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A cafe on the island of Sao Tome off Africa's west coast relies on its famed aphrodisiac cocktail to pull in punters during the festive season.
A large glass bottle containing a mysterious brown liquid labelled "Pilolo Atomico" - which means Atomic Penis - occupies a prime position on the bar.
"It's so popular, even the president talks about it," says Maria-Joao Pombo, the owner of Cafe and Companhia (Cafe and Company).
"Pilolo Atomico is made up of a mixture of a local brandy and several tree barks," she says.
"We also flavour it with things like cinnamon because it is very bitter. Here in Sao Tome, they say it's an aphrodisiac."
Herbal remedy
Ms Pombo, who moved to the island five years ago, has been selling the cocktail for about a year and a half.
She decided to go commercial after hearing about the local erotic concoction.
"I knew people here eat the bark of plants like Pao three; washing it down with what they call a 'hot (alcoholic) drink'.
"So I decided to combine the ingredients and bottle it," she says.
Traditionally, however, the drink was not only used to enhance sexual potency.
People ate the tree bark to cure stomach pains and hernias. It also gave them the strength to walk for miles without food or drink.
Sceptics
And Pilolo Atomico is not its original name either, this was cooked up by some of Ms Pombo's friends while sitting at the bar.
"I knew the name sounded very suggestive but I didn't know exactly what "pilolo" meant," she explains.
"Once the drink started becoming more popular, I decided to register the name and the product.
"But they wouldn't let me. That is when I found out that "pilolo" means penis."
Sceptics say the cocktail's popularity is just down to its name, but some cafe regulars swear by it.
"When I drink just one glass of pilolo, I feel strong for 12 hours. Believe me, it really does work," says Miguel.
"You just have to make sure you have a beautiful woman with you," he adds.
Women also seemed to appreciate its aphrodisiacal effects.
"It's fantastic, much better than the blue pill," says Alexia, referring to the impotency drug Viagra.
Others say the cocktail is an acquired taste.
"It tastes foul," says Bibi.
But effective or not, safe sex is the message - every Pilolo Atomico comes with a free condom.
from BBC News
CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO - When Mexico's scandalous pop diva Gloria Trevi — once the country's highest-paid performer and known as "Mexico's Madonna" — left jail, she handed out fliers to promote herself.
The hard work is paying off: two years later, Trevi has shot to worldwide superstardom.
Her comeback album, "Como nace el universo," or "How the Universe Was born," went platinum in the United States, selling more than 200,000 copies, and receiving a Latin Billboard Award nomination for best album.
The single "Todos me miran," or "Everyone is Looking at Me," whose video depicts a gay man coming out, hit No. 1 on Mexico's billboard chart. These days, Trevi has become an icon for gay men on both sides of the border, dubbed the "Gay Queen."
"Conservatives criticize (gays) but then they wear the clothes they design, listen to the music that they have made so popular and use the makeup that they create," Trevi told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
Trevi rose to stardom in the 1990s when her songs about sexual independence won over thousands of teenage fans, making her one of Latin America's biggest stars.
Then the bottom fell out: In 2000, Trevi, along with her manager Sergio
Andrade, and backup singer Maria Raquenel Portillo, were arrested and accused of luring young girls into their entourage with promises of stardom and then sexually abusing them.
The three were detained in Brazil, where all had fled to avoid prosecution. They were extradited to Mexico, where a second backup singer was already being held.
After almost five years in Brazilian and Mexican prisons, Trevi was acquitted of charges of kidnapping, rape and corruption of minors.
The 38-year-old singer, who has always maintained her innocence, left jail with her son Angel Gabriel, now 4, and the memory of losing a baby girl who died shortly after being born there. Last year, she gave birth to her second son, Miguel Armando, and says she may have more children.
Trevi no longer talks about her time in jail, but the experience transformed her from a Mexican teen idol into an international star with fans in their 20s and 30s. And although she has tamed her wild lioness mane and toned down her raunchy image — doing away with ripped tights — Trevi hasn't lost her spunk.
She still lets loose on stage, grabbing her crotch and cracking whips.
"My fans like the rebel in me," she said in a recent interview.
She's even managed to strike a fine balance between her rebel girl image and her new life as an activist mother, broadening her appeal.
Trevi also started a foundation, named Ana Dalai after her baby that died, to provide money and support to jailed mothers, saying she has firsthand knowledge of their difficulties. On Monday, she returned to the Chihuahua prison where she was held and handed out toys and medicine to inmate mothers.
She has become a vocal defender of the gay community. The song "Everyone Is Looking at Me," which she said is based on a friend's experience, was a favorite at sold-out shows during Trevi's recent tour of major gay clubs from New York to Los Angeles.
Her album "How the Universe is Born" was a testament to fans of Trevi's fight against social taboos and not being influenced by others, and she has said "Everyone Is looking at me" also relates her own feelings of being rejected by certain sectors of society.
She said she hopes her music inspires people to stay true to themselves.
"Artists, and above all 'La Trevi' teaches us, especially women, about all the sides of ourselves: the sexy one, the showoff, the passionate one, the mother, the super hero," she said.
Later, she added: "My rebelliousness more than anything has a cause. ... I never have been an anarchist, I've always had goals and always have acted out of love."
from The Long Beach Press Telegram
PORTLAND, OREGON - In something that is not too uncommon in tinsel town, Gus Van Sant, American film maker has been arrested for drunken driving in Portland, Oregon. The 54 year old filmmaker was arrested at 1:48 a.m., with bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
With the blood-alcohol level reading 0.19 percent on the breathalyzer, more than twice the permissible state limit of 0.8 percent, Van Sant failed the sobriety tests as well, according to officers that made the arrest. The first move the officers made was when they saw the car he was driving did not have its lights on.
Van Sant was released later and was described as cooperative throughout the arrest. He must pay $500 as fine to retrieve his vehicle, Sgt. Brian Schmautz, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau said.
A court date has been set for Jan. 17.
Van Sant has been at the helm of a number of Hollywood big movies, the most well-known among them being Finding Forrester and Good Will Hunting. Openly gay himself, his movies mostly deal with dysfunction in our society today, and contain a bevy of such dysfunctional characters. After the success of Finding Forrester, he did a remake of one of Hollywood’s first films that dealt with the dysfunctional human – Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Van Sant has been a man of many talents. Born in 1952 in Louisville, Kentucky, Van Sant is not just a filmmaker; he is also a writer, a photographer, and a musician. He started his career shooting commercials for television, and then moved to cinema. As a writer and director, he has worked on adapting to cinema Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, a novel by Tom Robbins.
For most of his early movies, Van Sant had done the screenplay himself. Apart from making movies, he has also written a book – Pink, and also published another book containing his photographic works – 108 Portraits.
Besides, the multi-talented Van Sant also has to his credit two music albums – Gus Van Sant and 18 Songs about Golf. His resume as a director is impressive in itself, and includes Mala Noche, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, To Die For, Good Will Hunting, Psycho, Finding Forrester, Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days.
from The Money Times
Three months into the Reign of Rosie, "The View" has become must-see TV. But is it the type of viewing that series creator Barbara Walters was bargaining for?
Rosie O'Donnell's inclusion in the daytime chat show's cast has boosted ratings but seemingly brought along a controversy du jour, the latest being this week's verbal mud fight between O'Donnell and Donald Trump that started with his backing of Miss USA after reports of her underage drinking.
Since joining in September, O'Donnell has also made waves by accusing Kelly Ripa of homophobia, mocking spoken Chinese and later apologizing, saying actions by Oprah Winfrey and pal Gayle King were "very typical of gay relationships" and saying that "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam."
She also has brought renewed attention, rare for any program in its 10th season. The show's typical audience of 3.3 million this season is up 13% over the same period in 2005, according to Nielsen Media Research.
In a statement this week, Walters said she regretted the friction between O'Donnell and Trump but added that she did not regret her decision to bring O'Donnell on board.
from The Los Angeles Times
Out of Denmark comes a study that will be sure to put a crimp in the we-are-born-that-way theory of the origins of homosexuality. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, provides interesting and tantalizing evidence that the less stable or traditional a child’s home is, the more likely that the child will turn to homosexuality as an adult.
The study used 2,000,355 native-born Danes between the ages of 18 and 49, virtually “the entire Danish population”. With such a large base it can hardly be claimed that the sampling was problematic. Many studies in the past have been discounted because of their sampling sizes — generally being claimed too small.
Denmark was the first country to legalize gay marriage and has a large variety of recognized modes of cohabitation and lifestyles, so this study is of particular interest in that the stats cover the longest range of time available from which to establish the most reliable statistics.
Effects of Upbringing on Sexual Orientation
As quoted on the NARTH website, the study’s authors conclude: “Our study provides population-based, prospective evidence that childhood family experiences are important determinants of heterosexual and homosexual marriage decisions in adulthood.”
The authors go on to say, “Whatever ingredients determine a person’s sexual preferences and marital choices, our population-based study shows that parental interactions are important.”
A further observation is made by Linda Ames Nicolosi of NARTH.
Assuming that people who marry heterosexually are almost always heterosexual — especially in a country where homosexuality carries little stigma, and gay marriage is legal — and people who marry homosexually can be presumed to be homosexual, the study’s findings offer intriguing evidence about family factors separating homosexual from heterosexual persons.
The findings show that children who have unstable or abusive homes are more likely to have homosexual relationships later on. This rings true to many studies that show homosexual males were often sexually abused as children.
This would also tend to prove that homosexuality is more a pathology, than a mere “natural” predilection. It would make the claims of being born gay problematic and, rather, a result of the mind’s reaction to a troubled childhood. It would also tend to make the removal of homosexuality from the rolls of mental health problems a mistake.
Here are some of the findings from the Danish report:
1. Men who marry homosexually are more likely to have been raised in a family with unstable parental relationships — particularly, absent or unknown fathers and divorced parents.
2. Findings on women who marry homosexually were less pronounced, but were still associated with a childhood marked by a broken family. The rates of same-sex marriage “were elevated among women who experienced maternal death during adolescence, women with short duration of parental marriage, and women with long duration of mother-absent cohabitation with father.”
3. Men and women with “unknown fathers” were significantly less likely to marry a person of the opposite sex than were their peers with known fathers.
4. Men who experienced parental death during childhood or adolescence “had significantly lower heterosexual marriage rates than peers whose parents were both alive on their 18th birthday. The younger the age of the father’s death, the lower was the likelihood of heterosexual marriage.”
5. “The shorter the duration of parental marriage, the higher was the likelihood of homosexual marriage…homosexual marriage rates were 36% and 26% higher among men and women, respectively, who experienced parental divorce after less than six years of marriage, than among peers whose parents remained married for all 18 years of childhood and adolescence.”
6. “Men whose parents divorced before their 6th birthday were 39% more likely to marry homosexually than peers from intact parental marriages.”
7. “Men whose cohabitation with both parents ended before age 18 years had significantly (55% -76%) higher rates of homosexual marriage than men who cohabited with both parents until 18 years.”
8. The mother’s age was directly linked to the likelihood of homosexual marriage among men — the older the mother, the more likely her son was to marry another man. Also, “only children” were more likely to be homosexual.
9. Persons born in large cities were significantly more likely to marry a same-sex partner — suggesting that cultural factors might also affect the development of sexual orientation.
In any case, this is a large sampling culled from among what is purportedly the most “tolerant” nation toward homosexuality and alternate lifestyles and it shows that, far from being benign, homosexuality is a result of abuse and instability in the home, as opposed to being some natural proclivity, for a large percentage of the population.
from Blogger News Network / Warner Todd Huston
This is for a reader who demands to know why I write about gay issues. His conclusion is that I must secretly be gay myself.
Actually, he doesn't express himself quite that civilly. To the contrary, his e-mails -- which, until recently, were arriving at the rate of about one a week -- evince a juvenility that would embarrass a reasonably intelligent fifth-grader. The most recent one, for example, carried a salutation reading, "Hi Mrs. Pitts.''
We're talking about the kind of thing for which delete buttons were invented. So you may wonder why I bring it to your attention, especially since acknowledging a person like this only encourages him. It's simple: He raises an interesting question that deserves an answer.
If from that you conclude (or fear) you're about to read a stirring defense of my manly male masculinity, no. The guy is free to believe what he wishes; I really don't care. And here, let me digress to confess that, though I refer to him using masculine pronouns, I don't know if he's a he because his notes have been anonymous. Still, I assume it's a guy because the level of sexual insecurity the e-mails suggest strikes me as -- boy, am I going to get in trouble for this -- rather guy-specific.
Anyway, to get back to the point, I'm not here to argue sexuality. I just find myself intrigued by the idea that if you're not gay, you shouldn't care about gay rights.
The most concise answer I can give is cribbed from what a white kid said 40 or so years ago, as white college students were risking their lives to travel south and register black people to vote. Somebody asked why. He said he acted from an understanding that his freedom was bound up with the freedom of every other man.
I know it sounds cornier than Kellogg's, but that's pretty much how I feel.
I know also that some folks are touchy about anything seeming to equate the black civil rights movement with the gay one. And no, gay people were not kidnapped from Gay Land and sold into slavery, nor lynched by the thousands. On the other hand, they do know something about housing discrimination, they do know job discrimination, they do know murder for the sin of existence, they do know the denial of civil rights and they do know what it is like to be used as scapegoat and bogyman by demagogues and political opportunists.
They know enough of what I know that I can't ignore it. See, I have yet to learn how to segregate my moral concerns. It seems to me if I abhor intolerance, discrimination and hatred when they affect people who look like me, I must also abhor them when they affect people who do not. For that matter, I must abhor them even when they benefit me. Otherwise, what I claim as moral authority is really just self-interest in disguise.
Among the things we seem to have lost in the years since that white kid made his stand is the ability, the imagination, the willingness to put ourselves into the skin of those who are not like us. I find it telling that Vice President Dick Cheney hews to the hard conservative line on virtually every social issue, except gay marriage. It is, of course, no coincidence that Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian. Which tells me his position is based not on principle but, rather, on loving his daughter.
It is a fine thing to love your daughter. I would argue, however, that it is also a fine thing and in some ways, a finer thing, to love your neighbor's daughter, no matter her sexual orientation, religion, race, creed or economic status -- and to want her freedom as eagerly as you want your own.
I believe in moral coherence. And Rule No. 1 is, you cannot assert your own humanity, then turn right around and deny someone else's.
If that makes me gay, fine.
As my anonymous correspondent ably demonstrates, there are worse things to be.
from The Mercury News / Leonard Pitts Jr.
ROME - Pope Benedict spoke out on Friday against legal recognition for unmarried couples and "dismal theories" on the rights of gays to marry which he said stripped men and women of their innate sexual identity.
"I cannot hide my concern about legislation on de facto couples," the Pope said in a Christmas address to the Rome clergy, weighing into a raging debate in Italy over what legal rights should be given to unmarried and gay couples.
Tensions have been rising in recent months between the Vatican and left-wing parties in Prime Minister Romano Prodi's ruling coalition, which has pledged to grant some kind of legal recognition to unmarried couples.
Some centre-left politicians have scorned the Vatican for speaking out against the initiative, but the Pope said the Church had the right to be heard.
"If they say the Church shouldn't interfere in these matters, then we can only reply: should mankind perhaps not interest us?" he said.
The Pope said granting legal recognition to unwed couples was a threat to traditional marriage, which required a higher level of commitment.
But he saved his strongest words for those who suggest gay couples should be put on the same level as a husband and wife.
"This tacitly accredits those dismal theories that strip all relevance from the masculinity and femininity of the human being as though it were a purely biological issue," the Pope said.
Theories "according to which man should be able to decide autonomously what he is and what he isn't," end up with mankind destroying its own identity, he said.
Two parliamentarians in the ruling coalition this week outraged fellow lawmakers by placing four dolls representing homosexual couples near the baby Jesus in the official nativity scene in Italy's parliament.
They said their gesture was to promote legal recognition for unmarried couples and the legalization of gay marriage.
from The Boston Globe
Most service members are accepting of gays and lesbians, a new poll shows.
The poll, conducted by Zogby International and released Tuesday, shows that 73 percent of military members are “comfortable” with lesbians and gays, and 23 percent “know for sure” that someone in their unit is homosexual, according to results of the poll of 545 service members.
The poll data was used by advocates to show decreasing negative attitudes about gays in the military and to call once again for a change to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law enacted under President Clinton, which stipulates that gays can serve only if they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual conduct.
“Today’s poll is one more nail in the coffin of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a Washington-based, nonprofit gay-rights group, which released the poll data.
“Those who defend the law have argued that openly gay personnel harm military readiness,” Osburn said. “This research highlights the absurdity of such a hypothesis.”
The group estimates there are about 65,000 gay or lesbian service members in the military.
While attitudes may be softening within the military, the percentage of troops who say gays should not serve in uniform still tops those who say they should be allowed to serve, according to the poll.
Only 26 percent of those polled agreed that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve in the military, with 37 percent said they should not. Thirty-two percent were neutral on that issue, while the remaining 5 percent said they were not sure.
Those more likely to agree that homosexuals should be allowed to serve were younger, with less than four years in uniform.
All the troops polled have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the SLDN.
from The Marine Corps Times
Lawmakers in Nigeria are debating a bill that would ban same-sex marriage and any form of association among gays, even sharing a meal at a restaurant.
Few in Nigeria's deeply closeted gay community have publicly opposed the legislation, which proposes penalties of up to five years in prison and is widely expected to pass.
Engaging in homosexual acts is already illegal in Nigeria, with those convicted facing jail terms in the mainly Christian south and execution in the mainly Muslim north.
'This meeting, right here, would be illegal,' said activist Bisi Alimi, stabbing the air with a French fry for emphasis as he sat at a table with three gay friends and a reporter.
Other activities prohibited under the proposed law include belonging to gay clubs or reading books, watching films or accessing Internet sites that 'promote' homosexuality.
Alimi has been trying to drum up opposition to the legislation, but says Nigeria's gay community is too far underground and the subject too taboo.
The 27-year-old activist is one of few openly gay Nigerians, having been 'outed' by a university newspaper three years ago. None of his companions have told their families of their sexual orientation. They asked to be identified only by their first names, citing the risk of arrest, beatings or even death.
'A few of my best friends know, but I don't have the courage to tell my parents,' said Ipadeola, a 23-year-old medical student.
'I don't tell people because it is none of their business,' said Mukajuloa, a 21-year-old beautician. 'Do heterosexual men go around telling the world they are attracted to women?'
Haruna Yerima, a member of Nigeria's House of Representatives, said he supported the proposed ban. Social contact between gays should be limited, he said, because it might encourage behavior that was 'against our culture ... against our religion.'
Attitudes toward gays in Nigeria are typical of those across the continent. In neighboring Cameroon, Amnesty International says accusations of homosexuality and anti-gay laws have been used as a weapon against political opponents.
South Africa legalized gay marriages last month in fiercely debated legislation, making it the only country on the continent to do so. But the impetus was more a desire to stamp out all forms of discrimination in a reaction to apartheid than tolerance of gays, who are subject to prejudice and violence in South Africa.
The hostility in Nigeria means that there are very few gay or lesbian organizations. Oludare 'Erelu' Odumuye _ the nickname means 'queen mother' in Yoruba _ heads one, Alliance Rights.
'That bill would criminalize me if it was passed into law. It would criminalize my organization, it would criminalize my friends,' he said.
Thousands of people use Alliance Rights for health services, to gather information or to meet, Odumuye says. To avoid harassment, the group has no membership list and its buildings are not in town centers or identified by signs.
Visitors find them through word-of-mouth, Odumuye said. To give an idea of their size, he says the group received more than 1,500 responses to a recent health survey among gay Nigerians.
Odumuye said the bill is aimed at pleasing the ruling party's political base _ which includes powerful religious groups _ ahead of April elections.
Akin Marinho, a Nigerian human rights lawyer, argued the bill's prohibitions are illegal under Nigeria's constitution and international treaty obligations. Not only does the legislation affect freedoms of speech and expression, but foreign companies could face lawsuits if gay or lesbian staff are unable to take up positions in Nigeria, he said.
Even some conservative religious leaders say the bill goes too far. Though Bishop Joseph Ojo, who presides over the congregation at the evangelical Calvary Kingdom Church, contends gay relationships are 'foreign to Africans' and should be outlawed, he adds that gays should 'have freedom of speech and expression.'
Nigerians have been publicly flogged or beaten severely in prison after being charged with homosexuality.
'There is a lot of ignorance, and that is why people are afraid,' Alimi said. 'We are not willing to come out and say, 'Yes, I am gay. Here I am. I am human, too.''
from Topix.net
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court agreed unanimously Wednesday to decide whether same-sex couples should be permitted to wed, prolonging the contentious legal battle for another year.
Meeting in closed session, the state's highest court voted without comment to review an October appeals' court ruling that upheld the prohibition on same-sex marriage. The court is not expected to issue a ruling until the end of next year.
Wednesday's decision does not necessarily mean that the state high court disagrees with the lower court ruling.
Although the Supreme Court could have avoided the contentious debate and let the ruling stand, the court often reviews decisions it supports if the case has statewide importance.
Christian conservatives, satisfied with the appeals' court decision, had urged the court not to take up the case. But a lawyer for one of the groups opposed to same-sex marriage expressed confidence Wednesday that his side would prevail.
"History, common sense and legal precedent are on our side," said Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which promotes traditional Christian values in the law. "Marriage as the union of one man and one woman transcends political ideology and is grounded in millennia of human history."
Other opponents of same-sex marriage called the court's decision ominous.
Randy Thomasson, a spokesman for the VoteYesMarriage.comcoalition, which hopes to place an initiative against same-sex marriage on the 2008 ballot, said the measure would be "the only way to stop judges and politicians from destroying the beautiful, natural institution of marriage between a man and a woman."
Former Assemblyman Larry Bowler (R-Elk Grove), who is also backing the proposed ballot measure, complained that the state high court was "scheming to destroy marriage and the people's right to vote on marriage."
Bowler said he believed that the three women on the seven-member court were prepared to support same-sex marriage.
Justices Joyce Kennard and Kathryn Mickle Werdegar voted in an earlier case against an immediate nullification of same-sex marriage licenses granted in 2004 by San Francisco. But the justices have not expressed their views about the constitutionality of the state's marriage laws.
Justice Carol Corrigan, the court's newest member, also has never publicly confided her views of same-sex marriage, but Bowler said gay rights groups support her.
Legal analysts suspect the court is divided on same-sex marriage but more likely than not to rule against it. The moderately conservative court has six Republicans and one Democrat and is generally viewed as cautious.
The Supreme Court's decision on the state constitutional question is final.
Gay rights groups said Wednesday's decision gave them hope.
"This is yet another indication that the California Supreme Court appreciates the importance of this issue — not only for same-sex couples and their children, but for the entire state," said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and lead counsel in one of the marriage cases before the court.
Jon W. Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal and one of the attorneys in the marriage cases, said it was up to the court to permit same-sex marriage in the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a bill giving gay couples the right to wed.
"So long as California's statutes deny same-sex couples and their children equality," Davidson said, "it's up to the California Supreme Court to decide the issue once and for all."
The debate over same-sex marriage reached the courts two years ago when the city of San Francisco granted nearly 4,000 marriage licenses to gay couples.
The state high court later nullified those licenses, but reserved a final decision on the constitutionality of the marriage laws until the lower courts had reviewed them.
San Francisco City Atty. Dennis J. Herrera, whose office is among those still challenging the gay marriage ban, said the city was "asserting the rights of equality and privacy uniquely enshrined in our state Constitution."
"We are also asking the Supreme Court to do what the Court of Appeal did not — to base its decision on constitutional principles rather than on its impressions of popular opinion," Herrera said.
Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer has defended the state's marriage laws but nevertheless urged the state high court to take up the issue to provide final resolution.
"This is one of the most important issues confronting California, and the Supreme Court is the only entity that can provide the people the legal clarity needed on the question," Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer, said after the court's action.
The state high courts of Washington, New York and New Jersey, which also have reviewed same-sex marriage, have refused to extend marriage rights to gays.
Only the state of Massachusetts now permits gay couples to wed.
from The Los Angeles Times
ROME - Two leftists in Italy's ruling coalition caused an uproar with fellow lawmakers by putting four dolls representing homosexual couples in the official nativity scene at the parliament.
Members of the small "Rose in the Fist" party, the two parliamentarians wanted to push for the cause of legalizing gay marriage and granting legal recognition to unmarried couples.
Bruno Mellano and Donatella Poretti had added Barbie and Ken-type dolls in the parliamentary nativity scene.
Parliamentary ushers removed the dolls with the miniature slogans in favor of gay rights quickly after it was placed.
"This is a vulgar and unacceptable double attack against both a (national) institution as well as a religious symbol," a group of women parliamentarians of the opposition conservative Forza Italia party said in a statement.
Luca Volonte, a member of the small centrist opposition Union of Christian Democrats, called it a "pure attack against the religion practiced by the majority of Italians".
Majority of Italy is Roman Catholic and nativity scenes are a common sight in homes, squares and shops.
Some members of the opposition even wanted the offending lawmakers to be censured by the speaker of the lower house of parliament.
from All Headline News
JAPAN - Experts and experienced Japanese women are coming out against the findings of Indian and Spanish researchers that claim French men have, on average, the largest erect penises in the world, according to Shukan Shincho (12/21).
Indian scholars discovered that international standard-sized condoms were too large for many men and that they slipped off at precisely the time they needed to be snugly tight.
Researchers cited the findings of Andromedical, a Spanish company, which found that French men stood erect at an average of 16 centimeters, with Italians at 15 centimeters and Mexicans at 14.9 centimeters. South Koreans' 9.6 centimeters were the shortest recorded, while Indians stood at just 10.2 centimeters. (Japanese, incidentally, measured a healthy 13.0 centimeters to rank 10th of 16 nationalities, surprisingly topping the 12.9 centimeters that Americans recorded).
But before the pride of anybody is harmed, it should be noted that many dispute the Spanish company's survey.
"Penis size differs according to race and nationality," Junya Iwamuro, a urologist and head of the Japan Association for Development of Community Medicine, tells Shukan Shincho. "I must admit the Westerners' penises I have come in contact with have been large and fat and certainly seem to be larger than the Japanese. However, the data suggests that there is a huge gap in size between Japanese and South Koreans. How the original data was obtained is a problem. It doesn't mention age, or the extent of the erection. It's very difficult to get an average figure on an international scale."
Condom manufacturer Okamoto Inc. agrees.
"I doubt there's anywhere that has accurate data and length and thickness," a company spokesman says. "I'd say the most information anybody has comes from the individual medical organizations that have conducted their own independent studies and announced the results."
Experience suggests results considerably different from the study, too. Writer Shimako Iwai -- who claims to have slept with more Korean men than she has with her fellow Japanese men -- says the Asian neighbors both come up short.
"If the South Koreans knew about the results of this survey, they'd say it was a Japanese conspiracy. Speaking from personal experience, there's not a great deal of difference between Japanese and Korean men. I guess it's true to say that South Korean men aren't overly endowed. But there's no difference between them and Japanese men, either," Iwai, as experienced with penmanship as penismanship, tells Shukan Shincho.
Other women also dispute the finding, like the OL who says she has slept with men from over 30 different countries.
"French guys I've slept with have been, like a lot of Japanese, uncircumcised, but I didn't think they were particularly large," she says. "Their peach-colored penises were hard and thick, but they fit perfectly with the Japanese condoms I gave them to use. Apart from the color, they were no different to the Japanese ones. My memories are struggling to breath from all the chest hair that kept hitting me when they were in the missionary position. They were fantastic at sex, though, really concentrating hard. They never leave you alone and are really kinky. The French have got an inordinate interest in anal sex."
The OL, who isn't named in the article, says that Americans left her feeling unsatisfied.
"White American men were my biggest disappointment. I can see why the survey ranked their size below the Japanese. They don't try anything new and barely do any foreplay. They just go through the motions, but then scream out like mad while they're doing it. They'd have to be regarded as pretty useless at sex," she says, forgetting she's supposed to be talking about length, not how it's used. "Basically, I think it's all right to think that Americans are slightly larger than Japanese."
An illustrator who says she has had intimate relationships with 50 foreign men says that the eggheads were looking in the wrong direction.
"I simply cannot believe why there weren't any African countries mentioned toward the top of the list in this survey. Africans are literally 'a head above the rest,' " the illustrator tells Shukan Shincho. "I've slept with African-Americans, Ugandans, Nigerians and South Africans and, while they are not overwhelmingly thicker, they are certainly longer. I can use both hands to grab hold of them and there'll still be some space left at the top. With Japanese, I've got the whole thing covered with a single hand. Africans also have incredible stamina and endurance. No wonder they always win those marathons."
from Mainichi Daily News
Sex is taking place behind bars.
According to Isela Gonzales, an HIV counseling, testing and linkages coordinator with San Francisco County's Department of Public Health, transgendered inmates and gay men admitted to her they'd been sexually solicited.
Gonzales said these inmates told her, "'I'm glad you're distributing condoms.'"
But passing out condoms, a seemingly simple act, is at the heart of a hot-button, controversial issue argued by law enforcement and public health officials.
For now, it's against the law in California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed legislation that would have required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to allow non-profits and public health agencies to distribute condoms and dental dams.
Schwarzenegger's veto follows a November report by the Washington, D.C.-based National Minority AIDS Council that recommends condom distribution to inmates to stem the growing epidemic of AIDS in the African-American community.
Blacks are disproportionately represented in state and federal prisons: According to 2005 statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, 40 percent of inmates with a sentence longer than one year were black.
Black men are being hit the hardest. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 47 percent of people estimated to be living with HIV at the end of 2003, the last year data were available, were black and 74 percent were male.
"We know that our young men are being infected in prison," said Damon Dozier, director of government relations and public policy at the AIDS Council.
San Francisco County blazes trail
San Francisco County, one of the seven jurisdictions nationally that passes out condoms to inmates, tiptoes around the law by distributing them as part of a safe-sex educational tool, said Kate Monico Klein, the director of the county's Forensic AIDS Project.
Though the jails are not necessarily a hotbed of HIV transmission, Klein said, prevention methods like handing out condoms were critical.
About 2 to 5 percent of the 2,100 inmates in the five county jails are HIV-infected, she said. About 0.4 percent of the general U.S. population is infected.
Health officials began passing out condoms to inmates in 1986.
"We had people in custody who were very high risk," said Eileen Hurst, chief of staff for Sheriff Michael Hennessey.
Still, after more than 20 years, the effectiveness of passing out condoms is difficult to gauge.
"People come in and out of jail," Hurst said. "I would not know when they contracted AIDS or how or what."
CDC study of Georgia prisons
However, a long-term study by the Georgia Department of Corrections and the CDC attempted to get a clearer picture of HIV behind bars. The study found that arriving inmates were four times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population.
Like the jails in San Francisco County, the study determined that HIV transmission in prison was not widespread, but infection and risky behavior, such as homosexual sex, did occur.
The CDC and the American Foundation for AIDS Research support handing out condoms as part of a comprehensive plan for HIV prevention, education and care, said Monica Ruiz, the foundation's acting director for public policy.
"If (condom distribution) can make a dent on the inside," she said, "it can make a bigger dent once they get on the outside."
When released, inmates can then make a habit of practicing safe sex.
California's prisons and jails
Of course, inmates who have sex are violating state law.
"Well, you're breaking the law, so why are we giving you the tool to break the law?" asked Margot Bach, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
Condoms are also not permitted in the state's 18 federal prisons.
"It's obviously not condoned and authorized," said Sandra Hijar, spokeswoman for the Western Regional Office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Many county jails, including those in Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Alameda counties, also ban condoms.
"We don't want to encourage sex between inmates," said Capt. Casey Nice of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
HIV/AIDS rates are based on testing done when inmates request it or when there is a potential health risk. Only two states in the country test inmates for HIV at entry and release.
In Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the HIV rates in the jails are low: about 0.2 percent at the Santa Rita Jail, Alameda County's largest jail, and a little less than 1 percent in Contra Costa County's three facilities, according to public health officials.
Seventy-six inmates were HIV-positive last year in San Joaquin County's facilities, but that number includes the jail, the Juvenile Detention Center and the Deuel Vocational Institution, said Mike Hill, the county's director of disease control and prevention.
At Deuel, an all-male, 3,700-inmate, medium-security facility in Tracy, about 0.3 percent of inmates were known to be HIV-positive, said Lt. Ray Munoz, a public information officer.
Prisoners' opinions on the issue
Three out of four inmates interviewed said condoms should not be passed out, largely because sex was not occurring.
"You would be hard pressed to be a practicing homosexual. You'd be ostracized for that," said Franklin, 45, a black man who would not give his last name.
Franklin said he was initially afraid of contracting HIV while in prison, but he soon learned that most prisoners at Deuel were focused on one agenda — getting home as quickly as possible.
However, Justice Campbell, 25, an African-American transgendered person who identifies as a woman, said, "There's sex going on in all prisons."
Campbell said the other three inmates may not have been honest about that because prison officials were present during interviews.
from The Oakland Tribune / Cheryl Winkelman
LONDON, ENGLAND - The British High Court has allowed a group of Christian organisations to challenge new gay rights legislation. Seven groups launched the suit after it became apparent that the laws would ban discrimination in the provision of goods and services to homosexuals.
Justice Deeny granted leave to apply for a judicial review. The case will come before him later this week.
The groups which launched the legal action have claimed the consultation process into it was flawed. Lawyer David Scoffield, representing the organisations, said the eight-week consultation process was too short and should not have been conducted during the summer months, BBC News Online reported Tuesday.
Scoffield argued it was improper for the office of the first minister and deputy first minister to make legislation which 'discriminates on the grounds of religious belief'. Similar regulations proposed in England and Wales extended the consultation process six months as 'further time was needed to consider complex issues,' he said.
Bernard McCloskey, acting on behalf of the office of the first minister and deputy first minister, said the applicants needed to establish whether there was a 'legitimate expectation for consultation' regarding the proposed regulations. He added there was no legal obligation to consult such Christian organisations, branding their collective assertion as 'merely threadbare'.
from Monsters And Critics
Mario Lavendeira (PerezHilton.com) is a Big (blank) Ugly Liar, an Accused Thief and Criminal
All,
From the Horse's Mouth: Just a friendly reminder that when you read websites like PerezHilton.com, you are reading lies and are being taken advantage of as you make more money for a person who does nothing but fabricate storeis to make his site look interesting.
That anyone would trust someone like Mario Lavendeira (PerezHilton.com) who STEALS from photographers, bloggers, and the general population, is beyond me, really. This person is a common criminal.
Contrary to what this ugly wind-bag has reported, I have not broken up with my boyfriend. I did not go home with anyone from "Survivor" from any party. I have not "made out with" anyone at a party while I have been with my boyfriend. The opposite has been written on his site. It is all a complete and blantant lie. This person is a liar. Period.
My book was done before I ever met Lance. I do not date people so that I can "use" them. I'm self-sufficient and happy to be that way. I have served my country, I have made my own money, my own career, written my own books, bought my own homes and other possesions, and I'm proud to be this way, on my own. I am not broke. I am individually financially sound. I date people because I happen to love them. Period.
I will only post this once. This disgusting person and his site makes up blatant lies to create interesting stories. I am one of this criminal's targets. Understand that. So know, from here on out, that if you read anything about ME on PerezHilton.com, you are 99.9% sure to be reading a lie or an exagerrated, incorrect version of something that is 0.01% true.
Merry Christmas Everybody!!
Love, Reichen
P.S. Here is some information on "Perez" and how he stole a check from a friend and deposited into his account while he was using CRYSTAL METH. This guy is a drug addict, criminal, and thief.
"Perez Hilton, of PageSixSixSix fame--but whose real name shall remain verboten because, unlike him, I have some tact--is a total thief.
He got run out of L.A. because he is a meth addict and a thief. The boy had the gumption to steal a check from a friend's apartment and then deposit it into his own account as a third-party check. Like his ass wouldn't get caught.
But tina makes you do stupid things. He did get caught, though I'm not sure what happened with his court case. This happened like eight months ago.
Check fraud, forgery, theft. Then his blog takes off and people in L.A. started posting comments to it about the theft. He deletes them all.
So you heard it here first. If he gets any more famous, tell people not to let Perez get too close to your dresser drawers, because if he is cracked he will steal from you regardless of the consequences."
from Reichen's MySpace
ARIZONA - Scottsdale police are investigating a suspected hate crime reported by a gay couple who said they were jumped by as many as seven men outside a Scottsdale restaurant near McDowell and Scottsdale roads.
As they held hands and began to leave Frasher's Steakhouse late Sunday, Jean Rolland and Andrew Frost said they were beaten in the restaurant's entryway.
Rolland and Frost said that, as they left the restaurant, two men headed into the eatery. One of the assailants called the couple a derogatory term. It was unclear whether any weapons were used in the attack.
Frost, 19, was taken to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn, where he was treated and released. Frost received several staples to treat a wound on his scalp and several stitches to seal other wounds on his face.
Rolland, 28, suffered minor injuries.
The men want to press charges against their attackers, none of whom had been arrested as of Monday afternoon, according to Scottsdale police.
"My only hope is that they're going to brag about it and tell their friends how tough they were," said Rolland, a native of France who lives part time in Scottsdale.
The Sunday-night incident was upsetting, he said, because no one from the restaurant said they saw anything, though the attacked happened only a few feet from the front door.
"It was creepy to me," said Frost, a Scottsdale resident.
"I had blood pouring out of me, and I actually blacked out at one point."
Scottsdale police confirmed the assault about 8 p.m. at the restaurant at 2122 N. Scottsdale Road.
George Frasher, owner of the restaurant, said he was shocked to hear about the attack, which started near the entrance before spilling out into the parking lot.
Rolland and Frost brought the assault to the attention of the Arizona Human Rights Fund and Foundation, a Phoenix-based non-profit organization that advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
The organization, which has lobbied the Legislature for stricter penalties involving hate crimes, will follow the Scottsdale police investigation to determine if the attack was triggered by anti-gay sentiments.
from AZ Central
Meet Marco Raphael Castro. The Illinois high school student surrendered today to face charges resulting from a revolting lunchroom prank earlier this month. According to Wheaton police and school officials, the 17-year-old senior ejaculated into a bottle of ranch salad dressing on December 6 and returned the befouled condiment to the Wheaton North High School cafeteria. It is unclear if the dressing was used by any students before the container was cleaned and refilled the following day. Castro, pictured below in Wheaton Police Department mug shots, has been charged with disorderly conduct and attempted aggravated battery, both misdemeanors. School officials learned of the prank from students, and Principal Jill Bullo sent parents a December 14 letter informing them of the "very unusual and disgusting incident."
from The Smoking Gun
UNITED KINGDOM - Joker Alan Parkin put the willies up his neighbours - with this naughty 10ft Christmas tree.
Not content with adding just a couple of baubles, Alan, 47, decorated the fir with red and white fairy lights outside his home in aptly named Penistone.
But his jolly green giant didn't exactly excite fellow residents and they complained to police. Proof, perhaps, that size isn't everything.
One said: "It's rather rude. There are children and teenagers about and I don't think it's good for them to see." Another fumed: "It's just obscene. We shouldn't have to put up with it."
Although officers who visited his South Yorkshire home merely asked him to remove the lights, the jobless prankster has agreed to go all the way - and give the tree the snip.
Married Alan said: "It was just a laugh. If it offended anybody, then the shape will be altered.
"I was amazed when police called around. They said they had received a complaint and would I mind removing the lights so it didn't look offensive."
But not all neighbours were outraged. Constance Barnard, a widow in her 60s, said: "It doesn't bother me.
"I didn't know we had anyone around here so pious as to complain to police. I'm a churchgoer but I don't think about it. I'm a live-and-let-live lady."
Mind you, even she wasn't that impressed with Alan's idea of a Christmas lunchbox. Constance said: "It looks more like a mushroom."
from The Mirror
Michael Jackson’s much-ballyhooed Christmas appearance in Tokyo has been nixed.
The singer was scheduled to meet and greet fans in the Japanese city’s Studio Coast on December 19, but his spokeswoman now says that the event won’t happen. Instead, he will appear at a “Fan Appreciation Day” in Tokyo in March, and some are saying that tickets sales were sluggish because of high prices.
The price of the tickets had elicited shock and some outrage among fans, with some tickets costing as much as $3,300 — for the opportunity to meet, greet and be photographed with the star; $1,600 bought merely the meet and greet. Eventually cheaper tickets costing about $425 were added, but outrage over the prices, which didn’t even include a performance, continued to grow.
“We want to be as inclusive as possible to all of Michael’s fans,” Broderick Morris, CEO, Positive Productions, the company staging the event said in a statement, announcing the new event. Prices and the venue for that event have not been posted.
from MSNBC
WILMINGTON, ILLINOIS - One January day, former Wilmington police dispatcher Kathy Shea opened the Internet browser on her work computer to find, she says, that someone had been viewing gay pornography.
Shocked, Shea said she told a supervisor that the Web site had appeared in a drop-down menu logging the Web pages visited on the dispatchers' computer.
Present and former department employees said former patrol officer Brandon Ragsdale told a supervisor that he had seen a male officer checking out porn on the computer.
At a March staff meeting, police employees were told the computer had been used to access pornography nearly 100 times between January and March.
Police Chief Wally Evans said an investigation found that the computer was used to access pornography starting in September, but it was unclear who was responsible.
"Where this incident occurred -- this was open to other agencies, other departments," he said Friday. "We've taken steps to eliminate (inappropriate Internet use)."
Alderman Joseph Mietzner said he was disappointed anyone in the department was viewing porn but that he supported Evans and his response. Web filters were put on the computer, and users now must sign in.
"That is a very frustrating situation," Mietzner said. "Do you expect that in your police department? No -- it's the police department! But people make mistakes."
Shea, who had been a Wilmington dispatcher for 10 years, says she was the only one ever punished.
'It's a mess'
She said she was given a five-day suspension after mentioning the scandal to a Will County sheriff's deputy and saying she couldn't see why no discipline was ever handed down.
After her suspension, Shea quit and said she has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission/Illinois Human Rights Department.
City officials confirmed that a complaint has been filed.
Since January, the Wilmington Police Department, staffed by 12 full-time and six part-time officers, has found itself embroiled in controversy.
Police officers in other departments say privately they try to steer clear of Wilmington.
"It is a mess, that's all I'm going to say, and I don't know what's going to happen," Wilmington Alderwoman Helen Hoppe said. "There's a lot of issues in that police department."
Another issue surfaced in April when someone cut out a newspaper picture of a group of children and taped it up.
The person put a caption above the head of a Hispanic child, according to police employees who saw it, that read something like: "Hey kids, help me get my squad car out of the mud, and then we'll hit the showers."
It was a reference, police officers said, to a Hispanic officer who recently had gotten his squad car stuck in the mud. This was the same officer whom Ragsdale alleged had been looking at gay porn on the dispatcher's computer.
from The Herald News
SAN FRANCISCO - Pacific Reproductive Services Fertility Center and Sperm Bank founded here in 1984 with a primary mission to serve the unmet needs of lesbians throughout the country, today announced its 2000th birth through artificial insemination.
According to PRS founder and longtime lesbian health care activist, Sherron Mills, N.P., the actual number of women who have become mothers with the assistance of PRS is probably "significantly higher than the 2,000 figure," which reflects only known births.
Noting the fact that the number of same-sex female couples raising children is estimated by U.S. census figures to have increased by about 50 percent between 1990 and 2000, Mills said that although some percentage of that growth is doubtless related to a greater willingness to reveal sexual orientation, "there is no question that we are in the midst of a lesbian baby boom."
The Need for Lesbian-specific Fertility and Artificial Insemination Services
Today, in marked contrast to the past, lesbians throughout the world are opting to become parents through sperm donor insemination. But despite increased societal openness to alternative lifestyles and family structures - most notably in the United States and Europe - serious barriers remain for a lesbian sperm bank and for any lesbian seeking to become a mother through the services of a sperm bank.
"The biggest problem facing lesbians - and to a lesser but still significant degree for all women who are not married - is lack of access to truly supportive artificial insemination and fertility services outside our major metropolitan areas," Mills says. "The degree of prejudice is still very high among health care providers. That's why we make it a priority to find fertility specialists throughout the country to whom we can comfortably refer the clients of our sperm bank for their insemination procedures."
Internet Increasing Reach of Artificial Insemination
As it has in so many facets of life today, the Internet is also opening communication and breaking down barriers in the field of donor insemination. For lesbians, it is now possible to identify supportive providers via the Web. Pacific Reproductive Services was an early pioneer in shipping sperm to lesbians and other women - and to supportive providers throughout the country - as well as providing any ongoing assistance required until pregnancy is achieved.
More "Willing to be Known" Sperm Donors
Pacific Reproductive Services has also been a pioneer in providing its clients with donors who contractually agree to provide updated contact information and meet a child at least once when he or she reaches 18, should the child wish to do so. Today, PRS offers the country's largest pool of such sperm donors.
from Press Release
NEW YORK - For the science geeks and those interested in drug test validity: The NY Post reports that an NYPD aviation pilot tested for coke when he failed a hair-sample drug test. But when pilot Jon Goldin took a urine test at a private lab, the test came back clean. Goldin's lawyer says that Goldin is innocent (he doesn't even drink alcohol!) and that his "positive for coke" test was due to the fact that Goldin's girlfriend is a cocaine user!
"We believe, based on her [drug] usage and from what the scientific people tell us, that this is a real possibility," [Paul Goldberger] said.
Goldin has been dating the same woman for the past two years - but was unaware of her drug history, according to a source familiar with the case. She 'fessed up after Goldin flunked the drug test, the source contended.
"They've almost [been] living together and having sexual relations of every kind," said the source. "It turns out that she's a steady user - or was a steady user of cocaine for several years - and he did not know this."
Sexual relations of every kind! The Post references a case from years ago where a female police officer "successfully litigated her return to the NYPD after claiming oral sex with a drug-using boyfriend contaminated her test."
Goldin, who patrols "sensitive locations" and has been part of many rescue operations, has been suspended without pay. Previously, the Collective Bargaining Board found that the NYPD's reliance on hair-analysis tests, versus urine tests, was unfair, so the NYPD's drug testing rules may be open to interpretation.
from Gothamist
New Jersey will very soon become the third state to allow civil unions between same-sex couples. "Queer Eye", a reality show that features five openly gay men, is one of the more popular programs on television. Some mainstream newspapers, including this one, now include same-sex commitment ceremonies in their wedding announcements.
In many ways, it is easier now than ever to be a gay person. Easier, that is, unless you are a gay person who plays a big-league sport.
For two weeks, the Web has been crawling with a rumor that an NBA player has started coming out to his friends and family as bisexual. The original report, which appeared on a gossipy site, quotes an anonymous friend of the player as saying the player has been involved in a long-term homosexual relationship. The lead to the story says the NBA is about to be "rocked by one of the biggest scandals in league history."
Whether or not this particular item is true, maybe it is about time the NBA and the rest of the major-league sports world was rocked. It is about time that sports caught up to the rest of us, and that one's sexual orientation doesn't rank as a big-time scandal.
What sports really needs is a gay Jackie Robinson, someone to shake up the bigoted attitudes that seem to be both prevalent and tolerated in male team sports.
Yes, there are players who have admitted after retiring that they are gay, among them NFL running back Dave Kopay, Giants linebacker Roy Simmons and major-league outfielders Glenn Burke and Billy Bean (not the Oakland general manager).
But hard as it is to believe, no active player in the NBA, NHL, NFL or Major League Baseball has ever come out of the closet.
And there are plenty of reasons why.
"The biggest reason is that no one else has ever done it," said Dan Woog, who has written several books on openly gay athletes, including his most recent "Jocks II: Coming Out to Play."
"People have come out in every other area of life: business, education, the arts, even the military. Right now, no one has done it because no one knows what will happen."
That's right, sports ranks behind even the military as far as proliferating a culture that is openly hostile to gays.
In fact, nearly every month there seems to be another headline about one athlete using a homosexual slur to insult another. The most recent came last week when Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, upset by what he thought was a cheap shot by Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, called Winslow weak, soft and "a fag." (To the NFL's credit, he was fined for the remark, making it possibly the first time a league has fined one of its players for making a homosexual slur.)
In many sports, calling someone gay still passes as the ultimate insult.
"Sports is still one of the last great bastions of what we think is masculine culture," said Eric Marcus, who writes extensively on gay issues and was the co-author of diver Greg Louganis' autobiography. "People treat being gay as if you are an ax murderer. I say, 'What's the big deal?' But if you're someone in sports, it's a very big deal."
Louganis, who came out after his Olympic diving career was over, spent years denying rumors that he was gay. "He was tortured," Marcus said. Now, however, diving is one of those sports, like figure skating and gymnastics, in which no one seems to care about a competitor's sexual orientation. Women's team sports, for a variety of reasons, also have plenty of athletes who are openly gay.
Yet in the big-money world of men's team sports, it isn't so easy. A gay player who might consider coming out has plenty to consider: What will be the reaction of his teammates, his league, his owners, his fans, his sponsors and - maybe most of all - his teammates and fellow competitors?
In contact sports such as football and hockey, living openly as a homosexual could be downright dangerous. In all team sports, it will be a distraction for at least a while. If an athlete is on a good team, or is having a particularly good season, does he want to take away from the focus?
Of course, Robinson faced all that every day, and now he is heralded as a pioneer, an important figure in both sports and civil rights history. The bet here is that there is a gay player in the game today who is capable of doing the same.
from Newsday / Barbara Barker
MILWAUKEE — A federal judge threw out a civil rights lawsuit the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center filed after police shut down its production of “Naked Boys Singing.”
The police department’s vice squad shut down the nude musical revue in August 2005 because its organizers did not have a license. But the city later determined the center did not need the license because it is a nonprofit group, and the show resumed performances in October 2005.
The center was seeking more than $600,000 in damages, alleging violations of free speech and due process.
But U.S. District Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr. dismissed the suit last week, saying that in order to proceed, the Center “must establish that the violations were part of a custom or policy by the municipality.”
That was not the case in the matter because the vice squad does not have citywide decision-making authority, Clevert said.
from The Winona Daily News
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - Gay resource sites on the Internet now are just a click away for computer users at public schools.
The Palm Beach County School District recently unblocked student and teacher access to several so-called "gay-supportive" Web sites after months of appeals and legal pressure by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. Some sites remain blocked.
A message labeling the sites "Sexuality/Alternative Lifestyles" no longer pops up on School District computer screens when users visit Web sites run by the gay rights council, and the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
"It's great that [students and faculty members] can get reliable researched information," said Michael Woods, a teacher at Forest Hill High School in West Palm Beach who is trying to start a Gay Straight Alliance club on campus.
Woods tried unsuccessfully Thursday to access the site for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Rand Hoch, president and founder of the nongovernmental Human Rights Council, complained it wasn't fair the district banned the gay resource sites while allowing access to "anti-gay" Web sites run by organizations such as the American Family Association.
News of the problem surfaced in March, when the editor of the student newspaper at Inlet Grove High School in Riviera Beach published a story about the blocked Web sites.
Hoch cheered the change as a benefit for county students and educators in their efforts to battle homophobia and sexual harassment on campus.
"The school district was using an overbroad filtering system," he said.
That device, which blocks millions of Web sites deemed inappropriate, is from Blue Coat Systems Inc., said Bob LaRocca, director of Information Technology Security.
"We're trying to protect the kids," he said of the restrictions on any Internet addresses that link to words and pictures associated with gambling, sex and racism, among others.
Popular Web sites featuring chat rooms and free e-mail also are not accessible on district computers.
During its appeal, the Human Rights Council enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, a civil rights advocacy group for gays and lesbians.
Hoch credited School Board Chairman Bill Graham with helping to persuade district administrators to unblock the sites.
On Thursday, the district opened access to the Web headquarters of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, www.glsen.org. The New York City organization's main objective is stopping anti-gay behavior and bias in schools across the country.
"You'd be hard-pressed to find anything on the site that would be inappropriate for any student to see," said spokesman Daryl Presgraves. "This is a very valuable resource."
from The Sun-Sentinel
American rocker Melissa Etheridge insisted on having an anonymous sperm donor when she decided to add to her family with gay lover Tammy Lynn Michaels, because she didn't want a repeat of her past media storm. The lesbian singer/songwriter regretted announcing classic rocker David Crosby was the father of the two children she had with ex-partner Julie Cypher and she was determined not to make the same mistake again. The I'm The Only One singer's wife of three years, actress Michaels, gave birth to the couple's twins, daughter Johnnie Rose and son Miller Steven on 17 October (06), and this time the whole affair will be kept private. Crosby famously posed with Etheridge, Cypher and their children Bailey, now nine, and Beckett, now eight, for a Rolling Stone magazine cover after the Crosby, Stills and Nash star helped the same-sex couple conceive their babies. Etheridge explains, "We really only need Tammy and me to be parents in this. I feel very confident in us as parents." Michaels adds, "We are not going to be on the cover of a magazine going, 'Oh, the donor is George Clooney!' We don't know who the donor is. "We don't want to know. We're in a lesbian relationship. It's two moms, period."
from Contact Music
Homosexuality and abortion represent as much a clear and present danger to the national security of America as does terrorism. The public immorality of the United States of America is appalling and the nation is fast heading for massive decline. Now, thanks to New Jersey , ten percent of the states have given homosexuals equal or near equal rights to those of married couples. No society in the known history of the world has survived the embracing of homosexuality as mainstream. This plague, combined with the letting of innocent blood by killing America’s pre-born babies, are two highly immoral actions tolerated by Americans that will someday bring this country to its knees.
Whenever the same sex marriage issue is brought before the American people for a vote, it is defeated overwhelmingly. Yet states like California , Massachusetts , Vermont , Connecticut , and now New Jersey are controlled by leftist immoral courts and legislators that are willing to ignore the good sense of the majority. Worse yet, the National Education Association, Planned Parenthood, and a host of organizations are promoting homosexuality as normal, and abortion as a preferred option for unplanned pregnancies. America ’s children are being educated by government supported schools and organizations that homosexuality and abortion are good an right.
And the mass education program is working. In Maryland , for example, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that in 2005 there were 3,681 abortions costing taxpayers some $2.3 million. The reasons for the abortions are alarming. There were three because of possible genetic deformity or abnormality; five because of endangerment to the life or physical health of the mother; two because of rape, sexual offense or incest; and 3,671 abortions due to medical evidence that continuing the pregnancy would represent a threat to the mental health of the mother. Of course, there is no mention of post-abortion mental health problems—which is even a larger issue.
Homosexuality and abortion have long term negative impacts on the mental and physical health of this nation. Still, the largest single reason for the spread of AIDS is homosexual men. Killing babies is against the laws of nature. Homosexuality and abortion lead to death—many studies indicate that the average lifespan of the homosexual is far less than heterosexuals. Pre-born babies never get a chance. The collective result is a society embracing immorality and death.
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live.”-- Deuteronomy 30:19
from WDC Media / Bill Wilson
WASHINGTON - Although he recently expressed confidence that Mary Cheney will make a loving parent, President Bush continues to believe it is best that a child is raised by a man and woman married to each other, the president's spokesman said Friday.
The pregnancy of Vice President Dick Cheney's younger daughter, a lesbian, has reignited public discussion on same-sex couples becoming parents.
Some social conservatives, who support Bush and the vice president on most issues, learned of Mary Cheney's pregnancy with dismay, saying it undermined efforts to emphasize the primacy of the traditional family unit.
Commenting on the controversy, Bush last week told People magazine, "I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy for her."
Pressed on whether his remark contradicted views he previously expressed that being raised by same-sex couples was not ideal for a child, he avoided a direct response.
"Mary Cheney is going to make a fine mom, and she's going to love this child a lot," he said.
In 2005, Bush said in an interview that he thought it best for a child to be raised by a man and woman married to each other. He does not favor same-sex marriage.
"I believe children can receive love from gay couples, but the ideal is — and studies have shown that the ideal is — where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman," he told the New York Times.
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked whether the president stood by this belief.
"Yes, he does," Snow replied.
"But he also believes that every human life is sacred and that every child who comes into this world deserves love," Snow said. "And he believes that Mary Cheney's child will in fact have loving parents."
Snow said Bush had not addressed whether he thought children raised by gays were at a disadvantage.
In the People interview, Bush said that he found out about Mary Cheney's pregnancy when the vice president "took me aside and gave me the good news."
Bush added that the vice president and his wife, Lynne, "are very happy for Mary."
The president did not mention Mary Cheney's partner of 15 years, Heather Poe.
Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, Mary Cheney has played a low-key but growing role in its political operation.
In 2004, she held a senior staff position in the Bush reelection campaign, and regularly traveled with her father aboard Air Force Two.
She is to give birth in the late spring.
from The Los Angeles Times
A cafe on the island of Sao Tome off Africa's west coast relies on its famed aphrodisiac cocktail to pull in punters during the festive season.
