eHarmony sued in Calif. for excluding gays

The popular online dating service eHarmony was sued Thursday for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals. A lawsuit alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Linda Carlson, who was denied access to eHarmony because she is gay.

eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark Warren and had strong early ties with the influential religious conservative group Focus on the Family. It has more than 12 million registered users, and heavy television advertising has made it one of the nation's biggest Internet dating sites.

Carlson, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, tried to use the site's dating services in February 2007. When she was denied access, she wrote to eHarmony explaining its anti-gay policy was discriminatory under California law but the company refused to change it, according to the lawsuit. “Such outright discrimination is hurtful and disappointing for a business open to the public in this day and age,” she said.

eHarmony could not immediately be reached for comment. Commenting in the past on eHarmony's gay and lesbian policy, Warren has said that he does not know the dynamics of same-sex relationships but he expects the principles to be different.

“This lawsuit is about changing the landscape and making a statement out there that gay people, just like heterosexuals, have the right and desire to meet other people with whom they can fall in love,” said Carlson lawyer Todd Schneider. Carlson's lawyers expect a significant number of gays and lesbians to join the class action, which seeks to force eHarmony to end its policy and unspecified damages for those denied eHarmony services based on their sexual orientation.

Which still-closeted former boy-bander was making sure nobody got pictures of him with his handsome Spanish escort at a recent European charity event?

New Hampshire governor signs civil unions bill

Gay couples in New Hampshire will able to join in civil unions starting next year under a bill Gov. John Lynch signed into law Thursday.

“We in New Hampshire have had a long and proud tradition taking the lead and opposing discrimination,” Lynch said. “Today that tradition continues.”

Couples entering civil unions will have the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as married couples. Same-sex unions from other states also would be recognized if they were legal in the state where they were performed.

Several Northeastern states already offer civil unions. Massachusetts alone among the U.S. states allows gay marriage. Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Maine, as well as California and Washington allow either civil unions or domestic partnerships, and Oregon will join the list with New Hampshire in January. Hawaii extends certain spousal rights to same-sex couples and cohabiting heterosexual pairs.

David Hyde Pierce is officially out

Multitalented David Hyde Pierce (best known for playing Niles on Frasier) has found success on Broadway, on television, and on the big screen -- and although his sexuality has always been an open secret within the artistic community (much like Neil Patrick Harris), he has been reticent to speak to the topic publicly -- as is his right. Brent Hartinger did the first interview with Pierce after Frasier debuted and was told, "Basically, I don't talk about my personal life."

That's why it's so surprising to see reference made to his "partner" made in a recent AP story on Pierce that hit CNN.com recently, among other places. The story notes:

"He worked at Playwrights Horizons, the Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park and a lot of regional theaters such as the Guthrie in Minneapolis, Chicago's Goodman and Long Wharf in New Haven, Conn. Pierce got to Los Angeles in the early 1990s when his partner, actor-writer-producer Brian Hargrove, wanted to write for television."

[okay, so not a big surprise]

And the winner is….

Mikel Gerle (center), Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2007, was crowned this year’s winner for the International Mr. Leather 2007 competition which took place in Chicago over the weekend. Mikel went to Mr. LA Leather as Old Can Harry’s Mr. Leather winner. Mikel is a nice guy – congratulations! More than 1,700 attended the contest, in which 52 contestants from five countries competed.

NASA: Danger Point Closer Than Thought From Warming

Even "moderate additional" greenhouse emissions are likely to push Earth past "critical tipping points" with "dangerous consequences for the planet," according to research conducted by NASA and the Columbia University Earth Institute. With just 10 more years of "business as usual" emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas, says the NASA/Columbia paper, "it becomes impractical" to avoid "disastrous effects." The forecast effects include "increasingly rapid sea-level rise, increased frequency of droughts and floods, and increased stress on wildlife and plants due to rapidly shifting climate zones," according to the NASA announcement.

Damage from climate change may cost Alaska $10 billion
Collapsing bridges, bursting sewer pipes and crumbling roads caused by global warming could cost Alaska up to $10 billion over the next few decades, researchers said. Atmospheric temperatures in the northernmost U.S. state have risen by more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit (around 2 degrees Celsius) over the past five decades, said Peter Larsen, a resource economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Larsen led a study with a team of engineers to calculate how Alaska will cope with the highest temperatures it has experienced in the last 400 years, according to data gathered from ice cores. "There is a rough magnitude of between $5 and $10 billion of public infrastructure that's vulnerable to climate change just in Alaska," Larsen said.

Permanently frozen ground, or permafrost, covers nearly two-thirds of the massive state but buildings, pipelines, roads and bridges crumble as it melts, he said at this week's meeting in Belize of Arctic peoples and tropical islanders who are suffering the worst effects of global warming. An analysis of close to 20 types of public works in Alaska, from schools to municipal buildings, showed flooding and erosion will increase the burden on state finances.

Regular upkeep until 2080 would cost Alaska between $32 and $56 billion without the extra stresses, said Larsen. Some coastal areas like the Inupiat village of Shishmaref on a narrow Chukchi Sea barrier island are disappearing as sea levels rise, forcing a $100 million relocation plan.

Most scientists say it is very likely that human activities led by burning fossil fuels explain most of the global warming in the past 50 years. Warming is accentuated in high-latitude regions like Alaska in part because of thinner atmospheres in the polar region, concentrating so-called greenhouse gases, and in part because of the nature of atmospheric currents, say studies.

Alabama Lists Gays Among Terrorist Groups

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has taken down a Web site it operated that included gay rights and anti-war organizations in a list of groups that could include terrorists.

The Web site identified different types of terrorists, and included a list of groups it believed could spawn terrorists. The site included gay rights advocates under a description of what it called "single-issue" terrorists. That group includes people who feel they are trying to create a better world, the Web site said. It said that in some communities, law enforcement officers consider certain single issue groups to be a threat.

"Single-issue extremists often focus on issues that are important to all of us. However, they have no problem crossing the line between legal protest and ... illegal acts, to include even murder, to succeed in their goals," it read.

The director of the department, Jim Walker, said his agency received a number of calls and e-mails from people who said they felt the site unfairly targeted certain people just because of their beliefs. He said he plans to put the Web site back on the Internet, but will no longer identify specific types of groups.

Howard Bayliss, chairman of the gay and lesbian advocacy group Equality Alabama, said he doesn't understand why gay rights advocates would be on the list. "Our group has only had peaceful demonstrations. I'm deeply concerned we've been profiled in this discriminatory matter," Bayliss said.

Culver signs bill for civil right for gays & lesbians

Gay and lesbians now have civil rights protections in Iowa.

Gov. Chet Culver this morning signed a bill that makes it illegal to discriminate in employment, public accommodation, credit, housing or education based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Iowa is now one of 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, to have such protection for gay and lesbians.

Today “we send a message that Iowa is a welcoming place that values each of its citizens whether it’s in the neighborhood or the workplace,” Culver said. “We send a message that intolerance and discrimination have no place in our state.”

Specifically, the law gives the state’s civil rights commission the ability to investigate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

'Gay' tubbies face government ban

Poland's conservative government took its drive to curb what it sees as homosexual propaganda to the small screen on Monday, taking aim at Tinky Winky and the other Teletubbies.

Ewa Sowinska, government-appointed children rights watchdog, told a local magazine published on Monday that she was concerned the popular BBC children's show promoted homosexuality. In comments reminiscent of criticism by the late US evangelist Jerry Falwell, she was quoted as saying: "I noticed (Tinky Winky) has a lady's purse, but I didn't realise he's a boy. At first I thought the purse would be a burden for this Teletubby ... Later I learned that this may have a homosexual undertone."

Poland's rightist government has upset human rights groups and drawn criticism within the European Union by apparent discrimination against homosexuals.

The 10-year-old Teletubbies, which features four rotund, brightly coloured characters loved by children around the world, became a target of religious conservatives after Falwell suggested Tinky Winky could be homosexual.

ABC reaction
The ABC will not be removing Teletubbies from their roster, regardless of the findings of a Polish Government probe into whether the show is homosexual propaganda. "We've been showing it for ten years. It's basically a non-issue for us. Australian kids love the Teletubbies,'' Catherine Bocking, publicist for ABC Kids, said.

"The issue's come up before hasn't it, this whole handbag thing, we don't see anything in it. It's colour and movement for children, it's nothing political,'' Ms Bocking said.

[and I thought with Jerry Falwell dead, the whole issue of gay teletubbies would be gone. good for ABC on not giving in]

Tutu tells Church to stop obsessing about gays

Desmond Tutu has called for the Anglican Church in Africa to stop "obsessing" with gay priests and same-sex marriages.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Archbishop of Cape Town said that church leaders in Africa were not paying enough attention to problems in Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDs, or the crisis in Darfur. "There are so many issues crying out for concern and application by the church of its resources, and here we are, I mean, with this kind of extraordinary obsession."

"Certainly there's not been anything like the same standing up to the evil and exercising the prophetic ministry that one would have expected from the church - and that has been very ... distressing."

Anglican communities across the world have been divided by the issue over sexuality. The Anglican church in South Africa is the only one on the continent that has a liberal attitude towards women priests. Most African churches are implacably opposed to gay or lesbian clergy and regard homosexuality as biblically forbidden.

Earlier this year, Tutu, the legendary anti-apartheid campaigner, told a conference in Nairobi that gay hate was the same as racism.

Dr Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, told journalists: "For one to penalise someone for their sexual orientation is the same as penalising someone for something they can do nothing about, like ethnicity or race.

"I cannot imagine persecuting a minority group which is already being persecuted."

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has ruled out a discussion on sexuality at the next Lambeth Conference in 2008, but stressed that Anglican bishops should focus on "the listening process."

“I am not anti-gay.”

MITT ROMNEY, the Republican Presidential candidate defending his stance that gay marriage should not be legalized because of its effect on children and other anti-gay comments he has made repeatedly

4 in 10 Americans have close friends or relatives who are gay

And that’s because those gays and lesbians came out to them. Coming out, as we’ve discussed many times here at the Blend, is the most important act one can do to help the advancement of LGBT rights.

About half of all women, young people, college graduates, political liberals and mainline Protestants say that someone close to them is gay, the survey found. But significantly fewer men, conservative Republicans and older Americans report that a good friend or family member is homosexual.

An analysis of survey results suggests that familiarity is closely linked to tolerance. People who have a close gay friend or family member are more likely to support gay marriage and they are also significantly less likely to favor allowing schools to fire gay teachers than are those with little or no personal contact with gays, the poll found.

…Percentages vary greatly by political orientation: Conservative Republicans are the least likely to say they have a close gay friend or family member (33%), while liberal Democrats are most likely to say so (59%). Race seems to have virtually no effect on whether a person knows gay people well.

If you are gay and if it is at all possible for you to safely come out, DO IT. No one ever regrets throwing open that closet door, even if the path is difficult for a while. The more that people realize we are your neighbors, co-workers, teachers, police officers and leaders in the community, the less effective the “fear and loathing” demonization campaign by the Right is.

Make states that pass marriage amendments and anti-gay legislation know that our gay dollars can go elsewhere. If a state has determined that civil rights for a group can be determined at the ballot box, we can speak with our feet and our wallets.

Do give them a dollar. Do give any money to organizations or campaigns that don't fully support gay and lesbian rights.

If you are straight and an ally, make it known. Support your gay friends and loved ones when you hear intolerant conversation, politely engage ignorance with information.

US Military Fires Three More Gay Arabic Linguists as Shortfall Continues

More Arabic linguists in the US military have been fired under the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Washington lawmakers who say the military has kicked out 58 Arabic linguists because they were gay want the Pentagon to explain how it can afford to let the valuable language specialists go.

Seizing on the latest discharges, involving three specialists, members of the House of Representatives wrote House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton that the continued loss of such ''capable, highly skilled Arabic linguists continues to compromise our national security during time of war.''

[Silly me, I thought we didn’t have enough Arabic linguists – so much for protecting the United States. Apparently the gays are more serious of a threat than the terrorists.]

Lambeth: Your Invitation is Not in the Mail

The worldwide leader of the Anglican Church will meet with American bishops in September and several say they intend to press Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on his decision not to invite Gene Robinson, the denomination's first openly gay bishop, to an international summit of the world's Anglican bishops scheduled for next year in London.

The Archbishop had an explanation for his decision not to include Bishop Robinson: “I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion.”

No explanation is provided for excluding the Bishop of New Hampshire because he is gay while including the Archbishop of Nigeria who supports legislation criminalizing gay and lesbian people so draconian that it has been condemned by the international Human Rights Watch.

Williams informed Robinson, the bishop of New Hampshire he was not welcome at the summit, called the Lambeth Conference, earlier this month. Also not invited was Martyn Minns of the breakaway Convocation of Anglicans in North America which opposes gays in the clergy. Minns exclusion was not unexpected but Robinson's notice was greeted with anger from gay Episcopalians and a large number of bishops.

One of them, Marc Andrus, the bishop of California has been vocal in his support for Bishop Robinson and his opposition to Peter Akinola, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and the leader of a conservative faction opposing gays. Akinola also has been a leader in promoting legislation in Nigeria limiting the civil rights of gays.

"I will be seeking to learn how I can best be in solidarity with Bishop Robinson, through prayerful action," said Bishop Andrus this week. "The tactic of isolation and exile being employed against Bishop Robinson is retrogressive behavior that moves us toward a past from which Christ is always seeking to redeem us."

"Our bishops must refuse to capitulate to those for whom the exclusion of gay and lesbian people is the criteria for membership in the Anglican Communion. My hope is that they will find a creative way to respond to Archbishop Williams that actually honors our Church's commitment to listen to the voices of lesbian and gay people around the world."

Archbishop Peter Akinola has threatened to boycott a major Anglican meeting over the failure of the Archbishop of Canterbury to invite Bishop Martyn Minns, a missionary bishop for Convocation of Anglican in North America (CANA) consecrated in 2006 by Akinola to shepherd Anglican congregations in the U.S. opposed to same-sex teachings. Akinola, said he would lead some 122 bishops in Nigeria to stay away from the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, held every 10 years, because of the failure to invite Minns. "The withholding of invitation to a Nigerian bishop, elected and consecrated by other Nigerian bishops, will be viewed as withholding invitation to the entire House of Bishops of the Church of Nigeria,'' Akinola said

Nebraska Defeats Gay Civil Rights Bill

If nothing Nebraska lawmakers are consistent, continuing a 14 year tradition of voting down attempts to add sexuality to the categories protected under the state's anti-discrimination law.
The Senate voted 24-15 to kill the most recent bill, introduced by Sen. Ernie Chambers.

Prior to the vote Chambers said the legislation would give gays and lesbians "what all of us take for granted: the right to earn an honest living. We're not talking about anything other than the right to get a job."

Two Republicans led the attack on the bill. Sen. Tony Fulton said it would give special rights to homosexuals and said it could lead to protections for to pedophiles and transvestites. Sen. Tom Carlson said gays don't need workplace protections as long as they keep their sex lives in the closet. "We're talking here about values. We're talking here about behavior. We're talking here about ethics," he said.

Nebraska law currently prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on race, color, religion, sex, disability or national origin.

Two of Nebraska's neighbors passed civil rights protections earlier this year. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver is scheduled to sign that state's bill into law at a ceremony Friday. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to sign a similar bill passed in that state. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia already have laws banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment.

Chester's Birthday

Nelson, Andy and I dressed up in honor of Chester's 30th birthday party. You never know what Chester will be wearing, so we wanted to pay tribute to his unique style. All in fun.

Gay flamingos' adoption joy

A pair of gay flamingos has finally become proud foster parents after taking an abandoned chick under their wings. Carlos and Fernando had been so desperate to have chicks that they had resorted to stealing eggs to fulfil their unlikely dream of a starting a family at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.

But their egg-sitting and hatching skills impressed staff so much that when one of the Greater Flamingo nests was abandoned last week, they were considered the number one choice to "adopt" the chick.

The unhatched egg was whisked off to an incubator where it was warmed up and monitored. Hours later a healthy chick hatched, but staff were concerned the flamboyant duo would not bond with the newborn because the process normally begins when the chicks are "calling" them from inside the egg. So the chick was carefully placed in an old eggshell, which was taped up and returned to the unsuspecting couple's empty nest. The pair were soon seen 'talking' to the chick inside the egg and a little while later it hatched for a second time - to be greeted by its loving new foster parents.

WWT spokeswoman Jane Waghorn said: "Fernando and Carlos are a same sex couple who have been known to steal other Flamingos' eggs by chasing them off their nest because they wanted to rear them themselves. hey were rather good at sitting on eggs and hatching them so last week, when a nest was abandoned, it seemed like a good idea to make them surrogate parents."

The pair, who have been together for about six years, can feed their chick without any female help - by producing milk in their throat.

Fresno trans girl wins prom crown

Johnny Vera, a 6-foot-4 cheerleader whose late mother always told her, "To really be a lady you have to know how to walk into a room," certainly worked it Saturday as she was crowned prom queen of Roosevelt High School in Fresno, Calif.

Vera, who goes by a male moniker and prefers female pronouns but "isn't too hung up" if people slip, was students' favorite by a 5–1 margin, the school's principal told the Fresno Bee.

"This person is amazing. He lights up everybody around him; he always has a genuine compliment for everyone," career counselor Lupe Sosa told the Bee.

In her candidate speech Vera told fellow students, "For me, it's about more than a crown. It's about saying to people, 'Come out and be who you want to be....' I am who I am, and I'm proud of who I am. My spirit will never be down on the floor."

Phelps' to Picket Falwell Funeral

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket the funeral of Reverend Jerry Falwell. They say: "WBC will preach at the memorial service of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like 'God loves everyone'. There is little doubt that Falwell split Hell wide open the instant he died. The evidence is compelling, overwhelming, and irrefragable."

"He taught young people to remain true to their convictions and rely upon God's word throughout each stage of their lives."


-President GEORGE W. BUSH, paying tribute to Reverend Jerry Falwell, a leading conservative evangelist who died on Tuesday

NY Gay Couples Married In Mass. Have Weddings Validated

Estimated to be in the hundreds, same-sex couples from New York state who were married in Massachusetts between May 17, 2004 and July 6, 2006, have now had those marriages declared legal.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004 and along with couples from the Bay State hundreds of gay and lesbian couples from across the country traveled to Massachusetts to marry. But within a week then-Gov. Mitt Romney invoked a 1913 law that said marriage licenses could not be issued to couples whose weddings would be illegal in the states where they lived.

Last year the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld the law in a case involving same-sex couples from neighboring states but questioned whether couples from Rhode Island and New York were excepted because those states did not have specific legislation banning gay marriage.
The marriages also are considered valid in New York state.

In 2004 then-NY Attorney General Elliott Spitzer issued a written legal opinion that same-sex marriages valid in areas of the world where they are legal must be considered legal in New York. Following the Massachusetts ruling the current NY Attorney General, Andrew M Cuomo, said he concurred with Spitzer's assessment.

Meanwhile, Spitzer, who is now NYS governor, last month introduced legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry in New York. The move is opposed by Republicans who control the Senate, and is unlikely to pass in this session of the Legislature.

A growing number of public and private entities in New York are respecting legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

On April 27, the New York State Department of Civil Service became the latest entity to do so when it announced that any state or local employee married to a same-sex spouse will now have access to spousal benefits provided through the New York State Health Insurance Plan.

"I think when fair-minded people hear our story, they will agree we should have the right to marry."

- Janet Peck, a Connecticut resident who is among eight gay couples that asked the Connecticut Supreme Court for marriage licenses on Monday

Jerry Falwell Dies

The Rev. Jerry Falwell — founder of the Moral Majority and the face of the religious right in the 1980s — died Tuesday after being found unconscious in his office, a Liberty University executive said.

Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and Liberty University, had a long history of opposing gay rights. In 1976 he, along with Anita Bryant, led the charge against gay adoption in Florida leading to the most repressive anti-gay adoption law in the US. Following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 Falwell declared that gays and pro choice advocates were to blame.

Speaking on the 700 Club religious program Falwell said, "The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'."

In 2003 Falwell announced that he was putting aside everything to devote his time to passage of a federal constitutional ban on gay marriage.

"I am dedicating my talents, time and energies over the next few years to the passage of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which will protect the traditional family from its enemies who wish to legalize same-sex marriage and other diverse "family" forms," Falwell said.
In the 2004 election campaign he worked with Republicans to use same-sex marriage as a wedge issue.

A week after the November election he announced he was organizing battle plans for what he called an "evangelical revolution." Falwell said that the election showed that Americans want to return to "traditional values".

He promised to roll back gay rights laws in communities across the country.

Conn.'s Civil Unions Law Faces Challenge

The state Supreme Court on Monday took up the issue of gay marriage in Connecticut, the first state in the nation to pass a civil unions law without court intervention. Eight gay and lesbian couples, unhappy with civil unions, are suing over the state's refusal to grant them marriage licenses. They want the court to rule that the state's marriage law is unconstitutional because it applies only to heterosexual couples and denies gay couples the financial, social and emotional benefits of marriage.

The state argues that Connecticut's 2005 civil unions law gives the couples the equality they seek under state law. The state Supreme Court began hearing the case Monday and was expected to issue a decision later in the year. Attorneys on both sides say a ruling in the couples' favor could have nationwide implications for states that have adopted or are considering civil union-like legislation.

Currently, only Massachusetts allows same-sex couples to marry. Connecticut, Vermont, California, New Jersey, Maine and Washington have laws allowing either civil unions or domestic partnerships. Hawaii extends certain spousal rights to same-sex couples and cohabiting heterosexual pairs.

Catalina Island Fire

Okay, so the fire in Griffith Park is out - hundreds of acres burned - but they are expecting to reopen the park in a couple days. Now, Catalina Island is burning. And just a reminder, fire season doesn't start for another couple months.

U.S. Navy Announces It Will Now Fire Openly Gay Sailor Re-Called to Active Duty

The United States Navy has informed Petty Officer Second Class Jason Knight that it intends to fire him under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law just weeks prior to completing his one-year commitment. Knight, an openly gay sailor, was recalled to active duty in June 2006 and recently completed a tour of duty in Kuwait, where he was open about his sexual orientation with his command and fellow sailors. Knight told his story last weekend in the newspaper Stars and Stripes and was notified yesterday that he will be receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy based, in part, on his recent media interviews. Knight was scheduled to end his commitment on May 28, 2007, but will now face early dismissal.

[so he served with honor and was openly gay, was later recalled knowing that he was openly day, and now they decide he can't serve]

Good Week for Transpeople in California

The San Francisco Police Commission has elected openly-transgender Commissioner Theresa Sparks as its new President. Her election as President makes Sparks the city’s first openly transgender head of a major commission in San Francisco and likely the city’s highest ranking transgender official.

The City of Berkeley is considering incorporating sex-change surgery into employee health care benefits. Kaiser Permanente offers sex-change operation benefits to all University of California employees and San Francisco city employees, but groups must ask for it to be included in their plans, a spokeswoman said. “I just think it's time for Berkeley to catch up with mainstream corporate America on this issue.”

Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles

I can see the smoke plume from my house and the ash is falling on my house. But the fire is not close for me to have to worry about anything - I can't believe my mother hasn't called.

Oregon Gov. Signs Gay Rights Bills

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed two major LGBT civil rights bills Wednesday at a ceremony in front of the legislature. One bill would allow same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples unable to marry to form legally recognized partnerships. The other amends the state's non-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation.

"[These are] bills that are actually transformational [and show that Oregon is a land of equal opportunity for all our citizens," the governor declared.

Adrian - 5 months

Anglican Gay Rift Widens

Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Anglican Church of Nigeria plans to lead a ceremony Saturday at a nondenominational chapel in Woodbridge, Va., where he'll install Martyn Minns, a former Episcopal clergyman, as bishop and U.S. leader of Akinola's Convocation of Anglicans in North America.

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has "strongly urged" Akinola not to enter the United States to install Minns. In a letter to him this week, she said his visit would violate the Anglican tradition that national church leaders, called primates, only minister to churches within their own provinces.

Akinola responded Wednesday that "the usual protocol and permissions are no longer applicable" because of what he called the "unbiblical agenda" of the U.S. church. He said he created CANA "to provide a safe place for those who wish to remain faithful Anglicans but can no longer do so within the Episcopal Church as it is currently being led." "For us, we felt that waiting for one more meeting and one more deadline - too many folks were getting lost in the middle, so for us, it was time to move on," Minns said in a teleconference with reporters Thursday.

Episcopal Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia, in a letter to his diocese, said Akinola's visit "will serve only to inflame the differences we have been struggling with."

Religious Conservatives Pressure Bush To Veto Gay Hate Crimes Bill

Socially conservative groups appear resigned to the likelihood the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act will be passed by Congress and are now turning their opposition to calling for President Bush to veto it.

The House is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday. The legislation would add crimes based on sexuality to the federal hate crime law.

Also called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act it would allow the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs.

FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation.
The American Family Association has sent an alert to thousands of its members calling on them to email and phone the White House to call for a veto.

McGreevey Reportedly Planning To Enter Priesthood

Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey is reportedly planning a new career as an Episcopal priest.

The Trenton Star-Ledger reports the McGreevey has applied to the General Theological Seminary in Manhattan. The paper, quoting two unnamed people familiar with the former governor, said that he is awaiting word of whether he has been accepted to the program.

He already has been accepted into a "discernment" phase, which usually precedes seminary work.

Presiding Bishop urges Nigerian Primate to reconsider plans to install bishop

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to Nigerian Primate Peter J. Akinola asking him to reconsider plans to install Martyn Minns as a bishop in the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), an action she says "would violate the ancient customs of the church" and would "not help the efforts of reconciliation."

Such action, Jefferts Schori added, "would display to the world division and disunity that are not part of the mind of Christ, which we must strive to display to all.

"The installation service, set for May 5 the Hylton Memorial Chapel, a nondenominational Christian Event Center in Woodbridge, Virginia, is intended to install Minns as bishop of CANA, which describes itself as "an Anglican missionary effort in the US sponsored by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)."

Heterosexuals Only

Activists in Boise, ID put "Heterosexuals Only" bumper stickers all over downtown and in the Statehouse on Monday to protest Idaho’s ballot measure to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. It will come to a vote in November, and the activists in Boise want to send a clear message to their state legislators that gays are exactly like black people and we want to appropriate icons from their struggle for our own use.

[okay, not sure exactly how I feel about this one]

Today marks the fourth anniversary that President George W. Bush appeared on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and declared major combat operations in Iraq finished.

House To Vote This Week On Gay Hate Crime Bill

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Thursday on legislation that would add crimes based on sexuality to the federal hate crime law. The bill passed its final committee hurdle last week.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, would allow the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs.

FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation.
The bill was introduced in the House in March.

The legislation has the support of LGBT civil rights groups and has been endorsed by more than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

The survey, conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates, found three in four voters favor strengthening hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

BP boss resigns after 'gay' revelations

John Browne, the long-standing chief executive of oil giant British Petroleum (BP), resigned with immediate effect Tuesday, following revelations about his private life centring on a gay relationship.

Browne, 59, who headed BP for the last 12 years, tendered his resignation after British courts lifted a legal injunction preventing a newspaper from publishing details of his private life. In a statement, Brown apologized for making 'untruthful' statements in legal documents relating to his four-year relationship with Jeff Chevalier, a Canadian.

In a statement Lord Browne said: "In my 41 years with BP I have kept my private life separate from my business life. I have always regarded my sexuality as a personal matter, to be kept private. I wish to acknowledge that I did formerly have a four-year relationship with Jeff Chevalier.”