SYDNEY, Dec. 12 (UPI)

Police say that a woman found dead in an Australian hotel room with a bruised face may have died of natural causes.

Her body was discovered Thursday in the Hume Hotel in Yagoona, an outlying area of Sydney, the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported. Investigators said that she might have been dead for four days.

The hotel is a block of 10 rooms in back of a pub.

Another woman, described as the dead woman’s partner, was detained for questioning by police and then released.

Acquaintances said that the dead woman was named Tina and her partner Carla. A friend described Tina, 37, as “the man in the relationship.”

Carla, 28, reportedly announced a week ago that she had become pregnant after a casual sexual encounter.

While Inspector Alan Spence of the Bankston police said that the death is being treated as suspicious, he said that the dead woman had a heart condition, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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

LONDON, Dec. 13 (UPI)

Elton John was not defamed by a British newspaper that offered a satirical take of the rock singer, a High Court judge has ruled.

High Court Justice Michael Tugendhat found that while The Guardian did offer a satirical column about the “Crocodile Rock” singer, the article did not amount to libel and the court’s ruling was not subject to appeal, the newspaper reported Saturday.

Marina Hyde’s July literary offering, “A peek at the diary of Sir Elton John,” prompted the knighted British singer to file his libel suit against the publication.

The singer alleged the article questioned his commitment to the Elton John Aids Foundation and accused him of using related events as self-promotion opportunities.

But Tugendhat wrote his judgment that the article and its featured attribution were clearly not meant to inflict harm, but rather use irony to entertain.

“The transparently false attribution is irony,” Tugendhat said. “Irony is a figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used … . The attribution is literally false but no reasonable reader could be misled by it.”

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

WA’s top two gays revealed (WA Today)
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UN envoy calls on Caribbean nations to decriminalise homosexual acts (Pink News)
Couple Calls on Gays to Boycott Straight Weddings (New York Press)
Berlin memorial to gay victims of Nazis vandalized (AP via Yahoo! News)
Influential gays and lesbians (Daily Telegraph)
Transgender Robber Is Sentenced (WAAY-TV Huntsville)
Immigrant dies in possible hate crime (CNN)
Mayor joins the crowd at opening of ‘Milk’ (Santa Fe New Mexican)
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UN envoy calls on Caribbean nations to decriminalise homosexual acts (Pink News)

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Florida Governor Marries (Big Gay News)
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New York, NY – December 8, 2008

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA), a musical organization comprising marching and concert bands from across the United States and around the world, has been chosen to perform in the parade for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009. This is the first time in history that a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group will march in a Presidential Inaugural Parade.

The 177-piece LGBA band will join groups from across the country as well as from the Armed Forces in the historic parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, which follows President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the Capitol.

“I am honored to invite these talented groups and individuals to participate in the Inaugural Parade,” Obama said in a news release. “These organizations embody the best of our nation’s history, diversity, and commitment to service. Vice President-elect (Joe) Biden and I are proud to have them join us in the parade.”

The LGBA concert band performed in 1993 at the inaugural celebrations for President Bill Clinton, becoming the first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group to perform at an inauguration — and receiving a “thumbs-up” gesture from the President as they played “America the Beautiful.” The LGBA band also performed at President Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997.

The selection process was conducted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which, with the help of experienced military musicians, assessed the presentations of the nearly 1,400 marching bands, drill teams and musical groups that submitted applications to appear in the parade. The number of groups hoping to perform in President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural celebration represented unprecedented interest in marching in the parade.

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association, founded in Chicago in 1982 by seven member bands, has grown to 34 member organizations in the United States, Canada and Australia.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Dec. 14 (UPI)

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was unable to escape politics even on his wedding night, with three protest groups outside the church where he married.

Some demonstrators objected to Florida’s ban on gay marriage, and others opposed allowing same-sex unions, the Palm Beach Post reported. A third group outside the United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg was angry about a police shooting in nearby Tampa.

“Free speech is alive and well,” Crist shouted at the demonstrators as he and his new wife, Carol Rome, moved on to their reception Friday.

Crist, 52, was briefly married in his 20s. His bachelor status came up during the presidential campaign when Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, was rumored to be considering him as a running mate.

Rome, whose family owns a novelty business, was separated from her first husband, the chief executive officer of Blue Star Jets, when she and Crist met at a party in New York last year.

The last Florida governor to marry in office was Claude Kirk in 1967.

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

 

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Evangelical Leader Quits Over Gay Remark (Big Gay News)
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Jade Goody attacked over lesbian slurs (Pink News)
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NYC group: Anti-gay violence likely on rise (Newsday)
Petitions target rescinding ordinance banning discrimination of GLBT (The Kalamazoo Gazette)
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI)

A prominent evangelical lobbyist has resigned his post over his remarks of support for same-sex civil unions, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) says.

The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, said in a Dec. 2 National Public Radio interview that his outlook on same-sex marriage was “shifting, I have to admit. In other words, I would willingly say that I believe in civil unions.”

The remark caused a predictable uproar among evangelical Christians, who say that the Bible permits marriage only between a man and a woman.

The Rev. Leith Anderson, president of the 30 million-member NAE, told the Post Cizik apologized for the remark but, “He lost the leadership’s confidence as spokesman and that’s hard to regain.”

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

 

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Not Everyone Marked ‘Call in Gay’ Day (Big Gay News)
New York Critics Name ‘Milk’ Best Film (Big Gay News)
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NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (UPI)

The New York Film Critics Circle Wednesday declared “Milk” the best film of 2008.

The movie’s stars Sean Penn and Josh Brolin also won the group’s best actor and best supporting actor awards respectively.

Mike Leigh was named the best director for “Happy-Go-Lucky,” while his leading lady Sally Hawkins garnered the best actress honor.

Penelope Cruz earned the award for best supporting actress for her work in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” Jenny Lumet the prize for best screenplay for “Rachel Getting Married” and Anthony Dod Mantle the best cinematographer honor for “Slumdog Millionaire.”

In addition, “Wall-E” was named best animated film, “Man on Wire” best documentary, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” best foreign film and Courtney Hunt’s “Frozen River” best first film.

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

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10 (UPI)

Organizers of Wednesday’s “call in gay” event across the United States say not all homosexuals in the work force took the day off.

Reasons not to show up ranged from not wanting to take a chance during an economic downturn to not wanting to reveal a sexual orientation to unsympathetic superiors.

“I know more gay people who are not calling in than calling in,” coffee shop manager Sheena Gardner, 24, told the Seattle Times.

A gay teacher told the San Francisco Chronicle she would put in her eight hours and then attend a rally for the cause in the evening.

The grassroots job action was a protest against the passage of a same-sex marriage ban in California and is meant to illustrate how mainstream and important homosexuals are in the workforce.

The effort, which is also known as “Day Without a Gay,” also coincides with International Human Rights Day.

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

Transition: Obama to name environmental figure (AP via Yahoo! News)
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Young, gay and now ready for battle (International Herald Tribune)
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New Jersey Commission Says Gays Should be Allowed to Marry (Gay Wired)
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Gays plan to skip work to volunteer (The Arizona Republic)
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People Urged to ‘Call in Gay’ (Big Gay News)
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Urban Outfitters removes pro-gay marriage t-shirt from CA stores (Pink News)
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Group plans center for gay residents (The Journal Times)
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Court lets stand ruling on child-visitation rights (Boston Globe)
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SAN DIEGO, Calif., Dec. 8 (UPI)

The election of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama could lead to the repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, experts say.

Aubrey Sarvis, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network executive director, said with Obama speaking out against the controversial military policy during his presidential run, hopes are high regarding a possible repeal of the 1993 policy, the San Diego Union-Tribune said Monday.

“I think the election of Barack Obama is a sea change in terms of moving the issue forward,” Sarvis said. “I think ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ can be repealed in the next Congress.”

The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy allowed gays and lesbians to serve in any branch of the U.S. military. But the policy also mandates those service members cannot engage in any homosexual conduct or be open about their sexual orientation.

But Gary Jacobson, a University of California-San Diego political science professor, warned it may take some time for Obama to target the policy upon taking office.

“There are more pressing things on the agenda and getting into a fight over something that will allow Republicans to paint him as a liberal isn’t going to help him,” Jacobson told the Union-Tribune.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 8 (UPI)

A pivotal same-sex marriage case takes the hotly disputed issue before the Iowa Supreme Court in a bid to move the debate into the Midwest, observers say.

The high court will hear oral arguments in Des Moines on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by six same-sex Iowa couples. If successful this way, it would be difficult to throw it out because of complicated state law, USA Today said.

“This is the heartland of America, a place where family values are revered,” says Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a University of Iowa law professor. “It would be an incredibly strong signal for the Iowa Supreme Court to find that same-sex marriages are legal.”

The case, Varnum vs. Brien, could make Iowa the first state in the Midwest to legalize gay marriage, USA Today said.

Other high-court decisions favorable to gay rights advocates have come from traditionally liberal, coastal states such as California, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

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