Archive for April, 2008
Big Gay News for Wednesday, Apr 30 2008
Gay formal ban endorsed (The Courier Mail)
Obama ally defends HIV comments (Pink News)
Health Care Workshop To Focus On GLBT Community (KYW News Radio)
ACLU says gay students mistreated at Memphis school (Eyewitness News)
Church court clears lesbian weddings’ minister (San Diego Union-Tribune)
No marriage in government’s gay reforms (AAP via Yahoo!7 News)
Backers, foes of gay marriage collide at Capitol (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Williams criticised by gay bishop (BBC News)
Transgender discrimination lawsuit settled (Planet Out via Yahoo! News)
Ronaldo in transvestite prostitute confusion (Pink News)
Annual Gay Pride parade cancelled (BBC News)
McGreevey, Wife Argue Over Alleged Trysts (NBC 10 Philadelphia)
Kip Williams: Daytime TV and the Homosexual Agenda (HuffingtonPost)
Big Gay News for Tuesday, Apr 29 2008
Sisters Lose Fight Against Inheritance Tax (BGN)
Gay bar settles human rights complaint with woman (CTV.ca)
Gayness should be a non-issue (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Cynthia Nixon planning to marry her lesbian lover (The Arizona Republic)
Gay Couple Charged With Trespassing In Marriage License Protest (365Gay.com)
Lesbian couple share baby joy (Adelaide Now)
Drunk who taunted a gay man to his death faces jail term (BGN)
Gay Latinos ‘minority twice over’ (BBC News)
Law reforms for gay couples (The Age)
International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (RainbowNetwork.com)
Obama ally defends anti-gay comments (BGN)
Parents Of Murdered Gay Man Plead For Anti-Bully Law (365Gay.com)
Nutter names liaison to LGBT communities (Philly.com)
Man who stole from lovers gets jail (Pink News)
Gays join march for Chernobyl victims (Gay Wired)
Gay man’s parents (The Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
A ‘Beacon of Hope’ for gays across Europe (Gay Wired)
Sisters Lose Fight Against Inheritance Tax
LONDON, April 29 (UPI)
Two elderly sisters in Britain lost a long legal fight Tuesday against inheritance taxes that could cost the survivor their house when one of them dies.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled 15-2 that the British inheritance tax system does not discriminate against Joyce and Sybil Burden. The sisters argued that they were denied equal treatment because married couples and gay partners in their situation do not have to pay inheritance tax.
The sisters, now 90 and 82, have lived their entire lives in the same house in Marlborough in Wiltshire. If one dies before the other, the survivor would have to pay an inheritance tax of 40 percent of the value above 300,000 pounds ($600,000). The tax would be collected again when the surviving sister dies.
The Burdens began a letter-writing campaign in the 1970s. They went to the European court after Britain adopted a law in 2004 that gives registered gay couples the same inheritance rights as married couples.
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Big Gay News for Monday, April 28 2008
Rights Tribunal Quashes Morality Agreement (BGN)
Moscow Gays To Defy Gay Pride Ban (365Gay.com)
Mayor of Paris comes out to support Ken (Pink News)
Court told of ‘gay sex predator’ (BBC News)
Bisexuality: 20 Myths Exploded (RainbowNetwork.com)
Police storm international meeting for gay rights in Kyrgyzstan (Pink News)
Hayward focuses on hate-crime prevention (Oakland Tribune)
Wainwright receives GLAAD award (The Globe and Mail)
Philly: The city of Equality (Philadelphia Daily News)
12th annual Day of Silence protests GLBT harassment (The Daily Texan)
Gay Sikhs: ‘You’re not alone’ (Kelowna Capital News)
‘Ugly Betty’ receives gay honour (New Kerala)
Royal blackmail accused wanted to expose aide for revenge (Daily Telegraph)
Janet Jackson honored by gay community (The Arizona Republic)
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Rights Tribunal Quashes Morality Agreement
TORONTO, April 25 (UPI)
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Canada, Friday struck down a Christian care group’s policy of requiring employees to sign a morality agreement.
The tribunal ruled Christian Horizons, which operates more than 180 residential homes for some 1,400 developmentally challenged people in the province, infringed on rights by requiring its 2,500 employees to sign a “Lifestyle and Morality Statement.”
Among the conditions employees had to contractually state was they wouldn’t enter into same-sex relationships.
Employee Connie Heintz signed the agreement more than five years ago and a news release from the tribunal said she later “came to terms with her sexual orientation as a lesbian.”
When Christian Horizons learned of her lifestyle, she was told she had to resign, and she sought a rights ruling.
The tribunal ordered the group to pay Heintz lost wages, general damages and damages for mental anguish. It also ruled Christian Horizons can no longer require employees to sign a lifestyle and morality statement, must develop anti-discrimination policies and provide training to all employees and managers.
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Big Gay News for Friday, Apr 25 2008
Israel Sanctions Overseas Gay Adoption (BGN)
Court Upholds Right to Wear Anti-Gay Shirt (BGN)
Gay, anti-gay demonstrations target Snoqualmie school (Seattle Times)
Ewan McGregor, Jim Carrey go to gay bar (Stuff)
Anti-gay graffiti mars Day of Silence (The Charlotte Observer)
Top church court reviews gay marriage case (The Fresno Bee)
Eurovision organisers meet with Serbian police to guarantee LGBT safety
Rise ‘n’ Shine: Would You Care If Clay Were Gay? (E! Online)
New study brings hope for HIV sufferers in developing countries (Pink News)
Gay, Anti-Gay Demonstrations Held At Mt. Si High School (KIRO 7 Seattle-Tacoma)
Protest at Mesa school over day focusing on bullying of gays (KTAR 92.3 Phoenix)
‘Financial discrepancies’ force curtailing of Pride events (The Capital Times)
Some going quiet for ‘Day of Silence’ (The Charlotte Observer)
Footballers launch anti-homophobia campaign in honour of Justin Fashanu
Record Number Of Schools Observe Day Of Silence (365Gay.com)
TV has never seen more transgender characters (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Gay & Lesbian Film Fest celebrates 10 years (Miami Herald)
Locals may not use Day of Silence to speak out (The News-Star)
‘YouTube rectal surgery scandal’ victim raped? (ABS-CBNNEWS.com)
Transgender discrimination lawsuit settled (Houston Chronicle)
Gays hope day of silence is loud (Detroit News)
Young gays expect future long-term commitments (Planet Out via Yahoo! News)
Night at a gay pub club (Berkshire Eagle)
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Israel Sanctions Overseas Gay Adoption
JERUSALEM, April 25 (UPI)
Israel has agreed for the first time to register an overseas adoption by a gay couple and to grant citizenship to the child, an attorney for the parents said.
An attorney for the parents told Haaretz the decision in effect recognizes same-sex marriages in Israel.
The landmark case grants Israeli citizenship to an 8-year-old Cambodian-born boy, adopted in 2000 by two men in the United States. The men hold both U.S. and Israeli citizenship and returned to Israel shortly after the adoption.
Israel, however, wouldn’t recognize the adoption and since 2001 the child has lived in Israel on a temporary residence visa that is extended annually. Seven years later, officials ruled in favor of the boy “in view of the special circumstances of the case in question and the long time the minor has resided in Israel legally,” Haaretz reported.
Attorney Irit Rosenblum, head of the New Family organization that represented the parents, said the decision’s significance goes well beyond the one case.
“The meaning of the decision is clear,” she said to Haaretz. “The state directly and fully recognizes same-sex couples as parents, akin to heterosexual couples, who can adopt a child overseas and register without constraints as his parents.”
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Court Upholds Right to Wear Anti-Gay Shirt
CHICAGO, April 25 (UPI)
An Illinois school district must suspend its ban on anti-gay T-shirts following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The court reversed a lower court ruling and decided that Neuqua Valley sophomore Alex Nuxoll was free to wear his “Be Happy, Not Gay” T-shirt to the Naperville, Ill., high school, The Daily Heights newspaper in Arlington Heights, Ill., reported Friday.
Nuxoll and another student filed suit in March of last year charging Indian Prairie Unit District 204 violated their right to free speech by prohibiting them from wearing anti-gay T-shirts to school.
Other students at the Naperville school were permitted to wear shirts with messages supporting homosexual behavior.
The two students said they believed homosexuality was immoral.
“Christian students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs,” said attorney Nate Kellum of the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the two.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
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Big Gay News for Thursday, April 24 2008
Levin Seeks to Expand Hate Crimes Bill, End Iraq War (BGN)
Singapore Fines TV Station for Gay Show (BGN)
Jackson Takes Aim at ‘Careless’ Gay Youth (BGN)
Some students staying home to protest gay-support effort (The Arizona Republic)
Randal Forrester, leading city gay rights advocate, dies (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Jail term for homophobic mother (Pink News)
Appeals Court: Anti-Gay T-Shirt Can’t Be Banned (NBC 5 Chicago)
Singapore censors fine local station for show featuring gay couple (WHO-TV 13)
Gay couple abuser jailed (BBC News)
Controversy Cooks Over Student ‘Day Of Silence’ (KCCI 8 Des Moines)
Gay couple win foster care case (The Mercury)
Television company fined for making gays look ‘normal’ (Pink News)
Gay, anti-gay demonstrations planned at Snoqualmie school (Seattle Times)
Transgender discussion to be hosted by ACLU (Northwest Florida Daily News)
Russian gays ready to launch whole month of parades in Moscow (Pravda Ru)
Clinton campaign accuses Brown of neglecting gay refugees (Pink News)
Singapore fines TV station for gay show (AP via Yahoo! News)
Tianjin transsexual gets new ID card as a woman (China Daily)
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Big Gay News for Wednesday, Apr 23 2008
Gay, Lesbian Youth Want Long-Term Relationships and Raising Children (Newswise)
Moscow mayor outlaws May Day gay events (AFP via Yahoo! News)
South Delhi manager was murdered for gay relations (New Kerala)
Janet reveals lesbian crush (Independent Online)
Pinellas Extends Legal Shield To Gay People, Bisexuals (The Tampa Tribune)
Ang Lee To Make Gay-Themed Woodstock Film (WSB-TV 2 Atlanta)
Governor Schwarzenegger Finally Does Right By Gay California (Gayapolis)
More outrage at EU anti-descrimination climb down (Pink News)
Peers vote for freedom to criticise the LGBT community (GLBT)
Government of Bahrain seeks to punish ‘homosexual children’ (Pink News)
INTOLERANCE: Curches differ on gay stance (The Herald Bulletin)
Gay, lesbian, transgender students tell of bullying, callous officials (The Pantagraph)
Clinton wins Pennsylvania following a weekend of gay campaigning (Pink News)
Gay actors still feel pressure to stay in closet (Toronto Star)
‘There Are No Gays In Football’ (SkyNews via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News)
Dems eye bill to protect gays, end war (WRIC 8 News Richmond)
‘Township lesbians too scared’ (Independent Online)
Don’t change blood donation rules (BG News)
Panel discusses needs of gay students in the community (Daily Vidette)
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Big Gay News for Tuesday, Apr 22 2008
Family Values Cardinal Dies in Rome (BGN)
Device Tracks AIDS Patient Med Adherence (BGN)
Military Using Convicted Felons To Replace Drummed Out Gays (365Gay.com)
Chelsea stops traffic on gay bar crawl (The Times of India)
Polish official who accused Tinky Winky of being gay resigns (Pink News)
Minister who wed gays faces hearing (The Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
Plans to ban gay jokes rejected by the Lords (Daily Telegraph)
New rights for lesbian parents in New South Wales (Pink News)
Gay bishop lightning rod in Annville (Lebanon Daily News)
Gay marriage commission fails to make recommendation (Bennington Banner)
Gay angle in manager’s murder in south Delhi (Calcutta News)
Janet Talks Marriage, Broadway and Drag Queens (E! Online)
Same-sex parenting rights for lesbians (Daily Telegraph)
Stanhope pressures PM on gay unions (The Australian)
Gay airport guard wins sexual harassment case (Pink News)
CNN reporter arrested in compromising situation (Pink News)
Tamil Nadu to create transgender database (The Times of India)
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Device Tracks AIDS Patient Med Adherence
GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 22 (UPI)
U.S. scientists say they’ve developed a breath monitoring device designed to track AIDS patients’ adherence to their medication schedules.
The University of Florida scientists said most people have forgotten to take a prescribed drug at one time or another, but for people with AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus, a skipped pill could present a hazard for the entire population.
The new device, produced in collaboration with Xhale Inc., could help prevent the emergence of drug-resistant strains of HIV by monitoring medication adherence in high-risk individuals, said Dr. Richard Melker, a professor of anesthesiology at the UF College of Medicine and chief technology officer for Xhale.
The device records the results of each breath test, allowing patients to bring a memory card or USB key to their physician once a month and receive a printout of their results.
“The doctor can see how often you took (a medication) and exactly what time. If it made the patient really sick or dizzy and they didn’t take it, they can find out why,” Melker said, adding it’s not just a question of whether the medication was consumed, but also when was taken or why it wasn’t.
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