Gay/Lesbian News

Two leading members of the Democratic Unionist Party have come out in defence of their colleague Iris Robinson.

Mrs Robinson, the MP for Strangford, was at the centre of a new controversy yesterday when the Belfast Telegraph revealed she had likened child abuse to homosexuality during a Commons committee proceeding.

Sammy Wilson, an MP and Northern Ireland's environment minister, said on the BBC this morning that his colleague is being harassed by the media and is entitled to express her views.

"We believe Christian values should be upheld in our society," he said.

Gregory Campbell MP also claimed the media is picking on Mrs Robinson.

"Whatever you say about the gay rights camp, they do have rights and they are protected in law," he told the Londonderry Sentinel.

"I and my colleagues are in favour of upholding the law. Homosexuals have rights and so do heterosexuals.

"One of our rights is to say that they are wrong. I view that as an inalienable right.

Suddenly this summer, the reality of same-sex couples lining up to get married in California has led some religious leaders to rethink their government role.

In a letter last month, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California directed his clergy to "encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then being blessed in The Episcopal Church."

The bishop's missive illustrates what a tangled web we have woven when clergy intone "by the power invested in me by the state."

Because the Episcopal Church doesn't sanction same-sex marriage — but gives the option of blessing the union — the bishop appears to be seeking a way to bless all couples while distancing the church from legal arrangements sanctioned by the state.

"There are a lot of benefits in getting out of the legal marriage business," the Very Rev. Brian Baker told The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee in reaction to the bishop's letter. "This way the clergy and the couple can focus on the spiritual blessings the church has to offer and not the political stuff."

I woke up this morning and turn on the news, as usual, and there's a story where a man shot at a burglar to scare him away from his house. When the police arrived to question the man he told them someone had tried to break into his home and thats why he shot his gun. The police officer says there's no one around and took him to the local hospital for a mental eval. There you go folks. Just remember when you shoot at a burglar don't miss cause the police wont believe anyone was there in the first place, and everyone knows that if you scare a burglar away they hang out to wait for the police to show up. Rediculous

Elizabeth Berkley, who flirted with the L word during her Showgirls days, is joining the Showtime hit for a multi-episode arc. ...

A transgender woman is suing the leaders of the Georgia legislature to return to her job in the state General Assembly after she was fired for stating her intention to live as a woman.

A Greek court ruled on Tuesday that homosexual women can be called 'lesbians', rejecting an appeal by residents of Lesbos island.

Todays letter comes from a married 50 year old mother of three who finds she is attracted to other women and is in a dilemma about what to do....

Last four years Polish procurator office tried bring former League of Polish Families parliamentarian and former Vice Marshall of Mazovia district to crime court.

For whole this time Wojciech Wierzejski was protected by parliamentarian immunity. But when in 2007 LPF loose elections, he loose his immunity too. Procurator office decided brings his dark cases to court.

What this case is about? In 2004 Mr. Wierzejski refuses to shake hand with me on public interview. He said that he is afraid of AIDS. After this incident many people sent him a letters with disapointments. So Mr. Wierzejski took all names and adresses from this letters and published them on his website as a "list of faggots and lesbians who are attacking him".

He made two big mistakes. First - it is against Polish law to publish names and adresses of people who wrote a letter and don't agree for this - especially by public office. Second - this is against Polish crime law also to publish information about sexual preferences of people who don't agree for this. By the way - most of this people was heterosexual ;)

Today I receive invitation from a court for first case hearing. As a victim I have right to be a civil persecutor in that case. It means that I will cooperate with public procurator in persecutor role.

First court meeting will be at 19th August. According to Polish crime law, Mr. Wierzejski can go to jail for 3 years.

Keep fingers crossed.

The body of Ahmet Yildiz, Turkey's first suspected victim of a gay "honour killing," has been removed from the city morgue.

The remains of the 26-year-old physics student had been left there by his family, a move common in "honour killings" cases.

His body was found in his car.

His partner, who held a German passport, left the country on the advice of the consulate.

A t Friday's executive session, Showtime chairman and CEO Matthew C. Blank announced a spin-off of The L Word, every lesbian's favorite drama with the hot mamas.

Though the spin-off is in very preliminary stages, Blank confirmed that series creator Ilene Chaiken is working on a new series that will star one of the current cast members. Further, he said that the series finale of The L Word will feature an open-ended storyline that will continue in some online iteration until the spin-off begins airing, and then will become part of the spin-off's narrative

Tomorrow will mark the first Congressional hearing to evaluate the continued viability of the U.S. military "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy since its inception in 1993.

Much has changed in the way of public opinion over the past fifteen years. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" no longer appears to reflect the attitude of the majority of American citizens.

Adding that he was totally orthodox on doctrines such as the Trinity, the Resurrection and the Virgin Birth, he said: “We are fighting over something that is much less than all those. We have raised this one issue of sexuality over and above all the essentials. This is at best unhelpful — and at worst idolatry.”

This morning's required reading is the brand new cover of Newsweek, Young, Gay and Murdered, a surely-to-be controversial examination of the life and death of portrayal of the late Lawrence King, the 15-year-old gay teen who was gunned down in February.

The magazine asks some of the same questions we have raised in recent weeks—"Kids are coming out younger, but are schools ready to handle the complex issues of identity and sexuality?"—and paints a disturbing and a times unsympathetic portrait of the flamboyant, biracial gay teen.

The Census Bureau says that when it conducts the 2010 census, it will not report as married those same-sex couples who in fact are legally married. Instead, the Bureau essentially plans – in the words of one couple highlighted in the Post’s coverage of this policy – to “Photoshop them out of the picture.” According to Census Bureau official Martin O’Connell, “If a respondent refers to a person of the same gender as their ‘husband/wife’ on the 2010 census form, the Census Bureau will automatically assign them to the ‘unmarried partner’ category. Legally married same-sex couples will be indistinguishable in census data from those who choose ‘unmarried partner’ to describe their relationship.” The Bureau describes this sleight of hand as “editing.”

Let's face it - lesbians haven't always been the best dressers.

I think we're all painfully aware of the flannel-and-hairy-legs image that persists in our culture even to this day.Well, luckily we've since learned how to dress ourselves without looking like we just went on a drunken shopping spree at Salvation Army.

The Family “Research” Council is at it again, doing what they do best. Their brochure, “The Slippery Slope of Same-Sex ‘Marriage’,” which the FRC is touting in a recent action alert in their battle against same-sex marriage in California, is a prime example of the sort of “research” the FRC is all about....

In a decision highly praised by gay and lesbian advocacy groups, the U.S. Senate voted this week to repeal a ban on HIV positive visitors and immigrants.

Summer getting boring out there in the heartland? Does it feel, at times, like it's all just too much and you need to get away?

So how do forty performances, a film festival, an artisan/craft show and a full roster of workshops, parties and dances are all slated for one glorious week in August on 650 lush green acres in wilds of Northern Michigan sound good to you?

When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently announced it would jump into California politics by supporting a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, many Mormons - including myself - were appalled.

Not long ago we heard news about a group of teens stoning a school bus full of young Jewish students, in New York.

Today I read about a Mexican immigrant who was killed by a group of teens in Pennsylvania.

There has been a rash of graffiti, noose hangings, cross burning and anti-gay hate incidents throughout our country.

One must feel distressed over what type of parents are raising these children? Some would say it's high time the parents were held responsible for their children's actions.