Garibaldi Gay

Neil Patrick Harris

There’s still a celluloid closet in Hollywood.
Gay actors are far more open about their sexuality with friends and co-workers, than their agents, according to a new survey by the British trade union Equity.
Only 57 percent say that they are openly gay with their agents. Despite the success of gay and lesbian actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Lynch and Ian McKellen, the indication seems to be that actors and actresses fear that their choice of roles will be affected if they come out of the closet publicly.
Rupert Everett, once eager to become the next James Bond, has for years spoken frankly the price he’s paid for being openly gay, lambasting Hollywood as “very, very conservative” in a late 2010 interview.
He said that he didn’t blame those who chose to remain in the closet, calling it “very sensible.”
McKellen, Lynch, Harris and others have made great strides for the gay community and frequently play straight people on television and in movies, but there are no A-list film stars who are openly gay. Rumors have swirled for years about the sexuality of major stars such as Jodie Foster, but so far the actress has avoided any explicit public declarations.
At this year’s Golden Globe awards, host Ricky Gervais riffed on the those rumors, and the title of Foster’s recent film, “The Beaver.”
“I haven’t seen it myself,” Gervais said. ‘I’ve spoken to a lot of guys — they haven’t seen it either, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.”
Beyond a reticence to broadcast their sexuality, 35 percent the actors surveyed said they have experienced homophobia in their professional lives.
“I have never felt that being gay has worked against me but the finding in Equity’s own survey that just under half of all gay performers are not out to their agent in the U.K. is worrying,” Malcolm Sinclair, actor and president of Equity, said in a statement. “But then work is scarce and, whether sexuality is a barrier or not, people may just err on the side of caution. They don’t want to test the water to see if it’s all right.”
The same anxiety does not appear to exist among co-workers. Ninety four percent of those polled said they are honest about their sexuality with their fellow performers and 81 percent were out in their professional lives.
from Reuters

Jim Ready & Barney Frank

WASHINGTON – Retiring Rep. Barney Frank, a gay pioneer in Congress, said Thursday that he will marry his longtime partner, Jim Ready.
Frank spokesman Harry Gural said the liberal Massachusetts Democrat’s wedding will be in his home state, but that no date had been set.
Ready, 42, lives in Ogunquit, Maine. He has a small business doing custom awnings, carpentry, painting, welding and other general handyman services, Gural said. Ready is also a photographer. The two men have been together since spring 2007.
Frank was attending a retreat Thursday with other House Democrats on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
During an appearance on PBS’ “The Charlie Rose Show” earlier this month, Frank said he was looking forward to leaving Congress and spending time with Ready.
“Look, I have a partner now, Jim Ready; I have an emotional attachment. I`m in love for the first time in my life,” Frank said on the show.
Gay rights supporters saluted Frank’s engagement but noted that because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, Ready would not enjoy the same rights as other spouses.
DOMA blocks the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions and says states that don’t have such marriages don’t have to recognize marriages performed in states that do.
“It is, of course, somewhat ironic that because of DOMA and because Barney is a federal employee, Jim won’t be eligible for any of the benefits that any other spouse would be able to get,” said Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the Boston legal rights organization that brought the case that led to Massachusetts becoming the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage.
“I think it’s always positive when public figures are role models in these critical societal institutions,” Swislow added.
Frank, 71, won his House seat in 1980 and was one of the first lawmakers to come out of the closet.
Ready has made some headlines in recent years with Frank.
He was charged in August 2007 with marijuana cultivation for allegedly growing more than five marijuana plants on his property, records from the York County, Maine, district attorney’s office show. That charge was dismissed after Ready complied with a deferred disposition agreement and admitted to a charge of civil possession of marijuana.
Frank later told the Boston Globe that he was at Ready’s house when Ready was arrested, but that he never saw the marijuana and has never smoked any. Frank has also said Ready has promised him never to repeat his mistake.
During Frank’s 2010 re-election bid, Ready had a brisk exchange of words with Frank’s Republican challenger Sean Bielat after the candidates debated. Ready was taking photos of Bielat.
A Boston Herald video showed Ready saying, “You better get used to it, dude,” after Bielat asked him about the photos.
Ready then said, “It’s a free country, isn’t it?” and a chuckling Bielat replied, “It sure is, at least if we can get the Congress back.”
Frank’s campaign at the time said that Ready was an amateur photographer who took pictures at many campaign events and that no harm was intended.
Last November, Frank announced that he was retiring at the end of his current term, his 16th in Congress.
He said he was retiring because his Massachusetts district has changed so much he would have to spend too much time campaigning for re-election.
Frank has been in the House since 1981 and represents the state’s 4th District, which stretches from the upscale Boston suburbs of Newton and Brookline to the working-class cities of New Bedford and Taunton in southeastern Massachusetts.
from The Associated Press

Russell Dickerson III

TACOMA, WASHINGTON – For six years during junior high and high school in the Aberdeen School District, Russell Dickerson III said he was harassed by fellow students — fondled, stripped of his clothes in the hallway and spat on.
They leveled a litany of gay slurs and variations on the “N” word at him. They taped some of the words to his back, his backpack or his locker.
In 2007, when Dickerson was at Aberdeen High School, students created a website impersonating and mocking him and posted harassing and racist comments about him, including a threat by one commenter to lynch him.
In a federal lawsuit the ACLU of Washington filed Tuesday in Tacoma against the Aberdeen School District, the 19-year-old said he was harassed persistently because of his race and because students perceived him to be gay.
Through it all, he said, administrators and district officials were told of the harassment but did little or nothing to stop it — a claim the district strongly denies.
His father, Russell Dickerson Jr., said there were no other educational options for his son, including home-schooling. “I shouldn’t have to pull my son out of school because of harassment,” he said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Dickerson, a 2009 graduate of Aberdeen High, said that during his junior-high and high-school years, “I found myself dreading school because I did not know how I was going to be physically harassed, racially harassed, or sexually harassed that day, or by whom.
“I didn’t expect bad experiences when I walked through the doors my first day of middle school,” he said. “It was like a prison sentence that carried on into high school.”
District Superintendent Thomas A. Opstad said that, while he hasn’t seen a copy of the lawsuit, the district worked “diligently and collaboratively” with the family during Dickerson’s years there to investigate and address complaints.
“The district takes complaints of harassment very seriously,” Opstad wrote. “Where misconduct was substantiated, students who engaged in harassment were appropriately disciplined.” The district has taken steps to insure that diversity is respected in its schools, he said.
Opstad also noted that Dickerson is now employed by the district as an elementary-school tutor, which the superintendent said would indicate he feels safe in the district’s schools. The ACLU counters that Dickerson never experienced harassment in grade school.
The lawsuit, the ACLU’s first in 15 years involving student harassment, comes in the wake of a rash of suicides nationwide by teens who were harassed because of their real or perceived sexual orientation. Dickerson’s sexual orientation was not disclosed.
ACLU attorneys said the district’s failure to act created an environment that no student should be forced to endure, violating his federal and state civil rights. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Aberdeen police Capt. John Green said his department has investigated several complaints over the years by the Dickerson family of incidents both in school and out — of broken windows in the home and on their vehicles. “We even directed extra patrols their way, but unfortunately that’s as far as it went,” Green said.
Dickerson, who was diagnosed in 2004 with post-traumatic stress syndrome, said he currently is enrolled in an online college program as a way to avoid contact with his former harassers.
He alleges in the lawsuit an almost-unrelenting series of bullying incidents that began when he entered Miller Junior High School in 2003 and continued until he graduated:
In April 2004, three students pushed him to the floor in the school hallway and smashed a raw egg on his head. Only one student is believed to have been disciplined, the suit says.
One month later, an assistant principal wrote to the principal that Dickerson still was being harassed and asked for ideas on how to help protect him.
After Dickerson’s father went to the School Board, the district hired a school-insurance professional to investigate the harassment claims. The investigator concluded that Dickerson indeed had been harassed but didn’t recommend any change in policy, the suit says.
Dickerson’s father said he hopes the lawsuit will force changes that protect other students from what his son endured.
“I turned my son over to the care of the school district so they could give him a quality education, and they failed him,” he said.
from The Seattle Times
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Less than an hour away but a world apart from traditional places of pilgrimage in the Holy Land, Israel’s free-wheeling city of Tel Aviv has become a Mediterranean hotspot for gay tourism.
“Tel Aviv is hot right now because it’s unique,” said Adir Steiner, who coordinates gay pride events for the city.
“It’s in the Middle East where it’s not so easy to be gay and it’s like a paradise in an area where you will not obviously find an open city like Tel Aviv,” he said.
Leon Avigad, owner of the gay-friendly Brown hotel, said Tel Aviv has become a “gay Mecca” and is enjoying a tremendous tourist boom in recent years.
“Tel Aviv is small enough to be intimate but big enough to absorb hundreds of thousands of tourists every year…we’re cosmopolitan, we’re very Western, European and American but on the other hand we’re very much into the Middle Eastern warmth and welcoming, and this combination attracts,” Avigad said.
At The Block club, a blond drag queen twirled and bopped as the vampire-fanged DJ spun his records. Loudspeakers pumped out pop hits and under a mirrorball, the men took to the dancefloor.
“I fell in love with the city,” said Iliya Sheirtz, a tourist from Berlin who took part in the midnight festivities “In the summertime, in the wintertime, it doesn’t matter, you have the beach here, the sun and a lot of great parties, a lot better than Berlin,” Sheirtz said.
This month Tel Aviv won best city on an American Airlines and a GayCities.com contest, sweeping past New York, Berlin and San Francisco with 43 percent of the votes. Russell Lord, travel consultant who specialises in gay tourism, said he has been flooded with requests since.
Israeli authorities do not have exact figures for the number of gay tourists who visit, but Steiner said international attendance at Tel Aviv’s annual pride events was up 25 percent last summer.
Lord said the itinerary he designs for his gay tourists has all the sites one would find on the “regular” tourist trail through the Holy Land, but with a gay twist.
“At the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial (in Jerusalem) I make sure the guide will also speak about the (Nazi) persecution of homosexuals,” he said.
Lord said that Tel Aviv, about a 50-minute drive from Jerusalem, “is close to all the tourist sites so it serves as the base and at the end of the day they go back there for the night life”.
At Tel Aviv’s Evita club it was Eurovision song contest night. Swedish hits and red lights flashing prompted some to dance while others sipped their cocktails. British tourist Tom Berry, 27, said it was his first time in Israel.
“(Tel Aviv) is a great city, I can’t compare it to any other city. There’s a vibe about it, it’s different. A small city that acts big. A lot of variety in restaurants, cafes, shops, markets and the people are from all different backgrounds,” he said.
Tel Aviv is often referred to in Israel as “the bubble”, a city far different from Jerusalem, where ultra-Orthodox Jews in their traditional black garb make up a quarter of the population.
Some see its abundance of art galleries, cafes, clubs and bohemian jive as a bastion of secular pluralism. Others condemn it as an island of hedonism detached from a reality that includes gender separation on buses serving religious neighbourhoods in parts of the country.
In Tel Aviv the sight of a gay couple walking down the street hand in hand is fairly common. “Ours is a city in which everyone can be proud of who they are,” Mayor Ron Huldai said after the GayCities.com contest winner was announced.
Steiner said gay tourism has become a growing market internationally. “Billions of dollars are spent around the world … each gay tourist coming into Tel Aviv is spending a lot of money, going to good restaurants going to theatre, the opera.”
Israel’s Tourism Ministry, along with Tel Aviv’s municipality launched a campaign three years ago aimed at boosting rainbow tourism. “Gay tourists spend more money and are trend setting,” said Pini Shani, director of the ministry’s Overseas Department.
Back at The Block, the Holy Wigs drag queen ensemble was preparing to take the stage. Wearing a red dress and blond wig, drag queen Ziona Patriot said part of Tel Aviv’s allure was its freshness. New York and Amsterdam were old news.
“And of course we have the Israeli guys, (who) are so amazing. The best-looking dudes in the whole world are in Israel,” Patriot said.
from Reuters

Rosie O'Donnell & Oprah

On the air for just three months, and already Rosie O’Donnell’s ratings-challenged OWN show is getting a makeover.
The struggling cable network announced Wednesday that it had hired Emmy-winning producer and former O’Donnell collaborator Shane Farley (Rachel Ray, Rosie O’Donnell Show) to replace Page Hurwitz as executive producer of The Rosie Show. What’s more, the Chicago-based talk show is moving into a significantly smaller 70-seat studio, a bid to inspire a sense of intimacy and lower costs on a series that now averages just more than 200,000 viewers. The new space will feature O’Donnell’s own art and photos and is said to be inspired by her home art studio in New York.
“I was a guest on Andy Cohen’s show Watch What Happens Live recently and I loved the homey feel of his set and the intimacy of his smaller audience,” O’Donnell said of Cohen’s space, a key ingredient to the success of his low-budget late-night series on Bravo. “I wanted to re-create that laid-back feeling, less about performing for a huge audience and more about having a one-on-one conversation.”
Added Farley, ““I was fortunate to work with Rosie on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and I jumped at the opportunity to work with her again in this new capacity… she is genuinely the funniest person I know and what’s even better, she thinks like a producer, which is why I’m looking forward to working with her on her OWN show.”
The set will no longer have space for a band, though musical director Katreese Barnes will continue to create original music from behind the scenes. Another piece of the new look designed to draw viewers to the fledgling network: a growing social media presence that will have the veteran host continue to live Tweet and Facebook during the show.
from The Hollywood Reporter
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Tim Gunn

It’s been a while for Tim Gunn, but don’t feel sorry for him.
The Project Runway star revealed Tuesday on the ABC talk show The Revolution that he hasn’t been intimate with anyone for 29 years. But that’s just fine with him, he added.
“I haven’t had sex in 29 years. Do I feel like less of a person for it? No. Not even remotely,” said Gunn, 58, to applause from the audience.
Gunn said the reasons for his abstinence are rooted in psychological issues from an old relationship. “It’s very personal,” he said. “I was in a very intense relationship for a long time. And my partner ended it, saying that, quite frankly, he was impatient with my sexual performance.”
At the time, Gunn says, he was fearful for his health, as the AIDS epidemic was just beginning. “I think a lot of people simply retreated because they were concerned about their health. I certainly was,” he says. “And I’m happy to be healthy and alive, quite frankly.”
Despite the dry spell, Gunn says he’s “a perfectly happy, fulfilled individual.” And he adds that he’s not at all closed off to the idea of one day having another sexual relationship.
“I have feelings. It’s not as though I’m some barren forest,” he says. “I don’t want to imply to anyone that I have a mandate that says no sex. I don’t. I don’t know what’s around the corner.”
from People Magazine

KANSAS – Gay rights groups are outraged that a Kansas state law banning sex between people of the same gender was left off statutes Governor Sam Brownback wants to repeal, even though the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 ruled such a Texas law unconstitutional.
Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Montana are the only states that still have anti-sodomy laws on the books, according to the gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.
“We’re not disappointed, we’re angry,” said Thomas Witt, chairman of the Kansas Equality Coalition, a state gay rights group. “We are angry that the governor of a state wants to keep a statute on the books that says gay people deserve to go to jail.”
Although the law is unlikely to be enforced, getting it off the books is advisable in case the Supreme Court should ever overturn its 2003 ruling, said Charles Joughin, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.
In 1998, Texas police responding to a separate report, arrested two men having sex in the Houston home of one of the men, citing a “Homosexual Conduct” law that banned sex between people of the same gender. The law was challenged, and the U.S. Supreme Court in June, 2003 ruled it unconstitutional.
Brownback, a conservative Republican and former U.S. senator who has come under fire in the past for some of his social views, had no comment on why the gay sex law was not on the list of those proposed recently for repeal, a spokesman said.
He created the Office of the Repealer last year in his Department of Administration. The office suggested repeal of 51 laws in subject areas that include agriculture, corrections, property taxes and organized labor.
Dennis Taylor, secretary of the state’s Department of Administration, declined to discuss any of the laws left off the list but said another list will probably be released later in the legislative session. Public comment was sought at 26 meetings.
Taylor said Brownback reviewed the initial list of laws recommended for repeal and asked that some be removed for further study. Taylor would not say if the gay sex statute was among them.
Witt said his group is attempting to get the Kansas law against gay sex abolished as part of larger legislation to recodify a host of state laws. An effort to abolish the law legislatively last year failed, he said.
from Reuters

MADISON, WISCONSIN – A University of Wisconsin student alleged that an athletic department official grabbed his crotch at an alcohol-fueled party during the football team’s trip to the Rose Bowl, according to an independent report released by the school on Tuesday night.
The report says the student alleges former senior associate athletic director John Chadima put his hand down the student’s pants at the end of a party in Chadima’s suite at a Los Angeles hotel on Dec. 31.
The student – identified only as John Doe in the report – said he was “shocked and frightened” and slapped Chadima’s hand away.
Chadima was put on administrative leave on Jan. 6 and resigned the same day. He previously had issued an apology for a “lapse in judgment,” and issued another statement through his attorney Tuesday.
“I make no excuses and have come to the realization that over the past few months, alcohol had controlled and consumed my life,” Chadima said. “I am taking steps to correct that problem in my life at this time. I will take full responsibility for my lack of judgment and actions that evening.”
The report said its findings were based on interviews with 23 people, including students and professional staff – but they were “not able to arrange an interview” with Badgers football coach Bret Bielema.
Three student employees of the athletic department declined to be interviewed.
The report also reviewed information from Chadima’s office computer and school-issued cell phone.
Chadima declined to speak with the panel.
The report said Chadima hosted a bowl game party for staff and student employees for at least the past four years. The most recent party began Dec. 30 and lasted into the early morning hours of Dec. 31, at Chadima’s hotel suite. According to the report, Chadima provided “alcohol, beer and mixers” and guests were invited to serve themselves. Some of the guests were under age 21.
Sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m., the alleged victim was leaving along with the last few people left at the party when he said Chadima asked him to “stay here and have a drink with me.” The alleged victim said he and Chadima both had several more drinks and “probably were intoxicated,” but were coherent and in control of their physical movements.
According to the report, Chadima then said he thought the student was gay, and said some of the other student employees thought he was gay. The student said it made him “uncomfortable and defensive.”
The student then said Chadima reached over and removed the student’s belt, putting his hands inside the student’s pants and touching his genitals. The student said he slapped Chadima’s hand away and swore at him.
At that point, the student said Chadima said he thought the student liked it, asking “What are you going to do about it?” and saying, “I could have you fired.”
The student said he quickly left the room, and Chadima seemed to want to gloss over the incident as “just joking around.”
The report said the student then went to the hotel room of his immediate supervisor, whose name is redacted in the report, and related the incident. The student said at the time he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize the team’s Rose Bowl preparations.
The student then told a consistent version of the story to three fellow student employees. The report says the student was “pleased and satisfied” with the supportive response he received from the supervisor and fellow students.
The student traveled on the team charter flight back to Madison on Jan. 3.
According to the report, the two unidentified officials called UW police lieutenant Jason Whitney on the morning of Jan. 4; Whitney had traveled with the team to the Rose Bowl.
In a meeting that afternoon, Whitney presented a Dec. 13, 2011, memo from UW-Madison police department chief Susan Riseling which emphasized that any employee witnessing or receiving a report about a sexual assault is required to report it to the Dean of Students office. According to the report, Whitney emphasized the importance of acting promptly.
But the report said the unidentified officials felt “uneasy” about reporting the incident without alerting officials in the athletic department. They described the incident to Holly Weber, the athletic department’s human relations director.
Weber said she would discuss it with senior university legal counsel John Dowling, and asked them to wait until she got back to them to contact the dean. That meeting happened Jan. 6, where the unnamed officials who called Whitney were told to stop the athletic department’s investigation of the incident and that the chancellor’s office would decide how to proceed.
According to the report, the chancellor and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez determined Chadima would be placed on administrative leave. The chancellor decided to appoint a committee to conduct the investigation.
Chadima did not specifically address any of the report’s allegations in his statement.
“I have learned a very hard lesson through this process, am paying a difficult price for my actions, and I hope that a lesson can somehow be learned by all from this situation,” he said. “I also hope that my apologies will be accepted, and forgiveness given.”
from The Associated Press
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – A former investigator with the city of Los Angeles claims Atlanta police rejected his job application solely because he has HIV, a decision he said breaks the law and perpetuates stereotypes about people with the virus.
Atlanta police argue hiring the man poses a threat to the health and safety of the public, setting up a legal fight that is being followed closely by gay rights groups and police agencies.
A federal appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case Wednesday, and judges will have the chance to pepper both sides with questions.
“It’s shocking and frustrating and very saddening that in 2012 this is still going on,” said the 40-year-old man who sued the city of Atlanta in 2010 under the pseudonym Richard Roe. “People are living with HIV and, for the most part, they are living normal lives and productive lives.”
Roe spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because he believes his medical condition could prevent him from other job opportunities.
Roe’s anonymous lawsuit mirrors a battle that has largely been waged quietly, without high-profile protests or marches. Several similar lawsuits have been dismissed by judges who sided with the police departments, or the cases were settled out of court, the agreements kept confidential.
A lower judge sided with the city of Atlanta in November 2010 and threw out the lawsuit, ruling that Roe failed to prove he didn’t pose a “direct threat” to the health and safety of others. Roe appealed the decision.
Atlanta attorneys said in court documents Roe didn’t disclose his condition and warned he couldn’t perform “essential functions” of an officer. The police department and city officials have refused to comment beyond court filings.
Roe said he was a criminal investigator with the city of Los Angeles, though he did not work with the police department. He discovered he had HIV in 1997 but said it didn’t hinder his ability to perform his duties. He said his infection never came up with the city.
He moved to Atlanta to find a better job, and in January 2006 began the lengthy process to join the city’s police force. He passed a written test, a psychological exam, computerized voice stress analysis and a background check. The roadblock came after a blood test during a physical revealed he had the virus that causes AIDS, his lawsuit said. The doctor did not do any further tests.
Roe said the physician, Dr. Alton Greene, told him Atlanta police had a policy of refusing to hire officers with the virus. Roe said the doctor’s statement violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which he said prevents employers from dismissing anyone because they have HIV.
The city said they do not systematically reject job applicants because of HIV, but instead they look at each individual on a case-by-case basis.
In Roe’s case, the city said, the doctor recommended that he have “no physical contact or involvement with individuals.”
Catherine Hanssens, executive director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, said the Roe case centers on the “belief that, 30 years into the epidemic, HIV is easily transmitted and results in a death sentence when it is transmitted.”
“And neither of those are remotely close to the truth,” she said.
Nurses, paramedics and other first responders with HIV have faced similar challenges over the years by employers, said Hanssens, but she said legal fights in those professions don’t often surface much anymore because decades of litigation and medical research shows those with HIV can work in higher-risk fields.
Scott Schoettes of Lambda Legal, the gay rights group that represents Roe, said the city will not be able to show that someone with HIV presents a public threat.
“And maybe other departments will realize that they should create a policy that explicitly says HIV should not disqualify you from getting a job,” he said.
Police departments often don’t have a policy about whether to hire an officer with HIV, and those that do are loath to advertise the decision to protect the privacy of their officers.
Darrel Stephens, the executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said his group has no guidelines for members on how to treat applicants with HIV. The Fraternal Order of Police also doesn’t have a policy, but president Chuck Canterbury said his group argues that officers with the virus should be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Roe, who is in school studying criminal justice, said he’s waging the legal battle because he wants to serve the city.
“Because of my desire to serve my community, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but out in the public,” he said. “Making the streets safer for the underdog is one of the most rewarding things I can do.”
from The Associated Press

Chris Christie

BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY – Gov. Chris Christie today called for a ballot question this November on same-sex marriage.
“Let’s put the question of same sex marriage on the ballot,” Christie said.
“I believe in the institution of marriage. I realize this is my personal opinion. …Rather than have stalemate and deadlock on this issue, let’s put it on the ballot.
“It shouldn’t be decided by 121 people in Trenton.
“While I know I could stop this by mself, I suggest an alternative,” the governor added. “Let’s be governed by the will of the people on this. Let’s let the people decide. I would urge every Republican in the legislature to put it on the ballot.”
Following his town hall at the Jewish Community Center, Christie made a statement then fleshed out his remarks in reporters’ questions.
He repeatedly identified same-sex marriage as a “big issue”
“It’s an issue that affects everyone in our state,” the governor said.
As hearings play out before the Democratic legislature in Trenton by Democrats intent on passing marriage equality, Christie said part of his consideration is to avoid a conflagration with state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3).
“How can we not be on a collision course?” Christie said.
He noted the fact that it’s a presidential election, a big election this year.
“If all the people who vote in a presidential election vote, it will have much more validity,” the governor said. “What would you be afraid of? It’s imperative to move now. The biggest election we’re going to have is this November.”
from Politicker NJ
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Related Post:

Christie Nominates Gay African-American Mayor For State Supreme Court

King Goodwill Zwelithini

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s government human rights agency said Tuesday it is investigating whether the Zulu king made comments that could increase anti-homosexual sentiment in a country where gays face hatred and attacks despite liberal laws ensuring their rights.
The Times, a Johannesburg newspaper, reported that King Goodwill Zwelithini called homosexuals “rotten” during a speech. Human Rights Commission spokesman Vincent Moaga said the newspaper stands by the story, but the king’s office said the king was mistranslated.
In a statement, the royal household said the king was expressing concern about moral decay that he believes leads men to rape other men.
“These are very serious allegations leveled against the king,” Moaga said. “There are millions of people in South Africa who look up to King Zwelithini. He is revered and respected. It’s important that an accurate reflection of what he said is put out there.”
Moaga’s agency said it wanted a transcript of the king’s speech, made during a weekend ceremony marking a Zulu battle victory over British colonial troops. The king spoke in a remote rural area in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, the stronghold for Zulus, the largest ethnic group in this country of 50 million.
President Jacob Zuma, who is Zulu, appeared with the king at Sunday’s anniversary ceremony. Zuma’s frequent public appearances alongside the king bolster his appeal to tradition-minded South Africans.
The king has no governing powers in South Africa’s democracy, but is an influential figure who frequently speaks out on social and cultural matters.
South Africa’s constitution charges the Human Rights Commission with promoting and monitoring respect for human rights. It often has gone to court to fulfill its responsibilities.
Last year, the commission won a 100,000 rand (about $14,000) judgment against South Africa’s ambassador to Uganda, who was found guilty of hate speech for an anti-gay column he wrote in a South African paper before his appointment. Uganda is criticized for threatening the rights of gays.
Same-sex marriage is legal in South Africa and the country has laws against discrimination because of sexual orientation. Still, cultural attitudes toward gays in South Africa resemble those elsewhere on a conservative continent. Lesbians in particular have faced brutal assaults in South Africa.
Gays are “constantly under attack,” Moaga said.
from The Associated Press
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While there is great diversity among people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, it is clear that the group as a whole experiences significant health disparities, many of them linked to social stigmas.
They have higher rates of psychiatric disorders and substance abuse and are more likely to experience violence. Gay men are at higher risk of some sexually transmitted diseases, and lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to be overweight. Transgender people may be at greater risk for cardiovascular disease because of hormone use.
On top of that, finding health care providers capable of addressing their specific needs is difficult.
“In order to understand and address LGBT health disparities, we as health care providers need to better understand who our LGBT patients are,’’ said Dr. Stephen Boswell, president of Fenway Health.
The research institute at Fenway Health, which has long provided LGBT care, has published two policy briefs meant to jump-start conversations between doctors and patients. The first lays out reasons for asking patients about their sexual orientation and gender identity.
“If LGBT patients are told why it is important to gather such information, and that such information will be kept private and confidential, most will be forthcoming with this information,’’ the brief reads.
“Provider knowledge about their patients’ sexual orientation and gender identity can facilitate optimal care.’’
The second brief is a how-to, including a sample question for patient registration forms that reads “Do you think of yourself as’’ – with boxes to check indicating homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, something else, or uncertain.
The brief encourages open conversation with patients about their lives, with questions like “Are you married?’’ or “Do you have a partner?’’
from The Boston Globe

Christine Marinoni & Cynthia Nixon

The gay community has generally remained a united front when it comes to their orientation: homosexuality is not a choice.  But openly gay Sex and the City actress, Cynthia Nixon came under some heat recently when she begged to differ.
Nixon, who played Miranda on HBO’s class series, was profiled in a New York Times column, and she shared that during an empowerment speech to a Lesbian/Gay/Bi-sexual/Transgendered crowd, she made the comment, “I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.”
Nixon, who became well-known for her Miranda character said she was asked to change her comment because it implied that she chose to be gay, but she rebuffed the request, because her orientation was her choice.
“A certain section of our community is very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it’s a choice, then we could opt out. I say it doesn’t matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.”
from ABC News