Peachy Keenum

Microsoft Donates 100k to Defeat Referendum 71

And I'm still running an old version.

From AP: Microsoft Corp. has donated $100,000 to the campaign supporting more partnership rights for Washington state gay couples.

That's the largest single donation in favor of Referendum 71, which asks voters to approve or reject a new law that expands domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. Microsoft is based in Redmond.

The "approve" campaign committee, called Washington Families Standing Together, has raised about $780,000 overall, and spent about $200,000.

The "reject" campaign, called Protect Marriage Washington, has raised about $60,000, and spent about $35,000.

Today in Olden Times: Matthew Shepard Attacked

On this day/night in 1998 Matthew Shepard walked into a Laramie bar for a drink. He was later lured from that bar and was robbed, beaten and left to die lashed to a fence. Matthew died a few days later in a story that would captivate the nation. Matthew would become the face of hate crime legislation and forever woven into gay history's rich tapestry.

From Wikipedia: Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Shepard met Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in a bar. McKinney and Henderson offered Shepard a ride in their car. Subsequently, Shepard was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence in a remote, rural area, and left to die. McKinney and Henderson also found out his address and intended to rob his home. Still tied to the fence, Shepard was discovered 18 hours later by Aaron Kreifels, who at first thought that Shepard was a scarecrow. At the time of discovery, Shepard was still alive, but in a coma.

 

Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his body's ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. As he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.

He was pronounced dead at 12:53 A.M. on October 12, 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. Police arrested McKinney and Henderson shortly thereafter, finding the bloody gun as well as the victim's shoes and wallet in their truck.

Obama: 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Time Isn't Right Yet

But he's got time to lose the Olympic bid...

From AP: President Barack Obama will focus "at the right time" on how to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military, his national security adviser said Sunday.

"I don't think it's going to be — it's not years, but I think it will be teed up appropriately," James Jones said.

The Democratic-led Congress is considering repealing the 1993 law. Action isn't expected on the issue until early next year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently wrote Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked to share their views and recommendations on the contentious policy. In Sept. 24 letters, Reid also asked for a review of the cases of two U.S. officers who were discharged from the military because of their sexuality.

"At a time when we are fighting two wars, I do not believe we can afford to discharge any qualified individual who is willing to serve our country," Reid wrote.

Jones said Obama "has an awful lot on his desk. I know this is an issue that he intends to take on at the appropriate time. And he has already signaled that to the Defense Department. The Defense Department is doing the things it has to do to prepare, but at the right time, I'm sure the president will take it on."

GYM BAR Opens in West Hollywood

GYM BAR in NYC is my favorite bar in Chelsea. Anytime I am in New York I always stop by for a drink or two and pretend to care about whatever game is being playing on one of the many flat-screens. Tonight marks the grand opening of GYM BAR WEHO. Located at 8737 Santa Monica Blvd (formerly the Normandie Room) - just east of the main part of the Weho nightlife. Here's hoping for a success... and if the bartenders are anything like the ones in Chelsea, yowza... Below is the guy that got me wasted just a few weeks ago.

 

George Takei & Brad Altman Tape 'Newlywed Game'

Ah, ain't they sweet!!! Obvs this is the first gay couple to ever appear on the Newlywed Game. It airs on GSN October 13th! Next I want to see them on Family Fued cuz you just know there is a crazy gotta-be-seen mother-in-law in there somewhere.

 

Nevada Issues First Domestic Partnership Certificates

In a state where gambling and prostitution is legal you'd think... oh nevermind.

From AP: Nevada's secretary of state issued domestic partnership certificate No. 1 at the state Capitol on Thursday as a state law providing many of the same legal rights as marriage to gay and straight partners went into effect.

The first couple to be issued the certificate — Lee Cagley and Larry Davis — shared tears and laughter and were congratulated by Secretary of State Ross Miller.

"This gives us the legal rights to act for each other's benefit," said Davis, a funeral home director. "It's a wonderful privilege and we're grateful."

While Nevada's constitution bans same-sex marriage, the domestic partnership law extends rights similar to those held by married couples — including community property and the right to seek financial support after a breakup — to cohabitating couples.

Nevada's law permits, but doesn't require, employers to extend insurance benefits to domestic partners.

The measure was vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons, but overridden by lawmakers in May. Couples, both gay and straight, were allowed to pre-register between Aug. 24 and Sept. 24 to receive their certificates on Oct. 1. Registration is ongoing, and about 750 couples had applied as of midday Thursday.

GLAAD Study finds Gay TV Characters on the Rise

I'm loving the adoptive papa's on Modern Family.

From AP: The number of gay and bisexual characters on prime-time network TV is up slightly this season to 18 out of a total of 600 roles, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

The increase over 2008 fell well short of the more than twofold percentage jump in the '08 season compared to 2007, according to the group.

And on mainstream cable channels the number of such characters continued to drop, slipping from a total of 32 in 2008 to 25 this year. The 2007 tally was 40.

Two channels that program for gay viewers, here! and Logo, add 27 gay characters to the cable total, GLAAD said.

The 14th annual "Where We Are on TV" report released Wednesday found that 3 percent of actors appearing regularly on network drama and comedy series in the 2009-10 season will portray gay, lesbian or bisexual characters.

That's up from 2.6 percent in the 2008-09 season. In 2007-08, it was 1.1 percent.

On Edmund White's Latest, 'City Boy'

Edmund White's latest City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960s and ’70s was released yesterday to much fanfare. I haven't read it yet but I'll get it this weekend - something to read while I fly to the other coast to attend the March on DC of gay marriage. You can read a wonderful excerpt HERE.

Dwight Garner writes for New York Times: "City Boy" quickly becomes an open-throttled tour of New York City during the bad old days of the 1960s and early ’70s: crime, graffiti, garbage in the streets, Steppenwolf and Foghat leaking out of car tape decks, gay men wearing whistles around their necks to summon help when ambushed by gangs. These bad old days morphed into a star-spangled gay coming of age in the decade after Stonewall. Gay men could chuck those whistles. They were taking judo classes and becoming buff, striding armies of one.

Mr. White was there when the sexual piñata ripped open, and he collected his share of the goodies. In his previous memoir, "My Lives" (2006), he happily over-shared about things like his boundless appetite for male prostitutes, whom he ordered to his door like so many steaming boxes of pizza. In “City Boy” he remains a shock-and-awe exhibitionist.

Orgies; leather bars; tabs of LSD; sex on the balconies of gay dance halls, in the abandoned piers along the Hudson River and in the dunes on Fire Island; group sex with American Indians and Norwegian flight attendants from Minnesota — it’s all here in exacting and eye-popping detail. He captures the “odor of brew, harness, sweat and Crisco” that began to fill gay men’s nostrils in the mid-’70s.

Mr. White was a kind of sexual werewolf. As midnight approached, he says, “my hands began to sprout hair, and my teeth to sharpen.” He sleeps with so many well-known writers and artists that this crackling if lightweight memoir can read less like a prelude to “And the Band Played On,” Randy Shilts’s stately book about the early days of AIDS, than an all-boy update of “I’m With the Band,” Pamela Des Barres‘s trippy and picaresque rock groupie memoir.

Gay Games 2014 - In Cleveland

While Obama is off trying to secure Chicago for the 2016 Olympic Games - the gays will always have Cleveland in 2014. Well, ok...

From EDGE ONLINE: The Federation of Gay Games announced this afternoon that Cleveland will be the site of the 2014 games.

The city was chosen over Boston and Washington, D.C., after a year-long site-selection process, the organization said in a news release issued at 1 p.m.

"Cleveland demonstrated to the Federation of Gay Games that they understood the mission of the Gay Games and our principles of ’Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best’," said Kurt Dahl, of Chicago, and Emy Ritt, of Paris, FGG Co-presidents.

"We were highly impressed by the facilities and infrastructure, the widespread community support, their financial plan and the city’s experience in hosting large scale sports and cultural events."
 

Gay Rights Up for VOTERS to Decide in 3 States

Can someone please tell me when and where I can vote on heterosexual rights?

From AP: Nearly a year after California voters overturned same-sex marriage, voters in three other states will weigh in this fall on whether to reverse gay rights initiatives ranging from anti-discrimination measures to marriage benefits.

In Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the state's legalization of same-sex marriage. In Washington state, a so-called "everything but marriage" law that expands the state's current domestic partnership law will be on the ballot. And in Kalamazoo, Mich., voters will decide on an ordinance that prohibits discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.

Further: In Maine, opponents of gay marriage had raised more than $343,000 through the end of the last quarterly reporting period in July, with $160,000 from the National Organization for Marriage, one of the groups that backed Prop. 8. Supporters of gay marriage raised $143,290 in that same period.

In addition to the loss in California, gay-rights supporters suffered setbacks elsewhere last fall, with amendments banning gay marriage being approved in Arizona and Florida. Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents.

Further: Lawmakers in Washington state have taken an incremental approach to increasing gay rights without actually taking on the state's marriage ban, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006. The following year, lawmakers passed the state's first domestic partnership law granting a handful of rights, like hospital visitation, to gay and lesbian couples.

In 2008, that law was expanded to add more rights, and this year the latest law added such partnerships to all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned. The statutes range from labor and employment rights to pensions and other public employee benefits.

Nearly 12,000 people in Washington state are registered as domestic partners, and while the underlying law that was passed in 2007 allows some older heterosexual couples to register as domestic partners, most of the couples are gay.

Conservative Christians rallied to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot, arguing that Washington state's latest move is the last step before full civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples in the state.

Further: While Maine and Washington state will get most of the focus in November's election, a gay rights ordinance in the southwestern Michigan city of Kalamazoo is getting national attention from groups on both sides as well.

The city's ordinance, which outlaws employment, housing and public-accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification, took effect July 9 but was suspended once opponents turned in enough signed petitions to force a public vote.

Sandra Bernhard on The Rachel Maddow Show

Don't see this everyday: two lesbians sittin' around talking.

"Gotcha with my tango move, ow!"

Study: Gay Couples as Fit as Straights to Adopt Kids

I have two neighbors - one is crazy as a loon and the other is the sweetest gal you'll ever wanna know. Yea, the sweetie was raised by a lesbian couple.

From Reuters: Gay or straight, the sexual orientation of adoptive parents does not have an impact on the emotional development of their children, according to a new study.

But researchers said that if parents were satisfied with the adoption process, had a stable income and functioned well as a family the risk of emotional problems in children were reduced.

"We found that sexual orientation of the adoptive parents was not a significant predictor of emotional problems," Paige Averett, an assistant professor of social work at East Carolina University, said in a statement.

Further: "There are implications for social work educators, adoption professionals, and policy makers in this and other recent studies," said Averett.

"We must pay attention to the data indicating that gay and lesbian parents are as fit as heterosexual parents to adopt," Averett added, "because at least 130,000 children are depending on us to act as informed advocates on their behalf."

Gay Marriage: Measure Submitted to Overturn Prop 8

I'm in the camp that thinks 2010 is too soon. We'd be better served in 2012.

From AP: A group pushed ahead Thursday with a campaign to repeal California's same-sex marriage ban, even though some other gay rights organizations think it's too soon for another expensive ballot fight.

Los Angeles-based Love Honor Cherish proposed ballot language to strike the ban approved by state voters in November as Proposition 8.

The new ballot proposal says religious institutions would not be required to perform same-sex unions if it conflicts with their beliefs.

"The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution," reads the exemption, an attempt by Love Honor Cherish to defuse one of the arguments Proposition 8 sponsors used to garner support last fall.

Submitting wording to the California attorney general is the first step in qualifying a measure for an election. Once the language is approved, backers would have until mid-April to gather the 695,000 signatures needed to put the initiative on the November 2010 ballot.

Reps Frank & Baldwin Urge the Passing of Anti-Bias Bill

Um guys, why do they need to urge you? This should be a no-brainer.

From AP: Two openly gay members of Congress on Wednesday urged their colleagues to pass a sweeping job discrimination bill that would — for the first time — protect gays and transsexuals from workplace bias.

The testimony from Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., comes as supporters of the measure believe Congress is closer than ever to banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Frank told the House Education and Labor Committee that opponents of the bill often accuse the gay rights community of pushing a "radical agenda."

"Trying to get a job or join the military has not been the hallmark of radicalism," he said.

Baldwin, whose home state of Wisconsin was the first to pass a law protecting gay employees from bias in 1982, said it was time "to bring our laws in line with the reality of American life."

The Employment Nondiscrimination Act would ban employers from making any decisions about hiring, firing, promotions or pay based on a worker's sexual orientation or gender identity. It would exempt the military, religious groups and businesses with fewer than 15 employees.

Spanish Matador Endorses Gay Drink on His Pink Cape

But he still slays bulls... <sad face here>

From AP: — A little-known Spanish matador is breaking with a sacred tradition, agreeing to advertise on his cape while slaying bulls and endorse a soft drink that caters to gays.

Matador Joselito Ortega will be plugging a club-scene energy beverage called Gay Up and have those words embroidered into his cape in large, red cursive letters.

In Spain, matadors are seen by many as the pinnacle of macho, and Ortega's agreeing to endorse a product geared toward gay men is raising eyebrows.

But Ortega sees no incompatibility. "I am a bullfighter. That is not going to change. I am going to go out into the ring as I have done until now, to risk my life, and the seven goring wounds on my body prove that," he told The AP Wednesday. "If the gay community welcomes me as an image or a symbol, that is fine."

Further: Gay Up is a new product in Spain, developed by firm based in the southern city of Malaga that bought the European rights to it from a manufacturer in Colombia. There, it was made from strawberries. But the Spanish firm decided that to make it a hit with gays in Europe it needed to be an energy drink, said Jose Maria Terron, the company's president. 

Investigation Begins on Gay-Harassed Naval Dog Trainer

DADT is complete crap.

From AP: The Navy is reviewing how it handled the case of a gay sailor abused by fellow servicemen in Bahrain for two years until he sought a discharge by coming out to his commanding officer, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Joseph Rocha, now 23, decided to leave the Navy in 2007 by telling his commander he was gay, in violation of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from the constant hazing while he served with military dog handlers based in Bahrain to support the Iraq war.

An internal Navy investigation into his unit found dozens of examples of hazing and sexual harassment against multiple sailors between 2005 and 2006. The result of the investigation was not clear; a copy of the report released under the Freedom of Information Act has all recommendations blacked out.

Now, a congressman who is a former admiral has asked the Navy for information about the harassment, the service's internal investigation, and an explanation as to why the head of the military working dog unit at the time was promoted.

Further: Opponents of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy say Rocha was trapped: he couldn't report the abuse because that could reveal his sexual orientation. They say the policy also played a role in the abuse: Others in the unit repeatedly asked Rocha if he was gay — a violation of the "don't ask" provision — because he would not avail himself of prostitutes who visited their quarters. And, in the end, Rocha's PTSD prompted him to tell the Navy he is gay, resulting in his expulsion.

Gay Marriage: National Equality March in DC, Oct 11

From the National Equality March website: On October 10-11, 2009, we will gather in Washington DC from all across America to let our elected leaders know that now is the time for full equal rights for LGBT people. We will gather. We will march. And we will leave energized and empowered to do the work that needs to be done in every community across the nation.

Our single demand: Equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.

Our philosophy: As members of every race, class, faith, and community, we see the struggle for LGBT equality as part of a larger movement for peace and social justice.

Our strategy: Decentralized organizing for this march in every one of the 435 Congressional districts will build a network to continue organizing beyond October.

Cleve Jones

“We will continue this fight in every state, in every county, every city and every town, but we are now determined to take this fight to the federal government, to our President Barack Obama, to the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Cleve Jones, May 31, 2009, Fresno, California

(I shot these photos at San Diego Gay Pride - July 18, 09)

Sen. Coburn's Chief of Staff: Porn Makes Boys Gay

So here's something making the rounds yesterday/today: at the Voters Values Summit last weekend Michael Schwartz, chief of staff to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla), spoke about pornography and masturbation and tried to tie it to making boys gay. Hey Schwartzie, wasn't Carrie Prejean, the topless posing 'opposite marriage' endorser, the keynote speaker?

Schwartz said: "Pornography is a blight... It is a disaster. It is one of those silent diseases in our society that we haven't been able to overcome very well. Now, I may be getting politically incorrect here. And it's been a few years, but not that many, since I was closely associated with pre-adolescent boys, boys around 10 years of age. But it is my observation that boys of that age have less tolerance for homosexuality than just about any other class of people. They speak badly about homosexuality. And that's because they don't want to be that way. They don't want to fall into it."

Schwartz told the crowd about Jim Johnson, a friend of his who turned an old hotel into a hospice for gay men dying of AIDS. "One of the things he said to me," said Schwartz, "that I think is an astonishingly insightful remark… he said 'All pornography is homosexual pornography, because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards.'"

There were murmurs and gasps from the crowd. "Now, think about that," said Schwartz. "And if you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he’s going to want to get a copy of Playboy? I'm pretty sure he'll lose interest. That’s the last thing he wants! You know, that's a good comment, it's a good point, and it's a good thing to teach young people."

Serbia's Gay Pride Parade: The Aftermath

Continue to fight the H8.

From adnkronos: The organisers of a gay parade cancelled in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Sunday after threats of violence have vowed continue their fight against discrimination in the Balkan country.

Organisers accused the government of yielding to threats but police described the parade as a “high risk event” and said they could not guarantee the safety of the participants.

This prompted the organisers to cancel the “Belgrade Pride 2009” march.

Milica Djordjevic, a member of the parade's organising committee, said she expected no more than 1,000 participants in the parade.

“How is it possible that 4,500 police officers weren't able to protect 1,000 participants?” she asked.

Police minister Ivica Dacic said he had planned to put 4,500 policemen on the streets, at a cost to the city of around 300,000 euros, but could not guarantee the safety of the participants.

Although police on Sunday arrested 37 ultranationalists, they reacted too late to threats which had been made weeks ago, Djordjevic told Adnkronos International (AKI).

Djordjevic said she was disappointed by “ambiguous” statements issued by politicians and others about the parade.

“The parade was not an end in itself, but a means of promoting gay rights and we will continue the fight until these goals are achieved,” she said.

Serbia's Pride Parade Cancelled for Lack of Security

This poster is up all over Belgrade. It's a threat from protesters to Pride participants threatening violence - it reads ominously We're Expecting You. I remember reading a few years ago that Belgrade was trying to bill itself to tourists as the Berlin of Eastern Europe. Hardly.

From Reuters: Gay and human rights activists in Serbia have called off their Sept. 20 Pride Parade after being urged to move venues for safety reasons, organisers said on Saturday.

The announcement followed a meeting with Prime Minister Mirko Cvektovic, who presented them with a written police recommendation to move the planned march to another location, traditionally used for big music events.

Ultranationalist groups and hooligans had threatened to attack the march.

"We were told in the meeting with Prime Minister Cvetkovic that the gathering is impossible for security reasons and that we should choose another location," said Dragana Vuckovic, member of the Pride Parade organising team.

"Taking the Pride Parade to another location is simply not acceptable," Vuckovic said. "Pride parades are traditionally organised in the main streets of big cities and the message is that groups kept on the fringes of a society need to be integrated."

AZ Gov. Cuts Dom. Partner Benefits for State Employees

My head wants to explode.

Teresa Jun writes for KOLD News 13: One year after then-governor Janet Napolitano approved domestic partner benefits for Arizona state workers, current governor Jan Brewer has signed a bill ending the program.

Out of 800 state employees who signed up for the health benefits last year, nearly 170 are workers at the University of Arizona.  That includes Beverly Seckinger, a UA faculty member who has taught media arts for nearly 20 years.

"It's just a huge slap in the face," Seckinger said.  "In my case, it means my partner of 22 years would lose her health insurance.  We know what the other options are, and they are nil."

Those at risk of losing their benefits under this move are same-sex domestic partners, opposite-sex unmarried partners, their children, and all adult children, including those with disabilities, unless they're enrolled as full-time students under the age of 23.

State leaders say the move will help save about $3 million during this critical budget crisis.

***DOUCHE BAG - and I'm being kind.

GSN's 'The Newlywed Game' Gets First Gay Couple

And it's Mr. Sulu and hubby - George Takei and Brad Altman!

From AP: The long-running game show, now on the GSN cable network, said Wednesday it will feature its first gay couple this season on a celebrity edition. George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," will appear with his partner, Brad Altman.

They just celebrated their first anniversary after being married in Los Angeles last September, but they're nothing like the giggly young couples the game is known for. Takei and Altman have been together for 22 years.

"What we want is to display the normality and the joy of having a happy union," Takei said.

'Harvey Milk Day' Bill Hits Schwarzenegger's Desk

Hey Gov. sign this please. I bet he will.

Jessica Geen writes for Pink News: A bill to designate May 22nd as Harvey Milk Day has reached the desk of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Further: The bill has already passed the state's house and senate, and if signed by Schwarzenegger, will pass into law as a special commemorative day to encourage schools to recognise the activist's work. However, the day would not be an official holiday.

Last September, Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill and said that Milk was not well-known enough. Since then, a film of the activist's life won an Oscar and he was posthumously awarded the the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by president Barack Obama.

Further: "Every day we hear from people who have been touched by Harvey Milk's inspiring message of hope and his story of determination and sacrifice," said Geoff Kors, Equality California executive director. "A champion for the civil rights of all Californians, Milk's remarkable legacy is still felt far beyond San Francisco, and this bill is an appropriate way to pay tribute to the invaluable contributions he made to our state and to our nation."

Legislation to Repeal Federal Law Denying Rights to Gays

Sometimes I think it's still 1978.

From AP: Gay marriage supporters are moving to repeal a law that denies federal benefits to same-sex couples, but there's little chance of a vote this year.

Repeal legislation to be introduced Tuesday has at least 76 House sponsors. A spokesman for the lead sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, acknowledged that repealing the Defense of Marriage Act was not a priority for movement anytime soon.

The 1996 law bars federal recognition of gay unions, including the granting of Social Security survivor payments and other government benefits to couples. The law even bars same-sex couples from receiving the benefits in states that have legalized their marriage.

President Barack Obama pledged as a candidate to work for repeal. Last month, the president insisted he still wants to scrap what he calls a discriminatory federal marriage law, even though his administration angered gay rights activists by defending it in court.

Islamist Gangs Use Internet to Target & Kill Iraqi Gays

If you have a few minutes please read this very frightening article from The Guardian. Fuckin' animals.

An excerpt: Sitting on the floor, wearing traditional Islamic clothes and holding an old notebook, Abu Hamizi, 22, spends at least six hours a day searching internet chatrooms linked to gay websites. He is not looking for new friends, but for victims.

"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said. When he finds them, Hamizi arranges for them to be attacked and sometimes killed.

Hamizi, a computer science graduate, is at the cutting edge of a new wave of violence against gay men in Iraq. Made up of hardline extremists, Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year alone.

The deputy leader of the group, which is based in Baghdad, explained its campaign using a stream of homophobic invective. "Animals deserve more pity than the dirty people who practise such sexual depraved acts," he told the Observer. "We make sure they know why they are being held and give them the chance to ask God's forgiveness before they are killed." 

NYTimes Editorial: The Rights of Gay Employees

From 9/12/09: It is remarkable how little progress gay people have made in securing the basic protection against discrimination on the job. In 29 states, it is still legal to fire workers for being gay. But momentum is building in Congress for the first federal law banning such discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Federal law has lagged behind the reality of American life. There are now openly gay members of Congress from between-the-coasts states like Colorado and Wisconsin. And according to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights advocacy group, 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies have policies protecting gay employees from discrimination.

But gay rights advocates have for years faced opposition to a federal civil rights law from the religious right, and from parts of the business community, who argue that it would lead to a flood of litigation.

Bipartisan bills have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, modeled on existing civil rights laws that cover race, religion and sex. Unlike some past bills, these include gender identity, protecting transgender people from discrimination.

The Invisible People Behind Referendum 71

COWARDS

Rachel La Corte writes for AP: A federal judge on Thursday ordered the state of Washington to keep shielding the identities of people who signed petitions to force a vote on expanded benefits for gay couples.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma granted the preliminary injunction involving petitions for Referendum 71 while a related case moves forward on the constitutionality of the state public records act.

The referendum, sponsored by a group called Protect Marriage Washington, asks voters to approve or reject the "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law that state lawmakers passed earlier this year.

In his ruling, Settle said he was "not persuaded that waiver of one's fundamental right to anonymous political speech is a prerequisite for participation in Washington's referendum process."

Alan Turing Gets Apology from UK PM Gordon Brown

Better late than never I suppose.

From NY Times: Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized Friday to the mathematician Alan Turing, who committed suicide in 1954 after he was tried and convicted of “gross indecency” for being homosexual. Mr. Brown said that Turing had been treated “terribly” and that the outcome of World War II could have been quite different had it not been for Turing’s efforts in cracking German codes, notably the Enigma coding machine.

Turing is often hailed for his influence on modern computing. Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for a formal apology from the government, though Turing has no known surviving family, The Daily Telegraph reported. Writing in the newspaper, Mr. Brown said: “On behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work, I am very proud to say: We’re sorry. You deserved so much better.” Turing was sentenced, as an alternative to prison, to chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones, the prime minister noted.

Hitler & Hussein in Controversial German AIDS Ads

Um, wow.

 

From Daily Mail: The ad - produced in German, Spanish and English versions - also features mocked-up posters of Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein having sex with naked women. The tagline reads: 'Aids is a mass murderer'. It is set to be shown on German television next week.

Aids-awareness charity Regenbogen e.V. said it wants to shake people up by linking Aids with mass murder, citing figures that show Aids has killed 30 million people worldwide. But British charities have hit back with concerns that it could be Aids sufferers, not the disease itself, that become associated with Hitler.

Further: The Das Comitee advertising agency said the shock value of the advert is designed to scare people into safe sex. 'We asked ourselves what face we could give to the virus, and it couldn't be a pretty face,' Dirk Silz, creative director of Das Comitee, told AFP news agency. 'The campaign is designed to shake people up, to bring the topic of Aids back to centre stage, and to reverse the trend of unprotected sexual intercourse.'

WA's Referendum 71 Still Headed for Ballot

I'm so sick of my rights being voted on...

From AP: A judge on Tuesday refused to block a proposed ballot initiative on expanded domestic partnership benefits for gay couples in Washington state.

An appeal was considered likely, however, with just a few days remaining before officials need to begin printing materials for the Nov. 3 general election.

The case involves Referendum 71, which would put the Legislature's latest expansion of domestic partnership rights for gay couples on the November ballot.

The measure, sponsored by a conservative political group called Protect Marriage Washington, would ask voters to approve or reject the "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law that state lawmakers passed earlier this year.

The lawsuit seeking to halt the vote was filed by Washington Families Standing Together, a gay-rights group. It claims Secretary of State Sam Reed improperly accepted thousands of petition signatures that supported putting R-71 on the ballot.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee rejected those arguments.

The new law would add more legal rights to the state's established domestic partnerships for gay couples, putting registered partners on par with married couples under state law. Unmarried heterosexual couples also could register as domestic partners.

A "yes" vote on R-71 would put the newest law into place, and a "no" vote would reject it. The underlying laws laying out domestic partnerships — enacted in 2007 and broadened once already in 2008 — would not be affected.