the Blue Diamond Weekly from Napal is on-line at www.bluediamondweekly.com

U.S. agency tries to cut 'LGBT' from panel
Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network


A government agency is under fire after trying to remove the words "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual" and "transgender" from the program of a federally funded conference on suicide prevention.

The program was originally titled "Suicide Prevention Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals." It is a part of a Feb. 28 conference in Portland, Ore., sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Ron Bloodworth, one of three specialists leading the session, told the Washington Post that SAMHSA project manager Brenda Bruun wanted him to delete the four words that described exactly what the session was about.

Instead Bloodworth was told to use the term "sexual orientation," a suggestion he found ridiculous. "Everyone has a sexual orientation," he explained to the Post. "But this was about gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders."

Russian Supreme Court Bans Same-Sex “Marriage”


MOSCOW,(LifeSiteNews.com) – Russia’s Supreme Court, responding to a lawsuit from a Member of Parliament, ruled Tuesday that the country would maintain its traditional definition of marriage.

Bill would change Pa. hate-crimes protections
Lawmaker wants "sexual orientation" removed from law
The Associated Press


HARRISBURG -- A state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would remove the section banning harassment based on sexual orientation from Pennsylvania's hate-crime laws.

State Rep. Thomas Yewcic, D-Cambria, said he filed the bill in response to the arrest of five evangelical Christian protesters at a gay pride festival in Philadelphia.

The five were charged with violating Pennsylvania's Ethnic Intimidation Act when they disrupted the event with a bullhorn preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

County may join push for gay marriage Lesbian couple lobbies for support.
By Kate Williamson
Staff Writer


REDWOOD CITY -- Denied the opportunity to wed in San Mateo County by state law Monday, Ramona Gatto and her partner Arzu Gatto now plan to lobby the Board of Supervisors to support a bill that would change that law.

Ramona Gatto is scheduled to meet with Board of Supervisors President Richard Gordon next week to discuss the possibility of lending support to a bill before the state Legislature that would define marriage as civil contract between "two persons."


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Activists re-introduce same-sex marriage bill
Jim Baron


PROVIDENCE -- Cheering, clapping and holding signs that read, "Love doesn’t discriminate and neither should RI," gay and lesbian couples and activists rallied at the Statehouse Tuesday to support legislation that would allow them to marry legally.

"Discrimination against gay and lesbian families must end," declared Providence Sen. Rhoda Perry, the Senate sponsor of the bill who told the group her area of expertise is civil rights and civil liberties.

One of the House sponsors, Rep. Edith Ajello of Providence, said, "this is about enabling our children to be happy in their adult lives."

Changed Earth

Before and after images of the effects of climate change




Global Warming

Virginia Public Schools Forcing Kids To Go To Mandatory Bible Classes


STAUNTON, Virginia (AP) -- When Heather and Logan Ward's son entered public kindergarten this fall, they were shocked to discover that pupils were taken from class to a nearby church for weekly Bible lessons.

When Heather and Logan Ward's son entered public kindergarten this fall, they were shocked to discover that pupils were taken from class to a nearby church for weekly Bible lessons.

The Wards moved to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley from New York four years ago, and were unaware of the tradition that has remained in Staunton and other rural schools for more than 60 years.

2 million acres of New Mexico grasslands latest battleground over drilling
By Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder Newspapers


ALAMO MOUNTAIN, N.M. - These sprawling, scrawny grasslands, dotted with cacti, tumbleweeds and grazing cattle, are the real front line in America's battle over public lands and energy drilling.

Global Warming Might Turn Brazil's Amazon into Scrubland
Written by Graziela Sant'Anna


The conference held in the United Kingdom early this month on climatic changes cautioned that the melting caused by global heating poses a threat to coastal cities, many of which could even vanish. Moreover, this phenomenon could force the redistribution of millions of people throughout the planet and diminish agricultural productivity.

"The studies show that for us Brazilians, there will be a change in the nature of the Amazon forest, transforming it from a tropical rain forest to scrubland. The impact could have serious consequences for our own species," observed the direct of the Greenpeace campaign, Marcelo Furtado.

Nigeria transvestite handed fine

Abubakar Hamza has become a big celebrity in northern Nigeria
A Nigerian Islamic court has sentenced a man to six months in prison and fined him $38 for living as a woman for seven years in the northern city of Kano.

The judge told 19-year-old Abubakar Hamza, who used his female identity to sell aphrodisiacs, to desist from "immoral behaviour".

Mr Hamza, who appeared in court dressed in a pink kaftan and matching cap, said he was now "a reformed man".

Mr Hamza, who appeared in court dressed in a pink kaftan and matching cap, said he was now "a reformed man".
Since his arrest, he has become a celebrity in the strict Muslim city.
Posters of him dressed in women's clothing have been selling well.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4266773.stm
">Since his arrest, he has become a celebrity in the strict Muslim city. Posters of him dressed in women's clothing have been selling well.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4266773.stm

Gays outraged by penguin sex test


Gay rights activists have protested at a north German zoo's plans to test the sexual orientation of six male penguins which have displayed homosexual traits.