Friday, July 31, 2009

Coffee Talk :: Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic.

2010 Prop 8 Repeal Effort Up in the Air

Time is running out to get a repeal of Proposition 8 on the California ballot for 2010--and GLBT leaders are not yet certain whether that’s something they want to do, or whether they would rather wait for 2012.

Momentum behind Va. anti-LGBT discrimination bill grows
A resolution unanimously passed by the Alexandria City Council late last month have given statewide activists further momentum in their efforts to lobby Richmond lawmakers to pass an anti-LGBT discrimination bill in the General Assembly.

Chicago HIV/AIDS groups respond to grim infection statistics
A report the city’s Department of Public Health released last week found an estimated half of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chicago who live with HIV/AIDS are unaware of their status.

Prostitute-Frequenting La. Sen. Vitter Wants Return to ’Conservative Values’
Louisiana’s GOP Sen. David Vitter, who was caught frequenting prostitutes, has criticized other Republicans for being too liberal about social issues and advocates a return to family values.

Toronto Concert Scraps Musician Labeled ’Homophobic’
The Jamaican dancehall artist known as Elephant Man was taken off the roster only a few days before being part of a scheduled concert in Toronto as a result of a campaign against his homophobic lyrics

Two UK Cops, Now Dads, Are Married--To Other Men
It seemed a step forward for gay and lesbian families in the UK when two openly gay police officers had a child via the sister of one of the men, but now more details have emerged that make the entrance of the men into parenthood controversial.

Boston’s 2nd annual Queer Women of Color Week kicks off Sunday August 2
The second annual Queer Women of Color (QWOC) Week begins Sunday August 2 with QWOC+ Boston’s Uni-T Dance and Boat Cruise.

Where is Bryce?
Travis Swanson hasn’t heard from his boyfriend Bryce Faulkner for more than a month. In a July 23 interview with Fox News, Swanson said the 23-year-old Arkansas native sent him a text message in late June saying that his parents wanted to take him to "a place in Pensacola" to cure him of his homosexuality. Swanson, who lives in Wisconsin, alleges the news came after Faulkner’s mother discovered e-mails between the men. Since then, Swanson hasn’t heard from Faulkner. None of his friends have. They suspect that his parents enrolled the pre-med student in an offshoot of the Exodus International program, the world’s largest ex-gay ministry.

Gender police at the gym
During the Beacon Hill Judiciary Committee hearing July 14 on the transgender rights bill, a group of representatives of the gym and health club industry testified that such a bill would hurt their businesses by allowing people to use locker room and bathroom facilities based on their gender identity or expression, rather than on their biological sex.

NYC Councilman Bill de Blasio Wants Health Division for Gay Youths
New York City Councilman Bill de Blasio wants to create a division in the health department to deal with issues confronting gay, lesbian and transgender youths.

No charges in Mormon church plaza kissing incident
he Salt Lake City prosecutor’s office says it will not pursue charges against two men who were cited for trespassing on a Mormon church-owned downtown plaza earlier this month after sharing a kiss.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

gender identity will not hurt gym membership--the only thing that will happen is that people who are uncomfortable may not change in the locker room... gyms don't charge admission to the showers--that would make them a bath house.