Elton John on mend, resuming tour dates
(London) Elton John has been released from a London hospital after being treated for flu and an E. coli bacterial infection.
The singer’s spokesman Gary Farrow says John was at home Friday and was feeling fine. He left the hospital early Thursday.
He says John planned to resume his suspended tour and …
Tags: Bacterial Infection, E Coli, Elton John, Farrow, Flu, John London, London Hospital, Resume, Spokesman, Tour DatesElton John recovering in hospital from flu, e-coli
(London) Elton John has been hospitalized after suffering from a case of E. coli bacterial infection and the flu, his spokesman said Monday.
Gary Farrow said the pop star hopes to be released soon but has been forced to cancel concerts in England, Ireland and the United States.
John intends to rejoin …
Tags: Bacterial Infection, Cancel, Concerts, E Coli, Elton John, England, Farrow, Flu, Ireland, London, Pop Star, Spokesman, united statesEvangelical group faces ’serious’ shortfall
(Denver) A “serious budget shortfall” at Focus on the Family has prompted the conservative Christian group to issue a special fundraising plea, and contributed to a decision to cede control of its contentious “Love Won Out” conferences about homosexuality to another religious organization, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Focus on the …
Tags: Budget Shortfall, Christian Group, Conferences, Evangelical Group, Faces, Focus On The Family, Fundraising, Homosexuality, love, Plea, Religious Organization, SpokesmanIDs of gay partnership foes could be released next week
The names of people who signed petitions seeking to overturn Washington’s “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partner law won’t be released publicly following a federal judge’s temporary restraining order.
Sponsors of Referendum 71 went to U.S. District Court in Tacoma Wednesday seeking the order. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle has set a full hearing on the matter for Sept. 3.
The names of everyone who signed Referendum-71 petitions are publicly available under open-government laws. A gay-rights group says it wants to post all the names online. But the R-71 campaign says that could lead to harassment.
Nick Handy, state elections director, said in a statement: “Referendum petitions become public records under the law once they have been turned over to us by sponsors. Our consistent practice has been to make these available upon public request. By early next week we will be in a position to make these available, and absent a court order, our intent has been to respond to public records requests in a timely way.”
Backers of R-71 turned in about 138,000 signatures Saturday. They need 120,577 valid voter signatures to qualify for the fall ballot.
Election officials suggest submitting about 150,000 signatures to offset any invalid signatures. Dave Ammons, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said usually about 18 percent of signatures checked turn out to be invalid.
The process of counting and verifying the signatures could go until the last week of August.
See IDs of gay partnership foes could be released next week Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Gay partnership foes turn in referendum signatures
Opponents of a measure that passed the Legislature this year giving same-sex domestic partners all the rights of married people turned in signatures to the secretary of state’s office Saturday in attempt to overturn the new law through a citizen referendum.
Referendum 71 needs 120,577 valid voter signatures to qualify for the fall ballot. Exactly how many signatures the R-71 camp turned in Saturday wasn’t immediately clear. The secretary of state’s office said it received the first batch a little after 3 p.m. Saturday.
Election officials suggest submitting about 150,000 signatures to offset any invalid signatures. Dave Ammons, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said usually about 18 percent of signatures checked turn out to be invalid.
He said Saturday that R-71 backers were cutting it very close.
“They’re definitely running on fumes, in terms of trying to get their pad,” Ammons said.
The process of counting and verifying the signatures could go until the last week of August.
If R-71 proponents don’t have enough signatures, the domestic partnership expansion will immediately take effect. If the measure does qualify, voters will be asked to either approve or reject the new law.
See Gay partnership foes turn in referendum signatures
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Courts unlikely to strike down new domestic partner registry until after it begins
An attorney for those hoping to strike down Wisconsin’s new legal protections for domestic partners says he hopes the Supreme Court will decide their request in a matter of weeks.
But by then, gay couples will have already started registering at county courthouses for the benefits. Those sign-ups begin a week from Monday.
Three members of the Wisconsin Family Action group asked the Supreme Court yesterday to declare the domestic partner registry unconstitutional.
They say it violates the constitutional amendment against gay marriage and civil unions which group members helped pass in 2006.
The group calls it an effort to redefine marriage in Wisconsin. But a spokesman for Gov. Jim Doyle, who included the registry in the new state budget, says it’s just a set of basic protections, and it has nothing to do with promoting gay marriage.
Four of the seven justices would have to agree to take the case, and their new session does not begin until September.
See Courts unlikely to strike down new domestic partner registry until … Hudson Star Observer
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Sailor arrested in Camp Pendleton shooting death of seaman
SAN DIEGO – A sailor was charged Thursday with fatally shooting and burning Seaman August Provost during an alleged burst of crime June 30 at Camp Pendleton.
In announcing the charges, Navy officials suggested that Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Campos killed his victim indiscriminately. They again said there’s no evidence of a hate crime against Provost, who was gay, or of gang-related activity.
Campos, 32, of Lancaster, had served with Provost on Assault Craft Unit 5. He faces 16 charges, including murder, arson, unlawful entry, theft of military property and wrongful possession of a firearm, Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest, said during a news conference Thursday afternoon at the San Diego Naval Base.
The Navy hasn’t announced a date for Campos’ pretrial hearing, called an Article 32 hearing.
See Sailor arrested in Camp Pendleton shooting death of seaman
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Gay men’s beauty pageant: Contestant, judge accused of beating another judge with trophy
Not many beauty pageants end with a judge and contestant attacking another judge — with a trophy.
Two men were ordered held on bond Wednesday after they were charged with beating a judge at a gay men’s beauty pageant earlier this month on Chicago’s West Side.
Leroy Tinch, 28, of the 2200 block of Emerson Street in Evanston and Anthony Johnson, 23, of the 8200 block of Keating Avenue in Skokie were both charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm, a class one felony, said Andrew Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
The men were ordered held on $75,000 bond by Circuit Court Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil.See Gay men’s beauty pageant: Contestant, judge accused of beating …
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Religious groups in India have warned they will…
Religious groups in India have warned they will oppose any move to legalize homosexuality as the federal government prepares to hold talks on a law that classifies same-sex acts as crimes.
India’s Hindu nationalist main opposition has in the meantime called for a national debate on the legislation that law minister M. Veerappa Moily last week said would come up for a discussion within the government.
“This is a sensitive issue and warrants a debate within the Indian society at large before arriving at any decision,” said Sidharth Nath Singh, spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
An Indian court is due to give its judgment on a petition filed by a nonprofit group that has challenged the anti-gay provision of the penal code.
In a news conference last week, Moily refused to spell out his government’s stand on it because it awaits judicial determination. But his comments that the federal home minister was “contemplating” a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues on the law drew widespread coverage in the largely conservative country.
“Hope floats at rainbow parades,” read a caption on a front-page picture from a gay parade in New Delhi in Monday’s Times of India newspaper.
Participants in that march demanded repeal of Section 377 of the penal code, which criminalizes private consensual sex between adults of the same gender in the country. 
Watch a New Delhi march in support of gay rights »
Religious leaders, however, oppose any suggestion to scrap 377, describing homosexuality as “unnatural.”
“We are against calling homosexuality a criminal activity, but we are certainly in principle against legalizing it, because that would mean the state endorsing same-sex relationships,” said Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
Homosexuality “violates fundamental norms of a family,” he said.
See India faith leaders: Anti-gay law must stay CNN International
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Rumor Willis To Play Lesbian On ‘90210′
Rumer Willis is going to 90210 to play a lesbian character. Willis, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis’ oldest daughter, landed the role of Gia, according to Access Hollywood.
Willis’ character in the CW’s remake of the teen drama 90210 is a gay student at West Beverly Hills High, a fictional school at which the show takes place.
While currently only scheduled for a one episode appearance, it is expected that her character may be back for more episodes in the future.
A CW spokesman described Gia as a “punky cute lesbian.” As Gia, Willis will be working as a member of the school’s student run newspaper. Also working on the paper are Navid (Michael Steger), Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes), and Silver (Jessica Stroup). The character will also not be afraid to speak her mind, to make her a little “scrappy.”
See Rumor Willis To Play Lesbian On ‘90210′
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