The Dollywood theme park in Tennessee, owned by country songbird Dolly Parton, has asked a gay and lesbian group to immediately stop advertising ''Gay Day at Dollywood'' for an upcoming event that attracted about 1,000 gays and lesbians last year. Dollywood spokesman Pete Owens said the request was a standard one sent out to anyone in regard to trademark violations. ''What are we supposed to say? 'I'm going to the theme park run by the woman with the big breasts'?'' asked organizer Michael Romanello, 56. Romanello says he sent out about 200 e-mails to friends on the East Coast yesterday urging them to head to Pigeon Forge for the May 22 event in a gesture of defiance.

Tennessean.com

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Basketball player Francisco Elson apologized Thursday for his "that's so gay" comments about Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett. After Garnett allegedly hit Elson in the groin on Tuesday in an 84-82 Minnesota win, Elson was quoted Wednesday as saying, "That's gay on his part. I told him that he was gay, too, for touching me in my private parts." In an official statement Thursday, Elson said, "I would like to apologize to the gay and lesbian community for my comments about Kevin Garnett. I realize my comments were insensitive and they were out of character for me. However, I take full responsibility and I have learned a valuable lesson." No apology to Garnett, however.

Daily Camera

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Lawyers who represent Massachusetts' four Catholic dioceses are exploring whether the church could or should offer health care coverage to same-sex spouses of employees who obtain civil marriages after a court ruling scheduled to take effect May 17. "We're still looking at it. ... We don't have a legal response yet," said Gerald D'Avolio, an attorney who is executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the church's lobbying arm. Because the archdiocese is self-insured, it is not bound by state regulations requiring that companies offer similar benefits to all spouses, a spokesman for the state Division of Insurance said.

Boston Herald

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Wearing rose corsages, Bonnie Alberti and Wendy LaChaunce stepped into the court clerk's office in Sarasota, Florida, on Thursday and asked for a document they knew they couldn't get: a marriage license. The 50-year-old health-care professionals and another lesbian couple exchanged vows a few minutes later in a courtyard outside the clerk's office. Hundreds of same-sex couples took part in similar ceremonies across the country Thursday in celebration of the International Day of Clergy Support for Same-Sex Marriages. Herald Tribune (photo)

With her white robe flowing behind her, the Rev. Deb Dysert walked through the Oakland (Michigan) County Courthouse with no intention of letting a clerk’s denial of a marriage license stop her from marrying a lesbian couple. She stood outside the court and called on God to bless the union of Clarkston residents Heidi Barnette and Angela Kurtz. Detroit News (photo)

International Day of Clergy Support for Same-Sex Marriages

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A contingent of multifaith clergy members will lob a key pitch tomorrow, hoping to fill the 47,000 seats of Seattle, Washington's Safeco Field from noon to 2 p.m. for what they've termed a Mayday for Marriage rally. The organizers, a group of area pastors using TV ads and a public-relations firm, have booked religious-conservative darling James Dobson, who has called the consequences of losing the gay-marriage fight "dire." Pro-gay-marriage activists plan to respond with a "welcoming party" just outside Safeco Field. A vigil by Soulforce in Washington, a national interfaith gay-rights group, also is planned.

Seattle Times

Filed in: Gay | LINK

A play involving gay themes and explicit language will go on in a modified form, after negotiations settled concerns between students and the administration of Ames High School. "Pillow Talk," a play written by Peter Tolan, was selected as a one-act play directed by Ames High senior William Woods, 17. It will be performed along with several other one-act plays. The play revolves around a field trip two heterosexual male characters go on that results in the two having to share one bed. While laying in the bed, the two characters discuss homosexuality, before hugging and going to sleep. Sounds racy.

Iowa State Daily

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"Should a physician be allowed to turn you away if you're gay? Sounds like a no-brainer - but not if you live in Michigan," writes Richard Goldstein of the Village Voice. "The bill bar physicians from denying patients access to contraception, and it forbids discrimination against groups mentioned in the state civil rights law. Guess which group is excluded from that statute?" Yeah, that would be us. "Perhaps the most disturbing news of all," writes Goldstein, "was a Detroit News poll asking whether the bill should become law even though 'some fear this means gays and lesbians could be refused treatment.' Over 53 percent of respondents replied in the affirmative." Nice.

Village Voice

Filed in: Gay | Lesbian | Transgender | LINK

If there was one thing Bart Browne despised, it was gay people. So at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, when the strapping 34-year-old saw some men mingling outside an Albany, New York, gay bar, he said he felt perfectly justified in sucker-punching one of them in the face. The force of the single strike broke the 28-year-old victim's jaw, caused a permanent loss of feeling in his left cheek and eradicated the sense of smell in that nostril, prosecutors said. The victim was also left with a fear of being randomly assaulted for being gay. He has moved away from the area, prosecutors say. Browne faces a hate crimes sentence of up to four years in state prison.

Times Union

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Supporters easily cleared what was expected to be the last major hurdle to a legislative ban on accepting out-of-state, same-sex marriages Thursday. How nice. The House is sending an amended bill back to the Senate for its OK. The House vote came after more than three hours of debate that included emotional testimony from gay legislators. Rep. McKim Mitchell said he and his partner have been in a 25-year relationship, but his parents and brother refuse to visit their home even though all three live on the same rural road. "I have not had a Thanksgiving or Christmas [together with family] for years," he said. "I am simply not welcome."

Nashua Telegraph

Filed in: Gay | Lesbian | LINK

While some cities, schools and private agencies have criticized or withdrawn support for the Boy Scouts over its anti-gay policy, Delray Beach, Florida, is considering giving the organization money to hire organizers to create scouting activities for children in the city's poorest neighborhoods. Sun-Sentinel

In Kansas, House and Senate negotiators agreed Thursday that a proposed amendment to the state Constitution banning gay marriage also should deny legal recognition to other same-sex arrangements such as civil unions. The language in the amendment is backed by religious conservatives who were angered by the Senate's defeat last month of a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriages only. Lawrence Journal-World

Today's Short Takes

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Powerful antibiotics called fluoroquinolones should no longer be used as a primary treatment for gonorrhea among gay and bisexual men, since the sexually transmitted disease has become increasingly resistant to the drugs, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today. The affected class of drugs includes Cipro (cirprofloxacin) and Levaquin (levofloxacin). A CDC study in 23 American cities found that the percentage of resistant gonorrhea cases among gay and bisexual men nearly tripled between 2002 and 2003, from 1.8 percent to 4.9 percent.

Dr. Koop

Filed in: Gay | LINK

A female-to-male transgendered activist and shaman, Raven Kaldera is a pagan priest, intersex transgender activist, parent, astrologer, musician and homesteader. Kaldera is also the author of "Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality Workbook" from XLibris Press. Currently happily married to artist and eco-experimentalist Bella Kaldera, Raven says in the article, "I'm an FTM transgendered, intersexual shaman. My very presence is as an avatar of crossing boundaries. I am a walker between worlds, in many ways - the mundane and the spirit worlds, male and female, intersex and transgender, ancient paganism and modern life, and many others. My job is to show that the great chasm between these dualities can be bridged and crossed, and perhaps isn't even there at all."

Pridesource (photo)

Filed in: Transgender | LINK

A police force has defended itself against charges of discriminating against gay officers after banning men from wearing earrings. The UK's Hampshire Constabulary introduced a new dress code allowing women to wear studs, but bans male officers from sporting ear jewellery. Gay officers are said to be angry at a change they see as discrimination. Maureen Adamson, the force's director of personnel, said: "Many men who wear earrings are not gay and the policy was certainly not designed to discriminate against gay men. We carefully considered the new uniform policy and tried to take the views of our staff into account. However, it is also important for us to consider public perception and we felt that members of the public would find it more acceptable if male officers did not wear earrings."

BBC

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The California Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments May 25 on whether San Francisco's mayor had the authority to issue same-sex marriage licenses. The seven-member court said yesterday it would devote two hours to the arguments. Under court rules, the justices then must rule within 90 days. The cases brought by Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the conservative Alliance Defense Fund focus almost exclusively on whether Mayor Gavin Newsom could issue same-sex marriage licenses by unilaterally declaring that such marriages should be lawful. A California law does define marriage as a union between a man and woman.

SF Gate

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A California appellate court made modifications yesterday to James Tyler Williams' sentence in the 1999 hate crime slayings of a Happy Valley gay couple. Gary Matson, 50, and Winfield Mowder, 40, were murdered as they slept on July 1, 1999. The three-judge panel of California's Third Appellate District corrected a clerical error and lowered restitution fines imposed last year by Shasta County Superior Court Judge William Gallagher. Potential fines were not outlined in Williams' plea agreement, the appellate court found, so when Gallagher imposed two restitution fines of $5,800, one of them suspended pending successful completion of parole, Williams had a right to withdraw from the agreement. The appellate court ordered that each of the fines be reduced to $200, but Williams' 29-year-to-life sentence stands.

Redding.com

Filed in: Gay | LINK

As he signed a bill yesterday creating domestic partnerships in Maine, Governor John Baldacci said the state is demonstrating its commitment to civil rights by enacting a priority for gay-rights activists. The new law, which takes effect in 90 days, extends domestic partnership rights to gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adults who live together under long-term arrangements. It also gives domestic partners the same inheritance rights as a spouse when a married partner dies without a will. "From the beginning, this has been about fairness and justice for what are today's families here in Maine, and giving them the same protections that certain married couples have already," said the bill's sponsor, Representative Ben Dudley.

Portland Press Herald

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A 32-year-old transsexual busted for staging a treetop sex show in Central Park with a 17-year-old boy said she would fight to keep her lover from getting shipped off to a boarding school for unstable teens. "Over my dead body will Chris be packed off to some school," Rund told the Daily News in a phone conversation from Bellevue Hospital's prison psychiatric ward. The unrepentant 10th-grader's family wants to send him to a private Massachusetts school for students with mental and emotional problems, far from Rund's influence. But Rund won't be giving up easily. "We're engaged. He doesn't want to leave me. He's 17. His mother can't just send him away," Rund said. "We're not breaking up. I'm not giving up."

NY Daily News

Filed in: Transgender | LINK

The Canadian Senate passed a law banning hate propaganda targeting gays and lesbians, and the bill's author, Svend Robinson, grinned and hugged well-wishers on the streets of Ottawa. The bill's passage by a 59-11 vote was the culmination of years of lobbying by Robinson, Parliament's first openly gay MP, to amend the 30-year-old hate crimes law. It bans the incitement of genocide or hatred against an "identifiable group" defined by color, race, religion, ethnic origin, and now, sexual orientation. On a sidenote, Robinson went on extended medical leave two weeks ago after shoplifting a $50,000 ring from a public auction display. He later returned it with a public apology.

Toronto Star

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In an article called "Same-Sex Parenting is Harmful to Children," REAL Women of Canada say the Canadian Psychological Association has ceased to be a scientific organization, following its announcement last fall that there is no heightened risk of problems from same-sex parenting, or an increased likelihood for children living in such partnerships to become gay themselves. They dig and twist stories to try and prove their point citing that many adolescents living with AIDS were infected by adults (not clarifying that the adolescents weren't being raised by same-sex parents or that the adults responsible were parents at all), then claim that 49 American studies that advocate in favor of same-sex parenting have fatal flaws. REAL Women's effort to, uhm, scientifically validate their homophobia is hyperbole.

Lifesite

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Deborah Mell was still in elementary school, 6th or 7th grade, when she began making bicycle trips to a neighborhood on Chicago's North Side where she could get a gay newspaper. At the newsstand, trying not to look like she was staring, she'd watch the openly gay men and women going about their everyday lives. "I was just curious," she says of her early trips to Boys Town. But she also went there "just to feel comfortable." Her father is Alderman Richard Mell, the tough and mouthy boss of the 33rd Ward. Based on Mell's take-no-prisoners persona, you might suspect that father and daughter were hurtling toward an explosion, the kind that rips families apart forever. What happened? It's a pretty great article on a family coming to terms with a lesbian daughter.

Chicago Tribune

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What are you doing August 3rd through the 8th? Going to Homo a GoGo of course! It's a festival of queer music, film, art, and activism taking place in Olympia, Washington, hosted by Olympia's historic Capitol Theatre and other local venues. This year's festival builds on the spirit and success of Homo a GoGo 2002, creating a locally-based grassroots event while drawing participants and artists from all over the world. Featured performances include the one and only reunion of seminal queer punk band Team Dresch, as well as The Gossip, The Butchies, Juba Kalamka of Deep Dickollective, The Quails, Lesbians on Ecstasy, Tracy and the Plastics, The King Cobra and dozens more. The spoken word line-up curated by Sara Seinberg features Lambda Award-winning author Michelle Tea, Rebecca Brown and others. Keynote speaker is transgendered
activist and performer Imani Henry.

Homo a GoGo

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The Australian Federal Cabinet backed away from intervening to overturn the ACT's new law allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children - despite John Howard's strong condemnation of it. Howard signalled last month that the law might be overruled, saying: "I am against gay adoption, just as I'm against gay marriage." But when the matter was considered again the intervention was rejected. The more ministers delved into what had at first seemed to some to be a relatively simple issue, the more complications arose. Intervention would have put the ACT at odds with Western Australia, which allows gays to adopt. Critics also pointed out that a ban might jeopardize the interests of a child in certain circumstances, such as when the child's parents died and a ban prevented adoption by a relative in a gay relationship.

The Age

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With same-sex marriage about to become legal in Massachusetts, some businesses are eliminating benefits offered to gay and lesbian employees. Workers will be required to get married if they want to keep their partners on their health plans. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the state's largest employers, will drop domestic partner benefits for Massachusetts residents at the end of this year. Hospital spokesman Jerry Berger said the original reason for domestic partner benefits was that same-sex couples couldn't marry. Berger said that with the change in the law we're on the same footing as straight people.

Turn to 10

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Canadians for Equal Marriage, a Canadian gay-rights group, has issued a blacklist of candidates it believes should be defeated because they are opposed to same-sex marriage. Topping the list of who should be defeated is Toronto MP Dennis Mills, said spokeswoman Cicely McWilliam, citing what she called his "very bad track record" on gay rights issues. "Clearly, he's been a longstanding opponent of lesbian and gay rights and of equal marriage in particular," McWilliam said. Mills said it wasn't true, but when asked for his position on gay marriage he refused to answer directly.

CNews

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Jarred Gamwell lost the race for student body president. Last week, Hunt High School administrators took down Gamwell's campaign signs saying "Queer Eye for Hunt High" and "Gay Guys Know Everything." Students have mixed reactions about the election outcome. "Well, when he walked into school today, everybody started clapping for him so I guess everybody was behind him from the beginning,” student Jimmy Harton said. News14

There's a new website detailing the controversy Sandoval County Clerk Victoria Dunlap stirred up when she issued marriage licenses to gay couples. The site, created by an attorney, talks about same-sex marriage and the law in New Mexico as well as in other states where the debate continues. Rights New Mexico

Today's Short Takes

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Legendary performer Elton John, who has lent his music to American Idol," says the voting public was "incredibly racist" in leaving three talented African Americans as the bottom three vote-getters on the show last week, leading to the ouster of powerhouse Jennifer Hudson. He said the vote appeared to constantly target Hudson, as well as La Toya London and Fantasia Barrino. "The three people I was really impressed with, and they just happened to be black, young female singers, and they all seem to be landing in the bottom three."

NBC5

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A Colorado judge who ruled that ex-lesbian Cheryl Clark must protect her adopted child from "homophobic" religious doctrine will not be impeached, a House committee ruled Tuesday. The House Judiciary Committee voted down Rep. Greg Brophy's impeachment resolution 8-3 after a majority found that Denver District Judge John Coughlin did not abuse his office in the custody ruling between a lesbian and Clark, who joined a church and renounced being a lesbian. House committee chairwoman Rep. Lynn Hefley said Brophy and his two witnesses, who were heard last week, did not make their case that Coughlin should be impeached. "I think, quite frankly, that he acted with compassion," she said.

Denver Post

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Governor Mitt Romney has ordered city and town clerks in Massachusetts to enforce a 1913 law that requires marriages performed in the state to be legal in the parties' home state, as well. But state records show that clerks usually ignore those rules. In fact, Department of Public Health documents provided to The Boston Globe show that the state repeatedly instructed the clerks to facilitate marriages, rather than enforce laws that might prohibit them, such as the residency requirement. Some of the documents, the Globe reported on Wednesday, explicitly instruct clerks not to check on marriage applicants' legal status and residency.

Sarasota Herald Tribune

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Glamour and city council aren't normally uttered in the same sentence. But Merton, England's Ian Parkin, who has spent the last two years "helping streamline internal business processes" is not your average employee. As one quarter of Four Poofs and a Piano, the resident house band on BBC TV's "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross," his evening job sees him rubbing shoulders with Kylie Minogue and Madonna, appearing at this year's Edinburgh Festival and releasing Christmas singles. Much to the chagrin of local government, Ian, 47, who lives in Tooting, has quit his day job. "I am now a fully paid-up poof," said Parkin.

ThisisLocalLondon

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When 2,000 University of Illinois students donned blue and orange T-shirts in support of gay and lesbian rights last week, nearly half of them were part of the university's Greek system. The show of support was heartening to equal-rights activists, who note that UI lags behind other public universities in welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students into the Greek system. "Usually people think that greeks are close-minded. I think the T-shirt campaign was a great way to show that many of us aren't," said sophomore Sarah Martin. Daniel Bureau, assistant dean of students and coordinator of Greek Affairs, added, "We would also be very supportive of any effort to establish a gay Greek chapter on this campus."

Daily Illini

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We know you're wondering the latest in the scandal involving soccer legend David Beckham, his Posh wife, Victoria, and bisexual former assistant Rebecca Loos. Loos says that although she adores the ladies, she had a torrid affair with David Beckham, evidenced by his text messages to her cellphone. A detective hired by Victoria Beckham's family says there was (insert dramatic chord) a third text messenger, that the text in question didn't come from Beckham. Did they have an affair? Oh, probably, says the detective.

smh.com.au

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The United Methodist Church began a special meeting yesterday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that will look at the role of gay and lesbian people in the church. The issue threatens to tear apart this third-largest U.S. Christian denomination, at least according to Reuters. Just as the Episcopal Church struggles to hold together after the consecration of its first openly gay bishop, the United Methodist Church faces a possible schism over a decision to allow the Rev. Karen Dammann, a lesbian from Washington state, to remain a minister despite a church ban on gay clergy.

Boston.com

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Maybe gay soldiers "aren't as bad for our military as some of our military leaders would have us believe," writes Clarence Page, commenting on the lower discharge rates of gay and lesbian soldiers during military actions such as the one in Iraq. "Why the sharp decline? Has war brought a sudden wave of tolerance to our troops and their commanders? One wonders. There are no bigots in foxholes, according to an old time-tested nugget of combat wisdom. Judging by recent military personnel figures, there aren't many 'gay-bashers' in foxholes, either," says Page.

Washington Times

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It's queer, period. Harvard’s first literary and cultural journal dedicated to queer issues is also the first intercollegiate publication of its kind. About 15,000 copies of the first issue of "queer.", featuring poetry, fiction, art and essays by students at Harvard and from colleges across the country, were distributed last week. According to co-editor Christopher R. Hughes "queer." is dedicated to providing a literary and cultural forum for academic discourse coupled with reflective, informal and artistic meditations on queer issues. We're guessing it doesn't have homoscopes and dykes to watch out for.

Harvard Crimson

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The gay aesthetic has long shaped the arts, especially the performing arts. But some within the gay community feel that the mainstreaming of certain aspects of gay culture, including drag and high camp, has come at the cost of its political edge. Outlaws of all sorts define the middle by creating the boundaries; through outrageousness, they tinker with the definition of what is acceptable. What will the world have come to if Fierstein, whose 1982 Tony-winning "Torch Song Trilogy" blew the closet to pieces and dumped New York's bathhouse scene into the laps of theater going Middle America, becomes just another portly man in a dress?

Seattle Times

Filed in: Gay | LINK

A landmark survey has found almost zero support for Ulster mothers who find out their son is gay. A study carried out by the University of Ulster found that while up to 15 percent of all local moms will find out at least one of their children is gay, there was no support or advice structures in place. Post-graduate student and Derry mother Cathy Falconer conducted the research after her son came out. Falconer said readily available advice services would help dispel old myths and give moms confidence to deal positively with what she termed a "painful, confusing and tense" time for the whole family.

Belfast Telegraph

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Gay Church of England cleric Jeffrey John is under pressure to step down from his new post as Dean of St. Albans. A group of around 40 evangelical clergy and laity in the St. Albans diocese met yesterday to express their "dismay" over his appointment, announced last week. Some were also "aggrieved," and there was "disquiet and concern." Canon Nicholas Bell, who said he might resign over John's appointment, said, "This drives a coach and horses through what we had considered to be a time for reflection and deep prayer." Etc.

BreakingNews.ie

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In Tennessee, a constitutional amendment to ban, you guessed it, same-sex marriage recognition, died in the state Senate but passed a House committee. Some senators said the state already had a Defense of Marriage Act on the books. Others worried about those "activist judges" you hear so much about these days. State Rep. Bill Dunn said he would proceed with the resolution in the House because there were some procedural ways the measure could be revived in the Senate.

Tennessean.com

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Beverly Heights United Presbyterian Church, a conservative congregation church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has voted to sever ties with 10 regional governing bodies in eight states, saying it is frustrated that some church leaders have repeatedly tried to overturn a church law that bans gay clergy. MLive.com

Today's Short Takes

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American Civil Liberties Union lawyers lost their fight Tuesday to let a gay teenager campaign for student body president with posters billing himself as the "Queer Guy for Hunt High." The ACLU sought an order forcing administrators at Wilson's James B. Hunt High School to reverse their decision after taking the posters down. After a 40-minute hearing today, Wilson County Superior Court Judge Dwight Cranford denied the request without comment. Still, the uproar had an upside for 17-year-old honor student Jarred Gamwell, who said publicity about his free-speech fight has made him an instant celebrity and garnered him some newfound support among his peers. "People were screaming my name," he said. "It was crazy. People who don't normally even talk to me have been very supportive."

Charlotte Observer

Filed in: Gay | LINK

Not everyone is laughing about what turned out to be a radio station stunt using gay marriage to get attention. The new billboard, promoting Salt Lake City radio station X96's morning show promoted an alternative music radio station using a church and a rainbow. Bill Allred, X96 Morning Show Host: "This is what we came up with for a campaign to cause some talk." For several weeks the real meaning behind the billboard message was a mystery. One of the billboards, in Utah County, was vandalized twice with anti-gay messages. Bill Allred: "It played right into our hands." Despite taking some heat for the billboards, the so-called "Radio from Hell" DJ’s remain unapologetic, and seem pleased with any kind of publicity. Bill Allred: "I am at a loss at how this could really be this divisive. Bad taste, maybe; sure, I'll cop to that."

KSL TV (photos)

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Two men whose 1998 arrests led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on sodomy, say they are proud to have helped defeat an unjust law. Speaking together for the first time since the case began, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner told The Houston Chronicle that they are overwhelmed by the support they received and are glad the case is over. "I got a sense of justice for being wronged by the state of Texas," Lawrence said. "I feel I've been vindicated." The men were arrested after police, sent by a bogus report of an armed intruder, burst into Lawrence's apartment and found them engaged in consensual sex. The pair was jailed overnight and charged with breaking Texas' Homosexual Conduct Law, which bans oral and anal sex between people of the same gender. In its landmark June ruling, the Supreme Court said that what gay men and women do in the privacy of their bedrooms is their business and not the government's. The 6-3 decision invalidated laws in Texas and 12 other states.

ABC 13

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A married Queens high-school teacher, busted for having a lesbian love affair with a teenage student, pleaded guilty yesterday and will avoid jail time. Cheryl Reyna, 32, also agreed to resign from Martin Luther High School and turn in her teaching license. "The people feel this is a significantly punitive measure," prosecutor Frank DeGaetano said. He told Judge Douglas Wong he consulted with the family of the sixteen-year-old. "This plea is in accordance with their desires," DeGaetano said. Prosecutors claimed the Spanish teacher had a two-month fling with the girl between August and October of last year and that Reyna was a family friend of the victim.

NY Post

Filed in: Lesbian | LINK

Actress Sharon Stone has received an award from the National Center for Lesbian Rights for her support of gay and lesbian civil rights. The actress who has helped raise millions of dollars for AIDS research, received the NCLR Spirit Award at the organization's 27th anniversary celebration in San Francisco, California. "Sharon Stone has a very long history of leadership and involvement with volunteer groups," said NCLR spokeswoman Ruth Harris. "We're honoring her for a whole range of things over a many-year period." San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who sparked a national debate by issuing marriage licences to gay couples, presented the 46-year-old actress with the award.

news.com.au

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Showbiz sings in gay comedian Scott Thompson's blood, such that he's always conscious of a microphone in the room. "Excuse me," he says between bites off a snack tray at Citytv as he holds forth on the travails of his erstwhile Hollywood career. "Oh, they won't know why I'm saying 'Excuse me,' will they? But you can tell them I spat a little bit of muffin out," he says, addressing the recorder. Thompson is in town to host the Genie Awards for Canadian movies Saturday. Whether as a nod to his status as "the gay one" or not, the 44-year-old Thompson was the diva of "Kids in the Hall," the Kid who staked out the satirical turf of Hollywood cheese, lounge lizardry and queer-camp - replete with de rigueur jet-puffed narcissism.

London Free Press

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Gwen Araujo was hit with a skillet, choked and kneed in the face during a vicious attack during which the transgender teen pleaded, "No, please don't, I have a family," the prosecution's star witness, Jaron Nabors, testified Monday. One of the three defendants in her murder, Jose Antonio Merel, struck Araujo in the head with a metal skillet when he and others discovered that Araujo, 17, was biologically male, Nabors said during graphic testimony in Alameda County Superior Court. Nabors, 21, who led police to the body, was charged with murder but pleaded guilty last year to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for testifying against his friends in the Hayward courtroom of Judge Harry Sheppard.

SF Gate

Filed in: Transgender | LINK

As melon liqueur maker Allied Domecq searches for its Midori "It Girl," it's expanding its marketing efforts to gay men. Three to four events will be held during each of the three weeks of the It Girl campaign, targeting gay men and women ages 21 to 29. The tour of eight major markets will culminate in an online consumer competition to find the Midori "It Girl" for 2004. Women will get makeovers at their event and have their photos uploaded to a Midori website to be eligible to compete. There's a "guys' gallery" on the site, as well, but the gentlemen are ineligible to be the It Girl. Pity.

Stamford Advocate

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Adam Ebbin the only openly gay member of the Virginia General Assembly, said he thinks a new anti-gay bill will have unintended consequences. "This is the most severe anti-gay measure in the country," he said. "I don't think their goal was to abridge contract rights among people of the same gender," Ebbin said, but added that when you read the bill the message is different. The measure also apparently outlaws domestic partner health benefits. "It is kind of painful to see how little progress we've made in the 21st century," Ebbin said, noting that historically Virginia has been slow to accept social change. He cited massive resistance to integration in the 1950s and Virginia's denial of marriage licenses to mixed-race couples well into the 1960s.

NewsAdvance

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High-profile Australian lesbians Dr. Kerryn Phelps and Jackie Stricker have labeled Prime Minister John Howard's plan to block legal recognition of gay marriages performed elsewhere "a form of apartheid." "Blacks and coloureds were not allowed to marry whites under apartheid in South Africa," notes Phelps. "This is no different." Phelps and Stricker, who published a book about their relationship called "Kerryn and Jackie," had a religious wedding ceremony in New York in 1998 - a union that has no legal foundation in Australia.
"I'm not sure what Howard is trying to achieve through this, except to play wedge politics and marginalise a group that is a minority," she said. The Mercury

Meanwhile, Howard denied he was targeting gay people when he signalled a ban on same sex marriages, saying he was just stating what most people thought. "This is not directed at gay people. It's directed at reaffirming a bedrock understanding of our society." And protecting it from gay people. ninemsn

Same-sex marriage battle in Australia

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Cable network Trio has made its summer plans, beginning with the kickoff of new gay-theme programming on Memorial Day weekend. The "OutZone" block will begin May 28 with the premieres of "Dame Edna Live at the Palace" and "Rufus Wainwright: Live at the Fillmore." The block returns to the schedule as a permanent fixture Sept. 18 with a mix of music specials, films and documentaries with gay themes.

Yahoo! News

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