by maudmac » Tue May 03, 2005 3:55 pm
by urnofosiris » Tue May 03, 2005 4:37 pm
by maudmac » Tue May 03, 2005 7:10 pm
by Warduke » Thu May 05, 2005 2:06 pm
FDA to Implement Gay Sperm Donor Rules
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer 20 minutes ago
NEW YORK - To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor.
The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatizing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight.
"Under these rules, a heterosexual man who had unprotected sex with HIV-positive prostitutes would be OK as a donor one year later, but a gay man in a monogamous, safe-sex relationship is not OK unless he's been celibate for five years," said Leland Traiman, director of a clinic in Alameda, Calif., that seeks gay sperm donors.
Traiman said adequate safety assurances can be provided by testing a sperm donor at the time of the initial donation, then freezing the sperm for a six-month quarantine and testing the donor again to be sure there is no new sign of HIV or other infectious diseases.
Although there is disagreement over whether the FDA guideline regarding gay men will have the force of law, most doctors and clinics are expected to observe it.
The practical effect of the provision — part of a broader set of cell and tissue donation regulations that take effect May 25 — is hard to gauge. It is likely to affect some lesbian couples who want a child and prefer to use a gay man's sperm for artificial insemination.
But it is the provision's symbolic aspect that particularly troubles gay-rights groups. Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal, has called it "policy based on bigotry."
"The part I find most offensive — and a little frightening — is that it isn't based on good science," Cathcart said. "There's a steadily increasing trend of heterosexual transmission of HIV, and yet the FDA still has this notion that you protect people by putting gay men out of the pool."
In a letter to the FDA, Lambda Legal has suggested a screening procedure based on sexual behavior, not sexual orientation. Prospective donors — gay or straight — would be rejected if they had engaged in unprotected sex in the previous 12 months with an HIV-positive person, an illegal drug user, or "an individual of unknown HIV status outside of a monogamous relationship."
But an FDA spokeswoman cited FDA documents suggesting that officials felt the broader exclusion was prudent even if it affected gay men who practice safe sex.
"The FDA is very much aware that strict exclusion policies eliminate some safe donors," said one document.
Many doctors and fertility clinics already have been rejecting gay sperm donors, citing the pending FDA rules or existing regulations of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
"With an anonymous sperm donor, you can't be too careful," said a society spokeswoman, Eleanor Nicoll. "Our concern is for the health of the recipient, not to let more and more people be sperm donors."
However, some sperm banks, notably in California, have welcomed gay donors. The director of one of them, Alice Ruby of the Oakland-based Sperm Bank of California, said her staff had developed procedures for identifying gay men with an acceptably low risk of HIV.
Gay men are a major donor source at Traiman's Rainbow Flag sperm bank, and he said that practice would continue despite the new rules.
"We're going to continue to follow judicious, careful testing procedures for our clients that even experts within the FDA say is safe," said Traiman, referring to the six-month quarantine.
The FDA rules do not prohibit gay men from serving as "directed" sperm donors. If a woman wishing to become pregnant knows a gay man and asks that he provide sperm for artificial insemination, a clinic could provide that service even if the man had engaged in sex with other men within five years.
However, Traiman said some lesbian couples do not have a gay friend they know and trust well enough to be the biological father of their child, and would thus prefer an anonymous donor.
Dr. Deborah Cohan, an obstetrics and gynecology instructor at the University of California, San Francisco, said some lesbians prefer to receive sperm from a gay donor because they feel such a man would be more receptive to the concept of a family headed by a same-sex couple.
"This rule will make things legally more difficult for them," she said. "I can't think of a scientifically valid reason — it has to be an issue of discrimination."
by sam7777 » Thu May 05, 2005 2:18 pm
That's all the Bush government knows how to do. Discrimination against GLBT folks is not be limited to simply outlawing gay marriage. They will continue to peck away till we have no rights. I simply can't believe that 20% of gay people voted for the shrub. I would never vote to become a second class citizen in my own country. That's why I pissed on the shrub in 2004.policy based on bigotry
by Warduke » Fri May 06, 2005 2:16 pm
Court Reinstates Calif. Dog Mauling Ruling
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer Fri May 6, 1:55 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - A state appeals court on Thursday reinstated the second-degree murder conviction of an attorney whose giant dogs mauled and killed a neighbor in the hallway of a San Francisco apartment building.
The 1st District Court of Appeal reversed a ruling by a lower court judge who vacated the jury's finding against Marjorie Knoller and reduced her conviction to manslaughter. She was freed after serving two years of a four-year sentence, but the murder count is punishable by 15 years to life in prison.
Knoller and her husband, attorney Robert Noel, were convicted in the 2001 mauling death of Diane Whipple, 33, who was attacked outside her apartment by the couple's two 100-pound-plus presa canario dogs.
The appeals court said Superior Court Judge James Warren erroneously concluded that for Knoller to be guilty of murder, she would have had to have known that her dogs would kill.
The court ordered Warren to review the decision using a different standard that Knoller disregarded a known risk the dogs presented, including the viciousness of Bane, the dog mostly responsible for the death.
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office, which had appealed Warren's decision, was satisfied with the ruling.
"It basically stands for the proposition that the decisions made by juries should not be overridden by judges except in the most unusual circumstance, and this is not one of them," said Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar.
"It's very emotional because this was one of the most preventable murders I've ever seen," said Jim Hammer, who prosecuted the two defendants and is now a television legal analyst. "There was a meanness and sadistic quality to it. These people got a thrill because their dogs scared people."
Dennis Riordan, Knoller's attorney, said he will ask the San Francisco-based appeals court to reconsider, and if they don't, appeal to the California Supreme Court.
Riordan contended the appeals court "did not apply existing law." He said the murder conviction should not stand because his client was not shown to have had a "conscious disregard for human life."
The appeals court upheld Noel's involuntary manslaughter conviction. Noel, who was released after serving two years of a four-year sentence, was not charged with murder because he was not home during the attack.
Justice James Lambden, writing for a three-judge panel, said Knoller knew that Bane was a "frightening and dangerous animal: huge, untrained and bred to fight." During the trial, there was testimony of at least 11 instances in which the dogs growled, lunged or attacked others, including nearly severing Noel's finger.
Both Knoller, 49, and Noel, 63, have been paroled. Knoller now lives in Florida. It was not known whether the two are still married.
by Warduke » Fri May 06, 2005 2:54 pm
Microsoft Reverses, Will Back Gay Rights
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago
SEATTLE - After being criticized for quietly dropping support for a state gay rights bill, Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer told employees Friday that management would publicly back such legislation in the future.
Ballmer's commitment came two weeks after activists accused the company of caving to pressure from an evangelical pastor who had threatened to launch a nationwide boycott of the software company.
"After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda," Ballmer wrote in an e-mail.
In late April, Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, asked Microsoft to return a civil rights award the group had given the company four years ago. On Friday she said Microsoft should keep the honor.
"Few of us have not made a misstep. This was a misstep. It was a big one. But Microsoft has done the right thing, and we would be proud to have them keep our award," Jean told The Associated Press.
Ballmer said he would not discuss what prompted Microsoft to take a neutral stance this year on a bill it had actively supported in the past.
Microsoft, one of the first companies to extend domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples, claimed that its decision came before a meeting with Ken Hutcherson, pastor of a local church who has organized anti-gay-marriage rallies in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Hutcherson could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. He has said he pressured Microsoft after hearing two employees testify in favor of a bill before the state Legislature that would have banned discrimination against gays in housing, employment and insurance.
The bill died by a single vote in the state Senate April 21.
Liberal bloggers called the company a corporate coward and posted rallying cries for their own boycott of Microsoft products. Gay rights groups said they'd keep pressuring Microsoft until the company once again came out in support of the bill.
Sen. Val Stevens, a Republican from Arlington, Wash., said Friday she was disappointed Microsoft had changed its stance. "This is not a good place for a company the size and magnitude of Microsft to be (in) now," she said in a prepared statement. "I know it must be difficult for the employees who do not agree with their policy."
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group, applauded the shift.
"We are proud that Microsoft did the right thing and has come down squarely on the side of fairness for all employees," Solmonese said in a statement. "It is clear from Mr. Ballmer's statement that it is a business imperative to value a diverse workforce and support public policy that reinforces that principle."
In his e-mail Friday, Ballmer said the company would continue to focus its lobbying efforts on issues that most directly affect Microsoft, such as Internet safety, intellectual property rights, free trade and a healthy business climate.
"I'm proud of Microsoft's commitment to non-discrimination in our internal policies and benefits, but our policies can't cover the range of housing, education, financial and similar services that our people and their partners and families need.
"Therefore, it's appropriate for the company to support legislation that will promote and protect diversity in the workplace."
by sam7777 » Fri May 06, 2005 3:23 pm
"After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda"
by TemperedCynic » Fri May 06, 2005 6:16 pm
by Warduke » Mon May 09, 2005 5:13 pm
Gay Men Respond Differently to Pheromones
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Gay men's brains respond differently from those of heterosexual males when exposed to a sexual stimulus, researchers have found. The homosexual men's brains responded more like those of women when the men sniffed a chemical from the male hormone testosterone.
"It is one more piece of evidence ... that is showing that sexual orientation is not all learned," said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
Witelson, who was not part of the research team, said the findings clearly show a biological involvement in sexual orientation.
The study, published in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was done by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
They exposed heterosexual men and women and homosexual men to chemicals derived from male and female sex hormones.
These chemicals are thought to be pheromones — molecules known to trigger responses such as defense and sex in many animals.
Whether humans respond to pheromones has been debated, although in 2000 American researchers reported finding a gene that they believe directs a human pheromone receptor in the nose.
The Swedish study was one of a series looking at whether parts of the brain involved in reproduction differ in response to odors and pheromones, lead researcher Ivanka Savic said.
The brains of different groups responded similarly to ordinary odors such as lavender, but differed in their response to the chemicals thought to be pheromones, Savic said.
The Swedish researchers divided 36 subjects into three groups — heterosexual men, heterosexual women and homosexual men. They studied the brain response to sniffing the chemicals, using PET scans. All the subjects were healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV negative.
When they sniffed smells like cedar or lavender, all of the subjects' brains reacted only in the olfactory region that handles smells.
But when confronted by a chemical from testosterone, the male hormone, portions of the brains active in sexual activity were activated in straight women and in gay men, but not in straight men, the researchers found.
The response in gay men and straight women was concentrated in the hypothalamus with a maximum in the preoptic area that is active in hormonal and sensory responses necessary for sexual behavior, the researchers said.
And when estrogen, the female hormone was used, there was only a response in the olfactory portion of the brains of straight women. Homosexual men had their primary response also in the olfactory area, with a very small reaction in the hypothalamus, while heterosexual men responded strongly in the reproductive region of the brain.
Savic said the group is also doing a study involving homosexual women but those results are not yet complete.
In a separate study looking at people's response to the body odors of others, researchers in Philadelphia found sharp differences between gay and straight men and women.
"Our findings support the contention that gender preference has a biological component that is reflected in both the production of different body odors and in the perception of and response to body odors," said neuroscientist Charles Wysocki, who led the study.
In particular, he said, finding differences in body odors between gay and straight individuals indicates a physical difference.
It's hard to see how a simple choice to be gay or lesbian would influence the production of body odor, he said.
Wysocki's team at the Monell Chemical Senses Center studied the response of 82 heterosexual and homosexual men and heterosexual and homosexual women to the odors of underarm sweat collected from 24 donors of varied gender and sexual orientation.
They found that gay men differed from heterosexual men and women and from lesbian women, both in terms of which body odors gay men preferred and how their own body odors were regarded by the other groups.
Gay men preferred odors from gay men, while odors from gay men were the least preferred by heterosexual men and women and by lesbian women in the study. Their findings, released Monday, are to be published in the journal Psychological Science in September.
The Swedish research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, the Karolinska Institute and the Magnus Bergvall Foundation. Wysocki's research was supported by the Monell Center.
by singgirl » Wed May 11, 2005 3:11 am
by xita » Wed May 11, 2005 7:19 am
by singgirl » Thu May 12, 2005 2:02 am
by Warduke » Thu May 12, 2005 8:11 pm
U.S. Judge Rejects Neb. Gay-Marriage Ban
BY KEVIN O'HANLON, Associated Press Writer
LINCOLN, Neb. - A federal judge Thursday struck down Nebraska's ban on gay marriage, saying the measure interferes not only with the rights of gay couples but also with those of foster parents, adopted children and people in a host of other living arrangements.
The constitutional amendment, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, was passed overwhelmingly by the voters in November 2000.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon said the ban "imposes significant burdens on both the expressive and intimate associational rights" of gays "and creates a significant barrier to the plaintiffs' right to petition or to participate in the political process."
Bataillon said the ban beyond "goes far beyond merely defining marriage as between a man and a woman."
The judge said the "broad proscriptions could also interfere with or prevent arrangements between potential adoptive or foster parents and children, related persons living together, and people sharing custody of children as well as gay individuals."
Forty states have laws barring same-sex marriages, but Nebraska's ban went further, prohibiting same-sex couples from enjoying many of the legal protections that heterosexual couples enjoy. Gays and lesbians who work for the state or the University of Nebraska system, for example, were banned from sharing health insurance and other benefits with their partners.
Nebraska has no state law against gay marriage, but state Attorney General Jon Bruning said same-sex marriages were not allowed before the ban and would not be permitted now.
Bruning said he will appeal the ruling.
"Seventy percent of Nebraskans voted for the amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and I believe that the citizens of this state have a right to structure their constitution as they see fit," Bruning said.
The challenge was filed by the gay rights organization Lambda Legal and the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Project.
Lamba Legal attorney David Buckel has called the ban "the most extreme anti-gay family law in the entire nation."
Carla Petersen, a member of Metropolitan Community Church in Omaha, which advocates for gay rights, hailed the ruling.
"Every step is a good step," Petersen said. "It really will get the ball rolling again."
The ruling did not surprise the executive director of the Nebraska Family Council, which led the petition drive to get the ban on the ballot. Al Riskowski said the decision will renew the call to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Massachusetts has allowed gay marriage since last May. Vermont has offered civil unions to gays since 2000; Connecticut will begin offering civil unions in October.
by willowfan7 » Sun May 22, 2005 9:31 pm
ATLANTA - Representatives of the nation's top psychiatric group approved a statement Sunday urging legal recognition of gay marriage. If approved by the association's directors in July, the measure would make the American Psychiatric Association the first major medical group to take such a stance.
The statement supports same-sex marriage "in the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health."
It follows a similar measure by the American Psychological Association last year, little more than three decades after that group removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.
The psychiatric association's statement, approved by voice vote on the first day of its weeklong annual meeting in Atlanta, cites the "positive influence of a stable, adult partnership on the health of all family members."
The resolution recognizes "that gay men and lesbians are full human beings who should be afforded the same human and civil rights," said Margery Sved, a Raleigh, N.C., psychiatrist and member of the assembly's committee on gay and lesbian issues.
The document clarifies that the association is addressing same-sex civil marriage, not religious marriages. It takes no position on any religion's views on marriage.
Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriage. Eighteen states have passed constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage.
by FineyMcFine » Mon May 23, 2005 8:43 pm
by WebWarlock » Tue May 24, 2005 8:26 am
Lesbian Child Custody Cases Head to Court
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - If you're a kid who has two moms instead of a mom and a dad, what happens to you if they break up? Does one pay child support? Does she also get visitation rights?
The answers might be clear if your parents were a man and a woman who weren't married. But if your moms didn't register as domestic partners, what are everyone's rights in the eyes of the law?
That will be determined by the California Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday in three child custody and support cases involving lesbians who parted ways acrimoniously after becoming mothers.
The court's handling of the cases is being closely watched by gay rights advocates and their opponents as a bellwether for where the justices might stand on a related social issue headed its way — whether same-sex couples in California should be afforded the right to marry.
The three latest cases center on whether laws crafted to protect children by establishing clear parental rights and responsibilities for absent fathers apply when the estranged couples consist of two men or two women.
Gay rights and children's advocates say the answer is simple: Adults who help bring children into the world with the intent of raising them should be regarded as parents, regardless of sexual orientation, marital status or blood ties.
Yet, lower courts — absent adoption papers or a formal domestic partnership — have shied away from recognizing the nonbiological parent in a broken, gay family.
"To the child, a parent is parent because that is the person who got up in the night and held them and put Band-Aids on their knees," said Deborah Wald, a San Francisco family law attorney with a large lesbian clientele.
"California is so clear about that when we are dealing with a mother and father, but when it comes to lesbian couples the courts have been the scalpel to remove children from the parents they deeply bonded to."
But lawyers for the three women whose cases are before the court argue the situations are not analogous. Laws intended to establish parentage in circumstances where both mother and father played a biological role can't be translated so easily to situations where conception required the use of reproductive technology, by necessity leaving one partner without a biological connection, they maintain.
In one case, for example, a woman who carried and gave birth to twins conceived with her ex-partner's eggs is trying to retain sole custodial rights because her partner signed a waiver at their fertility clinic relinquishing legal control.
It's unclear how many same-sex couples would be affected by the court's ruling. Many, if not most, gay men and lesbians adopt the children that were conceived with a partner's sperm or eggs to establish an unambiguous legal link.
And since a law took effect this year granting domestic partners in California nearly all the spousal rights of marriage, parentage has been presumed to apply equally to both mothers or fathers when children are born during the course of a registered relationship.
Nevertheless, gay rights advocates say the cases expose a fundamental inequity in the way California treats unmarried heterosexuals and gay couples who decide not to register as domestic partners or go through second-parent adoptions.
"Just like heterosexual parents, whether or not they are married, when a couple creates a child together they both take on responsibility to the child they created," said Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "Lesbian and gay parents should not have a free pass from those established family law rules."
by FineyMcFine » Sat May 28, 2005 6:34 am
by Warduke » Sat May 28, 2005 11:15 pm
First gay pride march staged in Romania
BUCHAREST (AFP) - Five hundred people took part in Romania's first ever gay pride march, walking through the streets of Bucharest under a banner proclaiming "out and proud".
A group of about 50 skinheads hurled abuse at the marchers, some of them dressed in drag, who responded to the insults by crying: "We love you."
Other counter-demonstrators included members of the Orthodox church who sang hymns and held a banner reading: "We stand for a clean world without homosexuals."
But a Protestant priest from the United States, Diane Fisher, took part in the march and told AFP: "To see a female priest stand alongside the gays of Romania gives people hope."
About 200 policemen kept watch over the event and pushed back the counter-demonstrators while urging the marchers to move along, but there were no serious incidents.
The march ended after just half an hour as heavy rain came pouring down.
The Bucharest city council initially tried to stop the event because they said they did not have enough police to maintain law and order but gave the go-ahead after an appeal from President Traian Basescu on Thursday.
The president said banning a march four years after homosexual relations were decriminalized here would set Romania "back 20 years in time", in a reference to the country's independence from Soviet control in 1989.
Florin Buhuceanu, the leader of the gay rights group Accept, said he was very pleased with the march.
"We are very happy with our first historic march, which has allowed us to show ourselves to the world in broad daylight," he told AFP.
by maudmac » Sat May 28, 2005 11:53 pm
by sheila wt » Sun May 29, 2005 1:02 pm
Divorced Wiccans Fight Judge's Order
By KEN KUSMER
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 26, 2005; 8:26 PM
INDIANAPOLIS -- A Wiccan activist and his ex-wife are challenging a court's order that they must protect their 9-year-old son from what it calls their "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."
The Indiana Civil Liberties Union has appealed the stipulation written into the couple's divorce order, saying it is unconstitutionally vague because it does not define mainstream religion.
Thomas Jones, a Wiccan activist who has coordinated Pagan Pride Day in Indianapolis for six years, said he and his ex-wife, Tammy Bristol, were stunned by the order. Neither parent has taken their son to any Wiccan rituals since it was issued, he said.
"We both had an instant resolve to challenge it. We could not accept it," Jones said Thursday. "I'm afraid I'll lose my son if I let him around when I practice my religion."
A court commissioner wrote the unusual order after a routine report by the court's Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau noted that both Jones and his ex-wife are pagans who send their son, Archer, to a Catholic elementary school.
In the order, the parents were "directed to take such steps as are needed to shelter Archer from involvement and observation of these non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals." The judge let the wording stand.
The order has been criticized by various religious and advocacy groups.
Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said judges cannot substitute their religious judgment for that of parents in regard to the upbringing of children.
"This is an absurd result, because in the eyes of the law being a pagan should be no different from being a Presbyterian," he said.
Wiccans contend their religion is becoming more mainstream. The parents' appeal says there were about 1 million pagans worldwide in 2002, more than the numbers who practice Sikhism, Taoism and other established religions in the United States.
Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.
"There continues to be misunderstanding and prejudice and discrimination, not only against Wicca but against any religion that is not centered on monotheism," said the Rev. Elena Fox, high priestess and senior minister of Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan church and pagan resource center near Madison, Wis.
The head of a conservative Christian group also sided with the Wiccans.
"The parents have the right to raise their child in that faith, just as I have the right to raise my child in the Christian faith," said Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana.
by sheila wt » Sun May 29, 2005 5:21 pm
by Gatito Grande » Sun May 29, 2005 8:02 pm
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by WebWarlock » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:28 am
by Warduke » Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:39 am
A single gene answers question of sex
By Elisabeth Rosenthal International Herald Tribune
Friday, June 3, 2005
When the genetically altered fruit fly was released into the observation chamber, it did what these breeders-par-excellence tend to do: It pursued a waiting virgin female.
It gently tapped the girl with its leg, played her a song (using wings as instruments) and, only then, dared to lick her - all part of standard fruit fly seduction.
The observing scientist looked with disbelief at the show, knowing that this was where this courtship ended: The suitor in this case was not a male, but a female that researchers had artificially endowed with a single male-type gene.
That one gene, the researchers announced in the journal Cell, is apparently by itself enough to create patterns of sexual behavior, a kind of master sexual gene that normally exists in two distinct male and female variants.
In a series of experiments, the researchers found that females given the male variant of the gene acted exactly like males in courtship, madly pursuing other females. Males that were artificially given the female version of the gene became more passive and turned their attention to their own sex.
"We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior - it's very surprising," said Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and the paper's lead author.
"What it tell us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
The results are certain to prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine who we are, how we act and, especially, our sexual preference, said experts in the field, who added that they were both awed and shocked by the results.
"The results are so clean and compelling, the whole field of the genetic roots of behavior is moved forward tremendously by this work - that a single gene can generate male behavior in a female fly is really surprising," said Michael Weiss, professor and chairman of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in the United States.
"Hopefully this will take the discussion about sexual preferences out of the realm of morality and put it in the realm of science," Weiss said. "I never chose to be heterosexual, it just happened, but humans are complicated.
"With the flies we can see in a simple and elegant way how a gene can influence and determine behavior."
The results suggest that, in terms of sexuality and sexual preference at least, genes exert a powerful influence.
That supports scientific evidence accumulating for the past decade that a sexual preference may be innately programmed into the brains of men and women - straight or gay.
Equally intriguing, the researchers say, is the possibility that a number of behaviors - hitting back when feeling threatened, fleeing when scared or laughing when amused - may also be programmed into human brains, a product of genetic heritage.
"This is a first - a superb demonstration that a single gene can serve as a switch for complex behaviors," said Gero Miesenboeck, a professor of cell biology at Yale University.
Dickson, who recalls running into the lab when an assistant called him on a Sunday night with the results, said, "This really makes you think about how much of our behavior, perhaps especially sexual behaviors, has a strong genetic component."
All researchers cautioned that any of these prewired behaviors set by master genes can and probably will be modified by experience. Though male fruit flies are programmed to "do it," Dickson said, "males that are rejected often by females over time become less aggressive in their mating behavior."
When a normal male fruit fly is introduced to a virgin female, he almost immediately begins foreplay and then copulates for 20 minutes.
In fact, Dickson and his co-author, Ebru Demir of the Institute of Molecular Biology, chose to look for the genetic basis of fly sexual behavior precisely because it seemed so strong and instinctive, therefore predictable.
But no one dreamed that simply activating the normally dormant male portion of the gene in a female fly could cause a genetic female to display so perfectly the whole elaborate panoply of male fruit fly foreplay.
When the genetically altered fruit fly was released into the observation chamber, it did what these breeders-par-excellence tend to do: It pursued a waiting virgin female.
It gently tapped the girl with its leg, played her a song (using wings as instruments) and, only then, dared to lick her - all part of standard fruit fly seduction.
The observing scientist looked with disbelief at the show, knowing that this was where this courtship ended: The suitor in this case was not a male, but a female that researchers had artificially endowed with a single male-type gene.
That one gene, the researchers announced in the journal Cell, is apparently by itself enough to create patterns of sexual behavior, a kind of master sexual gene that normally exists in two distinct male and female variants.
In a series of experiments, the researchers found that females given the male variant of the gene acted exactly like males in courtship, madly pursuing other females. Males that were artificially given the female version of the gene became more passive and turned their attention to their own sex.
"We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior - it's very surprising," said Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and the paper's lead author.
"What it tell us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
The results are certain to prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine who we are, how we act and, especially, our sexual preference, said experts in the field, who added that they were both awed and shocked by the results.
"The results are so clean and compelling, the whole field of the genetic roots of behavior is moved forward tremendously by this work - that a single gene can generate male behavior in a female fly is really surprising," said Michael Weiss, professor and chairman of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in the United States.
"Hopefully this will take the discussion about sexual preferences out of the realm of morality and put it in the realm of science," Weiss said. "I never chose to be heterosexual, it just happened, but humans are complicated.
"With the flies we can see in a simple and elegant way how a gene can influence and determine behavior."
The results suggest that, in terms of sexuality and sexual preference at least, genes exert a powerful influence.
That supports scientific evidence accumulating for the past decade that a sexual preference may be innately programmed into the brains of men and women - straight or gay.
Equally intriguing, the researchers say, is the possibility that a number of behaviors - hitting back when feeling threatened, fleeing when scared or laughing when amused - may also be programmed into human brains, a product of genetic heritage.
"This is a first - a superb demonstration that a single gene can serve as a switch for complex behaviors," said Gero Miesenboeck, a professor of cell biology at Yale University.
Dickson, who recalls running into the lab when an assistant called him on a Sunday night with the results, said, "This really makes you think about how much of our behavior, perhaps especially sexual behaviors, has a strong genetic component."
All researchers cautioned that any of these prewired behaviors set by master genes can and probably will be modified by experience. Though male fruit flies are programmed to "do it," Dickson said, "males that are rejected often by females over time become less aggressive in their mating behavior."
When a normal male fruit fly is introduced to a virgin female, he almost immediately begins foreplay and then copulates for 20 minutes.
In fact, Dickson and his co-author, Ebru Demir of the Institute of Molecular Biology, chose to look for the genetic basis of fly sexual behavior precisely because it seemed so strong and instinctive, therefore predictable.
But no one dreamed that simply activating the normally dormant male portion of the gene in a female fly could cause a genetic female to display so perfectly the whole elaborate panoply of male fruit fly foreplay.
When the genetically altered fruit fly was released into the observation chamber, it did what these breeders-par-excellence tend to do: It pursued a waiting virgin female.
It gently tapped the girl with its leg, played her a song (using wings as instruments) and, only then, dared to lick her - all part of standard fruit fly seduction.
The observing scientist looked with disbelief at the show, knowing that this was where this courtship ended: The suitor in this case was not a male, but a female that researchers had artificially endowed with a single male-type gene.
That one gene, the researchers announced in the journal Cell, is apparently by itself enough to create patterns of sexual behavior, a kind of master sexual gene that normally exists in two distinct male and female variants.
In a series of experiments, the researchers found that females given the male variant of the gene acted exactly like males in courtship, madly pursuing other females. Males that were artificially given the female version of the gene became more passive and turned their attention to their own sex.
"We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior - it's very surprising," said Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and the paper's lead author.
"What it tell us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
The results are certain to prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine who we are, how we act and, especially, our sexual preference, said experts in the field, who added that they were both awed and shocked by the results.
"The results are so clean and compelling, the whole field of the genetic roots of behavior is moved forward tremendously by this work - that a single gene can generate male behavior in a female fly is really surprising," said Michael Weiss, professor and chairman of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in the United States.
"Hopefully this will take the discussion about sexual preferences out of the realm of morality and put it in the realm of science," Weiss said. "I never chose to be heterosexual, it just happened, but humans are complicated.
"With the flies we can see in a simple and elegant way how a gene can influence and determine behavior."
The results suggest that, in terms of sexuality and sexual preference at least, genes exert a powerful influence.
That supports scientific evidence accumulating for the past decade that a sexual preference may be innately programmed into the brains of men and women - straight or gay.
Equally intriguing, the researchers say, is the possibility that a number of behaviors - hitting back when feeling threatened, fleeing when scared or laughing when amused - may also be programmed into human brains, a product of genetic heritage.
"This is a first - a superb demonstration that a single gene can serve as a switch for complex behaviors," said Gero Miesenboeck, a professor of cell biology at Yale University.
Dickson, who recalls running into the lab when an assistant called him on a Sunday night with the results, said, "This really makes you think about how much of our behavior, perhaps especially sexual behaviors, has a strong genetic component."
All researchers cautioned that any of these prewired behaviors set by master genes can and probably will be modified by experience. Though male fruit flies are programmed to "do it," Dickson said, "males that are rejected often by females over time become less aggressive in their mating behavior."
When a normal male fruit fly is introduced to a virgin female, he almost immediately begins foreplay and then copulates for 20 minutes.
In fact, Dickson and his co-author, Ebru Demir of the Institute of Molecular Biology, chose to look for the genetic basis of fly sexual behavior precisely because it seemed so strong and instinctive, therefore predictable.
But no one dreamed that simply activating the normally dormant male portion of the gene in a female fly could cause a genetic female to display so perfectly the whole elaborate panoply of male fruit fly foreplay.
When the genetically altered fruit fly was released into the observation chamber, it did what these breeders-par-excellence tend to do: It pursued a waiting virgin female.
It gently tapped the girl with its leg, played her a song (using wings as instruments) and, only then, dared to lick her - all part of standard fruit fly seduction.
The observing scientist looked with disbelief at the show, knowing that this was where this courtship ended: The suitor in this case was not a male, but a female that researchers had artificially endowed with a single male-type gene.
That one gene, the researchers announced in the journal Cell, is apparently by itself enough to create patterns of sexual behavior, a kind of master sexual gene that normally exists in two distinct male and female variants.
In a series of experiments, the researchers found that females given the male variant of the gene acted exactly like males in courtship, madly pursuing other females. Males that were artificially given the female version of the gene became more passive and turned their attention to their own sex.
"We have shown that a single gene in the fruit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies' sexual orientation and behavior - it's very surprising," said Barry Dickson, senior scientist at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and the paper's lead author.
"What it tell us is that instinctive behaviors can be specified by genetic programs, just like the morphologic development of an organ or a nose."
The results are certain to prove influential in debates about whether genes or environment determine who we are, how we act and, especially, our sexual preference, said experts in the field, who added that they were both awed and shocked by the results.
"The results are so clean and compelling, the whole field of the genetic roots of behavior is moved forward tremendously by this work - that a single gene can generate male behavior in a female fly is really surprising," said Michael Weiss, professor and chairman of biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in the United States.
"Hopefully this will take the discussion about sexual preferences out of the realm of morality and put it in the realm of science," Weiss said. "I never chose to be heterosexual, it just happened, but humans are complicated.
"With the flies we can see in a simple and elegant way how a gene can influence and determine behavior."
The results suggest that, in terms of sexuality and sexual preference at least, genes exert a powerful influence.
That supports scientific evidence accumulating for the past decade that a sexual preference may be innately programmed into the brains of men and women - straight or gay.
Equally intriguing, the researchers say, is the possibility that a number of behaviors - hitting back when feeling threatened, fleeing when scared or laughing when amused - may also be programmed into human brains, a product of genetic heritage.
"This is a first - a superb demonstration that a single gene can serve as a switch for complex behaviors," said Gero Miesenboeck, a professor of cell biology at Yale University.
Dickson, who recalls running into the lab when an assistant called him on a Sunday night with the results, said, "This really makes you think about how much of our behavior, perhaps especially sexual behaviors, has a strong genetic component."
All researchers cautioned that any of these prewired behaviors set by master genes can and probably will be modified by experience. Though male fruit flies are programmed to "do it," Dickson said, "males that are rejected often by females over time become less aggressive in their mating behavior."
When a normal male fruit fly is introduced to a virgin female, he almost immediately begins foreplay and then copulates for 20 minutes.
In fact, Dickson and his co-author, Ebru Demir of the Institute of Molecular Biology, chose to look for the genetic basis of fly sexual behavior precisely because it seemed so strong and instinctive, therefore predictable.
But no one dreamed that simply activating the normally dormant male portion of the gene in a female fly could cause a genetic female to display so perfectly the whole elaborate panoply of male fruit fly foreplay.
by maudmac » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:51 am
by WebWarlock » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:47 am
Kraft, Harris Bank hit for Gay Games support
By Lorene Yue
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 6, 2005
Two conservative Christian groups are attacking two prominent businesses for taking a high-profile role in the 20006 Gay Games in Chicago.
The American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss., and the Illinois Family Institute of Glen Ellyn are sharply criticizing Kraft Foods Inc. and Harris Bank for each contributing $25,000 to the athletic competition and now want the companies to take a less visible role by removing logos and banners from the event.
"We don't think this is something a big corporation should get behind," said Peter LaBarbera, executive director of Illinois Family Institute, which says it promotes family values.
The groups say that by supporting the Gay Games, Kraft and Harris Bank are in conflict with a public image that portrays the companies as family-based and conservative. It's the first time either group has lobbied against corporations sponsoring the Gay Games and the first time Gay Games coordinators have experienced this type of opposition.
Randy Sharp, director of special projects for American Family Association, said he was shocked to learn that Kraft, the corporate giant behind brands such as Oreo, Tang and Jell-O, would openly support what he considers a "dangerous" and "unhealthy activity."
"When you look at all the Kraft commercials, they all revolve around family and children," Sharp said. "Now if I go buy Kraft mac and cheese, I'll know that part of my dollar is going to sponsor Olympic-type games for men that have sex together."
Sharp said Kraft employees upset over the sponsorship alerted the American Family Association, which he said had never been critical of the company's activities.
Protests so far have been limited to complaints, but they could escalate to pickets and boycotts as the event draws near, Sharp said. "We've got time," he said.
Conceived as a quadrennial sporting event in 1982, the Gay Games are a vehicle to showcase athleticism in the gay community and promote self-esteem, organizers say. Host cities have included San Francisco, Sydney, Amsterdam and New York.
Gay Games VII will be held over eight days next year in July at various sites in Chicago. More than 10,000 athletes are expected to compete in events that will include softball, track and field, basketball and swimming. Event organizers and Chicago officials expect roughly 100,000 people to attend and an economic infusion of between $70 million and $80 million.
Chicago was named the host city last year after negotiations to hold the Gay Games in Montreal failed. Organizers Chicago Games Inc., which was an original bidder on the 2006 games, had two years to round up financial support. A member of the Kraft Rainbow Council, one of many special-interest groups at the food manufacturer, approached the company with the possibility of sponsoring the games.
"We are standing behind our sponsorship," said Alyssa Burns, a Kraft spokeswoman. "It's something we want to support."
The company has declined to comment further on the opposition to its stance.
The City of Chicago, which lobbied to be the host city, also isn't deterred by the criticism.
"We haven't gotten any pressure to take back the games at all," said William Greaves, Mayor Richard M. Daley's liaison to the gay community. "We're fully committed. It's a sporting event and the city is known for putting on world-class sporting events."
Harris Bank also is not wavering in its sponsorship.
"Harris supports a wide variety of community events across a diverse spectrum," said Jen Dillon, a bank spokeswoman. "We are happy to join many other companies in the city's goal with these games."
With Kraft and Harris Bank refusing to budge, the conservative groups want their protests to serve as a warning to other prominent businesses considering sponsorship roles.
Conservative groups have put pressure on other companies in the past. . They forced DaimlerChrysler to pull a Dodge ad from the 2003 "Lingerie Bowl"; persuaded Mary Kay cosmetics to reconsider an ad buy on "Desperate Housewives"; and recently claimed victory for Microsoft Corp.'s decision to withdraw its support of state legislation that would have banned discrimination against gays.
The complaints aren't hindering fundraising efforts, said Tracy Baim, a Gay Games VII organizer and publisher of the alternative lifestyle newspaper Windy City Times. Event coordinators have raised more than $2 million in cash and are continuing to successfully court corporate sponsors.
"In a perverse way, this is very flattering," said Roger Brigham, spokesman for the Federation of Gay Games. "They see us as a large enough movement to command their attention."
by TemperedCynic » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:04 pm
by Ben Varkentine » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:50 pm
... the FBI says that the number of active hate groups has grown from 474 in 1997 to 762 in 2004. One cause of the rise is that there's been a lot of infighting in white supremacist circles, creating splinter groups. While it seems like it would be good that white supremacist groups are splintering, experts say that smaller groups without leadership are more likely to breed terrorists like Timothy McVeigh.
...the problem of hate is far greater than the existence of a few explicitly radical hate groups. Vile bigotry against gays and lesbians is very mainstream, for instance, and gay bashing is even getting tacit approval when mainstream "Christian" organizations come out against laws against gay-bashing. The good news is that the SPLC has decided to start calling out hate groups that cover their asses by claiming they are just pro-family and Christian. (That's what the KKK says, too, you know.)
The anti-gay rhetoric coming out of supposedly mainstream groups like Focus on Family has gotten especially vile as of late, and while that's certainly made the leaders of these groups like James Dobson quite a bit of fat cash, it's also creating a friendly enviroment for gay-bashing.
by Ben Varkentine » Thu Jun 09, 2005 2:10 pm
School district ordered to pay $300k to gay students who were harassed
by John in DC - 6/9/2005 02:36:00 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nort ... poway.html
Let this be a lesson to any school district out there who is sucking up to the religious right. You make a move in their direction and against gay kids, and some gay kid is harassed as a result of the anti-gay climate you create, you'd BETTER have a good answer. Ask your religious right buddies if they plan on bailing your school district out when you lose $300k in court.
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