United Arab Emirates bans "Brokeback"
Gay.com U.K.

"Brokeback Mountain" will not be seen by moviegoers in the United Arab Emirates, after the country's government banned the film.

Kissing contest closed to gays
by Heather Quitos

A Valentine’s Day Kiss Off Contest at West Towne Mall this Saturday may not be for everyone. According to officials at the University of Wisconsin, the mall will not allow same-sex couples to paricipate in the contest.

******

Fighting, preventing ‘trans panic’ 
When to reveal bio status remains tough subject for trans people, experts say
By Dyana Bagby 

Gwen Araujo died a brutal death.
After partying with a group of friends in September 2002, including having sexual contact with several young men, Araujo, 17, was invited to party with them again on Oct. 3, 2002.
But when the young men learned that night that Araujo had male genitalia, they beat and strangled her, leaving her body in a shallow grave. And when Araujo’s attackers went on trial, they claimed their discovery justified their actions.
Late last month, the California Assembly approved a first-of-its-kind bill putting the state on record against the so-called "trans panic" and "gay panic" defenses used by some killers to receive lighter prison sentences.

Gay Marriage as 'the New Abortion'
Debate Becomes Polarizing as Both Sides Become Better Organized, Spend Millions
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer

In the battle over gay marriage, both sides contend that time is on their side. But both are raising -- and spending -- money like there is no tomorrow.

The forces arrayed for and against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage are rapidly becoming institutionalized at both the federal and state levels, according to evangelical Christian groups and gay rights organizations.

US plans massive data sweep
Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. Will it go too far?
By Mark Clayton | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

The US government is developing a massive computer system that can collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity.

The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. But by delving deeply into the digital minutiae of American life, the program is also raising concerns that the government is intruding too deeply into citizens' privacy.

Climate 'warmest for millennium'
By Paul Rincon

In the late 20th Century, the northern hemisphere experienced its most widespread warmth for 1,200 years, according to the journal Science.
The findings support evidence pointing to unprecedented recent warming of the climate linked to greenhouse emissions.

A ray of hope for gay rights activists
Sanghita Singh

NEW DELHI:The latest Supreme Court directive to the Delhi high court to review the ‘abnormality’ of same sex relationships has given a push of confidence to the hitherto unorganised gay movement in India. Voices against 377, a coalition of 15 NGOs fighting for the legality of homosexuality along with parallel gay rights groups, is now putting together a more effective strategy to get rid of archaic laws surrounding same-sex relationships. An all India meeting to review the entire scenario of gay rights in India is being planned in Mumbai to be held in early March.

The idiots are still doing idiot things:

Japanese court rejects transsexual's request to change gender

A Japanese court rejected a male-to-female transsexual's request to change her officially registered sex because she already has two children who were born before the operation, a news report said Monday.

Too hot to handle
By Bill McKibben

Recent efforts to censor Jim Hansen, NASA's top climate scientist, are only the latest. As his message grows more urgent, we ignore him at our peril.

From: [LGBTNepal] Two men calling themselves Royal Nepal Army (RNA) 'Jawan' raped a Meti in Kathmandu


Puja Chaudhari, A Meti, 25 years old, with her friends was approached by two men on their motorbike on 2nd Feb 2006 about 8 PM in the evening in Thamel (tourist area of Kathmandu, near Royal Palace) and asked Puja to come with them for 'enjoyment'. when Puja denied they forced her and promised that they would pay a good sum. After that Puja was taken to a MM lodge in Thamel. Inside a room they denied to pay her any money. When Puja was trying to leave the room she was pulled in and beaten severely by these two men. She has bruises on her different parts of body and her left year was tarred apart. They raped her saying they were from RNA and they could even kill her and no evidence would be found.

Blue Diamond Society denounces such violence against Metis and demand RNA to investigate immediately. Blue Diamond Society also demands to immediate end of such regular attack by security forces against Metis in Nepal.

Alex Chamling and Sunil Pant

Is it Fascism Yet?

In a parking lot in suburban Philadelphia, a mother buckles her child into the car seat. She puts the groceries in the back of the station wagon, and as she pulls the door down I see, on a piece of paper taped on the window the question “Is it fascism yet?” My brother calls and in the middle of the phone conversation says into the silence “I know how people felt in Germany in the 1930s.” It is not fascism yet. We are waiting, as winter comes, to see if the shadows lengthen and the light fails.