GLBT News

[justin]

The arguments just seem to be getting sillier and sillier

Quote:

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Opponents had argued the law would be the first step toward the legalization of gay marriage and would infringe on the rights of churches and civic groups to oppose homosexuality.

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so they're opposing an anti discrimination bill on the grounds that it infringes on peoples right to discriminate?





using that logic I could argue against murder being a crime since it infringes on my right to commit murder

--

Homer Simpson: When will people learn, democracy just doesn't work.

[ElDonia]

Parliament to consider same-sex marriage



The Des Moines Register

Toronto, Canada -- 23 January 2005



As gay-rights activists head to Ottawa for the final stage in the battle to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, Roman Catholic clergy are demanding that legislators defeat the proposition.



They have pledged to bring the debate to their pulpits today and have called on Prime Minister Paul Martin to consider the moral consequences of allowing homosexual unions nationwide. Gays and lesbians can already marry in seven provinces and one territory.



Martin said he would stake his leadership on defending the right of gay couples to wed under Canada's Charter of Rights, the country's 1982 counterpart to the U.S. Bill of Rights.



The battle begins in earnest on Jan. 31, when the House of Commons reconvenes and will consider a bill put forward by Martin's government. Supporters and opponents alike say the bill's chances are still too close to call.



from Register news services

[ElDonia]

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Saturday, January 15, 2005



SPOKANE -- Gay activists in this staid Eastern Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife, which religious conservatives complain will be at odds with Spokane's family-oriented culture.



A gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive, proponents contend, the type of community that can attract the so-called "creative class" that will build the economy of tomorrow.



"We're talking about an actual physical part of town we would like to establish as a gay district," said Marvin Reguindin, owner of a Spokane graphic design firm, who envisions an area similar to the Castro district of San Francisco or Capitol Hill in Seattle.



Community Impact Spokane, a network of evangelical Christians, is appalled.



"A gay Mecca is not what we'd like to see Spokane marketed as," said Penny Lancaster, director of the group. "I'd rather see us promoted as a conservative, family-oriented community without any reference to sexual orientation."



Too late, some say.



"There is a very large gay population here," said Bonnie Aspen, a business owner who arrived with her partner two years ago to escape the congestion of the San Francisco Bay area.



Even though they face little discrimination, gays stay under the radar, said Aspen, a member of the Inland Northwest Business Alliance, an association of gay and gay-friendly businesses that is pushing the idea.



"Visibility equals freedom," Aspen said. "Invisibility we have dealt with all our life."







She predicted a gay district will exist within the next year or two.



Spokane is some 90 percent white and a gay district will promote the notion that such a community can still be tolerant and have diversity, Aspen said.



The idea arises out of the theories of Richard Florida, an economist whose 2002 book, "The Rise of the Creative Class," contends that the economy of the future will be created by the 38 million workers who toil in "creative" industries.



Florida, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, said members of the creative class consider recreation, culture and ethnic diversity, including a large population of gays, as central to where they live. Places such as New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle have those qualities. Places such as Spokane generally do not.



After Florida spoke here a couple of years ago, Spokane civic leaders embraced many of his ideas. They have pushed hard to create a university district and several arts districts near downtown.



Tom Reese, an economic development officer for Spokane, said city government is not exactly pushing the notion of a gay district, but they don't oppose it either.



"It is our desire to create an environment where diversity and different interests and lifestyles of all types can flourish," Reese said.



No public funds will be used to create the district, which is dependent on developers, Aspen said. No location has been announced.



With about 200,000 residents, the city has little history of gay activism, other than an effort a few years ago that added homosexuals as a protected class to its human rights ordinance.



Spokane -- which in trendy Seattle is shorthand for tragically unhip -- has long been dominated by conservative politics that stem from its history as a mining and farming center. But it also has a large core of Democrats who push for social justice and libertarians who share the West's live-and-let-live philosophy.



Most of all the city identifies itself as a good place to raise a family. A gay district clashes with that image, opponents contend.



"We are a family-friendly, traditional values community," said former Mayor John Talbott.



Opponents fear a gay district will attract sexual predators who prey on gays, plus lead to increased crime, drug use and other social ills, said Walton Mize, bishop of the Christ Holy Sanctified Church.



"Most people don't know about the underbelly of it," Mize said. "It's a culture based upon sex."



Aspen rejected the notion that a gay district will bring social problems to Spokane. "I can't see why they think they will have more of that than is already here," Aspen said.



Spokane already has a gay newspaper, Stonewall News Northwest, and some businesses that cater to gay residents. It has had an openly gay member of the City Council.



But creating a district is still important, Reguindin said.



"It would help youth struggling with their sexuality to realize they don't have to go away to a big city to be gay," Reguindin said.



Farand Gunnels, local representative for the Pride Foundation, a Seattle-based group that gives grants to support the gay community, wondered if there were enough gay residents in Spokane to support such a district.



----



Note: the same article first appeared today in The Des Moines Register under the title, "Planned gay district meets resistance," with the chages noted in brackets:



Spokane, Wash. -- Gay activists in this staid Eastern Washington city are planning to create a neighborhood of gay-oriented homes, businesses and nightlife[ -- a development ]religious conservatives [contend would clash] with Spokane's family-[centered] culture.





[deleted: "We're talking about an actual physical part of town we would like to establish as a gay district," said Marvin Reguindin, owner of a Spokane graphic design firm, who envisions an area similar to the Castro district of San Francisco or Capitol Hill in Seattle.]



[deleted: Community Impact Spokane, a network of evangelical Christians is appalled.]



"A gay Mecca is not what we'd like to see Spokane marketed as," said Penny Lancaster, [director of Community Impact Spokane, a network of evangelical Christians]. "I'd rather see us promoted as a conservative, family-oriented community without any reference to sexual orientation."



[deleted: Too late, some say.]



[paragraph moved] [But] proponents [say] a gay district would signal that Spokane is tolerant and progressive. [deleted: the type of community that can attract the so-called "creative class" that will build the economy of tomorrow.]



"There is a very large gay population here," said Bonnie Aspen, a business owner who arrived with her partner two years ago to escape the congestion of the San Francisco Bay area.





[paragraph moved]Spokane -- which in trendy Seattle is shorthand for tragically unhip -- has long been dominated by conservative politics that stem from its history as a mining and farming center. But it also has a large core of Democrats [deleted: who push for social justice] and libertarians who share the West's live-and-let-live philosophy.



[paragraph moved] Most of all the city identifies itself as a good place to raise a family. A gay district clashes with that image, opponents contend.



[paragraph deleted] She predicted a gay district will exist within the next year or two.



[paragraph deleted] Spokane is some 90 percent white and a gay district will promote the notion that such a community can still be tolerant and have diversity, Aspen said.



The idea arises out of the theories of Richard Florida, an economist whose 2002 book, "The Rise of the Creative Class," contends that the economy of the future will be created by the 38 million workers who toil in ["]creative["] industries.



Florida, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, said members of the creative class consider recreation, culture and ethnic diversity[added: including a large population of gays] as central to where they live. Places such as New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle have those qualities. Places such as Spokane generally do not.



[paragraph deleted] After Florida spoke here a couple of years ago, Spokane civic leaders embraced many of his ideas. They have pushed hard to create a university district and several arts districts near downtown.





[paragraph moved] Even though they face little discrimination, gays stay under the radar, said Aspen, a member of the Inland Northwest Business Alliance, an association of gay and gay-friendly businesses that is pushing the idea.



[paragraph moved] "Visibility equals freedom," Aspen said. "Invisibility we have dealt with all our life."



[With about 200,000 residents, the city] has little history of gay activism, other than an effort a few years ago that added homosexuals as a protected class to its human rights ordinance.







[paragraph deleted] "We are a family-friendly, traditional values community," said former Mayor John Talbott.



[paragraph deleted] Opponents fear a gay district will attract sexual predators who prey on gays, plus lead to increased crime, drug use and other social ills, said Walton Mize, bishop of the Christ Holy Sanctified Church.



[paragraph deleted] "Most people don't know about the underbelly of it," Mize said. "It's a culture based upon sex."



[paragraph deleted] Aspen rejected the notion that a gay district will bring social problems to Spokane. "I can't see why they think they will have more of that than is already here," Aspen said.



[paragraph moved] Tom Reese, an economic development officer for Spokane, said city government is not exactly pushing the notion of a gay district, but they don't oppose it either.



[paragraph moved] "It is our desire to create an environment where diversity and different interests and lifestyles of all types can flourish," Reese said.



[paragraph moved] No public funds will be used to create the district, which is dependent on developers, Aspen said. No location has been announced.



Spokane already has a gay newspaper, Stonewall News Northwest, and some businesses that cater to gay residents. It has had an openly gay member of the City Council.



But [deleted: creating] a district is still important, Reguindin said.



"It would help youth struggling with their sexuality to realize they don't have to go away to a big city to be gay[added: You can be gay right here in Spokane]," Reguindin said.



[paragraph deleted] Farand Gunnels, local representative for the Pride Foundation, a Seattle-based group that gives grants to support the gay community, wondered if there were enough gay residents in Spokane to support such a district.

[Gatito Grande]

Quote:

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PBS Bashed For Lesbian Cartoon



by Beth Shapiro 365Gay.com New York Bureau

Posted: January 26, 2005 8:31 pm. ET, Updated 11:03 am ET



(Washington) First it was SpongeBob SquarePants, now its an animated series on PBS that's being assailed by the right for gay content - and this time the bashing is coming directly from the Bush administration.



On her second day on the job, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, has issued a scathing attack on an episode of kids' series “Postcards From Buster” for featuring lesbian characters.



Spellings told the public broadcaster that many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles and accused it of wasting public money.



The not-yet-aired episode shows the title character, an animated bunny named Buster, on a trip to Vermont where he meets a two lesbian couples.



The scene is only incidental to the storyline in the episode - the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.



Nevertheless, in a letter to Pat Mitchell, president and chief executive officer of PBS, Spellings issued a veiled threat of funding cuts if the network does not pull the show.



“Congress’ and the Department’s purpose in funding this programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television.”



She also suggested that PBS to consider refunding the money it spent on the episode.



"The Secretary's first act in office denies children an education about the diversity of American families," fumed the Human Rights Camaign's Political Director Winnie Stachelberg.



"Teaching children about respect for differences promotes tolerance of their fellow human beings. Those are the values our children should be learning. Instead, Secretary Spellings is sending the message that differences should concealed. This creates a dangerous environment for children's growth. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are disproportionately at risk for suicide. Creating a climate in which children are taught that differences should be feared does nothing to promote understanding for peers."



A PBS spokesman said that the network has decided not to distribute the episode to its 349 stations but added that said the Education Department’s objections were not a factor in that decision.



“Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that we recognize this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had an opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time,” said Lea Sloan, vice president of media relations at PBS.



However, the Boston public television station that produces the show, WGBH, does plan to make the “Sugartime!” episode available to other stations. WGBH also plans to air the episode on March 23, Sloan said.



in her letter to the network Spellings demanded that her department’s seal or any statement linking the department to the show be removed, that PBS notify its member stations of the nature of show so they could review it before airing it. And she asked for the refund “in the interest of avoiding embroiling the Ready-To-Learn program in a controversy that will only hurt” it.



In closing, she warned: “You can be assured that in the future the department will be more clear as to its expectations for any future programming that it funds.”



Last week conservative Christian groups accused the makers of SpongeBob of creating a gay toon. SpongeBob came under fire for allegedly holding hands with a starfish. (story) The result has been a maelstrom of ridicule of those groups. Yesterday, a Protestant denomination said it would welcome SpongeBob into its congregation. (story)

---

www.365gay.com/newscon05/...buster.htm



GG Contact your local PBS affiliate, asking to see "Sugartime!" (of the Postcards from Buster series). Contact PBS national, and the Education Dept. and give 'em hell! Out

[WebWarlock]

Another one,



www.chicagotribune.com/en...i-news-hed



I am going to call up my PBS station and request as a father who sons watch Post Card from Buster and Arthur and as some one that has donated to them before to air this episode.



ETA: For the PBS station WTTW in Chicago, use this form. www.wttw.com/about/contact.html



Warlock

Web Warlock, web.warlock@comcast.net, The Other Side.

Liber Mysterium: The D20 Netbook of Witches & The Dragon and the Phoenix: New Adventures of Willow and Tara

"But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight"

- "Lovers In A Dangerous Time", Bruce Cockburn.

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 1/26/05 2:36 pm

[Gatito Grande]

Here's a contact site for the show's producers:



pbskids.org/buster/parent...ntact.html



(I told them where I was from---my PBS affiliate---that I want to see the show, and for them to Just Say No to homophobia)



This site www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html will tell you who your local PBS affiliate is (and probably give you local contact info. It did for my affiliate in Michigan)



And here's where to ask a "polite question" of the %$#%!!! at the Dept. of Education:

answers.ed.gov/cgi-bin/ed...i=&p_srch=



GG Fight the power! Out

[cattwoman98111]

local commentary can't cut and paste, so linky provided. Take the time to read it, short but sweet. www.komotv.com/stories/35029.htm







Here is an email response I sent to Ken Schram of Komo 4 News. If any of you missed the commentary on the PBS Buster the Bunny "Gay Themed" ep, I provided the link.



I hope you all can also not support PBS in this endeavor to Cow Down to the Secretary of Education's view of a little cartoon bunny traveling to Vermont and encountering a family with two mommies as "disgusting" and unsuitable for children's viewing.



------------------

Mr. Schram



Thank you for the commentary. It was much needed. We of the gay community may only muster 10% of the overall population, but that 10% includes often untapped funds. From this point on PBS will garner none of mine, my partner's, or our community's money.



Perhaps PBS will come to realize that without an audience to watch, support or volunteer to man the phone's at one of their many "telethon’s" they may not have a station at all.





Regards,

--------------

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.

Edited by: cattwoman98111 at: 1/28/05 7:47 pm

[xita]

Dude, I can't believe PBS did that. I remember growing up that one of the few places I could see gay people was on PBS. They had that show on monthly and specials/movies etc. And gay month was always filled with documentaries, etc. Sad times.

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In other news, even Utah can surprise me.



www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2539342





Murray school's 'cutest couple' title awarded to lesbian pair



By Jessica Ravitz

The Salt Lake Tribune



MURRAY - Face it: politics aren't pretty. They aren't even cute. The "best of the seniors" election at Murray High is no exception.

Hanging chads and confusing butterfly ballots were not the issue. But when two separate couples - including a lesbian pair - were told last week that they had clinched "the cutest couple" title, things turned ugly.

"We don't know with certainty who won. There are conflicting stories," Martha Kupferschmidt, Murray School District's director of personnel and student services, said Monday. "We're kind of between a rock and a hard place."

She wasn't kidding.

Both sets of supposed winners raised eyebrows for different reasons. Naming a same-sex pair "cutest couple" was unprecedented. And the other couple included a junior - a potential glitch for a senior yearbook page.

The story goes that yearbook student staffers weren't on the same page as to who did and didn't qualify. Conflicting leaks of the results led to hours of closed-door meetings, a rash of rumors and even a circulating petition to back the girls.

As of Tuesday, Murray officials were saying Kortni Coats and Taunica Crump, the lesbian couple, had reportedly placed second - a claim some students disputed.

Administrators set out to recount the original ballots, only to learn that those ballots had been tossed.

So, Thursday morning, Murray's approximate 500 seniors were called on to vote again. The verdict later that day: The title goes to the girls.

Bundled against the rain in a their hoodie sweatshirts, Taunica and Kortni, both 18, stood outside the school Thursday afternoon with their arms locked and their grins wide. They were baffled by all the attention, but couldn't contain their giggles, and said they were grateful for the support they'd received - from students, teachers and administrators.

"Even people against it were nice. Even if they didn't agree with it," said Taunica, who first asked out Kortni on July 4.

Heather Johnston, 18, was equally happy and said, with a nod toward her friends, "They are completely open in school. They hold hands and act like any couple should."

But inside the school, some seniors were less than thrilled with the news.

"Knowing two girls want to be in a the yearbook because of their lesbian disorder, that's just sick," said Travis Howland.

Staci Taylor called the mix-up "kind of stupid," and said the ballot specifically asked for a "cutest boy" and a "cutest girl." And although she was less adamant than Travis, she worried about the statement this result might make down the road.

"I don't want my kids to look in my yearbook and see this," she said.

"I grew up knowing [homosexuality] was wrong."

Principal Scott Bushnell, who labeled the brouhaha "an unfortunate mishap" that will help shape future yearbook procedures, stood by his determination "to honor and respect" the vote of students.

And although he anticipates strong reactions from both sides to the latest election results, he said, "We hope everyone respects and supports our responsibility to all students . . . [to treat them] fairly and equitably."

jravitz@sltrib.com

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Trust is a risk masquerading as a promise."

[tiredsoul]

With all the huffin' and puffin' by PBS, some stations have now chosen to air the "Postcards from Buster" episode.



from CNN

Edited by: tiredsoul at: 2/2/05 9:31 am

[WebWarlock]

Good News.



Chicago's own WTTW, Ch. 11 will air "Postcards from Buster".

www.chicagotribune.com/bu...i-news-hed

Quote:

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Channel 11 to air `Buster' episode



Maureen Ryan

Published February 3, 2005



WTTW-Ch. 11 announced Wednesday that it will air a controversial episode of the children's series "Postcards from Buster" at 9 a.m. Feb. 13. The episode, "Sugartime!," was criticized by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings for profiling families headed by lesbian mothers. Though PBS said it would not distribute the episode to member stations, two dozen have said they will air it. A review of "Sugartime!" appears in Thursday's Tempo section.

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Here is the review,

www.chicagotribune.com/fe...etempo-hed

Quote:

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TELEVISION



'Boy, that's a lot of moms'

Watching the controversial 'Buster' episode with a 2-year-old



By Maureen Ryan

Tribune staff reporter

Published February 3, 2005



Buster Baxter, animated star of PBS' "Postcards From Buster" series, certainly doesn't avoid addressing the most prominent theme of his now-controversial trip to Vermont.



As he glimpses some family photos in a Vermont living room, he asks one of his hosts, a young girl named Emma, to explain who's who. Emma explains that some photos are of her with her brother David and her stepbrother James.



Buster's attention then turns to a framed photo of two women together: Emma's mother, Karen, and her partner, Gillian.



"So Gillian's your mom too?" Buster asks Emma.



"She's my stepmom," Emma answers.



"Boy, that's a lot of moms," Buster says.



The number of lesbian mothers in the episode -- there are actually four in total, heading two different families that live near each other in Vermont -- prompted "very serious concerns" by new Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who said last week that government money should not have gone toward the making of that particular episode of "Buster." Some funding for the 4-month-old show, which is a live-action compilation of travel footage interspersed with short animated segments starring the talkative rabbit, comes in the form of Department of Education grants.



PBS officials said last week that they will not distribute the episode in question, "Sugartime!," to the public television network's 349 member stations. However the station that produces "Buster," Boston's WGBH, will make "Sugartime!" available to PBS stations, and so far 18 stations have said they plan to air it, according to the Baltimore Sun. WGBH was scheduled to show the episode on Wednesday.



A spokeswoman for Chicago's WTTW said Tuesday that the station's programmers have not yet seen the episode and will decide in coming weeks whether to broadcast Buster's Vermont trip.



A lot has been written in the last week about Buster's Vermont adventure, but very little of it has been done by people who have seen the episode.



I got a copy of "Sugartime!" and watched it with my 2-year-old son, who has been a fan of "Buster" since it debuted last fall.



Though there is more than just a cavalcade of mothers in the episode -- Buster visits a dairy farm and a store selling maple sugar products -- mothers are the central theme of "Sugartime!" In addition to meeting the two mom-headed families, Buster spends a lot of time deciding what to get his own mom for Mother's Day (wisely, he decides against a dairy cow).



After meeting her family, he and Emma go to a nearby home, where Emma's friend Lily lives.



"She's one of my best friends," Emma says as they bike down a Vermont back road. "Tracy and Gina are her moms, and Tracy and Gina are friends of Gillian."



At Lily's house, Buster meets Tracy and Gina and their three children. With some of his new young friends in tow, he then heads to a family-run maple sugar store, where he meets a young boy named Cameron, who explains how maple syrup is made. At the store, Buster samples an odd Vermont treat: shaved ice with hot maple syrup, with a doughnut and a pickle piled on top.



"Interesting combination," Buster says diplomatically.



After buying some maple syrup treats, Buster and friends go to a local dairy farm, where the young rabbit meets some wobbly kneed baby cows and learns how cows are milked.



Buster's visit winds up with a feast at Lily's house, where all four moms and all six of their kids are ranged around a table. The feast doubles as a Sabbath meal for some members of the group, so candles are lit and traditional Hebrew prayers are briefly spoken.



One of the goals of "Buster," according to its producers, is to show the young rabbit interacting with all kinds of people living all different kinds of lives: He has visited families with a variety of belief systems -- evangelical Christians, Muslims, Orthodox Jews -- and also families with various lifestyles -- a farm family in Indiana, a Tex-Mex musician who lives with his grandparents, etc.



Kids who view "Sugartime!" might well have questions about various aspects of the families seen in this episode: What were those prayers about? What is a stepbrother? Do a lot of families have two moms? Can I have a pickle with my doughnut?



Obviously, these questions vary in complexity, and some parents might not be ready themselves to have that conversation with their children, or might not think their kids are old enough to understand the answers to the more complex questions.



Then again, parents who allow their children to watch "Sugartime!" may find that the issues raised by the four moms might just sail over the heads of some kids.



"Who did Buster meet in Vermont?" I asked my son after we had screened "Sugartime!"



He thought for a moment.



"Cows!"



E-mail: moryan@tribune.com.

---

And then there is the Bad News.



www.washingtonpost.com/wp..._education

Quote:

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Schools Official Assails 'Gay Lifestyle'

Fairfax Letter Urges Revisions to Teaching



By Maria Glod

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, February 3, 2005; Page B01



A Fairfax County School Board member has sent letters to the district's 24 high school principals urging them to ensure that students hear the views of people who believe that homosexuality is a choice and a "very destructive lifestyle."



In a Jan. 30 letter, Stephen M. Hunt (At Large) asked the principals to host speakers with an "ex-gay perspective" and offer students, teachers and counselors literature provided by the conservative group Concerned Women for America and other organizations.



"Children are being taught that homosexuality is normal and natural. It is neither," Hunt wrote. "To state that it is normal or natural is to promote the myth that accompanies the homosexual activist rhetoric."



Hunt's letter, which was not reviewed by other members of the 12-person board before it was sent, sparked sharp rebukes from some other board members and Superintendent Jack D. Dale.



Several board members said that although the letter was on private stationery, it was inappropriate because principals may have believed it was endorsed by the board. "By signing his name as a School Board member, it calls into question whether he is speaking on behalf of the board, and he is not," board member Jane K. Strauss (Dranesville) said.



Dale said he has written the principals to let them know Hunt's view is not sanctioned by the board or administration. "I very much regret that our principals received this letter, which is not representative of the School Board's views," Dale said in a prepared statement. "We want our schools to be seen as welcoming places for all individuals."



The role of schools in teaching about sexual orientation is among the most contentious topics that come before school boards. In 2002, a Fairfax couple who asked for removal of several books in school libraries and reading lists cited references to gay sex among their objections. And in 2001, the School Board heard from conservative groups and gay rights activists as it considered giving anti-discrimination protection to homosexuals.



Hunt said yesterday that he is concerned that students who do not support homosexuality may be afraid to speak up in school or labeled as intolerant. Hunt said he is not seeking to ban material or programs in place but believes that other information should be included.



Hunt said his letter specifically notes that students should respect the rights of gay peers. "If a person does choose a gay lifestyle, we should respect their freedom, their safety and their choice," he said.



But in the letter Hunt said students often are exposed to the "Will and Grace version of homosexuality." He contended in the letter that gays often suffer drug and alcohol abuse or physical abuse and that gay men don't live as long as heterosexual counterparts. "There are huge ramifications for people who may make a choice to go into that lifestyle, and we should make sure they are fully aware of the entire issue," Hunt said in an interview.



Kelly Schlageter, a founding member of Equality Fairfax, an advocacy group for gays and others, rebutted Hunt's contention that sexual orientation is a choice and disagreed that problems, including drug and alcohol abuse, are often part of a gay lifestyle. She said she worries that Hunt's views may send a message to students that it is wrong to be gay.



Tamara Ballou, the school district's former family life education coordinator, said students in two classes -- ninth-grade biology and 10th-grade personal and community health -- hear lessons about sexual orientation. She said letters describing the topics, including homosexuality, are sent to parents, who can have their child removed from that class. The materials taught are available for parents to review.



As part of the Fairfax policy, teachers are to tell students that "the reason for same sex attraction is unknown," according to the lesson plan. "Although individuals choose their sexual behavior, people do not choose their sexual orientation," the document states.



Lynn Terhar, president of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs, said that she's satisfied with the way sexual orientation is handled in the schools and that she hasn't heard concerns from parents. "In my personal opinion, his comments strike me as those coming from a religious point of view," Terhar said. "I don't believe there is any place for that in the Fairfax County school system."

---

Warlock

Web Warlock, web.warlock@comcast.net, The Other Side.

Liber Mysterium: The D20 Netbook of Witches & The Dragon and the Phoenix: New Adventures of Willow and Tara

"But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight"

- "Lovers In A Dangerous Time", Bruce Cockburn.

[maudmac]

Quote:

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Hunt said...that students who do not support homosexuality may be...labeled as intolerant.

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And why shouldn't they be? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Quote:

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He contended...that gays often suffer drug and alcohol abuse or physical abuse.... "There are huge ramifications for people who may make a choice to go into that lifestyle, and we should make sure they are fully aware of the entire issue," Hunt said in an interview.

---

This is almost funny. Yes, the "huge ramifications" are that we are surrounded by assholes like you who want to make certain that we know we won't be tolerated. Thanks so much for making our lives more stressful and more hopeless. Want to talk about those high rates of drug/alcohol abuse? How about the extremely high rates of suicide among gay and lesbian teens? What's the problem here? Some flaw in our queer brains? A lack of morals? Um, no. It's because we didn't get to see that "whole lot of moms" on TV when we were little and we had to put up with bigotry all our lives, often taught in our homes, schools, churches, etc., and so it's no wonder we have a few problems in our community. Our problem is that the people who hate us often loudly and proudly proclaim their hatred for us and do their damnedest to make certain we're treated as second-class citizens.

---

don't make me come up there - satan

[Gatito Grande]

Quote:

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But in the letter Hunt said students often are exposed to the "Will and Grace version of homosexuality."

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Where gays never have sex? I would think that Hunt(-n-Destroy) would approve of that depiction!

Quote:

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He contended in the letter that gays often suffer drug and alcohol abuse

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. . . which God's Elect, heterosexuals, apparently never do. R-i-i-i-ight!

Quote:

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or physical abuse

---

And why is that? Perhaps too many impressionable young people are taught to lash out at those who have "a very destructive lifestyle"?



GG Let me see: who's a better moral influence? Getting preached at by this lying, bigoted, self-righteous motherf*cker, or saying Sabbath prayers and eating maple candy w/ the lesbians? (I'll pass on the pickle, though ) Out

[WebWarlock]

More random news bits.





N.Y. judge strikes down gay marriage ban

- www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6914743/ and

- story.news.yahoo.com/news...y_marriage

- www.washingtonpost.com/wp...rss_nation



and



Kan. legislators move to ban gay marriage



So. Where are you going to live?



Warlock

Web Warlock, web.warlock@comcast.net, The Other Side.

Liber Mysterium: The D20 Netbook of Witches & The Dragon and the Phoenix: New Adventures of Willow and Tara

"We’re gonna light up the dark of night like the brightest day in a whole new way."

[Ben Varkentine]

Alan Keyes' daughter comes out. And he kicks her out.

Ben



"One voice is easily ignored or silenced, but when other people add their voices to yours, you become a chorus not easily ignored."--Wil "Just A Geek" Wheaton

[mscheckmate]

Don't you just love to see those conservative Christian family values in action.....[/sarcasm]

[Gatito Grande]

Woo Hoo, New York!



(I hope that---if and WHEN this goes through---there will be no residency requirements, unlike in Massachusetts)



GG And screw Kansas (as in "What's Wrong with ____?" ) and Alan Keyes. Good on ya, Maya! Out

[AmbersSecretAdmirer]

I say this as a father, I cannot understand the hate that could drive any father to disown his daughter because of her sexuality. It beggars belief and quite frankly she has come out of this the better of the two, by far.

Tara & Willow Together Forever!!! Blessed Be Eternally!!!

[robotguru]

As a trainee on a Primary Education course, i am often sent copies of union magazines, this article came from a copy of ATL Report.



A blind eye to bullying?

Ben Summerskill on homophobia (published by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), 2004)



Homophobic bullying in schools is an issue that needs urgent attention from teaching staff, says Ben Summerskill.



I regularly witnessed anti-gay bullying at school. Sometimes, I was the object of it. But I do remember one thing to this day, and it is a commonplace memory of thousands of gay people – no teacher ever seemed to notice.



The terror caused by bullying – at school, college or university – is bad enough by itself. What’s all to often forgotten is that many young victims of homophobic bullying can’t ever explain to their teachers or parents what’s wrong. It’s impossible to communicate that you are the victim of homophobic bullying to your parents if they don’t even know that you’re gay.



Through its ‘Diversity Champions’ programme, Stonewall now provides support on issues of sexual orientation to the employers of almost three million people. But at least when individual lesbians or gay menface difficulties at work, they can – as a last, still unacceptable resort – attempt to find a job elsewhere. Gay kids simply exclude themselves from the education system, often compromising their life-chances forever.



The poisonous Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act helped stigmatise young gay people, just as it did for their older counterparts. Research has now established that it created an environment in which teachers felt able to avoid addressing not just homophobia, but the reality of gay people’s lives in schools and colleges too.



But, a year after the repeal of Section 28 in England and Wales, and years after it became clear that it no longer applied to schools, that sort of prejudice still festers. In primary schools, children as young as six and seven are commonly heard using the word ‘gay’ as an insult. Teachers who robustly address similar racist behaviour still fail to engage.



It’s to combat the isolation faced by so many young gay people that Stonewall is launching a five-year campaign to address homophobia in education. Supported by IBM and others, it will provide a framework in which partner organisations can engage both locally and nationally.



New York’s Harvey Milk school, named after the assassinated San Francisco supervisor, is perhaps the most celebrated example of teaching that focuses on the needs of lesbian and gay children. It’s also a vivid demonstration of the abject failure of the teachers to protect young gay people in their care. The children who attend Harvey Milk have often been bullied, beaten and terrorised in ‘mainstream’ schools.



Stonewall doesn’t want to see the development of stand-alone schools for young lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils. What we do strive for is an education system that not only protects those in its care, but nurtures them too.



For teachers to recognise, respect and celebrate different sexual orientations takes courage. But the prize is huge. And not only gay pupils and students benefit. For cultural prejudices against boys who study hard or girls that play sport, all too often rooted in homophobia, poison the lives of straight kids too.



Faced by heterosexual police officers or politicians who claim that Britain’s lesbians and gay men are no longer in danger on the streets, I ask them to imagine walking down a provincial high street holding hands with a member of the same sex at closing time on a Saturday night.



If you’re a heterosexual reader of Report, perhaps you’ll consider a similar exercise too? Imagine how you’d feel if, in an entire educational career from five to 21, You’d never once read a set text in any language that featured a heterosexual character.



Do think about it.



Ben Summerskill is the chief executive of the compagining charity Stonewall.



When i searched for Ben Summerskill on the ATL website ( http://www.atl.org.uk ), i found this as the start toan online article, it is unfortunate that i am not a member seeing as i'd have liked to have got the full story.



Anti-gay bullying is holding youngsters back because they are too afraid to go into further education, a charity has claimed.



According to figures from gay equality charity Stonewall, thousands of gay pupils leave school as soon as they can to get away from the bullying they receive because of their sexuality.



Its report estimates that as many as 60,000 gay youngsters are the victims of homophobic attacks and as such a large proportion of them leave the education system.



Anyways, that's me out.

Chris

------------------



There can be no rainbow without rain, you cannot know true happiness until you know sadness first.

Edited by: robotguru at: 2/7/05 6:10 am

[sam7777]

Sexuality not even the issue

Quote:

---

All this fuss over a talking rabbit got me thinking about what's currently going on in our country. The attack on homosexuals and their way of life disturbs me terribly and I am growing weary of the increasing amount of closed-mindedness on the part of my fellow citizens.



Homosexuality was at one time a difficult issue for me to discuss. I come from two extremely macho cultures; men in Texas and New Mexico are raised to display their masculinity and never show feminine characteristics. Though my parents are extremely tolerant and open-minded people, the cultures in which I was raised made it difficult for me to feel comfortable being around gay people for quite some time.



I'm not sure exactly when that changed, but I remember exactly why: I finally got to the point where I could accept that one's sexuality is just not that big of a deal. I had to move past defining people by sexual orientation. When I was able to say, "This is my friend who happens to be gay," instead of, "This is my gay friend," I finally got it.



I am not an extremely religious person, but I have spent time in various churches and believe strongly in the power of religion to add strength to people's lives. I have studied many of Jesus' teachings and find his life story to be fascinating and wonderful in many ways. I truly cannot understand how so many people are currently using Jesus' legacy of peace, tolerance and love as a rationale to justify being so judgmental and vengeful toward homosexuals. I find it interesting that those who quote the Bible when condemning homosexuality fail to realize that Jesus did not mention the subject at all throughout his ministry or that most references to sin and sex in the Bible relate to heterosexual relationships.



Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this issue for me is that so many people seem to view a person's sexual orientation as a threat to their own way of life. I have had many gay friends and not once has any of them tried to "recruit" me to "their side." I've never felt that they were pushing a "homosexual agenda" on me. I've never gotten the feeling that the gay people I've known wanted anything more than to be able to live their lives as they please, free from prejudice and hatred.



We Americans face some serious choices in the coming years. As our culture becomes more divided, we as a nation will have to make some tough decisions as to what kind of a country we want to have.



I find it particularly upsetting that as our schools face significant troubles, our education secretary is spending her time worrying about an animated rabbit. Compared to the threats of poverty, international terrorism, disease and numerous other challenges, two loving parents on a peaceful Vermont farm should be the least of our concerns.

---

[TemperedCynic]

US liberal blogs are linking to a Canadian blog this week. Seems that Focus on the Family and the Catholic men's group Knights of Columbus have been sending huge amounts of money to Canadian moderates and conservatives, hoping to overturn the same-sex amendment currently being debated in Parliament. DailyKos.com says the amendment has 139 votes out of a needed 154 votes. Looks like the right is about to annex Canada.



I thought about Americans fleeing to other countries to continue the good fight, including Canada, when I read an Op-Ed piece by NY Times’ columnist Bob Herbert and the shredding of the Constitution with our “enemy combatants” dealings. The last paragraph was especially chilling:

Quote:

---

In one hearing that led up to Monday's decision, Judge Green attempted to see how broadly the government viewed its power to hold detainees. Administration lawyers told her, in response to a hypothetical question, that they believed the president would even have the right to lock up "a little old lady from Switzerland" for the duration of the war on terror if she had written checks to a charity that she believed helped orphans, but that actually was a front for Al Qaeda.

---

Now, that could be anyone, in any country, saying anything negative about the US administration. I made a decision after reading this: I’m staying put in the US. It’s safer here. They can’t make you disappear and drop you into a Cuba gulag for life. Yet…



I've also heard through the liberal blogs that hate crime laws in several states are in jeopardy of being edited to remove LGBT language (Pennsylvania) or scrapped entirely (Montana). Lesson learned: If you don’t like the laws as they’re written, just vote like-minded people into positions of power and re-write the laws.



These are compelling reads, and answer a question my wife and others have asked me for months: Why is this time any different than the last time conservatives ruled in America? Simple - this time conservatives are making sure they remain in power by changing the laws to suit their agenda, ignoring the Geneva Conventions on torture and due process. What America doesn't fully understand is that other groups can be substituted for LGBT - women, minorities, card-carrying members of the ACLU or whatever is today's focus by the conservative agenda.



For a group of folks who point fingers at “elitists”, or smart folk, as the reason for the country’s ills, there sure are far-sighted and intelligent decisions being made to dismantle the Constitution, Roe v. Wade and other pesky non-Christian laws. Our side needs folks that bright, organized, motivated and ruthless.

---

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. Woody Allen (1935 - )

[Warduke]

From Yahoo...

Quote:

---

Keyes' Daughter Calls Self 'Liberal Queer'



By TOM STUCKEY, Associated Press Writer



ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The daughter of conservative Republican Alan Keyes referred to herself Monday as a "liberal queer" and urged support for gay and lesbian young people who have been deserted by their families.



Maya Marcel-Keyes, 19, addressed a rally sponsored by the gay-rights group Equality Maryland, saying she was motivated to speak out because of her rocky relationship with her parents and the recent death of a friend who had fallen ill after being thrown out of the house by his family.



Marcel-Keyes told several hundred supporters that her sexuality had created a rift in her relationship with her parents.



"Things just came to a head. Liberal queer plus conservative Republican just doesn't mesh well," she said. "That was making my life a little bit turbulent."



Later, Marcel-Keyes told CNN her parents "were not too pleased" when they learned she was a lesbian, but she said she loves them "very much, and they love me. They can't support my activities."



Her father, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois last year, created a stir in August when he said during an interview that homosexuality was "selfish hedonism" and that Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter was a sinner.



In a statement issued Monday night, Keyes said: "My daughter is an adult, and she is responsible for her own actions. What she chooses to do has nothing to do with my work or political activities."



Marcel-Keyes said she received an outpouring of support when disclosing her sexual orientation, but her friend did not.



"Like me, he grew up queer in a conservative household," she said. But where she got hundreds of e-mails, offers of a place to stay and a college scholarship, "he'd been out there two years and had gotten nothing."



"And the worst part is, he isn't the only one," Marcel-Keyes said.

---

---

Firefox: One Browser To Rule Them All.

[Ben Varkentine]

From SFGate:

Quote:

---

A federal agency's efforts to remove the words "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual" and "transgender" from the program of a federally funded conference on suicide prevention have inspired scores of experts in mental health to flood the agency with angry e-mails.



The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that is funding the conference on Feb. 28 in Portland, Ore. On the program, at least until recently, is a talk titled "Suicide Prevention Among Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Individuals."



Everyone seems to agree the topic is important. Studies have found that the suicide risk among people in these groups is two to three times higher than the average risk.



So it came as a surprise to Ron Bloodworth -- a former coordinator of youth suicide prevention for Oregon and one of three specialists leading the session -- when word came down from SAMHSA project manager Brenda Bruun that the contractor running the program should omit the four words that described precisely what the session was about.



Bloodworth was told it would be acceptable to use the term "sexual orientation." But that did not make sense to him. "Everyone has a sexual orientation," he said in an interview Tuesday. "But this was about gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders."



The title rewrite was one of several requested changes. Another was to add a session on faith-based suicide prevention, said Mark Weber, a spokesman for SAMHSA, who said he believed the brouhaha was all a misunderstanding.



SAMHSA prefers the term "sexual orientation" simply because it is more "inclusive" he said. And besides, he added, it was only a suggestion.



Asked how strong a suggestion, Weber replied: "Well, they do need to consider their funding source."



Upon due consideration, Bloodworth renamed the session "Suicide Prevention in Vulnerable Populations." But he is not happy.



"We find this behavior on the part of our government intolerable," he wrote in an e-mail to colleagues, in which he called upon the government to "end this shameful marginalization of an already marginalized at-risk population."



A Health and Human Services official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there was not a department-wide policy against using terms relating to sexual identity or orientation at federally funded venues.



Weber said some of the complaints received by his agency had been extremely vitriolic.



"It is incredible, the venom from these people," he said. "My boss is being called a Nazi."

---

Yes, it is incredible, isn't it? Keep biting a group of people on the leg by treating them as second-class citizens, and it's simply amazing the amount of venom that can build up in their systems.



Keep fucking around, Bush administration.

Ben



"All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions."--Adlai Stevenson

[Gatito Grande]

Quote:

---

Weber said some of the complaints received by his agency had been extremely vitriolic.



"It is incredible, the venom from these people," he said. "My boss is being called a Nazi."

---

Um, let's compare:



Nazis: their hatred for LGBTs led to queers' deaths.



Bush Admin: their hatred for LGBTs will lead to queers' deaths.



GG Sounds about right to me. Out



Motherf*ckers!

[skittles]

from the Detroit Free Press

Quote:

---

Taking away gays' rights gets personal



By Deb Price / The Detroit News

Feb 21, 2005



Hampton H. Stennis takes things personally. Very personally.



So personally, in fact, that he felt compelled to share an offense by one George W. Bush, president of the United States, with 120 of the North Carolina law student's relatives, former employers, professors and school friends, some of whom date back to grade school.



Taking direct aim at complacency, Stennis bravely fired off an e-mail with the subject line "The Big Gay Letter."



The two pages of single-spaced fury, wit and pain explained why anyone who cares about Hampton H. Stennis should also take very personally the president's call to write a national ban on gay marriage into the U.S. Constitution.



"Right or wrong, I have tried to keep my personal life personal, but as our president has seen fit to call for making my personal life a part of the United States Constitution -- a codified denial of Hampton H. Stennis as a fully-enfranchised citizen of the United States -- it's time to speak out," he declared.



"All I am asking is that you think -- REALLY think -- about what (marriage discrimination) means. Not in a general way, but to the people in your life."



What Stennis proceeded to make in a most adult and effective way was what he now calls "a 7-year-old's argument: It's not fair!"



Some of the Big Gay Letter recipients already knew Stennis is gay. But even to them, he hadn't talked much about marriage, either as an institution he hopes one day to be fortunate enough to belong to or as a basic civil rights issue.



The Big Gay Letter produced overwhelmingly positive responses.



"Bravo, Hampton!!" cheered one friend. "It is people like you that change the world." Another proved that point: "You have gently reminded me of things that I, as a white hetero woman, take for granted every day."



An aunt wrote, "You have my unconditional love," adding she hopes "the religious right will think real hard about their faith on this one."



Stennis' letter triggered reflections even among his gay friends. One admitted he hadn't yet come out to aunts, uncles and cousins: "I suppose it's very important to do that. I used to not think so, but these days I do." Another confessed not having understood the difference between civil marriage and civil unions.



Stennis' high-voltage communique is a heartwarming reminder of just how much difference each of us can make. Imagine, one single e-mail sparking 120 people to pause and think about how something that seems so distant -- public policy -- directly hurts someone they care about.



Hearts change when those of us who're gay risk really introducing ourselves and ask folks to stand up for us. Polls consistently show that people aware of knowing someone gay are far more supportive of gay equality, whether in the military or in marriage.



Yet too few of us are out. In a February 2004 survey by the Human Rights Campaign, 77 percent of gay people said they're out. But the numbers fell as HRC asked a simple question: To whom?



Answers: Close friends, 93 percent; siblings, 72 percent; parents, 68 percent; co-workers, 60 percent; neighbors, 3 percent; doctors, 3 percent.



HRC found something else revealing: Gay people are hesitant to bring up anti-gay public policies. Only 88 percent say they've talked about gay rights with close friends, 54 percent with co-workers, 46 percent with siblings and 32 percent with parents.



As Stennis proved, a Big Gay Letter works wonders in educating people about their personal stake in securing equal rights for all.



"I sent it to every person in my address book. It was scary pressing the `Send' button," Stennis recalls. "It's irrevocable after that. But it was liberating."



Find your inner Hampton H. Stennis. Tell everyone you know why you take equal rights personally. Very personally.



You can reach Deb Price at (202) 906-8205 or dprice@detnews.com.

---

skittles



"The problem with political jokes is how often they get elected."



"Closed minds always seem to be connected to open mouths"

[Cazzie]

From BBC News

Quote:

---

The Royal Navy has become the first section of the British armed forces to join a scheme protecting gay rights.



It has signed equal rights charity Stonewall's Diversity Champions Programme to promote fair treatment of lesbian, gay and bisexual recruits.



Gay and lesbian couples with a registered civil partnership will also be able to apply for married quarters, in all armed forces, from the autumn.



Gay people were legally permitted in the UK forces only in 2000.



The Civil Partnership Act 2004, for which Stonewall campaigned, was passed in November and is expected to take effect later this year.



Royal Navy spokesman Anton Hanney said the force's existing no-sex policy would remain in place on ships and at naval bases for homosexual and heterosexual staff.



He said: "However, from the autumn, as long as gay or lesbian couples have a registered civil partnership, they will be eligible to apply for accommodation in married quarters.



"We will be complying with the law. We are obliged to give equal treatment to gay and lesbian partnerships under these terms... this a cross-service policy across the armed forces."



'Courageous'



During the first year of the Navy's involvement with the Stonewall programme, seminars, pamphlets and specific advice will be offered to servicemen.



Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill said he was optimistic the Army and the RAF would follow suit.



He said forces staff had become so sophisticated and highly-trained that they could no longer afford to lose them as a result of prejudice.



Mr Summerskill said: "I think the Navy have been very courageous to engage with this so publicly."



The move was described as a "superbly positive" move by Lieutenant Commander Craig Jones, 36, who has been serving with the Navy for 16 years, 11 of which were "in the closet."



Lt Cdr Jones, who lives in Sussex Square, Brighton, with his boyfriend, 29-year-old clinical psychologist Adam Mason, said: "It's really nice to see the Royal Navy demonstrating confidence in being able to be so positive about the issue."



Individuals valued



He said that by joining the scheme the Navy was not actively targeting gay recruits, but rather, trying not to miss out on their expertise.



Vice-Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, Second Sea Lord, said: "I am committed to ensuring the Royal Navy has a culture in which all our people are valued for themselves and are thus able to give 100% to their job."



The Navy joins 90 other large organisations, with more than two million employees, in the scheme, including BT and IBM.



Commander Tim Kingsbury, the Royal Navy's diversity and equality policy officer, said he initiated joining Stonewall's programme on the advice of gay servicemen like Lt Cdr Jones.



He said: "Commanding officers have a key role to play in creating a culture in which gay and lesbian personnel feel confident that they work without being harassed or bullied because of their orientation."

---

[Ben Varkentine]

From Yahoo! News

Quote:

---

Homosexual marriages are part of "a new ideology of evil" that is insidiously threatening society, Pope John Paul (news - web sites) says in a new book published Tuesday.



In "Memory and Identity," the Pope also calls abortion a "legal extermination" comparable to attempts to wipe out Jews and other groups in the 20th century.





He also reveals that he is convinced the Turkish gunman who shot him in 1981 did not act alone and suggests that the former Communist Bloc may have been behind the plot to kill him.





The 84-year-old Pontiff's book, a highly philosophical and intricate work on the nature of good and evil, is based on conversations with philosopher friends in 1993 and later with some of his aides.





In one section about the role of lawmakers, the Pope takes another swipe at gay marriages when he refers to "pressures" on the European Parliament to allow them.





"It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man," he writes.

---

I have two big questions.



1. Roughly speaking, how much blood would you say has been shed in the name of Catholicism?



2. As opposed to, say, the blood that's been spilt in the name of homosexuality in general and/or gay marriage in specific?

Ben



"All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions."--Adlai Stevenson

[WebWarlock]

News,



N.J. Man Pleads Guilty to Lesbian Teen's Killing

Quote:

---

NEWARK, N.J. -- A man pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter for fatally stabbing a 15-year-old lesbian in a fight at a bus stop.



Richard McCullough is likely to receive a prison sentence of 25 years or less for the May 2003 attack.



Sakia Gunn and four other girls were waiting at a bus stop at 3:30 a.m. when McCollough and another man drove up and asked if they wanted to go to a party.



The girls responded that they were lesbians and were not interested. Authorities said the men began making homophobic insults, and a fight began, during which Gunn was stabbed.



McCullough, 30, had been charged under the state's bias crime statute, which gives stiffer penalties for crimes motivated by a victim's race, sexual orientation or nationality.



That charge was dropped in exchange for Thursday's plea. McCullough could have been sentenced to 118 years if found guilty on all charges.



The judge set sentencing for April 21.

---

Warlock

Web Warlock, web.warlock@comcast.net, The Other Side.

Liber Mysterium: The D20 Netbook of Witches & The Dragon and the Phoenix: New Adventures of Willow and Tara

"We’re gonna light up the dark of night like the brightest day in a whole new way."

[skittles]

from the NYTimes (registration required)

Quote:

---

A Quest for a Restroom That's Neither Men's Room Nor Women's Room

By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN

March 4, 2005



SAN FRANCISCO - Political epiphanies can occur in unexpected places. For Riki Dennis, a 35-year-old humanities student who is transsexual, it was the women's room at a rest stop on Highway 101 north of Santa Barbara.



"The boyfriend hit me, even in mellow California," said Ms. Dennis, who was in the early stages of becoming female when she was assaulted by a stranger after using the women's room. "I said, 'Sir, I have no designs on your girlfriend.' I just want to use the bathroom."



Ms. Dennis, whose lowish voice is now the lone betrayal of her birth sex, is a foot soldier on a new political frontier: the campaign to establish gender-neutral bathrooms in public places. The idea is to make sure that transgender people (an umbrella term that can include transsexuals, cross-dressers and those with a fluid, androgynous identity who do not consider themselves completely male or female) can use bathrooms without fear of harassment.



Ms. Dennis is one of 250 or so members of People in Search of Safe Restrooms, a group founded here three years ago. It reflects a small but active movement, mostly on college campuses but also in a few cities, in which the bathroom, that prosaic fixture of past battles against racial segregation and for the rights of the disabled, has become an emotional and at times deeply personal symbol of a cultural and political divide.



In fact, bathrooms have become a cultural "fault line," said Mary Anne Case, a law professor at the University of Chicago, where the Queer Action Campaign for Gender-Neutral Bathrooms recently got 10 single-use restrooms on campus designated gender neutral.



"Very few spaces in our society remain divided by sex," Professor Case said. "There's marriage and there's toilets, and very little else."



To young transgender people, especially college students, the issue has particular resonance.



"Students are looking hard at the right to express their gender, a painful rite of passage for every young adult," said Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit group in Washington that fights discrimination and violence based on gender stereotypes. "These kids are demanding the right to be who they are and what they are 24/7. They're tired of being harassed or hassled when they simply need to use a public facility."



And so many students - including those at Beloit College in Wisconsin, Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., and the University of California, Santa Barbara - have lobbied successfully for gender-neutral bathrooms.



At the New College of California, a liberal arts college in the Mission District of San Francisco, men's and women's rooms have recently given way to "de-gendered" restrooms, devoid of urinals as well as of white stick figures with pants or a skirt. Signs on the doors proclaim the new restroom politics: "Lots of people don't fit neatly into our culture's rigid two-gender system."



At the City College of San Francisco, a community college with more than 100,000 students, about 10 percent to 12 percent of the students are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. After complaints of harassment by a transgender student, campus administrators recently transformed some men's bathrooms into gender-neutral ones.



Two new satellite campuses, to open in 2007, are being planned with men's, women's and gender-neutral bathrooms on every floor of the buildings. Major new construction on the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus is also going to include gender-neutral bathrooms.



One reason the issue has significance on these campuses is that in contrast to previous generations, in which many sought to transform their birth sex through hormones or surgery, today's young transgender people are content with a more fluid identity.



"I use the male bathroom, because I live my life as a male," said Rolan Gregg, a 29-year-old student at the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco, who was born female and, though he is taking hormones, does not "pass yet," as he put it. "The problem with not passing is that my risk of violence is really high. So going to the bathroom becomes really scary."



Public restroom use is governed by a legal patchwork of city and town ordinances and state laws. San Francisco is one of five cities, including New York, with regulations protecting public restroom access based on "gender identity," which refers to a person's internal sense of gender rather than their birth sex.



But in other places, restroom access based on gender identity is "an evolving area of the law," said Chris Daley, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, a San Francisco-based civil rights organization.



Here in California, where the governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaks derogatorily of "girlie men," the battle over public municipal bathrooms began in San Francisco in 2001, when the city's Human Rights Commission surveyed use of the city's bathrooms after complaints by transgender people and others about harassment in public and private bathrooms. As a result of the survey, the city passed guidelines recommending gender-neutral bathrooms be an option in public places.



"In San Francisco," said Marcus Arana, the a discrimination investigator for the commission, "the choice between being hassled or holding their water affects thousands of people."



Elsewhere in the Bay Area, advocates of gender-neutral bathrooms are beginning to make themselves heard. In January, they pressed the board of supervisors of Alameda County to adopt a resolution forbidding discrimination in public facilities, including restrooms, based on gender identity. Alameda County was the home of Gwen Araujo, a 17-year-old transgender high school student who was murdered in 2002.



But at the meeting, opponents to the provision focused on potential side effects of the law.



"You can be sure that stalkers and peeping Toms will take full advantage of this change," said Catherine Norman, 54, a substitute teacher from Fremont. She added, "Bathrooms are about biology, not perceived gender."



Whenever he is in an airport, Shana Agid, a 30-year-old transgender art student, finds himself praying he can hold out until he gets on the airplane.



"Day after day, it gets a little old," he said of a ritual he confronts at least a half-dozen times a day. "It feels ridiculous to tell people as a grown person that you have trouble going to the bathroom."

---

skittles



"The problem with political jokes is how often they get elected."



"Closed minds always seem to be connected to open mouths"

[Gatito Grande]

Quote:

---

"You can be sure that stalkers and peeping Toms will take full advantage of this change," said Catherine Norman, 54, a substitute teacher from Fremont.

---

Oh yeah, because stalkers and peeping Toms can never take full advantage anywhere other than a public restroom? Puh-leez! By that logic, why not just ban public restrooms altogether? The answer to crimes of sexual violence is to prosecute them, not law-abiding transgender people who just want to relieve themselves. Sheesh!

Quote:

---

She added, "Bathrooms are about biology, not perceived gender."

---

This argument is about Ms. Norman's perception of gender---that assigned-at-birth males are males, and assigned-at-birth females are females, w/ no intersex people, and above all, no transitioning from one to another(s)---not biology. No XX person will lose the ability to void their bladders if there's an XY person (or vice-versa) voiding theirs in an adjoining stall.



GG Why does the subject of bodily excretory functions turn seemingly rational adults into pee-pee/poo-poo/Innies/Outties-fixated juveniles? Grow up already! Out

[Ben Varkentine]

ETA: Sometimes I worry that all I seem to post or read around here is depressing. In that light, this should not be over looked.



From The Nation

Quote:

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The only person asking, "What's the matter with Kansas?" right now is the Rev. Fred Phelps. His decades of anti-gay activism--which include picketing outside hate crime victim Matthew Sheppard's funeral with "God Hates Fags" signs--have apparently had little effect in his own backyard.

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Quote:

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First, Topekans voted to reject Phelps' bid to overturn the city's ordinance banning discrimination of gays in municipal hiring. Phelps' repeal bid would have prevented Topeka from reinstating the anti-discrimination law for ten years, making Topeka the only city in the United States to specifically deny a single group protections against bias. Instead, Topekans voted it down 14,285 to 12,795.



And in the city council primary, Phelps' 20-year-old granddaughter and fellow anti-gay activist, Jael Phelps, lost big to Topeka's first and only openly gay council member, Tiffany Muller. Muller, who initiated the ordinance last November, received 1,329 votes to Phelps' 202.

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Unfortunately:



From AccessNorthGa.com

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A Topeka, Kansas anti-gay and lesbian group picketed near Truett-McConnell College Saturday in Cleveland, protesting against the Gay-Straight Alliance Club.

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Quote:

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Shirley Phelps-Roper held a bright neon painted sign that read "Thank God for 9-11" and claimed it was her duty to come to Cleveland.

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Balance, Daniel-San. Sure, having failed to sink their fangs deep enough into the blood of their fellow Topekans, the Phelps family and their ilk have once again hit the road.



But if Topeka has found the strength, wisdom and just plain common sense to resist homophobia, the rest of the United States cannot be as divided as we fear.



At least, not for long.



Don't lose faith.

Ben



"All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions."--Adlai Stevenson

Edited by: Ben Varkentine at: 3/6/05 2:52 pm