Human Rights Campaign Calls on the LGBT Community and Allies to Participate in National, Grassroots Push to Lobby Congress Face-to-Face

The Campaign, the nation’s largest , , and () , today launched a national, campaign called “No Excuses” to demand action from on key issues of . Designed to take advantage of the congressional , when are in their local offices and meeting with , “No Excuses” will mobilize ’s 750,000 and their to meet directly with and push for federal . and supporters can get involved by visiting: http://noexcuses.hrc.org.

“While we salute and acknowledge the heroic of who have worked tirelessly on our behalf, far too many have dragged their feet on basic matters of and that have lingered too long and hurt too many and their families,” said Campaign . “Yes, there are many facing this and this . But often additional hardship protecting their families, their loved ones and their , and too few in are willing to these issues of basic . Now, more than ever, of the community need to make their heard -to- and in the districts where they live.”

Using innovative , one-on-one trainings and staff and follow-through, will press to end in the military, treat all legally married equally, pass reform that recognizes and honors families, workplace for employees, and treat all ’ compensation equally.

The interactive “No Excuses” website allows supporters to download a meeting toolkit, schedule a meeting and report back on how it went. To take action, visit: http://noexcuses.hrc.org.

The in-district meetings will on the following key legislative in the 111th :

–Repeal the Defense of (), which denies legally married and more than 1,000 ;

–Prohibit workplace for the community by passing an inclusive Non- (ENDA);

–Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to ensure that service who contribute to our nation’s security are no longer summarily discharged for who they are;

–Pass reform that recognizes permanent same- and ends the painful separation of families;

–And provide benefits equally to the nearly 3 million employees, including same- .

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Gay professor Simon Karlinsky dies

, an openly distinguished professor in the and at the , Berkeley, and an expert on the history of in , died July 5 due to congestive . He was 84.

Mr. Karlinsky’s death was announced by his husband, Peter . The couple lived in .

For more than 30 years Mr. Karlinsky taught at . He was an author and editor of books on , and , and an internationally known expert on the history of in .

He was born on September 22, 1924 in the city of , a Russian cultural in (now ).

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Prosecutors drop case against gay couple accused of trespassing on LDS property

won’t pursue a case against accused of trespassing on LDS Church property earlier this month.

An Church detained a couple on ’s Main Street Plaza on July 9 after observing the pair “ and hugging,” according to a .

and Matt were cited for trespassing after refusing to leave. The incident to two -in against the church in and one in .

has said the couple’s display of was modest, but officials with The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the plaza, released a statement that the were “much more involved” than a “simple on the .” It said the couple “engaged in passionate , groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using .”

In a statement released Wednesday, Sim Gill said the trespassing case against Jones and has been dropped.

Gill said despite that Main Street Plaza is owned by the church, there “continues to be a mistaken by many visitors that there is a public right of way.”

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Wash. gay partnership foes try to shield signers

won’t resist a that would block public release of for a - .

The on 71, which would ask voters to approve or reject expanded rights for .

The of everyone who signed R-71 are publicly available under open-government laws.

A -rights group is planning to post all the online, so supporters can talk to those about the .

But the R-71 campaign says that could to . So they’re asking a to keep the secret, until they can make their argument in court.

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Too Gay in Amsterdam?

It’s no secret that Amsterdam is -friendly, but in case that slipped under anyone’s , Dutch have launched a site this month proclaiming that “Everyone’s Gay in Amsterdam.”

The Web site, which is geared for American , offers a “ list” that features places like , described as a “relaxed and funky -friendly bar” that “serves up unusual cocktails concocted by its highly-trained staff of .”

But a closer look reveals that not everyone in Amsterdam is, in fact, . A of a seemingly happy straight couple biking along a canal? The ? A “ locator” that doesn’t turns the into an dot?

Turns out, “” doesn’t just reefer to , but “the of the in this grand European city,” according to the VisualMerc, a New York-based that created the micro-site.

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‘Two-Track’ Church Suggested by Archbishop of Canterbury

— The Most Rev. Rowan Williams, the , said among the world’s 77 million over and same- could divide their church into a “two-” yielding “two styles of being .”

The formula could avert a formal breach between and but bring new in the between the global Anglican Communion and American Episcopalians who resolved this month to open the door to ordaining openly gay bishops and to start the process of developing rites for same-sex marriages.

insisted that the issue should not be debated “in apocalyptic terms of and excommunication but plainly as what they are — two styles of being .”

In a lengthy message published Monday on his Web site, the archbishop offered a detailed and nuanced response to at the convention in , Calif., this month when -rights in the chalked up major victories over on . The is the official branch of the in the .

The developments were seen by and as likely turning points in the history of the divided , reflecting the profound rifts over within — the world’s third largest network of Christian after the and Orthodox . The differences have crystallized around the ’s consent in 2003 to the of the church’s first openly bishop, V. Gene Robinson of .

The Episcopalians had agreed to a on the election of , but it was lifted at the convention in .

The is the of the , which is composed of 38 provinces worldwide. The claims about 2.3 million .

In his message, repeated his view that “a blessing for a same- union cannot have the authority” of the full , any more than a blessing for a couple living outside would have.

That, in turn, means that as long as the broader church “as a whole does not bless same- , a person living in such a union cannot without serious incongruity have a representative function in a Church whose public teaching is at with their .”

The issues have confronted the archbishop with not simply between and in the but also across the broader church with its many in , Britain and elsewhere. Four in the and many individual have broken away from the national to forge alliances with such as the Church of .

said: “There is at least the possibility of a twofold ecclesial reality in view in the middle distance: that is, a ‘covenanted’ global body, fully sharing certain aspects of a vision of how the Church should be and behave, able to take part as a body in ecumenical and interfaith ; and, related to this body, but in less formal ways with fewer formal expectations, there may be associated local in various kinds of mutual and with one another and with ‘covenanted’ provinces.”

The archbishop has promoted the idea of — described by some analysts as a kind of good-behavior guide for — to overcome the rift.

“This has been called a ‘two-tier’ model, or, more disparagingly, a first- and second-class structure,” the archbishop’s message said. “But perhaps we are faced with the possibility rather of a ‘two-track’ model, two ways of witnessing to the heritage, one of which had decided that local had to be the prevailing value and so had in good declined a covenantal structure.”

The message continued: “It helps to be clear about these possible futures, however much we think them less than ideal, and to speak about them not in apocalyptic terms of and excommunication but plainly as what they are — two styles of being , whose mutual relation will certainly need working out but which would not exclude in mission and service of the kind now shared in the .”

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Diocese of Niagara to offer same-sex blessings

As of Sept. 1, the will allow its to bless same-gender who have been civilly married.

Niagara becomes the second diocese in the Church of , after the -based New Westminster, to offer a for same- . (The , which allowed same- in 2002, currently limits the rite to eight parishes.) The issue of same- continues to deeply divide in as well as worldwide.

“The Niagara Rite is intended for the voluntary use of who wish to offer a of blessing regardless of the gender of the civilly married persons…” the said on its Web site, www.niagara.anglican.ca

The rite may also be used for the blessing or renewal of for “celebrating a significant moment in their together,” said an introduction to the Niagara Rite.
The approval of the rite came five years after the diocesan of Niagara passed a motion allowing civilly-married , “where at least one party is baptized,” to receive a church blessing. The at that time, , had refused to implement the motion. In January 2008, a similar motion was approved by Niagara’s diocesan , and this time, Bishop Spence gave his approval, but said he reserved the right to determine when the same- would move forward.

Last fall, Bishop Spence’s successor, , informed a meeting of the Canadian house of that he intended to develop the rite, saying, “I believe we are among those who have been called by to speak with a on this subject.”

Under a list of outlined by Bishop Bird, a who wishes to offer the Niagara Rite must contact the bishop’s office “so that a conversation can take place between the bishop and the involved.” The is expected to provide details about the couple the intends to bless “and should be prepared to have a conversation about the response of the parish to the ,” the list added. “A date for such a blessing should not be confirmed with the couple until after this conversation with the bishop has taken place.”

A parish is not required to get the approval of its vestry before it can offer such .

Two other – Montreal and – have also informed the house of about their to move with same- . At that meeting, the house of issued a a “large majority” of its could affirm “a continued commitment to the greatest extent possible” to a on the blessing of same- . But it acknowledged that the , which had been sought by the and the of the , would be difficult for some “that in have made on these matters.”

The issue of whether can offer same- is likely to be revisited at the 2010 meeting of General , the governing body of the Church of . In 2007, General had agreed that blessing rites for are “not in ” with core church doctrine, but refused to affirm the authority of to offer them. General delegates had also voted to study revising the (church law) to allow to marry all legally qualified persons. for has been legal in since 2005.
Last spring, Council of General (CoGS), the church’s governing body in between General meetings, decided not to ask General 2010 to amend the to allow for the of same- . The decision was made after the , worship and ministry committee, which was asked by CoGS to prepare “a theological rationale to allow for the of all legally qualified persons,” said that it found the request problematic. Janet Marshall, committee chair, told CoGS that some felt uncomfortable about being asked to create a rationale for only one side of the argument.

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Higher level of abuse among same-sex couples than straight ones, Hong Kong study

In harm’s way: Higher level of abuse among same-sex couples than straight ones, Hong Kong study

Four times as many individuals in a same- than in a have reportedly been victimised by , according to a study by the Chinese University of () and the Women Coalition of HKSAR.

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After the break-up, what about the lake house?

IT was a perfect party — vodka lemonade on a dock overlooking a lake, of close , a cool in the country a couple of hours north of New York.

Inside, the house spoke of a in style, and of a committed . of the couple who owned the house hung on a wall in the master bedroom; the couple’s nickname — — was spelled out in large letters leaning against a wall in the kitchen.

But the couple, Benjamin Dixon, 31, and , 33, who had planned the evening as a , had broken up earlier. Still, with purchased by some of the guests, a catering deposit paid and a house they haven’t been able to sell, they figured it made sense to go and have a party anyway.

Their tale of has a familiar arc — , then blooms; lives intertwine; moments are and creep in; eventually the two begin to live as strangers — and an that has become increasingly familiar as well, as unwanted houses become rather than .

Rather than being a glossy testament to their taste and their , their house in Stanfordville, in , is now a dead weight that entangles them and makes it impossible to move on. Having bought it and an in at the height of the (and having made an agreement with a third in their lake house property not to sell it until December 2009), they are left with of two large mortgages. They are also left with two carefully decorated homes filled with one-of-a- found on and quirky furnishings by high-end designers like the Dutch collective that are reminders of what came before and, Mr. Dixon said, “big reminders of what was supposed to be.”

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As of Wednesday, in St. Paul, Minnesota, can get domestic . The state capital joined two other cities in that state in approving a resolution that allowed for domestic

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