NH radio host, blogger’s gay Dem attack condemned
(Concord, NH) A conservative Republican radio host, blogger and self-described citizen journalist is apologizing for calling New Hampshire’s Democratic Party chairman derogatory gay names - comments his party and a leading gay activist are condemning.
Doug Lambert called gay Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley offensive names while a webcam was streaming …
Tags: Blogger, Chair Raymond, Citizen Journalist, Concord Nh, Democratic Party Chair, Democratic Party Chairman, Doug Lambert, Gay Activist, Gay Party, New Hampshire, Offensive Names, Radio Host, WebcamRussian gays express disappointment in Clinton
(Moscow) Russia’s leading gay activist said Wednesday that he was disappointed that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with an outspoken foe of gay rights during her two-day trip to Russia and did not decry homophobia in the country.
Clinton attended a ceremony unveiling a statue of Walt Whitman at …
Tags: Day Trip, Disappointment, Express, Gay Activist, gay rights, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Met, Moscow Russia, Outspoken Foe, Russian Gays, Secretary Of State, Trip To Russia, Walt WhitmanMaine campaign heats up
With the prospect of a November referendum on same-sex marriage in Maine all but certain, pro-equality advocates are gearing up for a bruising battle to preserve the state’s marriage equality bill, signed by Gov. John Baldacci in May. Since January, Maine Freedom to Marry has been ramping up a vast field campaign to identify pro-equality voters. Without a presidential or gubernatorial race to bring voters out, Maine Freedom to Marry campaign manager Jesse Connolly said grassroots fieldwork is essential to finding voters who support marriage equality and to turning them out at the polls on Election Day.
“This campaign is really about having one-on-one conversations with Maine voters. … We’re raising money, we’re building a campaign, but we’re really excited about this great work the field effort has been doing,” said Connolly.
Yet campaign finance reports suggest that pro-equality advocates may face an uphill battle. Thus far, anti-gay activists have outpaced pro-equality advocates in fundraising. Much of that money has come from the national religious right organizations that backed the successful campaign to pass California’s Proposition 8 last year. See Maine campaign heats up
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International gathering of gay activists kicks off in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN — Music and aerial acrobats are kicking off the second edition of the World Outgames - nine days of sports, cultural and human rights events for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Some of the 5,500 participants from about 100 countries are marching in a parade of nations on Copenhagen’s City Hall Square. Artists, suspended in wires above them, are performing spectacular acrobatics to deafening music and a frenzied light show.
See International gathering of gay activists kicks off in Copenhagen
The Canadian Press
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Gay activists and union leaders commit to year two of Hyatt Boycott
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Aussie High school told to apologise
Gay activist Gary Burns has demanded an apology from a Catholic high school in Albury after it published an anti-gay letter in its alumni newsletter.
In a letter to the editor, former Xavier High School student Matt Price called for “a world free from homosexuals”, who, he said live lives devoted to drugs and sex.
His letter called for businesses not to employ homosexuals, with Price revealing that he lobbies CEOs with his message.
Price, who claims to be a ‘cured’ homosexual, said his new ‘heterosexual’ life allowed him to “lead/heal my spiritual life in the way I was guided as a child”.
Gary Burns told MCV the school was inciting violence against gay people.
“To publish calls for a world free of homosexuals is nothing less than an incitement to kill gay people,” he said.
Burns called on Xavier to “apologise unreservedly for this serious and illegal breach of NSW anti-vilification laws”.
See High school told to apologise
Melbourne Community Voice
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Pastor who opposes homosexuality may get Chicago City Council seat
he amens in full force, the choir in full throated glory, Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus takes the pulpit at New Life Covenant Church to urge his congregation to dream big.
“Because we can change a life, we can change a community,” he preaches. “Because we can change a community, we can change a city.”
The sermon sounds like a campaign speech, fitting because De Jesus, one of Chicago’s most influential Latino pastors, is making a controversial leap into politics as the choice of outgoing Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) to be his replacement on the City Council.
But, in a complicated blending of morality and politics, the pastor’s possible appointment has drawn protests from gay activists who object to other rhetoric used in De Jesus’ church that they say is not as uplifting — messages equating homosexuality with drug addiction and other social ills.
The activists call De Jesus “homophobic.” They worry that his appointment would give him the ability to control funds for agencies that serve gay clients and a platform to shape broader debates such as same-sex marriage.
De Jesus says that he has never preached hatred of gay people and that his church’s opposition to homosexuality is rooted in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
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Gay Activist Can’t File Married Joint Tax Return
CN) - The U.S. Tax Court has rejected gay activist and millionaire Charles Merrill’s claim that he doesn’t have to pay his taxes unless he can file a married joint return with his partner of 18 years.
Merrill, an artist and cousin of Merrill Lynch founder Charles E. Merrill, said he refused to file his 2004 and 2005 tax returns as an act of civil disobedience promoting same-sex marriage equality. He demanded that the IRS grant him “married filing jointly” status, rather than single status, based on his committed same-sex relationship.
Before his relationship with Kevin Boyle, Merrill was married to Johnson & Johnson heiress Evangeline Johnson Merrill for 23 years. He and Boyle began dating shortly after Evangeline’s death, according to the ruling. See Gay Activist Can’t File Married Joint Tax Return
Courthouse News Service
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Gay Sailor Found Dead On Marine Base In Suspected Homicide
CAMP PENDLETON — The body of a 29-year-old sailor was found in a Camp Pendleton guard shack Tuesday, and a “person of interest” was taken into custody in connection with the suspected homicide, Navy officials said yesterday.
The body of Seaman August Provost of Houston, Texas, was discovered about 3:30 a.m. on the western edge of the base, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.
An autopsy was completed yesterday, but authorities were waiting for results of toxicology tests to determine a cause of death.
A “person of interest” was being held in the Navy brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. No charges have been filed.
The death has local gay activists calling for a formal investigation into whether Provost was slain because of his sexual orientation.
“We’re definitely monitoring this and trust and hope the military will investigate this in the professional way it should,” said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of San Diego’s Human Rights Commission. Murray-Rameriz also has contacted Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner, asking that they make official inquiries to the military concerning an investigation.
The Navy would not comment on whether Provost’s orientation had anything to do with the death.
“While ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ is in place, anybody in the military who is a homosexual has no place to go to get assistance or counseling,” said Ben Gomez of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group for gays in the military.
Provost’s boyfriend, Kaether Cordero, said yesterday that Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part.
“People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said from Houston. “He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”
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Chicago statue honoring gay activist stolen
(Chicago) A statue containing the ashes of a Chicago gay activist was stolen from an Uptown peace garden this past weekend, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
The statue was created as a tribute to lesbian health activist and attorney Mary York. The statue was a replica of the Bird Girl sculpture that …
Tags: Bird Girl, Chicago Gay, Chicago Sun Times, Gay Activist, Gay Chicago, Lesbian Health, Peace Garden, Sculpture, Tribute
