MUMBAI: They have long lived in the shadows and continue to do so. Coming out in the open is an option few are willing to dare exercise.

Though male homosexuality is gradually being accepted as part of mainstream life, for lesbians it is a rather uphill task. Low social acceptance has few women willing to profess their sexuality in public.

However, the reluctance to acknowledge them in no way takes away the reality of their existence as well as the need to address their mental health. Keeping in mind such considerations, a mental health conference for lesbians is being organised next month.

"The society is extremely intolerant and ignorant towards lesbians," says Geeta Khumana, chairperson, Aanchal Trust, a support group for women's sexuality. "It forces women to hide their sexual preferences. In doing so, they undergo tremendous psychological strain."


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North Carolina Campaigns Attack Gays
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Raleigh, North Carolina) A GOP candidate for the North Carolina state senate has pulled out the gay card, and the incumbent Governor has lost the endorsement of the state's larges LGBT civil rights group for attacking same-sex marriage.

State Senator Woody White, fighting a tough race against Democrat Julia Boseman, has bought ads and sent out a mass mailer this week warning voters that if Boseman could become the first openly gay legislator in North Carolina history.

CONVOY ATTACK KILLS ONE, INJURES ONE 10/27/2004

Gay, transgender community critiques task force proposals
Transgender issues prove hot-button topic at meeting
By Ekjyot Saini, Daily Staff Reporter


“We’re on a journey … the closer we get to the end, the heavier our legs get to make those final steps,” said Vice President of Student Affairs E. Royster Harper last night while delivering to a group of concerned University and community members the first report regarding the progress of the Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Task Force


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Assembly votes against Mich. gay marriage ban
By Leslie Rott, Daily Staff Reporter


The Michigan Student Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution to oppose Proposal 2, which seeks to prevent same-sex marriages and unions in Michigan, at last night’s MSA meeting.

The debate among MSA members on whether to come out in opposition to the proposal was heated and divided.

Many of the members were against formally opposing the proposal because they felt that it is not MSA’s place to tell students what to think, although they did not advocate voting for the proposal.

However, most members agreed that MSA should formally speak out against Proposal 2.



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Gay rights produces further conflict in third Senate debate


Alan Keyes and Barack Obama both oppose gay marriage, but the issue produced some of the most confrontational moments of the third and final debate of their battle for the Senate.

The two also clashed on education and the proper role of government in a discussion that stuck to the issues but still managed to evoke harsh words from both men.

Obama criticized Keyes' argument that the children of gay couples, if born from artificial means and kept in the dark about their biological parents, could later end up unknowingly having sex with a relative. Calling it "a vicious attack," he claimed the argument was a subtle attempt to link homosexuality with incest


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Coventry's gays quizzed on city's future
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


The lesbian and gay community in Coventry is to be asked about the city's current state and it's potential future, as the local council works to better serve its minority communities.

According to the local press, Coventry City Council will be launching the project tomorrow by distributing questionnaires at local gay bar Rainbows.


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Hasty gay parade dwarfs homophobic preachers
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A parade celebrating diversity in Bournemouth that was hastily arranged in response to a right wing Christian event dwarfed its anti-gay rivals this weekend, with high numbers turning out to show support.

The event, organised by local LGBT group Bourne Free, followed the planning of a day to support the recently deceased Harry Hammond. Hammond died earlier this year, just before he was due to challenge a fine he received for homophobic preaching in the town.


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Dec. 22 date set for same-sex marriage ban case
By Thomas Peele


SAN FRANCISCO -How many lawyers does it take to schedule a hearing?

In the case of same-sex marriage in California, 12. Thirteen if you count one on speaker phone.

After two hours of wrangling with more than a dozen lawyers Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer set a Dec. 22 date for arguments in a trial to decide whether California's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.

Kramer rejected same-sex marriage opponents' requests for a postponement to January. "We're going to have a hearing this year on the question of whether the state (ban on same-sex marriages) is constitutional."


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Student pushes for gay frat
by James Daniel
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.

For Matt Maggiacomo, the age-old conception of fraternities as bastions of straight male exclusivity is totally out. Maggiacomo, a CAS sophomore, is making plans to start a chapter of a national gay fraternity at NYU.

Maggiacomo wants to start a colony of Delta Lambda Phi, a group that fully espouses the Greek traditions of mainstream fraternities, but which is oriented to gay, bisexual and "progressive" straight men.


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Anti-gay group stirs moral debates at ECC
By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz Daily Herald Staff Writer


The simple information booth was supposed to provoke thought about the medical and sociological implications of homosexuality.

It didn't have a chance -- not on a Tuesday afternoon in The Hub, a snack bar at Elgin Community College.

Amid a stream of students as diverse in ethnicity, religion and age as ECC provides, the booth lit a firestorm of debate on the First Amendment, the Bible, bias and, of course, the nature of homosexuality.

Two men representing Downers Grove-based Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment gave out fliers making claims about the negative consequences of being gay


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Gays hope to sway close elections
By Cheryl Wetzstein
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Homosexual voters are expected to flock to the polls on Tuesday in a bid to tip as many close elections as they can to the Democrats, with presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry likely to get 90 percent of their vote.

    What's missing in some quarters, however, is an emotional outpouring for Mr. Kerry.
    "The real question in my mind is what happens after the election," said Andy Thayer, an activist with DontAmend.com, a group that is fighting bans on homosexual "marriage."


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Troubled SoCal religious network cancels live 'Praise-a-thons'
ASSOCIATED PRESS


LOS ANGELES – The world's largest Christian broadcasting network, whose founder reportedly sought to cover up a homosexual affair with a former employee, has dropped plans for its live telethon next week and instead will show 40 hours of telethon reruns.


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Candidate's Sexual Orientation At Center Of N.C. Senate Race


Wilmington, N.C. -- A Republican state senator ran newspaper ads this week pointing out that his Democratic opponent would be the first openly gay legislator in North Carolina history, adding fuel to an already contentious race.

The ad by the campaign of Woody White included a letter from New Hanover County GOP Chairman Charlton Allen. It noted that Julia Boseman accepted thousands of dollars in donations from out-of-state gay and lesbian groups and individuals.


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EU Crisis Over Anti-Gay Politician Averted 
by Malcolm Thornberry 365Gay.com European Bureau Chief


(Strasbourg, France) Incoming European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso retreated Wednesday, avoiding a showdown with Parliament that would have seen his whole commission rejected.

Barroso has steadfastly refused to replace anti-gay Italian Rocco Buttiglione as European Justice Commissioner, a role comparable to a cabinet position.  


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Gay couples win equal pension rights
Paul Eastham, Daily Mail


SAME-SEX partners were last night handed the same legal rights as married couples over company pensions.

For the first time, homosexuals will be able to pass the right to continue receiving the payments to their survivor.

The change was announced in the Commons by Trade Minister Jacqui Smith in the latest Government move to give gays full legal rights.

Under the change, a member of a gay couple who pays into an occupational pension scheme will be able to insist that on their death the cash should go to their 'spouse'.


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Openly gay Methodist minister to stand church trial
BY DAVID O'REILLY
Knight Ridder Newspapers


PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - The Rev. Elizabeth Stroud, a Philadelphia-area pastor in open relationship with another woman, will face a church trial Dec. 1 that will decide if her relationship violates the laws of the United Methodist Church.

The trial, which will be open to the public, is the first for the mainline denomination since a lesbian pastor in Washington was acquitted in March and allowed to maintain her post.

Stroud, 34, has been associate pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown since 1999. In April 2003, she told her congregation she was a lesbian living in a "covenanted relationship," effectively inviting a trial.


"I knew when I preached that sermon that this day might well come," Stroud said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I'm spiritually and mentally as prepared as I can be."

if you do not think this is a fascist state read the next couple entries... this government needs to be replaced...

Kentucky Gov. Demands Ads Opposed To Gay Marriage Amendment Be Removed
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Frankfort, Kentucky)  Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) is demanding that television stations across the state remove an ad calling for rejection of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Fletcher said that a quote attributed to him in the ad is misleading and quotes him out of context.

The ad was released Monday by No on the Amendment, a group that opposes the measure. Fletcher is quoted in the ad as saying, "We did not have a legal evaluation ... for all the ramifications" of the amendment.

The 30-second spot shows a man putting a magnifying glass over the proposal's language and urges viewers: "Take a closer look at the constitutional amendment" as dissonant chords play in the background.


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Ordered Deported Gay Mexican Fears For Life  
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(San Francisco, California) A a federal appeals court was urged Tuesday to grant asylum to a man who faced severe antigay persecution in his native Mexico but was rejected for asylum by an immigration judge who said he didn't seem gay and could hide his sexuality to avoid persecution.

Lambda Legal represents Jorge Soto Vega, a 35-year-old man from Tuxpan, Mexico, who faced severe harassment and violence from the community and his family from an early age.  He was detained and beaten severely by police who threatened to kill him if they saw him again because they wanted to get rid of gay people.  

Last year, a Southern California immigration judge ruled that there was credible evidence that Soto Vega was persecuted in Mexico because of his sexual orientation, but rejected his application for asylum in the U.S., saying Soto Vega didn't appear gay to him and could keep his sexual orientation hidden if he chose to.

Lambda Legal, which supported Soto Vega's unsuccessful effort to reverse that ruling at the Board of Immigration Appeals last year, is now representing Soto Vega in an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.  The 56-page brief Lambda Legal filed today asks the federal appeals court to reverse the immigration judge's ruling and order federal officials to process Soto Vega's asylum application.

Web Server Takedown Called Speech Threat
By ELLEN SIMON, AP Technology Writer

Devin Theriot-Orr, a member a feisty group of reporter-activists called Indymedia, was surprised when two FBI agents showed up at his Seattle law office, saying the visit was a "courtesy call" on behalf of Swiss authorities.

Theriot-Orr was even more surprised a week later when more than 20 Indymedia Web sites were knocked offline as the computer servers that hosted them were seized in Britain.


The Independent Media Center, more commonly known as Indymedia, says the seizure is tantamount to censorship, and civil libertarians agree. The Internet is a publishing medium just like a printing press, they argue, and governments have no right to remove Web sites.


The case, which involves an Internet company based in Texas, photos of undercover Swiss police officers and a request from an Italian prosecutor investigating anarchists, raises questions about the circumstances under which Internet companies can be compelled to turn over data.

Support Grows In Military For Gays  
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Washington) Fifty percent of junior enlisted service members say that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, according to a new poll. 

The number is a significant increase since 1992, when two similar surveys found 16 percent of males service members held the same view.


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The Edge of Each Others Battles
By Jasmyne Cannick

In the rush to organize and strategize to defeat President Bush’s run for a second term in office and to obtain the 1,049 federal rights benefits and protections that are afforded to heterosexual couples, gays and lesbians have overlooked a very crucial part of the marriage campaign…diversity.

Recently, I participated a town hall forum in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles which is primarily a black community. The forum, organized by the National Black Justice Coalition, an ad hoc group of black gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists fighting discrimination in black communities, focused on the issue of same-sex marriage and the black community. As one of the panelists for this forum I remember my adversary urging me to “go back to West Hollywood with the rest of my people.”

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Man enters guilty plea in hate crime
Kirchner admitted assaulting group after gay pride event.
By Alison Soltau | Staff Writer

A man who threatened to rape a group of lesbians to change their sexuality and assaulted them after the June 27 gay pride march has served his jail time for hate crimes.


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HRC PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT AGAINST 'BUSH'S BROKEN PROMISES'
OIA Newswire

WASHINGTON - HRC President Cheryl Jacques issued the following statement Monday regarding the importance of the days leading up to next week's presidential election:

Never before has America felt more divided: divided between red states and blue states; divided between those who support marriage equality and those who are trying to convince Americans to discriminate; and even divided between Red Sox and Yankees fans. While the last example has been settled at least this year, the rest is too familiar.

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Abortion rights group accuses archdiocese with violating tax-exempt status
CHERYL WITTENAUER
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - A Catholic abortion rights group is asking the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and halt any further attempts by the archdiocese to influence the Nov. 2 election.


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Bush Stance on Civil Unions Upsets Groups
By SCOTT LINDLAW
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) - Some conservative groups expressed dismay Tuesday over President Bush's tolerance of state-sanctioned civil unions between gay people - laws that would grant same-sex partners most or all the rights available to married couples.

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Conservatives vow lengthy P&G boycott over gay rights
DAVID CRARY
Associated Press

Two powerful conservative groups hope to extend indefinitely an election-related boycott of Procter & Gamble Co., contending that the consumer products giant is too supportive of gay rights and urging customers to stop buying Crest, Tide and Pampers.


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TAC takes govt to court over ARV plan
(SA)

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is taking the government to court next week over its alleged lack of an antiretroviral drugs plan. Zackie Achmat, the chairperson of the TAC, announced this while addressing church groups in Durban today.

The TAC says the government will not reach its target of providing 50 000 South Africans with ARVs before March next year. It is believed that just more than 10 000 HIV positive people are benefiting at the moment. The TAC blames the state for failing to implement the full roll-out strategy.

"We were informed by September 22 by (the) health minister that she doesn't have a timeline, deadlines … she doesn't have a framework for the plan. So what we are doing on the 4th (of November) we are going to the courts to ask her for deadlines," said Achmat

Georgia high court won't block vote on gay marriage ban


The Georgia supreme court on Tuesday refused to block next week's vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Reaffirming an 84-year-old decision, the court said judges lack authority to intervene in contests over proposed legislation or constitutional amendments until the legislation has been passed or the amendments approved by the voters. A superior court judge cited the same ruling last month in refusing to block the vote. Her decision was appealed to the state supreme court.

SPECIAL REPORT: GAY ASIA
Gay Asia: Tolerance Pays
In this special report, we examine the changing lives of Asia's gays. We begin in Singapore, a state where contradictions abound, but where one message has hit home: Gay rights make economic sense
By Gordon Fairclough/SINGAPORE
Far Eastern Economic Review


For many, the journey has yet to begin, but a growing number of Asian gay men and women are finally on the road to winning social and legal acceptance.
Some are benefiting from the belief that open societies equal stronger economies; others are finding the courage to stand up for themselves as they find--often through the Net--that they are not alone.

ON A HOT TROPICAL NIGHT, around 8,000 gay men are dancing to pulsing house music. Laser lights play across sweaty bodies. Many of the men have whipped off their shirts. Some are down to just their Speedos.

Welcome to Singapore.

Sean Ho, a 33-year-old information-technology consultant surveys the scene. He's wearing a T-shirt that proclaims "Choose Sin" in large, red letters. Below, in smaller type, is "gapore." "Singapore's become much more tolerant and open," says Ho. "They are giving us a lot more space."

The annual gay Nation party, held to coincide with Singapore's National Day in August, is an event the city-state's conservative founders would probably never have imagined. But stodgy Singapore has recently witnessed a flowering of gay culture. Gay bars, dance clubs and about a half-dozen bath houses have sprung up. The national art museum even featured an exhibit of homoerotic photos this summer.

The driving force behind this liberalization appears to be economic. One consideration: Earning "pink dollars" from gay tourists. Organizers estimate that Nation and related events pulled in about 2,500 foreign visitors and nearly $6 million. But Singapore's more relaxed attitude towards homosexuality is also part of a broader government strategy to transform the city into a creative, ideas-driven economy. That, Singapore's mandarins realize, will require some loosening-up, as well as a serious effort to change the world's perception of Singapore as a rigid, authoritarian place.

Living in between, but no longer in silence
by Kim Llerena
contributing writer


In her early 30s, Betsy Driver learned why she had never felt totally comfortable in her high school locker room.

When she four months old, Driver's doctors removed her entire clitoris because it was unusually large for a baby girl, and, following doctor's orders, her mother never told her. As a teenager, Driver never fully developed breasts and had to undergo a second surgery to reconstruct a vagina that was never there in the first place.

Later in life Driver learned she was born intersexed - an overarching term referring to someone whose apparent sexual anatomy does not match the person's genetic or chromosomal sex.

Driver, co-founder of the national intersex peer support network Bodies Like Ours, wants to lift the shame and secrecy felt by people who have genitals that do not fit the social norm.



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Gay groups call for more police support
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Groups representing minority communities in Northern Ireland are calling on the local police forces to show more support for victims of hate crimes.

Members of lesbian and gay groups, as well as ethnic minorities, say that at present, some officers can come across as dismissive of the problems facing them in the province.

The comments have come as the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee meets in Belfast to look into the problem of violent hate crime.


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U. Senate to decide on resolution opposing ban on gay marriage
By Chris Megerian
Staff Writer


The University Senate may become the third governing body at Emory to oppose Georgia’s proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage.

The Senate is supposed to vote today on a resolution opposing the wording of Amendment One and how it is written on the ballot.

Multicultural Aotearoa Says 3000+ Marched


3000-4000 people joined the march against racism in Wellington on Saturday, which marched to parliament peacefully to affirm diversity in New Zealand and reject racist ideology. Police have given some strange estimates of the crowd-numbers for the anti-racism march, but the photographs speak for themselves.


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Vatican denies trying to influence U.S. election


VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A Vatican handbook released Monday laid out Roman Church teaching questioning preventive war and denouncing the "horrendous crime" of abortion. But Vatican officials sidestepped questions on whether the war in Iraq was illegal or if Catholics can vote for candidates who back laws permitting abortion.


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State civil rights group opposes Proposal 2
Resolution is first time group has taken stance on proposal
By ROEL GARCIA
Staff writer


The Michigan Civil Rights Commission passed a resolution against Proposal 2 on the Nov. 2 election ballot during a meeting Monday at Holland City Hall. It's the first time the commission has taken a stance against the proposal.

Proposal 2 passage would amend the state constitution to provide that "the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar


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this person is evol.. this is just a last minute desperate act!!! do not buy into it....

Bush Says His Party Is Wrong to Oppose Gay Civil Unions
By ELISABETH BUMILLER


WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 - President Bush said in an interview this past weekend that he disagreed with the Republican Party platform opposing civil unions of same-sex couples and that the matter should be left up to the states.

Mr. Bush has previously said that states should be permitted to allow same-sex unions, even though White House officials have said he would not have endorsed such unions as governor of Texas. But Mr. Bush has never before made a point of so publicly disagreeing with his party's official position on the issue.

In an interview on Sunday with Charles Gibson, an anchor of "Good Morning America" on ABC, Mr. Bush said, "I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that's what a state chooses to do so." ABC, which broadcast part of the interview on Monday, is to broadcast the part about civil unions on Tuesday.


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Gay Marriage No, Polygamy Maybe GOP Candidate Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Salt Lake City, Utah) A debate between two Salt Lake City area candidates for the US House of Representatives shows divisions on whether to an amendment to the Utah constitution to ban gay marriage, and uncertainty about whether the Constitution should be used to stop polygamy.

The issue arose during the taping of a debate between Republican Representative Chris Cannon and his Democratic challenger Beau Babka for airing tonight on TV station KUED.



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3 Americans Sought For Injecting Indian HIV Patients With Animal Vaccine
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Bombay, India) Police in India are seeking government permission to extradite three Americans for allegedly testing an animal vaccine on Indian patients with HIV 10 years ago.

The indictment names Pierre Emanuel De Gaspe, a Florida-based financier, Dr Bharav Bhattacharya, a veterinary scientist from New Jersey, and AIDS-patient counselor Dr Maya Gogte whose hometown in the US was not available.

All three are charged with medical negligence leading to death.

The case dates back to March 1994, when 10 HIV-positive patients were allegedly injected with a Bovine Immuno-deficiency Virus (BIV) vaccine meant for cows during medical trials conducted in Mumbai.


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London Banks seek lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students!


Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) university students are invited to apply for one of 150 places at London’s annual inter-bank LGBT careers event – OUT in the City – on Thursday 4 November. Undergraduates from across Europe will attend the event, organised by graduate careers publishers GTI on behalf of nine leading investment banks. Interested students from any degree discipline studying at a UK, Irish or European university can apply by visiting www.chancesevents.com/outinthecity


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'Two mommies' appeal dies
Colorado high court turns away case that roused GOP ire
By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News


The Colorado Supreme Court refused Monday to consider an appeal in the "two mommies" custody dispute between a former lesbian couple and their adopted daughter.

That leaves intact a ruling in July by the Colorado Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court decision that split custody of the child 50-50.


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Gay Marriage Legal In Nova Scotia, But Couples Must Be 'Opposite Sex'
by Canadian Press


(Halifax, Nova Scotia) Although Nova Scotia has legalized same - sex marriage, the province still wants couples getting married to be pronounced ``husband and wife'' - at least while the paperwork gets sorted out.

It's the latest snarl in the gay marriage saga and it's angered some of the same - sex couples who fought to make Nova Scotia the sixth province or territory in Canada to recognize their unions.