GLBT News

[Lijdrec]

New thought on the making of a gay man in the womb:

_________________________________________

Men Turned Gay in Womb: Book



Australian Associated Press Pty Limited (AAP) - October 12, 2003

Quote:

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Homosexual men may be the results of a failed attempt at unconscious inter-uterine murder by their mother, according to a controversial new book. Adam's Curse: a Future Without Men, raises the theory that gay men are a casualty of a pitched genetic battle of the sexes. The book, available in Australia from Monday, suggests gay men are also an example of "genetic altruism" - sacrificing their ability to reproduce so they can help their mothers bring up female children.



The "gay gene" is a perennial scientific hot potato but as yet no one has been able to pin it down. However, there is strong evidence that male homosexuality is hereditary and associated with the mother. Author Bryan Sykes, a professor of genetics at Oxford University, admits his theory - and he stresses it is a theory only - is controversial. But he says it discounts the even more controversial suggestion that male homosexuality is a genetic disease.



"It occurred to me there might be another explanation that was at once genetic and not," told AAP. That explanation hinges on two key players. On one side of the ring is mitochondria, a form of DNA contained only in the female egg and passed on exclusively through daughters. On the other side is the male-making Y chromosome, present only in sperm and passed on only through sons. According to Prof Sykes, mitochondria seeks to kill male foetuses so it can dominate over the Y chromosome.



"It's a molecular or genetic revenge against the male," he said. He says no studies have yet been done to test the theory in humans but it had been observed in animals. "It makes evolutionary sense and you can see it happening in other animals, where mitochondrial elements...deliberately and very successfully kill off male embryos."

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_________________________________________

One question though.... why are not the mitochondria in my body still trying to kill me? Or is that why I overeat? To give them something to do besides myself!



Oh well...... And this is even more depressing by this same author, though I imagine most of the kitten contingent will be quite happy if it were to become true.....

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Degeneration Y: Adam is on the Eve of Extinction



Australian Associated Press Pty Limited (AAP) - October 13, 2003

Quote:

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Women had better learn how to program the VCR and assemble flat-pack furniture in the next 125,000 years because that's when the last bloke will disappear from the earth, according to a new book.



Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at Oxford University, caused a stir with the publication of his book Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men.



As a headline in Britain's Sunday Times quipped: "Bad News: Men Doomed. Good News: No Problem."



In Australia, ahead of the book's release here today, Professor Sykes said men would last for only another 5000 generations before dwindling fertility and a decrepit Y chromosome consigned them to the history books along with Neanderthals and trilobites.



Women, on the other hand, could look forward to plum jobs, good pay, tax-deductible child care, subsidised tampons, clean bathrooms and global peace.



"This . . . is a look into the future at how the Y chromosome will deteriorate, and I think it certainly will," Professor Sykes said. "The timescale is debatable but I think it is inevitable.



"I predict that the Y chromosome will be so damaged by that time that males will only be 1 per cent as fertile as they are now."



The Y chromosome, which carries the genetic switch to turn babies into boys at six weeks of gestation, is doomed, he argues in his book. "The Y chromosome is a genetic ruin, littered with molecular wreckage . . . a graveyard of rotting genes. It is a dying chromosome and one day it will become extinct."



He said men could be rescued with "massive intervention", but it would be quite possible to survive without them.

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Where do I sign up to get my other X?

_________________________________________

Edited by: Lijdrec  at: 10/13/03 9:30 am

[tyche]

It's pretty long, as well as being completely jaw-dropping, so I'm just going to post the link instead of copy/pasting the whole thing.

Edited to add: Good news for Californians, though I'm sure Ah-nuld will declare the bill 'anti-business' and work to reverse it:

Quote:

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/13/MN307103.DTL

Davis signs partner benefit bill

Business groups say it will make it harder to operate in the state



Robert Salladay, Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writers



Sacramento -- In a dramatic gesture to gays and lesbians before leaving office, Gov. Gray Davis signed a measure Sunday making California the first state in the nation to require state contractors to offer their employees in domestic partnerships the same benefits as married couples.

Dealing with nearly 300 bills left on his desk after Tuesday's dramatic recall election, the Democratic governor on Sunday night also vetoed two controversial bills: one that would have allowed illegal immigrants to apply for a tuition waiver at California Community Colleges and another that would have allowed pharmacists to sell up to 30 clean syringes to customers each year without a prescription.

The new state contracting law on domestic partners mirrors ordinances in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley and San Mateo County, and would effectively require that most businesses with state contracts over $100,000 begin offering domestic partnership benefits if they also extend those benefits to married couples.

The law takes effect in 2007. If Davis had not acted on the legislation, it would have become law without his signature.

Also late Sunday night, he signed:

-- SB582, which will prohibit the sale or distribution of any product containing ephedra. The bill's author, state Sen. Jackie Speier, D- Hillsborough, said federal health authorities have linked ephedra supplements to at least 100 deaths and side effects such as heart attacks, strokes and psychoses.

-- SB420, which will create an ID card for medical marijuana users to show law enforcement officers. The measure is designed so police can sort out legitimate users from those taking advantage of the law for recreational use.

Business groups opposed to the domestic partnerships bill criticized it as a new burden on the cost of operating in California. Social conservatives and religious organizations opposed the measure as well, believing it will require Catholic hospitals or other religious-run businesses to defy their moral beliefs and extend benefits to gays and lesbians.

As the bill was making its way through the Legislature, the Mormon Church warned the bill would mean day-care centers, hospitals and social-service groups would "either abandon their sincerely held conscientious beliefs" or stop providing services if they have a state government contract.

"The practical result of this may be a significant loss of social, educational and health services for thousands across California," the church wrote, according to an analysis of the measure done by the state Senate.

But a top Davis aide said the measure is about applying the same standards to gays and lesbians as to married couples -- for anyone that wants to do business with the state and follow its laws.

"This isn't going to tell any entity to change their beliefs, but if they are going to contract with the state they have to comply with state anti- discrimination laws," said Daniel Zingale, the governor's Cabinet secretary. "And it's discrimination to offer gay and lesbian Californians an inferior benefits package."

1 SENIOR CITIZENS INCLUDed

Davis already is considered one of the most pro-gay and lesbian governors in the United States. He recently signed legislation extending many of the same benefits of marriage to domestic partners.

It's unclear how many California businesses are targeted by this new state contracting law. About 4,500 businesses across the country already offer domestic partnership benefits, including about one third of all Fortune 500 companies, according to Human Rights Watch. As an employer, the state of California also offers health benefits to domestic partners.

State law allows any same-sex couple over age 18, and any unmarried male- female couple over age 62, to register as domestic partners. The new contracting law would apply as well to male-female senior citizen employees who are registered as domestic partners.

The measure Davis signed -- AB17 by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego -- applies to state contracts for goods and services worth more than $100,000 and signed after Jan. 1, 2007. Zingale said the phase-in period was a "recognition of difficult economic times" for businesses right now.

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Edited by: tyche at: 10/13/03 9:59 am

[Gatito Grande]

Very intriguing (and wildly speculative, as the author seems to admit), but

Quote:

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though I imagine most of the kitten contingent will be quite happy if it were to become true.....

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. . . I'd kinda be careful about those assumptions, Lijdrec.



GG "We're more into the girl-on-girl action." Out

[Lijdrec]

I have a rather dry wit Gatito Grande.... I meant it only jokingly, perhaps I should have added something like......



or or even

Edited by: Lijdrec  at: 10/13/03 1:25 pm

[Diebrock]

CNN.com

Quote:

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Study: Sexual identity hard-wired by genetics

Monday, October 20, 2003 Posted: 10:06 AM EDT (1406 GMT)



LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Sexual identity is wired into the genes, which discounts the concept that homosexuality and transgender sexuality are a choice, California researchers reported on Monday.



"Our findings may help answer an important question -- why do we feel male or female?" Dr. Eric Vilain, a genetics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, said in a statement. "Sexual identity is rooted in every person's biology before birth and springs from a variation in our individual genome."



His team has identified 54 genes in mice that may explain why male and female brains look and function differently.



Since the 1970s, scientists have believed that estrogen and testosterone were wholly responsible for sexually organizing the brain. Recent evidence, however, indicates that hormones cannot explain everything about the sexual differences between male and female brains.



Published in the latest edition of the journal Molecular Brain Research, the UCLA discovery may also offer physicians an improved tool for gender assignment of babies born with ambiguous genitalia.



Mild cases of malformed genitalia occur in 1 percent of all births -- about 3 million cases. More severe cases -- where doctors can't inform parents whether they had a boy or girl -- occur in one in 3,000 births.



"If physicians could predict the gender of newborns with ambiguous genitalia at birth, we would make less mistakes in gender assignment," Vilain said.



Using two genetic testing methods, the researchers compared the production of genes in male and female brains in embryonic mice -- long before the animals developed sex organs.



They found 54 genes produced in different amounts in male and female mouse brains, prior to hormonal influence. Eighteen of the genes were produced at higher levels in the male brains; 36 were produced at higher levels in the female brains.



"We discovered that the male and female brains differed in many measurable ways, including anatomy and function." Vilain said.



For example, the two hemispheres of the brain appeared more symmetrical in females than in males. According to Vilain, the symmetry may improve communication between both sides of the brain, leading to enhanced verbal expressiveness in females.



"This anatomical difference may explain why women can sometimes articulate their feelings more easily than men," he said.



The scientists plan to conduct further studies to determine the specific role for each of the 54 genes they identified.



"Our findings may explain why we feel male or female, regardless of our actual anatomy," said Vilain. "These discoveries lend credence to the idea that being transgender --- feeling that one has been born into the body of the wrong sex -- is a state of mind."

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_________________

How can you kill people who killed people, to show that killing people is wrong?

I've kissed her best friend. I've reached into her best friend's pocket and fished around for keys. And I gave her best friend my number. I must be doing something totally, totally wrong... - TBSOL by Dreams

[Ben Varkentine]

www.salon.com/mwt/feature...ex_np.html

Quote:

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Toby and Jean Adams moved to Auburn, Calif., to raise their daughter in a close-knit community with good schools. The reaction of their neighbors and fellow churchgoers -- from anger to acceptance to confusion -- mirrors Middle America's evolving attitudes toward gays and gay marriage.



Editor's note: This story is part of our continuing series on marriage.



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

By Laura McClure







Oct. 20, 2003 | AUBURN, Calif. -- St. Luke's Episcopal is a small red-brick church that stands shaded at the corner of two tree-lined streets, not far from the main square of Auburn, Calif. In a town of many churches it is the second-oldest one, and its congregation, like the town, is almost entirely conservative and white. In St. Luke's, an American flag hangs over the pulpit, and nearly every Sunday of late there are family members in Iraq to pray for listed in the bulletin. At service, there are men who lean heavily on their canes when the congregation is called to stand, and white-haired women nearby whose help the men refuse. After the sermon they all give thanks for the blessings in their lives, and sing.



One recent Sunday, newlyweds Jean and Toby Adams walked to the altar and held hands. The women had been married two weeks before, but not many in the congregation knew that yet. This was Jean's first time in Toby's church, and because she had grown up in a similar congregation in small-town California she was cold with sweat on her way to the altar. The 10 or 12 steps to the front of the church seemed long to her, but when they arrived and turned to face the congregation, Toby was clear voiced and calm. "I would like to give thanks for our marriage," said Toby, and stopped. There was a pause as the senior warden hurried over to them, turned to the congregation, and took Jean's free hand. "Let us give thanks for how open our church is," he said. Only one couple left the church as a result.



Since its founding in 1887, this was the first time St. Luke's had ever had a same-sex marriage proclaimed within its walls, and no one knew how the parish would react. This is not a church used to change; when they received their first female priest, this year, they decided to call her Father Marcia because they didn't know what else to call a woman priest. Still, the recent votes by the national Episcopal convention to approve the first openly gay bishop and to allow the blessing of same-sex marriages mean that St. Luke's is now faced with a challenge far more controversial than what to call female priests. While most of the congregants like Toby and Jean, some worry about the legal and religious changes the two might come to represent. "Up until now there's been kind of a don't ask, don't tell policy," says Toby, "and with the ruling that's changed."

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There's more, but you either need to be a Salon subscriber or watch an ad to read the rest. Thought I'd post the lead and let Kittens decide what they want to do.

Ben



"We are all one. And if we do not know, we will learn it the hard way."

-- Bayard Rustin, organizer of the 1963 March on Washington

[TemperedCynic]

First, may I humbly plug a wonderful story in the Pens, mariacomet's The Garland Days .



Now, for the news of the day in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Taken from today's St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Quote:

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Police chief's son part of inquiry

BY PHILLIP PIÑA

Pioneer Press





Patrons at Lucy's Saloon watched in amazement around 1 a.m. Sunday when the man they say started a bar-clearing brawl began barking orders at police officers who arrived to quell it — and the officers responded.



The man turned out to be St. Paul police Sgt. Jon Loretz, the son of Police Chief William Finney. On Monday, the department referred an investigation into the fight to the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to avoid a conflict of interest, Finney said. The chief pledged his department's full cooperation with the agency's probe.



The 34-year-old Loretz was at the 601 N. Western Ave. tavern with a female companion. He reportedly had had a few drinks when the fight broke out at the bar, which attracts a mostly lesbian clientele. Witnesses, including bar manager LaTonya Noble, say Loretz screamed slurs against homosexuals and was involved in several scuffles. One woman was hit over the head with a beer bottle before Loretz left through a back entrance. At least two women were taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries. Noble called for police help when the fights broke out.



Noble said Loretz directed a number of slurs at her. "I felt I was bashed.



"They let him walk away," said Noble, who expected the responding police officers to at least question Loretz. "I knew it was somebody important because they started taking orders from him."



Police said Loretz wasn't questioned until several hours later and was not given a sobriety test.



The BCA will take the lead in the probe and Finney will "completely recuse" himself, said Assistant Superintendent Tim O'Malley. The fact that Finney's wife, Linda, is a BCA agent will not have any impact on the investigation, O'Malley added. Neither Linda Finney nor her staff will be involved in the investigation, O'Malley said.



While the chief is Loretz's father, Linda Finney is not Loretz's mother. Police would not discuss the father-son relationship any further.



Loretz could not be reached for comment.



Disciplinary action, if any, will not be taken against Loretz until the BCA has finished its investigation. The department did not release his public personnel history Monday, but officials said he has been with the department eight years. Past assignments include a stint as a sex-crimes investigator. He is overseeing aspects of the police department's move into a new headquarters building, which is expected to take several months.



Finney has spoken with Loretz "as a father would," he said Monday. Finney would not divulge what his son might have said about the incident.



O'Malley said there is no time line for the BCA investigation. Detectives will probably look at accusations of assault and possibly whether Loretz carried a handgun into a bar where a gun-ban sign is posted on the front door. Nobles said she saw him show a handgun in a leg holster during the fight.



Even when an officer is off duty, he or she often carries a weapon, Finney said. The department discourages officers from carrying their weapons when drinking, he said.



THE INCIDENT



Saturday night was a typical night at Lucy's for the most part. The Frogtown tavern opens up its spacious second-story dance floor and bars on the weekend, and a mostly female crowd of about 100 had gathered to listen to guest disc jockey Lady L. from KMOJ-FM 89.9. The crowd typically is nearly all lesbian, though a few heterosexual customers attended Saturday to listen to the DJ, said bar patron Beth Treseler of Minneapolis.



The female companion with Loretz reportedly was dancing with several other women, and according to bouncer Tyrie Stanley, the incident started when a woman and Loretz's companion got into an argument. Loretz jumped in, Stanley said, and he saw a couple of chairs being tossed around.



Lady L., whose real name is Lynzada Hill, was playing the Jay-Z remix of Panjabi Mc's "Beware of the Boys" when she noticed a large man getting into a fight with several women on the dance floor below her booth. She turned off the song and turned up the lights.



"This guy, this big guy — he was actually swinging on women," Hill said Monday.



He was choking one woman when bar security stopped him, she said. Then he began to verbally attack Noble, who was trying to kick Loretz out of the bar. Hill said he yelled, "You want to act like a man, I'll treat you like a man."



Hill then said she saw Loretz smash a beer bottle over the head of Treseler. Treseler was immediately knocked out.



"He's big and tall. I'm only 5 (foot) 2," Treseler said Monday. Loretz stands 6-foot-5.



As Noble tried to get him out of the bar, Loretz kept saying that he was a police officer and that he could have the bar closed down, Noble said.



At one point, as Loretz made his way onto the street, a woman he was choking sprayed him with a chemical irritant, to which Loretz responded: "I eat that s - - - for breakfast," Noble said.



Then, as police officers arrived, Loretz told them he had things under control, Noble and others said. Hill said the officers were leaving when Noble began to object and called KSTP-TV, Channel 5.



On Monday, Treseler had five stitches in her head, a welt the "size of a softball" and a black eye.



Finney said he opted to turn the probe over to the BCA because "I want there to be no question that my role as a father in any way influenced this investigation."



Noble wants a full investigation into the brawl and has been reassured by other officers who have stopped by her business the past two days that there will be one.



"They weren't even going to do a report" Sunday morning, Noble recalled. "They were all about to leave." When Noble was contacted Monday by an investigator, the detective asked a few questions about whether a customer had a knife — something Noble told him was not true. But the detective did not ask about Loretz until she mentioned him, Noble said.



Much of the police work on Monday probably centered on the transfer of information, such as reports and statements, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the state's Department of Public Safety.



St. Paul police have gone to the bar 32 times this year, according to St. Paul police spokesman Paul Schnell. Most calls have been for regular bar problems, and many from the bar staff themselves, to deal with drunken patrons and help break up fights. Many of the times the officers just stopped by, he said.

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I will get more first-hand perspective as time permits. Have we, as a society, regressed so much that we start seeing actions like this again?

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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 - )

[Gatito Grande]

Ugh. I'm gonna go out on a limb to imaginatively interpret the following:

Quote:

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The female companion with Loretz reportedly was dancing with several other women, and according to bouncer Tyrie Stanley, the incident started when a woman and Loretz's companion got into an argument.

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"Hey, my boyfriend really, really wants a three-way. Whaddaya say?"



"FUCK NO!!!"



GG I've got no problem w/ men in lesbian bars---as long as you maybe slip a little "chemical castration" into their drinks? Out

[Ben Varkentine]

Quote:

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(AP) - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ridiculed his court's recent ruling legalizing gay sex, telling an audience of conservative activists Thursday that the ruling ignores the Constitution in favor of a modern, liberal sensibility. The ruling, Scalia said, "held to be a constitutional right what had been a criminal offense at the time of the founding and for nearly 200 years thereafter." Scalia adopted a mocking tone to read from the court's June ruling that struck down state antisodomy laws in Texas and elsewhere.

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More: story.news.yahoo.com/news...s_scalia_2



By a funny coincidence, the DSL ad at the top of the page features a rainbow...how that must irk Mr. Scalia.



ETA:

Quote:

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Gay Marriage Looms as Issue

GOP Push for Amendment Is Dilemma for Bush

By Mike Allen

Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, October 25, 2003; Page A01





Republican lawmakers and conservative activists are making plans to turn gay marriage into a major issue in next year's elections, with some Christian groups saying that banning same-sex unions is a higher immediate priority for them than restricting abortion.









Party strategists said the issue could be a bonanza for mobilizing conservatives to fund campaigns and turn out to vote, particularly in the South. Conservative groups said they plan to challenge candidates to sign a pledge in support of a constitutional amendment precluding gay marriage, then use the results -- along with votes Republicans hope to force in the House and Senate -- as a wedge against Democrats.



Watching the Episcopal Church roiled over whether openly gay bishops should be confirmed, politicians in both parties are beginning to see gay marriage as a potentially key issue for candidates in a 50-50 nation.



"It's becoming a bigger issue by the day," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative group with many friends in the White House. "It's going to have a big impact on this election cycle. And we're going to help it become a front-burner issue at the state and national level, if it doesn't become one on its own."



Some worried administration officials said gay marriage may turn into an issue on which President Bush's reelection interests diverge from those of his party's activists and congressional candidates. Democrats contend -- and some officials close to Bush said they fear -- that the issue could hamper efforts to portray the president as a compassionate or tolerant conservative, a crucial part of his appeal to suburban women and swing voters.



The most-conservative members of the Republican party have expressed dismay about Bush's reticence on the issue so far, fearing a rerun of his low-decibel approach to abortion during his campaigns.



The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is considering a case that could lead to a ruling this fall calling for the legislature to set up a system for same-sex unions such as that in Vermont or Canada.



If Massachusetts recognizes such unions, a blizzard of lawsuits could be expected to force other states to recognize the Massachusetts ceremonies. The Defense of Marriage Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages. But some leading Republican lawmakers say they worry the federal law could be struck down as unconstitutional, and the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the act in September. GOP sources said the purpose was to build a case for additional "safeguards."



Recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage, and activists on both sides predicted that the prospective Massachusetts ruling could reignite the nation's culture wars at an intensity not seen since the Clinton administration.



A coalition of conservative groups designated the week of Oct. 12 to 18 as "Marriage Protection Week," to call attention to their drive for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which says marriage in the United States "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman."



Focus on the Family, the group led by James Dobson, has begun raising money and excitement about the issue with a mailing warning that "the institution of marriage is about to descend into a state of turmoil unlike any other in human history." He asks for a contribution for a costly battle that "could very well be a turning point in our nation's history."



Another powerful conservative lobbying organization, Concerned Women for America, is circulating talking points called "Why Homosexual 'Marriage' Is Wrong," saying it "is as wrong as giving a man a license to marry his mother or daughter or sister."



Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) endorsed the amendment this summer after a landmark gay-rights ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Texas's ban on sodomy. Bush has stopped short of an endorsement but signaled his support for conservatives, disclosing that administration lawyers are studying ways to codify marriage as being between a man and a woman.



Administration officials, in private conversations, sounded skittish about the issue and said there is no chance Bush will take any further position on the issue before the Massachusetts ruling. After that, the president will have to make a high-stakes legal and political decision about how aggressive a response he will support.

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Continued here: www.washingtonpost.com/wp...t24_2.html



Inch by inch, row by row...

Ben



"We are all one. And if we do not know, we will learn it the hard way."

-- Bayard Rustin, organizer of the 1963 March on Washington

Edited by: Ben Varkentine at: 10/25/03 11:09 am

[tyche]

Two stories on Canon Gene Robinson:

Quote:

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_ne...213009.stm

Hate mail 'astounds' gay canon



The first openly gay man to be elected an Anglican bishop has spoken of the hate mail he has received, some of it coming from the UK.

But Canon Gene Robinson, bishop elect of New Hampshire, in the United States, said he had also received many letters of support - and had stopped counting his e-mails when they passed 8,000 messages.



The bishop-elect was addressing the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement's (LGCM) Halfway to Lambeth conference at Manchester University via video link from his diocese.



He also revealed the diocese, where he will be consecrated on 2 November, has been forced to spend thousands of dollars to protect him.



Mr Robinson said he had been genuinely touched by the letters of support he had received, which went some way to make up for the amount of hate mail.



"I'm getting lots of hate mail - and lots of love letters of incredible passion and depth," he told the 250 delegates.



"There have been all kinds of wonderful messages from this country and around the world about what this means to them, especially from people not yet in cities or churches where it is safe to be who they are."



But he singled out one particularly upsetting postcard he had received from the UK.



On the front it had a picture of the rose window at Durham Cathedral.



On the other it had an abusive message calling him a "fornicating, lecherous pig".



He said: "The juxtaposition of that beautiful picture on one side and the hate message on the other was astounding."



He also dealt with the potential schism the church faces if he is consecrated.



Rebuilding



Canon Robinson said: "We all can hardly wait for 3 November, when hopefully I will be an old news story and we can get on with what I've been called to do.



"We're going to rebuild a diocese here which is congregation-focused and spirit-led."



He added: "The fact of the matter is that I am neither the devil one side would take me to be, nor the saint that others would have me to be. I am trying to hold on to who I am, as a human being and as a Christian on his own journey toward God."



Church leaders of the Anglican community have warned his status as a homosexual bishop could split the Church.



The conference is also due to hear from Michael Ingham, Bishop of New Westminster, Canada, whose diocese has authorised the blessing of same sex relationships in its churches, and Mario Ribas, a gay priest in the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil.



The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has been criticised for cancelling his own appearance at the conference.



LGCM general secretary Richard Kirker said the archbishop had been "quite clearly put under pressure" not to attend.



But he had made clear the date was still free in his diary, "which made it all the more despicable that he felt unable to attend".



"The archbishop's presence here would have helped his oft-repeated claim to listen to lesbian and gay people."



Mr Kirker also refuted suggestions the LGCM should split from the rest of the Anglican Communion over its views on homosexuality.



The LGCM had planned to hold a service at Manchester Cathedral on Sunday as part of its Halfway to Lambeth conference.



But the cathedral withdrew the invitation on the orders of the Bishop of Manchester.



The banned service will now be held at St Chrysostom's Church, near the University of Manchester.



Two of the Bishop of Manchester's staff resigned in protest at the ban.

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Quote:

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_ne...214225.stm

Unique appeal of 'homely'* canon



by Smyth Harper

BBC News Online



Canon Gene Robinson may not have seen the Promised Land, but he hopes it will soon be in his sights.

The speech to gay Christians in Manchester - by the first openly gay man to be elected an Anglican bishop - had more than a ring of Martin Luther King to it.



In a video link from the United States, he said that gay Christians could be "led out of slavery, although it means walking in a wilderness for many years."



"But this God offers us a Promised Land, just as he did for the Israelites," he said.



The audience, about 250 members of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, loved it.



As soon as his face appeared, beamed by satellite from New Hampshire after the usual technical hitches, the audience erupted.



They cheered for several minutes, before listening to what this talisman of equality had to say.



They were a friendly crowd of mostly white, mostly middle class Christians - like many seen attending worship up and down the country every week.



A clue to their sexuality came from the rainbow ribbons some of them wore.



And they hung on his every word, and he was only interrupted when they applauded what he had to say.



"We have let the word traditionalist be hijacked by those who would take us to a place which has never been Anglican tradition," he said.



"We are traditionalists."



Homely fervour



Despite the fervour of his rhetoric, Robinson comes across as a homely, friendly man.



He never raised his voice, but his words had a powerful resonance.



Looking down from the video screen, he was reminiscent of Jerry Springer at the end of his show when he gives a measured, quiet final thought.



Robinson sounds exactly like controversial TV host - if a little more sincere.



In fact the gay row in the Anglican Church is not unlike an episode of the show, with two warring sides battling it out in the most unedifying of spectacles.



From the echoes of Martin Luther King to the uncanny similarity to Jerry Springer, Canon - soon to be Bishop - Gene Robinson is certainly unique.

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* NB: For American readers, in Britain 'homely' means kind and welcoming.

[Gatito Grande]

[*NB: Gene Robinson will be consecrated this Sunday, w/ a *ton* of news coverage. Maybe we should keep it on the "Scarier Religion and Homosexuality" Thread?]



For Kittens outside of the U.S. (and maybe even some within), John Lewis is a Civil Rights legend: speaking at the '63 March on Washington, helping form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (which led the sit-in and freedom-ride actions for desegregation)---he was nearly beaten to death in the Civil Rights March in Selma. For the last 20 years or so, he has been a Member of Congress. That he, both a longtime Civil Rights leader, *and* a Evangelical Christian, is on our side, gives me tremendous hope.

Quote:

---

At a crossroads on gay unions



By John Lewis, 10/25/2003



FROM TIME to time, America comes to a crossroads. With confusion and controversy, it's hard to spot that moment. We need cool heads, warm hearts, and America's core principles to cleanse away the distractions.



We are now at such a crossroads over same-sex couples' freedom to marry. It is time to say forthrightly that the government's exclusion of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters from civil marriage officially degrades them and their families. It denies them the basic human right to marry the person they love. It denies them numerous legal protections for their families.



This discrimination is wrong. We cannot keep turning our backs on gay and lesbian Americans. I have fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation. I've heard the reasons for opposing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Cut through the distractions, and they stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism and in bigotry.



Some say let's choose another route and give gay folks some legal rights but call it something other than marriage. We have been down that road before in this country. Separate is not equal. The rights to liberty and happiness belong to each of us and on the same terms, without regard to either skin color or sexual orientation.



Some say they are uncomfortable with the thought of gays and lesbians marrying. But our rights as Americans do not depend on the approval of others. Our rights depend on us being Americans.



Sometimes it takes courts to remind us of these basic principles. In 1948, when I was 8 years old, 30 states had bans on interracial marriage, courts had upheld the bans many times, and 90 percent of the public disapproved of those marriages, saying they were against the definition of marriage, against God's law. But that year, the California Supreme Court became the first court in America to strike down such a ban. Thank goodness some court finally had the courage to say that equal means equal, and others rightly followed, including the US Supreme Court 19 years later.



Some stand on the ground of religion, either demonizing gay people or suggesting that civil marriage is beyond the Constitution. But religious rites and civil rights are two separate entities. What's at stake here is legal marriage, not the freedom of every religion to decide on its own religious views and ceremonies.



I remember the words of John JFK when his presidential candidacy was challenged because of his faith: "I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant, nor Jewish -- where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches, or any other ecclesiastical source -- where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials -- and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all."



Those words ring particularly true today. We hurt our fellow citizens and our community when we deny gay people civil marriage and its protections and responsibilities. Rather than divide and discriminate, let us come together and create one nation. We are all one people. We all live in the American house. We are all the American family. Let us recognize that the gay people living in our house share the same hopes, troubles, and dreams. It's time we treated them as equals, as family.



John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, was one of the original speakers at the 1963 March on Washington and is author of "Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement."

---

www.boston.com/news/globe...ay_unions/



GG I think this is freakin' awesome: Yay John Lewis! Out

Edited by: DrG at: 10/27/03 2:38 pm

[FloatingRose]

Thought you all might like to read this..I know I was glad he was elevated..I live in NH.





Robinson elevated as first gay bishop

Ovations, protest greet Episcopal ceremony in N.H.

By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 11/3/2003



DURHAM, N.H. -- The Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson, an Episcopal priest whose elevation has threatened the union of the Anglican Communion, yesterday became the first openly gay bishop in the history of Christendom, as 44 Episcopal bishops laid their hands on his head and proclaimed him a successor to Jesus' apostles.



The elaborate three-hour consecration ceremony took place under heavy security inside a hockey arena at the University of New Hampshire. The ceremony was accompanied by protests from conservative Episcopalians in the United States and leaders of affiliated Anglican provinces in the developing world, who called the consecration of a gay bishop unbiblical and warned that it could trigger a schism in the 70-million-member Anglican Communion.



The leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, issued a statement immediately following Robinson's consecration, saying he has already begun making provisions for those "alienated" by the move.



"The divisions that are arising are a matter of deep regret; they will be all too visible in the fact that it will not be possible for Gene Robinson's ministry as a bishop to be accepted in every province in the communion," Williams said. "It is clear that those who have consecrated Gene Robinson have acted in good faith on their understanding of what the constitution of the American church permits. But the effects of this upon the ministry and witness of the overwhelming majority of Anglicans, particularly in the non-western world, have to be confronted with honesty."



But for gay and lesbian Christians and their supporters, Robinson's consecration was a welcome moment, and the assembly witnessing the consecration greeted the new bishop with several sustained standing ovations.



"This is not about me, but about so many people who find themselves at the margin, and for whatever reason have not known the year of the Lord's favor," said Robinson, who choked back tears as he spoke. "Your presence here is a welcome sign for those people to be brought into the center."



But Robinson also reached out to those who opposed his consecration, saying "there are people -- faithful, wonderful Christian people -- for whom this is a moment of great pain and confusion and anger, and our God will be served if we are hospitable and loving and caring toward them in every way we can possibly muster."



Robinson was consecrated in a lengthy and rich ceremony in which he affirmed his Christian faith and was queried by seven bishops about his readiness to serve. After the assembly asserted that it was their will to see Robinson become a bishop, the 56-year-old priest knelt as the bishops surrounded him and placed their hands on his head, making him a part of the unbroken line of bishops that the church traces back to Jesus' apostles.



Robinson's family and friends, including his partner of 15 years, his former wife, his daughters, his parents, and his sister, then gave him the symbols of his office: a pectoral cross, an episcopal ring, a crosier, and vestments including a chasuble decorated with green, gold, and red silk applique leaves representing the trees of the White Mountains.



The Whittemore Center, where the New Hampshire Wildcats play hockey and basketball, was converted into a makeshift cathedral, with an altar in the center of the floor, incense wafting through the bleachers, and a celebrant in a white cassock holding aloft a kite in the shape of a white dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.



The procession of laypeople, priests, and bishops into the arena took a full 30 minutes, as hundreds of people representing Episcopal schools and churches in New Hampshire led priests and then bishops, wearing festive stoles and their full episcopal finery, into the stadium.



At the start of the ceremony, priests and laypeople testified to the legality of Robinson's election, reading documents attesting that he was properly ordained a priest, elected a bishop, and approved by the denomination's general convention. But, when the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, Frank T. Griswold III, asked if anyone in the crowd knew of "any reason why we should not proceed," three speakers rose to represent those Episcopalians who objected to Robinson's consecration.



"This is the defiant and divisive act of a deaf church," said Meredith Harwood, a laywoman from Orford, who termed the consecration of Robinson a "plunge into unrighteousness" and "the cowardly and conforming act of a church that has capitulated to elite culture."



The Rev. Earle Fox of Pittsburgh began reciting a list of statistics that he said represented the frequency with which gay men engage in various sexual acts before Griswold asked him to "spare us these details."



And Bishop David Bena of Albany, reading a letter from about two dozen bishops who objected to Robinson's consecration, said Robinson's "chosen lifestyle is incompatible with Scripture and the teaching of this church."



"It is impossible to affirm a candidate for bishop and symbol of unity whose very consecration is dividing the whole Anglican Communion," Bena said. "We join with the majority of the bishops in the Communion and will not recognize it. "



Griswold listened to the statements, but said, "the basis of the objections put forward are well known and, I think, have been considered by both this diocese and the general convention. . . . We shall proceed."



And the current bishop of New Hampshire, the Rev. Douglas E. Theuner, who is retiring next March, drew applause during his sermon when he said that Robinson's consecration will lead to greater unity, not division.



"Because of who you are, Gene, you will stand as a symbol of the unity of the church in a way in which none of the rest of us can," he said. "Just your very presence in the episcopate will bring into our fellowship the presence of an entire group of Christians hitherto unacknowledged in these councils of the church."



Among the co-consecrators who presided over yesterday's ceremony was Bishop Barbara C. Harris, who in 1989 became the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion amid similar controversy.



The crowd was smaller than expected, with between 2,500 and 3,000 in attendance. Theuner said it was the largest gathering of Episcopalians in the history of New Hampshire, a small state with 16,475 baptized Episcopalians in 50 congregations.



Security was tight, with more than 100 law enforcement officers from more than 12 agencies around New Hampshire assisting. Everyone entering the Whittemore Center had to pass through metal detectors and have their bags searched; remote cameras and security guards were posted inside and outside the stadium.



Robinson, a resident of Weare, has worked since 1988 as a top aide to Theuner. A son of Kentucky sharecroppers, he grew up worshiping at a Disciples of Christ church but decided to enter an Episcopal seminary while attending the University of the South. He moved to New Hampshire in 1975 to establish a retreat center.



While a seminarian, Robinson got married, and he and his wife had two daughters, but in 1986 he separated from his wife after concluding that he was gay. He later met his partner, Mark Andrew, while both were vacationing in St. Croix.



Robinson was elected a bishop June 7 by Episcopal laypeople and clergy in New Hampshire. The national church then consented to Robinson's election during its general convention in August in Minneapolis, after a heated debate over whether biblical injunctions against homosexual sex disqualified Robinson from serving as a bishop.



Robinson's formal title is now bishop coadjutor of New Hampshire, which means he will assist Theuner until his retirement in March, and then will succeed him. Robinson is to be formally installed as the ninth bishop of New Hampshire in Portsmouth on March 7.



Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.



© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.



www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2003/11/03/robinson_elevated_as_first_gay_bishop?mode=PF

Sarah

[Gatito Grande]

["pis' keys": that's slang for "Episcopalians", not the Fish Sign!]



While this article could have gone on the "Scarier Relig & Homo" thread, it's directed at all queers, religious and non (plus, I post too damn much on that other thread anyway! )



I think the author makes some very good points . . . at the same time, it will be critically important to distinguish the sub-groups of every faith (some of whom will be gay-positive: there are gay Muslim groups, for example, and gay Mormons and gay Baptists, etc.)

Quote:

---

When religious beliefs are the enemy



The Mormon Church. The Vatican. Islamic fundamentalists. They all use their “deeply held religious beliefs” to bash gay people. Yet few dare call them bigots. Having helped lead the charge against the homophobic Dr. Laura, Frasier creator and activist David Lee is ready for his next battle



From The Advocate, November 11, 2003



I used to think of a leader as someone who heeds the call to pick up a sword and lead the charge. For me, it has been a little different. Picture a group of people standing shoulder to shoulder. When volunteers to lead the troops are asked to take a step forward, I usually stand firmly in my place. Then I turn around to find that everyone else has taken a step backward. That’s how I come to leadership.



The Laura Schlessinger battle of a few years ago is a good example. Early on, no one, not one gay person who worked at Paramount—and trust me, the place is crawling with us—objected openly to his own studio producing the Dr. Laura TV show. Of course, I said to myself, Boy, what we need is somebody to stand up to Paramount, somebody the suits can’t fire, somebody they have to pay attention to. Then NBC picked up Frasier for another three years, and all of a sudden I fit my own description. I think I muttered something leader-ish like “Oh, shit” and soon found myself outside those famous Paramount gates with a picket sign and bullhorn.



I now find myself in a similar position regarding another subject: the antigay bigotry of some of our major religious institutions. I keep looking around for someone, anyone, to say something, anything, in response to the incessant bile about gay and lesbian people that is spewed forth daily by the some of the world’s so-called spiritual leaders. I keep looking around for someone finally to say, “Enough! This has got to stop.” And what I see when I turn around is a bunch of folks who have taken a step to the rear. Sadly and shockingly, our major gay political groups are the most conspicuous in their silence. So I mutter “Oh, shit” and forge ahead.



First, let me make it absolutely clear that this is not an attack on religion. I am on a spiritual path myself; I’m sure many of you are too. What I am attacking is homophobic bigotry that justifies itself in religious belief—and the free pass that we in the gay community have given this bigotry over and over again.



Folks, the time for polite silence is finished. We have got to start defending ourselves when attacked. And we are under a massive attack.



The Mormon Church is the fastest-growing cult in the Western Hemisphere. At any given moment they have 60 thousand missionaries worldwide. They are not trying to convince people that gays and lesbians are cool. As late as the 1980s this group was attaching electrodes to gay men, trying to shock them back into the hetero fold. There is a task to be tended to here, yet the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has done little about it.



Evangelical Christians and the Southern Baptist Convention—the largest Protestant denomination in the United States—are snatching up television channels by the handful. They are not doing this so they can air Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Have you watched these guys? We are defamed loudly and repeatedly by Bible-thumping bigots, and yet the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is silent.



My writing partner David Angell, with whom I produced Cheers and created Wings and Frasier, and his wife, Lynn, were in the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Yet when I received an E-mail that began “Islam is not the enemy,” as an American I had to agree. Despite my personal loss, I knew that it was proper and good to discourage an unfair backlash against innocent Muslims after 9/11. As an American I understand that Islam is not the enemy.



But what about as a gay man? Have we have forgotten that there is no sect of Islam worth noting that even tolerates homosexuality? Where Islamic law rules, punishment ranges from imprisonment to torture to disfigurement to death. Islam may not be the enemy of my country, but I’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger enemy of gay people. Islamic countries’ human rights records on gay issues are shameful, but what do we hear from the Human Rights Campaign? Nothing that I know of.



The number of Catholics in this country is increasing by leaps and bounds, mostly by immigration. The leader of this sect now sends “direction” (his word) to Catholic politicians on gay issues. He has told them that it is their “moral duty” (his words again) to oppose any legal rights for gay couples. This is absolutely outrageous. The sovereign head of another country is giving instructions to our government officials. Yet have you heard one word from our national organizations? Has anyone quizzed these Catholic congressmen, senators, judges, and justices about whether they intend to follow these orders from the Vatican? I’d love to hear if they have.



Don’t get me wrong. HRC, GLAAD, and the Task Force are amazing, vibrant organizations that have made tremendous contributions to the cause. But on this issue, these groups are asleep at the switch.



Why?



Here’s what I think: We as a group have become tolerant of intolerance. Whenever anyone justifies their bigotry with what I call DHRB (deeply held religious beliefs), we roll over as if that were the end of the discussion.



We have confused respecting a person’s right to hold whatever religious beliefs they choose with respecting those beliefs. The truth is there are plenty of DHRB that are simply not worthy of our respect. Can we start with the ones that have no respect for us? Can you imagine an African-American respecting someone’s DHRB that the Bible justifies slavery? Grant the right to believe it, yes. Respect the belief itself? No way.



We are terrified to call a bigot a bigot if the bigotry is a result of DHRB. We are horrified that we might be accused of attacking someone’s religion—as if attacking bigotry hiding behind the skirts of religion and attacking religion were the same thing.



The church-based homophobes have it easy on this one. They say the most vile, cruel, untruthful things about us, usually to raise funds, and then use their tax-exempt dollars to promote antigay legislation. If we dare to defend ourselves, we are accused of assaulting their faith. They even use the word “bashing.” What an insult. Try telling Trev Broudy, beaten into a coma in West Hollywood, Calif., last year, or any of the thousands of other gays who have seen the wrong end of a baseball bat that having someone take issue with your religious views is equivalent to their experience.



Why are we not talking about this? Is there no one who has the guts to stand up to these bigots? Is no one willing to say forcefully that homophobic DHRB have no place or value in a civilized 21st century? What happened to the gay movement’s “bad cops”? We seem to have evolved into nothing but a bunch of flabby “soft cops.”



I find myself missing those bad cops from a decade ago, the ACT UP folks.



More than anything, we need to be reminded once again that “silence equals death.” It is as true about homophobic religions as it is about AIDS.



We have got to start talking about religion. All of it: the good guys—and there are many—and the bad guys. It must be a compassionate discussion, but we must not shy away from the truth. Yes, people will take offense. Yes, the opponents are formidable. But I respectfully hope that the Task Force, GLAAD, HRC, and our other leaders will jump into the fray. I hope that when the call comes for volunteers to lead the charge, they do not take a step backward.



Based on a speech Lee delivered in Los Angeles September 28 upon accepting a Leadership Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

---

www.advocate.com/html/sto...2_dhrb.asp



GG Would so love to hear politicians adopt this kind of rhetoric Out

[WebWarlock]

Not sure where this would go best.

Sorry I didnot find it before this.



entertainment.metromix.ch...80,00.html

Quote:

---

22nd Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival



Chicago Filmmakers

5243 N. Clark St.



Annual festival showcases some 40 programs of features and shorts from around the world.

Opening night at the Music Box Theatre, with films also shown at the Landmark Century City Cinema.



Highlights include:





"Tipping the Velvet" screening and burlesque party



"The Undergrad" screening party

Closing night features a screening of "Blue Citrus Hearts" and a post-film reception.



Chicago Filmmakers

Friday, Nov. 7

7 p.m.: "A World of Love"

8:45 p.m.: "Dangerous Living: Coming Out in the Developing World"

10:45 p.m.: "Supercamp" Shorts Program

Saturday, Nov. 8

11 a.m.: "A Day on the Force"

12:30 p.m.: "AlternaQueer" Shorts Program

2 p.m.: "School's Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas"

4 p.m.: "Pandemic: Facing AIDS"

6:30 p.m.: "Boys Coming Together"

8:30 p.m.: "Hooked"

Sunday, Nov. 9

1:30 p.m.: "I Exist: Voices from the Lesbian and Gay Middle Eastern Community in the U.S."

3:30 p.m.: "All About My Father"

5:15 p.m.: "Almost There"

7:15 p.m.: "Radical Harmonies"

9:15 p.m.: "Queers in Uniform" Shorts Program

Monday, Nov. 10

7 p.m.: "No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon"

8:45 p.m.: "Miss Manju Truck Driver"

Tuesday, Nov. 11

7 p.m.: "THIS obedience"

8:45 p.m.: "India Pink"

Wednesday, Nov. 12

7 p.m.: "Secondary High"

9 p.m.: "I Like Dyke" Shorts Program



Landmark Century City Cinema

Friday, Nov. 7

7 p.m.: "Tipping the Velvet, Parts 1 & 2"

9:15 p.m.: "You'll Get Over It"

Saturday, Nov. 8

1 p.m.: "Robin's Hood"

3 p.m.: "We Know What Boys Like"

5 p.m.: "Laughing Matters"

7 p.m.: "Dyke Delicious" Shorts Program

9 p.m.: "The Event"

11 p.m.: "The Undergrad"

Sunday, Nov. 9

12 p.m.: "Close to Leo"

1:30 p.m.: "On the Down Low"

3:30 p.m.: "Tipping the Velvet, Part 3"

5:15 p.m.: "Kevin's Room: Part 2, Trust"

7 p.m.: "Alma Mater"

9 p.m.: "Blind Spot"

Monday, Nov. 10

6 p.m.: "Gone, But Not Forgotten"

7:45 p.m.: "Sex, Politics & Cocktails"

9:30 p.m.: "Totally Sexy Loser"

Tuesday, Nov. 11

6 p.m.: "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin"

7:45 p.m.: "Goldfish Memory"

9:20 p.m.: "Eden's Curve"

Wednesday, Nov. 12

6 p.m.: "The Gift"

7:15 p.m.: "Bulgarian Lovers"

9:15 p.m.: "Yossi & Jagger"

Thursday, Nov. 13

6:30 p.m.: "Kiki & Tiger"

8 p.m.: "Blue Citrus Hearts"







Nov. 7: 7 p.m.

Nov. 8: 11 a.m.

Nov. 9: noon

Nov. 10: 6 p.m.

Nov. 11: 6 p.m.

Nov. 12: 6 p.m.

Nov. 13: 6:30 p.m.



Find more information, www.chicagofilmmakers.org/



Price: $6-$9. Passes are available

Tickets: Box office: 773-293-1447.

Information: 312-458-9117

---

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. Available Now!

"I don't want to believe. I want to know." - Carl Sagan

[vix84]

Students' kiss not just a kiss

By Ylan Mui

Washington Post

November 17, 2003



You've seen Britney and Madonna. Now a US high school has seen two 17-year-olds, Katherine Pecore and Stephanie Haaser, lock lips on top of a lunch table.



The result? Two-day suspensions, a school protest and 15 minutes of fame.



"It wasn't an affection thing. It was really just a statement," Katherine said.



The girls say the kiss was staged to protest against homophobia. It happened in the middle of lunch at River Hill High School in Maryland.



Stephanie's English teacher had asked his students to perform a "nonconformist act" as part of a course on transcendentalist authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Most students opted for little indiscretions - calling teachers by their first names, for example.



But Stephanie had a more dramatic idea. The pair climbed on top of a lunch table and shouted, "End homophobia now!" Then the girls, both heterosexual, made out for an estimated 10 to 15 seconds.



"It was intense," Katherine said. There was stunned silence in the crowded cafeteria. But soon staff and students could talk about little else. The two girls were suspended from school for two days for being disruptive, not for the kiss, said the principal, Scott Pfeifer. There is no policy against kissing in the cafeteria.



But the kiss has eclipsed their message. Only two students showed up at a protest against homophobia that the suspensions prompted.



But a much larger audience tuned in Thursday night when the girls' story made it to CNN. On Friday morning, Stephanie and her mother were on Good Morning America defending the kiss to host Charles Gibson.



At the school, Katherine said, teachers often allow students to use phrases such as: "Oh, that's gay" or trash-talk classmates they believe to be homosexual.



Mr Pfeifer said there was some insensitivity, but he was working with a committee to investigate homophobia.



As for the media, "They don't care about our message," Katherine said. "They care because the whole lesbian kiss thing, because that sells."

~*@.......We are the weirdest person in the world.......@*~

[xita]

These 2 girls seem really aware of the issues, even why CNN picked their story. That's awesome.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[sheila wt]

For the first time in history, the olimpic games will accept athletes who went through the complete process of sex change.



I can see so many nations going wild about that... ha, too bad for them!

--------------------------
"She had tasted Willow on her tongue, and she had worn Willow on her skin. There wasn't a shower in the world that could have washed that away." (Terra Firma, by Tulipp)

Edited by: sheila wt at: 11/16/03 9:58 pm

[Ben Varkentine]

Is it just me, or does anybody else find the proposed slogan--in bold, below--incredibly funny?

Quote:

---

By David B. Caruso

The Associated Press



P H I L A D E L P H I A , Nov. 17 — It doesn't have the flamboyance of San Francisco or the glam of Miami's South Beach, but tourism officials in Philadelphia think the city is ready to join the short but growing list of places with a reputation as homosexual-friendly travel destinations.







The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. has unveiled a $300,000 marketing campaign that will promote the city's historical attractions, and its small but increasingly hip gay district, in an attempt to grab a piece of a niche travel market worth an estimated $54 billion a year.



"The gay traveler has been to San Francisco. They've been to Provincetown, Mass. They are interested in going to more than the gay Meccas," said John Cochie, co-founder of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus. "We think they're ready for an Eagles game."



Starting in December, the campaign will be advertising the city in gay publications and on the Internet. Comcast Corp., the cable TV giant, has also offered to produce a television advertisement aimed at gay day-trippers in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, officials said.



The sales effort will revolve around the slogan, "Get your history straight, and your nightlife gay," and include print ads that feature some cleverly doctored images from American history, including Ben Franklin flying a rainbow-colored kite and Betsy Ross sewing a rainbow flag.



Focus on Nine Blocks



Philadelphia is only the latest North American city to try its luck courting gays and lesbians.



Tourism officials in Washington, D.C., Palm Springs, Calif., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Montreal, have all marketed themselves to gay travelers with print and Internet advertising.



Philadelphia might, on the surface, seem like a slightly tougher sell. As cities go, its reputation has always been more blue collar than cosmopolitan. Businesses here still shutter en masse on Sundays. Pennsylvania's morals run more conservative than nearby New York.



But the city has a thriving nine-block gay district, peppered with clubs, newly opened restaurants and shops, and marketing analysts said it might have significant appeal to gay couples who aren't looking for wild night life.



Where Gay and Straight are the Same



Community Marketing Inc., which was commissioned by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. to assist in the campaign, said surveys of gay travelers showed that a majority are affluent and in committed relationships.



"Gay travelers want the same thing as straight travelers want," Cochie said. "They just want to be in an environment that is safe, that is friendly, that is welcoming."

---

Ben



"We are all one. And if we do not know, we will learn it the hard way."

-- Bayard Rustin, organizer of the 1963 March on Washington

[WebWarlock]

More news about that kiss.



abcnews.go.com/sections/G...114-1.html



and



www.nypost.com/news/regio.../10885.htm



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. Available Now!

"I don't want to believe. I want to know." - Carl Sagan

[Gatito Grande]

Quote:

---

Massachusetts court strikes down ban on same-sex marriage

Tuesday, November 18, 2003 Posted: 10:16 AM EST (1516 GMT)







Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued their ruling in the case of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health on Tuesday.







BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- The highest court in Massachusetts ruled Tuesday it is unconstitutional for the state to deny marriage to gay and lesbian couples, a move that could make the state the first to legalize same-sex marriages.



In a ruling posted on its Web site, the Supreme Judicial Court said the state of Massachusetts may not "deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry."



The lawsuit Goodridge v. Department of Public Health was brought by several gay and lesbian couples seeking the right to marry in Massachusetts.



Gay marriages are forbidden in the United States, although one state, Vermont, allows same-sex civil unions.



Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state sodomy laws, a move some conservatives said could open the door to gay marriage.



That decision and Canadian steps taken to legalize gay marriages earlier this year have intensified the debate.

---

www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/1...index.html





GG Now, brace for the backlash . . . Out

[kat1356]

I have no words to describe my horror that a man professing to be a Reverend could be so hateful.



I don't know if this will actually do any good but I received this through another forum.





www.petitiononline.com/mrphelps/petition.html



Thanks,



Karen

[yana]

kat1356 said:

Quote:

---

I have no words to describe my horror that a man professing to be a Reverend could be so hateful.

---

If you think that's hateful, you should read the stuff on his website. No, wait, you shouldn't, unless you're prepared to be utterly depressed, angered beyond reason, etc.



Yana

"We are one, the gurus say. Aye -- I might agree -- but one what?" -- Edward Abbey

[Repost Moderator]

Originally posted by SoulieBaby

---

Anti-Gay Teacher Fired Anti-Gay Teacher Fired

11.18.03



By Beth Shapiro



(New York City) A Bronx high school teacher has been fired following a series of homophobic incidents in his classroom dating back to 1985.



The final straw for school administrators came when Terence Brunson, 44, called on LGBT students to identify themselves during class and then demanded three lesbian students be "immediately" transferred out of his room.



The Morris High School social-studies teacher was suspended last spring. Brunson appealed and a state arbitrator found him guilty of 15 specific incidents of discrimination, harassment and misconduct during the 2001-2002 school year. He was then fired by the Department of Education.



Details of the arbitration obtained by The New York Post show Brunson had demanded in writing - the "immediate" transfer of the three lesbian students from his class because they had "views upon which I disagreed with."



He also ordered "all homosexual students in his [class] to raise their hands and publicly identify themselves."



The arbiter found that he told a lesbian student - whom Brunson said he had thought was a boy - to "show" him she was female, and then told her, "I could get a guy to turn you straight."



In addition the hearing heard evidence that Brunson had told students, "All gay people are going to hell," and, "God made Adam and Eve, not Alecia [or Alice] and Eve"



"For [a teacher] of Mr. Brunson's seniority and training to make such statements regarding gay students goes against the very precepts of tolerance and diversity," wrote State Education Department hearing examiner Dr. Joel M. Douglas in his ruling to fire Brunson.

[Tempest Duer]

I'm glad he got fired. I hope the same thing happens to the vice-principal at my high school. Guess what the one reason he hates me is?

I believe in the madness called "now."

[tyche]

Quote:

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3239882.stm

Gay groups hail partnership bill



So-called "gay marriages" have moved a step closer after plans for legislation were announced in the Queen's Speech.

The Civil Partnership Bill would enable homosexual "civil partners" to sign a document entitling them to similar legal rights to married couples.

Individuals could also benefit from a dead partner's pension, and a form of divorce could end the agreement.

The proposed law has been welcomed by gay rights groups but is opposed by some Christian organisations.

Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, Jacqui Smith, said last week: "Same-sex couples have been invisible in the eyes of the law for too long.

"The right to be treated equally and fairly is fundamental".

'Long overdue'

A spokesman for the gay rights group Stonewall said the bill was warmly welcomed.

"We're delighted. This is a hugely significant milestone.

"Hundreds of thousands of gay couples have undergone real suffering because the law does not recognise their long-term relationships."

The moves will allow gay people to benefit from a dead partner's pension and grant next of kin rights in hospitals and exempt them from inheritance tax on a partner's home.        

Gay couples would also be able to gain parental responsibility for each other's children and be obliged to support each other financially.

David Allison from the gay rights groups OutRage! also welcomed the bill, but said gay couples' pensions rights should not be postponed until 2010, as is currently specified.

"By and large the government is removing all the overweight legislation that the Tories brought in and are introducing more positive rules that level off gay people and straight people," he added.

'Deep concern'

Some Christian groups are expected to oppose the introduction of the bill.

Don Horrocks, of the Evangelical Alliance, said it was against the effective creation of gay marriages.

"We are deeply concerned by the proposals.

"Whilst it isn't being called marriage it's the creation of a relationship that is marriage in all but name, all the rights without the commitment.

"It undermines the institution of marriage."

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey recently told the BBC there was nothing "sinister" about same sex relationships or homosexuality.

But he added he did not want to see gay "civil partnership" to be referred to as marriage.        

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The Guardian Weekly also reported that 83% of respondents who wrote to the government about the proposed legislation supported gay marriage.

[SoulieBaby]

Louisiana School Punishes 7-Year-Old Boy for Talking About His Lesbian Moms



December 1, 2003



ACLU Gives Lafayette School an F in Conduct



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Sharon Huff and son Marcus McLaurin, whose school punished him for talking about his family.



LAFAYETTE, LA – After a 7-year-old boy was scolded in front of his classmates and sent to a school behavioral clinic for answering another child’s questions about his lesbian mothers, the American Civil Liberties Union today demanded that the school expunge the boy’s disciplinary records and stop restricting him from talking about his family with other students.



“I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said a word so bad that he didn’t want to repeat it over the phone,” said Sharon Huff, the second-grader’s mother. She added, “But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word. No child should ever hear that, especially not from a teacher he trusted and respected.”



Marcus McLaurin was waiting in line to go to recess on November 11 at Ernest Gallet Elementary School when a classmate asked him about his mother and father. He responded that he didn’t have a mother and father; instead he has two mothers. When the other child asked why, Marcus told him that it was because his mother is gay. The other child then asked what that meant, and Marcus explained, “Gay is when a girl likes another girl.”



Upon hearing this, Marcus’s teacher scolded him in front of his classmates, telling him that “gay” is a bad word and he should never say it at school, then sent him to the principal’s office instead of letting him go to recess. The following week the school required Marcus to attend a special behavioral clinic at 6:45 in the morning, where he was forced to repeatedly write “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school again.”



“To tell a 7-year-old boy that he can’t talk about his family not only makes that child feel confused and hurt – it violates his Constitutional right to free speech and equal treatment,” said Ken Choe, a staff attorney from the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project who is handling the matter. “At the ACLU we often deal with schools that mistreat treat gay children and children who have gay parents, but this is beyond the pale.”



On a student behavior contract form that Marcus had to fill out and give to his mother about the incident, Marcus wrote that the thing he did wrong was that he “sed bad wurds.” A handwritten note at the top of the form from Marcus’s teacher further explains: “He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means.” On a behavior report form signed by the assistant principal, the teacher wrote, “Marcus decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is gay. He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl. This kind of discussion is not acceptable in my room. I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children in their own way.” The forms can be viewed online at www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRi...4478&c=104 and www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRi...480&c=104.



“Of course we believe that parents should be the ones who talk with small children about things like sex, but Marcus McLaurin’s school seems to think that he was talking about sex when all he was talking about was his two mothers,” said Joe Cook, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “The fact is that there are children of lesbian and gay parents in schools throughout Louisiana, and those children have the same right as any other children to talk about their families.”



In its letter to the principal of Ernest Gallet Elementary School, the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project and the ACLU of Louisiana demand that the school remove all mentions of the incident from Marcus’s disciplinary record and refrain from restricting his speech in the future, and offer apologies to Marcus and his mother. The text of the ACLU’s letter follows this release.







December 1, 2003



BY FACSIMILE AND MAIL



Virginia Bonvillain

Principal

Ernest Gallet Elementary School

2901 East Milton Avenue

Youngsville, LA 70592



Dear Ms. Bonvillain:



We at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana represent Sharon Huff, the mother of Marcus McLaurin, a 7-year-old second-grade student at your school. On November 11, 2003, school officials disciplined Marcus solely because he informed a classmate that his mother is a lesbian. Their actions violated his constitutional rights to free expression and equal treatment. Moreover, by communicating to him that it is wrong to speak about his family, they caused him considerable distress. We seek to work with you to resolve this matter without resort to litigation.



The Supreme Court has long recognized that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Community Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969). It is clearly established that the expression to which a student is constitutionally entitled includes expression involving issues of sexual orientation. See, e.g., Henkle v. Gregory, 150 F. Supp. 2d 1067 (D. Nev. 2001) (holding that a school official may not silence a student when he or she speaks out about issues of sexual orientation).



In addition, the Constitution forbids you from discriminating between students with heterosexual parents and students with lesbian or gay parents. Such discrimination is a form of sexual orientation discrimination as well as sex discrimination, and disparately penalizes the exercise of the fundamental right to personal autonomy. See Lawrence v. Texas, 123 S. Ct. 2472 (2003) (holding that lesbian and gay couples have the same right to enter into relationships as heterosexual couples); Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) (holding that disfavoring lesbian and gay people is never a legitimate aim of the government).



The censorship and discrimination in which you have engaged not only disregard the fundamental guarantees of the Constitution but also undermine the educational mission of your school. Student harassment is one of the most serious concerns facing schools today. When a student is harassed, his or her ability to learn is jeopardized. A student who is harassed may perform poorly in class, abandon a school activity, or even suffer physical injury. The harm is no less when a student is harassed because he or she is, or his or her parents are, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Indeed, student harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity is especially egregious and systemic. In a recent survey, 42% of LGBT students reported physical harassment because of their, or their parents’, sexual orientation or gender identity. The severity of the harm of such harassment is recognized by the law. A school that does not act to stop student harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity risks liability. Flores v. Morgan Hill Unified Sch. Dist., 324 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir. 2003); Nabozny v. Podlesny, 92 F.3d 446 (7th Cir. 1996). Given the serious consequences of student harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, it is important that a school discourage such harassment by encouraging statements that foster tolerance of and respect for LGBT and LGBT-affiliated peers. Disciplining Marcus for informing a classmate that his mother is a lesbian does nothing toward this end. Indeed, by prohibiting Marcus from making such a statement, school officials have done a disservice to the best interests of the school community.



We demand that school officials refrain from taking further disciplinary action against Marcus because he informed a classmate that his mother is a lesbian, expunge all records of any reference to such disciplinary action, give assurances that they will neither engage in such censorship and discrimination in the future nor retaliate against either Marcus or Ms. Huff, and offer apologies to both Marcus and Ms. Huff. We ask you to contact Ken Choe at (212) 549-2553 immediately so that we may discuss how best to resolve this matter. In the meantime, this letter shall serve as notice that school officials are not to destroy or alter any document related to this matter, including but not limited to any document demonstrating that, as punishment, Marcus was required to write, over and over, that he will never use the word “gay” during school again.



Sincerely,



Ken Choe

Staff Attorney

ACLU Foundation

Lesbian and Gay Rights Project



Joe Cook

Executive Director

ACLU of Louisiana



cc:

James Easton

Superintendent

Lafayette Parish School District



Nicholas Thomas

Assistant Principal

Ernest Gallet Elementary School

.:: Shrine of Angelina Jolie : Angelina Messageboard : Girls who love Girls Messageboard ::.

"When I saw you, I was afraid to talk to you. When I talked to you, I was afraid to kiss you. When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you. Now that I love you, I'm afraid to lose you"

[tyche]

The Louisiana story has been picked up by Salon:

Quote:

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www.salon.com/mwt/wire/20...index.html

Boy punished for talking about gay mom





Dec. 1, 2003 | LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- A 7-year-old boy was scolded and forced to write "I will never use the word `gay' in school again" after he told a classmate about his lesbian mother, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged Monday.



Second-grader Marcus McLaurin was waiting for recess Nov. 11 at Ernest Gaullet Elementary School when a classmate asked about Marcus' mother and father, the ACLU said in a complaint.



Marcus responded he had two mothers because his mother is gay. When the other child asked for explanation, Marcus told him: "Gay is when a girl likes another girl," according to the complaint.



A teacher who heard the remark scolded Marcus, telling him "gay" was a "bad word" and sending him to the principal's office. The following week, Marcus had to come to school early and repeatedly write: "I will never use the word `gay' in school again."

Parish schools superintendent James Easton was not immediately returned.



The ACLU is demanding the case be removed from Marcus' file and that the school apologize to the boy and his mother, Sharon Huff.



"I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said a word so bad that he didn't want to repeat it over the phone," Huff said. "But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word."

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[WebWarlock]

Here's another one.

Oddly enough my normal paper, the Chicago Tribune hasn't run this story. Oh, my definition of 'odd' in this case is 'totally predictible for a republican run "pravda"'.



www.suntimes.com/output/n...rim04.html

Quote:

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Teacher says school won't hire her because she's lesbian



December 4, 2003



BY CURTIS LAWRENCE Staff Reporter



An employment discrimination complaint filed by a former North Park University teacher has put the school in the center of a debate over where the line should be drawn between religious freedom and discrimination.



Barbara Kelly, a former part-time teacher at North Park, filed a complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations on Wednesday, alleging that she was denied a full-time, tenure-track teaching position in the school's human development division because she is a lesbian.



Kelly taught an introductory psychology class at the school until this summer. She then applied for a full-time position at the urging of the chairman of the education department, she said. Although the interview process appeared to be going smoothly, Kelly was later told that she was "too controversial" because of her sexual orientation, according to her complaint.



An Episcopalian by faith, Kelly, 52, did not understand how her sexuality would interfere with her teaching full-time at the liberal arts college, which is owned and operated by the Evangelical Covenant Church.



"My understanding of Jesus is that he stood next to the oppressed and the poor and that he came to declare a merciful God to all," she said.



While Kelly, who now teaches at Argosy University's Rolling Meadows campus, says she is open about her sexuality, she said she never discussed her sexuality or personal life with students while teaching part time at North Park.



North Park President David Horner declined to comment on the specifics of Kelly's complaint, but he quoted from the Evangelical Covenant Church's 1996 resolution on human sexuality that states: "Heterosexual marriage, faithfulness within marriage, abstinence outside of marriage -- these constitute the Christian standard."



"Church statements such as this inform our university's decisions related to personnel and other matters," Horner said.



But Vincent Samar, an adjunct professor of law at Chicago-Kent College of Law who specializes in sexual orientation and the law, called Horner's comments a "pretty damning statement. It seems that they [North Park] are going to have an uphill battle because on its face it appears they discriminate based on a person's orientation."



Samar also said North Park showed an "inconsistency" by allowing a gay student group on campus but not allowing openly gay teachers.



The case was filed with the Commission on Human Relations because there is not a provision for claiming discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in federal and state courts, said Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Soule.



While the city's human rights ordinance allows an exemption for religious institutions regarding "promulgating or advancement of the mission, practices or beliefs," North Park is not necessarily off of the hook regarding hiring, Samar said.



Sara Bales, the commission's deputy commissioner for the adjudication division, declined to comment on the specifics on the case, but she said there are arguments on both sides that will make the case complicated.



"It is not strictly a matter of saying we are religious, therefore we can hire anybody we want," said Bales.



The commission has the authority to award damages and order payment of attorney's fees after its investigation, which could take as long as two years, Bales said.

---

Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side,
home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks. Available Now!

"I don't want to believe. I want to know." - Carl Sagan

[tyche]

The ACLU's website has a page of documents about the Louisiana case, including the 'Behavior Contract' the poor kid was made to sign.

The school is refusing to apologise:

Quote:

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School District Refuses To Apologize For Disciplining Lesbian Moms' Son

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff







Posted: December 3, 2003 5:02 p.m. ET





(Lafayette, Louisiana) Lafayette Parish's school superintendent Wednesday said there would be no apology over an incident in which a lesbian mother says he son was disciplined for saying he has has a gay mom.



"An apology is not due," Superintendent James Easton said. "The child was not singled out because his parent is gay." Easton said the grade two student was disciplined for behavior problems.



Sharon Huff says her son Marcus McLaurin was reprimanded and forced to repeatedly write “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school again.” (story)



In a prepared statement Wednesday, Easton wrote that, after reviewing papers and meeting with the principal, he had concluded that the discipline "was unrelated to any judgment by school officials regarding sexual orientation or practices, or the student's discussion of that particular topic."



Rather, he wrote, it "was related to ordinary student disturbances, which were hindering the classroom learning process and which were addressed in an appropriate fashion by the teacher and school administrator."



But, the ACLU, which is representing Huff and her son, produced documents Wednesday to the contrary.



ACLU state director Joe Cook released a behavior report signed by teacher Terry L. Bethea which states, "Marcus decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is gay. He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl. This kind of discussion is not appropriate in my room," Bethea wrote. "I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children in their own way."



Cook also showed a "behavior contract," sent to the mother which said, "He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay means."



The 7 year old was required to fill out a form, in which he wrote, "I sed bad wurds." In a space for "What I should have done," he wrote, "Cep my mouf shut."



Cook repeated a demand made earlier in the week that unless the school system apologizes to Huff and her son, and removes any mention of the incident from the child's record, the school district could be facing a lawsuit.

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The above info. comes from Atrios.

[Amymlc]

www.365gay.com/newsconten...sBoise.htm

Quote:

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Boise Rejects Fred Phelps' Anti-Gay Monument

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff



Posted: December 9, 2003 11:03 a.m. ET



(Boise, Idaho) The Boise Parks and Recreation Commission has rejected plans to erect a monument condemning homosexuality.



Boise is the latest community the Rev Fred Phelps has targeted for the six foot statue that would bear a picture of Matthew Shepard, the gay student beaten and left to die in an anti-gay attack. The monument would bear the inscription: "Matthew Shepard, Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22."



Phelps has said he intends to place the monuments in parks across the country that have statues honoring the Ten Commandments, following a ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that any city that displays a Ten Commandments monument on public property must also allow monuments espousing the views of other religions or political groups on that same property.



Phelps wanted the statue placed in Boise's Julia Davis Park. The commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend the city reject the plan. The decision must still be ratified by city council.



One of those on the commission who voted against the monument was Bryan Fischer, a local pastor and conservative Christian leader.



Fischer called Phelps´ language "inflammatory."



“I believe homosexual behavior is destructive,” Fischer said, adding that he would fight “with every fiber of his being” not to embrace it. But he said he would fight with the same fervor to keep Phelps and others from saying God hates homosexuals. “God does not hate homosexuals,” Fischer said. “God loves sinners.”



Shirley Phelps-Roper, attorney for the Westboro church and also Fred Phelps´ daughter, said the church may file a discrimination lawsuit.



The Phelps' clan has announced plans to stage protests in Boise this weekend.



Casper, Wyoming, the hometown of Matthew Shepard, and Greene County, Tennessee have also rejected the monuments.



©365Gay.com® 2003

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