CockRing Casanova

on 07-02-2008 11:03 

With all his dirty deeds there are tons of reasons for us gays to despise President George W. Bush. However, one “gay activist” says there actually is a reason to be thankful to old dubya.

According to an article published in the Minneapolis Star-Ledger, “gay activist” David Benkof says George W. Bush has done more to fight HIV/AIDS than any president in American history, including Clinton.
“The people pushing Bush to fight the epidemic at home and abroad are overwhelmingly conservative Christians — the same people we keep hearing gay leaders tar as narrow-minded and bigoted,” Benkof writes. “Well, those narrow-minded bigots (who never had the president’s ear during the Clinton administration) deserve far more credit for relieving suffering from HIV in this decade than gay men and lesbians did in the previous two decades combined.”

Under George W. Bush, Benkof writes:

•The United States spends more than $3 billion a year, with more to come, on the president’s initiative to treat, prevent and care for millions of suffering people worldwide. Bush’s AIDS plan is the largest health initiative ever dedicated to a single disease. By contrast, Clinton’s last budget contained less than a billion dollars total for both domestic prevention and global AIDS. And instead of trying to help people get the medicine they needed, Clinton’s Justice Department actually sued people and governments worldwide for trying to produce generic antiretrovirals.

•The White House is trying to repeal the heinous restriction on foreign visitors and immigrants with HIV, a policy the supposedly progay Clinton administration actually signed into law. Because of Bush, we may finally have international AIDS conferences in our country again, something that never happened in the pervious administration.

•The president has not hesitated to appoint openly gay experts on the disease to top administration positions, including physician Mark R. Dybul to an ambassador-level HIV post and both National AIDS Policy Coordinator Scott Evertz and his successor, Joseph O’Neill. If bigoted Christians were pulling the strings at the Bush administration, why does Bush keep promoting openly gay men? By contrast, President Clinton had no openly gay AIDS czars. Bush’s AIDS appointments aren’t about winning gay votes any more than his appointment of two African-American secretaries of state was calculated to win black votes. He wants the most qualified people doing important jobs, whatever their identities.

So, who is the author of these claims - the so-called gay activist David Benkof? Officially, Benkof describes himself as gay Republican. Benkof, as David Bianco, lived as a gay man and was actively involved in gay news distribution, serving as founder and contributor to Q-Syndicate from 1995 to 2003. Then in 2003, Bianco announced that he had made some changes in his life. He had changed his identity to bisexual, his religion to Orthodox Judaism, his beliefs about homosexual acts to be unacceptable, his goals to include marriage to a nice Jewish girl, and his name to Benkof. He then went off to Israel for some years to study. And now he’s reemerged and is seeking to be influential in the restriction of gay rights and equality.

Read more about this questionable character here.

on 07-02-2008 09:38 

Grey’s Anatomy actor T.R. Knight and his young boyfriend Mark Cornelsen are doing their part for the cause of gay visibility - and are looking adorable while doing it.

Here are a couple of photos showing the couple doing some shopping close to T.R.’s house in Los Feliz, Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.

There are some more photos over at JustJared.

on 07-02-2008 19:36 

Gay media watchdog GLAAD is not too crazy about the fact that Will Smith’s character in the new superhero flick Hancock uses the term “homo” in a derogatory way at least three times.

GLAAD writes:

At approximately 24 minutes into the film, while Jason Bateman’s PR whiz works to rehabilitate the superhero’s tarnished image, he shows Hancock three comic book images in an effort to inspire him. But Hancock rejects the traditional image of costumed superheroes as he responds to each one: “Homo. Homo in red. Norwegian homo.”

The audience is prompted to laugh and there is no response to or retribution for Hancock’s remarks. Bateman’s character, the father of a young son, could have easily spoken up instead of giving Hancock a pass

Better yet, would it have changed the story if that brief interaction had been left on the cutting room floor? No one would have missed the line if it wasn’t there, but an unfortunate choice was made to go for the cheap gay joke. In that moment, young gay people in the movie’s audience are put in the position of being ridiculed by a character they are expected to regard as a hero. People go to films to escape reality — or schoolyard taunts — not to pay ten bucks and be ridiculed some more, especially not by someone the Los Angeles Times calls “the most likable actor in the world.”

Rated PG-13, Hancock is being marketed to families, teens and young adults. This film certainly presents an opportunity for parents to explain to their kids that the usually entertaining character of Hancock is not modeling good behavior. But let’s get real: Hancock’s use of the slur sends a problematic message that it’s okay to discriminate using such hateful words. Every day, people — both gay and straight — are taunted and verbally harassed in their schools and in their communities with these kinds of words, creating an environment that’s hostile, uncomfortable, and often unsafe.  To have a heroic character — and by extension actor Will Smith — use, and by implication approve of, this kind of language is simply unacceptable.
GLAAD understands that sometimes anti-gay language shows up in dramatic narrative to reveal a character’s true colors, or to convey a message. But there’s a big difference between using it to highlight a character’s anti-gay attitudes and making a cheap, unfunny shot at gay people.

On the other hand, I’m Norwegian, so maybe Hancock was in fact referring to me? Honestly, I don’t mind, but it would have been nice if they would at least have added my name to the closing credits…

According to numerous online sources, Justin Hartley—who in my opinion is the CW’s King of wet dreams(sorry, Chad)—is scheduled to reprise his role as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow for Smallville’s eighth season. But wait, it gets better. Hartly will be returning as a series regular to round out the cast in wake of Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk departure from the series.

The addition can only be favorable to gay fanyboys and add more spice to the series. The main cast already has two established hunks: the titled character himself, Tom Welling and Aaron Ashmore, who plays nice guy Jimmy Olsen (Now if we can only get Shawn Ashmore to make an appreance). Hartly returning to the cast fulltime can only fuel some certain fantasies we’ve been having since he made his debut back in 2006. But as a fan of the series and a comic nerd, this can only mean good things for Smallville.   

Oliver Queen is notorious in the Smallville-verse as the billionaire & crime-fighter who established the Justice League—something fans all around have been aching to see more of. With his return, hopefully we will be seeing Black Canary, Aquaman, Flash, and many other superheroes make a reoccurring appearance on the show. There is nothing that puts a smile on my face than seeing my favorite superheroes come to life on the small screen. Perhaps the WB would allow a certain Amazon Princess to make a debut? 

Although the show is primarily about the road to becoming a superhero, Hartley and League are the only characters to actually don superhero costumes. And how can I properly describe Hartley in his costume? Well, he’s pretty much the gay equivalent to Princess Leia in the Gold Bikini…a holy grail most gay fanboys have been looking for ever since Luke Skywalker went from delicious twinkie in “A New Hope” to crowning top in “Return of the Jedi.”

Hartley only made one appearance this pass season as the Green Arrow due to commitments to prior projects. Prior to that, he was a reoccurring in season six. Smallville premieres its eighth season this fall on the CW.

Image courtesy SciFi

Mark James

It just keeps getting better — Frameline 32.

The last week of June in San Francisco is always special, but the Frameline festival this year was almost too good to be true. There was a bittersweet note in the departure of Festival cofounder Michael Lumpkin, the low-key impresario behind much of what makes this festival. But if it’s time to go, no better timing than alongside this year’s crop of extraordinary entries. A few standouts:

“Wrangler”
The gay adult industry thrives to this day, more so as the Internet and increasing acceptance of sexuality among younger gays provides the industry so many directions to take and new fans to reach. But through the lens of time the scope gets much narrower, back to the days when a small community of earnest and talented men took what had been a seedy business and brought it out of the closet: Call it Gay Porn Lib. Right in the thick of it all was a guy who transformed himself from a wispy stage actor into super-hunk porn star by sheer force of will and superb timing.

This documentary follows Jack Wrangler from his boyhood in Los Angeles right up to today and — here’s the money shot — the quiet married life he shares with the mid-20th century singing diva Margaret Whiting. By the end of the film it comes as no surprise that a guy who overcame his worries about pleasing others and decided to live a life that would please himself might just choose to settle down with an older straight woman who just so happens to love him. Every minute of this chronicle of his life is at once gripping, funny, heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring, for no particular reason other than the whimsy, wit and honesty of the life the film explores. Find it, see it and enjoy it. We sure did.

“Fun in Boys’ Shorts.” This year’s “Boys’ Shorts,” nine in all, were a real treat. There was not a single repeat in the set — all the material was new — and each film, with the exception of one, had the audience roaring with pleasure.

There is the ostracized and ultimately triumphant protagonist of the hilarious “Bongo Bong.” The budding bad girl (and her beleaguered victims) in Babysitting Andy.” The short “Hirsute” explores the idea of how people evolve and what they accomplish over time — for better or worse — and in the process provides one of the great unexpected comedy/horror moments in the history of film.

“Silver Road” was the only disappointment, but the guys in it are so easy on the eye that it glides by without ruining the mood.

My runner-up favorite is “Pat’s First Kiss,” a deftly executed, knowing cartoon about a gay lad’s first foray into sex. In this year’s great theme — the meaning of same-sex marriage — we have “Over-Stuff,” a poignant, funny short about a couple’s trip to the thrift store. Next, from Spain, is the arresting “In the High School,” a unusually frank and brilliantly funny look into the often-misrepresented subject of how horny young guys can be.

“Screening Party” is a very L.A. story about a bunch of friends who get together to spoof the film “Pretty Woman.”

But the best is the last: The fabulous “The Window” is a visual poem about the things men do in their apartment windows. It has a really great money shot, too. With any luck, you’ll be able to find these on YouTube, if not on DVD.

“Call Me Troy”
Maybe the best storytelling of any film this year is, in fact, a documentary by Scott Bloom about Troy Perry, the founder of the Metropolitan Community Church. This guy has lived free and in the glow of spiritual devotion since before most of us were born, and the telling of his story (mostly in the first person but with the help of a really entertaining cast of cohorts) is so comprehensive and so rich in its scope that you are left feeling as though you lived alongside the man. And what a life it has been. Coming out under the most unlikely conditions, fighting for gay rights when it took real courage to do so, living a sexual and spiritual life without apology. It’s all here, the good, bad and oh-so-very ugly. But no moment in the film is funnier than the good reverend’s tale about being served Florida orange juice during the Anita Bryant era aboard a cross-country flight. It makes you love the idea of air travel all over again.

“Pageant”
In Ron Davis and Stewart Halpern’s excellent and awe-inspiring documentary, the great American phenomenon of Southern drag is finally given its due. If you didn’t grow up gay in the South, you missed a lot. Some good, some not so good. But the drag shows in that region are the best to be found anywhere. For this tribute to the art, the setting is Memphis and the 34th annual Miss Gay America. The subjects are five drag queens who rely entirely on their craft to compete. And what a competition it is. This film, of any at the festival, had the audience going from the opening frame to the last.

Get the in-depth review of “Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild” by clicking here. (link to the full review).

Watch the trailers now:
“Wrangler“
“Call Me Troy“
“Pageant“

Definitely pick up the Onion’s special “Gay Pride Issue,” the tongue-in-cheek joke paper’s June 26 edition. It’s still on newstands in Washington until a new issue comes out Thursday. It was the funniest issue I’ve seen since the parody paper started distributing in D.C. last year. For me, the laughs started with the front page headline: “Homosexuals — We let them know how gay proud of them we are.” One of my slight disappointments since starting at the Blade was discovering how damn seriously gay activists take themselves. From bristling at the word homosexual (we are what we are!) to making inclusion an alphabet soup of ridiculousness (LGBTQQIA), many gays could stand to deflate their own pompousness a notch or two and this week’s Onion is a good starting point. Don’t get me wrong — I realize it’s a natural reaction to swing toward the earnest side when society hasn’t been taking us seriously for most of the time humans have populated earth. And yet the Onion’s Pride issue absurdities were a nice counter to that trend. Especially clever were the news briefs “Anti-homosexuality sermon suspiciously well informed,” “Catholic Church condemns metrosexuality” and “Area man has sex with man to get out of office blood drive.” Most weeks I’m lucky if the Onion makes me elicit a guffaw — the headlines are usually plenty for me. I find the stories tedious one-trick ponies that aren’t worth the time. But the Pride edition was a glorious exception. Poking fun at minority groups can be dicey — the Onion pulled it off beautifully. I’m keeping a copy for posterity.

True to form, the crazies at Westboro Baptist Church have faxed a press release (why bother saving trees when the earth will be destroyed in an apocaplyptic blood bath, right?) saying that Kermit Love, whom I blogged about last Friday, is for sure in hell.

The church will be picketing his funeral, which is another example of something I think regularly about fundamentalist nut jobs - “Go work in a soup kitchen!” People don’t eat in this country, and you’re worrying about some guy going down on another guy? Or a lady enjoying the sensual pleasures of another lady? Honestly.

The craziest part of the press release comes toward the end:

“I have no hesitancy in declaring that all you living fags who live in fag sins and die in fag sins — will ultimately and inevtiably join Kermit Love in Hell — there to be tormented by the Lord Jesus Christ and his holy angels and people, personally for ever and ever.”

Now, I’m good and screwed according to the fundies because I’m gay and a witch, but it’s my understanding that Jesus doesn’t go about burning sinners with bubbling pitch or sending his faceless homonculi to disembowl the wicked in perdition.

If I’m not mistaken, much of the message was about loving your neighbor as yourself, taking the beam from your own eye and not casting the first stone. I’d be really surprised if the man who hung out with fallen women and lepers did a 180 in the afterlife and became the posterboy for horror and despair.

Regardless of what I think about Jesus’ divine parentage, I do believe that his message was one of peace in a world overrun by madness, and his lessons are still relevant in today’s culture where instead of doing good works for those in need, so-called holy men spend their time damning a man who created a big yellow puppet named Big Bird.

Everyone has picked up on this story today: Tyson Gay, a sprinter from the U.S., won his semifinal for the 100 meters during the Olympic trials. One News Now, a news site for fans of the American Family Association, credits the Associated Press for penning most of the stories on the site’s wire. However, they take some journalistic liberties when the stories relate to the gay community.

Good As You is probably the biggest watchdog of AFA’s penchant for substituting “homosexual” for “gay,” among other words. “Same-sex marriage opponents” gets turned into “advocates of traditional marriage,” for instance.

One News Now got its turn in the mainstream media spotlight today, though, for a blip in its software. Tyson Gay’s last name is actually “Gay.” But all references to Mr. Gay read “Tyson Homosexual.” Apparently, the glitch has been fixed.

O’Dowd still awaiting trial in London on charges of false imprisonment
NEW YORK (AP) | Jul 1, 3:37 PM

Boy George’s plans for a North American tour have run into some bad karma.
The Culture Club singer, whose given name is George O’Dowd, has canceled his summer plans after U.S. authorities denied him a visa to enter the country.

O’Dowd, 47, had planned to officially kick off his 25-city tour in Aspen, Colo., on July 10, and was to throw in a free concert at the New York City Department of Sanitation’s Family Day in August. He worked for the department in 2006 while performing court-ordered community service in a drug case.

That didn’t appear possible, though, when last week O’Dowd’s managers issued a statement saying he had been refused a visa because he’s awaiting trial in London on charges that he falsely imprisoned a man. The Sun newspaper reported in April that a 28-year-old man claimed he was chained and threatened at O’Dowd’s London flat, where he had gone to work as a photo model.

The singer, whose hits include “Karma Chameleon,” has pleaded not guilty.

“I was really hoping that the issue would be resolved and that some kind soul at the U.S. Visa Office would realize that if the police in the U.K. placed no restrictions on my movements, that should have been good enough for them,” O’Dowd said in a statement Tuesday.

“I am very sorry that I will not see all my American fans this year, but I wish them a happy and healthy Fourth of July. I include the Visa Office in those good wishes and realize they are doing a very difficult job and I just got unlucky,” he said.

Meanwhile, O’Dowd intends to reschedule his North American tour for next winter. He’ll continue his concert tours of South America and the United Kingdom in September and October.

By Peter Tatchell | Article Date: 6/29/2008 12:30 AM

A few years ago, Dr. James Watson, the Noble Prize winner who co-discovered DNA, reopened the controversy over the so-called gay gene when he defended a woman’s right to abortion. He was quoted in The Sunday Telegraph as saying: “If you could find the gene which determines sexuality, and a woman decides she doesn’t want a homosexual child, well, let her (abort the fetus)”.

Much of the reaction to Dr Watson’s statement focused on its homophobic versus freedom of choice implications. Largely overlooked was the fact that such an esteemed scientist was giving credibility to the flawed theories which claim a genetic causation of homosexuality.

These theories have been given a recent boost by research suggesting differences in the brain structures of gay and straight people.

According to gay gene theory, genetic factors are responsible for sexual orientation, with our genetic inheritance programming us to desire one sex rather than the other. This is a very simple, deterministic thesis: A causes B.

I don’t disagree that genes (and hormonal exposure in the womb) influence sexual orientation. The scientific evidence for these biological influences is presented in the book, Born Gay, written by Glenn Wilson of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, and Qazi Rahman, a lecturer in psychobiology at the University of East London.

But contrary to what the authors seem to suggest, an influence is not the same as a cause. Genes and hormones may predispose a person to one sexuality rather than another. But that’s all. Predisposition and determination are two different things.

There is a major problem with gay gene theory, and with all theories that posit the biological programming of sexual orientation. If heterosexuality and homosexuality are, indeed, genetically predetermined (and therefore mutually exclusive and unchangeable), how do we explain bisexuality or people who, suddenly in mid-life, switch from heterosexuality to homosexuality, or vice versa?

We can’t.

The reality is that queer and straight desires are far more ambiguous, blurred and overlapping than any theory of genetic causality can allow.

After studying the sexual experiences of thousands of men, Dr. Alfred Kinsey presented evidence, in Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male , that “many males combine in their single histories, and very often in exactly the same period of time, or even simultaneously in the same moment, reactions to both heterosexual and homosexual stimuli.”

Some years later, the Kinsey researchers famously reported the case of a happily married young woman who, ten years into her marriage, unexpectedly fell in love with a female friend.

Divorcing her husband, she set up house with this woman. Many years later, despite a fulfilling on-going lesbian relationship, she had an equally satisfying affair with a man.

Examples of sexual flexibility, like that of this woman, don’t square with genetic theories of rigid erotic predestination.

One of the main original proponents of gay gene theory, Dr. Dean Hamer, now concedes that it is unlikely that something as complex as human sexuality can be explained solely in terms of genetic inheritance. He seems to accept that while genetic factors may establish a predisposition towards homosexuality, a predisposition is not the same as a causation.

Many studies suggest social factors are also important influences in the formation of sexual orientation. These include the relationship between a child and its parents, formative childhood experiences, family expectations, cultural mores and peer pressure.

By about the age of five or six, a combination of biological and social influences seem to lay the basis of an individual’s sexual orientation. Because our sexuality is fixed at such an early age, many lesbians and gay men feel they have been homosexual all their lives and therefore mistakenly conclude that it must be genetic and that they were born queer.

They also see the gay gene explanation as a useful defence against the arguments of the religious right, which dismisses same-sex relationships as a lifestyle choice.

But no one sits down one day and chooses to be gay (or straight). Sexual orientation is not a choice like choosing which biscuits to buy in a supermarket. We don’t have free will concerning the determination our sexual orientation. Our only free will is whether we accept or repress our true inner sexual and emotional desires.

The relative influence of biological versus social factors with regard to sexual orientation is still uncertain. What is, certain, however, is that if gayness was primarily explainable in genetic terms, we would expect it to appear in the same proportions, and in similar forms, in all cultures and all epochs. As the anthropologists Clellan Ford and Frank Beach demonstrated in Patterns Of Sexual Behaviour, far from being cross-culturally uniform and stable, both the incidence and expressions of same-sex desire vary vastly between different societies.

They found, for example, that young men in some tribes (the Aranda of Australia, Siwan of Egypt, Batak of Sumatra, Anga of Melanesia and others) had relationships with boys or older male warriors, usually lasting several years, often as part of manhood initiation rituals. Eventually ceasing homosexual contact, they subsequently assumed sexual desires for women.

If sexual orientation was genetically prefixed at conception, as the proponents of the gay gene claim, these young men would never have been able to switch between heterosexual and homosexual relations with such apparent ease.

Likewise, a glance at history reveals huge disparities between configurations of homosexuality in different eras down the ages. Same-sex behaviour in Ancient Greece was very different, in both its prevalence and particular manifestations, from homosexuality in Confucian China, Renaissance Italy, Meiji Japan, Tudor England and late twentieth century USA.

Moral values, social ideologies and cultural expectations, together with family patterns and parent-child interaction,seem the only credible explanation for these massive historical divergences.

Despite obvious theoretical and empirical weaknesses, the claims that certain genes cause homosexuality have been seized upon and vigorously promoted by many in the lesbian and gay rights movement (especially in the US).

The haste with which these unproven, questionable theories have been embraced suggests a terrible lack of self-confidence and a rather sad, desperate need to justify queer desire. It’s almost as if those pushing these theories believe we don’t deserve human rights unless we can prove that we are born gay and that our homosexuality is beyond our control: ‘We can’t help being fags and dykes, so please don’t treat us badly’. This seems to be the pleading, defensive sub-text of much of the pro-gay gene thesis.

Surely we merit human rights because we are human beings? The cause of our homosexuality is irrelevant to our quest for justice. We are entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of whether we are born queer or made queer, whether our homosexuality is something beyond our control or something freely chosen.

The corollary of the ‘born gay’ idea is the suggestion that no one can be ‘made gay’. This defensive argument was used by some gay leaders during the campaigns against Section 28, which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality by local authorities, and again during the lobbying of parliament for the equalisation of the age of consent.

Supporters of Section 28 and opponents of an equal age of consent justified their stance with the claim that people need to be protected against ‘pressure’ and ’seduction’ into the homosexual lifestyle.

Some gay spokespeople responded by arguing that it’s impossible to ‘make’ someone gay, and that a same-sex experience at an early age cannot ‘persuade’ a heterosexual person to become homosexual.

At one level, they are right. Sexual orientation appears to become fixed in the first few years of life. For most of us, it is impossible to subsequently change our sexual orientation.

However, what definitely can change as people grow older is their ability to accept and express formerly repressed queer desires. A person who is ostensibly heterosexual might, in their mid-30s, become aware of a previously unrecognised same-sex attraction that had been dormant and unconscious since childhood. Society’s positive affirmation of homosexuality might help such a person discover and explore those latent, hidden, suppressed feelings.

The homophobes are thus, paradoxically, closer to the truth than many gay activists. Removing the social opprobrium and penalties from queer relationships, and celebrating gay love and lust, would allow more people to come to terms with presently inhibited homoerotic desires. In this sense, it is perfectly feasible to ‘promote’ lesbian and gay sexuality and ‘make’ someone queer. Individuals who have a homosexual component in their character, but are inhibited by repression or guilt, definitely can be encouraged to acknowledge their same-sex attraction and act upon it.

Were future generations to grow up in a gay-positive, homo-friendly culture, it’s likely that many more people would have same-sex relationships, if not for all of their lives at least for significant periods. With this boom in queer sex, the social basis of homophobia would be radically undermined.

In this state of greater sexual freedom, where homosexuality becomes commonplace and ceases to be disparaged or victimised, gayness would no longer have to be defended and affirmed. Gay identity (and its straight counterpart) would thus, at last, become redundant.

Hurrah!

- Peter Tatchell has campaigned for LGBT human rights for 40 years. For more information about his campaigns, visit www.petertatchell.net. This article first appeared on Spiked-Online.com.

Op-Ed

By UK Gay News | Article Date: 6/28/2008 1:20 PM

It was enough to make anyone with a remote interest in gay men and women from Iran seeking refuge in the United Kingdom—and their problems with the Home Office—choke on their morning corn flakes.

“Iran Is Safe for ‘Discrete’ Gays, Says Jacqui Smith”, the headline in The Independent informed us this past week.

Robert Verkaik, the Independent’s legal editor who was the first to highlight in the ‘mainstream’ Press the plight of the then teenage gay Iranian Mehedi Kazemi, reported that Ms. Smith, the Home Secretary, had written to a Liberal Democrat Peer that gay and lesbian refuge-seekers can be safely deported to Iran as long as they live their lives “discreetly”.

Not only that, but she also said that there was no “real risk” of gay men and lesbians being discovered by the Iranian authorities or “adverse action” being taken against those who were “discreet” about their behaviour, Mr. Verkaik reported.

Frankly, we are wondering what planet Jacqui Smith is on.

No one expects Ms. Smith to know everything concerning her department. She has “advisors”, in the form of senior civil servants.

And as the TV series Yes Minister poignantly portrayed in every episode, these mandarins have a habit of getting their own way.

Perhaps the writer of the letter to the Peer was a Daily Mail-reading official who had never come across any of the background situation reports on Iran by likes of Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch.

Scott Long, the director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, wrote in The Guardian on March 31 this year:

“The UK should recognize—as the Netherlands has done—that with a law prescribing death or torture for gay Iranians, they need not demonstrate the details of past persecution. Lift the burden of proof from Mehdi and his gay compatriots. End the threat of deportation.”

He also said that current policy of the Home Office “is a disastrous evasion of the UK’s responsibilities under international law.”

To coincide with International Day Against Homophobia on May 17, Human Rights Watch added the Home Office to its annual “Hall of Shame” for its policy on the deportation of gay men and women back to less than sympathetic countries, often flouting international law.

The problem with the reasoning of the Home Office is that in all but one of the half dozen cases of gay Iranian men and women seeking refuge that UK Gay News knows about, arrived here having fled because the police were actually on their trail—and not for fearing that the police might one day be interested in their sexuality.

The one exception was Mr. Kazemi who was already in the UK completing his education on a student visa when he learned that his partner had been executed—but not before he had named Medhi.

Jacqui Smith, as the LGBT Greens suggest, is “playing a dangerous game” with the lives of gay Iranian refugees.

“Effectively she’s trying to rubbish the argument that LGBT people are being persecuted for their sexuality in Iran,” LGBT Greens spokesperson Phelim Mac Cafferty said this afternoon.

“Her claim that as long as people are ‘discreet’ a regime notorious for its treatment of LGBT people will somehow stop persecuting them is misled at best—and homicidal at worst.”

Campaigning group GayAsylumUK described the remarks by the Home Secretary in the letter to Lord Roberts as being “outrageous, shameful, inhumane and anti-gay.”

The astounding thing is that, almost four years ago Ms. Smith was in charge of steering the Civil Partnerships Bill through the House of Commons back in 2004 when she was the Women and Equality Minister.

UK Gay News would hazard a guess that Her Majesty’s Government is ‘running scared’ of the xenophobic and largely homophobic tabloid press when it comes to a fair policy on gay refuge seekers.

Who runs this country? The democratically elected Government, or the self-appointed tabloids that huff and puff—and are expert at creating mass hysteria?

Article courtesy of UK Gay News.

By Maggie Taylor | Article Date: 7/01/2008 10:53 AM

Amid a swarm of divorce rumors, Madonna swears that she and hubby Guy Ritchie have the model marriage. But that hasn’t stopped the tabloids from going wild, alleging that the pop icon’s been hitting it with New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod, as the Yankee is widely known, has been making “numerous solo nighttime visits to Madonna” at her Central Park West apartment and would sneak out “as late as midnight,” according to Us Weekly.

“All the doormen are talking,” a source told the magazine.

The Yankee and the Material Girl have been showing each other some love lately, which could be the source of the pesky rumors.  He attended her concert in New York City on April 30, and she in turn sat in Rodriguez’s seats at a Yankees game on June 22.

In an attempt to quell the wild rumors, Madonna’s rep Liz Rosenberg sent a response to Us magazine’s rival People magazine.

“Madonna’s husband Guy arrived in New York last night to be with his wife and family (not in a last ditch attempt to save his marriage which does not need saving). There are no plans for Madonna and Guy to divorce,” Rosenberg said. “Madonna and Alex have the same manager, Guy Oseary. They have met. They know each other and Madonna took her kids to a Yankees game last week. There’s really not anything to comment on beyond that. It’s nothing new that people are airing tons of dirty laundry Madonna’s way lately… much of it untrue.”

Even gossip monger Perez Hilton got in on the tabloid war and posted, “As for the whole Alex Rodriguez thing, sources reveal exclusively to PerezHilton.com that Madonna and the baseball player are friends and nothing more.”They have mutual friends in common.”

By Eric Hegedus | Article Date: 7/01/2008 1:15 AM

Apparently I’m a 12-year-old girl trapped in a (much older) gay guy’s body.

That’s right: In a humbling act of self-sacrifice, I watched the Jonas Brothers’ Camp Rock movie. Shock of shocks, I made it through fairly unscathed and disturbingly entertained between giggles. And it wasn’t because I think Kevin Jonas pings. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that.)

Truth is, in good conscience I can’t stick with my original plan of calling it cruel or randy names, like “Camp Shlock” or “Camp Cock.” Sure, it was a silly, predictable electro-pop, full of sugary lyrics punctuated by throaty “oooh-UHs.” But that’s all it ultimately needs to be for the teen and tween set, who according to news reports tuned in en masse.

The bottom line is the Jonas Brothers are the Hansons with less of a future in music but more dough to sustain themselves in the long run (all hail the deity known as Disney). Rest assured, boy fans will get their hair butchered into the Joe Jonas frizzy shag, while girls will keep dripping for his other shag.

Oh, yeah: numerous news outlets are reporting that a Camp Rock sequel is on the table with shooting expected sometime next year. Start, start, start the party!

In other beautiful boy news, we hear that Chace Crawford’s limp wrist is yet again flapping about in an effort to swat away any rumors regarding his questionable sexuality.

We’ve all seen the multitude of photos of the Gossip Girl stud and his connected-at-the-hip travel buddy JC Chasez over the past few months. In hot pursuit of the truth, a reporter from Metro UK asked him about the gay rumors, and he told them, “You haven’t made it unless there’s been a gay rumour about you.”

So, is he boinking JC? “No, of course not,” he practically screamed in the Q&A posted online last Wednesday.

Well, of course, a mere 24 hours later his people were also dismissing rumors that he’s tossing tongues with GG cast mate Ed Westwick. “Absolutely untrue,” his reps told Us Magazine. Gosh, I guess Chace has officially “made it.” Again and again and again. And he probably isn’t finished making it yet.

More on next page…

(continued)

In other outing news: Remember Army Sgt. Darren Manzella, who came out on 60 Minutes last December and has seemingly languished in limbo since then? Well, What-A-Manzella has finally been booted from boot camp under the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Seriously. It took military brass a full six months from when the sexy sarge appeared on a national news program to figure out that, yuppers, there was a problem with his declaration. (Also note that he first came out to an Army supervisor back in 2006. The response at that time was that there was no “evidence” of homosexuality, despite solid photographic, uh, proof.)

Wow. Yet America wonders why there’s no timeline for military withdrawal from Iraq. Turns out it’s because no one’s going to realize there’s a problem until about five years from now.

There were some other guys in “uniform” who caught our attention last week, too. I’m of course talking about the “Brokeback meets Broadway” DC Cowboys who dazzled us with their smiles and tight-tight jeans on America’s Got Talent. Nothing like a flash of red flannel and Levis to stimulate our hearts, not to mention other body parts!

The queer cowpokes sure beat the show’s other gay entry: A scary-tall Dionne Warwick impersonator who needs to retire the mascara and cheek implants. Just walk on by, girl.

Didja hear that Anderson Cooper pretty much got called out as a big ol’ girl on his CNN program last week? And by the Rev. Al Sharpton at that?

Okay, I exaggerate. But during a discussion about evangelicals and the issues they can’t help but rail on, the Rev. Al seemed to be addressing our Coopster as if the conversation were one-on-one in a church confessional, and not in front of a bazillion viewers.

“I may have some very conservative personal feelings but I feel you have the right to live your life differently,” said Sharpton. “I might think that what you do, Anderson, is gonna put you in Hell, but I’m gonna defend your right to get there.”

Responded Anderson in all his gaily grinning glory, “I appreciate all your concerns about my afterlife. I’m personally not all that concerned, but that’s a whole other discussion.”

You can say that again.

The blogosphere naturally exploded with the news that the gay gig was up for Anderson. But the Rev. Al later clarified to Gay City News that he didn’t mean to imply that our graying God was, you know, that way.

“I have no idea of his sexuality. I was not talking about him as an individual anyway. It could have been anybody,” he said.

Thanks, Al. You were almost our hero there.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation did some calling out themselves last week.

In an exercise that mixes together people with divergent lives for a month, the FX Network show 30 Days tossed a salad that would leave a truly bitter taste: Two gay dads spending quality time with an anti-gay Christian woman named Kati. Intercut with their not-so-bonding experience was analysis from Peter Sprigg, a rather misguided fellow from the feverishly anti-gay Family Research Council. You know his boilerplate drill: “… higher rates of sexual promiscuity … mental illness … child sexual abuse …” Blah, blah, blah.

Well, our friends at GLAAD asked the network to remove Sprigg’s mirky claims from any future airings, or to at least bring in more credible experts for accuracy’s sake. FX’s response: Not so much.

So GLAAD is pushing its supporters to bombard network highers-up with requisite phone calls and e-mails of complaint. Expect a lot of full voicemails and inboxes at FX headquarters for a while.

In other finger-wagging news, the bombastic blowhards at the American Family Association last week successfullly convinced the Heinz company to pull a witty ad in England that depicts a “homosexual family” (oh, horror!) and a same-sex smooch (more horror!).

In response, gay rights group Stonewall is calling a boycott of Heinz products, labeling the ad’s inclusive content “innocuous,” and adding that they “can’t imagine that Heinz would respond to protests about black people featuring in their adverts.”

Quite true. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the Heinz boycott somehow makes it across the pond and is embraced by gays perusing supermarkets in North America, too. Hold the ketchup and relish, please.

Speaking of homo-centric advertising, be sure to check out the plethora of gay-themed ads that have been rounded up over the years by the Commercial Closet Association at CommercialCloset.org. The nonprofit group is prepping for its annual Images in Advertising Awards, which later this month will shine a bright, stunningly pink spotlight on the best gay-inclusive ads from 2007. Expect that the gay-forward ad that spurred the Heinz debacle will somehow make next year’s cut, even if the company ultimately wimped out.

We couldn’t help but notice that gay faves Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, The Wire and Grey’s Anatomy were among the shows listed in last week’s unprecedented release of semifinalists for this year’s Primetime Emmy awards. Look for our own Neil Patrick Harris and Daisies cutie Kristin Chenoweth to announce the final nominations during a live event on July 17, with the Emmy telecast itself set for Sept. 21.

And about our man, our Dirty Dirty Doogie (surely you recall his declaration of having a “versatile” sex life to Howard Stern not too long ago). Is Neil Patrick Harris all over the place lately, or what? In between filming How I Met Your Mother, he’s also popping up in droll print and TV ads for Old Spice products (how SO not gay!). Plus, the trailer for his starring role in the peculiar Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (“coming soon to a computer near you”) is becoming quite the virtal tease at DrHorrible.com. The more NPH, the merrier, we say.

Another online destination to check out: If you like music videos, meander to MTV’s new FNMTV online network. Every Friday night, the show “FNMTV Premieres” will debut new music vids, sprinkled with guest performances and appearances by the hottest of the hot, from Rihanna to Maroon 5. Bonus: it’s hosted by occasional man-kisser and daddy-to-be Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. Consider it bookmarked.

While we’re on man-macking, did you not howl when Will Smith puckered up and lured David Letterman into some chaste yet cheeky smooches on the Late Show last week? And when the Hancock star pushed Davey’s buttons with “Once you go black, you never go back, Dave!” poor Mr. Letterman had no idea where to go from there and wound up changing the subject entirely.

Perhaps he should take some pointers from Pete Wentz.

Then again, we all should

Article Date: 06/26/2008

By Adam Higgins

A female prison guard was raped and murdered by an inmate while on duty at a Daytona Beach prison last night, The Associated Press is reporting.

Donna Fitzgerald had worked at the prison for 13 years. According to the Department of Corrections, 39-year-old inmate Enoch Hall attacked Fitzgerald Wednesday night while she was on duty at Tomoka Correctional Institution.

Hall is already serving two life sentences for a kidnapping conviction from a 1993 case and sexual battery with a weapon from a separate case from 1992, according to United Press International. According to reports, Fitzgerald, 50, discovered Hall hiding in a warehouse area of the prison after lights out on Wednesday.

“Words cannot express the sorrow I feel over the loss of our correctional officer,” said Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil, according to AP. “The entire department grieves the murder of one of our finest officers, and we pray for the victim’s family during this difficult time.”

Charges have yet to be filed against Hall. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently investigating the attack.

WASHINGTON — The Army has discharged a decorated medic who was deployed to Iraq despite acknowledging he was gay.

Darren Manzella, 30, said he revealed his sexual orientation to his military supervisor in August 2006, and was redeployed to Iraq anyway. He has since spoken out publicly several times about being a gay service member.

Manzella was discharged this month for “homosexual admission.” His commander’s discharge recommendation included a transcript of an interview he gave to television show “60 Minutes” in December 2007, in which Manzella said he is gay.

He did the same in a number of other interviews and even at a Washington news conference. The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibits active-duty service members from openly acknowledging they are gay or lesbian.

The discharge was effective June 10, a spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a news release. Manzella was traveling and not immediately available for comment.

The Army press office declined comment by phone Friday, but requested an e-mail query, which was submitted and awaiting response.

Manzella first told a military supervisor about his sexual orientation in August 2006 while he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and working in division headquarters. Three weeks after Manzella made the revelation, his battalion commander told him an investigation had been closed without finding “proof of homosexuality.”

A month later, Manzella was redeployed to Iraq. Manzella and his supporters have said his case demonstrates how the military has been arbitrarily enforcing its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy during the war.

Manzella enlisted in the Army in 2002. In Iraq, he provided medical care to other soldiers and accompanied his unit on patrols. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge.

Manzella’s last assignment was to Fort Hood with the 1st Cavalry Division.

___

On the Net: Servicemembers Legal Network: http://www.sldn.org

U.S. Army: http://www.army.mil

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

by The Associated Press

Posted: June 16, 2008 - 10:30 am ET

(London) Britain’s military says soldiers and airmen will be allowed to wear their uniforms to this year’s gay pride march in London.

The military said Saturday it would permit British Army and Royal Air Force personnel to show off their military affiliation in the July 5 parade.

The decision brings the forces in line with the Royal Navy, which already allows sailors to participate in uniform.

Britain began allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the military in 2000. While military personnel have been able to participate in the pride march since then, soldiers and airmen have done so in civilian clothes.

Gay rights groups welcomed the decision.

In the US gays are prevented from serving openly in the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.. 

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: June 16, 2008 - 3:00 pm ET

(Reading, Pennsylvania) A 61-year old Reading woman is in jail awaiting trial for allegedly beating her granddaughter with a cane and a belt after finding the teen in bed with another girl.

Joyce Y. Beddell is charged with aggravated and simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.

She is being held in jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Police said that Beddell discovered her granddaughter in bed having sex with a neighborhood teen girl.

The neighboring teen ran when Beddell entered the room, according to police, and escaped the elder woman’s wrath.

The granddaughter was not so lucky. Beddell allegedly took a cane and then a belt to the 16 year old. She then forcibly took the girl from the house.

Neighbors saw Beddell taking the limping granddaughter to the other girl’s home where she informed that girl’s parent of the affair.

Police say Beddell then took the 16-year home where she proceeded to beat her again. 

The 16-year old suffered serious bruises to her buttocks and legs.

Police were called to the house to investigate a report of child abuse. It is not clear who filed the abuse report.

The teen is being treated in hospital for unspecified injuries the Reading Eagle reported.

Beddell told police that she had done nothing wrong, the paper reported, and said she should be allowed to discipline her granddaughter as she sees fit.

Church of England says clergy should not bless gay unions
LONDON (AP) | Jun 16, 10:29 AM

The bishop of London said Sunday he would order an investigation into whether two gay priests exchanged rings and vows in a church ceremony, violating Anglican guidelines.
The priests walked down the aisle in a May 31 service at one of London’s oldest churches marked by a fanfare of trumpets and capped by a shower of confetti, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph reported.

The bishop, the Right Rev. Richard Chartres, said such services are not authorized in the Church of England. He said he would ask the archdeacon of London to investigate.

A call placed with the archdeacon was not immediately returned.

Britain officially recognizes civil partnerships but the Church of England’s guidelines say clergy should not bless such unions.

The wedding-like ceremony is likely to anger conservative members of the Anglican Communion, a loose-knit worldwide Christian grouping that includes the Episcopal Church in the U.S.

Conservatives are fiercely opposed to both same-sex partnerships and the ordaining of gay priests, and the issue threatens to tear the Anglicans apart. The archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, was quoted by the Telegraph as calling the ceremony “blasphemous.”

The ceremony took place at St. Bartholomew the Great, according to the report. The Rev. Peter Cowell and the Rev. David Lord exchanged rings, read each other poetry and took part in communion, the paper said.

While not technically a marriage, the ceremony’s liturgy, including the introductory “Dearly beloved,” closely matched the wording used for weddings.

Telephone and e-mail messages to St. Bartholomew the Great were not immediately returned Sunday.

The Sunday Times quoted the Rev. Martin Dudley, who presided over the service, as saying he had no regrets.

“‘Unrepentant’ would be the right word,” Dudley was quoted as saying. “I have made no secret about this. I have done something that was a very nice pastoral, godly occasion. … I certainly didn’t do it to defy anyone. I have done what I believe is right.”

Church of England spokesman Lou Henderson said the archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Communion’s spiritual leader, was unlikely to make any public comment about the controversy.

By Jonas Oliver | 6/10/2008

As Barack Obama settles into his role as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, his opponents on the right are circulating rumors questioning his eligibility to hold the highest office in American politics.

The controversy centers around whether or not Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, as his bio claims, or in Kenya, the birthplace of his late father, Barack Obama, Sr. To date, the Obama campaign has refused requests to release a copy of the senator’s birth certificate.

According to the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR), GOP operatives were sent to Kenya months ago to dig up any useful “dirt” on Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, Jr.

Back in February WMR reported that:

“Intelligence sources in Africa are reporting that amid the post-election turmoil wracking Kenya, a three-person team (including a possible Korean-American woman) arrived in Nairobi last week and began asking questions about Barack Obama’s father, the late Barack Obama, Sr. The team also inquired about the Senator Obama Secondary School in Nyangoma-Kogelo in northwestern Kenya, the area where Obama’s father, an ethnic Luo, hailed and where his grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango, still lives.”

In an update this week, WMR reported that:

“It now appears that this same team traveled to Mombasa and dug up a certificate registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. to his father, a Kenyan citizen, and mother, an American citizen.”

The article then goes on to suggest that the GOP hopes to use the information uncovered in Kenya to make the claim that Senator Obama is not eligible to become President of the United States because he was born in a foreign country. If they can’t do that, at the very least, insiders seem to think it will plant the seed in the voter’s minds that Obama is a foreigner even if the charge is false.

There seems to be little proof to the charges that some on the right intend to make, but some expect that they will be part of a broader campaign by some conservative corners to raise questions about Barack Obama’s patriotism and ties going into the general election.

In stark contrast, however, one conservative pundit has offered Sen. Obama some advice on quelling what he describes as the ‘unlikely’ rumors surrounding his birthplace that are gaining currency in conservative corners of the web.

Jim Geraghty of National Review Online’s Campaign Spot blog thinks Barack Obama would be well advised to simply release his birth certificate. One by one, Geraghty dissects the Obama birth certificate rumors as follows:

Rumor one: Obama was born in Kenya.

Rather unlikely, as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene. However, if it were true, it would probably raise a major question of “does he qualify as a natural-born citizen”? If Obama were born outside the United States, one could argue that he would not meet the legal definition of natural-born citizen under because U.S. law at the time of his birth required his natural-born parent (his mother) to have resided in the United States for “ten years, at least [five] of which had to be after the age of 16.”

Ann Dunham was 18 when Obama was born – so she wouldn’t have met the requirement of five years after the age of 16.

(Interestingly, apparently there isn’t much paperwork on Obama’s parents’ marriage. Obama: From Promise to Power, page. 27: “Obama later confessed that he never searched for the government documents on the marriage, although Madelyn (Obama’s maternal grandmother) insisted they were legally married.” Also note that Obama’s father apparently was not legally divorced from his first wife back in Kenya at the time, a point of contention that ultimately led to their separation.)

Rumor Two: Obama’s middle name is not “Hussein” but “Muhammad.”

As Politifact notes, all available public records going back to 1991 refer to the candidate as “Barack H. Obama.” It is theoretically possible, if not plausible, that Obama changed his name at some earlier point in his life, as he was sorting out his issues of culture and identity. But this would mean that Obama recognized how emotionally-charged the name “Muhammad” would become in American life long before the 9/11 attacks. And if you’re going to change your middle name from that of the central figure in Islam because you fear controversy, picking the last name of the highest-profile anti-American dictator in the Middle East (Saddam) doesn’t seem like a huge improvement.

Rumor Three: His mother did not want to name him after his father, and his birth certificate says “Barry.”

Perhaps the most plausible of the rumors, as Obama was known by that name through much of his childhood and young adulthood. If true, this would spur a new round of “When Barry Became Barack” stories – a minor headache for the campaign, but hardly a major scandal.

When Sen. John McCain became the likely nominee to become Republican candidate for president, the birthplace question was previously used against him, albeit unsuccessfully.

The Senate wound up having to vote on Sen. McCain’s status as a citizen to quiet the media back then and perhaps they may have to do it again for Sen. Obama.

Barack Obama Birth Certificate Called Into Question

By Ann Turner | 6/13/2008

A U.S. Circuit Court judge has admitted to posting porn images and fetish videos, including a ‘transsexual striptease’, on his personal web site; a revelation that has called into question his ability to make ethical judgments from the bench. Judge Alex Kozinski claims the material was meant to be private and should have no bearing on his ability to do his job. The public scandal over the judge’s porn stash forced Kozinski to halt the obscenity trial of pornographer Ira Isaacs, over which he was presiding as chief judge.

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times uncovered evidence of porn images and videos posted on Judge Kozinski’s personal web site. Some of the material found included a photo of nude women made up to look like dairy cows, a video of a man being chased by an aroused donkey and a transsexual striptease slideshow.

Judge Kozinski admitted to the Times that he had probably posted at least some of the porn material to his web site, but said the materials were not meant to be seen by the public. He also claims the material must have been accidentally uploaded to his server when he meant to be uploading something else. Judge Kozinski also implied that perhaps the porn postings were actually the fault of his son. “I would not keep those files intentionally,” Kozinski stated.

The web site in question is managed by Kozinski’s son Yale, who told the Times that he maintains the space, but did not comment on who specifically might have posted the racy images and videos.

In response to the public revelation of his porn postings, Judge Kozinski has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Council to delve into his actions and prove that his private life has no bearing on his public position. The 57-year-old judge said he would cooperate fully with any investigation.

In light of the scandal over Judge Kozinski’s online porn collection, he has suspended the trial of pornographer Ira Isaacs, who is facing charges of obscenity for distributing films featuring bestiality and other fetishes.

Lawyers are expected to review the case this weekend to determine whether Judge Kozinski should be asked to step down from overseeing the proceedings.

Judge in Obscenity Trial Admits to Posting Porn Online

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: May 23, 2008 - 8:00 am ET

(San Francisco, California) Hundreds of people filled the Rotunda at San Francisco City Hall Thursday night for the official unveiling of a bronze bust honoring the first openly gay man to hold a prominent elected office in the United States - more than 28 years after he was assassinated.

The unveiling came on what would have been Milk’s 78th birthday.

"We’re celebrating an icon tonight. We’re celebrating a pioneer. We’re celebrating San Francisco. We’re celebrating San Francisco values. And, we’re celebrating all that’s good and right with this City,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 and shot to death a year later, along with Mayor George Moscone, by fellow supervisor Dan White.

White was convicted of manslaughter, and served a little more than three years in prison before committing suicide.

In the years since his death, Milk has become the most recognizable martyr of the gay rights movement.

The effort to honor the politician began in 2001 when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting a memorial.

Money to create the sculpture was raised by Harvey Milk City Hall Memorial Committee. It took four years to reach the goal and then a national competition was launched to find an artist. 

In January 2007 a panel of community leaders and arts professionals selected three finalists.  Maquettes of their designs were displayed for community comment in City Hall and the panel, with overwhelming public support, chose Daub, Firmin, and Hendrickson Sculpture Group as the winning team.

Last month the San Francisco Arts Commission formally approved the placement of the sculpture in the Ceremonial Rotunda in City Hall.

The bronze sculpture sits atop a stone base inscribed with a quote from one of his most famous speeches.

There already is a sculpture of Moscone outside San Francisco’s City Hall.

Earlier this week the California Assembly passed legislation designating May 22 each year as Harvey Milk Day. The bill now moves to the state Senate where it is expected to encounter little difficulty.

Milk has been immortalized in the film "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk", at a school named for him, and a plaza near Castro and Market Streets. Shooting was recently completed on a second film, a dramatization of Milk’s life starring Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Sant.

By Duane Wells | 5/23/2008

Several months ago Mark McKinnon, Sen. John McCain’s chief advertising strategist, publicly announced that he would resign his role with the McCain organization if Barack Obama became the Democratic Party’s 2008 nominee for president. At the time, McKinnon explained his decision by pointing out that while he believed Mr. Obama was “wrong on some fundamental issues” and that Sen. McCain was best suited for the presidency, Barack Obama’s election to the presidency “would send a great message to the country and the world.”

This week, with Obama now being touted as the likely Democratic president nominee following his primary win in Oregon, Mr. McKinnon, true to his word, stepped down from his post with John McCain’s campaign, saying, "I’ll be transitioning, shifting position from linebacker to head cheerleader," according to a New York Times article. McKinnon also simultaneously acknowledged that he would remain a “friend and fan” of the McCain campaign post the transition.

Please feel free to start scratching your head now.

While Mark McKinnon is to be applauded for his integrity in honoring the commitment he made months ago, the rationale behind his decision to not lead the charge against Barack Obama in a general election match-up against John McCain and his ongoing role within the McCain campaign subsequent to that decision, make his bold and unconventional move both hypocritical and somewhat suspect to this political observer.

First of all, when did considerations about the message a candidate’s election might send to the country or the world begin to outweigh those about that particular candidate’s ability to lead or his or her stance on key policy issues? Are we not electing a commander-in-chief rather than a commander-in charm? Listening to Mr. McKinnon’s logic might lead one to believe that America is choosing the latter.

It hardly seems valid that Mark McKinnon would walk away from his role as the architect of John McCain’s advertising strategy solely on the basis of any grand statement Barack Obama’s election might make. Particularly not if he genuinely believes John McCain is the man who should ultimately reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January.

I mean, why would anyone so publicly jump off the bandwagon of a candidate they profess to support "1,000 percent" as Mr. McKinnon claimed about Sen. John McCain in an email to campaign staffers? It just doesn’t add up, but then again… it does.

A much more likely reason for Mr. McKinnon’s decision to move to the sidelines of the McCain campaign lies in his desire to win and his uncertainty that Mr. McCain can do that against Barack Obama in the fall. After all, who ever enjoys being a loser? In fact, McKinnon has been quoted as saying, “I just don’t want to work against an Obama candidacy.”

See how it’s all getting a little clearer now?

McKinnon was a media adviser for both George W. Bush’s successful 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns as well as his winning 1998 gubernatorial campaign. Interestingly, McKinnon, a former Democrat, was also a consultant to the late Ann Richards who Dubya defeated to become governor of Texas in 1994. Perhaps that’s where he first developed a disdain for being on the losing side of an election… an experience upon which his choice to get out of the driver’s seat as McCain’s ad guru in chief in this election may have been predicated.

You know what they say… once bitten, twice shy.

There’s also the nagging issue of race that running against Barack Obama raises. As some Democrats, Clinton supporters in particular, have learned the hard way in this year’s primaries and caucuses, it’s not easy to attack an African-American candidate without being labeled a racist. As a recent New York Times piece on the subject observes, “Mr. McKinnon’s decision highlights challenges Mr. McCain may face in running against a man who will be the first black presidential candidate from a major American political party if he cinches the Democratic nomination.”

Here’s the deal. This race could get very ugly, very quickly despite calls from all sides—Obama, Hillary Clinton and McCain—to focus on the issues, rather than the muck. But we all know that this may well be the political fight of the century and that there’s no way the ultimate nominees are going to be playing kissy face with one another up through November. For the love of all things holy, this is a fight for America’s soul as well as its future and it’s going to get bloody! Period.

Maybe McKinnon does not want any part in all of the ugliness that is sure to ensue. Maybe Mr. McKinnon just doesn’t want to be the man responsible for tearing down and dissecting a man who, whether you like him or not, will make history if he becomes the nominee, win or lose. Maybe, just maybe, McKinnon wants no part of a strategy that will likely involve Republicans angling for the swing state votes of the white, middle class voters, seniors, Latinos and women who now favor Hillary Clinton, but could quite easily be swung into the Republican column with a little help from the race card and a reprise of Mr. Obama’s ‘bittergate’, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers scandals.

Any of the above would offer valid reasons to distance oneself from the McCain camp. But to leave a campaign because you think the message a rival candidate’s election might convey to the world at large, however inept that candidate might be, is quite beyond the pale.

Another more believable reason for McKinnon’s decision to take a back seat in this election is the possibility that perhaps he’s just not that into John McCain. According to some published reports, McKinnon has a tendency get totally swept up by the candidates he represents.

In a 2005 PBS Frontline interview, McKinnon spoke almost lovingly of how he was charmed out of a lifetime of service to the Democratic Party by George W. Bush’s ‘humanity’ and ‘character’.

When asked what made him decide to accept Pres. Bush’s invitation to work on his 1998 gubernatorial campaign, McKinnon said: “Well, what tipped it for me was his humanity. And again, it was a character. When I first met the governor, our discussion was really framed—I’m not surprised that he was a good politician; I was surprised at what a great human being he was, what he cared about. He talked about his family and priority in life. All the other politicians I’ve met before and worked for were trying to convince me about what great politicians they were. This guy was like: ‘Let’s forget about politics—how are your kids? What’s going on in their lives?’ It was just so different and refreshing.”

Sounds like a blissful union. It also sounds like it wouldn’t be such a stretch to conclude that while McKinnon is probably a great fan of John McCain’s, he’s no George W. Bush to him either.

If Mark McKinnon had stepped down as he said he would because he didn’t want to campaign against Barack Obama and left it at that, it would have been an unvarnished act of true political courage. If he had then thrown his support to Barack Obama’s camp, even I might have been convinced of Barack Obama’s ability to bring together the parties.

But because he decided to relinquish the reins of John McCain advertising strategy while still advising him about the same and describing himself as a "1,000 percent McCain man" in an email, McKinnon is the hypocrite of the week.

Lesbian icon Jodie Foster and her lady friend Cydney Bernard have called it quits after 14 years.

Just six months after Foster, 45, publicly acknowledged her relationship by thanking her "beautiful Cydney" at an awards ceremony last December, the power couple has supposedly split, according to the National Enquirer.

"Jodie’s break up with Cydney is shocking. She and Cydney have been together for so many years and have two children together - the potential fallout and legal wrangling from this could be monumental,” a source told the Enquirer.

After years of speculation, Foster finally acknowledged her hush, hush relationship with Bernard, 54, at the Women in Entertainment Breakfast when she thanked “my beautiful Cydney, who sticks by me through all the rotten and the bliss.”

Since Foster and Bernard hit it off on the set Foster’s 1993 film,Sommersby, they’ve led a quiet life, raising two sons, Charlie, 9, and Kit, 6, together.

While the two-time Academy Award winner for The Accused and Silence of the Lambs, refused for years to speak publicly about her private life with Bernard, the couple has worn matching Tiffany eternity rings on their wedding ring fingers for several years, The Daily Mail reported.

Fiercely protective of her private life, Foster has forgone hiring household staff for fear her private life would be leaked to the public, The Daily Mail alleged, adding that she refuses to answer the telephone or to carry a mobile phone.

Besides protecting her children and her personal life with Bernard, Foster has attempted to remain out of the public eye since 1981 when John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan to get her attention.

 by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: May 5, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET

(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) A proposed constitutional amendment that would bar same-sex marriage and civil unions in Pennsylvania passed a key committee on Monday and is now headed for a full vote on the Senate floor.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 18 - 8 to send the bill to the Senate. If it passes it would then need approval of the House and then a second round of approvals in the next session of the legislature.

The earliest it could be placed on the ballot would be in 2009.

Pennsylvania already limits marriage to opposite-sex couples but supporters of the amendment say a clear definition of marriage is needed in the constitution to prevent judges from striking down the law.

Following the committee vote LGBT rights groups and their supporters demonstrated inside the Capitol, shouting "Stop this bill."

"Pennsylvania’s constitution was never intended to be a tool that restricts people’s rights," state  Sen. Connie Williams (D) told the protestors.

"When the basic human rights are threatened then no one’s rights are safe," said Sen. VIncent Fumo (D). Both Fumo and Williams said they would vote against the measure when it comes before the Senate.

Rep. Dan Frankel (D) vowed a fight in the House.

"It takes a lot of chutzpah to talk about putting discrimination into the constitution of Pennsylvania," he told the protestors.

A recent poll found that although most Pennsylvanians oppose same-sex marriage there was widespread support civil unions.

The poll, conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, found 65 percent of those questioned support civil unions while only 27 percent were opposed. (story)

by The Associated Press

Posted: April 10, 2008 - 10:30 am ET

(Ashland, Kentucky)  A high school student won’t be allowed to proceed with a lawsuit against his school district for instituting a policy that barred him from expressing his opposition to homosexuality, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, said Boyd County High School student Timothy Morrison failed to show that he was harmed by the policy that was later changed.

Judge Deborah L. Cook, joined by Judge John R. Adams, also said Morrison didn’t show how winning a lawsuit seeking only $1 in damages would rectify his situation. Judge Karen Nelson Moore dissented.

"This case should be over," Cook wrote. "Allowing it to proceed to determine the constitutionality of an abandoned policy - in the hope of awarding the plaintiff a single dollar - vindicates no interest and trivializes the important business of the federal courts."

The ruling is a reversal of a previous ruling that held Morrison should be allowed to pursue the lawsuit.

Morrison, a senior at Boyd County High School, sued the Boyd County school district over a policy that required students to undergo anti-harassment training. He claimed the policy threatened him with punishment for expressing religious beliefs in opposition to homosexuality. Morrison is a professed Christian who believes his religion requires him to speak out against what he sees as behavior that doesn’t comport with his understanding of Christian morality.

Morrison was never punished under the policy, which was later changed to exempt speech that would normally be protected off campus.

The school district adopted the policy and established the anti-harassment training as part of a 2004 legal settlement that ended a lawsuit between the school district and a now-defunct gay-rights group that wanted recognition as an extracurricular group.

Members of the Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance argued that the school district violated their constitutional rights by refusing to allow them to meet on campus.

Joel Oster, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian law group that represents Morrison, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his Scottsdale, Ariz., office. Winter Huff, an attorney representing the school district, didn’t immediately return a call to her Somerset office.

Sharon McGowan, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which supported the Alliance Defense Fund in arguing that Morrison should be permitted to pursue his case, said the ACLU was disappointed by the decision.