Canadian Natives Fight Grave Odds


It may read like a corny western movie spewed out by Hollywood. Unfortunately, the continuing abuse of aboriginal people in Canada is fact, not fiction.

One in every 24 Canadians is of aboriginal origin. They are North American Indians, Metis, Inuit, and those of more than one aboriginal origin. Of these 1.3 million Canadians, about 280,000 live on reserves which are spread across the country and into the north.

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Military Commanders Appear to Tolerate Anti-Gay Harassment According to Study 


(Santa Barbara, CA) - A report published this month in the journal, Military Psychology, suggests that a disproportionate number of military commanders perpetrate or witness anti-gay harassment in the U.S. military when compared to a civilian population. It also found that reported incidents of some forms of perceived sexual-orientation-based harassment were lower in the military than in the general population.

The study was conducted and written by Professor Bonnie Moradi of the Psychology Department at University of Florida, and was commissioned by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM), a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Bill aims to protect gay marriage foes


A controversial bill aimed at protecting the right of Albertans to speak out against gay marriage without repercussions is inching its way into law.
The Tory caucus decided this week to support a watered-down version of Foothills-Rocky View MLA Ted Morton's private member's bill.

Gay skaters sue Berkeley rink for discrimination


BERKELEY, Calif. - Two gay figure skaters sued the Berkeley ice rink for discrimination after twice being told to stop holding hands while skating.

The growing level of interest in Hirschfeld’s life in Germany and the effort to commemorate the gay victims of the National Socialists have culminated in a campaign, founded in 2005, called Initiative Queer Nations (www.initiative-queer-nations.de) to rebuild the world’s first research center devoted to sexology—the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft—which Hirschfeld founded in Berlin, 14 years before the Nazi backlash, in 1919.

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PSU to offer more gender-neutral facilities on campus
Facilities to offer maps showing locations of bathrooms next week


To address growing concerns that Portland State is in need of more gender-neutral bathrooms on campus, plans are in the works to offer more of the bathrooms, and maps showing gender-neutral bathrooms on campus will be provided beginning next week.

Seventeen of the single-occupancy gender-neutral restrooms are located in 10 campus buildings. These bathrooms are also built to serve special-needs groups like families, nursing mothers and the disabled.

Italy's transgender MP fights toilet "apartheid"


ROME (Reuters) - Among the most pressing orders of business for Europe's first "transgender" lawmaker may be fighting over which toilet to use in the Italian parliament.

Elected last month, Vladimir Luxuria said on Thursday she was opposed to toilet "apartheid" after a centre-right lawmaker suggested the creation of a special, third lavatory for all transgender politicians.

In Italy, and all of Europe, that means just Luxuria.

"I didn't expect politics to sink this low," Luxuria, a 40-year-old drag queen and defender of gay rights said in an interview with the online edition of Corriere della Sera daily.

Global warming weakens Pacific winds
Dwindling circulation could worsen El Niño effect.]

Climate change is weakening a vast system of circulating winds that traverses the Pacific Ocean from coast to coast, say climate experts. Global warming has caused the system, which is crucial for monsoon rains in Southeast Asia and fisheries in South America, to decline since the advent of industrial times.


The system, known as the Walker circulation, has weakened by more than 3% since the mid-nineteenth century, report climate modellers led by Gabriel Vecchi of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Princeton, New Jersey. The cause, they say, is greenhouse gases. And with emissions still climbing, Pacific winds could potentially decline by more than 10% by the end of the century, they predict.

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EPORT RECONCILES ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE TRENDS
First of 21 Reports from the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Significantly Revises, Updates Conclusions from Previous Key Reports

May 2, 2006 — The U.S. Climate Change Science Program issued the first of 21 Synthesis and Assessment S&A Products today with findings that improve the understanding of climate change and human influences on temperature trends.
"Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences," also referred to as S&A Product 1.1, tackles some of the long-standing difficulties that have impeded understanding of changes in atmospheric temperatures and the basic causes of these changes.

According to the published report, there is no longer a discrepancy in the rate of global average temperature increase for the surface compared with higher levels in the atmosphere. This discrepancy had previously been used to challenge the validity of climate models used to detect and attribute the causes of observed climate change. This is an important revision to and update of the conclusions of earlier reports from the U.S. National Research Council and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Time to talk to gay people, Sir Iqbal

The Muslim Council of Britain has damaged its credibility by rejecting action against homophobia.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has rejected talks with gay organisations and rebuffed proposals to tackle homophobia within the Muslim community.
Inayat Bunglawala, media spokesperson for the MCB, has disowned the MCB's advisor on equality issues, Muhammed Aziz.

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Massachusetts Court Considers Legality of Putting Gay Marriage Before Voters


BOSTON — Gay marriage returned to the state's highest court Thursday as supporters challenged a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The Supreme Judicial Court — the same court that legalized gay marriage through a landmark 2003 ruling — heard arguments on a referendum proposed for the 2008 statewide ballot.

Colorado Senate Approves Gay Partner Measure


(Denver, Colorado) A proposal that put a same-sex partner rights question on the November ballot was backed by the Senate on Wednesday.
If approved by voters it would give gay couples many of the same rights as married couples under state law.
The issue had little difficulty clearing the Democratically-controlled Senate, although several GOP members denounced it as "marriage lite" and said it would lead to the breakup of families.

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Gay Fairy Tale Sparks Outrage


Lexington, MA (AHN) – A fairy tale about gay marriage has sparked a civil rights debate in Massachusetts, after a teacher read the story to a classroom of seven year olds without warning parents first.

A parents' rights group said it may sue the public school in the Lexington, where a teacher used the book King and King in a lesson about different types of weddings.

Brian Camenker, president of the Parents Rights Coalition, a conservative Massachusetts-based advocacy group said he believes the school, Joseph Estabrook Elementary, broke a 1996 Massachusetts law requiring schools to notify parents of sex-education lessons.
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Bill to promote gay role models in California schools passes committee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A bill prohibiting discrimination against gays in school curriculum passed a key Senate committee Wednesday despite arguments that it would intrude on a parent's right to teach morals to their children.
Written by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, and sponsored by Equality California, Senate Bill 1437 attempts to create bias-free social science curriculum by requiring schools to recognize the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Human rights group protest Russian gay abuse

The attack by neo-fascists and religionists on a gay gathering at a Moscow nightclub has been condemned by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

GALHA has written to the Russian Ambassador in London, Yury Fedotov, to complain about this incident and the increasing persecution of gay people in Russia.

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U.S. law separates thousands of gay couples
Immigration Equality report urges Uniting American Families Act

U.S. immigration laws have physically separated thousands of gay Americans from their non-American partners and Congress should act so they can legally reunite, according to a new report.

The report — "Family, Unvalued" released May 2 — evaluates how U.S. immigration policies affect gay Americans and their families. It also criticizes federal officials for not offering gay foreigners an opportunity to live permanently with their partner in the United States.

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Ohio's gay-rights policy victorious
Prison chaplain's suspension upheld

Cincinnati- A federal appeals court has delivered a major victory to the gay-rights movement by ruling that Ohio officials can discipline public employees who discriminate, even if the workers say they are following religious beliefs.
The decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati is an important legal development because it means employers can enforce workplace policies that forbid bias based on sexual orientation.

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Methodist panel upholds anti-gay ruling

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United Methodist Church's top court has refused to reconsider its ruling that a minister acted correctly when he refused church membership to a gay man, the church announced on Tuesday.

What Is The Link Between GLBT and Immigrant Rights?

You may remember from our e-newsletters during this past month, but just in case:

Today, Basic Rights Oregon will join Oregon’s immigrant community and its allies as protests around the country take place to demonstrate the economic power of immigrants and opposition to anti-immigration legislation and dialogue sweeping the country. Along with boycotting work and commerce for a full day, we will join the rally at 11 a.m. at the Oregon State Capital in Salem and at Pioneer Square in Portland. Then there is a march at 12 p.m.

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Hundreds of thousands march for immigrant rights
Schools, businesses feel impact as students, workers walk out

(CNN) -- Kids skipped school. Men and women walked off their jobs. Others didn't bother going to work. Businesses shut down for lack of patrons or employees.

Throngs of immigrants and advocates took to the streets of many U.S. cities Monday to protest proposed immigration laws, and the sites represented a veritable where's where of American metropolises.

Among them: New York; Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; Miami, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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Va. Studies Medical Needs of Transgender
By DIONNE WALKER Associated Press Writer 

RICHMOND, Va. — For all the primping, powdering and pumping up many transgender men and women will do to pass as the opposite sex, there's one thing health care experts say too many of them can't stomach: a visit to the doctor.

A health study by the Virginia Health Department and Virginia Commonwealth University is intended to unravel the fears and prejudices hindering transgender people from seeking health care.


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Picket disrupts gay party at Moscow nightclub

Moscow, May 1, Interfax - More than 150 young people shouting nationalistic slogans staged an unauthorized picket outside Moscow's La Guardia nightclub on April 30, disrupting a planned gay party there.

"Representatives of sexual minorities were to gather at the club for a party. But at around 9:30 p.m. over 150 young people and elderly women holding icons blocked the entrance. Some of the young people were shouting nationalistic slogans and ordered representatives of sexual minorities to sit down on the floor," a law enforcement source told Interfax.

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Gay rights march disrupted in Poland
PlanetOut Network


A gay rights march in Poland was disrupted by protesters throwing stones and eggs, and riot police used shields and batons prevent further violence.

About 1,000 people took part in Friday's march through Krakow to promote tolerance and gay rights. A simultaneous and equally large "tradition" march was staged by the far-right All Poland Youth Group, with several participants straying to hurl eggs and rocks at the pro-gay marchers, the BBC reported.

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TRANSSEXUAL & EUNUCH: An Indo-Philippine Theatre Collaboration
by Felimon Blanco

Spices. Exotic foods. Colorful dresses. Interesting but always jam-packed trains. Auto Rickshaws. Beggars. Cows. Elephants. Malls. Bollywood films. Slums. Cricket. Colorful nightlife. Food peddlers. Unfinished roads. Beautiful colonial buildings. Warm and hardworking people. These are just among the tastes, smell and sights of India.

I spent 28 days in Mumbai, India working on a collaborative theatre workshop with Actor’s Cult, a theatre company founded by graduates of India’s National School of Drama (NSD). The project, funded by Arts Network Asia (ANA), was a collaborative theatre workshop working on a play about a transsexual subject from the Philippines and a eunuch from India.


Suspect Opens Fire Outside Gay A.A. Meeting


(CBS) PALM SPRINGS Police are seeking a gunman who opened fire outside Palm Springs City Hall before a gay Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. Saturday as people waited outside the City Council chambers for a weekly gay Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

"It's a gay AA meeting and somebody shot at the meeting," said Palm Springs resident Rick Heidorn. 

"We were sitting there and all of a sudden, we heard, `Pop, pop, pop,'" said Paul Granatos. Granatos and Heidorn were seated 15 feet away from the victim when he was shot.


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The day a gay cowboy was brutally bashed


THE Big Brother star who tearfully outed himself on TV last week was the victim of a violent gay bashing that left him bloodied and unconscious.

As this picture reveals, model David Graham, who is the early favourite to win the sixth series of the reality show, nearly paid a fatal price for his lifestyle.

The Queensland farmer, 26, was brutally beaten by five men and left for dead in a pool of blood after leaving a popular Brisbane gay night spot in the early hours of January 22.

David was making his way to his ute parked in a side street when he was set upon by a gang of men throwing rocks and bottles.

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Gay porn soldier ejected from US Army    

A soldier of the United States’ elite 82nd Airborne Division has been convicted and discharged from service for performing sodomy on screen for a gay military porn website. Richard Ashley received a 75-day jail sentence, and will be discharged in accordance with the Army’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.


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Danforth: Ban on gay marriage a silly idea


WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. John Danforth says a conservative push to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is silly, calling it the latest example of how the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the GOP.