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Same-Sex Couple Gets $10,000 After Outing (BGN)
Mass. to allow out-of-state gay couples to wed (Boston Globe)
The Anglican church must not abandon its gay members (Guardian Unlimited)
Two men banned from football grounds for homophobic chanting (Pink News)
TV Gays Make Strong Case for Dignity of Same-Sex Marriage (New York Press)
Colorado Man Admits to Murder of Transgender Teen (Fox News)
Lesbos Islanders Loose Suit (About.com)
High school ordered to let club with gays meet on campus (Sun-Sentinel)
US HIV travel ban lifted as Bush signs new AIDS bill (Pink News)
Gay Congressman pushes for cannabis decriminalisation (Pink News)
Belief in God, parenthood prompt gays to legalise partnerships (New Kerala)
‘Transsexuality gene’ makes women feel like men (New Scientist)
Report: Filipinos nabbed in Saudi gay party (ABS-CBNNEWS.com)
Anglicans likely to sidestep decision on gays (The Globe and Mail)
Oprah school matron denies lesbian sex charges (Planet Out via Yahoo! News)
UNAIDS: Asia’s gays hard-hit by epidemic (Planet Out via Yahoo! News)
Religion Plays Strong Role in Gay Unions (LiveScience.com via Yahoo! News)
Gay rights activist detained, abused in Uganda: NGO (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Queen Harish dances in drag (San Francisco Chronicle)
‘One Damn Man’: Transsexual pen pals pen play (San Francisco Chronicle)
McCain’s adoption opposition riles gays (San Francisco Chronicle)

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BURY ST. EDMUNDS, England, July 29 (UPI) — A British same-sex couple said they have settled out of court with a real estate agency that outed them as lesbians on its Web site.

Suzanne Richards and Sarah Dobinson said they were shocked to see the word “lesbians” on the agency’s Web site advertisement for their $1.2 million home, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Jackson-Stops & Staff estate agency agreed to pay the couple $10,000 after they threatened to sue for emotional damages.

“We were both shaking with disbelief and in tears when we read the property reference. We felt so violated,” Richards said. “Publicly linking our home address with our sexuality could have ruined our lives.”

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Blue Cross Extends Same-Sex Benefits (BGN)
Anglicans Mull Ban on Gay Bishops (BGN)
Mass. vote would expand gay unions (San Jose Mercury News)
HIV epidemic among gay men in Asia soaring: UN (New Kerala)
Ros-Lehtinen, opponent oppose gay-marriage ban (Miami Herald)
Gay marriages backed for out-of-state couples (Denver Post)
A curb on gay marriage will fall (Boston Globe)
Transgender-law challengers submit 8,600 signatures (The Gainesville Sun)
Conflicting Gay Marriage Laws Cause Headaches for Companies (Law.com)
Colorado Transgender Teen’s Death May Be Hate Crime (The Advocate)
Lawsuit to seek halt in ‘gay’ lobbying inside voting booth (WorldNetDaily)
Lesbian Women’s Basketball Coaches Claim Discrimination (Gay Wired)
Thai school offers transsexual toilet (BBC News)
City Sued for Denying Lesbian Insemination (Pink News)

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BUFFALO, N.Y., July 29 (UPI)

A New York health insurer says it will institute coverage of same-sex couples married in Canada as a result of a civil rights lawsuit.

The New York Civil Liberties Union announced Monday that Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Western New York, based in Buffalo, will begin extending spousal benefits to legally married same-sex couples, Canwest News Service reported.

The decision comes after the group filed suit in the case of a lesbian couple from the United States who were married in Canada.

“We applaud Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Western New York for following the law and treating all married couples the same,” Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director, told CanWest in a statement.

Same-sex marriage is illegal in New York, but the couple had traveled to Canada to be legally married in 2006, the news service said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CANTERBURY, England, July 29 (UPI)

A plan before the Lambeth Conference in England would ban consecration of gay bishops and blessings of same-sex relationships in the Anglican Communion.

The proposal for a forum to be headed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams would also bar Anglican bishops from intervening outside their own provinces, The Times of London reported. In recent years, bishops in Africa have taken U.S. churches under their wings and consecrated bishops in the United States.

The bishops who drew up the plan said that if national churches and bishops continue to ignore calls for moratoriums in the three areas “the Communion is likely to fracture.”

The Anglican Communion is a loose confederation of churches descended from the Church of England.

The authors said that the bans should be retroactive. That strongly suggests they believe that Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire whose consecration initiated the crisis, should resign, although they stop short of calling for him to step down.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

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City Sued for Denying Lesbian Insemination (BGN)
Poll: Catholics Divided on Sex Teachings (BGN)
Lawsuit Challenges Same-Sex Prop Wording (BGN)
How to Talk to a Tranny (The Memphis Flyer)
‘Transsexuality gene’ boosts male hormones (New Scientist)
Lodi pastor: Gay marriage didn’t cause wildfires (Lodi News-Sentinel)
Police appeal for witnesses after homophobic incident on train (Pink News)
Hate For Liberals Cited In Shooting (Hartford Courant)
Anti-Gay Marriage Group To Sue AG Over Ballot Wording (NBC 4 Los Angeles)
House expected to debate repeal of 1913 marriage law (Boston Globe)
Lesbian couple want more than health-system apology (The Grand Rapids Press)
Uganda: Time to Apologise to Victims of Homosexuality (AllAfrica.com)
Ros-Lehtinen, Taddeo pledge to fight Florida gay marriage ban (Miami Herald)
Cyber centre for LGBT silver surfers opens in New York (Pink News)
Malaysia Anwar fights sodomy claim with doctor report (Reuters)
India’s “unnatural sex” law should be revised says High Court judge (Pink News)
‘Idol’ gets a touch of pride (The Desert Sun)
Gay couple in discrimination row (BBC News)
Gay group asks mayor for support (Knoxville News Sentinel)

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UPPSALA, Sweden, July 26 (UPI)

A Swedish city is being sued for denying a lesbian artificial insemination because her partner had already tried and failed to become pregnant, officials say.

Uppsala’s health service rejected the woman for the procedure after her partner was denied a fourth attempt at insemination because she had passed the maximum age allowed by the city health authority, The Local reported Saturday.

Her younger partner had decided that she would try to become pregnant in place of the older partner.

“As we see it we have treated them as a couple. Should you have double the number of opportunities to get pregnant just because you are a lesbian couple?” said Ulf Hansson, senior physician at the hospital.

The couple reported the incident to the Ombudsman against Discrimination on grounds of Sexual Orientation (HomO).

The agency is demanding that the city pay $33,156 in compensation to the couple.

“We consider the grounds on which the couple were refused to be inconsistent with current discrimination legislation,” said HomO spokeswoman Christine Giljam.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

LONDON, July 27 (UPI)

Most practicing Roman Catholics say they believe the church should revise its teaching on birth control, a poll indicates.

The Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception is outlined in a papal encyclical, Humanae Vitae, issued in 1968 by Pope Paul VI.

The Tablet newspaper’s poll found that Catholics across England and Wales use a range of contraceptives, including condoms and birth control pills.

The poll of 1,500 practicing Catholics found that 82 percent of respondents indicated they are familiar with the church’s teaching on contraception, but just 15.7 percent said they regarded the teaching as right, while 54.3 percent thought it should be revisited.

The survey also found that about 88 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “marriage is a lifelong commitment despite any difficulties.” But 71 percent also agreed “separation or divorce is better than an unhappy marriage between incompatible people”

On gay couples, the poll found that 35 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that “same sex couples should be accepted as part of the church community,” while 36 percent disagreed and 29 percent said they were neutral on the question.

The poll’s margin of error was not reported.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

LOS ANGELES, July 29 (UPI)

Backers of an initiative to amend California’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage say they’ll file suit to challenge the official wording of the proposition.

Opponents of same-sex marriage conducted a petition drive to get Proposition 8 on the November ballot after the California Supreme Court ruled this year that laws against same-sex marriage violate the state constitution.

The petitions said the referendum would amend the constitution “to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,” but California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown last week said the language on Proposition 8 will say it would “eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.”

Gay rights backers cheered Brown’s decision, but Jennifer Kerns of the Protect Marriage coalition told the Los Angeles Times the revised wording is “inherently argumentative.” Kerns said the wording had the potential to “prejudice voters against the initiative.”

“This is a complete about-face from the ballot title that was assigned” for the petition drive, she said.

Steve Smith of No on Proposition 8 said the wording chosen by the attorney general is appropriate.

“What Proposition 8 would do is eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, which is exactly what the attorney general put in the title of the measure,” he said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

LOS ANGELES, July 29 (UPI)

Four years after U.S. state ballot initiatives helped turn out conservative Republican voters, such initiatives are rare in 2008, observers say.

State ballot initiatives in 2004 such those banning same-sex marriages and other hot-button conservative issues were widely credited with helping U.S. President George Bush win re-election. But conservative activists say a lack of new ideas, dismal poll showings for Republican candidates and scarce funding have precluded a repeat performance, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

“There has been a lack of funding on the right side, up and down. The right is despondent and demoralized,” Tim Mooney, an Arizona initiative consultant, told the newspaper.

And the hot-button ballot initiatives that have made it this year, such as anti-gay marriage measures in California, Arizona and Florida, aren’t considered likely to affect the outcome of the U.S. presidential race, analysts said.

California, for example, is considered a safe bet for likely Democratic Party nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with or without the initiative, while his probable Republican Party opponent, Sen. John McCain, is the heavy favorite in his home state of Arizona.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

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Man Against Census Skipping Same-Sex Pairs (BGN)
Gay Bishop Takes Message to Lambeth (BGN)
New Film Depicts Lives of Gay Muslims (BGN)
South African gays protest against homophobic journalist (Pink News)
Advocates call for restoration of Pa. hate-crimes law (Freedom Forum Online)
Stockholm police confirm stabbing at EuroPride is a hate crime (Pink News)
Letter: Church Targeted Over Liberal Views (CBS News)
When a vagina is not enough (Salon.com)
Suspect At Large in Fatal Shooting (FOX 13 Memphis)
Judge: principal mistreated gay students (Miami Herald)
Cops: Church Shooting Suspect ‘Hated’ Gays, Liberals (Fox News)
Play about gay Christians moves to world stage (The Grand Rapids Press)
‘Gay-Friendly’ CT Is A Target (Hartford Courant)
Will gays’ boycott turn the tables? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Mr T Snickers ad pulled for being offensive to gay people (Guardian Unlimited)
Gay-friendly campuses goal of local nonprofit (Philanthropy Journal)
Gay retirement community two years behind (North Bay Business Journal)
Trans Formed: To Be Homeless & Transgender (Washington Post)
Nike pulls ads on anti-gay concerns: report (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
India too will embrace gays, says Indian-American lesbian (New Kerala)
Lesbian couple lose case over twins (Channel 4)
U.S. Divided on Homosexual Couples (Angus Reid)
We’re not gay, insist Lesbians (Collie Mail)
NJ group makes waves in Calif. gay marriage debate (Boston Globe)
‘My Life on the D-List’ recap: Kathy cruises (Entertainment Weekly)

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BOSTON, July 27 (UPI) — The U.S. Census Bureau will unfairly ignore all same-sex marriages in Massachusetts during its nationwide 2010 census, a corporate lawyer says.

Lawyer Pete Dziedzic, who plans to marry his boyfriend in October in Boston, says it is “upsetting” that current federal regulations will not permit married same-sex couples from being counted as married couples on the upcoming census, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

“We’ve followed all the rules,” he said. “We’re going to get married, and now the federal government is saying, ‘No, you’re different, and when we count how many married couples there are, you don’t count.’ It’s offensive, and it’s very, very upsetting.”

The census decision is based on the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which stopped married same-sex couples in Massachusetts from receiving federal benefits typically offered to married couples.

The Globe said same-sex marriage advocates say the act should not apply to the 2010 U.S. Census as the survey would not result in any immediate personal benefits for potential same-sex participants.

Instead, by excluding the estimated 11,000 same-sex couples who have been married in the state, those individuals’ personal data will not be figured into nationwide statistics for married couples and families.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CANTERBURY, England, July 25 (UPI) — The first openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion is attending a gathering of bishops in Britain, accompanied by a bodyguard.

The Rev. Gene Robinson was specifically not invited to attend the Lambeth Conference, the gathering of Anglican bishops held every 10 years in England. But he is there, talking to his colleagues, although he cannot participate in formal meetings.

“I would rather be on the inside,” he told The Washington Post. (NYSE:WPO) “It’s never OK to be relegated to the fringe by someone.”

Robinson’s 2003 consecration as bishop of New Hampshire has threatened to split the Anglican Communion, a loose confederation of national churches headed by Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the U.S. church. More than 200 bishops, including many from Africa, stayed away from Lambeth, and some churches and dioceses in the United States and Canada have put themselves under African and South American bishops.

Robinson said he hopes to convince more people it is possible to be “unabashedly gay and unabashedly Christian.” In the meantime, his constant companion in England is a retired police officer.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

LOS ANGELES, July 26 (UPI) — Muslim director Parvez Sharma says his new documentary “A Jihad for Love,” which premiered at a Los Angeles festival, focuses on the lives of gay Muslims.

Sharma said the film, which aired during last week’s gay and lesbian film festival Outfest, offers a rare insight into the struggles of gay Muslims around the world, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

“I know there is a deep hunger for this film,” said Sharma, who is gay.

“There are vast differences among Muslims on how to deal with homosexuality. For the most part, they choose to ignore it as long as it is kept private.”

The 35-year-old filmmaker shot his debut documentary in countries such as Egypt, India and South Africa.

While the Times said Sharma faced police surveillance and arrest threats in some filming locations, the director said his “biggest struggle” in doing the moview was earning his subjects’ trust.

The movie opens Friday at select Los Angeles theaters.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Federal Laws Hamper Same-Sex Divorces (BGN)
Muslim Congressman “honoured” to join fight for gay equality (Pink News)
Gays Scare Snickers Into Pulling Mr. T Ad [Controversies] (Gawker)
Anglican Head Urges Unity But Rejects Ordination of Gays (AllAfrica.com)
Ruling allows Montgomery transgender referendum (The Capital)
Slovak town puts hope in ‘native son’ Andy Warhol (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Gays in Iraq terrorized by threats, rape, murder (CNN.com)
Gay Ibiza Clubbing Night By Night (RainbowNetwork.com)
We’re not gay, insist Lesbians (Blayney Chronicle)
Protest over gay comments (News 24 South Africa)
Oxnard teen to be tried as adult in gay killing (Los Angeles Times)
Will David Cameron attend Alan Duncan’s gay ‘wedding’? (Pink News)
Libel win for victim of fake “gay” Facebook profile (Pink News)
Gay community slams newspaper article (Pretoria News)
Gays to protest over Qwelane (News 24 South Africa)
Who’s saying what about gay and lesbian issues (Metro Weekly)

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