Breaking News Events

[Greyson]

No vote: Future of Uganda's anti-gay bill in limbo

By MAGGIE FICK, Associated Press

Friday, May 13, 2011

(05-13) 05:26 PDT KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) --

Uganda's parliament adjourned Friday without acting on a criticized anti-gay bill that would mandate the death sentence in some cases, drawing praise from an advocacy group that said parliament's failure to act was a "victory for all Ugandans."

Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk said there is no time to take up the bill this session, which ends Wednesday, leaving the bill's future uncertain. Kiwanuk adjourned the parliament Friday and set no date for the body to return.

The bill has drawn criticism from U.S. leaders and human rights groups. The U.S. State Department spokesman on Wednesday called the bill "odious" and said no changes to the bill's wording would justify its passage.

Avaaz, an Internet group that champions action on issues like poverty and climate change, called it a "victory for all Ugandans and people across the world who value human rights" that parliament did not take action Friday.

"This vile bill is a matter of life and death for gay Ugandans, and would have seen the execution, imprisonment and persecution of friends of Avaaz, and thousands of others who have committed no crime at all. We must now ensure this heinous bill can never return to Parliament again," said Alice Jay, the group's campaign director.

David Bahati, who authored the bill, has said that if the anti-gay bill was not voted on this session, he would try to move the legislation forward next session.

Helen Kawesa, spokeswoman for parliament, said the anti-gay bill could come back up for debate in the next parliament but that it would likely take time to get back to the floor.

Kakoba Onyango, a member of parliament, said the anti-gay bill has taken so long to be acted on because President Yoweri Museveni did not back it and because of the criticism of human rights groups.

Gay rights groups say that the harassment of gays has increased in Uganda since the introduction of the bill in October 2009.

Last year a tabloid newspaper in Uganda published the names and photos of men it alleged were gay. One cover included the words "Hang Them." Shortly afterward, a prominent gay rights activist whose picture was published was bludgeoned to death, though authorities contend David Kato's sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing.

Bahati's original bill would mandate a death sentence for active homosexuals living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape. "Serial offenders" also would face capital punishment. Anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment.

Anyone who "aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality" would face seven years in prison. Landlords who rent rooms or homes to homosexuals also could get seven years.

Homosexuality is highly unpopular in Uganda, and pastors in this Christian country speak out loudly against it. Bahati has said he thinks the bill would become law if voted on.

___

Associated Press reporter Godfrey Olukya contributed to this report.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i042638D37.DTL

[Corkey]

Uganda's anti-gay law has failed! It looked sure to pass last week, but after 1.6 million petition signatures delivered to Parliament, tens of thousands of phone calls to our own governments, hundreds of media stories about our campaign and a massive global outcry, Ugandan politicians dropped the bill!

It was down to the wire - religious extremists tried to push the bill through on Wednesday, and then convened an unprecedented emergency session of Parliament on Friday. But each time, within hours, we reacted. A huge congratulations to everyone who signed, called, forwarded and donated to this campaign - with our help, thousands of innocent people in Uganda's gay community do not wake up this morning facing execution for whom they chose to love.

Frank Mugisha, a courageous leader of the gay community in Uganda sent us this message:

"Brave Ugandan LGBT activists and millions of people around the world have stood together and faced down this horrendous anti-homosexuality bill.The support from the Avaaz global community has tipped the scales to prevent this Bill going forward. Global solidarity has made a huge difference."

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs' Office also wrote to Avaaz:

"Many thanks. As you know, thanks to a very large extent to the intensive lobbying and combined effort of you, other civil society representatives, EU and other governments, plus our delegation and embassies on the ground the Bill was not presented to the Parliament this morning."

This fight is not over. The extremists behind this bill could try again within just 18 months. But this is the second time we've helped defeat this bill, and we'll keep going until the hate-mongers give up.

Transforming the deeper causes of ignorance and hatred behind homophobia is an historic, long term struggle, one of the great causes of our generation. But Uganda has become a front line in that struggle, and a powerful symbol. The victory there echoes across many other places where hope is desperately needed, showing that kindness, love, tolerance and respect can defeat hatred and ignorance. Again, a huge thanks to all who made it happen.

With enormous gratitude and admiration for this amazing community,

[EnderD_503]

Two lesbian students have been banned from holding hands at a Florida high school, which is also threatening to suspend them.

The couple claim it's a double standard as straight couples are allowed to hold hands. They are also upset their principal at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach outed them to their parents.

One of the girls told the South Florida Times: "We were walking to class when he rolled up on his golf cart and said, 'Didn’t I tell you two to stop doing do that?' and then he took us to his office.

"He gave us a speech and then separated us before calling our parents, which was wrong. My mother already knew but my friend’s [mother] didn’t know she is into girls."

The mother of one of the girls has accused the school of discrimination, but the school's Superintendant has backed the principal, saying he was within his rights.

http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publis...icle_10379.php

[Greyson]

May 20, 2011

For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage Republicans and older Americans remain opposed
by Frank Newport

PRINCETON, NJ -- For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The increase since last year came exclusively among political independents and Democrats. Republicans' views did not change.

These results are based on Gallup's May 5-8 Values and Beliefs poll, which has tracked attitudes toward legalizing same-sex marriage each year since 2004, adding to Gallup's initial polling on the topic in 1996 and 1999.

This year's nine-percentage-point increase in support for same-sex marriage is the largest year-to-year shift yet measured over this time period. Two-thirds of Americans were opposed to legalized same-sex marriage in 1996, with 27% in favor. By 2004, support had risen to 42% and, despite some fluctuations from year to year, stayed at roughly that level through last year.

Democrats' and Independents' Greater Acceptance Shifts the Balance

Democrats' and independents' support for legalized same-sex marriage increased this year by 13 and 10 points, respectively. Republicans' views on the issue did not change from last year. Clear majorities of both Democrats and independents now support gay marriage, 69% and 59% respectively, contrasted with 28% support among Republicans.

Majorities of moderates and liberals support gay marriage, as they did last year, contrasted with 28% of conservatives.


Support for Legal Same-Sex Marriage Decreases Sharply With Age

Support for legal gay marriage decreases markedly with age, ranging from 70% support among those aged 18 to 34, to 39% support among those 55 and older. More broadly, support is highest among younger women and lowest among older men.

Compared with last year, support for legalizing same-sex marriage increased most among younger, 18- to 34-year-old Americans, and among men under 50.

Support for legal same-sex marriage is higher among those who attend church less frequently, among Catholics than among Protestants, and among those who are unmarried.

Implications

This year marks a significant uptick in support for legalizing same-sex marriage, exceeding the symbolic 50% mark for the first time in Gallup's history. Support rose from 27% in 1996 to the low 40% range in 2004 and remained fairly constant through last year.

The issue does, however, remain highly divisive. While big majorities of Democrats and young people support the idea of legalizing same-sex marriage, fewer than 4 in 10 Republicans and older Americans agree. Republicans in particular seem fixed in their opinions; there was no change at all in their support level this year, while independents' and Democrats' support jumped by double-digit margins.

Within the past year, Congress passed and President Obama signed a law allowing gay and lesbian members of the military to openly reveal their sexual orientation, rather than keeping it hidden as part of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. A majority of Americans have supported such a change in policy since 2005, rising to two-thirds support in 2009 and again last year. It is unclear whether the highly publicized official change in government policy on Don't Ask, Don't Tell may have been a factor in the rise in Americans' support for legalizing same-sex marriage.

Most legislation dealing with legalizing same-sex marriage occurs at the state level. At this point, five states -- Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia -- allow legal same-sex marriages. Most of the remaining states specifically outlaw it. At the moment, those advocating changes in constitutions and laws to allow same-sex marriage in additional states can take heart in the apparent shift in national sentiment in their direction.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/147662/Fi...-Marriage.aspx

[Gemme]

http://www.popeater.com/2011/05/20/m...1_lnk3%7C64440

Wrestling legend, snack pitchman and actor "Macho Man" Randy Savage died Friday in Seminole, Florida after losing control of his car while suffering a heart attack, his brother tells TMZ. Lanny Poffo says his brother was behind the wheel around 10 AM when the accident occurred. He was 58.

The Florida Highway Patrol later told the website that Savage and his wife, Lynn, were driving their Jeep Wrangler when the car veered across a concrete median, rushed through oncoming traffic and "collided head-on with a tree."

Savage was taken to Largo Medical Center where he died, and Lynn was rushed to a different hospital, but survived with minor injuries. According to officials, both were wearing their seat belts and alcohol is not suspected. An investigation is underway.

The couple had just celebrated their 1-year anniversary.

His former colleagues and admirers in the wrestling business have already begun pouring out their grief, including tag team partner Hulk Hogan who took to Twitter to reveal he had just begun talking to his old friend.

"I'm completely devastated, after over 10 years of not talking with Randy, we've finally started to talk and communicate," Hogan said. "I just pray that Randy's happy and in a better place and we miss him."

Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock, posted on Twitter: "You were one of my childhood inspirations and heros. Strength, love and prayers to the Savage/Poffo family."

The man known to millions of fans for his flashy outfits, his "Oooooo Yeaahhhh" catchphrase and his feuds with countless rivals, Savage broke into wrestling in the early 1970s while at the same time playing minor league baseball under his born name Randall Poffo. After injuring his throwing arm he put the focus on pro wrestling.

He picked the name 'Randy Savage' because a booker said his nickname at the time -- 'The Spider Friend' -- didn't suit since he "wrestled like a savage." In 1985 he signed up with Vince McMahaon's World Wrestling Federation and quickly became one of the league's more popular figures. His match with Ricky Steamboat in 1987's WrestleMania III is still considered one of the greatest ever.

Some of Savage's most memorable moments involved his manager and real-life wife, "Miss Elizabeth" Ann Hulette. Though they were officially married in 1984, the WWF staged an elaborate "wedding" for the pair at Madison Square Garden in 1991. A year later they divorced and she died of a drug overdose in 2003 at the home of her boyfriend, Lex Luger.

Savage left the WWF for the World Championship Wrestling in 1994.

Savage also tried his hand in other forms of entertainment throughout the years, most notably as the celebrity spokesman for Slim Jim beef snacks dating back to the mid-1990s. "Snap into a Slim Jim, oooooh yeah!"

His acting career included the role of wrestler Bonesaw McGraw in the 2002's 'Spider-Man' and most recently he was the voices of "the thug" in Disney's 2008 animated film, 'Bolt.' Savage also showed up in several TV shows as himself, in 'Mad About You,' 'Baywatch' and 'The Jeff Foxworthy Show.'

[EnderD_503]

Transgender widow's marriage debated at hearing
By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
May 20, 2011, 1:46PM

WHARTON, Texas — Attorneys for the family of a southeast Texas firefighter killed last year are pressing a judge to void his marriage to his transgender widow, arguing she was born a man and Texas doesn't recognize same-sex marriages.

During a court hearing Friday, attorneys for the family of Thomas Araguz III asked a judge to rule in favor of their lawsuit that seeks control over death benefits and other assets totaling more than $600,000.

The firefighter's family says he only learned of his wife's gender history just prior to his death in July 2010 while battling a blaze.

But his widow, Nikki Araguz, has insisted her husband was aware of her history and says she will win the case.

State District Judge Randy Clapp was not expected to immediately rule.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...#ixzz1MvQipYBp

[Andrea]

TSA will oversee the searches at a Santa Fe prom

First TSA is at the airports. Then they began doing random checks on trains, subways and buses.

I thought the purpose of TSA and DHS was to prevent terrorist attacks. A prom has nothing to do with terrorist attacks.

TSA hasn't caught a single terrorist.

When do we say enough?

Andrea

[dykeumentary]

Originally Posted by Andrea

TSA will oversee the searches at a Santa Fe prom

First TSA is at the airports. Then they began doing random checks on trains, subways and buses.

I thought the purpose of TSA and DHS was to prevent terrorist attacks. A prom has nothing to do with terrorist attacks.

TSA hasn't caught a single terrorist.

When do we say enough?

Andrea

We might indeed live in a militarized society, but "patting down" teens in prom gowns seems almost surreal.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by dykeumentary

We might indeed live in a militarized society, but "patting down" teens in prom gowns seems almost surreal.

And illegal, since most of them are minors.

[EnderD_503]

Saudi woman arrested for challenging driving ban
Reuters: Sunday, May 22, 2011

JEDDAH -- Saudi authorities arrested a female activist on Sunday who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the Internet of her driving, activists said.

The YouTube video, posted on Thursday, has attracted more than 500,000 views and shows Manal Alsharif, who learned to drive in the United States, driving her car in Khobar in the oil-producing Eastern Province.

"Police arrested her at 3 a.m. this morning," said Maha Taher, another female activist who launched her own campaign for women driving four months ago to spread awareness of the issue.

An Eastern Province police spokesperson declined to comment and an interior ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of dissent and applies an austere version of Sunni Islam in which religious police patrol the streets to ensure public segregation between men and women.

Women in the country are not allowed to drive and must have written approval from a designated guardian - a father, husband, brother or son - to leave the country, work or travel abroad.

The campaign Alsharif launched is aimed at teaching women to drive and encouraging them to start driving from June 17, using foreign-issued licences.

While there is no written law that specifically bans women from driving, Saudi law requires citizens use a locally issued licence while in the country. Such licences are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.

"When the police stopped her they told her she violated the 'norms'. There is no law that says women can't drive in Saudi Arabia and this arrest is unjust. She is a role model for a lot of people and the arrest will provoke her supporters. Now more women want to drive," Taher said.

Source: http://www.globalnational.com/world/...291/story.html

[EnderD_503]

Gay and transgender teens find refuge at home created for them
By Theresa Vargas, Published: May 21

In Room 8, the carpet is stained and the walls are bare, except for strips of tape that once held someone else’s photos. But to the 21-year-old getting dressed this morning, the room offers a measure of freedom she has never had: a place where, without judgment, she can slip on a flower-print blouse and shave her face. A place where no one knows Guy Jones, only Sarah Feliciano.

“How does this look?” Sarah asks, sweeping a cobalt blue powder over her eyes. Foundation the color of “soft copper” covers the rest of her face, hiding any hints of a shadow that monthly laser therapy and a daily shave might have missed.

In the three-story brick house in Northeast Washington, there are eight bedrooms, each filled with a young person who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. And like Sarah — a transgender woman who until February was sleeping at Reagan National Airport, washing her hair with shampoo fished from the trash — each ended up homeless or close to it.

As the District takes significant strides to advance the rights of LGBT residents — for example, recently legalizing same-sex marriage — the youths who pass through the Wanda Alston House tell of the vulnerability the community still faces. The house, named after an LGBT leader and mayoral adviser who was killed in 2005, is one of a handful of transitional houses in the nation that cater to people who experts say are more likely to become homeless and who, once in that category, pose challenges most shelter systems are unequipped to address. Should a transgender female be placed in a shelter with men or women? Where should a transgender male who still has the anatomy of a woman shower? What about a young gay man?

Recently, two teenagers repeatedly punched and kicked a transgender woman after she used the women’s restroom at a McDonald’s in Baltimore. It was a brutal act, caught on tape, that resulted from what seems a brief crossing of paths. In a homeless shelter, interactions are more immersed. Everything is shared: rooms, showers, dinner tables.

“These kids get swallowed up in the system,” says Brian Watson, who manages the house through the District’s Transgender Health Empowerment program. He says he has seen young people come from shelters who have been sexually abused, ridiculed and, in one case, made to sleep in a common living room instead of a bedroom because she was transgender.

“These are good kids, really good kids,” Watson says. “They just need a chance.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...k8G_story.html

[EnderD_503]

The story of a Maltese transwoman recently denied the right to marry in Malta. She and her lawyer are taking her case to Strasbourg/the European Court of Human Rights.

NATIONAL Monday, May 23, 2011
Updated | Transgender case 'going straight to European Court of Human Rights' - lawyer

By Raphael Vassallo

Joanne Cassar, a post-op transgender woman who has been fighting for the right to marry her partner since 2006, this morning technically lost an appeal filed by the Attorney General Peter Grech.

Updated at 12:59pm, with MGRM reaction.

In an unusual ruling that her lawyers plan to contest in Europe, the Court of Appeal acknowledged that the fundamental rights accorded to Ms Cassar by articles 8 and 12 of the convention had been breached.

But the Court also observed that other remedies were available outside of marriage, and that the State should pass legislation to formally recognize such unions while stopping short of granting full marriage rights.

The court also upheld the AG’s argument that the surgery undergone by Ms Cassar was not enough for the State to recognize her gender as female, despite having amended her birth certificate from male to female. This, the Court noted, had been done in order to respect her privacy and spare her any embarrassment.

Cassar’s lawyers told MaltaToday that the case was now heading “straight for Strasbourg.”

“They have put Joanne Cassar through hell, we will be demanding higher compensation,” Dr Jose Herrera, who assisted Ms Cassar together with Dr David Camilleri, said.

Cassar’s battle began in May 2006, when the Registrar of Marriages refused to issue marriage banns for Cassar and her fiance on the grounds that the Marriage Act prohibited unions between persons of the same gender – and despite the fact that Cassar’s birth certificate had been amended post-surgery to reflect her gender change.

Cassar took the Marriage Registrar to court, and on February 12 2007, after noting that the proposed union did not contravene any provision of the Marriage Act, Mr Justice Gino Camilleri upheld her request and ordered the director of Public Registry to issue the necessary marriage banns.

But the registrar appealed, and in his decision to overturn the ruling in May 2008, Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef observed that while the Marriage Act defined marriage as a union “between a man and a woman”, Maltese law offered no legal definition of either gender. The court therefore took into account various definitions, including an affidavit signed by the former chairman of the parliamentary bio-ethics committee, Dr Michael Axiak, who wrote: “after gender reassignment therapy, a person will have remained of the same sex as before the operation.”

Cassar challenged this ruling in the Constitutional Court. Last November Mr Justice Raymond C. Pace cited a previous European Court of Human Rights ruling (Christine Goodwin vs. UK) which established that a ban on transgender marriage, of the kind imposed by the lower courts in previous rulings, violated Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to marry, to which Malta is signatory.

In their reaction, the Malta Gay Rights Movement said that the Court did not recognise the right of the post-operative transgender woman to have her affirmed gender identity recognised by law, adopting the narrowest possible interpretation of gender based solely on biological criteria.

"The MGRM holds that the failure of the Maltese Constitutional Court to recognise Joanne Cassar as a woman goes against the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights as expressed in Goodwin vs UK and other recent judgements and also jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice," coordinator Gabi Calleja said.

"As reiterated in the Proposed Gender Identity Act for Malta MGRM holds that gender identity is a matter for the individual to decide and that the State is duty bound to respect this identity by granting full and effective legal recognition. Anything less than this violates the right of the individual to self-determination and often leads to a violation of the transgender person’s rights to private and family life.

"This implies the right of women like Joanne Cassar who have satisfied all the legal requirements to change their gender to then marry a person of the opposite sex, in this case a man," Calleja said.

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/tr...-rights-lawyer

[Toughy]

The assault on Planned Parenthood and women continues:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/us...s/23abort.html

U.S. Objects to New Law on Clinics in Indiana
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: May 22, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is raising serious objections to a new Indiana law that cuts off state and federal money for Planned Parenthood clinics providing health care to low-income women on Medicaid.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Toughy

The assault on Planned Parenthood and women continues:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/us...s/23abort.html

U.S. Objects to New Law on Clinics in Indiana
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: May 22, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is raising serious objections to a new Indiana law that cuts off state and federal money for Planned Parenthood clinics providing health care to low-income women on Medicaid.

The enitre GOP post mid-term elections agenda has been about anti-abortion and attacking women's health care rights! Humm.. what about those jobs bills that they were going to work on???

[AtLast]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...rt.html?r=news

[Galahad]

He was arrested because he looks like the drawing and has tattoos on his neck also. This looks like a dozen of my former students. They went looking for a scapegoat and found one. Typical LA, months of poor or poc murders and assaults vs. bunch of drunks get into fights over a baseball game. It is sickening the amount of publicity this has gotten.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Galahad

He was arrested because he looks like the drawing and has tattoos on his neck also. This looks like a dozen of my former students. They went looking for a scapegoat and found one. Typical LA, months of poor or poc murders and assaults vs. bunch of drunks get into fights over a baseball game. It is sickening the amount of publicity this has gotten.

Isn't sickening for the Stowe family. This guy will never recover and has two little kids. Also, how this suspect was identified was had to do with a lot more than the sketch. These assholes attacked this guy without provacation- there were witnesses. They just attacjed him because he had on a Giants shirt! And the suspect was identified after being taken into custody by those witnesses.

There was information by his parole officer that led to his arrest in which he had had his tats covered with new ones because the description of the tats was accurate- and they were unique. Another aspect the parole officer took notice of.

Yes, the LAPD doesn't have a great history with POC or the poor- I get that and it pisses me off. But, sometimes, the truth of the matter is that a POC is guilty. However, before you shoot your mouth off and cry racism, get the facts. And have a little respect for the real VICTIM in this case. The guy in the hospital that is hooked up to machines and did nothing other than go to a basebal game.

I want him and if they arrest the other guy and the woman to get a fair trial.

[EnderD_503]

Wtf...anything so that they don't have to give a transwoman marriage benefits. If she has had her gender marker changed then they should be forced to recognise the marriage. Same-sex marriage should be legal everywhere at this point, but at the same time they should be recognising her as woman.

Lawyer: Transgender widow's marriage to be voided
Share
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, May. 24, 2011 - 5:53 pm

HOUSTON -- An attorney says a Texas judge plans to void the marriage of a transgender widow, preventing her from getting the death benefits of her firefighter husband who died last year battling a blaze.

Edward Burwell said Tuesday that state District Judge Randy Clapp announced his plan in a draft ruling.

Burwell is an attorney for an ex-wife of firefighter Thomas Araguz III. The judge will rule in a lawsuit filed by the Araguz's mother that the ex-wife also joined. The suit claimed Nikki Araguz should receive no benefits because she was born a man and Texas doesn't recognize same-sex marriages.

Burwell says the ruling pleased his client. Nikki Araguz's attorney said he didn't want to comment until the ruling was final.

The widow says she's "devastated" by the judge's decision.

Source: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/24/365...-marriage.html

[EnderD_503]

Vote: Do you agree with Gordon Fox? http://myvoternation.com/mvn/questio...riage-equality

Gordon Fox takes heat for gay marriage vote in Rhode Island: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_863486.html

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Wtf...anything so that they don't have to give a transwoman marriage benefits. If she has had her gender marker changed then they should be forced to recognise the marriage. Same-sex marriage should be legal everywhere at this point, but at the same time they should be recognising her as woman.



Source: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/24/365...-marriage.html

I wonder what's going to happen to the benefits? Who is going to get them? I always think about the money in this kind of case.

I think benefits are part of the reason same-sex marriage is still illegal.