QueensSpeech - gay news

Right wingers scared of ‘gay takeover’ in Houston

Annise Parker, Houston mayoral candidate

“A cluster of socially conservative Houstonians is planning a campaign to discourage voters from choosing City Controller Annise Parker in the December mayoral runoff because she is a lesbian,” Houston Chronicle reports.

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DC archbishop got his start as anti-gay Vatican enforcer

  Archbishop Donald Wuerl. Background: Basillica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC

The Catholic archbishop of Washington, DC has remained mostly silent so far this week in the midst of a political firestorm ignited Wednesday when his diocese announced, through a spokesman, that social service programs run by the diocese under contract with the DC government would be shuttered if the city passes a marriage equality law that does not give the church an exemption allowing it to violate provisions of the DC Human Rights Act.

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Video: Superb No On 1 campaign documentary

This would be a superb documentary on any TV channel. And the channel this appears on is YouTube.

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Eunuchs, transsexuals given third gender option on India’s election forms

“(India) Rajasthani Eunuchs” Flickr photo by seekingshangrila

Eunuchs, transsexuals, and others in India, who had previously been required to record their gender on election forms as either “male” or “female”, will now have a third option: “other”.

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Item: Argentine judge says gay couple can get married

    ::: A Buenos Aires gay couple, Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello, were granted the right this week to get married by an Argentine judge who ruled, “The law should treat everyone with the same respect according to their singularities, without the need to understand or regulate them.

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Must read: Blogger asks, Why isn’t Vatican treated like Iran?

After reading that the US has seized four Shiite Muslim mosques in the US and a New York City office building because of their ties to Iran, the superb blog LezGetReal, written by Paula Brooks, asks an intriguing question: If the same standards were applied to another theocratic dictatorship, the Vatican, would some US Catholic organizations be subject to similar seizures?

Brooks points out that both the Vatican and Iran are sovereign countries with their own banks and their own foreign policies.

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Levi Johnston does media blitz at Fleshbot awards (including non-Levi eyecandy)

Levi Johnston at Fleshbot Award Daily News photo by Showalter

The publicity race is on between Alaska’s two most prominent celebrities.

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MO archbishop gives $10,000 to Maine inequality a month after laying off Catholic Charities staffers

   ::: The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis contributed $10,000 to the campaign supporting repeal of Maine’s marriage equality law, St.

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Video: Prejean retreats to cone of silence after hearing ‘I’m a gay man’

OK. So it's only interesting because it offers a new method of refusing to answer a question.

Former beauty queen Carrie Prejean appeared on Larry King Live.

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Cities, counties may join Salt Lake City with anti-bias laws, but not legislature

Two more jurisdiction in Utah have signaled that they will follow the lead of Salt Lake City and adopt laws to prohibit discrimination in housing and employment based on a person’s sexual orientation.

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Committee will vote next week on ENDA

HRC Back Story, the blog of the Human Rights Campaign, reports that a key committee vote has now been scheduled for Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

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DC Catholic church says it won’t help poor if it can’t discriminate against LGBT people

St. Mathhew’s Cathedral, Washington, DC Flickr photo by MVI

The Roman Catholic church threatened Wednesday to shut down the social service programs it runs for the District of Columbia if the DC city council adopts a marriage equality law in its current form.

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San Francisco Presbytery OKs ordination of lesbian; Opponents vow appeal

Lisa Larges

After an epic 20-year struggle to become a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Lisa Larges’ quest came one step closer to fulfillment last night when the San Francisco Presbytery voted to ordain Larges, who would become the first out lesbian to be ordained in the church.

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Australian capital recognizes same-sex partnerships (again); federal override expected

Source: MCV, Canberra Times, AFP, Sydney Star Observer, Fridae.com 

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT)—a small semi-autonomous area that includes the federal capital of Canberra—on Wednesday passed a law recognizing legally binding civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples.

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Wingnuts: Bishop doesn’t want gay tourists at Vatican

When photographers Alek and Steph visited the Vatican for Oh La La, they found it teeming with homos homoerotica.

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Must read: NY Times reports on financial penalties of being a gay couple

The New York Times blog called “Bucks: Making the Most of Your Money” has highlighted a Times story on the added costs of being a gay couple.

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‘Laramie’ and ‘Rent’ plays go on at Vegas-area high school

Despite the legal objections raised by a group of parents, it’s OK for high school students to perform in and present two plays with gay-related themes, a Nevada district court judge ruled Tuesday.

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Item: Men try to burn Memphis LGBT center’s flagpole

   ::: Memphis police arrested a 23-year-old man early Wednesday after he and another man tried to set fire to the rope on a flagpole at the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Memphis Appeal reports.

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After tense protest, Fort Worth council extends transgender anti-bias protections

Queer LiberAction’s Rick Vanderslice, right, challenges an anti-gay counterprotester outside Fort Worth City Hall on Tuesday.

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Report: Kiss-in protests led to LDS support for Salt Lake gay-friendly law

Source: Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, KSL, Fox13Now

The powerful Salt Lake City-based LDS (Mormon) church announced Tuesday that it will support a proposed pair of Salt Lake City ordinances that would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBT in housing and employment.

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