GLBT DIGEST September 12, 2007

**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.


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Hey, Florida!
Don't Forget! We need to hear from you!

Many of you haven't responded.....

Florida Red And Blue!!!!

Do your part to fight the right-wing state-wide anti-gay initiativeto amend the Florida constitution.

Friday, September 28, at the GLCC, Ft. Lauderdale - 11:45am to 1:30pm.

Michael and I promised to get a minimum of 10 people to attend thislow dollar boxed lunch - only $25 - to learn about Florida Red And Blue andthe multiple efforts to overcome this hateful amendment. Florida Red andBlue has already raised over $1 million, but our work is only beginning.

Will you support us with this? Every GLBT person in Florida needs to be apart of this effort.

Boxed Lunch Series
$25
Friday, September 28
Noon - 1:30pm
Networking 11:45am
GLCC - Ft. Lauderdale

Send us an e-mail and let us know if you'll join us on the 28th.

And...... If you can't attend, we'll be glad to accept your check made outto "Florida Red and Blue."

Ray and Michael
rays.list@comcast.net



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Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flb3bdigrest09122nbsep12,0,4791384,print.story

Wilton Manors: Commissioners denounce Naugle remarks about gays
September 12, 2007

City commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night on a resolutiondenouncing recent comments made by Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle aboutgays and bathroom sex, HIV and AIDS, bathhouses and sex clubs, pornographyand sin.

Commissioner Joe Angelo, who is openly gay, proposed the resolution.

Naugle's controversial comments cost him his seat on Broward's TouristDevelopment Council in August. Wilton Manors commissioners modeled theirresolution after a letter Broward County commissioners signed and sent lastmonth to gay news Web sites and convention planners reaffirming theircommitment to diversity.

Naugle's comments resonated especially in Wilton Manors, a city adjacent toFort Lauderdale with an estimated 35 to 40 percent gay population.



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-toronto-gay.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

September 12, 2007
Gay Muslim Documentary Coming Out At Toronto

By REUTERS
Filed at 7:17 a.m. ET

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - A documentary about Islam and homosexualityis vying for attention at the Toronto International Film Festival, wherehigh-profile movies set in the Middle East are already making a splash.

"A Jihad For Love," which was six years in the making, follows gay andlesbian Muslims battling racial profiling and harassment after the September11 attacks and subsequent attacks in London and Madrid.

Indian filmmaker Parvez Sharma filmed gay Muslims in 12 countries and ninelanguages, including India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa andFrance, and always shot footage in secret to escape the attention of localauthorities.

"We are presenting Islam's most unlikely storytellers," Sharma said of hisdebut feature, which does not yet have North American distribution.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/11/AR2007091102158_pf.html

Falwell's Son Urges Conservative Pastors To Get Out the Vote

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 12, 2007; B02

RICHMOND, Sept. 11 -- The son of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, whose MoralMajority helped reshape the national political landscape, vowed Tuesday topick up where his father left off and help change public policy in Virginiaand in Washington.

Jonathan Falwell's first mission: Elect more social conservatives to theVirginia General Assembly.

Falwell is pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, which hisfather founded in the 1950s and later used as a perch to galvanize socialconservatives into getting involved in politics. Jerry Falwell's efforts,including the founding of the Moral Majority in 1979, helped realignVirginia into a GOP stronghold in the 1990s.

But amid signs that Virginia might be leaning Democratic, Falwell saidVirginia pastors need to refocus their efforts on getting their congregantsout to vote this fall for legislative candidates who "believe the Bible isthe truth."

"We must stand up and say, 'Right is right, wrong is wrong,' " Falwell, 41,told pastors gathered Tuesday for a meeting at the House of Delegates officebuilding. "We must protect the unborn. We must protect marriage. We mustprotect our families. We must protect our young people."

Falwell's speech launched an effort by Pastors for Family Values, anoffshoot of the Richmond-based Family Foundation, to play a major role inthe Nov. 6 election, when all 140 seats in the House and Senate are on theballot.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091200587.html

Ex-`Top Chef' Contestant Is Attacked

The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 12, 2007; 8:55 AM

SEA CLIFF, N.Y. -- A former contestant on Bravo's "Top Chef" was beaten byattackers yelling anti-gay slurs, her lawyer said.

Josie Smith-Malave, who was featured on the second season of the realityshow, was among a small group of women who were asked to leave a Sea Cliffbar over Labor Day weekend, lawyer Yetta Kurland said Tuesday.

About 10 young people followed the women and began screaming anti-gayepithets, spitting on them and then beating them, Kurland said.

Smith-Malave, who is in her early 30s, is openly gay, Kurland said.

Nassau County police said they were investigating, but declined to providedetails of the incident.

Smith-Malave, a Miami native, is a former sous-chef for Marlow and Sonsrestaurant in Brooklyn. She has played for the New York Sharks of theIndependent Women's Football League.



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The Palm Beach Post

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/09/11/a13a_edletters_0911.html

Craig case just tip of homophobia iceberg

by Donald Cavanaugh

Regarding the article "Gay activists see Craig case as 'tragedy ofhomophobia''" (Aug. 30): The tragedy of homophobia is the fact that itinflicts damage on so many people. The victims of homophobia are legion.

First, in this case, there's the pitiable Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who mayhave lost his career, friends and family. Then there's his family, whosemembers have been harmed, whether Sen. Craig is gay or not. Then there arethe members of his anti-gay party and anti-gay voters whom he has let down,even while they are a major cause of the victimizing homophobia thatafflicts him and much of our nation.

Then there are the direct victims of the legislation that internalizedhomophobes such as Sen. Craig inflict on gay Americans and their families -such as the Defense of Marriage Act, which legislates second-class statusfor American homosexuals and their children.

Worse, that legislated second-class status establishes diminishedexpectations for homosexual children, who are being told by our homophobicgovernment: "You're not of equal value in this country. Don't expect to growup and have full part in the constitutional guarantees of life, liberty andhappiness. We say you're not deserving. And we should know. Our god told usso."

DONALD CAVANAUGH



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Gay & Lesbian Leadership
SmartBrier
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp

http://www.sfgate.com/flat/archive/2007/09/07/chronicle/archive/2007/09/07/BAIHS19CJ.html

San Francisco Chronicle

Legislature OKs same-sex marriage bill; governor expected to veto
Haley Davies, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Saturday, September 8, 2007

(09-08) 04:00 PDT Sacramento - --

For the second time in three years, the Legislature has approved a bill togive same-sex couples the right to marry in California, with Friday's Senatevote split almost along party lines and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expectedto veto the measure as he did in 2005.

The bill, AB43, is the third effort by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-SanFrancisco, to pass what he has termed a "gender-neutral marriage" bill. Theact would amend California's Family Code to define marriage as a civilcontract between two persons.

"Marriage is more than just a civil contract ... it is different fromdomestic partners, it's just different from civil unions - it meanssomething," said state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, who presented thebill and was also the first openly gay person to be elected to theLegislature. "And because it means something, that's why it's been denied tous."

The bill seeks to make California the second state to legalize same-sexmarriage, after Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage became legal in 2004.Since then, some 8,000 couples have been married by the state.

Elsewhere, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain offer fullmarriage rights to gays and lesbians.



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Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003872953_transbath07m.html

Mall-restroom evictions raise transgender ire

By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter

Two transgender individuals attending a weekend conference in Seattle werekicked out of a men's bathroom at Pacific Place and then ejected from thedowntown mall in what could become a significant test involving transgenderpeople under the state's year-old gay-rights law.

The Aug. 31 incident led about three dozen people who were attending theGender Odyssey Conference at the Washington State Convention and TradeCenter to march on the mall in protest on Labor Day, staging what theycalled a "pee-in" at the fourth-floor bathrooms.

The two female-to-male transgender people involved in the incident weren'tarrested but said they were mortified as a security guard led them downescalators as shoppers gawked and pointed.

"I don't think straight people can truly understand the gravity of what thismeans emotionally," said Sean, one of the two. He and the other man, hisfriend Simon, both asked that their last names not be used.

"Peeing is basic," Sean said. "Anyone who feels a need to use a bathroomshould be able to do so without someone rapping on the stall while yourpants are down around your ankle."

Pacific Place spokeswoman Lynn Beck said the men were ejected not for theirgender identity but for being disruptive. Still, she said, the mall istaking the incident seriously and will review procedures.



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The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rogers/no-more-outing_b_63765.html

No More 'Outing'
by Michael Rogers

In the Summer of 2004, I began to share my frustration about closted,anti-gay politicians and high-level staffers with my friends andacquaintances. During those chats and in strategy talks about the launch ofthe site -- many with my blogfather John Aravosis -- friends and colleaguesalways used the word 'outing.'

At the time, I did not know that Michelangelo Signorile had written aboutthe origins of the word and that its etymology shows the word was coined bya closeted gay man. Signorile, of course, is the godfather of modern dayreporting of these stories. In the early 1990s edgy publications likeOutWeek, took on these under reported stories -- with Signorile leading theway. As ACT-UP! was shaking up AIDS activism, Signorile was using the pressto move his message -- and at a time without the luxury or speed of the web.His work helped motivate the founding of Queer Nation, an organizationdedicated to, among other things, the reporting of closeted public figures.

You can't do what I do and not consider Michelangelo Signorile a pioneer andhero to more than one generation of gay activists. In 2003, Signorile wroteon the word 'outing' in Gay City News:

The word was coined by a major closet case, William Henry III, a critic atTime magazine who is now deceased. He claimed that some gayjournalists--yes, including yours truly--were doing this terrible new thing,revealing gay public figures' homosexuality, and he claimed that some gayactivists had dubbed it 'outing.' The word stuck, though some of us hatedits violent and special connotation--we preferred simply calling itreporting.

Of course, Michelangelo is 100% correct. And back in March of 2005 I saidI'd no longer use the word. I've been slipping up. A lot.

Last week, a DC columnist wrote:
Rogers sees his outings -- a word he says he doesn't like, although he usesit more than a dozen times over a single lunch...

Society has fallen into a bit of a trap with the word...And I am going totry in earnest to not use it except within quotation marks and never toexplain my work, but rather that of people who indiscriminately disclosesexual orientation of others for no justifiable reason. (Mario Lavendera,are you listening?)

I've made a pledge over at my site. Every time I used the word, except asnoted above, I'll give a gift to Truth Wins Out (the national organizationbeating back the so-called ex-gay movement).

Keep me on my toes.
Outing is out. Reporting is in.



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The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/07/craig-bust-leads-to-debat_n_63481.html

Craig Bust leads to Debate over Bathroom Stings

by Max Follmer

Even as it becomes increasingly clear that Idaho Sen. Larry Craig willresign following his arrest for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercoverpolice officer in a Minneapolis airport bathroom, some critics are wonderingwhether decoy operations like the kind that ensnared the three-term GOPsenator are an effective use of police resources.

Attorneys and civil liberties groups say they have long sought to dissuadelaw enforcement officials from using such tactics because they can unfairlytarget gay men, and often skate a fine line between policing and entrapment.

And while few believe that police should allow lewd behavior in parks andrestrooms, critics also insist that there are more effective ways ofdeterring men from "cruising" or looking for sex in public places.

"The fundamental problem is that a sting isn't calculated to stop theactivity," said Matt Coles, director of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Projectat the American Civil Liberties Union. "Are you trying to stop people fromcruising, or are you trying to arrest a lot of people?"

Law enforcement agencies that use undercover stings are reluctant to discusshow many officers are assigned to such operations or how much money isspent.

A spokeswoman for the Minneapolis Airports Commission said the airportpolice -- who have arrested 41 people since May in public indecency cases -could not discuss resources devoted to bathroom stings because providingsuch information "could compromise their ability to perform their duties."

But attorneys say that many departments have stopped using decoys because ofquestions raised about fairness and police priorities.

In West Hollywood, Calif., a city with one of the nation's largestconcentrations of gay men and lesbians, the Los Angeles County Sheriff'sDepartment agreed to stop conducting undercover stings after complaints fromresidents and activists.

more....



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Newsweek

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20644162/site/newsweek/

Growing Up Gay In Jamaica
What it's like to grow up gay in Jamaica, where bigotry is widespread.

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Patrick Falby
Newsweek International
Updated: 12:49 p.m. ET Sept 8, 2007

Sept. 8, 2007 - Gay rights may be spreading in many countries, but not inJamaica. Violence against gay men is high, and police often look the otherway, say activists. When Brian Williamson, Jamaica's leading gay rightsactivist, was murdered in June 2004, a crowd gathered outside the crimescene to celebrate.

NEWSWEEK's Patrick Falby spoke with Devon, a 30-year-old homosexual who wasgranted asylum in the United States three years ago, about growing up gay inJamaica. Devon, who lives in New York and attends a Seventh-day Adventistchurch, didn't want his last name used for fear of being thrown out of thecongregation.

Excerpts:

Falby: What's it like being a homosexual in Jamaica?
Devon: Wow. Terrible. Ridiculous. I have not been accepted by my family. Mysister kicked me out of her house, and I was dis-fellowshipped by my church.At church I was an usher, and I used to sing in the choir.

When did you realize you were a homosexual?
When I was born; ever since then I've felt that way. I used to wear mymother's shoes on the road sometimes, and my family used to kick me with theshoes and tell me to not put them on. Because I had four sisters I playedgirls' games like bandy shandy. I even used to play cricket with the girls.They used to say that I'm not a man, that I'm a woman because I play women'sgames. They used to call me "battyman," which means gay in Jamaica. I triedto keep a low profile, though, because people used to get beaten for beinggay.

How did people find out?
A friend of mine came over to the house to give me guidance one day when Iwas 18, and one of my sisters saw him. From there on my sister said that shedidn't want me near her because I'm whatever and whatever. When my sisterwent to work, I used to make sure her kids were properly dressed, bathed,had something to eat, got them off to school and picked them up. I was herhelper.

more....



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Gay & Lesbian Leadership
SmartBrier
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp

Judge first out person to hold statewide office in North CarolinaAttorney John Arrowood, who was appointed to fill an interim vacancy on theNorth Carolina Court of Appeals, is the first out person to hold a statewideelective office there. The appointment of Arrowood, who must run for aneight-year term in November, 2008, has elicited little reaction fromconservatives in the state, according to this article. The CharlotteObserver (N.C.) (9/8)

http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_news/story/268517.html



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A note from Ki, on the web:

Hurray for single stall, gender neutral restrooms!

I am trans-masculine and hate using the women's room. However, I often don'tpass as male and don't have the equipment to pee standing up. So the women'sroom is usually my only option.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Good stuff.

Ki (rhymes with guy)

And a response:

On 9/11/07, Nikki wrote:

I like the idea that it is YOUR choice to decide which bathroom you feelcomfortable using. I think the fact that there are options for people whomight not pass as well but still don't want to get either arrested forusing the wrong bathroom or get the hell beat out of them by going into themen's room in a dress and wig. For many, it's a question of safety.

The bathroom issue is a HUGE issue.

I know a lot of TGs with nightmare stories of either being harrassed,humiliated, or even asked to leave a public place over the bathroom. I havea friend that was told in a Brunswick, Georgia hospital that she would bearrested if she used the ladies room. A single toilet bathroom for oneperson is the answer as far as I'm concerned. Call it a Family Restroom witha diaper changing station and make it accessible for Disabled persons aswell, and kill 3 birds with one stone. They've had the sense enough to dothat at Ft. Lauderdale Airport and at a few rest stops that I have seen onthe Interstate.

About a year ago I saw a story on Channel 10 News, I believe. This poor TSwas instructed by her employer to use the bathroom in a toally differentbuilding. The building with the bathroom was locked on weekends, so shewould have to use the bushes to pee if she had to work weekends. Being TS,she was afraid she would lose the only job she could get if she made anissue out of it. I am very glad the issue is being brought up.

For those who are lucky enough to pass in public it's not an issue, buthonestly many in our community don't pass to that extent.



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NMAC in Action - Grassroots Advocacy Network

Sign-On Letter in Response to Victoria Arellano's Death inImmigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] Custody

By now, most of you have no doubt heard about VictoriaArellano's death in ICE custody. Victoria, an HIV+ transwoman who came tothe U.S. from Mexico as a child, was refused medication and medical care anddied shackled to a bed on July 20th.

Below is a sign-on letter to ICE, which outlines thedetails of the case and a list of recommendations to ICE and the Departmentof Homeland Security. This letter will be shared with administrators,elected officials and the press. If your organization would like to sign onplease contact, Nancy Ordover, Assistant Director, Research and FederalAffairs at Gay Men's Health Crisis by COB Friday, September 14th:212.367.1240 or nancyo@gmhc.org.

Julie L. Myers
Assistant Secretary
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Department of Homeland Security
425 Eye Street, NW
Washington, DC 20536

Re: Victoria (a.k.a. Víctor) Arellano [A: 77991267]

Dear Ms. Myers,

We, the undersigned organizations, write to you today toexpress our outrage over the July 20, 2007 death of Victoria (a.k.a. Victor)Arellano in the San Pedro detention center. Victoria's death wasexcruciating and needless. Her requests for her AIDS medication weredeliberately and repeatedly denied, as were her fellow detainees'increasingly desperate pleas to staff to take her to the hospital.

When Victoria was sent to San Pedro in May, she was takingthe antibiotic dapasone to prevent pulmonary infections from developing intopneumonia. At San Pedro, she was denied the medication despite the knownconsequences of discontinuing this antibiotic: the onset oftreatment-resistant pneumonia within a few weeks. Indeed, Victoria's healthdeteriorated rapidly to the point where the pain was so great, she wouldscream if anyone tried to move her. She complained of severe nausea,headaches, cramps, and back pain. She was vomiting and suffering fromdiarrhea. Her care was left to the men detained with her. They administeredcold compresses to bring down her fever and took turns taking her to thebathroom when she was too weak to get there by herself. Seventy of themsigned a petition appealing for medical care for Victoria.

A week before her death, she was taken to the infirmaryand given amoxicillin. Again, the standard of care for people living withAIDS was ignored. Amoxicillin is ineffective against meningitis andAIDS-related lung infections. When Victoria returned from the infirmary, shebegan vomiting blood. Once again, her fellow detainees put themselves on theline to demand medical attention for Victoria. She was finally taken to ahospital, but was returned to the detention center less than 24 hours later.By the time she was taken to another hospital, it was too late. She diedshackled to her bed in the ICU. Her mother reports her body was wracked bypneumonia and meningitis.

With everything to lose - with their own futuresuncertain - the men detained with Victoria Arellano met the brutality andthe calculated negligence of ICE with profound humanity. They cared for her;they advocated for her; they even consoled her mother when she lost herchild. We have credible information that some of these men have beentransferred out of San Pedro, possibly to prevent them from participating inan investigation and/or in retaliation for their role in trying to saveVictoria.

Although she was born male, Victoria had been living andidentifying as a woman for years.

more...



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[GaysWithoutBorders] Pegah released from UK detention

The message today from Sheffield:

Everyone

We have some good news at last! Pegah was granted bail this morning,is now out of Yarls Wood Detention Centre and back with people whowill love and care for her. The Court of Appeal have also agreed tohear her case. It will be listed within the next couple of weeks andwill be heard sometime in the next few months, we believe.

There are also other actions that we know are being taken on herbehalf, by influential organisations at a high level in the UK.

We really don't think that we would have got this far without thefantastic work you have put in supporting Pegah. She is truly gratefuland gives her heartfelt thanks to you all - as do we. It is impossibleto overstate the value of your support.

This does not mean that Pegah is out of the woods but she is now in amuch more hopeful position.

As you will understand Pegah needs time to recover from the ordeal ofthe past few weeks. She also needs to get back in touch with theordinary business of living her life in some peace and tranquility.

We will keep you updated as events develop.

Love and solidarity to you all

Friends of Pegah
Sheffield, UK

Contacts:
Friends of Pegah Campaign
c/o Victoria Hall Methodist Church
Norfolk Street
Sheffield S1 2JB
UK



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From Rex Wockner

ANDREW SULLIVAN GETS MARRIED
by Rex Wockner

Prominent gay author and blogger Andrew Sullivan got married Aug. 27 inProvincetown, Mass., to health-club worker and acting student AaronTone.

"I now understand the meaning of the phrase, 'the happiest day of yourlife,'" Sullivan, 44, said in an e-mail interview.

Read the rest:

http://wockner.blogspot.com/2007/09/andrew-sullivan-gets-married.html



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NationalGayNews.com

http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/1636/173/

Tuesday, 11 September 2007 11:57
ILGA-Europe Welcomes Judgement by European Court
of Human Rights on Rights of Transgender Person

Today the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg delivered itsjudgment in the case of L. v. Lithuania. The Court said that whileLithuanian law had recognised transsexuals' right to change not only theirgender but also their civil status, there was a gap in the law regulatingfull gender reassignment surgery which created an impediment for thetranssexual person to complete this process and therefore Lithuania violatedArticle 8 (right to respect of private and family life) of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights.

ILGA-Europe welcomes this judgement of the European Court of Human Rightswhich is consistent with the previous case law of the Court regarding therights of transgender people. The Court has confirmed previously establishedprinciples that a transgender person has the right to full genderreassignment procedures and changes of his/her identity documents to reflectthis change of gender.

Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, said:

"This is a very positive judgement and we welcome the Court's consistency onthis matter. This case highlights a problem with some European countrieswhich formally permit gender reassignment and amendment of identitydocuments but lack legal clarity and consistency and available medicalfacilities.

It is also important that the Court took into consideration the mentaldistress and a number of practical burdens and problems experienced by theapplicant because of being unable to complete the gender reassignmentprocess and associated amendments in documentation. This case highlights thecomplexity and the need for better understanding of the issues thattransgender people experience because of the legal and bureaucratic barriersthey face.

more . . .



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NationalGayNews.com

http://www.ramcigar.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=f8f232f4-3251-48a0-b94a-c444a717b05e

Film showcases life of FDNY chaplain lost on 9/11

By: Bridgette Blight
Posted: 9/11/07

9/11/07 - The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) center screenedthe documentary Saint of 9/11 on Monday night. The film told the story ofFather Mychal Judge, a gay man, Franciscan Friar and chaplain for the NewYork City Fire Department (FDNY) who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

"After Sept. 11, a lot of very touching personal perspectives wereilluminated," said Andrew Winters, director of GLBT programming at URI.

Winters discovered Saint of 9/11 at Equality Forum, held in Philadelphia inApril. Equality Forum is an event held by an organization of the same name.The organization is dedicated to promoting equality for GLBT issues througheducation.

About 10 students attended the screening in the Browning Hall lounge. TheGLBT center and the staff of Browning and Adams residence Halls sponsoredthe event. Father John Soares, URI Catholic Center Chaplain, and BrianKovacs, a retired Methodist clergyman, were also at the screening.

Winters said he was excited that Father Soares and Kovacs participated inthe film screening. He believes that bringing religious leaders togetherwith the GLBT community will foster a better relationship between them.Throughout the year, the GLBT center will host more collaborative events asa part of its new Welcome Program.

more . . . .



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NationalGayNews.com

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070911102649.htm

Gay Or Straight? Body Type And Motion Reveals Sexual Orientation, StudySuggests

Science Daily - An individual's body motion and body type can offer subtlecues about their sexual orientation, but casual observers seem better ableto read those cues in gay men than in lesbians, according to a new study inthe Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Volunteers were filmed and analyzed as they walked on a treadmill for twominutes. Researchers noted that gay subjects tended to have moregender-incongruent body types than their straight counterparts (hourglassfigures for men, tubular bodies for women) and body motions (hip-swaying formen, shoulder-swaggering for women) than their straight counterparts.

"We already know that men and women
are built differently and walk differently from each other and that casualobservers use this information as clues in making a range of socialjudgments," said lead author Kerri Johnson, UCLA assistant professor ofcommunication studies. "Now we've found that casual observers can use gaitand body shape to judge whether a stranger is gay or straight with a smallbut perceptible amount of accuracy."

Johnson and colleagues at New York University and Texas A&M measured thehips, waists and shoulders of eight male and eight female volunteers, halfof whom were gay and half straight. The volunteers then walked on atreadmill for two minutes as a three-dimensional motion-capture systemsimilar to those used by the movie industry to create animated figures fromliving models made measurements of the their motions, allowing researchersto track the precise amount of shoulder swagger and hip sway in their gaits.

Based on these measurements, the researchers determined that the gaysubjects tended to have more gender-incongruent body types than theirstraight counterparts (hourglass figures for men, tubular bodies for women)and body motions (hip-swaying for men, shoulder-swaggering for women) thantheir straight counterparts.

more . . . . .



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NationalGayNews.com

http://nationalgaynews.com/content/view/1638/

Tuesday, 11 September 2007 17:32
Eli Clare
Disability Activist Revels Core Truths

TransNation
By Jacob Anderson-Minshall

In 2007's The Marrow's Telling: Words In Motion-a collection of poetry andprose-disability activist Eli Clare examines the way bodies carry historyand identity over time. In particular, he maps the physical ramifications ofhis Cerbal Palsy, rural heritage, gender transgressions, queer sexuality andabuse survival.

Identifying as "a white, disabled, rural, mixed-classed, English-speaking,ftm-spectrum genderqueer who lives as a guy in the belly of the [UnitedStates] empire," Clare says, "the only ethical way to name myself is toacknowledge the ways I'm privileged as well as marginalized. I'm also asocialist with anarchist leanings, a peacenik and environmentalist, a loverof trees, rocks, water, sky, and words, a writer committed to art and socialjustice."

Clare is the author of 1999's Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, andLiberation, heralded as a landmark text in the formation of queer/disabilitystudies. He once walked across the continental United States for peace,coordinated a rape prevention program and co-organized the first-everQueerness and Disability Conference. He works for the University of Vermont's LGBTQA Services.

Available this month, The Marrow's Telling represents Homofactus Presshomofactuspress.com)'s dedication to work by and for trans and genderqueermen. Upcoming events to promote the anthology includes Clare's October 27thpresentation at the University of Michigan: "Gaping, Gawking, Staring:Living in Marked Bodies."

Earlier this year, Clare was the keynote speaker at 2007's Forge Forwardconference for FTM and trans men, where he addressed the intersectionsbetween trans and ability. In particular, Clare expressed concern with thosewho "name their transness a disability [or] a birth defect."

more . . . . . .



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Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48753.asp

September 12, 2007
Clinton to return $850,000 raised by Hsu

Officials with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign saidMonday the campaign will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democraticfund-raiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedlyviolating election laws.

Clinton previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she receivedfrom Hsu for her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her politicalaction committee, HillPac.

The FBI is investigating whether Hsu paid so-called straw donors to sendcampaign contributions to Clinton and other candidates, a law enforcementofficial said Monday.

''In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged inan illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of cautionto return the money he raised for our campaign,'' Clinton spokesman HowardWolfson said in a statement Monday night. ''An estimated 260 donors thisweek will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from thecampaign.''

Wolfson said the Clinton campaign also will vigorously review itsfund-raisers, including thorough criminal background checks, in the future.''In any instances where a source of a bundler's income is in question, thecampaign will take affirmative steps to verify its origin,'' he said.

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Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48754.asp

September 12, 2007

Web sites orchestrate virtual presidential debate

Imagine shaping your own presidential showdown, using candidates and theiranswers like building blocks that shatter the standard conventions of atelevised political debate.

Yahoo! and the blog HuffingtonPost.com and the Web magazine Slate.com thisweek will let viewers assemble their own presidential confrontations. Theycan stack one candidate against another, or line them all up by singleissue.

PBS's Charlie Rose will be the moderator and interviewer who will elicit theanswer blocks in a series of interviews Wednesday with the eight Democraticpresidential candidates. Rose will quiz each candidate separately, bysatellite from New York, on topics selected by a vote of Yahoo! users.

Once posted on the three Web sites on Thursday, viewers will be able to editto taste. Joe Biden versus Barack Obama on the war in Iraq. Hillary RodhamClinton on health care, education, and the war. All eight on a ''wild card''question reserved for each one. And more.

Call it Web 2.0 politics. Or call it what its organizers do-a ''mashup.''

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Advocate.com

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48741.asp

September 12, 2007

Corzine vows to sign marriage bill but said it would not make his agenda in2008

New Jersey's governor last weekend vowed to sign a marriage equality billbut said he would not seek one in an election year, while California'sgovernor did get such a bill but kept quiet about it as he exhorted fellowRepublicans toward centrism.

New Jersey governor Jon Corzine on Sunday called same-sex marriage in hisstate inevitable but said it "won't be on my agenda" until after the 2008presidential election for fear it would be used as a wedge issue by theright wing, New York's Gay City News reported.

"I don't think I'd like to see this debated in a presidential electionyear," the paper quoted Corzine, a Democrat, as telling members of theNational Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association at a gathering in Newark,N.J.

"I don't know whether it's three years or five years, but in some time framein the not so distant future, I suspect that New Jersey will embrace themoniker of gay marriage or same-sex marriage," he said.

Corzine asserted he will sign a bill to allow same-sex marriage if thelegislature sends him one.

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ExpressGayNews.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/education/10trans.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

September 10, 2007

A Stir, but No Crisis, From Principal's Gender Change

By TINA KELLEY

PORT EWEN, N.Y., Sept. 5 - Cassandra Laycock, 17, who is studying fashiondesign, put on shiny red high-heeled boots and black pants with redpinstripes for her first day of school at Ulster County's Career & TechnicalCenter on Wednesday.

Her principal chose a tasteful pantsuit to match a new identity. GarySuraci, who had been running the school for the past dozen years, returnedthis fall as Genna Suraci, causing something of a stir among students, staffand the broader Hudson Valley community surrounding the school. Cassandramet the change with a beneficent shrug but an outdated pronoun. "If he wantsto do it, let him do it," she said. "It's just his business."

But Renée McCormick said her daughter Nicole had not returned to the schoolthis year, in part because of the principal. "It's a horrible influence forthe kids," she said. And Michael Locasio, who owns a tattoo parlor in aneighboring town, complained, "God makes things perfect and people want toscrew it all up."

School officials would not allow a reporter or photographer on campus andtold students to refrain from taking pictures for a couple of weeks, lestthey turn up on the Internet. They scheduled several meetings on the firstdays of classes for the 1,150 students - most of them in 11th and 12thgrades - to discuss the change with guidance counselors and social workers,having offered similar sessions for parents and teachers the previous week.

In a brief telephone interview, Ms. Suraci said, "My impression was thingswere normal, like any opening day for me." She declined to discuss hertransformation, referring all questions to the district superintendent,Martin Ruglis.

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ExpressGayNews.com

http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=14271

Craig's court hearing set for Sept. 26

Will come four days before the senator is expected to step down
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) | Sep 12, 10:16 AM

Sen. Larry Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea in an airport sexsting will be heard on Sept. 26, just four days before he has said he willstep down from his Senate seat.

A spokesman for Craig has said the Idaho Republican is unlikely to try tofinish his third term unless a court moves quickly to overturn Craig'sconviction. Craig has been under intense pressure from fellow Republicans toresign.

The hearing will take place before Judge Charles Porter, rather than JudgeGary Larson, who had accepted Craig's guilty plea. That could help Craig'sattorneys, who are arguing, in effect, that the judge made a mistakeaccepting Craig's guilty plea.

It's not yet known whether Craig will appear in person at the hearing, saidJudy Smith, a spokesman for Craig attorney Billy Martin.

Craig was arrested June 11 by a Minneapolis airport police officer in abathroom sex sting. The Idaho Republican pleaded guilty to misdemeanordisorderly conduct, and in exchange, prosecutors dropped a gross misdemeanorcharge of interference with privacy.

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ExpressGayNews.com

http://freedomtoserve.blogspot.com/2007/09/what-does-rummy-really-think-about-gays.html

What Does Rummy REALLY Think About the Gays?

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has given his firstpost-exit interview with, of all outlets, GQ Magazine. In it, we learn thatRummy's wife rides a mule, that he employs "two young, studly pilots" to flyhim around the country and that maybe - just maybe - he was never all thatin line with his boss when it came to LGBT issues.

From GQ's exclusive interview with the former Pentagon chief comes thisexchange:

Q: How does Donald Rumsfeld feel about gay marriage, abortion, etc.?
A: "Um, I'm not gonna get into it."
Q: But why?
A: "The administration has positions on these things, and if you're part ofthe administration, you're supportive of the administration."

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ExpressGayNews.com

http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2007/09/poll-majority-c.html

Poll: Majority clueless, joyless about gay job bias

A new survey suggests that 59% of the American public is unaware thatemployment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is currentlylegal. However, when all are brought up to speed, 64% of the respondentssaid they think such is unfair.

As for the 36% who said they think such firings are perfectly okay? Ugh,they're a minority sect -- who the hell cares about them or theirwell-being?! F**k 'em. Our job in the majority is only to look out forourselves!

Sixth Annual Out & Equal/Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs CommunicationsSurvey Explores Workplace Attitudes toward GLBT People [Out & Equal]

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091107scot.htm

Scottsdale Urged To Adopt LGBT Rights Ordinance
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: September 11, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET

(Scottsdale, Arizona) Scottsdale's Human Relations Commission is pressingthe city to pass legislation protecting LGBT residents in the wake of aseries of incidents that has shocked the Arizona community.

The commission Monday night passed a resolution calling on the city to enactan ordinance that would bar bias in the workplace at city businesses andlocal government and require companies doing business with the city even ifbased outside Scottsdale to have a stated policy of non-discriminationagainst LGBT employees.

"We're telling [businesses] that we do not discriminate in Scottsdale,"commission chair Michele deLaFreniere told the Arizona Republic.

"We have a community under attack. That is of major concern to the GLBTcommunity."

The recommendation has been sent to Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091107nyhiv.htm

New HIV Cases Rising Among Young NYC Men Who Have Sex With Men
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: September 11, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET

(New York City) HIV infection is on the rise among young men who have sexwith men in New York City, particularly among young blacks and Hispanics,according to preliminary data released Tuesday by the NYC Health Department.

New HIV diagnoses among MSM under age 30 have increased by 33 percent duringthe past six years, the agency reported today, from 374 in 2001 to almost500 in 2006.

New diagnoses have doubled among MSM ages 13 to19, while declining by 22percent among older MSM.

The under-30 group now accounts for 44% of all new diagnoses among MSM inNew York City, up from 31% in 2001.

"We are very concerned about the increase in HIV among young men who havesex with men," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, Health Commissioner for New YorkCity.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091107isl.htm

Ex-Islamists 'Come Out Of The Closet'
by The Associated Press

Posted: September 11, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET

(Amsterdam, Netherlands) Ehsan Jami knew he was making himself a target forradical Islamists when he decided to launch a Dutch organization for Muslimswho renounce their religion.

Five months and three physical assaults later, his ``Committee forEx-Muslims'' is being launched Tuesday, joining similar groups that havesprung up around Europe.

These groups hope to add a new voice to the debate about _ and within _Europe's Muslim communities, presenting themselves as diametricallydifferent to the disenchanted and sometimes violent youth who grabheadlines, or to immigrants who live cloistered among their own.

Instead, they seek recognition from the Muslim mainstream for``freethinkers,'' empowered Muslim women, gays and those who want torenounce their religion without fear.

Under some fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, apostasy is forbidden,or is a heresy punishable by death.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091107lon.htm

Part Of UK Gay Rights Law Quashed
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: September 11, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET

(London) A High Court judge on Tuesday set aside a provision of Britain'sLGBT anti-discrimination law.

The law, which came into effect earlier this year, bans discriminationagainst gays and lesbians in goods and services. It was immediatelychallenged by conservative religious groups in Northern Ireland.

The organizations claimed the law could be used to sue Christians in theirbeliefs.

Tuesday a Northern Ireland High Court Justice ruled the harassmentprovisions in the law must be removed. In a 42-page ruling Justice Weatherupsaid that the curbs on anti-gay speech had not received enough public inputbefore the law was passed.

He did, however, uphold other sections of the act, saying that the basicpremise of the law does not infringe on people of faith who might not wantto provide services or jobs to gays.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091207vitter.htm

GOP's Other Family Values Scandal Widens
by The Associated Press

Posted: September 12, 2007 - 6:00 am ET

(Beverley Hills, California) A former New Orleans prostitute who will befeatured in Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine appeared at his office Tuesday toaccuse Sen. David Vitter of having a sexual relationship with her in 1999.Wendy Ellis told reporters that Vitter visited her two to three times a weekfor sexual relations between July and November 1999.

Flynt produced parts of an Aug. 22 polygraph test that he said confirmed heraccount, but Ellis could provide no financial records, photographs or otherevidence to support her assertion that the Louisiana Republican was a clientduring that time.

Vitter, an advocate of "family values" who voted for a constitutionalamendment to ban same-sex marriage, has denied those claims.

"I want the truth to be known," Ellis said. "It was a pure sexualrelationship. He would come in and do his business."

Ellis declined to comment when asked if she was being paid or reimbursed forher statement regarding Vitter, but she later said she would appear inHustler magazine in January.



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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091207romney.htm

Romney Aide In Dirty Tricks Campaign
by The Associated Press

Posted: September 12, 2007 - 6:00 am ET

(Boston, Massachusetts) A spokesman for Republican Mitt Romney says thatthe presidential candidate did not approve the creation of a Web siteseverely critical of the personal and political life of his GOP rival, FredThompson.

The Web site, PhoneyFred.org, was created by Wesley Donehue, a businesspartner of Warren Tompkins, a South Carolina political operative on theRomney payroll and Romney's top adviser in the early voting state.

The site was created without the knowledge of Tompkins or Romney, saidRomney spokesman Kevin Madden. After the campaign received media inquiriesabout it, Romney aides traced the site to Donehue and complained.

"We made it clear that we did not approve of the site and asked forimmediate action to make sure it was again in no way affiliated with thecampaign," Madden said. "The person responsible is not an employee of ours,but we took immediate action to make sure it was clear the site was notaffiliated with the campaign."

The Web site attacked Thompsons conservative credentials. It also labeledhim Fancy Fred, Five O'Clock Fred, Flip-Flop Fred, McCain Fred, Moron Fred,Playboy Fred, Pro-Choice Fred, Son-of-a-Fred and Trial Lawyer Fred.

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365gay.com

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/091207book.htm

Jenna Bush Pens Book On HIV
by The Associated Press

Posted: September 12, 2007 - 9:00 am ET

(New York City) It's tempting to scoff at the idea of presidential partygirl Jenna Bush writing a book, but her first effort is surprisingly welldone.

``Ana's Story'' is a short biography of a 17-year-old single mother in LatinAmerica infected with HIV. Bush met Ana, whose real name and hometown areconcealed, while working as an intern for the United Nations Children'sFund, better known as UNICEF.

Ana has a story worth telling.

Her life has been a struggle with poverty, abuse and prejudice. Her motherand aunt were raped by their stepfather, who infected them with HIV. Ana'smother, father and infant sister died of AIDS before she finished sixthgrade. Only her other younger sister, Isabel, escaped the disease.

Ana learns to keep her illness quiet at a young age.

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Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5127317.html

Sept. 11, 2007, 10:30PM
Prostitute's new claims complicate Vitter's life

By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Analysts said the political future of U.S. Sen. David Vitteragain was thrown into question Tuesday after a former New Orleans prostitutevouched in person that the senator was one of her former clients.

"It's just a continuous drip of information, allegations, contradictionsthat are beyond his control," said Silas Lee, a New Orleans politicalanalyst. "The question is what's the tolerance of voters."

When Vitter's sex scandal broke out in July after he acknowledged that hisWashington telephone number showed up on the phone records of an escortservice, political observers thought he could weather the maelstrom.

Since then, though, the atmosphere surrounding Vitter and the RepublicanParty has become more dire because of the guilty plea in an airport sexsting by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho.

And the new dynamics may mean trouble from Vitter.

His survival has become "definitely more complicated," said ElliottStonecipher, a Shreveport political analyst.

With Republicans reeling, they will take measures to save the GOP's imageand keep the sex scandals from tainting the rest of the party, Stoneciphersaid. "Vitter could become the guy the party throws under the bus to keepthe discussion where it is."



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