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By Gore Vidal
$15.00
By Michael Dirda
$20
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nytimes.com
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Dr. Charles Roselli says a British newspaper misrepresented his research into gay rams, but that didn’t stop the blogosphere, PETA and gay rights activists from running wild with the story. Despite an intense PR campaign to undo the damage, critics are still skeptical of the doctor’s ethics.
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By Jabari Asim — “Grey’s Anatomy’’ star Isaiah Washington’s recent meltdown was as puzzling as it was repulsive.
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badgerherald.com
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The city of Madison, Wis., will allow public officeholders to protest the state’s gay marriage ban when they’re sworn in this April, adding this caveat to their oaths: “I pledge to work to eliminate this section from the constitution ... and work to prevent any discriminatory impacts from its application.”
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Both houses of New Jersey’s Legislature have approved the creation of civil unions, granting the protections of marriage to gay couples as required by a recent court ruling. The governor has said he will sign the bill, making New Jersey the third state to adopt civil unions.
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gaypasg.org
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A panel of Conservative rabbis has approved a relatively gay-friendly interpretation of Jewish law, paving the way for ordinations of gays and same-sex commitment ceremonies.
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austinchronicle.com
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Dick Cheney is going to have another grandchild soon, this time from his openly gay daughter Mary (at left above). While the vice president expressed his joy at the announcement, advocacy groups spanning the political spectrum took the opportunity to sound off, with social conservatives bemoaning the horror of a fatherless childhood and gay rights groups pointing to Grandpa’s history of hypocrisy on the issue.
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AP Photo / Ambrose Peters, Sunday Times
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Two game rangers in South Africa have become the continent’s first legally married same-sex couple. South Africa’s constitution was the first in the world to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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By Ellen Goodman — Though Ted Haggard and others find the “sin” of homosexuality repulsive, Americans are slowly becoming more tolerant of themselves and each other.
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South Africa’s National Assembly approved new legislation recognizing gay marriages. So now America is lagging behind the former apartheid state in civil rights.
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thegully.com
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The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has voted overwhelmingly to back the Vatican’s stand against gay sex, marriage and adoption. The group also renewed its opposition to contraception, though only 4 percent of Catholic Americans abide by the ban.
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fjkastl.de
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Sir Elton John said in a recent interview that all organized religions should be banned for sowing bigotry toward gays and turning people into “hateful lemmings.”
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From the BBC: “A controversial gay pride rally has taken place in Jerusalem despite calls from religious leaders to ban it.” Ultra-Orthodox Jews had opposed the event, saying homosexuality is an abomination in God’s eyes.
We still don’t get the Bible-derived anti-gay logic: God is powerful enough to create the universe, but then gets squeamish about the way in which two consenting adults choose to relate to one another?
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globalgayz.com
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In the face of heated opposition, Mexico City’s Assembly passed legislation allowing gays the rights and privileges of civil unions. Mayor Alejandro Encinas is expected to endorse the law, which will also offer protection to heterosexual couples.
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rockymountainnews.com
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In a letter read on Sunday to his former congregation, Ted Haggard admitted to sexual immorality and deception. Though Haggard initially denied having sex with a former male escort, the oversight board charged with investigating the matter decided that allowing a gay man to massage him was reason enough for the pastor’s dismissal. (h/t: Huffington Post)
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rainbownetwork.com
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The Israeli attorney general has approved a gay pride march in Jerusalem despite concern from police and condemnation from religious extremists. During last year’s march, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed three people.
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rockymountainnews.com
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A prominent evangelical preacher and opponent of gay marriage has temporarily stepped down from his church leadership role amid allegations that he had a three-year relationship with a former male escort. Though the Rev. Ted Haggard denies the claim, Mike Jones says he has voicemails and a letter from Haggard, and intends to take a polygraph test.
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Proud Of Who We Are, an organization that calls upon closeted gay officials to come out, has produced a dead-on satire of RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman’s race-baiting ad against Democrat Harold Ford.
Watch it and read about it.
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from IMDB
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The Republican National Committee is a regular recipient of political contributions from Nick Boyias, above, one of America’s largest gay porn distributors. The hypocrisy: The RNC ran an ad last week accusing Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) of taking money from pornographic movie producers. (TPM has the scoop.)
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365gay.com
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Republicans across the country have seized the threat of gay marriage in a desperate attempt to hold on to Congress. Now that the “security” issue no longer offers the boost it once did, the GOP is counting on homophobia to drive voter turnout.
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Hurrah for the Garden State, whose state Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples are entitled to “the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes.”
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We could be wrong, but it appears Tony Snow just defended Condi Rice for recognizing the mother of a new White House appointee’s gay partner as his “mother-in-law.” (h/t AMERICAblog) More after the jump…
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flickr/Coffee Monster
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In the 2004 election, anti-gay ballot measures effectively drew conservatives to the ballot box, but the appeal of banning gay marriage is wearing off, polls suggest.
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Conservative blogger and gay activist Andrew Sullivan visited “The Colbert Report” to discuss the GOP’s double standard when it comes to homosexuality: “They can’t pretend to be tolerant in private, and intolerant in public. They’re either going to have to purge all the gays from the Republican Party or they’re going to start having to behave like grown-ups and treat us like human beings.”
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Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, falsely argued on “Hardball” that homosexual men are likelier to abuse children than heterosexuals. With comments like this, one might argue conservatives are likelier to abuse gays, not to mention the truth. (Video & Transcript)
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Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who stepped down after he was outed in 2004, speaks to Jon Stewart about his new book and how living in the closet prepared him for the duplicity of politics.
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Want to see unbridled hate masquerading as a defense of “values”? Watch Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo) call the prevention of gay marriage “the most important issue we face today.” (More important than global warming, terrorism, etc.)
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This week’s edition of Truthdig-flavored videos includes a “Daily Show” spot-on satirical interview with a discharged gay Army linguist; a classic Bill Maher broadside on President Bush; and Jon Stewart asking Bill Clinton how to defeat Hillary.
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An interesting confluence of apparent homo- and terror-phobia: A gay couple flying on an JFK-bound AA flight out of Paris were told that their air kissing was impermissible; when the couple inquired further, the captain threatened to divert the plane.
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That’s the only conclusion we at Truthdig can come to when faced with these facts: Recruiters are increasingly admitting neo-Nazis and skinheads into the military, and the number of soldiers kicked out of the military for being gay rose 11% over last year.
Also, allegations of harassment and outright crimes committed by military recruiters are up. (story or .pdf report)
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That’s the number of Arabic linguists who have been discharged from the Army for being gay. Fifty-five. (We missed this fact when we blogged about the latest dismissal—interview here—but it’s so shocking we felt we had to bring it up now.)
If the military were serious about winning Iraqis’ hearts and minds, it would find a way to keep most of these linguists in the service.
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From ABC News
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He had one of the most sought-after skills in the entire U.S. arsenal: a working knowledge of Arabic. And the Army discharged him for being gay—after subjecting him to witch-hunt-style questioning. ABC News interviews him. (Earlier: original story)
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After Tony Snow announced the results of Bushs recent physical, “The Daily Show host seized the opportunity to mock the presidents weight gain. But when Bush, in a speech, began talking about eating crabs with the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Stewart decided that the president had, finally, gone off the deep end.
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By Ellen Goodman — Washington state’s Supreme Court says it limited marriage to heterosexual couples in order to encourage procreation. OK, so what about straight couples that can’t or don’t want to have kids? Are they banned from marriage, too?
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A decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was discharged after an investigation determined that he was gay. He alleges his commanding officer blatantly violated the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and that investigators asked him if he had close friends who were gay, and if he was involved in community theater.
Thank goodness our military is on top of things. We’ve got too damned many Arabic linguists in the service these days.
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Lewis Black was back on the Daily Show on Wednesday satirizing the debate over gay marriage. After playing a clip of Congressman Phil Gingrey, in which the lawmaker said, In my opinion, marriage isnt just any kind of love. Its a love that can bear children, Black quipped, Hey Congressman, take my word for it. A one-night stand with no love, a Quaalude and three beers can also bear children.
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Bigots are delighting at this blow against tolerance. Massachusetts is now the only state still extending full marriage benefits to homosexual couples.
On an intellectual level, it’s interesting to read the logical flights of fancy that judges have to make in their opinions to codify this kind of hatred into law.
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The New York Court of Appeals stated last week that it upheld a gay marriage ban because gay couples make more stable parental units than heterosexual couples—and thus the latter need the benefits of marriage to assist them. The reasoning behind this is wild, but it’s also insidious. Check it out.
Update: Nebraska just reinstated its gay marriage ban.
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From CBS
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“Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, never said one word about civil marriage or abortion,” said a prominent religious left leader in an article about religious progressives trying to regain the political ground they lost after the MLK Jr. era. (h/t: Huff Po)
The mixing of religion and politics is a bad idea regardless of the ideological slant. But until Sam Harris wins that argument… (more)
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More than a million worshipers in Spain showed up to hear the pope deliver a homily in which he made a veiled attack on Spain’s liberal legal attitude toward gay marriage and divorce. Conspicuously not in attendance: the Spanish prime minister. It’s apparently the first time in history that a Spanish leader has missed such an address.
Que bueno. Memo to Pope Benedict XVI: Keep on dressing up hate speech as The Good News and you’ll continue to be marginalized by more-enlightened world leaders.
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Salon’s Sara Miles writes an excellent personal essay on the N.Y. gay marriage ruling—explaining that the gay marriage ban hurts the children it claims to protect. (Ad wall)
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Just when it appeared that there might be a glimmer of hope in the darkness…New York and Georgia go and remind us that when it comes to gay marriage, the USA is still in the Dark Ages.
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The U.S. military said it would revise an official medical document that classified homosexuality as a disorder alongside mental retardation, impulse control disorders and personality disorders.
Original story
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The fact that Egyptian authorities didn’t censor a box office-topping film that deals frankly with homosexuality—along with police torture and government corruption—is probably a sign that Egypt’s government is adopting a more tolerant, progressive attitude.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Bush just signed the “Janet Jackson FCC bill,” which raises by tenfold the fines for broadcasing so-called indecent material.
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Having one or more older brothers boosts the likelihood of a boy growing up to be gay—an effect due not to social factors but biological events that occur in the mother’s womb, according to a study published Tuesday. More evidence—alas, Bible-thumpers still need it—that homosexuality has nothing to do with outside factors and has everything to do with biology.
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From one of today’s Times editorials: “Given the topics that have preoccupied Congress lately, one wonders why the Republicans don’t simply propose a catchall bill aimed at illegal gay liberal Mexican flag burners and be done with it.”
Why not indeed?
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Stephen Colbert highlights a clip of an editor from the Wall Street Journal saying that in the wake of a woman in India supposedly marrying a snake, gay-marriage supporters in America should now be required to guarantee that animal marriage is not around the corner.
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If homosexuality is a genetic aberration, why hasn’t it been bred out of all species? That’s the provocative question posed in Seed magazine, which reports that among some species, it actually makes more evolutionary sense for animals to copulate with members of the same sex—as opposed to members of the opposite sex.
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Real American Boy: How Our Byzantine Immigration System and Failed Economy May Have Made a Terrorist
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