Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s Top Headlines

Senate Lets Chaplains Opt Out of Gay Weddings
NY Judge Lets Anti-Gay Marriage Lawsuit Proceed
Student Wants to Conduct Anti-Gay Counseling

Get even MORE breaking news from any of our live, constantly updated news feeds, now available in 12 languages:

English | Spanish | French | German | Dutch | Italian | Portuguese | Russian | Chinese | Korean | Czech | Greek

federal appeals court in Atlanta this week is hearing the case of a Christian counseling student who alleges that her school unconstitutionally suspended her because she planned to tell her clients that being gay is morally wrong. The Associated Press has been following the 1st Amendment case filed by Jennifer Keeton, a graduate school counseling student at Georgia’s Augusta State University. The case was rejected last year by a district court judge and is before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read the full story from the Los Angeles Times.

A state judge has refused to dismiss a suit challenging the gay marriage law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (KWOH’-moh) in June, concluding there is an issue whether New York’s open meetings law was violated. New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and other opponents claim the law should be nullified because the state Senate Republican majority met illegally with Cuomo behind closed doors, where Cuomo sought support before the critical vote that led to its narrow passage. The measure legalized same-sex marriage in New York.

Read the full story from the Wall Street Journal.

The Senate voted Wednesday to ensure military chaplains are not forced to perform gay marriages if they oppose that for reasons of conscience. However, wording of the measure could make this a more far-reaching piece of legislation. It makes no specific reference to gay marriage, but instead says that a chaplain, “who as a matter of conscience or moral principle does not wish to perform a marriage, may not be required to do so.” That could apply not only to gay marriage but to other situations that might involve conscience and principles.

Read the full story from the Army Times.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s Top Headlines

Russia Slams US Criticism of ‘Gay Propaganda’ Bill
Democratic Rep. Barney Frank Announces Retirement
‘Not Gay Enough’ Softball Players Settle Suit
Nigeria Senate Approves Bill Banning Gay Marriage, Groups, PDA

Get even MORE breaking news from any of our live, constantly updated news feeds, now available in 12 languages:

English | Spanish | French | German | Dutch | Italian | Portuguese | Russian | Chinese | Korean | Czech | Greek

Nigeria’s Senate voted Tuesday to criminalize gay marriage, gay advocacy groups and same-sex public displays of affection, the latest legislation targeting a minority already facing discrimination in Africa’s most populous nation. The bill, now much more wide-ranging than its initial draft, must be passed by Nigeria’s House of Representatives and signed by President Goodluck Jonathan before becoming law. However, public opinion and lawmakers’ calls Tuesday for even harsher penalties show the widespread support for the measure in the deeply religious nation.

Read the full story from the Washington Post.

Three members of an amateur San Francisco team who said they were branded “not gay enough” and stripped of their second-place finish at the Gay Softball World Series have settled their lawsuit against a national gay sports organization. Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles and Jon Russ, who were members of D2, a team that was part of the San Francisco Gay Softball League, will receive an undisclosed sum from the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance and will get their second-place 2008 championship trophy back, said their attorney, Suzanne Thomas.

Read the full story from SFGate.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, a gay pioneer in Congress and a Massachusetts liberal whose name as well and fingerprints are on last year’s sweeping bill regulating Wall Street, announced plans Monday to retire at the end of his current term, his 16th in Congress. There are other things I would like to do with my life,” the 71-year-old lawmaker said at a news conference. He added that his retirement plans were hastened by two years by reapportionment, which moved 325,000 new constituents into his district.

Read the full story from The Associated Press.

A top Russian diplomat reacted angrily on Tuesday after the United States strongly criticized a controversial bill backed by the ruling party that calls for a ban on “homosexual propaganda.” “We view with bewilderment the American side’s attempts to interfere, what’s more, publicly, in the lawmaking process,” foreign ministry representative for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov, told the Interfax news agency.

Read the full story from the Montreal Gazette.

Speaking to Vibe Magazine in a December-issue cover story titled “T.I. Wants You Back,” recently paroled rapper and MTV reality star Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (aka T.I.) proved once again he has a strange way of launching a charm offensive. T.I. told Vibe that gay activists were overly sensitive when they censored a June performance by Tracy Morgan, during which the comedian — among other controversial comments — said he’d kill his son if he found out he were gay.

Read the full story from Reuters.

Since the lifting two months ago of a longstanding U.S. ban on gays serving openly in the military, U.S. Marines across the globe have adapted smoothly and embraced the change, says their top officer, Gen. James F. Amos, who previously had argued against repealing the ban during wartime. “I’m very pleased with how it has gone,” Amos said in an Associated Press interview during a week-long trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he held more than a dozen town hall-style meetings with Marines of virtually every rank. He was asked about a wide range of issues, from his view of the Marine Corps’ future to more mundane matters such as why he recently decided to stop allowing Marines to wear their uniform with the sleeves rolled up.

Read the full story from the Washington Post.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today’s Top Headlines

Gay Seattle Hairdresser Danny Vega Dies After Assault
Passengers Claim United Agent Used Gay Slur At DIA
T.I. Defends Tracy Morgan, Calls Gay Activists ‘Not American’
Top Marine Says Service Embracing Gay Ban Repeal

Get even MORE breaking news from any of our live, constantly updated news feeds, now available in 12 languages:

English | Spanish | French | German | Dutch | Italian | Portuguese | Russian | Chinese | Korean | Czech | Greek

United Airlines is investigating a complaint from a passenger that he and his partner were called a gay slur by an agent at Denver International Airport. We were completely shocked. We were shaking,” Billy Canu told 7NEWS on Sunday. Canu said he and his partner were waiting for their flight home Saturday evening at DIA when they got confused about access to United’s Gold Lounge on Concourse B. Canu said the incident happened when the two men approached nearby United gate agents.

Read the full story from ABC7 News.

Danny Vega, a 58-year-old South Seattle hairdresser and prominent member of Seattle’s Filipino community, has died Sunday, 12 days after he was robbed and beaten by three teens in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. Vega suffered severe injuries to his brain, kidneys and liver and was placed on life support after falling into a coma, according to KING-TV, which reported that Vega died on Sunday. A niece also reported his death on her Facebook page. Vega was on his evening walk Nov. 15 when he was beaten and robbed of his cellphone and keys.

Read the full story from the Seattle Times.

Danish homosexuals will soon be allowed to marry in the state Evangelical Lutheran Church, Denmark’s gender equality and ecclesiastical affairs ministry said Wednesday. “The Danish government has decided that same-sex couples are to be able to marry in church on equal terms with heterosexual couples, and that they will be able to call themselves spouses,” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry will submit a bill to parliament on the issue soon.

Read the full story from AFP.