Wisconsin district to teach more than evolution



GRANTSBURG, Wisconsin (AP) -- School officials have revised the science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism, prompting an outcry from more than 300 educators who urged that the decision be reversed.

Members of Grantsburg's school board believed that a state law governing the teaching of evolution was too restrictive. The science curriculum "should not be totally inclusive of just one scientific theory," said Joni Burgin, superintendent of the district of 1,000 students in northwest Wisconsin.

Last month, when the board examined its science curriculum, language was added calling for "various models/theories" of origin to be incorporated.

The decision provoked more than 300 biology and religious studies faculty members to write a letter last week urging the Grantsburg board to reverse the policy. It follows a letter sent previously by 43 deans at Wisconsin public universities.

"Insisting that teachers teach alternative theories of origin in biology classes takes time away from real learning, confuses some students and is a misuse of limited class time and public funds," said Don Waller, a botanist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For Kuwaitis, gender remains under wraps
In segregated society, transsexual finds self ostracized at every turn
Associated Press


KUWAIT CITY – Her father and brothers beat her. The government suspended her from her job. A group of Muslim fundamentalists screamed abuse at her outside a courtroom.

Her crime: She was born a boy named Ahmed, and is now a tall, 29-year-old blonde who calls herself Amal – Hope.

An overseas sex-change operation has done little to help Amal's struggle for official recognition as a woman in conservative Kuwait. One court ruled for her, another overturned it and now she is going to the Court of Cassation, her last avenue of appeal.

"People see me as a comic case," said Amal. "I wish they could look at me as a human being, someone who was born with a disease."


~

THE BATTLE OVER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Gays say they can win, despite election losses
Rona Marech, Chronicle Staff Writer


Despite a bruising rebuke on election day, when voters in 11 states approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, advocates for gay rights say that the future is not as bleak as it appears and that they can still win in courts and in the arena of public opinion.

"I think in a moment like this when you feel like you've taken two steps back, the most important approach is to recommit with essentially a double dose of belief and aggressiveness," said Kate Kendell, executive director of National Center for Lesbian Rights. "I do not think this is a time to be cowed. " In the wake of the election day setbacks, Mayor Gavin Newsom has faced a barrage of criticism from fellow Democrats for issuing marriage licenses to gay couples and inspiring a backlash at the polls. Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriage are saying that the public has spoken -- and spoken clearly.

It's a far cry from the euphoria gays and lesbians felt in February during San Francisco's same-sex marriage mania. But those on the front lines in the battle over gay rights say they won't let recent defeats stop their fight.


~

Gay Georgia Southern student targeted with hateful graffiti

The Associated Press - STATESBORO, Ga.

A gay student at Georgia Southern University was targeted by a vandal who spray-painted "fag" and "queer" on his car, the Statesboro Herald reported Saturday.

The crime happened just days after the state's Supreme Court threw out a four-year-old hate crimes law, saying it was overbroad.

Joseph Buckel, 18, told police that when he went outside to his car on Halloween morning it was painted with derogatory words. Someone tagged the gold car with black spray paint.

In addition to the epithets, someone wrote "God Save You" across his car.


~

Ohio has failed the world
Zaied Ali


It s ironic, that the citizens of a small insignificant state in middle America for one day had literally the greatest amount of influence on the world's future. Ohio, a state with a track history of voting Republican was in the spotlight on election night. Towards the end of the election, the likes of Tom Brokaw and CNN were predicting Ohio to be another Florida-like mess due to the uncounted provisional ballots, and with that, the assumption of another dragged out election.

In reality, the provisional ballots really weren't the issue because Kerry would have had to have won a statistically impossible 90 percent plus of those votes, which first would have had to be accepted as legitimate.

Kerry, realising the futility of pursuing the provisionals, conceded Wednesday morning in a phone call to George Bush despite John Edwards' reassurance at 2am Tuesday night that they would be counted. Ohio let down half of America and all of the world.

Now I know you must be asking: How can America be so ignorant? How can half of the most prominent nation on earth vote for an outright liar like George W Bush? How can they accept that this is the only administration that has lost jobs in recent times? How can they afford to pay the rising costs of war?


~

Report: Older Gay Couples At Risk
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


One out of every ten same-sex couples has at least one partner over the age of 65 and that is causing concerns about the economic well-being of gay partners.

In a report prepared by the Urban Institute, researchers found that older same-sex couples struggle with the same retirement issues as heterosexual couples, but do not have the same golden-years security because the government does not recognize them as married.

Heterosexually married senior couples earn 4.3 percent, or $1,056, more in combined household retirement income on average each year than same-sex couples, according to the analysis prepared by the institute.

Same-sex couples 65 and older earn an average of $7,354 each in Social Security income, while each spouse in a heterosexual couple earns an average $7,770, the analysis indicates. 


~

Gay unions gaining acceptance in Vermont


MONTPELIER, Vt. Vermonters appear to be more comfortable with the idea of gay marriage and the reality of civil unions for same-sex couples.
Four years ago an Associated Press exit poll found Vermonters were split 49 percent to 49 percent on whether civil unions were a good idea.

An exit poll done during Tuesday's balloting found that 77 percent of Vermonters support gay marriage of civil unions. Twenty-one percent of those surveyed supported neither.


~

Two Very Different America's Emerge From Election 2004
by The Associated Press


(Washington)   The nation is emerging from the 2004 presidential election with two very different portraits of itself sketched by two very different halves of its population.

George Bush's voters go to church more often than John Kerry's and are more likely to oppose gay marriage and abortion. They are more likely to own guns and to feel better-off financially than they did four years ago.

Sure, they are concerned about terrorism. But they are more concerned about moral values.

Most think things are going well for the United States in Iraq, and that the war has made America more secure.

from: Stan Apps

I consider it worth pointing out that there are now two forms of voting fraud possible, whereas in the past only one form was possible. The older form of voting fraud can be referred to as bottom-up fraud. This form relies on old-fashioned technology: Paper ballots that voters have physically altered in some manner in order to record their preferences. In a bottom-up voting fraud situation, a conspiracy of poll-workers either alters or disposes or supplements or replaces a significant number of ballots in order to cause a change in the “Will of the People.” Bottom-up voting fraud is only worth doing if the conspiracy is large enough to change/replace a very large number of ballots, so as populations increase this form of voting fraud becomes constantly less convenient. Most people are reflexively honest, and it is a dangerous and uncertain course to try to recruit many conspirators. The conspiracy might try to recruit the wrong person, who might “out” the entire conspiracy effort. Obviously, conspiracies of this impractical form are implausible, and becoming more implausible: they could only succeed in areas where concepts that divide the citizenry, such as racist thinking, are mistaken for decency.

Fears become real
Life of drugs, prostitution ended violently
By BOB HOLLIDAY, STAFF REPORTER


Fears became a reality for friends of Divas B yesterday when RCMP revealed a body found near Portage la Prairie on Wednesday was the missing transgender sex-trade worker. "Oh my God, no," exclaimed Gia, a friend of Divas. Gia, who quit working the streets when Divas went missing Sept. 30, had difficulty speaking after she was told of her friend's death by The Sun.

"I'm not surprised something like this happened. It's more dangerous on the streets than people think," said Gia. "I used to go out every night but I haven't been back since she disappeared. It could have been me."

Divas, 28, was born a male named David Boulanger but had been living as a woman for many years, said Gia.

Her body was found by a couple of hunters in some brush near a rest stop eight kilometres east of Portage. An autopsy revealed Divas was beaten to death but did not reveal when the death occurred, said RCMP.


~

Kansas City's TransGender Day of Remembrance


Speakers from Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, Transgender Law and Policy Institute, Stonewall Democratic Club, The Kansas LGBT Caucus, CAMP and Kansas City Anti-Violence Project.

On Saturday, November 20th, TransGendered Kansas City will be conducting Kansas City's 3rd Transgender Day of Remembrance at Spirit of Hope Metropolitan Community Church at 3801 Wyandotte. This event starts at 4:00 PM. This event is to remember those people who have been murdered because of their gender identity or expression.


~

Small Positive Changes in Aetna Health Insurance


The Aetna health insurance plans have issued a policy on the treatment of trans folks... Their new policy, states that, "if an employer does not exclude coverage of sex reassignment surgery, that "Aetna considers sex reassignment surgery medically necessary when /all/ of the criteria are met."


~

this is just the beginning, get ready!!! we must stand up for our rights and stop this now before we cannot walk on the side walks...!!


Charlotte Christians say gay festival too obscene for public park
Associated Press


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - About 30 Christians in the Charlotte area want city officials to stop renting park space to an annual homosexual festival because they say last year's event was lewd and obscene.

Sheryl Chandler of Charlotte this week brought City Council members photos she said she snapped in a Gay Naturists International booth during the Charlotte Pride festival last May.

Chandler was one of 15 festival opponents who attended the 2003 event to spread the Gospel to attendees.

She said the photos show naked men, some apparently engaged in sex acts, and that the booth only had three sides so passers-by could peer in. One of the photos showed a uniformed Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer in the booth.


~

Janklow pans GOP operation
By Carson Walker, Associated Press Writer

SIOUX FALLS — Former U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow broke his months-long silence Tuesday and broke — or at least bent — Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment not to speak ill of fellow Republicans.
The former South Dakota attorney general, governor and congressman criticized the GOP's Victory operation, saying it has introduced scandal into an otherwise honest voting system by breaking election rules.

"These people are cheating," he said in a telephone interview.

"When you tamper with it, you cheat the system. And cheating in elections is the worst form of cancer because it's uncontrollable."


~

New York Times Killed "Bush Bulge" Story


Five days before the presidential election, the New York Times killed a story about the mysterious object George W. Bush wore on his back during the presidential debates, journalist Dave Lindorff reveals in an exclusive report on this week's CounterSpin, FAIR's weekly radio show. The spiked story included compelling photographic and scientific evidence that would have contradicted Bush's claim that the bulge on his back was just a matter of poor tailoring.

"The New York Times assigned three editors to this story and had it scheduled to run five days before the election, which would have raised questions about the president's integrity," said Lindorff. "But it was killed by top editors at the Times; clearly they were chickening out of taking this on before the election."

Lindorff says two other major newspapers, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, also decided not to pursue the story, which featured a leading NASA satellite photo imaging scientist's analysis of pictures of the president’s back from the first debate.

Judge agrees to let student sue Poway district
By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer


A federal judge has ruled that a suit filed by a Poway High School student suspended for wearing an anti-gay shirt can move forward on constitutional grounds that include freedoms of speech and religious exercise.

But U.S. District Judge John A. Houston did toss parts of the suit filed by the family of student Tyler Chase Harper, including claims the boy was denied equal protection under the law and that the school's policies were vague.



~

Civil unions gain support despite Measure 36
By James Sinks
The Bulletin


SALEM — The national movement against same-sex marriage gathered momentum in Tuesday's elections with the approval of bans in 11 states, including Oregon, but the votes, ironically, could help same-sex couples gain wider acceptance and legal standing.

At least, potentially, in Oregon.

Civil unions, government-recognized status for same-sex partnerships that were considered radical when legalized in Vermont just four years ago, are suddenly on the political radar for both political parties.

Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he would sign a civil union bill if it arrived on his desk. And even some Republicans — concerned that a gay-marriage ban prevents some people from obtaining some rights — are warming to the notion of some alternative.


~

Lesbian 'Spoiler' Candidate In Still Undecided Race For Wash. Governor
by The Associated Press


(Olympia, Washington)  Three days after Election Day, Democrat Christine Gregoire clung to a narrow lead Friday in the nation's last undecided race for governor — a cliffhanger contest that could drag on for weeks while the votes are counted.

With most of the state's 39 counties reporting additional votes, Gregoire, Washington's attorney general, led Republican former state Sen. Dino Rossi by 5,500 votes, a difference of less than a quarter of 1 percentage point. Nearly 2.4 million ballots have been counted.

A Gregoire victory would mean the Democrats would preserve their 22 governorships nationwide. The Republicans already are assured of at least maintaining their 28.

The counties believe they have about 400,000 additional ballots to count this week and next. The deadline for counties to certify is Nov. 17.


~

300 protest at station over Belling
One company pulling ads from show; WISN radio responds
By GEORGIA PABST


A diverse spectrum of more than 300 people protested outside WISN-AM (1130) radio studios Friday, calling for the firing of radio talk show host Mark Belling after he referred to Mexican illegal immigrants as "wetbacks" on the air.



~

Staging Armageddon - Your place or mine?
by Ahmed Amr
"The signs are clear. If we are not vigilant, America is destined for Armageddon. The battle for morality in America is nothing less than a battle for national security."


To understand Dubya’s ‘landslide’ victory over JFK, one must be conversant with American moral values. After focusing so much attention on the quagmire in Iraq, the November surprise was that the Mess on Potamia didn’t matter. While the Democrats were busy criticizing Bush’s economic record, Karl Rove saved the day with a strategic assault by a ragtag army of evangelicals – driven by a missionary zeal to save America’s very soul.

Nothing less than the moral health of the nation was at stake in this election. Domestic and foreign challenges took a back seat to a holy crusade. Concerns about wars abroad and budget deficits in Washington were just diversions to blind us from scrutinizing the devil’s work in our own back yards.


~

The Red Zone Of Fear, Intolerance
The president got re-elected by dividing the country along fault lines of fear, intolerance, ignorance and religious rule. He doesn't want to heal rifts; he wants to bring any riff-raff who disagree to heel.
By MAUREEN DOWD


With the Democratic Party splattered at his feet in little blue puddles, John Kerry told the crushed crowd at Faneuil Hall in Boston about his concession call to President Bush.

“We had a good conversation,” the senator said. “And we talked about the danger of division in our country and the need, the desperate need, for unity, for finding the common ground, coming together. Today I hope that we can begin the healing.”


~

Newly elected Republicans shift Senate further to the right


The new Republican senators represent a further shift to the right within the Republican delegation. Five of the six are from southern states and personify various factions of the ultra-right forces that dominate the Republican Party.

ONE SOLDIER KILLED, FIVE WOUNDED BY INDERECT FIRE NEAR FALLUJAH 11/5/2004
ONE SOLDIER KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK 11/5/2004

Companies Add Gender Identity to Anti- Bias Policies
By Amy Joyce
Washington Post Staff Writer


Citigroup Inc. already included the words sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy. The company has a gay employee resource group. It offers diversity training that includes sexual orientation, and it provides health insurance coverage to employees' same-sex partners. And now this year, the company specifically bans discrimination based on "gender identity and/or expression."

The new term covers not only gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees, and those who are transitioning from one sex to another, but also workers who might be chided for not acting male or female enough. In adopting it, Citigroup joins a growing number of corporations in expanding the reach of protections against discrimination related to sexual identity.

The recent growth of such provisions reflects both the persistence of gay rights groups seeking the protection and the conclusion of some companies that adopting the broader anti-discrimination policies is a good business decision and even a recruiting tool.

The first company to include gender identity or expression in its corporate policy was Lucent Technologies Inc. in 1997. In 2001, 10 companies included it, and to


~

Ruling made in case of gender identity


STEUBENVILLE - A Jefferson County common pleas court judge has ordered a male child must remain a male, despite the desire of the mother to diagnose her son as having gender identity disorder.

A Jefferson County woman and her ex-husband, who lives in Colliers, are involved in a custody battle for their 9-year-old son. At the heart of the custody case was the boy's desire to wear women's clothing, at least when he is with his mother.

The boy's mother had taken the child to a couple doctors, who diagnosed him with gender identity disorder. Then, the boy's father took him to different doctors, who did not diagnose him with the disorder.

GID is a disorder in which a male or female exhibits characteristics of, insists they are and enjoys the activities of the opposite sex. To be diagnosed with GID, a person must exhibit four of five main criteria listed by the Harry Benjamin Study, the benchmark of GID studies.


~

 Check out this EXIT POLL Graphic!


~

Why They Won
By THOMAS FRANK


The first thing Democrats must try to grasp as they cast their eyes over the smoking ruins of the election is the continuing power of the culture wars. Thirty-six years ago, President Richard Nixon championed a noble "silent majority" while his vice president, Spiro Agnew, accused liberals of twisting the news. In nearly every election since, liberalism has been vilified as a flag-burning, treason-coddling, upper-class affectation. This year voters claimed to rank "values" as a more important issue than the economy and even the war in Iraq.

And yet, Democrats still have no coherent framework for confronting this chronic complaint, much less understanding it. Instead, they "triangulate," they accommodate, they declare themselves converts to the Republican religion of the market, they sign off on Nafta and welfare reform, they try to be more hawkish than the Republican militarists. And they lose. And they lose again. Meanwhile, out in Red America, the right-wing populist revolt continues apace, its fury at the "liberal elite" undiminished by the Democrats' conciliatory gestures or the passage of time.

Like many such movements, this long-running conservative revolt is rife with contradictions. It is an uprising of the common people whose long-term economic effect has been to shower riches upon the already wealthy and degrade the lives of the very people who are rising up. It is a reaction against mass culture that refuses to call into question the basic institutions of corporate America that make mass culture what it is. It is a revolution that plans to overthrow the aristocrats by cutting their taxes.


~

Caught in the wrong body
By GREG ANSLEY


At the last moment, Alan Finch knew this wasn't right. His fantasy of becoming a woman was about to break into the reality of a sex-change operation in a Melbourne hospital when the 21-year-old coal miner's son finally realised he did not want it.

"It was like something came over me, where the whole world was screaming: this is wrong," Finch recalls. "Now you can imagine: I've got breast implants, I've been on hormones, I'm halfway there and I'm going into the theatre, and my heart's pounding. It's nearly leaping out of my chest and I'm being wheeled in and I'm looking around and I'm thinking, 'Oh ***, this is a big deal'.


~

Feedback needed to alter sex status

BUTTERWORTH: An in-depth study helped by feedback from the public will be taken into account before deciding if those who undergo sex-change operations can be allowed to alter their sex status in birth certificates and identity cards. 

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Tan Chai Ho said the Ipoh case where a court ruled it had no jurisdiction to do so was the first such case in the country and needed much study.  

“The National Registration Department rejected her application as there was no mistake in her birth certificate and identity card. There was also no provision under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act to change her gender,” he said. 

He added that such changes were allowed in Singapore and Australia. 


~

We have our work cut out for us
People's Weekly World


This is a deeply divided country. Out of some 114 million votes, George W. Bush garnered just over 3 million more than John Kerry. Bush will claim a mandate for his extremist agenda. Hell, he claimed a mandate when he grabbed the White House in 2000 by one Supreme Court justice vote. But the reality is at least half the country is against him.

We will not fully analyze the results here. Questions of what happened and how to move ahead will be the subject of discussion, probing and sober analysis for weeks to come. Certainly the right-wing control of so-called “moral” issues will have to figure large in the conversations.

All the new voters, the young people and especially the voters who waited in extraordinarily long lines to cast their ballots, should be congratulated. Determined to make sure “every vote counts,” many people waited hours, sometimes in the rain. Some reports said voters were still voting in the wee hours of the morning on Nov. 3 because the election apparatus couldn’t handle the turnout. Is this any way to handle elections? Voter suppression, dirty tricks and possible vote theft are major concerns. How can the GOP say it wants to promote democracy and free elections in Iraq and Afghanistan when it actively works to suppress the Black, Latino and minority vote here? Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Department of Justice did not enforce hard-won voting rights but stood idly by while vigilantes intimidated voters. The two major “Election Protection” hotlines received 400,000 complaints. Why is it left up to grassroots organizations to enforce federal laws?


~

Wisconsin Considers Gay Marriage Ban
By Mick Trevey


Besides picking their president, there was another hotly contested issue on the ballot for many voters last Tuesday. It could soon be an issue here in Wisconsin, too.

Eleven states had constitutional amendments on the ballot that would limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman. More than 20 million people approved the amendments in all eleven states.

Some of those states also voted to ban civil unions and other legal protections for gays and lesbians.

The results of referendums in other states have gay rights activists in Wisconsin worried. The issue could be on Wisconsin's ballot as soon as April.


~

Votergate is the investigative documentary feature film uncovering the truth about new computer voting systems, which allow a few powerful corporations to record our votes in secret. But Votergate is not just a warning. The film strongly concludes that elections a

Saskatchewan court rules definition of marriage unconstitutional
Tim Cook
Canadian Press


SASKATOON (CP) - Gay couples may now tie the knot in more than half of the provinces and territories in the country after a Saskatchewan court ruled the traditional definition of marriage is unconstitutional Friday.

In a five-page ruling, Justice Donna Wilson sided with courts in five other provinces and one territory, saying existing marriage laws discriminate against gay couples.

"The common-law definition of marriage for civil purposes is declared to be 'the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others,' " Wilson wrote.

"We've turned the corner," proclaimed Greg Walen, the lawyer for the five gay couples who were challenging the law in Saskatchewan.


~

Pro-choice ACLU barred on campus
Similar club, not affiliated with national organization, permitted
By Andrea Ford


The American Catholic Church and the American Civil Liberties Union have been longtime sparring partners over contraception and abortion issues. This year, their historical opposition played out right here on campus when the University refused to allow a group of students to form its own chapter of the outspoken political group.

Instead, the University allowed the students to form its own group, the Villanova Civil Liberties Association, expressly not affiliated with the national organization that helped secure the legalization of abortion 31 years ago.

"It's problematic to have a group affiliated with a national organization that takes positions against Catholic teachings," said Tom Mogan, director of Student Development. "The ACLU does a lot of things that are consistent with the mission ... but there are some of their issues that are in conflict with the Catholic teaching."


~

Same-Sex Marriage Opponents Plead Case Before Judge


SAN FRANCISCO -- Opponents of gay marriage told a California judge Thursday that same-sex unions are contrary to the purpose of marriage itself: procreation.

Robert Tyler, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian law firm who is fighting San Francisco's lawsuit trying to legalize same-sex marriages in California, also said that gay marriages are not ideal institutions to raise children, either.

In an interview, he said, "clearly, the best environment for children" is a marriage between a man and woman. A same-sex marriage, he said, would deprive a child of either a mother or father.

The ADF arguments were submitted to Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer in a case brought by San Francisco, and gays denied marriage licenses. They sued in state court here, claiming the California Constitution's equal protection clause permits gay marriage, despite a state law defining it as between opposite sexes


~

The War on Gays
Contributed by: Captain Flynn



You've heard of the War on Drugs, and the War on Terrorism. But who'd have thought the next war George W. Bush fought would be the War on Gays?

George W. Bush got his mandate on November 2nd. And what a mandate it was. Eleven states voted to outlaw gay marriage with constitutional amendments. Eight of them went so far as to ban civil unions .

That's right. To these states, taking away some rights wasn't good enough. They had to take away all rights.

Today we heard Stephen Harper in the House of Commons calling for the country to have a closer relationship with George W. Bush. We all remember Stephen Harper's position on gay marriage in the last election. Now, under George W. Bush's mandate, eleven states have written bigotry into their constitutions.


~

Boulder High School Students End Protest
By P. Solomon Banda, Associated Press Writer


BOULDER, Colo. (News 4) At least 85 students worried about war, a return of the draft and the future of the environment staged an overnight protest in the Boulder High School library before leaving peacefully Friday morning.

The students said they wanted assurances from political leaders about the direction of the country. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., met with some of the students for about an hour after they left the library at 7 a.m.

"We're worried that in four years we're going to be at war with five countries and we're going to have no trees," senior Cameron Ely-Murdock said.


~

Media Matters'

Top Ten media failings in 2004


~

An open letter to activists from NOW President Kim Gandy


We will never give up.

As NOW activists gathered at the White House carrying signs that said "Count Every Vote" and "Democracy NOW," we learned that John Kerry would be conceding the election.

Despite pleas for the Kerry campaign to wait for the counting of hundreds of thousands of provisional ballots in Ohio, and for the verification of Florida results that were dramatically contrary to exit polling, the promise of the 2004 election is no more.

But the strength we gained, the alliances we created, the friends we made, the voters we registered, the debates we provoked, the activists we energized, the new feminists we elected to Congress and state legislatures . . . no one can take those away.

Your phone calls to friends and strangers, door-knocking in your own neighborhood or on the other side of the country, marching on Washington, emailing friends and co-workers, writing to undecided voters, organizing actions and events, contributing to NOW/PAC efforts and to campaigns across the country . . . in all those ways and more, you brought us to the edge of victory.




~

~

Homo Hate: Kerry Loses to Rove’s Anti-Gay Hysteria
by Doug Ireland
www.dissidentvoice.org
First Published in LA Weekly


The Republicans’ moralizing anti-gay crusade played a crucial role in George W. Bush’s re-election. The Rove-Bush decision to surf on the anti-gay backlash came about in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, in the spring of 2003, to overturn the so-called sodomy laws.

After that decision, there was a precipitous 20-point Gallup poll drop in numbers of those who thought gay sex should be legal, and support for civil unions also slalomed downward.

Under the guidance of Commissar Karl Rove, the Republicans crafted a strategy to make political hay out of the anti-gay backlash and to fuel its intensity, just as soon as the Massachusetts Supreme Court decided that denying marriage equality to gay people was a violation of fundamental civil rights. The tools to make gays a political scapegoat that would mobilize the 4 million evangelicals who failed to vote in 2000 — and at the same time appeal to Catholic adepts of anti-gay papal precepts — were the Federal Marriage Amendment and the 11 anti-gay state referenda on the marriage issue. These measures were seen as wedge issues to divide the traditional Democratic coalition by prejudiced appeals to blacks and Latinos. Last year, among blacks, the drop on legalizing gay marriage was, at 23 points, even sharper than the national average. A New York Times poll from August last year confirmed the backlash Gallup found, especially among blacks and Latinos, with strong majorities opposing gay marriage — 65 to 28 for blacks, 54 to 40 for Latinos. Out of numbers like these came the Bush-Rove anti-gay strategy.


~

Never underestimate the power of religiously-inspired hate
Whether in the Middle East or in Middle America......
by Mark Levine

 
Many have reacted with surprise that millions of Ohio voters who have been so impoverished by the Bush Presidency would vote to elect Bush based on "moral values," having been led to the polls by the most extreme anti-gay initiative in American history.  Ohio's Issue 1, on the same ballot as the Presidential race, passed last Tuesday.  The new law not only reiterates current Ohio law that gay people cannot marry each other:  it goes farther to deny Ohioans the right to have private contracts with each other, if such contracts provide gay couples health care or other job benefits.  Gay couples will no longer be allowed to will each other property, visit each other in hospitals, provide for their children, or have any other legal rights or contracts that would "approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."  
Their parental rights are hereby nullified.  And in Ohio (and most other states), any employer may fire gay people solely on the basis of homophobic animus. 

The Smallest of Minorities!
Joëlle-Circé Laramée, Mercredi,
The Smallest of Minorities

It is never easy to say that one is intersex/transsex, a feminist and a lesbian.

This is by no means a new 'thing, or 'style'. Besides being intersex, many of us are lesbian identified. Many intersex women identify as lesbians.

A question which is often asked is; why do you want to become a woman in order to be with a woman? Now this is a very revealing question, one which distinguishes between gender and sex and the whole question of identity. If at first the person had one type of body ( biological & sociological ) that, on the surface, seemed to command respect and authority, only to now have one that is seen as more submissive and fraught with a thousand potential outside dangers, imagine on top of this that the body in question never fit within the parameters of either male or female because it is intersex.


~

Gay priests ‘acceptable’
By William B. Depasupil, Reporter


AT least two prominent personalities of the Catholic Church voiced their support for homosexuals interested in becoming clerics but underscored that they need to practice chastity like the others.



~

Two former Mobile County jailers charged in inmate assault
The Associated Press


MOBILE, Ala. -- Two former Mobile County corrections officers have been charged with assaulting a homosexual inmate earlier this year at the jail.

Jamie Godsey and Sean Etheredge have been charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, according to Mobile County Metro Jail spokeswoman Christina Bowersox. She said after an internal investigation, Godsey was fired and Etheredge resigned.

Inmate Jayson Payne said after he was booked into the jail in March he told jailers he was gay.

Now serving a burglary sentence at Fountain Correctional Facility near Atmore, Payne said he was verbally harassed by the two former Mobile County officers and physically assaulted in his cell.




~

Why can't I love a girl, asks Ela
ROHIT WADHWANEY
TIMESOFINDIA.COM


NEW DELHI: Section 377 of the IPC says homosexuality is unnatural and, hence, illegal. Why, asks a JNU student. "A woman has two hands, two legs, hair, nose, ears, just like a man. Why can't I be attracted to the same sex? We're all human beings after all," argues Ela.

Even though the Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected their plea for review of the infamous Section 377, gays in India have not given up their fight.

"We appeal to the Supreme Court," said Shaleen Rakesh of Naz Foundation, an NGO working for sexual rights in the country.

But why focus on such legal niceties? After all, how many people have been arrested under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (that dates back to 1860)? Only one.


~

CHILEAN STUDENTS EXPELLED FOR ALLEGED LESBIANISM
Sexual Discrimination Still The Norm In Chilean Schools?


(Nov. 5, 2004) Chile’s public debate about the sexual preferences of its student population was back in the headlines this week, with two more schools taking disciplinary action against young women for their alleged lesbianism.

L.F.L., 13, and M.R.D., 15, were expelled last week from the Escuela de Niñas España in Concepción, Region VIII, for their alleged lesbian conduct, while four girls in Valdivia, Region X, were told they won’t be readmitted to classes in 2005 because of a picture that shows them kissing.

These two cases come on the heels of two other highly publicized cases that received national attention earlier this year.

In Concepción, a school inspector caught L.F.L. and M.R.D. coming out of a bathroom together and reported this to the general inspector, Patricia Navarro, who decided to expel the students until the end of the year. Schoolmates allegedly saw the two girls kissing in the bathroom.




~

Bermuda To Ban Homophobia


(Hamilton, Bermuda) The Bermuda government has announced legislation to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler said the bill will be presented to the House of Assembly during its summer term.

“The changes will take us out of the dark ages and create an awareness about living openly rather than hiding these things in the closet,” said Butler.


~

Selling Our Souls to the Right
By LOUI ITOH


I thought Christianity taught us to love our neighbors and to feed the hungry. I thought we were supposed to care for the sick and give alms to the poor. Although the Bible says that it’s easier for a camel to fit through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to go to heaven, millions of evangelical Christians across the country voted for a president who gave tax cuts to the rich while other hardworking people lost their jobs and healthcare. As a Christian myself, I find it disappointing that many Christians do not see that the basic principles that guide the Democratic Party are consistent with their faith and could improve their lives, yet cast their votes based on their opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

S.C. next to ban gay marriage?
State legislators from area to push for statewide referendum on 2006 ballot


When the next wave of referendums seeking to ban gay marriage sweeps across the nation, expect South Carolina to be among the states trying to do so.

In Tuesday's national elections, voters in 11 states amended their constitutions to ban gay marriage.

State Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, has already requested that House staffers begin researching those amendments to help with drafting one for South Carolina. He plans on pushing to have the issue appear on the ballot for the 2006 gubernatorial election.

"I see absolutely nothing but positive from having that question on the ballot," Simrill said. "I would think in South Carolina, the numbers would be a good majority if not a super-majority."


~

Too many voting ’irregularities’ to be coincidence


Right now there is no hard proof, but the circumstantial evidence is a mile high. Looking at all of these ’irregularities’ it’s hard to imagine how one could conclude that this election was clean.

1. There were complaints in several states about the touchscreen voting machines not working properly.

Roberta Harvey, 57, of Clearwater, Fla., said she had tried at least a half dozen times to select Kerry-Edwards when she voted Tuesday at Northwood Presbyterian Church.

After 10 minutes trying to change her selection, the Pinellas County resident said she called a poll worker and got a wet-wipe napkin to clean the touch screen as well as a pencil so she could use its eraser-end instead of her finger. Harvey said it took about 10 attempts to select Kerry before and a summary screen confirmed her intended selection.



~

Language of gay marriage ban may allow civil unions
By WILLIAM McCALL, Associated Press Writer


The language of the state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage could require courts to decide whether it also permits civil unions between same-sex partners, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The amendment approved Tuesday by Oregon voters is open to interpretation because -- unlike similar amendments approved in 10 other states -- it does not contain explicit language forbidding same-sex marriage, said Dave Fidanque, ACLU spokesman.

"In every other state that considered one of these constitutional amendments, the language was unambiguous," Fidanque said.

Kelly Clark, attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition, said the amendment that Oregon voters approved with Measure 36 is clear.


~

No Surrender
By PAUL KRUGMAN


President Bush isn't a conservative. He's a radical - the leader of a coalition that deeply dislikes America as it is. Part of that coalition wants to tear down the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt, eviscerating Social Security and, eventually, Medicare. Another part wants to break down the barriers between church and state. And thanks to a heavy turnout by evangelical Christians, Mr. Bush has four more years to advance that radical agenda.

Democrats are now, understandably, engaged in self-examination. But while it's O.K. to think things over, those who abhor the direction Mr. Bush is taking the country must maintain their intensity; they must not succumb to defeatism.


~

Donation helps P'town gay-marriage fund
By CONOR BERRY
STAFF WRITER


PROVINCETOWN - As political analysts count strong national opposition to same-sex marriage among the reasons President Bush won re-election, gay-friendly Provincetown continues to bolster its legal fund to defend the rights of gays and lesbians to marry.

Even though Provincetown prides itself as being a bastion of tolerance, it appears to be well out of step with much of the rest of the nation, where ballot initiatives in several states affirmed the institution of marriage as the union between a man and a woman.

Provincetown this week received a substantial financial contribution to its Same-sex Marriage Defense Fund. The special tax-deductible gift fund was created by the town to defray any legal costs that may arise from the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts.


~

Assaults at ‘gay haunt’
By Sally Henfield


TWO men have been assaulted in separate incidents at a notorious gay road side haunt in Hanworth, which saw one of the men being hit over the head with a brick before being robbed.

The first assault occurred on Monday afternoon at the lay-by on Country Way on the A316, which leads into the M3. A gentleman in his sixties received minor injuries after a gang of youths started to throw stones at him. Four youths have since been arrested and released on bail, a fifth is still being sought.

Later that evening a man was stopped by a four individuals wearing balaclavas who demanded money from him. The man was hit over the head with a brick, receiving minor head injuries.



~

Forum Focuses on Queer Homeless Youth
NYU event draws together experts and young people who have lived on the streets
BY ANEESH SHETH


Dressed in a black blazer and a skirt, Johnnie Ray Artis, 23, known to friends and acquaintances as Charlene, stood in front of about 70 people at New York University’s Cantor Film Center last Thursday evening.

“My words are gonna be harsh––even though I don’t do this often,” she began, taking a deep breath.

Artis was one of four homeless young people who spoke at a community discussion held October 28 on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) youth who find themselves living on the streets. The discussion, organized by The Queer Economic Justice Network in cooperation with a host of homeless and gay advocacy groups, included a youth speak-out, a panel presentation by experts in the field and an interactive question and answer session.

Artis continued her story, saying that she was born to parents who were comfortable economically, but that “things began to go downhill” when her father died. After becoming homeless, the first shelter she found her way to with a friend was Covenant House, the city’s largest facility, located in Chelsea. She thought she could trust her friend, and told him that she was bisexual. Soon, she began to be abused verbally and physically. At one point, she said, the other youths in the shelter threw batteries at her. Artis complained to the staff, but Covenant House officials said they saw


~

Anti-gay Republicans win U.S. Senate races
By JOE CREA


WASHINGTON — The Bush campaign strategy of using the gay marriage issue to help energize President Bush’s social conservative base appeared to pay off Tuesday, as the GOP expanded its majorities in both houses of Congress. Several newly elected GOP senators are virulently hostile to gay rights.

In South Carolina, Republican Jim DeMint, who said in a campaign ad that the “government cannot approve and promote homosexuality,” won handily over Democratic challenger Inez Tenenbaum. In early October, DeMint found himself on the defensive and during his first campaign debate with Tenenbaum, he advocated banning gays from teaching in public schools.

In what was expected by pundits to be a close race, Republican Oklahoma Senate candidate Tom Coburn trounced his Democratic opponent, Brad Carson. Coburn, who most recently chaired the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS, has said that the gay “agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today.”


~

Schools upset over affiliation with gay youth group


ROSEBURG, Ore. - A task force supporting gay youth in Douglas County has upset several schools over the use of their names on its letterhead.

A letter issued by The Coalition for Sexual Minority Youth was sent to media outlets last week to advertise the formation of a monthly club called 'Club Queer.' It helps disenfranchised youth gather safely without threats.


~

Texas Board of Education to vote on changing textbooks to define marriage


AUSTIN The Texas Board of Education will vote soon on whether to approve textbooks that one board member says should be changed to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Board member Terri Leo says some middle-and-high-school health books contain "asexual stealth phrases" that disregard a state ban on recognizing same-sex civil unions. Leo wants language like "individuals who marry" changed to "husbands and wives.


~

Socialist is Bulgaria's First Gay Politician to Come out


A young member of the Socialist Party is the first politically involved Bulgarian to openly acknowledge his homosexuality.

Ivelin Yordanov, 26, works in a non-governmental organization and has committed himself to the fight against discrimination toward homosexual persons, according to reports in local 168 Hours Weekly.

A party which defends different sexual orientations can only win points, says Yordanov, an Economy University graduate from the town of Dobrich.



~

Campus community reacts to Proposal 2
By Kate Finneren
Central Michigan Life

Campus community members opposed to the now approved Michigan constitutional “marriage protection” amendment are questioning state voters’ motives.

Proposal 2 bans same-sex marriage and could jeopardize public and private companies’ ability to offer domestic partnership benefits.

It was one of 11 such measures appearing on state ballots and passing Tuesday. The Michigan amendment was approved by 59 percent of the state vote and about 55 percent of the Isabella County vote.

James Jones, co-president of the CMU Association for Lesbian and Gay Faculty and Staff and the foreign languages, literature and cultures department chairman, said the amendment was passed out of fear.



~

Interfaith group to protest Atlanta Catholic archbishop
Soulforce urges bishops to see ‘sanctity’ of gay members
By DYANA BAGBY


A national gay-supportive religious organization wants Roman Catholic bishops to withdraw attacks on gay citizens and instead recognize the “sanctity” of their lives.

Soulforce, an interfaith movement dedicated to ending what it terms spiritual violence against gay people, plans vigils at the Archdiocese of Atlanta and other local Roman Catholic Church chanceries throughout the country on Nov. 9.

The vigils are planned after failed attempts to bring about dialogues with local bishops, according to officials with the Lynchburg, Va.-based group. The Nov. 9 date is also an attempt to receive attention for their cause before the bishops attend the national U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C., said Chris Merritt, spokesperson for Atlanta’s Soulforce chapter


~

Sign upsets residents
ByTim Leeds/Havre Daily News


Havre city officials were preparing to take legal action to remove a sign - derogatory to homosexuals and containing an obscene phrase - that had been placed across from City Hall when the problem resolved itself. The sign disappeared overnight.

The sign was installed by Havre businessman Erik Meis on Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Meis acknowledged today that he put up the sign but declined to comment further.

The sign, on a fence on property owned by Meis on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street, made a derogatory comment about homosexuals, apparently in support of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The sign read: "Silly Faggot, Dicks are for Chicks."


~

Gay bishop blasts presidential race
By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Staff Writer


WATERVILLE -- Questioning the meaning of "moral values" and warning of arrogance and hegemony, Bishop V. Gene Robinson said at Colby College on Thursday that the tragedy of polarization was an inability to admit vulnerability or doubt.

Robinson prefaced his wide-ranging speech by warning that his remarks were "unfiltered and unanalyzed." He went on to criticize both Republicans and Democrats for exploiting fear in the presidential campaigns, took a dig at the religious right and called for replacing the idea of "winning" with the idea of "reconciliation."

"It's astounding that Bush won't admit he's done anything wrong (on Iraq)," he said. "And (Democratic presidential candidate John) Kerry won't admit that he has no better plan to get the United States out of Iraq. Because we didn't want to talk about that, let's talk about gay marriage instead -- the greatest 'weapon of mass destruction.' "


~

Nfld. women challenge provincial marriage laws, seek licence to wed
DENE MOORE


ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - Two gay couples have filed a lawsuit against the Newfoundland and federal governments, making the province the latest battleground for same-sex marriage in Canada.

It is the first court challenge of marriage laws in Newfoundland and Labrador - one of six provinces and territories where homosexual unions are not recognized by law. "We love each other (and) we built a home together," Lisa Zigler, one of four women involved in the lawsuit, said Thursday. "We are a family and this is the last step of getting official recognition as a family."


~

D.C. Transgender Prostitute's Killer Gets 10 Years
By Henri E. Cauvin
Washington Post Staff Writer


A Northeast Washington man who killed a prostitute last year after realizing that the prostitute was not a woman was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison.

Derrick A. Lewis, 23, who pleaded guilty in August to voluntary manslaughter while armed in the death of Aaryn Marshall, said only a few words during yesterday's sentencing in D.C. Superior Court.



~

GOP Senator Weighing Switch To Democrats
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Washington)  Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee is reportedly considering jumping to the Democratic Party.

New London, Conn. newspaper The Day reports that Chafee is unhappy with the GOP under President Bush, which he says has moved too far to the right.

“Clearly we're trying to digest the situation,” Chafee spokesperson Stephen Hourhan told the paper. “Ultimately, it's a question of what he wants to do and when he wants to do it.”

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, (D-Conn.) told The Day that Democrats would welcome Chafee with open arms.


~

Students walk out to protest gay-marriage ban
The Associated Press  


EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The students at North Eugene High School were too young to vote in this week's election, but they were old enough to be upset with the adults who cast ballots.

 More than 100 students walked out of their classes Thursday to protest the approval of Measure 36, the proposal to ban gay marriage that was decisively approved by Oregon voters.

Kristin "Khushi" Shrestha, 16, said the protest grew out of the frustration students felt Wednesday morning.

"Everybody came to school and they were so depressed," she said. "Our world is changing before our eyes. Our rights are going down the drain, and there's nothing we can do about it because we can't even vote yet."


~

Kerry refused to take Clinton's antigay advice


A new report from inside the John Kerry campaign suggests that in the final weeks of the campagin former president Bill Clinton advised Kerry to come out in favor of ballot measures that wrote antigay marriage discimination into the constitutions of 11 states. According to the latest issue of Newsweek, "Looking for a way to pick up swing voters in the red states, former president Bill Clinton, in a phone call with Kerry, urged the senator to back local bans on gay marriage. Kerry respectfully listened, then told his aides, 'I'm not going to ever do that.'"


~

Heath plans to fight Maine gay-rights bill
By CHRIS CHURCHILL
Staff Writer


Saying he feels "emboldened" by Tuesday's election results, the head of the Christian Civic League of Maine is calling on state lawmakers and Gov. John E. Baldacci to abandon a planned push for a new gay-rights law.

In an interview Thursday, Michael Heath celebrated that 11 states on Tuesday approved constitutional bans on gay marriage and that conservative Christians apparently had a profound effect on the presidential race. He also spoke of a growing cultural struggle, and claimed Americans on Tuesday rejected the "agenda" of homosexuals such as Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the leader of the New Hampshire Episcopal Church.

"I think we're at the beginning of a cultural renewal, where the red states are asserting themselves," Heath said, using shorthand for states that voted Tuesday for George W. Bush. "I don't think the world view of the blue states is going to prevail."

Maine, of course, is a blue state, won by U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry on Tuesday. But Heath believes Mainers do not favor gay-rights legislation, even though Maine is the only New England state without a law prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians.

17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists...by Michael Moore

Dear Friends,

Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in the words of Monty Python, 'always look on the bright side of life!' There IS some good news from Tuesday's election.

Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists:

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them.

4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don't approve of the job eorge W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out.  It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)

5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes!

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now.

10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress, including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates can't.

11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.

13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3 chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the 2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53 chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47 chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber (Montana House) is still undecided.

14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out -- and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from office.

16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!!

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for thecandidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact, that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November 2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element ofsurprise in 2008.

Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "MyRomanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a wonderful country  -- it doesn't even need a president!'"

But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

ONE SOLDIER KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK 11/5/200

Students Rally in Copley, Claim Bush ‘Stole’ Election
By JESSICA C. CHIU
Contributing Writer
CRIMSON/ PALESA C. MELVIN


In the wake of the presidential election, Harvard students joined more than 100 other political protesters yesterday in Copley Square for the Rally and Vigil for Democracy.

The local rally, which began at 5 p.m., was part of a larger effort by the No Stolen Elections! campaign, for which people from over 30 cities nationwide have promised to protest the election results in upcoming weeks.

Over 15,000 people have already signed a pledge expressing their concerns that the election was stolen by President Bush, said Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky ’07, a founding member of the Harvard Social Forum.


~

Religious right relishes chance to push agenda
Abortion and gay marriage to be targeted as moral crusaders demand election payback
Oliver Burkeman in New York
Friday November 5, 2004
The Guardian


A mood of elation permeated the ranks of evangelical Christians in the United States yesterday as it became clear that the election marked a watershed moment for their chances of implementing a conservative moral agenda - above all on the issues of abortion and gay marriage.

Buoyed by exit-poll results suggesting that moral issues had weighed on voters' minds even more than terrorism, activists vowed to use their victory to push the second Bush administration to ban same-sex unions at a federal level and to move the supreme court to the right. "I think it's quite possible this could be a turning point," said Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Group lobbying organisation.

"We're seeing from the exit polls that conservative Christian voters turned out in record numbers ... so we certainly will be pressing for action on key items of our agenda, and we will not be shy about claiming that our influence was significant in the outcome of the election."

In a post-election memo obtained by the New York Times, Richard Viguerie, a rightwing direct-mailing campaigner, issued a warning to the Republican party. "Make no mistake - conservative Christians and 'values voters' won this election for George W Bush and Republicans in congress," he wrote.

We do not concede our democratic rights.


To: Urgent Response Network
From: No Stolen Elections!
Sisters and Brothers,

While hundreds of thousands of votes in Ohio have yet to be counted and reports of voter disenfranchisement throughout the country - particularly among minority, immigrant, young, and low-income Americans - continue to pour-in and questions are left to be answered about the massive gap between early polling data and the final total in Florida - a state where half of the voting populous used touch-screen machines that leave no paper trail, John Kerry just conceded the presidential election.

KERRY MAY HAVE CONCEDED THIS ELECTION, BUT WE WILL NEVER CONCEDE OUR RIGHT TO A FAIR AND JUST DEMOCRATIC PROCESS!


~

Was the Ohio Election Honest and Fair?

     
 
* TERESA FEDOR, [via Greg Lestini, glestini@maild.sen.state.oh.us]
Ohio State Senator Teresa Fedor said today: "There was trouble with our elections in Ohio at every stage. It's been a battle getting people registered to vote, getting to the ballot on voting day and getting that vote to count. There is a pattern of voter suppression; that's why I called for [Ohio Secretary of State] Blackwell's resignation more than a month ago. Blackwell, while claiming to run an unbiased elections process, was also the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio. Additionally, he was the spokesperson for the anti-business, anti-family constitutional amendment 'Issue 1,' and a failed initiative to repeal a crucial sales-tax revenue source for the state. Blackwell learned his moves from the Katherine Harris playbook of Florida 2000, and we won't stand for it."


~

CONSUMER PROTECTION FOR ELECTIONS


If you are concerned about what happened Tuesday, Nov. 2, you have found a home with our organization. Help America Audit.

Black Box Voting has taken the position that fraud took place in the 2004 election through electronic voting machines. We base this on hard evidence, documents obtained in public records requests, inside information, and other data indicative of manipulation of electronic voting systems. What we do not know is the specific scope of the fraud. We are working now to compile the proof, based not on soft evidence -- red flags, exit polls -- but core documents obtained by Black Box Voting in the most massive Freedom of Information action in history.

We need: Lawyers to enforce public records laws. Some counties have already notified us that they plan to stonewall by delaying delivery of the records. We need citizen volunteers for a number of specific actions. We need computer security professionals willing to GO PUBLIC with formal opinions on the evidence we provide, whether or not it involves DMCA complications. We need funds to pay for copies of the evidence.


~

Kerry Won
Greg Palast


Bush won Ohio by 136,483 votes. Typically in the United States, about 3 percent of votes cast are voided—known as “spoilage” in election jargon—because the ballots cast are inconclusive. Palast’s investigation suggests that if Ohio’s discarded ballots were counted, Kerry would have won the state. Today,  the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports  there are a total of 247,672 votes not counted in Ohio, if you add the 92,672 discarded votes plus the 155,000 provisional ballots.

Greg Palast, contributing editor to Harper's magazine, investigated the manipulation of the vote for BBC Television's Newsnight. The documentary, "Bush Family Fortunes," based on his New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, has been released this month on DVD .

Kerry won. Here's the facts.

I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad.  But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry.

Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent.  Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.

Immigration web site flooded with queries from U.S. anti-Bush visitors


OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's immigration website is being flooded with a record-smashing number of visits from U.S. Democrats dismayed by the prospect of four more years living under President George W. Bush.

His re-election has some long-faced U.S. liberals apparently musing that perhaps Canada's cold winters, high taxes and strained health system are more easily endured than their commander-in-chief. A new record was set within hours of Bush's acceptance speech as six times more Americans than usual surfed the site Wednesday. The overall number of 179,000 visitors was almost twice the previous one-day record set last year and a whopping 64 per cent of visitors - 115,016 - were from the United States. .


~

Openly Lesbian MCC Church Leader Is New Sheriff of Dallas, TX


N E W S
Metropolitan Community Churches
From The MCC Communications Department

Openly Lesbian MCC Leader Lupe Valdez
Elected Sheriff of Dallas County, Texas

Dallas, Texas - On November 2, Lupe Valdez, a longtime member and lay
leader of Metropolitan Community Churches, was elected as the new Sheriff of Dallas County in Texas.

The Dallas Morning News describes Lupe's election as a "breakthrough
victory." An article under the headline "Valdez scores historic victory" notes that Lupe is the first woman and the first Hispanic to be elected Dallas County Sheriff in this heavily Republican county.


~

Published on Thursday, November 4, 2004 by The Progressive
A Letter to Incredulous Friends Around the World
by Matthew Rothschild


Dear friends:

I'm sorry. I really am.

I know it must be impossible for you to understand the choice the American public made on November 2.

It's almost impossible for me, too, and I've lived here all 46 years of my life.

Why would Americans choose, by a margin of more than 3,500,000 votes, to return George W. Bush to office after all that he's done?

After he pulled out of the Kyoto Accords?

After he trashed the ABM Treaty?


~

Parliament raises legal status of homosexual couples
Coalition enables lesbian, homosexual partners to adopt children and receive pension benefits
By William Pratt


The ceremony looked like any other wedding. There were roses, kisses and tears to celebrate the special occasion.

But one thing did set this service apart from the rest. The couple being united were two women - Angela Gobelin and Verena Lappe. And they were among the first to take advantage of a new federal law on Aug. 1, 2001, that allows homosexuals to seal their relationship in a civil ceremony.

“It is wonderful that there is now a ritual for people like us,“ Gobelin said shortly after her ceremony was completed in Hamburg on that summer day three years ago.

Last Friday, the national government coalition that cleared the legal aisle for homosexuals took another legislative step that brings gay and lesbian couples one step closer to having the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. The national parliament passed a law that, among other things, grants homosexuals the right to adopt the children of their partners and allows surviving partners to draw the federal pension benefits of their deceased partners.


~

Gay parents express chagrin on 36 vote
A Salem couple says amendment chips away at civil rights
ALAN GUSTAFSON
Statesman Journal


Heather Burns and her partner, Colleen Henery, have stayed together, loving and committed, for 20 years.

They parent two daughters, ages 8 and 5.

They make for a tight-knit family, belonging to a larger, welcoming community at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem.

The couple's enduring bonds won't unravel in the wake of Tuesday's voter approval of a statewide ban on gay marriage, Burns said Wednesday.


~

ACLU seeks to allow students to exhibit gay-pride messages
Associated Press


WEBB CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A southwest Missouri high school student who was told he could not wear a T-shirt with a gay-pride message to class is getting support from the American Civil Liberties Union.


~

Gay-rights activists look to the courts
By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter


A year that brought gay and lesbian couples hope, when the potential for legitimate marriage seemed euphorically within reach, came to a dispiriting end for many of them Tuesday at the ballot box.

Voters in 11 states — in the Northwest, throughout the Midwest and in the Deep South — amended their constitutions to deny same-sex couples the right to marry.

Opponents of the bans had expected broad defeat but had hoped at least that a well-oiled, well-funded campaign in Oregon would prevent a nationwide shutout.


~

Electing to Leave
A reader’s guide to expatriating on November 3
Posted on Wednesday, November 3, 2004. Originally from Harper's Magazine, October 2004. By Bryant Urstadt.



So the wrong candidate has won, and you want to leave the country. Let us consider your options.

Renouncing your citizenship

Given how much the United States as a nation professes to value freedom, your freedom to opt out of the nation itself is surprisingly limited. The State Department does not record the annual number of Americans renouncing their citizenship—“renunciants,” as they are officially termed—but the Internal Revenue Service publishes their names on a quarterly basis in the Federal Register. The IRS’s interest in the subject is, of course, purely financial; since 1996, the agency has tracked ex-Americans in the hopes of recouping tax revenue, which in some cases may be owed for up to ten years after a person leaves the country. In any event, the number of renunciants is small. In 2002, for example, the Register recorded only 403 departures, of which many (if not most) were merely longtime resident aliens returning home.

The most serious barrier to renouncing your citizenship is that the State Department, which oversees expatriation, is reluctant to allow citizens to go “stateless.” Before allowing expatriation, the department will want you to have obtained citizenship or legal asylum in another country—usually a complicated and expensive process, if it can be done at all. Would-be renunciants must also prove that they do not intend to live in the United States afterward. Furthermore, you cannot renounce inside U.S. borders; the declaration must be made at a consul’s office abroad.



~

Conservative Group Calls For Canadian Referendum On Gay Marriage
by Jan Prout 365Gay.com Toronto Bureau


(Toronto, Ontario) With gay marriage legal in six regions of Canada and before the courts in two others a rightwing organization Thursday called for a national referendum to put an end to same-sex unions.

Friday, a court in Saskatchewan is to rule on gay marriage, and today, two Newfoundland lesbian couples launched a lawsuit against the federal and provincial governments challenging the province's traditional definition of marriage.


~

White House claims mandate for Bush agenda


The White House claimed a second-term mandate Thursday for President Bush's agenda. The president reached out for the broad support of Americans on Wednesday, even those who voted against him. The president immediately called for renewed attention to a constitutional ban on gay marriage and moving "this good-hearted nation toward a culture of life."

"Reaching these goals will require the broad support of Americans," Bush said as he asked Sen. John Kerry's disappointed supporters to back him--even though many of his proposals are anathema to those who opposed his reelection. "I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust," he said. "When we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."


~

Federal amendment may be next gay marriage battle zone
By David Crary
The Associated Press


Elated by an 11-for-11 rejection of gay marriage in state elections, conservatives Wednesday urged Congress to follow suit by approving a federal constitutional amendment that would extend the prohibition nationwide.

The state victories ``are a prelude to the real battle,'' said Matt Daniels, whose Alliance for Marriage has pushed for congressional action. ``Ultimately, only our Federal Marriage Amendment will protect marriage.''

Gay activists, though dejected by the overwhelming rebuff, vowed to keep fighting in the courts for marriage rights. Several lawsuits are pending, and more are planned.

Matt Foreman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force described the election results as ``a right hook to the chin ... but certainly not a knockout.'' Said Oregon activist Roey Thorpe, ``On the road to equality and freedom there are always setbacks.''


~

Nepal's only gay organisation wins Thai honour:

[World News]: Kathmandu, Nov 4 : The only gay organisation in Nepal fighting for the rights of sexual minorities and a regular target of police crackdowns has won a prestigious award instituted by the Bangkok-based first gay Internet portal.

The Kathmandu-based NGO Blue Diamond Society is among the five recipients of the 5th annual Utopia Awards, described by the hosts as "Asia's leading gay human rights celebration".
The three-year-old unique Nepalese body has been chosen for its work to protect the health and human rights of Nepal's sexual minorities, a press release issued by Utopia said.

The other winners of the awards, to be handed out in the Thai capital Nov 19, include Malaysian Billy Wong (for his work helping to establish the world's largest network of gay Asian/non-Asian groups), Thai dancer Pakorn Pimton (for his work related to AIDS and founding the Bangkok Gay Festival), and Thailand's first pride parade and Thai bar owner Poonsak Sanchan for his community building and founding of the Phuket Gay Festival and Parade.

The award ceremony will be conducted Natee Teerarojjanapongs, currently running for election as Thailand's first openly gay senator.

chart depticting the red/blue to IQ ratio of our once-proud nation.

Blame gays? Don't buy it!
A Statement from Matt Foreman
Statement from Matt Foreman, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force


"Months ago, we all knew that if George Bush was re-elected, 'gay marriage' would be blamed. A scapegoat is required. Offer up the gays.

The right wing was indeed energized. I would be too if I shared their "values." The Bush Administration has catered to their every request and fed them tons of red meat - abstinence-only-until-marriage "sex education," the "Faith Based Initiative," the ban on late term abortion, restrictions on oversees contraception programs, the ban on stem cell research, and yes, gay marriage. It's sickening and fascinating that when one in five voters said "moral values" was the most important issue for them, pundits immediately equated that with gay marriage alone.

Frankly, the right did a better job in turning out their vote in key places. They've been building their machine - illegally, unethically, or both - through churches for 30 years. They have seized and occupied "moral values" for years.

Our side is not going to make up these deficiencies in one cycle.

sounds the amrika...

Malaysian court quashes gender-bender bid


Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian transsexual who underwent surgery to change from a woman to a man has failed in her bid to be legally registered as a male, official media reported on Thursday.

Wong Chiou Yoong, 33, underwent a sex change operation in 2002 and has tried since then to be registered as a male in all her identification papers.

However, a court from northern Perak state threw out Wong's case on Thursday, saying the country's law did not recognise transsexuals and therefore the court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter.  

The High Court judge said that although there were similar cases in Singapore, Australia and Britain, he had to dismiss the case as Malaysia does not have proper legislation to try people who have undergone sex change procedures


~

The Election Of Homophobia And Misogyny
It Is Time To Confront Theocratic Bigotry Head On
by Vijay Prashad


Four years ago, Bush's Brain Karl Rove swore that he would not rest until the four million Evangelicals who did not vote then would turn out yesterday. And they did. They came in droves. They told those who did the exit polls that the issue that brought them to the franchise was not their own unemployment or under employment, or even the loss of their family members in a war of choice. They came to vote for "moral values."
 
After Rove told participants at an American Enterprise Institute seminar in 2001 that the goal of the Bush re-election campaign would be to make sure that all 19 million Evangelical Christians voted, his team hired Ralph Reed to take charge of the effort. Reed, the veteran of the Christian Coalition, mobilized his contacts and his good looks and went after the withheld votes.  
 
The effort began to pay off by the summer of 2004 when the National Association of Evangelicals released a report, For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility. "Because Jesus is Lord over every aspect of life," the report argued, Evangelicals should take an interest in public policy and vote to enforce their "values" over the polity. There are two sections of the document that are helpful guides to "moral values": (1) "Christian citizens of the United States must keep their eyes open to the potentially self-destructive tendencies of our society and our government... We work to nurture family life and protect children," and (2) "We work to protect the sanctity of human life and to safeguard its nature." In other words, the report highlighted the twin "moral values" of anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion, of the preservation marriage as a heterosexual institution and of the prevention of women to determine the fate of their bodies.



~

Hate Crime
While Tucson has a progressive reputation, the 2002 death of Philip Walsted serves as a reminder that anti-gay hatred remains
By SAXON BURNS


It has been nearly 900 days since Jonathan’s 24-year-old partner, Philip Walsted, was bludgeoned to death in a pitch-dark side street off Tucson's Fourth Avenue. And in early 2005, the self-proclaimed white separatist accused of killing him is scheduled to stand trial.

Fearing retaliation by sympathizers of the suspected killer, Jonathan asked that his last name and the details of his current whereabouts not be used in this story. He's not only gay, but Jewish--a double whammy, he said.

Talking over the phone from the East Coast apartment he just moved into, he gives the impression that he's a realist, a self-assured man who, at 48, has the means and experience needed to overcome life's most savage moments.

But when asked about the days following Walsted's murder, Jonathan's voice, normally resounding with conviction, trails off as if his throat has tightened. It brings back painful memories and a wave of anger.


~

4 lawmakers to offer gay-friendly proposals
Associated Press


HELENA - Four Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation Wednesday calling for the creation of civil unions and other pro-gay laws, one day after 66 percent of Montanans voted to constitutionally ban gay marriage in the state.

But supporters of the newly passed ban say the bills are merely steps on the path to the legalization of gay marriage.

The four proposed bills will, for sure, be hotly debated during the 2005 Legislature. The bills call for Vermont-style civil unions, next-of-kin partner rights and changes to both the Montana Human Rights Act and the state's hate crimes law to include sexual orientation.

"Culture warriors have won this battle," said Karl Olson, executive director of Montana PRIDE, in response to the state's new ban on gay marriage. "But we are undaunted. We are upbeat."

sounds the amrika...

Malaysian court quashes gender-bender bid


Kuala Lumpur - A Malaysian transsexual who underwent surgery to change from a woman to a man has failed in her bid to be legally registered as a male, official media reported on Thursday.

Wong Chiou Yoong, 33, underwent a sex change operation in 2002 and has tried since then to be registered as a male in all her identification papers.

However, a court from northern Perak state threw out Wong's case on Thursday, saying the country's law did not recognise transsexuals and therefore the court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter.  

The High Court judge said that although there were similar cases in Singapore, Australia and Britain, he had to dismiss the case as Malaysia does not have proper legislation to try people who have undergone sex change procedures


~

The Election Of Homophobia And Misogyny
It Is Time To Confront Theocratic Bigotry Head On
by Vijay Prashad


Four years ago, Bush's Brain Karl Rove swore that he would not rest until the four million Evangelicals who did not vote then would turn out yesterday. And they did. They came in droves. They told those who did the exit polls that the issue that brought them to the franchise was not their own unemployment or under employment, or even the loss of their family members in a war of choice. They came to vote for "moral values."
 
After Rove told participants at an American Enterprise Institute seminar in 2001 that the goal of the Bush re-election campaign would be to make sure that all 19 million Evangelical Christians voted, his team hired Ralph Reed to take charge of the effort. Reed, the veteran of the Christian Coalition, mobilized his contacts and his good looks and went after the withheld votes.  
 
The effort began to pay off by the summer of 2004 when the National Association of Evangelicals released a report, For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility. "Because Jesus is Lord over every aspect of life," the report argued, Evangelicals should take an interest in public policy and vote to enforce their "values" over the polity. There are two sections of the document that are helpful guides to "moral values": (1) "Christian citizens of the United States must keep their eyes open to the potentially self-destructive tendencies of our society and our government... We work to nurture family life and protect children," and (2) "We work to protect the sanctity of human life and to safeguard its nature." In other words, the report highlighted the twin "moral values" of anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion, of the preservation marriage as a heterosexual institution and of the prevention of women to determine the fate of their bodies.



~

Hate Crime
While Tucson has a progressive reputation, the 2002 death of Philip Walsted serves as a reminder that anti-gay hatred remains
By SAXON BURNS


It has been nearly 900 days since Jonathan’s 24-year-old partner, Philip Walsted, was bludgeoned to death in a pitch-dark side street off Tucson's Fourth Avenue. And in early 2005, the self-proclaimed white separatist accused of killing him is scheduled to stand trial.

Fearing retaliation by sympathizers of the suspected killer, Jonathan asked that his last name and the details of his current whereabouts not be used in this story. He's not only gay, but Jewish--a double whammy, he said.

Talking over the phone from the East Coast apartment he just moved into, he gives the impression that he's a realist, a self-assured man who, at 48, has the means and experience needed to overcome life's most savage moments.

But when asked about the days following Walsted's murder, Jonathan's voice, normally resounding with conviction, trails off as if his throat has tightened. It brings back painful memories and a wave of anger.


~

4 lawmakers to offer gay-friendly proposals
Associated Press


HELENA - Four Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation Wednesday calling for the creation of civil unions and other pro-gay laws, one day after 66 percent of Montanans voted to constitutionally ban gay marriage in the state.

But supporters of the newly passed ban say the bills are merely steps on the path to the legalization of gay marriage.

The four proposed bills will, for sure, be hotly debated during the 2005 Legislature. The bills call for Vermont-style civil unions, next-of-kin partner rights and changes to both the Montana Human Rights Act and the state's hate crimes law to include sexual orientation.

"Culture warriors have won this battle," said Karl Olson, executive director of Montana PRIDE, in response to the state's new ban on gay marriage. "But we are undaunted. We are upbeat."