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March 1 , 2009

Arrest Warrant Issued in Custody Case for 'Former' Lesbian Lisa Miller
by Veronica Lane | Article Date: 02/24/2010 10:27 AM

http://shewired.com/Article.cfm?ID=24514

 
A family court judge in Vermont issued a warrant for the arrest of "former" lesbian Lisa Miller Tuesday who disappeared with her 7-year-old daughter she once shared with her former partner, Janet Jenkins
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Pentagon Approves Lifting Ban of Women on Submarines

by Boo Jarchow | Article Date: 02/24/2010 5:21 PM

http://shewired.com/Article.cfm?ID=24519  

 
 
Lawmakers were notified by a letter from US Defense Secretary Robert Gates that a decision by the Navy could have the first women on nuclear submarines by next year, according to Reuters.
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DEB PRICE: OPENNESS DRIVING NATION FORWARD.  

Commentary by Deb Price. Madison Capital Times - USA: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/article_0a0f89f0-8c4a-57eb-8223-ea54fc607386.html
 
What’s the difference between “homosexuals” and “gay men and lesbians”?  Turns out a lot - a whopping 14 percentage points of support, a New York Times-CBS News poll released on Feb. 11 revealed.
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ZOMBIE ZEALOTS COMING OF AGE.  

Commentary by Wayne Besen. Truth Wins Out - USA: http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2010/02/7184/
 
It is generally understood that today’s youth are more supportive of equality for gay and lesbian people.  Faced with losing the next generation, fundamentalists are ferociously scrambling to capture the minds of youth through homeschooling and the subversion of public education.  By sequestering students at home or creating public schools where the only drink served in the cafeteria is Kool-Aid, they hope to reprogram tomorrow’s leaders
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FIRST LESBIAN WEDDING HELD BEHIND BARS

HMP Send, Surrey February 24th, 2010   http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/sex-relationships/first-lesbian-wedding-held-behind-bars/

A prison in Surrey has hosted what is believed to be the UK’s first lesbian civil partnership service behind bars.
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GAY COUPLE ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE LAUNCHED

By Advocate.com EditorsPosted February 24, 2010 07:20:00 PM

      * ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT X390 (GRAB) | ADVOCATE.COM

Two Bremerton, Wash., men, Karl Urseth and Michael Maria, who have been together for 23 years, have followed the request of a website commenter and placed an announcement in the Kitsap Sun newspaper stating their intent to marry as soon as they are legally able to do so.
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Black and Queer in Nazi Germany!? Black History Month Continues...

by Rev. Irene Monroe | Article Date: 02/19/2010 11:04 AM

 
 

http://shewired.com
 
Missing from the annals of African American history and the history of Nazi Germany are the documented stories and struggles of African Americans, straight and "queer." Valaida Snow, captured in Nazi- occupied Copenhagen and interned in a concentration camp for nearly two years, is one such story forgotten every Black History Month in celebrating our heroes and survivors….
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REPORT THAT PROP 8 JUDGE IS GAY: LONG ON SPECULATION   WED, 10

Feb 2010 22:01:29 +0000 from LA Center website

With no named sources and a “no comment” from the judge, the San Francisco Chronicle this week reported that it is an “open secret” in San Francisco that the federal judge presiding over the Proposition 8 trial “is himself gay.”
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MOVE TO REPEAL D.C. MARRIAGE REJECTED

By Michelle GarciaPosted February 19, 2010 05:50:00 PM

    * WASHINGTON DC AERIAL X390 (FAIR USE) | ADVOCATE.COM

      A Washington, D.C., superior court judge rejected a motion to delay the effective date of the city's marriage equality law.
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BILL WOULD HELP CALIFORNIA COUNT GAYS

http://www.365gay.com/news/bill-would-help-california-count-gays/

Equality California is sponsoring legislation to add questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to government forms
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MD. CAN RECOGNIZE OUT-OF-STATE GAY MARRIAGES
 
By Advocate.com EditorsPosted February 24, 2010 03:15:00 PM

    * SMAE SEX WEDDING MARRIAGE MALE COUPLE X390 (PHOTOS.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM

Effective immediately, Maryland attorney general Douglas F. Gansler has announced, the state can recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.





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Exclusive sneak peek: Ellen's "Female Force" comic book
by Heather Hogan http://www.afterellen.com/blog/stuntdouble/exclusive-sneak-peek-ellens-female-force-comic-book

 

We've talked a lot about Blue Water's Female Force comic books. In December we even gave you a peek of the line art of the Ellen DeGeneres story. Now we've got our hands on an advance copy of the finished product, and we're bringing you sneak preview!
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IS GAY'S THE WORD BEING PRICED OUT OF THE MARKETPLACE?  

By Hermione Hoby . The Observer - UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/21/gays-the-word-rent-rise
 
Ain't nothing going on but the rent at the gay bookshop that's being squeezed to death by the council.
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GOD WANTS GAYS DEAD, SAYS BEAUTY QUEEN.  

By Hollie McKay. The Australian - Australia: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/gays-should-die-says-beauty-queen/story-fn3dxity-1225833760465

Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley is also speaking out in support of traditional nuptials, Fox News reported.
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BEVERLY HILLS DISOWNS MISS CALIFORNIA CONTESTANT

From Associated Press February 25, 2010 3:06 AM EST   http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20100225/03235e7a-71e7-4909-83ba-a909e3d7a095

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Less than a year after dethroned Miss California USA Carrie Prejean stirred up controversy with her remarks against gay marriage, a similar war of words is brewing in Beverly Hills.

Beverly Hills Mayor Nancy Krasne said Wednesday she is outraged over a Miss California USA contestant who is claiming to represent the city in the upcoming pageant and who spoke out against same-sex marriage in recent media interviews.

Krasne said in a statement that 23-year-old Lauren Ashley does not live in Beverly Hills or represent the city in any capacity. Krasne said she was shocked to see statements made by a beauty pageant contestant under the name of Beverly Hills, "which has a long history of tolerance and respect."

Ashley recently told Fox News and other media outlets that same-sex marriage goes against God and the Bible.

Keith Lewis, a K2 Productions stage director for the Miss California USA pageant, told the Los Angeles Times that contestants choose the area they represent and Ashley chose to compete as Miss Beverly Hills in November 2010.

A phone listing for Ashley could not be found….
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RACHELWATCH: RACHEL GOES TO CPAC

by Ali Davis, February 19, 2010 http://www.afterellen.com/blog/alidavis/rachel-watch-rachel-goes-to-cpac

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, an update on the Joseph Stack case, and some amazing CPAC swag.
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LESBIAN COMEDY PREMIERES TO ACCLAIM AT BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

 Julianne Moore and Annette Bening star in new lesbian comedy The Kids Are All Right February 19th, 2010

A new lesbian comedy starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore has received a rapturous reception at the 60th Berlin Film Festival.

The Kids Are All Right - described by The Times as “a riotous and rude lesbian domestic drama that has arguably been the crowd-pleaser of Berlin so far” - features Bening and Moore as a married lesbian couple whose relationship begins to falter when Jules (Moore) falls in love with their adolescent children’s sperm donor.
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KARDASHIAN SISTERS: " LOVE IS LOVE"

By Advocate.com EditorsPosted February 21, 2010 11:50:00 AM

      * KARDASHIAN NO H8 SCREENGRAB X390

The Kardashians (Kim, Khloe and Kourtney) lent their faces to the N0H8 Campaign last year, and now, an outtake from their photoshoot has made the cut on their reality show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians.







 


 

SENT BY CHRIS SCHUMACHER
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ACCEPT YOUR PAST - HONOR YOUR PRESENT - BELIEVE IN YOUR FUTURE
LOVE AND LIGHT,
WENDY MIKELS





 



PROTESTS AT PRIEST'S GAY COMMUNION REFUSAL.  

Radio Netherlands Worldwide - Netherlands: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/protests-priests-gay-communion-refusal


Dozens of people protested outside the Roman Catholic church in the Dutch town Reusel on Sunday.  The local priest, Father Luc Buyens, denied communion to an openly gay churchgoer at a service earlier last week.
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MADRID GAY COUPLE BUY A FLAT FROM THE POPE. "

Typically Spanish - UK:

The Church does not love us, but is happy to do business."
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KENTUCKY COMMITTEE OKS BIBLES IN SCHOOLS

By Michelle GarciaPosted February 21, 2010 01:45:00 PM

    * STUDENTS GENERIC HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROM X390 (PHOTOS.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM

Kentucky's Senate Education Committee unanimously approved a bill on Thursday that would allow teaching the Bible in public schools.
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ELTON ON "JESUS WAS GAY" CONTROVERSY

By Advocate.com EditorsPosted February 20, 2010 07:40:00 PM

    * ELTON JOHN X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

      Elton John's comments to Parade Magazine that he believed Jesus was a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man" caused a ton of controversy last week, with religious and conservative groups denouncing the singer. Now, John has clarified those comments in an interview with WGN, saying that, to him, Jesus is gay.





 





GAY LOVE: WHEN A HUSBAND OR WIFE COMES OUT.
 
 
By Amy Bloom. The Guardian - UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/20/coming-out-husband-wife
 
How does it feel to discover the person you married is gay?  Or, after years with a man, that you're attracted to other women?
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FLORIDA CHALLENGES GAY ADOPTION IN HOLLYWOOD CASE.  

By Carol Marbin Miller. Miami Herald - USA: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/18/1485940/state-challenging-gay-adoption.html
 
State child-welfare administrators have appealed the adoption of an infant foster child by a gay Hollywood woman — the second challenge to Florida's gay-adoption law currently under review.
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U.S. TAX COURT REGISTERS PRO-TRANS DECISION   

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:01:58 +0000 from LA Center website

A ruling this week by the U.S. Tax Court held that a Massachusetts woman should be permitted to deduct the medical costs associated with her transition (male to female) for the purposes of filing federal income tax returns—a ruling that could have significant implications for transgender people.





 
CPAC SPEAKER CONDEMNS CONVENTION FOR INCLUDING GAY GOP GROUP.  

By Chris Johnson. DC Agenda - USA: http://dcagenda.com/2010/02/cpac-speaker-condemns-convention-for-including-gay-gop-group/
 
The co-founder of Young Conservatives of California on Friday publicly criticized the Conservative Political Action Conference for allowing a gay conservative group to participate in the event
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LUTHERANS SEEING FALLOUT OVER GAY CLERGY ISSUE

PATRICK CONDON From Associated Press February 24, 2010 4:06 PM EST

Until a few weeks ago, the Rev. Gail Sowell was pastor at two Lutheran churches in the small Wisconsin town of Edgar. That was before members of both congregations jumped headfirst into the simmering debate over gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

"It was pretty gruesome," Sowell said, recalling shouting matches inside the sanctuary; the mass resignation of one church's council, save one member; even whispers around town that she was a lesbian. "For the record, I'm not," she said.

When the smoke cleared, the congregation at St. John Lutheran Church narrowly voted to not leave the ELCA. Across town at Peace Lutheran, they voted to leave and fired Sowell. "Fortunately, I'm thick-skinned," she said.

Not all ELCA congregations have seen that level of turbulence over the ELCA's decision last August to allow pastors in committed same-sex relationships to serve openly. But by most accounts, it has been a confusing and murky time in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

Several hundred congregations are moving toward a permanent split with the ELCA and more will likely come, but the number is still a small portion of the 10,000-church denomination.

Last week, a conservative Lutheran group announced its plans to establish the North American Lutheran Church, a new denomination that will recruit dissident congregations. Rather than setting up a clear-cut choice, though, even some critics of the ELCA's new policy say the move could further confuse already splintered Lutherans at a time when Protestantism in general seems to be moving away from a denominational model.

"It just feels like we're stepping off a sinking ship, and I'm not inclined to get on another boat," said the Rev. Bill Bohline, lead pastor at Hosanna! in Lakeville, Minn., which had been the state's second largest ELCA church until its members voted overwhelmingly in January to sever ties with the denomination. "That's not where the spirit is moving."

Pushing plans for the new Lutheran denomination is Lutheran CORE, an activist group that led opposition to the gay clergy policy. Critics say liberalizing policies toward homosexuality directly contradicts scripture.

Lutheran CORE leaders hope to have the North American Lutheran Church up and running by August. They hope for a denomination that's less bureaucratic than the ELCA, but still makes it easy for congregations across the country to collaborate on shared goals.

"We heard from many congregations who came to us, who said we'd like to leave the ELCA, but for us the other options aren't quite right," said Ryan Schwarz, a private equity manager in Washington who's leading the effort to organize the new denomination.

Since August, congregations have not left the ELCA in huge numbers. The denomination has about 10,000 congregations, and in all 220 have taken at least one of two required votes to leave. So far, only 28 congregations have actually approved leaving, which requires two separate votes that each attain a two-thirds supermajority.

"Even if that number doubles or triples, it would still be less than 5 percent of the ELCA," said Bishop Peter Rogness of the St. Paul, Minn. synod. "So it's not as though a schism has happened, where we're a denomination split in half. Nothing on that magnitude is in the offing."

Lutheran CORE leaders say the process for leaving is laborious and time-consuming, and those that already left were on the leading edge of opposition.

"I think they should be alarmed by these numbers," said the Rev. Mark Chavez, Lutheran CORE's director. Many churches, he said, just started the discussion.

"I don't think the wave has hit them yet," Chavez said.

Some of the breakaway churches have already found alternative denominations to take them in.

The Lutheran CORE effort isn't coming together quickly enough to be viable, said the Rev. Kurt Rau, whose Calvary Lutheran Church in Kalispell, Mont., instead opted to affiliate with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.

"They're a little slow to the party," Rau said.

His church's new, much smaller denomination itself split from the ELCA in 2000 over perceptions that the bigger congregation was getting too liberal, and so far has been the chief receptacle for congregations leaving the ELCA.

St. Paul Lutheran Church in New Braunfels, Texas, also joined LCMC, said Brian Baese, a self-employed salesman who is president of the church council.

Lutheran CORE's proposal came "too little, too late," Baese said. "We can't hang around when we don't know how long this is going to take. The momentum was carrying in this direction, and we had to go with it."

At St. Luke's Lutheran Church in La Mesa, Calif., the congregation also voted to ditch the ELCA — although the Rev. Mark Menacher said that had less to do with gay clergy and more to do with other long-standing theological disputes. St. Luke's is affiliating with yet another small denomination, the Fellowship of Confessing Lutheran Churches.

Menacher is skeptical about the success of the North American Lutheran Church. "If all that joins you together is concern about same sex relationships, I don't think that's a very strong reason for being," he said.

Bohline, the Lakeville pastor, said Lutherans should stop worrying so much about how they organize themselves. It's a main reason for the decline of mainline Protestantism in recent decades, he said.

"When I went to seminary, I wasn't sure I should be a pastor because I didn't understand what was so different about Lutherans or Baptists or Methodists. And you know, we're not that different," Bohline said. "We're working on the same playing field here. So let's get on with it."




 

                            
Pat Lamis founded the Womynz Brunch Bunch in July 2003 with the first brunch held in Long Beach at Pat Lamis and Heather Hamm’s clubhouse August 10th. Sally Dianne, Ginny Borders and Pat ere partaking of the scrumptious food at a Sunday Brunch for men and women when they noticed hardly any women were in attendance. The conversation turned toward an idea that maybe this would be a good event for women only.  Pat flew with the idea and Sally was very enthusiastic. In fact, Ginny and Sally had one of the first brunches at their homes and helped promote the events. The newsletter formed out of a need to reach other women who would want a Sunday afternoon brunch with like-minded women. As with all things, nothing remains static.  Changes are constantly happening, the newsletter and events are much more comprehensive today. As of October 2007 there are over 5,000 members.

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