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Today’s Headlines
Military Translators In, Out
Sexual Orientation Affects Some Tasks
Same-sex Registry Leads to Charges
British Mayor Discloses Sex Change

LONDON, May 24 (UPI)

A British woman is facing charges for allegedly entering a civil partnership with another woman while she was married to a man. Suzanne Mitchell, 29, was charged with making a false statement in February 2006 when she entered into a civil partnership, The Times of London reported. She is accused of declaring she was single while registering for her civil partnership when she had a husband. Mitchell has been ordered to appear at a plea hearing July 9 in the Shrewsbury Crown Court to face two charges of breaching the Civil Partnership Act, the newspaper reported.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

WARWICK, England, May 24 (UPI)

British researchers from the University of Warwick have found that sexual orientation affects performance in mental tasks, such as navigating with a map. The researchers worked with the BBC to collect data from more than 198,000 people ages 20 to 65 years — 109,612 men and 88,509 women. Men outperformed women on tests such as mentally rotating objects that would be used in real life to navigate with a map. The study found that women outperformed men in verbal dexterity tests and remembering the locations of objects, according to the study published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour. However, for a number of tasks the researchers found key differences across the range of sexual orientations studied. For instance, in mental rotation — a task where men usually perform better — they found the best performance to worst was: heterosexual men, bisexual men, homosexual men, homosexual women, bisexual women and heterosexual women.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI)

The U.S. Army announced Thursday it added 37 Middle Eastern linguists to its ranks, part of an effort to close gaps in critical intelligence skills. On the same day, however, it was revealed the military has let go three Arabic linguists for being homosexual. They were swept up in an inspector general’s audit of troop misuse of government computer systems; messages they posted suggested to investigators some of the troops were homosexual, according to the Michael D. Palm Center, formerly known as the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The military’s don’t ask don’t tell policy allows homosexuals in the armed forces, but only if they do not act on or talk about their sexual orientation. At least 300 troops with critical language skills have been separated from the military under the policy in the last decade, according to the Government Accountability Office. More than half spoke Arabic. To rapidly turn out skilled linguists, the Army program recruits native speakers with demonstrated proficiency in English who are permanent U.S. residents and can pass security background checks. They must meet physical standards and are put through basic training and then seven weeks of advanced training. The Army is trying to recruit 250 such soldiers in fiscal year 2007. Such soldiers can get expedited citizenship, enlistment bonuses and tuition assistance for college.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

 

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Today’s Headlines
Cheney Gives Birth to Son
Ban for Gay Men Donating Blood Remains
Landmark HIV Case Begins in Belgium

OSTEND, Belgium, May 23 (UPI)

A Belgian man has accused an ex-lover of trying to kill him by not divulging his HIV-positive status during their relationship. Jean-Michel, 44, claims his former boyfriend did not adequately inform him of his health status while they repeatedly engaged in unprotected sex, Expatica reported Wednesday. The Flemish center for sexual health Sensoa called the lawsuit the first of its kind in the nation. Sensoa officials said the case could lead to an HIV witch hunt, but Jean-Michel told Expatica he simply wants to help others. I want this man to be stopped, said Jean-Michel, who has since tested negative for HIV. I don’t think I was his only victim.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

WASHINGTON (AP)

Gay men remain banned for life from donating blood, the government said Wednesday, leaving in place — for now — a 1983 prohibition meant to prevent the spread of HIV through transfusions.

The Food and Drug Administration reiterated its long-standing policy on its Web site Wednesday, more than a year after the Red Cross and two other blood groups criticized the policy as “medically and scientifically unwarranted.”

“I am disappointed, I must confess,” said Dr. Celso Bianco, executive vice president of America’s Blood Centers, whose members provide nearly half the nation’s blood supply.

Before giving blood, all men are asked if they have had sex, even once, with another man since 1977. Those who say they have are permanently banned from donating. The FDA said those men are at increased risk of infection by HIV that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusion.

In March 2006, the Red Cross, the international blood association AABB and America’s Blood Centers proposed replacing the lifetime ban with a one-year deferral following male-to-male sexual contact. New and improved tests, which can detect HIV-positive donors within just 10 to 21 days of infection, make the lifetime ban unnecessary, the blood groups told the FDA.

In a document posted Wednesday, the FDA said it would change its policy if given data that show doing so wouldn’t pose a “significant and preventable” risk to blood recipients.

“It is a way of saying, ‘Whatever was presented to us was not sufficient to make us change our minds,’” Bianco said.

The FDA said HIV tests currently in use are highly accurate, but still cannot detect the virus 100 percent of the time. The estimated HIV risk from a unit of blood is currently about one per 2 million in the United States, according to the agency.

Critics of the exclusionary policy said it bars potential healthy donors, despite the increasing need for donated blood, and discriminates against gays. The FDA recognized the policy defers many healthy donors but rejected the suggestion it’s discriminatory.

Anyone who’s used intravenous drugs or been paid for sex also is permanently barred from donating blood.

___

On the Net:

FDA Q-and-A about its policy on blood donations from gay men:

www.fda.gov/cber/faq/msmdonor.htm

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI)

Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne, gave birth to a boy Wednesday in Washington. Samuel David Cheney, who weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces when he was born at Sibley Hospital, is the Cheneys’ sixth grandchild, ABC News reported. The vice president is pleased to be a grandfather for the sixth time, spokeswoman Megan McGinn said. Mary Cheney, 38, an executive for AOL, and her partner, Heather Poe, a former park ranger, have been together for 15 years and live in Great Falls, Va., The Washington Post said. Mary Cheney and her family have resisted turning her pregnancy into a public debate. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my child, she said. The vice president told CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer he was out of line when he asked Dick Cheney during an interview to comment on a Focus on the Family statement questioning the propriety of an unmarried couple having a child. The Cheneys’ other daughter, Elizabeth, has five children with her husband, Philip Perry.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

 

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Today’s Headlines
U.N. Committee Blames Poland for Torture
Anglican Summit Excludes Gay, Conservative
‘Top Gear’ Host Rapped for Gay Reference

LONDON, May 22 (UPI)

A Top Gear presenter has been rapped by the British media guardian for using a slang word for homosexuals to describe a car he didn’t like. The Office of Communication said Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson was not justified to say a bit of ginger beer, Cockney rhyming slang for queer, The Daily Mail said Tuesday. Discussing a Daihatsu Copen during an episode last year, Clarkson at first called the vehicle a bit gay before adding, It’s a bit ginger beer. The communications watchdog said using the word gay was not necessarily offensive, citing the dictionary’s definition of the word. But, the office said, Clarkson’s use of a Cockney rhyming phrase made clear he intended to give a particular meaning to use of the word ‘gay’ … i.e., not to restrict its meaning simply to foolish or stupid, but clearly linking the reference to homosexual people. The Office of Communication said the complaint was resolved because the BBC, which airs Top Gear, already warned the show’s production team and producers not to repeat the offense. An internal BBC investigation upheld complaints about Clarkson’s use of the word gay during the episode shown last July.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

LONDON, May 23 (UPI)

The archbishop of Canterbury angered both liberal and conservative factions of the global Anglican Church by snubbing one gay and a conservative bishop. Archbishop Rowan Williams sent more than 800 invitations Tuesday for the church’s once-a-decade Lambeth Conference in London that runs for three weeks in London this summer. However, he did not invite the Episcopalian bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, who lives with his gay partner, nor did he invite Virginia Bishop Martyn Minns, who heads a conservative group of U.S. churches affiliated with the archbishop of Nigeria, a New York Times correspondent reported. In his invitation letter, Williams reasserted his leadership role, the newspaper said. I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the communion, he wrote. At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the bishops passed a resolution rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture and spoke against blessing same-sex unions.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

WARSAW, Poland, May 22 (UPI)

The U.N. committee against torture has condemned Poland’s police for the brutal interrogation of detainees, Warsaw media said Tuesday. The U.N. committee cited Polish authorities for long detentions without trial and for fomenting violence and hatred against homosexuals, Radio Polonia reported. In its report on Poland, the U.N. committee urged the Warsaw government to reveal additional information about the alleged U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s prisons on Polish territory. Criticizing Warsaw’s denial of the existence of the covert prisons for terror suspects, the U.N. committee asked the Polish government to publicize its internal findings on the issue, the radio said. The U.N. committee against torture is monitoring 144 countries that have ratified an international treaty banning torture.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International

 

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Today’s Headlines
Report: British Gay Soldiers a Non-Issue
Homeless Shelter Accused of Discrimination
Transgender Groom and Bride Arrested in Pakistan

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (AP)

Police on Sunday arrested a couple who are accused of lying to a Pakistani court about the gender of the husband, who was born female and had sex reassignment surgery 16 years ago.

The bride’s father wants the marriage annulled on the grounds that it is against Islam, but the couple say they married to protect the bride from being sold into marriage to pay off her uncle’s gambling debts.

The husband, Shumail Raj, 31, initially went to court seeking protection from harassment by their relatives, but the Lahore High Court earlier this month ordered the arrests of Raj and his wife, Shahzina Tariq, 26, for lying to the court.

Raj told the court he is male but a court-appointed panel of doctors ruled he is a woman.

He said his breasts and uterus were surgically removed at age 15 after his voice changed and he began to grow facial hair. But the doctors say he has a vagina that was surgically closed and no penis.

After the couple’s arrest on Sunday, Raj told The Associated Press that the surgery made him a man and he married Tariq to save her from the arranged marriage.

“She told me that one of her uncles wants to sell her to pay off a debt,” Raj said by telephone from a police station in their hometown of Faisalabad.

“I had told Shahzina that I have had two operations and I am not a male. But she said that it was not a problem for her,” Raj said. He referred to himself as both male and not male during the interview.

“I knew that Shumail was not a male, … but I begged her for protection,” Tariq said, referring to her husband as a woman throughout an interview.

Aslam Tareen, a senior police officer, said authorities will wait for orders from the court before investigating further, including the claim that Tariq’s uncle wanted to sell her into marriage.

The couple are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

CHICAGO, May 21 (UPI)

A homeless shelter in Chicago is being accused of discrimination for telling a lesbian woman it was full up when it actually had two beds available. Michelle Wang, 27, says she was forced to spend the night outside Nov. 1 in unseasonably cold weather after being rebuffed by New Life Interim Housing, The Chicago Tribune reports. The Rev. Bud Ogle who co-founded the Christian ministry that runs the shelter said he believes an inadvertent clerical error was at fault. Wang says when she called New Life seeking a bed she accidentally blurted out that she was a lesbian. After being put on hold, she was told there were no beds available. The Chicago Department of Human Services learned from New Life that it still had two beds available the day Wang called according to a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. The ACLU has lodged city and state discrimination complaints on behalf of Wang and plans to file a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International