YCC calls for transgender protection
Council passes resolution calling for addition to Yale's nondiscrimination policy
BY CULLEN MACBETH

The Yale College Council approved a resolution Sunday night calling on the administration to include the terms "gender identity" and "gender expression" in the University's official nondiscrimination policy.

Less than two weeks after Harvard University announced the addition of protection for "gender identity" -- though not
"gender expression" -- to its own nondiscrimination policy, the YCC pushed for a similar action at Yale. Although some YCC members said they worried that the Yale resolution was not substantive enough to effect real change, supporters of the resolution -- which passed, 13-3 -- argue that it is needed to ensure that transgender members of the Yale community do not face harassment.

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Amsterdam mayor's gay rights plea

The mayor of Amsterdam has written to his counterparts in eight other European capitals, calling on them to uphold gay rights.

In his letter, Job Cohen warns that intolerance against homosexuals is on the increase. The Netherlands introduced gay marriage five years ago, and Mr Cohen is urging other countries to do the same.

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Hope College student alleges gay attack

HOLLAND (NEWS 3) - A Hope College student says he was assaulted because of his sexual orientation. Now, he and others are planning a rally on campus to promote tolerance.

Student Jason Burns says he is active in visiting classrooms to talk about tolerance. But after giving one such presentation last week, he says he was attacked by two men. "The two of them came over and punched me once in the stomach and twice in the ribs," he says. "I was able to fend them off and get to my car."

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Church Groups Battle Over Gay Marriage
by Doug Windsor, 365Gay.com New York Bureau 

(New York City) A swath of organizations including nearly 200 religious groups, congregations and clergy have filed friend of the court briefs supporting same-sex marriage in New York State while Catholics have joined evangelical groups in demanding a federal constitutional amendment barring gay marriage.
New York State's highest court - the Court of Appeal - will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of state regulations that prevent same-sex couples from marrying on May 31.

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Federal judge dismisses SLDN suit against U.S. military's gay ban
Gay group weighs appeal of decision upholding 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed today a constitutional challenge to the U.S. military's ban on service by men and women who are openly gay. The decision by District Judge George A. O'Toole, Jr., is the second in a month throwing out suits attacking the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy enacted by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993.