May 2003 Archives

It's sad but true... my vacation is now coming to and end. I'm in St. Thomas tonight typing this from my hotel. It's all good though -- between you and me, I'm getting home sick. I'm looking forward to being back in Coventry tomorrow night!

My vacation in a nutshell was great! It had some up and down moments, but it was great to get away and get centered once again. My thoughts on the U.S. Virgin Islands is this.... I first arrived on St. Thomas, but only long enough to catch a ferry over to St. John. One thing that I've really learned from viewing property on the internet is that what looks great on the internet can be kind of a dive in real life. This was somewhat true about St. John Inn. On the rating scale, I would give this inn 2.5 stars out of 10. It was hard as hell to find even though it was only a couple of blocks from Mongoose Junction (one of the few selling points). The rooms were small and air conditioned, but only if you were right in front of the air conditioner! There were no windows - just screens and shutters. That's actually "ok" here because it is so warm. But between all of that, rushing to get there, going to the sleepiest island in all the Virgin Islands, having this HUGE rain storm in the middle of the morning... I suffered from a panic attack at 9pm my second night there. God I hate those! It sucked at the time, but two Xanax and 30 minutes later, I'm all mellowed out and on my way to sleep. I woke the next morning to the sounds of roosters crowing. There are a lot of wild roosters, chickens, and donkeys on the island. They are everywhere.

The second day I was there, I managed, with a lot of trouble, to get a taxi tour around the island. We covered every major site there was and the nicest thing about it was that it was only me and the driver, so he took me to many places that he normally skips. The National Park there is awesome and a true naturalists' paradise. I told him to take me to Truck Bay and just leave me there. It's noted as being the most beautiful island in the Virgin Islands (many think in the world). With a bit of walking and swimming, I finally came upon my own private beach (I took many pictures I'll post). It was really very nice.

There were a few negatives about being there. First, drugs are very common there and a big problem. Also, homophobia is common there. I wouldn't have given that a second thought but on my way from my room one night towards Mongoose Junction, there were some men sitting out along side the road that I had to travel to get there. There were talking about the sexual act of two men being together (I'd really rather not quote them - I'm trying to forget about it). There were laughing and saying how "faggots" were going to hell. I went by as fast as I could. The looked at me and just glared. I thought there were just looking for a fight. I quickly continued on my way making sure that I didn't look at them again.

On my way to Mongoose Junction, some other guys started at me also. One turned to the other and said something, and they both laughed. I wanted to walk over to them and say "WHAT?1?1??", but I didn't. Why start a fight? I explored some of the shops and had really nice dinner at one of the local restaurants along with a nice sunset overlooking the harbor. It was overshadowed only but my apprehension of having to walk back to my room. The first two men were still there, but didn't say anything this time. I rushed back to my room and was thinking to myself that I couldn't wait to get to St.Croix the next day and was hoping that it would be friendlier. After the two days, my body started adjusting to the warm weather and I was more comfortable. Also, my chest cold was clearing up, probably because of the warm weather.

The next morning, I packed and went down to Mongoose Junction for breakfast. There's only one restaurant that serves breakfast, but it wasn't bad. I had hoped to catch a direct ferry from St. John to St. Croix, but I had missed it by 10 minutes, and it was the only one that day. I decided to take a ferry back over to St. Thomas, hoping that I would have better luck there since it was a more populated island. Once there, I learned that I had just missed the direct ferry to St. Croix by 10 minutes! It's like my whole since of timing was messed up. The next ferry didn't leave for St. Croix until 6:30 that night (it was 10:30am). I didn't want to wait all day, so I took a sea plane to St. Thomas. Instead of 3.5 hours to get there, it was only 18 minutes!! I arrived in the town of Christiansted on the north side of the island. The inn I stayed at was Sand Castle on the Beach, which was on the west side of the island in Fredericksted. I took a taxi there, and was really surprised at the greeting I received. They had my first name up on the board, and the staff was there to welcome me to their inn. It was totally the opposite of St. John. It is a gay establishment and I felt right at home. I've made a decision in my life that I'm going to try to stand by. When I travel, I'm going to try to only stay at gay inns/hotels. Then, I don't have to worry about the crap I encountered in St. John. I suppose it's sad to separate myself like that, but I never feel comfortable anymore in a place that doesn't like me or really want me there. So, why put myself in that position. I guess I didn't realize how bad St. John was until I ended up in a place that really wanted me there. I'll post many photos of the inn. It's really quite a place.

The other big thing I did on the island was to take a sail out in the ocean. We sailed over to Buck Island and went snorkeling. I admit I was a bit spooked at the whole idea after Hawaii (had a bad experience there), but the captain (who was like a total hunk, by the way), helped out a lot. We all had to go through this coral canyon and it was very narrow. I managed to get through it without a scratch thanks to him. It was really a completely different world. I took an underwater camera and will hopefully have some good stuff to post. I won't know for a week or so. That's all for now. I'll share more stories as time goes on.

It's another beautiful day here on St. Croix. Today, six of us from the inn are taking a cruise out to Buck Island. Once there, we will do some snorkeling or perhaps just lay around on the beach enjoying the beautiful beach. Buck Island is suppose to have one of the most beautiful beaches around St. Croix. We'll see. The cruise if from 2pm - 6pm.

Tomorrow, I will probably take a tour of the island to see the rain forest, among other things. Included is a tour of the rum factory. That should be a lot of fun. I try to keep the sun screen on, but I'm finding that I'm gradually getting a tan. You can't help it down here. The sun if very intense.

Tomorrow night, I'm taking a sunset cruise. I'm not sure yet where it takes off (it's all being arranged for me), but it leaves at 6pm and lasts for about 3 hours. Hopefully, I'll get some great pictures from it.

Friday is still open, but I do want to spend a bit of time in Christensted. It's the bigger of the two towns on the island. So, I will probably spend at least half a day there if not the full day. Saturday, I leave for St. Thomas and will stay there that night. Sunday morning I will probably spend shopping in St. Thomas. My plane leaves for home that day at 3:15pm, so that will give me a bit of time to look around. Take care everyone.

Hi everyone! I finally found a place that has internet access, so I thought I'd make an entry. You know.... internet withdrawal and all.

I left the island of St. John yesterday. Connections can be frustrating in the Virgin Islands. You really have to relax and just go with the flow because NOTHING is in a hurry here. I got to the ferry dock yesterday morning to catch the ferry to St. Croix. I was informed that I had just missed the ferry by 5 minutes. I asked when the next ferry would come along. They said "oh... none today". They weren't sure when the next one would happen. So, I took the next ferry to St. Thomas which left in 20 minutes.

After getting into St. Thomas, I asked for the ferry to St. Croix. I was told that I had just missed the ferry, and that the next one would leave at 6:30pm that night (it was 10:30 in the morning!). They suggested a sea plane that would leave within the next 90 minutes. I opted for that which was a nicer choice because I was able to get some really nice pictures from the air. Plus, instead of taking 3 and a half hours, only took 18 minutes. Of course, this completely disoriented me because I didn't even know where I had flown in to. I all happened very fast. I was in Christensted (the larger town on the island). The place I am staying in is in Fredericksted on the other end of the island. So, I took a taxi and got there in good time.

Once I arrived at Sand Castle on the Beach (a gay resort), I was made right at home. They even had my name out on the board welcoming me! They took me to my room which turned out to be a suite with an ocean view. I toured the beautiful grounds and met some really nice people (who are trying to talk me in to meeting them again next year on Memorial day here, just after knowing them for two days. That's just the kind of place it is.

I had dinner at their open air restaurant on the beach that had really great food, and we all sat around the open-air bar watching the sunset drinking pina coladas. The rum here will knock your head off, but the ocean breeze takes the edge off it!

I finally got to bed around midnight and woke up at 10:00 this morning. I pulled myself down to the restaurant and had eggs benedict and nice strong coffee. There was a gentle breeze off the ocean. The weather here has been the best - sunny everyday. I suppose I'm getting into the life here. I've slowed down and things happen when they happen. Tomorrow, I'm planning on taking a ferry to Buck Island known for it's snorkeling and beautiful beaches. I will probably not go snorkeling since I am by myself. I love it, but I'm a chicken where the ocean is concerned. I know my limits and the ocean is not my world. The most courageous thing I have done here was when I was in St. John. I went swimming at one of the beaches there and did a bit of swimming. But, I never went in over my head. I even had my own private beach there for a time. It was awesome. I don't seem to have much time for sun screen anymore. It's too messy and takes too much time. And, I've noticed my skin getting more tanned. It's part of being here I suppose.

Well, I'm off for the rest of the day. I will probably explore the reefs in front of my Inn, but was told to watch carefully for sea urchins (lesson, go to the reef and watch the fish, but don't step on the reef!). I don't remember that being such a concern in Hawaii. Take care everyone. I hope your are all having as much fun as I am!

I'm officially on vacation now, so I thought that I'd use my new Virgin Island image that I'll use while making blogs from the Virgin Islands (just click on the image to see my plans). It will make it a bit easier for me to see what entries were made while on vacation. Today, I'm making all the final preparations for the trip: calling the airport to make sure the flight times haven't changed and confirm my reservations; checking the same on the web; put everything together for my trip in one place; pick up shirts from cleaners; pack; check in with cat sitter.... etc.

I put together my tentative travel itinerary here that will pretty much tell what I'm planning to do. It's not by the day because I'm not going to run that tight a schedule. Basically, there are things I want to see and get done while I'm there, and it really doesn't matter to me when that happens. I'm just going to go with my mood and do what I feel like doing each day. So, the itinerary will just be a rough sketch. My close friends will know exactly where I'm staying if anything comes up.

Take care everyone. I hope to have access to make some entries, but one never knows. If not, I'll talk with you all on June 1st!

Just a few items that came to my attention in the news....

Pennsylvanians Behind Santorum in Gay Issue. PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Republican Sen. Rick Santorum created a stir when he compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy and incest, but most voters in his home state don't seem bothered, a poll concluded on Thursday. The vast majority of the state's voters -- 75 percent -- said Santorum should not resign as Senate Republican Conference chairman, while 58 percent said homosexuality was morally wrong, the Quinnipiac University poll said. On the other side of the heated debate over the politician's remarks, more than one-quarter of Pennsylvania voters said they were less likely to vote for Santorum after his inflammatory comments.
Poll: Gay Remarks Don't Hurt Santorum

Cardinal Uses Commencement To Launch New Anti-Gay Attack. (Washington, D.C.) A leading Vatican theologian has used his commencement address to graduating students at Washington's Georgetown University to wage a new assault on gays and lesbians. Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and widely regarded as a top contender to succeed Pope John Paul II said that happiness is found not in the pursuit of material wealth or pleasures of the flesh, but by fervently adhering to religious beliefs. "In many parts of the world, the family is under siege," the Nigerian prelate said. "It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce." The speech led Theresa Sanders, a professor of theology at the Jesuit university, to walk off the stage in protest. She was joined by a about a dozen students.
Cardinal's anti-gay comment sparks protest

The bottom line to these two stories should be obvious. It's still quite acceptable for people to openly show hatred and disapproval to gays and lesbians - the last group of citizens where this type of behavior is still acceptable. I guess things are getting better for us as a community, but the progress is slow. If Santorum had equated African Americans to bigomists, he would be out now. Even the President (that's right, OUR President - of ALL the people) came to his rescue and labeled him as an "inclusive man". Give me a ^%$^ing break!

Vancouver - City councillors embrace June's Gay Pride Week. NANAIMO -- A new city council is working to wipe away the homophobic stigma that tainted the Hub City in recent years. After refusing to read a Gay Pride Day proclamation just three years ago, city council has agreed not only to read the proclamation but to hoist the international symbol of gay pride -- the rainbow flag -- during Gay Pride Week, June 23 through 29. It's a welcome move for Nanaimo's gay community.

Gay Iraqi blogger resurfaces, writes again. Salam Pax, the anonymous twenty-something Iraqi Internet writer whose blog attracted readers interested in learning about life under the government of Saddam Hussein, is back online after remaining silent during the worst days of the war.

"Let me tell you one thing first," Salam Pax wrote in his first posting since the fall of the Saddam government. "War sucks big time. Don't let yourself ever be talked into having one waged in the name of your freedom. Somehow when the bombs start dropping or you hear the sound of machine guns at the end of your street you don't think about your 'imminent liberation' anymore. American civil administration in Iraq is having a shortage of bright ideas," he wrote in his May 9 instalment. "I keep wondering what happened to the months of 'preparation' for a 'post-Saddam' Iraq. What's with the juggling of people and ideas about how to form that 'interim government'? Why does it feel like they are using the (let's-try-this-let's-try-that) strategy? Trial and error on a whole country?"

Despite his frustration with the chaos of the coalition takeover of Iraq, Salam Pax wrote he was glad to see Saddam Hussein out of power. "The truth is, if it weren't for intervention this would never have happened," he wrote. "When we were watching the Saddam statue being pulled down, one of my aunts was saying that she never thought she would see this day during her lifetime."

Gay adoption battle continues. The state of Florida does not allow adoptions by gay couples, but a federal appeals court is considering lifting that ban. Currently, some gay parents go to great lengths to adopt – a situation some support while others say it’s just unfair. Four-year-old Austin is an all-American kid, but his beginnings are anything but. Born deep in Cambodia, he was left in an orphanage where many of the children had scabies and slept on mats on the floor. Oceans away in Naples were Mike and Curtis, an openly gay couple together for 23 years. They wanted to adopt, but Florida law makes it illegal. Statute 63.042 says no couple involved in a homosexual relationship can parent a child. But that didn't stop Mike and Curtis. "I went as a single person," Mike Federau said. He filled out a lot of paperwork, and lived under a microscope for weeks. "I had five hour homestead investigations, background checks the whole nine yards," he said. The catch was that Curtis had to vanish. "We had to take every scrap of evidence that Curtis existed out of this house," Mike said.
That is honestly pretty messed up. There is something very dark about the fact that you have to lie and violate your integrity to serve your country in the military. Now, in some states (probably most if the truth were known), you have to lie to become adoptive parents. Raising children isn't easy. There are people who have kids who have no business procreating. Here, we have two people who did what they had to do to give a child a better life. I wish them all the best, and I'd do anything to keep my child, even if I had to move to another state. It's too bad one has to go to lengths to do this, but it's the messed up world we live in I suppose.

Today was kind of a strange day for me at work. I felt like I was leaving the company. I'm not of course. I'm just not used to being away for so long. When I take a vacation, I usually take a long weekend up to Maine or something like that. This time, I will be gone a week and a half, and not just to Maine. I'll be going to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Before I leave, I'll post a basic itinerary of where I'll be while I'm there. I don't know if I will be posting to this blog or not. In fact, I don't even know if I'll have internet access. It's not a hot issue for me. If I am in the mood to post and if I do find a place that has internet, I will probably sign in and make an entry or two. If the place I'm staying has access, I might even keep a daily log, but don't count on it.

I'm getting excited about it. The only thing wrong is that Kent won't be with me. He is going on a short business trip, and then on his way to Idaho where he will attend a graduation ceremony where his dad is accepting an award. The odd thing is, I'd rather be there with my family instead of going off to the U.S. Virgin Islands by myself. I know, you probably think that I'm crazy. The thing is, family is very important to me. Life threw me a curve recently, I suppose to just remind me that life isn't something that any of us have complete control over and that family is.... well, let's just say it's usually not what it's cracked up to be. I don't want to get into the details in this public forum, but I've become very disappointed in some people that I thought I knew and that I thought loved me as family. You see, you can never really know people. That's the lesson. It's like that scene at the end of the movie Ordinary People. The boy wakes up and hears a noise out his bedroom window. He looks out to see his mother stepping into a taxi cab and leaving. He goes downstairs and sees that the door to the back yard is open. He looks out and sees his father sitting down on the lawn. He grabs a jacket and goes out and asks his dad where his mother went. His dad, who is a stock broker, said "She went to stay with her brother for awhile." The boys father assures his that it's not his fault, that sometimes bad things just happen. He then looked at his son and said, "Don't put too much stock in people. They'll disappoint you."

I saw that movie many many years ago now, and that one scene is still fixed in my mind. And, sadly, it has come true for me. So, I suppose I'm going away to find out who I am again, because of all the people I've been able to count on in my life, I have always been there. That's right -- me. I can even pat myself on the back if need be. I have had to be there for myself and I have been there for my friends. I'm just taking myself, my camera, some books that look interesting, some guy magazines, if you get my drift (and if you can't "deal" with that, stop reading this blog!!!), and a few other odds and ends. I'm not taking a computer, any kind of music, or anything like that. It's going to be a time that I come back to what I am and discover myself again. I'm going to think a lot of friends who are no longer here that have long since passed. Even death won't make me leave a friend behind. I like to think of all the good times that I've had in my life. I also think of the times that I held my friends when they needed me to be there. Those were happy and sad times, and that is what life really is. Some day I will join them. If I'm successful at this thing we call "life", perhaps I will leave someone behind who will keep me in their dreams. What an achievement that would be!

My gay son: Nats MP bucks the party line. A National Party MP, Russell Turner, spoke in Parliament yesterday about his adult son's homosexuality, in a bid to explain his decision to defy his party and support changes to age of consent laws. More than 20 MPs chose to speak on the reforms, but it was Mr Turner, the MP for Orange, who seized his colleagues' attention and quiet admiration. The National Party Leader, Andrew Stoner, a vehement opponent of the changes, had said his MPs would vote as a bloc, but Mr Turner was allowed to speak freely on the reform and he told Parliament he wanted to give some detail about how personal experience had shaped his understanding. "My son has a partner, a business and a home in Orange. He is accepted by friends of my wife and I, and he is accepted by the vast majority of people in Orange who have a reasonable understanding of the issue," he said. Visibly shaken during his speech, Mr Turner said that society may have come a long way, but it still needed to work through the issue of homosexuality and learn to stop discriminating and "treat homosexuals as normal human beings". "People can live what appear to be normal lives, but a scratch of the surface reveals that they have not been able to acknowledge their true sexuality . . . importantly, [homosexuals] are the sons and daughters of parents who agonise about how to handle the situation." His hope, he said, was that the legislation would help in this process.
National MP to cross floor over gay consent vote
MP to cross floor over gay consent
National Party MP Supports Gay Son

Candidates spar over gay-rights stance. The two women vying for the District 10 City Council seat are both working hard to secure votes in the gay community - and are in a nasty dispute over who is a stronger gay-rights supporter.

Phelps Clan To Disrupt Gay Student's Graduation. As dozens of seniors graduate next week from Des Moines' Lincoln High School one student will be under police protection. Julius Carter, the senior class president, member of the football team, and part of the school choir is this year's recipient of the Matthew Shepard college scholarship and that has America's most rabid anti-gay group raging. Rev Fred Phelps, who runs the infamous God Hates Fags website and whose followers demonstrated at the funeral of Shepard, the Wyoming college student who was tortured and killed in 1998, announced Wednesday that his followers will stage a demonstration at Carter's graduation. The scholarship was created to help gay students who have shown leadership. Carter said he came out about two years ago. He applied for the Matthew Shepard scholarship to help pay for his pre-medicine education at the University of Iowa. The scholarship covers tuition, books and fees for four years. "My friends are very protective of me, even more so now," Carter said after word spread throughout the campus about the demonstration. "By this happening, (Phelps) is going to see that no one in Iowa cares because the way he presents himself is wrong."

Buenos Aires recognizes gay partnerships. Buenos Aires on Monday became the first city in Latin America to allow same-sex couples to register for legal recognition, Agence France-Presse reports. Couples who can prove that they have lived together for at least two years will be able to share labor and social security benefits under the new law. The measure, which was passed by the municipal legislature in December, was signed into law by Mayor Anibal Ibarra.

Michigan - A Gay-Straight Alliance Club at Hazel Park High School has some parents trying to convince school officials that student club memberships should be possible only with parental permission. The lobby by parents started a few months ago when the parents learned about the nearly two-year-old Gay-Straight Alliance Club, said Pam Baker, 43, whose son is a senior at the high school but not a member of the club. Baker said issues like sexuality should be discussed among parents and their children. "If a child can't talk to a parent, that's what counselors are for," Baker added. "I've talked to a few parents who are very concerned about it. When you are of high school age, you are vulnerable and have mixed and confused feelings," Baker said. "Should they be talking to homosexuals? Are there straight persons helping to run the meetings?"

Judges and gay rights. When Senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, delivered an ugly attack on gay Americans last month, President George W. Bush rushed to defend him. The president called Santorum, who had just equated homosexuality with polygamy and incest, "an inclusive man." At the same time, the Bush administration has been appointing federal judges who are hostile to equal rights for gay men and lesbians...

U. of Scranton, other Jesuit schools create gay-support programs. PHILADELPHIA - Administrators at the University of Scranton have spent the last few years grappling with a dilemma familiar to many religious institutions. They wanted to add more resources for gay and lesbian students, but they also needed to remain consistent with the school's Jesuit and Catholic ideals. Now, the small college in northeast Pennsylvania is putting the finishing touches on a campus-wide support program for its homosexual students. Under the "Ally" program, scheduled to begin next fall, interested students, faculty and staff will be trained - though it's not clear by whom - to listen and sensitively respond to concerns and questions from gay and lesbian students.

I wonder if anyone has stopped to think just how expensive it is to have all the court cases that involve the on-going legal issues of gay people? Day after day I come across this case or that case dealing with some lawsuit filed because a civil union from Vermont cannot be terminated un Texas because Texas will not honor it. Or, a suit involving the Boy Scouts of America; or a student group who was refused the use of school facilities that other students enjoy, just because they are gay.

I keep posting these as I see them and I've noticed an increase in the number of cases coming out weekly. Wouldn't it just be easier for everyone and a lot less expensive for tax payers (that's ALL of us) to just grant equal rights to gay people? There has to be some better way of doing this. All that money in legal fees going to.... lawyers.

Grads walk out on 'gay basher' Santorum. May 19, 2003 -- PHILADELPHIA - About 100 graduates walked out of yesterday's commencement at St. Joseph's University before the keynote address by Sen. Rick Santorum, who recently infuriated gay groups and others with derogatory remarks about homosexual behavior.
Santorum, the Senate's third-ranking Republican, didn't mention the walkout or the controversy directly. Senator Santorum and I are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum," said graduate Sara Foglesong, among those who walked out. "I am not incestuous. I am not a bigamist. I just happen to be bisexual. It offended me."
Protesters walk out on Santorum commencement speech
100 graduates walk out ahead of Santorum address in Pa.

Two Lutheran churches in Twin Cities extend a hand to gay Christians. "With great joy and gratitude, on behalf of Church of Christ the Redeemer, I welcome you as our pastor." With those words, congregation president Ruth Peterson embraced the Rev. Mary Albing, and worshipers at the Lutheran church in southwest Minneapolis rose to their feet and applauded.

Sunday's installation ceremony defied a requirement by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that unmarried clergy -- gay or straight -- be celibate, and it was presided over by three former bishops of the denomination. Albing, 48, is a lesbian in a noncelibate relationship. It's a hot topic these days in many Minnesota Lutheran churches: whether sexually active gay people should be ordained as pastors or receive blessings for commitment ceremonies. Also on Sunday, congregants at Pilgrim Lutheran of St. Paul overwhelmingly passed a "statement of welcome" to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) people at its annual meeting.
Gay rights a hot topic in Lutheran churches

Blood Drive Cancelled Over Anti-Gay Policy. (Ashland, Oregon) Students at Southern Oregon University have cancelled this term's Red Cross blood drive saying the organization discriminates against gay men. The blood drive has been a spring term tradition for a number of years. This semester though students said the Red Cross policy of refusing to allow gay men to be donors is a violation of the university's anti-discrimination policy. Red Cross guidelines say males who have had homosexual encounters even once since 1977 are ineligible. The student government said that the policy continues to label AIDS and HIV as a gay men's disease. David Adkins-Brown, SOU multicultural senator, said that the policy is a misnomer that needs to be eradicated. "From my understanding, it's a rule they made up in the 1980s and people are not up to date," he said. Student Daniel Conner praised the decision to cancel the blood donor clinic. " I've been yelling about it for years," said Conner. "I'm a gay man and I don't like being forced to lie to help people."
Oregon blood drive canceled over ineligibility of gay men

Organizers reached out to women, minorities. LONG BEACH People locked arms, police officers waved from their patrol cars and city workers walked hand-in-hand Sunday during the Gay Pride Parade, on the last day of what organizers called the largest Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival. The 20th annual two-day event drew an estimated 130,000-plus people to the parade and festival through the afternoon on Sunday, the last day of the event. Lines of thousands waited into the evening for admission. The crowd at the event, the city's second- largest next to the Long Beach Grand Prix, easily topped last year's, which had an estimated attendance of 100,000, according to organizers.
Gay event to boost economy
Festival dances day away
Gays march on in L.B.

Quarter divided on bill aimed at public sex. ....Even though Martiny's bill prohibits publicly engaging in "vaginal, oral or anal sexual intercourse," some say his bill targets the gay community and its informal annual gathering, the Southern Decadence festival. "I think they're just trying to single out gay people," said Rob Clemenz, another Quarter resident. "They already have laws on the books. They're not enforced, and this stems from somebody b -- -- -- - about Southern Decadence," added Daryl Wilson, a bartender at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop.
Legislative bill aims to end public sex

Vermont Civil Unions: Will Sister States Recognize Them? An Early Status Report. On July 1, 2000, Vermont's law creating the civil union - a legally recognized marriage-like status available to same-sex couples - became effective. Almost three years later, the validity and meaning of a civil union outside of Vermont is entirely uncertain, despite the fact that eighty-five percent of the civil unions granted have been to out-of-staters.

Only a handful states have weighed in thus far on the validity of a civil union relationship outside of Vermont, and in those states, the results for the most part have been discouraging for parties to civil unions (even those who want to dissolve them). In the remaining states, couples have little or no information on the legal status of their relationship. This legal limbo means that parties to a civil union--intact or not--live with a degree of risk and uncertainty to which other couples are simply not subjected. New York, however, has bucked the trend of states' refusing to recognize Vermont civil unions. Recently, a New York court held that the surviving partner to a Vermont civil union is a "spouse" for purposes of applying New York's wrongful death statute.

Judge Asked To Dismiss Gay/Straight Lawsuit. Kentucky - Boyd County school officials deny they violated federal law by banning a gay-rights student group from meeting at Boyd County High School. They want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against them. The lawsuit challenge is by the school board, Superintendent Bill Capehart and Boyd County High School Principal Jerry Johnson. U.S. District Judge David Bunning said last month the suit has a strong likelihood of winning.
Boyd schools request dismissal of bias suit

We worked on the front rock wall this morning and finished that. It took longer than I thought it would - about 2 hours, but it looks great, even though I do say so myself.

I went shopping this weekend for different things for my trip to the Virgin Islands. I'm taking some day trips so I wanted to be prepared for anything. I got a small backpack which will carry my camera, water, a small first aid pack... stuff like that. I did some more research and now I know how to get different places. It should be a good time.

Despite Gains Most Gay Workers Unprotected. (Washington, D.C.) Despite significant gains in the number of companies which have non discrimination provisions and which offer same-sex partner benefits, most gay workers in the US are without any protections. A report issued Friday by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay civil rights group, shows that county and city governments played a leading role in 2002 in extending equal protection in the workplace to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. More cities and counties enacted laws in 2002 prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity than in any previous year, with 15 local jurisdictions outlawing job discrimination based on sexual orientation and 16 passing measures covering gender identity and/or expression. This compares to eight and five, respectively, in 2001, according to the report, entitled "The State of the Workplace for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Americans."

Gay rights a hot topic in Lutheran churches. Minnesota Lutherans are not known as a racy bunch. But the hot topic now in many congregations is sex. Specifically, gay sex. And whether sexually active gay individuals should be ordained as pastors, receive blessings for commitment ceremonies, or just be welcome in church. Many faiths are wrestling with such issues, but the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) -- Minnesota's second-largest denomination, behind Catholicism -- is in the thick of things as never before.
I think it's great how the religions are FINALLY acknowledging that lightning isn't going to strike all the queers dead and they are finally deciding to accept us. The only emotion I can show them now after years of trying to keep my faith in THEM can be summed up in a quote from Gone with the Wind: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Faith and church have nothing to do with one another. It's taken me a long time to figure that out. Now, it's the churchs' turn to find faith. I don't have time to wait for them anymore.

Gay/straight festival attracts more than 5,000. An arch of balloons, with the colors of the rainbow, welcomed people of all ages to the Gay/Straight Youth Pride Festival and College Fair at the Hatch Shell along the Esplanade yesterday. In its second year, the event organized by the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth doubled its attendance, with a crowd of more than 5,000 congregating to share a message of diversity and acceptance.

Slain Gay Soldier's Case Slows a General's Rise. ASHINGTON, May 17 — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has delayed for the second time a vote on the promotion of an Army general who commanded a base where a gay soldier was beaten to death by a fellow soldier. The delay gives the committee more time to consider the general's responsibility for what happened. Maj. Gen. Robert T. Clark was commander of Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1999, when Pfc. Barry Winchell, 21, was bludgeoned to death in his barracks at the end of a beer-soaked evening. The committee had been expected to vote on General Clark's promotion to lieutenant general as early as next week, Senate aides said. Senator John W. Warner, the Virginia Republican who is chairman of the committee, postponed the vote after meeting with Private Winchell's parents. Private Winchell's mother, Patricia Kutteles, who also met with General Clark on Wednesday, said that he should not be promoted. "He doesn't have the command authority or responsibility," Mrs. Kutteles said. "The promotion would be another obstacle in the way of everything we have tried to do to honor our son."
Clark Nomination Stalls

Out of the Park - Former pro-baseball player Billy Bean pursues a new field of dreams. When Bean left behind his life as a professional baseball player, he let go of a dream he had pursued since childhood. But his life as a closeted gay man had grown too stressful, and he could no longer balance the closet with the clubhouse. As a closeted player, he had divorced his wife and secretly moved in with his first lover, Sam. When Sam died of AIDS, Bean was so frightened of his secret being revealed that he didn't attend his lover's funeral. "Why was it so impossible to think that a baseball player could grieve for a man?" he says. "I just didn't think I was worth enough to ask, and that sucked. That was a terrible, terrible decision I made."

Every time I think I've seen everything homophobia can do to our community, I come across a story that catches me by surprise. Can you imagine being so scared that you wouldn't even attend the funeral of your soulmate because your were afraid what others would think? Most people never have to think of that.

Something that a friend of mine who died of AIDS 15 years ago said to me comes to my mind... "We have every right to hate society for what it has done to us." I think he was right. We do have every right to feel that way. I just don't want to let my spirit falter to something like hate. It is dark. It is evil. And it has no future. Of course, living your life in the closet and paralyzed by fear has very little future as well. You might as well be dead because that is no kind of life at all.

I heard about this on some news station today and thought that I'd share it with all of you. It concerns the differences between credit cards and debit cards.

Some cards with Visa and MasterCard symbols are not credit cards and will have payments deducted directly from your checking account. These are debit cards. Under federal law, you do not have the right to "charge back" problem purchases to a debit card as you do with a conventional credit card. Also, if a debit card is lost or stolen, you can have unlimited liability for losses if you do not report the problem within 60 days, which is different from the $50 maximum liability on credit cards (exception: the $50 limit applies to debit cards as well as to credit cards in Massachusetts). Make sure you know what kind of card you have. If you use a credit card to make online purchases and there is a dispute about the product you bought, the charge is removed from your billing until the dispute is solved. If you use a debit card, it's up to you to get your money back since it was directly taken out of your bank account. Make sure you know your card. Is it a credit card or debit card? They can look the same.

DELAWARE - Gay rights bill wins Minner's vote. Flanked by legislators, clergy members and human-rights activists, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner urged lawmakers Thursday to pass legislation extending anti-discrimination protection to gays, lesbians and bisexuals. House Bill 99, which narrowly passed the House last year but never emerged from a Senate committee, is back for a repeat appearance in the General Assembly. Its sponsor, Rep. William A. Oberle Jr., R-Beechers Lot, said he is close to gaining sufficient votes for House passage and its chances in the Senate look good. However, he said he is not ready to bring the bill up for a vote. "I could roll the dice now ... but this is too important legislation," Oberle said. "We're building toward that magic number of 21" votes.

OTTAWA -- NDP MP Svend Robinson has accused Justice Minister Martin Cauchon of secretly working to sabotage his anti-gay-bashing bill. The pair became embroiled in two verbal dust-ups in and outside the House of Commons yesterday. Robinson insists the minister stacked the justice committee with substitute Grit MPs who have all expressed strong "homophobic" views. "It is outrageous the minister of justice is working in an unholy alliance with the Canadian Alliance to kill this bill," said Robinson, accusing Cauchon of sending in "three goons" to replace absent committee members.

Poll: 6 in 10 Americans OK gay unions. A May 2003 Gallup poll shows that a majority of adult Americans accept the idea that same-sex relations between consenting adults should be legal and that homosexuality is an acceptable way of life. Results of the poll show that the concept of legal acceptance for gay relationships has reached the 60 percent level, up from 52 percent last year and 43 percent when Gallup first began asking about homosexuality in 1977. But when it comes to the concept of comparable rights for gay couples as compared to straight married couples, opinion is evenly divided.

Although a majority of Americans have consistently opposed the total concept of "gay marriage," when asked if they favored a law that would "allow homosexual couples to legally form civil unions, giving them some of the legal rights of married couples," the breakdown was 49 percent in favor, 49 percent opposed. In May 2002, when asked the same question, 46 percent were in favor, while 51 percent said they were opposed.

Workplace Gains on Gay Rights Cited. Gay rights activists racked up a string of victories last year in their efforts to make it illegal to discriminate against gays at work and to encourage employers to offer health insurance to workers' same-sex domestic partners. In 2002, 15 cities and counties passed laws banning workplace discrimination against homosexuals, up from eight in 2001, according to a report to be released today by the Human Rights Campaign, a gay lobbying group. Also, 16 jurisdictions added protection on the basis of gender identity, up from five in 2001, adding coverage for people who do not conform to sexual stereotypes, such as men who are seen as not masculine enough, women deemed unfeminine or those who have changed their sexual identity. Federal anti-discrimination laws do not include sexual orientation or identity.

Tacoma gay-straight alliance gets legal nod. In concert with the American Civil Liberties Union, lawyers for the Puyallup school district in Tacoma, Wash., have advised Puyallup High School to grant a gay-straight alliance status as a full-fledged school club, reports The [Tacoma] News Tribune. The ACLU became involved last week when members of the month-old club were not allowed to pass out leaflets at the school to advertise the club. The student council will vote next Tuesday on whether to grant the alliance full-fledged club status, which would allow the club to meet at the school and publicize its meetings and activities.

Gay activists push for partner benefits. Members of the Mecklenburg Gay and Lesbian Political Action Committee continued their quest for health benefits for domestic partners of gay employees Wednesday, offering legal reasons why they believe the city has authority to give the benefits.

In a memo to City Council members last week, City Attorney Mac McCarley said the city doesn't have clear approval from the legislature to make the change, and said the city will likely be sued by taxpayers if it offers the benefits. Tom Warshauer, a 13-year city employee who is gay, said MeckPAC's request is "about the community having a sense of security. This didn't come from city employees, this came from the community saying, `We want a government to be responsive to us,' " he said. "The city's gay and lesbian employees want to know we are valued and have a future as public servants," Warshauer told a gathering of reporters Wednesday. "Everyone is glad to have us here and working hard, so long as we stay in our places and keep our mouths shut."

Hate crimes on gay youths rise. Coalition’s report from 12 cities shows hate-related incidents against gay people ages 18 years and younger rose 164 percent in 2002. Miracle Thompson, a former Greenville High School student, said fellow students used to tell him he was “too bold.” He was the only out gay student at his high school and would often take harassment not only at the hands of homophobic straight students, but others who identified as bisexual or closeted gays.

Sitting at a table in his new school, Walt Whitman Community School in Dallas, Thompson recounted one of the scariest anti-gay hate incidents he was ever involved in. Thompson was travelling to Wal Mart to pick up a friend. “I had gotten into it with this older guy earlier that day,” Thompson said. The man had been making anti-gay remarks. Thompson, 18, said when he was on an Interstate 30 service road, he saw the truck of the “older guy” approaching from behind at a high rate of speed. “He bumped the car several times,” Thompson said. The last time he bumped Thompson’s car, he “stayed on it,” pushing the car faster down the service road, Thompson said. He said he couldn’t think of anything to do but hit the brakes. Thompson said when he hit the brakes, his car spun out of control onto Interstate 30, where it was hit by “two diesels.” He was not injured, but “it was terrifying,” he said. Authorities never found the man, he said. But they later found the truck, which was apparently registered to someone else.
Talking about the Walt Whitman Community School, after seeing a documentary on it on television, I thought I would put a plug in for it since this young man attends the school. It's indeed sad that some young people have to go to a school specifically for gay and lesbian students, but I suppose that is the world we live in. Click on the school's symbol at the right to get more information about the school if you'd like to help them out.

I got a lot done today and even managed to get to the gym! I guess I'm turning into a real "gym bunny" (is that what they call it?). My goal is to get there 4-5 times a week. I'm already starting to feel better, so I guess exercise does make a difference after all.

N.J. Teen's Death Probed as Hate Crime. A Newark, N.J., teenager was fatally stabbed Sunday morning after telling two men who were making sexual advances toward her that she was a lesbian, say authorities in New Jersey. The Essex County prosecutor's office on Monday determined that Shakia Gunn, 15, was the victim of a bias crime, which would increase the penalties if the attackers are convicted. Under New Jersey law, a murder committed because of the victim's sexual orientation carries stiffer penalties. Lt. Derek Glenn, a spokesman for the Newark Police Department, said charges would include felony murder.

Gunn and a group of friends had taken a train from New York City's Greenwich Village to Newark Penn Station and were waiting for a bus when two men drove up around 3:30 a.m. Sunday and tried to strike up a conversation with the girls. Glenn said the girls, ages 15-17, rebuffed the men and said they were lesbians, Glenn told the Newark Star-Ledger. "At some point during their interaction, they made their sexual orientation known." Gunn was stabbed in the scuffle that ensued.
Newark girl fatally stabbed during bus stop scuffle
Police ID Suspect In Lesbian Teen Slaying
Newark man sought in lesbian murder
Lesbian teen's death probed as hate crime
Newark girl fatally stabbed in sexual bias case
Fifteen Year Old Girl Killed While Waiting For The Bus In Newark

I watched the finale of Dawson's Creek tonight. It was an interesting take on the show. It took place five years later than previous episodes. It shows where the characters have gone in life and how they've matured. Now, I'm not a great fan of Dawson's Creek. The most important reason is that I'm a middle-aged man, and it's really more of a teen-oriented show. I could deal with that IF the acting was superb. Unfortunately, the shows' stars are "B" class actors. There are times that can actually see their eye balls reading the prompter. That's inexcusable! You either come to work prepared or you don't. The possible exception to all the actors is Kerr Smith (who plays the shows only gay character - with the exception of his boy friend). Kerr may be going places in his career. He seems to be a step above the rest and I could actually feel what he was going through and was touched by it. In other words, I became part of his world for a brief time and was pulled out of mine.

Another thing that happened was what I experienced in myself. I haven't been able to cry in a very long time. I think it's because I've been through a lot with loosing friends and family - more than most people. I thought that it was dead in me. I suppose that I've built a wall around myself and just don't let things in that effect me on that emotional level. However, at a few points, I felt emotion unexpectedly come through and I felt tears flowing down my cheeks. It was actually nice to know that I can still feel to that level.

There's a lot of news currently going on, so I'll get to that... Have a great day everyone!

Gay couples better educated, study says. Census: The data also reveal same-sex partners less likely to own homes. Gay and lesbian couples are slightly better educated than married people and earn similar paychecks but aren't as likely to own their homes, according to a study of Census Bureau data released Tuesday. More than 35 percent of people living with same-sex partners had a college degree in 2000 compared with 28 percent of married people and 19 percent of opposite-sex unmarried partners, said the analysis commissioned and released Tuesday by Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group. Differences in homeownership may arise because same-sex couples tend to cluster more in cities, where home prices are more expensive and rental units are more plentiful, said Gary Gates, a demographer from the Urban Institute who did the analysis.

A new aisle for gay weddings. You know a movement is finally gaining acceptance when mainstream marketers start to cash in on it. And that's exactly what was happening at the crowded Same Sex Wedding Expo last week at the Roxy ballroom in Manhattan. With any luck, Albany will see the light, throw some rice and finally give gay marriage its blessing. In the meantime, 50 vendors from Bloomingdale's to twobrideweddings.com (makers of hers and hers customized champagne flutes) were only too happy to register same-sex couples. And for their part, the couples were only too happy to put themselves through the same crazed, teary, I'm-going-home-to-mother!-type conflicts - and joys - that have long been the lot of any straight couple planning a wedding.

Mother of gay-bashed soldier meets boss. In Washington the mother of Barry Winchell, the soldier was was beaten to death by fellow soldiers with a baseball bat who thought he was gay at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, met the man in charge of the base when it happened. Winchell was murdered in 1999 as he lay in his bunk. The commanding officer at the time General Robert T Clark has been re-nominated by Bush to command the Fifth U.S. Army. During the last session of Congress the original nomination was not confirmed after there were grave concerns over Clark's leadership before and after the murder. She said Clark had shown no remorse and had not done enough within his power to curb ant-gay harassment. "General Clark still did not take responsibility and still did not even say he was sorry he hadn't reached out to us," she said. She was also planning to meet with ranking members of the Armed Services Committee.

Democrats, Republicans seen going after 'gay' vote. The 2004 election mantra for politicos may well be 'It's homosexuality, stupid,' as Democratic candidates openly court the "gay" vote, and Republicans make quiet incursions into the traditionally Democratic territory – all to the distress of conservative, pro-family groups. "This is going to be a hot-button issue," predicts Peter LaBarbera with the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women of America, or CWA, the nation’s largest Christian women’s group. "Howard Dean is running on the gay issue. Now Gephardt is jumping on the band wagon. The whole Party's going that way. ... Their gamble is that people don't care, but the Reagan Democrats do care." While, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean promotes the law he signed allowing civil unions for homosexuals, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., declared Saturday he backs homosexual adoptions.

LaBarbera maintains Republicans are just as anxious about courting the "gay" vote as the Democrats, but do so by not taking a stance on the issue. As an example, he points to the Republican leadership's failure to back Sen. Rick Santorum when he came under attack for defending the Texas sodomy law. As WorldNetDaily reported, homosexual activists and Democrats urged Republicans to remove Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., from his leadership position, calling his remarks about the Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, "disparaging an entire group of Americans."

Gay activists push for partner benefits. Members of the Mecklenburg Gay and Lesbian Political Action Committee continued their quest for health benefits for domestic partners of gay employees Wednesday, offering legal reasons why they believe the city has authority to give the benefits. In a memo to City Council members last week, City Attorney Mac McCarley said the city doesn't have clear approval from the legislature to make the change, and said the city will likely be sued by taxpayers if it offers the benefits. MeckPAC members argue that state statutes are broad, and while they don't give explicit authority to offer the benefits, they also don't forbid them. On Wednesday, they responded to McCarley's statements with a news conference and a memo to city officials, saying the city has authority to offer the benefits.

Stand on Anti-gay Remark Could Cost Specter Support.
"I have known Rick Santorum for the better part of two decades," Specter said in a statement, "and I can say with certainty he is not a bigot."

An erstwhile ally of Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter says the moderate lawmaker has damaged his support among gay and progressive voters. Malcolm Lazin, a gay Republican and executive director of Philadelphia's Equality Forum, said this damage is the result of the senator's ringing defense of fellow Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum after Santorum made what many construed as anti-gay remarks last month. "The senator has undermined his credibility with [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] voters by stating that Senator Santorum is not a bigot," Lazin wrote in an e-mail message to the Forward. "This may be akin to his position on Anita Hill as a defining moment with [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] voters." Specter, the senior Jewish Republican in Congress, went to bat for his fellow Pennsylvanian after Santorum brought down a storm of opprobrium for remarks he made to a reporter in which he grouped homosexual acts with bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery as acts that "undermine the fabric of our society." Regarding a Supreme Court case dealing with same-sex sodomy laws, Santorum told the Associated Press: "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery."

Gay issues top Anglican meeting agenda. Anglican church leaders from around the world meet this weekend in Brazil for what some conservatives are calling a showdown over gays and the church. At issue will be a report that warns of "anarchy and division" if liberal bishops permit homosexual "marriages." The report, "True Union in the Body," was commissioned by the archbishop of the West Indies and calls for the expulsion of churches that accept gay priests and allow gay marriages.

Activists mobilize on legislative attempt to negate Miami-Dade gay-rights law. Miami · Eight months after Miami-Dade County voters rejected an effort to repeal a law that protects gays and lesbians from discrimination, the county's human rights advocates are again marshalling the troops. This time, they're worried about a movement to kill the county's law in the Legislature. Gay rights leaders say State Rep. Gaston Cantens, R-Miami, voted in support of a recent amendment to the Florida Civil Rights 2003 Bill that would have nullified the Miami-Dade provision -- and similar measures from Key West to Palm Beach County.

Philadelphia to dedicate mural in honor of gay community. The city on Saturday will dedicate a 7,500-square-foot mural that pays tribute to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people. Titled Pride and Progress, the mural -- the city's 2,353rd -- is one of Philadelphia's largest. It stretches almost a block long alongside a downtown community center that serves the gay community. At 150 feet wide and 50 feet tall, the mural depicts a composite of 1960s gay civil rights marches in Philadelphia and New York, a festival on cobblestone streets with a multicultural throng, and segments of Independence Mall, all under a moody sky with the hint of a rainbow. "I wanted to create something beautiful and atmospheric," said Ann Northrup, 54, an artist whose design was chosen for the mural.

What’s rationale for outlawing gay sex? Thursday, May 15, 2003 If we’re going to outlaw gay sex, we have to have a good, solid rationale for doing so. You have to demonstrate specifically who is victimized by the behavior and how. But people like Rick Santorum, John Leo and others offer only phony logic and shaky rationales meant to divert attention from the simple fact that they just plain don’t like the thought of men having sex with men and women having sex with women. But in a relatively free society, you don’t outlaw acts based solely on your personal preferences.

Research supports openly gay soldiers. According to top military analysts, there was no adverse impact on combat effectiveness when military forces with conflicting policies on openly gay troops fought together in Iraq. In interviews conducted by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara, military experts suggested that when U.S. units, which bar openly gay soldiers for fear of undermining unit cohesion, fought with British units, which allow openly gay soldiers, there were no apparent problems.

Glenn Truitt, a former U.S. submarine officer, said it was no surprise to him that American soldiers could work effectively with the gay-friendly British military. He knew of gay soldiers on his command, and he said their professionalism rose to even higher levels than that of straight soldiers. "The homosexual men I knew in the military were much more professional about their sexuality than the heterosexuals," he said, "if only because they had to be" to gain full acceptance.

Recently U.S. representative Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) argued that the success of coalition fighting in Iraq is further proof that the American military's antigay policy is unnecessary. "The adherents to the ban have never been able to produce any evidence that allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly and honorably would harm the effectiveness of our military," said Meehan, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and a leading critic of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "The Iraq war demonstrates that the morale and cohesion of our forces is simply not affected by the presence of openly gay soldiers."

Twenty four nations, including the United Kingdom, allow gays to serve openly.

Massachusetts Gay Marriage Ban Resurrected. BOSTON -- The Massachusetts House and Senate hold a special joint meeting on Wednesday to keep alive a proposed constitutional amendment intended to ban the recognition of same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth. Had legislative leaders had not moved forward with the constitutional convention motion, the marriage ban would have been tabled for the year.

First of all, I have to show you something that I discovered on the internet. I don't really remember how I happened upon this, but it was amazing to me to see the degree of fear that some people in the world have for us. This illustration came from a Baptist church web site from a section they called the "homosexual agenda". If they weren't serious, it would be amusing to me. How many of you gay guys out there reading this has ever heard of a homosexual handshake? Maybe I'm just in the dark, but I've never heard of it. It would totally freak me out if anyone did this to me. Click HERE to see the illustration.

MSP seeks gay rights shake-up. A Green MSP has set out his plans to give gay and straight couples the same rights as married couples. Patrick Harvie said he hoped to win the support of other MSPs from all parties to allow the plan to go forward to its first stage in the Scottish Parliament. Mr Harvie said cohabiting couples and gay couples should have similar rights to married couples. He wants to establish a civil ceremony - like a register office wedding - to allow them to formally register their partnerships and give them legal rights and responsibilities.

Palm Springs police call for help from gay community. For many gays, that means rooting out gay bashing. "We’re supposed to be addressing gay bashing in neighborhoods," Will Wigley told Jeandron. "There are people who live in this town who have concerns, too." Violence against gays in the city spurred the first forum in March. That first meeting was on Arenas Road -- the pulse of the city’s gay community and the site of an alleged hate attack on a gay man in January. It was one of four hate crime reports in Palm Springs so far this year, according to the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission, which sponsored Monday’s forum.

Gay couples' lawyers to judge: Don't kill marriage case. Attorneys for a handful of gay couples in New Jersey, including one from Hudson County, who are seeking the legalization of same-sex marriage submitted their legal response last week to Gov. James E. McGreevey's motion to dismiss the case. The suit, initially filed in Superior Court in Jersey City last June on behalf Mark Lewis and Dennis Winslow, of Union City, and six other New Jersey couples, contends that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates their constitutional rights to privacy and equality. The state argues that marriage has traditionally been defined by the New Jersey Legislature as the union of a man and a woman, the Constitution creates no right to same-sex marriage, and that judges have no jurisdiction to create one. Such a sweeping "sea change" should be left to the Legislature, it says. "But this circular argument," states the legal response, "ignores the central question posed by the complaint - whether this exclusionary statutory definition of marriage runs afoul of the Constitution's protections of the liberty and equality of all."

Jersey teen killed in gay bias attack. A Newark teenager heading home from Greenwich Village early Sunday was stabbed to death because she and her friends told the killers they were lesbians, police said yesterday. Shakia Gunn, 15, was attacked while waiting for a bus in Newark after she and several friends rebuffed sexual advances from two men by telling them they were gay, according to police investigating the bias crime. "The initial flirting became a verbal dispute," said Lt. Derek Glenn, a spokesman for the Newark Police Department. "At some point during their interaction, they made their sexual orientation known."

California assembly passes pro-gay foster bill. Prospective foster parents in California will get more antidiscrimination training if a pro-gay bill that cleared the state assembly on Monday becomes law. The bill, which passed on a 46-28 vote after fierce debate between Democrats and Republicans, aims to make sure that foster parents respect a child's race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. Republican assembly members opposed the bill, calling it part of a "social agenda" to advance gay rights, and predicted that it will cause a greater shortage of foster parents. Opponents said most foster parents are faith-oriented and believe homosexuality is wrong.

Erie school starts programs aimed at gay, lesbian students. ERIE, Pa. -- When students at McDowell High School want a safe place to talk about gay, lesbian and gender identity issues, they look for a sticker on a classroom door. The stickers emblazoned with a pink triangle are signal that the rooms are "safe zones" for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual students, or anyone who wants help or advice. The symbols are also an initiative of the Erie County high school's recently formed Gay-Straight Alliance. A group of students started to form the club about a year ago and look for guidance from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and the Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbian and Gays support group, which has a school tolerance program called "From Our House to the Schoolhouse."

I wrapped up a big project at work. Maybe I'm just burned out, but I got little satisfaction from it. Maybe it's because I'm tired of doing good things for people at work at my own expense and working my ass off for them, only to have it go unappreciated. I'm frankly tired of trying to satisfy anyone. I suppose this is the time when I need to look deeper into myself and find satisfaction for what I do have and try to change the things that matter. But, I thought that work mattered. At one time, it seemed too. I suppose everything changes with time. I'll see how things go after my vacation. I may be looking at making a big change in my life.

Mother's Day came and went. Kent called his mom to wish her a happy mother's day. They all talked for awhile. He told me that she said to say "Hi Bill" to me. I told Kent "that's nice..." sarcastically. Then it hit me... Although I'm going to the Virgin Islands for vacation, the only reason I would go is because I've been excluded from what I thought was my family. Most people would say "heck... I'd go to the Virgin Islands any day". I would put a higher price on family, if I had one. I really thought that I belonged to his family. I suppose most of you would tell me to get on with it already. Well, I am trying. I put a value on being a part of their family and my heart was set on it. It's hard to just turn that off. I suppose it will have to be like the relationship with my sister. Over time, it will die. I'll go to the Virgin Islands by myself, and I'll try to have a good time and see the sights. Still, it's hard not to feel that I am just going through the motions of trying to feel less.... alone and isolated. It sucks. Why am I like this?

Encouraged by greater tolerance, a growing number of gay teens are coming out in high school. Encouraged by greater tolerance, a growing number of gay teens are coming out in high school. They were his best friends in the world, the ones he had known since kindergarten, but he'd heard what they said, at movies, at parties, in the halls of his school. "That's gay." "You're a fag." Every week, he resolved to tell them the truth about himself, and every week he lost his nerve. What if they turned their backs on all those years of school lunches and sleepovers, tag and roller hockey? What if they just walked away? The summer after his sophomore year in high school, Mike Piazza finally rounded up four of his best friends_members of the old gang, the A-list_and drove them to Burger King. The car, and then the restaurant, buzzed with the usual small talk. Piazza's pal, Jon Barnett, was planning a trip to see a Cubs game that summer. "Who's in?" he kept asking. "Who's in?" "I need to tell everyone something," Piazza said....

Gay students showed courage and deserve protection. Thanks for the story about gay and lesbian students’ requests of the Canton City school board to begin protecting them from harassment and violence at school (”Gay students speak about concerns,” April 29). It was heartening that the superintendent said no student should be bullied and will meet with the students to gather more information.

Gay GOP Group Readies for 2004 Elections. WASHINGTON - A gay Republicans group says it is trying to get beyond the flap over Sen. Rick Santorum's derogatory remarks about homosexual behavior, yet it is that very controversy that helped double the attendance at its annual convention. Comments by the conservative Republican from Pennsylvania, the GOP takeover of the Senate last year and the upcoming presidential race were the main topics that lured more than 200 people to the Log Cabin Republicans' annual convention, which ends here Saturday night. That's more than twice the attendance of last year's meeting. Santorum has been a center of attention since an April 7 interview with The Associated Press in which he brought up a pending Supreme Court case over a Texas sodomy law and likened gay behavior to incest and polygamy.

Gay activists launch protests against Egypt. A weekend of protest began Friday in over a dozen cities across the world against the continued trials and detentions of gays in Egypt and to mark the second anniversary of the Queen Boat raid, which led to the arrests and trial of 52 men. Though many were acquitted after several months, at least 20 were rearrested and convicted for "habitual acts of debauchery," a euphemism for homosexuality. Protesters held an hour-long rally in front of the Egyptian mission in New York on Friday. Michael Heflin, director of Amnesty International's OUTfront program, and journalist Mubarak Dahir, who represented the Gay and Lesbian Arabs, spoke at the event.

This was a very productive weekend for us. We managed to get all of our yard work done that we planned. We have a bit more to do, and then it's just routine maintenance for the rest of the summer. We have Brandi, Jeremy, and Nicholas over last night for dinner and had a great time. Nick is getting so big and I can understand most of what he is saying now.

Today, Kent graded exams from his class while I put the final touches on my trip to the Virgin Islands at the end of this month. With a bit of luck, I may actually get a bit of time to post to this blog from time to time on my trip.

Tomorrow night I go to see Sean. He's pretty lonely right now it seems. I feel bad for him, but I suppose everything in everyone's life happens for a reason. Someday, perhaps, I will be able to openly share his story with you.

Presidential hopeful Edwards seeks gay/lesbian vote. At a dinner in Atlanta on Saturday night, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards promised the nation's largest gay and lesbian political organization he would fight all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation. Edwards, however, does not support same-sex marriages. "Not all of us agree on every single issue," he said. "But we all want the same freedoms."
Another half-assed politician wanting our support to "fight all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation", except.... the ability for us to marry the one we have chosen to live our lives with. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck.... Personally, I for one would trust President Bush or John Ashcroft more. They will at least look you straight in the eye and say something like... "we should put you all on an island and bomb it to hell."

If you'd like to tell Senator Edwards how your feel about this you can email him here.

Provincetown's teams find gay taunts routine. ''Every school we go to - every one - students just assume that we're homosexual, and when we walk through the hallways, we get called gay,'' said Marisa Fiuza, a 17-year-old senior who plays second base on the team. ''And fag and lesbian. Sometimes it's just little kids - little teeny kids, which blows my mind.'' For years, the taunts were an embarrassment borne quietly by the Fishermen players, best deflected with retorts, preferably clever. But now, with antigay rhetoric deemed hate speech, Provincetown officials are increasingly demanding that other schools end the attacks.

Rights of gay juveniles. A young gay man killed himself in Seoul two weeks ago. The 20-year-old man hung himself in the office of an NGO for gay and lesbian rights he had been working for. In his suicide note, the man deplored the "cruel, unbiblical and inhumane prejudice" he had to endure in this world. A Catholic, he hoped that he would be able to openly call himself gay in his afterlife. A gay man committing suicide is hardly a stunning news item given the widely quoted statistics that homosexuals - especially teens - are about three times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, and that they account for up to 30 percent of all completed suicides among teens. A 1989 survey in the United States said that suicide was the leading cause of death among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.

Dialogue over gay ballplayer runs from safe to (get) out! How do you know when your story has become a really big deal? When a version of it winds up as the lead item on espn.com and gay.com on the same day. That's what happened when the Associated Press excerpted part of my April 27 Denver Post report comparing the Broadway play "Take Me Out," about an openly gay baseball player, to real life in the major leagues. The AP released it as a news item to its 15,000 newspaper, radio, television and Internet clients after the Colorado Rockies publicly apologized for the "unfortunate remarks" made by pitcher Todd Jones, who said he wouldn't want a gay teammate.

Simpson advocates tolerance, gay rights. Wyoming has any number of claims to fame, some of them dubious, in the national dialogue on gays and lesbians. It is the home, for example, of Matthew Shepard and his murderers. It is also the home of former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, the kind of guy with whom you could chat about gay rights at the coffee counter. Simpson is an author and signer of "The Cody Statement," the founding document of the Republican Unity Coalition, a gay/straight alliance that was created in the basement of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. He is also the author of a Wall Street Journal editorial, penned a few weeks before Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's comments about gays, calling the Texas law forbidding sex between two men "contrary to American values protecting personal liberty and opposing discrimination." In a conversation Wednesday, Simpson recalled the beginning of his concern about gay issues. He said a fellow student was harassed and called "queer" at Cody High School in the 1940s. "I can't imagine, in the forties when I was a freshman and a senior in high school, the pain that he must have gone through, and he later committed suicide," Simpson said. "I remember how they picked on him, I remember his face."

I just woke up. I know, I'm being lazy today, but I deserve it. I'm going to do a bit more research on my trip to the Virgin Islands this weekend. With a little luck, I'll have my itinerary of events all scoped out (gay guys like to be very organized!) by the end of the weekend. I'm off to do some gardening and to get some fresh air. It looks like a beautiful day out. We have Brandi, Jeremy, and Nicholas coming over for dinner around 4:00 this afternoon. I hope it's nice enough to eat outside.

Personal Is Political, One Nation, Under God. "[W]e live in a free society, and freedom means freedom for everybody. We don't get to choose, and shouldn't be able to choose and say, 'You get to live free, but you don't." And I think that means that people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. It's really no one else's business in terms of trying to regulate or prohibit behavior in that regard. The next step, then, of course, is the question you ask of whether or not there ought to be some kind of official sanction, if you will, of the relationship, or if these relationships should be treated the same way a conventional marriage is. That's a tougher problem. That's not a slam dunk. I try to be open-minded about it as much as I can, and tolerant of those relationships. And like [my opponent], I also wrestle with the extent to which there ought to be legal sanction of those relationships. I think we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kind of relationships people want to enter into." - Dick Cheney, October, 2000.

Man fined for cheering gay neighbour's death. BERLIN (Reuters) - A German pensioner has been fined after setting off fireworks and singing in jubilation to celebrate the death of a gay neighbour, a court has said.

FBI profilers join Maine arsenic probe. NEW SWEDEN, Maine, May 9 (UPI) -- Investigators hoped Friday that FBI profilers will help unravel the mystery behind the deadly arsenic poisoning in a rural Maine church. Police have linked a man who killed himself a week ago with the crime, but suspect someone other than Daniel Bondeson, 53, may also have been involved. One parishioner, Walter Reid Morrill, 78, died after drinking the arsenic-laced coffee and 15 other people were sickened.

Senate bill eases wiretap limits. WASHINGTON -- The Senate easily passed a measure yesterday expanding a powerful surveillance law used in spy and terrorism investigations to allow US agents to wiretap lone foreigners who can't be linked to a terrorist organization or government. US law enforcement officers can now get warrants authorizing intelligence-gathering wiretaps from a secret court, but only if they establish a reasonable belief that the target is an ''agent of a foreign power'' or group. The bill, which passed 90 to 4, would amend the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to remove that requirement.

129 airline passengers hurled to their deaths. More than 120 people were sucked out of a transport plane to their deaths when its massive rear cargo door burst open at 33,000 feet. The aircraft was carrying up to 200 policemen and their families across the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday night. Airport officials in Kinshasa, say 129 passengers died when the cargo doors of the Russian built Ilyushin 76 burst away from the jet.

Toshiba develops 36GB AOD disc. The disc -- which will be introduced at the Optical Storage 2003 conference in Vancouver, Canada, next week -- is the same physical size as a CD or DVD and is capable of storing up to 36GB of data. It is one of two rewritable disc types that make up the initial AOD format proposal, the other being a single-sided disc capable of storing 20GB. The AOD format also includes 15GB and 30GB read-only disc types. That compares to between 4.7GB and 9.2GB on a DVD disc.

WLAN Insecurity Remains a Threat. Despite all of the attention being paid these days to security, and in particular wireless security, the message apparently hasn't gotten through to everyone, including many vendors. AirDefense Inc., a wireless LAN security company, set up one of its sensors on the show floor at last week's Networld+Interop show in Las Vegas, and in just two hours of monitoring found 230 wireless access points, including 92 that were transmitting their traffic in the clear without encryption. There were also 38 access points that were configured incorrectly, with either overlapping channels or conflicting authentication methods.

Bush Decries Tactics to Block Judicial Nominees. President Bush today used the second anniversary of his first batch of judicial appointments to U.S. courts to deliver a fresh attack on Senate Democrats, who have impeded confirmation of several nominees they consider too conservative for the federal bench. According the issue the prominence of a speech in the White House's Rose Garden, Bush said that it was a "disgrace" that three of his initial 11 nominees to the nation's federal appellate courts have been blocked so far "by a group of senators." The president used the sharp rhetoric that has come to typify the partisan debate over the handling of judicial nominations, saying that "American justice is suffering" and that the independence of the federal judiciary was at stake.

Calif. High Court Poised to Uphold Gay Adoptions. The California Supreme Court appeared Wednesday to be headed toward upholding adoptions by gay, lesbian and other unmarried couples, as long as it is in the best interest of the child. For the past 15 years, thousands of same-sex couples in California have adopted children through an arrangement that gives parental rights to the unmarried partner of the birth parent. However, the basis of that arrangement changed in 2001, when a state appellate court in San Diego ruled that California law does not authorize second-parent adoptions, in which a person adopts the child of his or her unmarried partner.
In 2002, a new state law on adoptions took effect which explicitly allows such adoptions. But that law applies only to people who are in registered domestic partnerships.
If the high court were to rule against second-parent adoptions in the current case, the ruling could invalidate adoptions finalized before 2002 and eliminate future adoptions for couples who have not registered their partnerships.

Issue of gay ballplayers should be a non-issue. Here's a news alert for Todd Jones, the homophobic Rockies reliever with the 4 blown saves in 4 tries, and the 6.61 ERA: There are gay players in major-league baseball today, just as there have been in the past and will be in the future. I knew of at least one gay player in Chicago baseball in the '90s, and that player suspected there were several others in town at the time.
I wrote a letter to Todd Jones trying to explain the issue from my point of view. I doubt that he will reply because I don't really think he cares enough about the issue to give it further consideration. By the way, if any of you want to write to Todd Jones, his email address is tjones@sportingnews.com (this email address was previously released by Sportingnews.com to the public). I guess this is as good a time as any to include a letter I wrote to Todd Jones in response to his article concerning his comments. My letter:

OK Todd, as a gay man, I admit that what you said about having gay guys in the showers, etc. "ruffled my feathers". I'd like to tell you why I get so $^%#ing tired of people making comments like yours.

First, they are all BASED in prejudice. I go to a gym regularly to work out. After workout, I go to the showers that are also communal showers (one big room with a bunch of shower heads). Afterwards, I will sometime take a dip in the hot tub if I'm feeling like it. All the time, there are young guys, old guys, all kinds of guys (all naked) who are there for one reason - to shower, get clean and get out. I presume they are all straight guys. What I find offensive is that you would assume that all I (as a gay guy) want to do is to look at the dicks of straight guys all the time. I don't give a rats ass about that and I'm offended when people make a sexual predator out of me by association with a certain social group. Honestly, would you be offended if I didn't want my sister dating straight jocks because they are all thinking with their dicks and want only one thing from a girl? That is a stereotype that I grew up with. Once I developed friendships with some of them, I soon realized that I was being ignorant about that issue and was letting the stereotype do the thinking for me. Get where I'm going with this?

Also, if some guy approached me at my gym in the shower looking for anything other than gym-appropriate activity, I would say "no thanks, and I think your comments are inappropriate", and that would be that (after I told the management of the gym that he came on to me). This would also be the case if a woman came on to me. It's not the time or place.

From your article: "You might ask why, why, why are guys so hung up on this issue? Because of the closeness of the clubhouse. Nothing is sacred. Guys shower together; there are no dividers. Guys go in, do their thing, get clean and get out. They don't want to think about another guy."

That's fine, and I can understand that. But, if they have that on their mind instead of doing their job when nothing has happened to provoke those feelings, seriously... they have some issues and at some level, yes, they are homophobic. Does that mean they have to be "politically correct" and not feel that way? No. In a perfect world, perhaps, but we both know that this world is far from perfect. I do agree with you that you have absolutely every right to express your opinion. I also compliment you on coming forward to restate and clarify your position on this issue. I do believe that if you were truly homophobic, you would not have done that. I respect that. To be fair, the closest thing I can come to comparing to the clubhouse is my gym situation. People know I'm gay there and it's no big deal what so ever.

You don't have to be politically correct all the time - I'm not. But from your article you seem like an educated man. My one hope before I leave this life is that people will stop having such prejudices and remember that we all have to live together, and together we are stronger than we are when we tear each other apart.

Thank you for your time.

Uncivil Wrongs of Santorum and O’Connor - Bruce S. Ticker. "If I was gay, I would be much more concerned about the failure of Congress to include homosexuals under the protection of the 1964 Civil Rights Act along with such classes as gender, race and religion". Under federal law, employers could conceivably get away with anything they want in dealing with homosexual employees. But if you sexually harass a female employee, the wrath of God might fall upon you. That’s how it should be, but it should be that way with all classes of people vulnerable to discrimination, and homosexuals are among the most vulnerable.

Gay Co-Adoption Challenged in California. SACRAMENTO -- Justices serving on the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that seeks to declare null and void thousands of second-parent adoptions in which the same-sex partners of parents share legal custody of the family's children. That ruling terrified thousands of gay parents because it threatened to invalidate their hold on their families. In 2002, a new state law on adoptions took effect which explicitly allows such adoptions. But that law applies only to people who are in registered domestic partnerships.

Gay Marriage Suit Tossed. (Indianapolis, Indiana) A judge in Indianapolis has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage. Marion County Superior Court Judge S.K. Reid ruled the law is not unconstitutional. Reid ruled the law "promotes the state's interest in encouraging procreation to occur in a context where both biological parents are present to raise the child." She also denied a petition to recognize civil unions performed outside the state. Reid said in her decision that it is up to the legislature to grant recognition to same-sex couples. State lawmakers, she ruled, have the power to define and set up rules for marriage as they see fit -- and have a legitimate duty to craft laws promoting "public health, safety, morals or welfare" of Indiana residents.

Boy Scouts' anti-gay policy holds up County Board deal. "I think we should take the lead of other cities and governmental bodies and corporations and say, 'We like what the Boy Scouts are doing, but we cannot condone their activities--that they are discriminating,' " said Commissioner Mike Quigley. Sensing an argument growing, County Board President John Stroger referred the issue to a committee where he promised to give it a full hearing.

Police chief will go to bat for gays. On May 18, Anthony Batts will become the first police chief to participate in the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade. Gay leaders are heralding the appearance as a milestone in the once-stressed and mistrusting relationship between homosexuals and the Long Beach Police Department. "I can proudly say I have known Anthony for many years,'' said Vanessa Romain, a spokeswoman for Long Beach Pride Inc., which puts on the parade. ``He is the sweetest man that exists in the community, and he is very professional."

Residents Will Decide If Gay Head Road Gets New Name. Canterbury –– Voters will decide whether to change the name of Gay Head Road to Baynes Road. The Board of Selectmen sent the issue to the annual town meeting Tuesday night after receiving a petition with 106 verified signatures requesting that it do so.
Ok.... anything that I say about this will get me in hot water. I can't for the life of me figure out why they want to change the name. Seems mainstream the way it is!

Tonight, I'm just going to write. Probably about nothing in particular, but we'll see where this goes.

It's been a particularly tough week for me. A lot of things are going on, but I'm wondering what the difference is. I'm used to the pressures' of life, but lately things have been difficult. I find restlessness and depression creeping up on me at times along with panic attacks. There are times lately that I don't want to talk to people, or be around them. What does that mean? Perhaps it's everything going on in the world that is catching up with me. We go to a war, and I'm now wondering why we did it. What was really gained? The enemy was Osama bin Ladin (remember him), and now we can't even find Saddam Hussein, let alone the "weapons of mass destruction".

I've totally had it with politicians, but it's more than that. I've had it with the political machine in general. Everything is politics to Washington - top on down. Nothing really matters that's truly important. Every cause is political. Trent