A study of one Ohio city shows that same-sex couples may lift property values in neighborhoods that support gay marriage and hurt prices in ones that don’t.
While earlier research suggested that gays and lesbians can be a boon for property values by helping to gentrify neighborhoods, a finer distinction was explored by professors David Christafore of Konkuk University in Seoul and Susane Leguizamon of Tulane University in New Orleans.
The economics professors, who studied home values in 2000 in and around Columbus, Ohio, concluded that an increase in the number of same-sex couples by one in 1,000 households is associated with a 1.1 percent price premium in enclaves that backed gay marriage. The same influx in areas that didn’t support same-sex marriage was linked to a 1 percent discount.
“The perception that there is prejudice against gay and lesbians by conservative groups is strong enough to be picked up in market prices,” Leguizamon said in a telephone interview.
The study, to be published in the Journal of Urban Economics, distinguished between the two types of neighborhoods by how they voted on Ohio’s 2004 Defense of Marriage Act, which became law and defines marriage as between a man and woman. The professors compared average home prices in neighborhoods after controlling for a number factors, including distance to the central business district, income, graduate degrees, school quality, crime rate and house size.
Gay couples may lift real estate prices by enhancing cultural amenities, housing stock and the vibrancy of neighborhoods, according to a 2010 study by Richard Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, and Charlotta Mellander of Jonkoping International Business School in Jonkoping, Sweden.
Christafore and Leguizamon “show there’s another side to that coin,” said Gary Gates, a demographer at the Williams Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles, which studies sexual-orientation law and policy.
Gates said it would be interesting to see whether changing attitudes toward gay people would have shown different results if more recent home values were studied. Leguizamon said 2000 prices were used in part to avoid the complications of the housing bust, which started in 2006.
The 2010 census shows increasing populations of same-sex households in urban areas within conservative states such as Salt Lake City and St. Louis, said Gates. The census found 646,464 same-sex couples, and the states with the highest concentrations were Vermont, Massachusetts, California, Oregon, and Delaware, according to Gates’s analysis of the latest census data.
from Bloomberg Businessweek

Justin Bieber

What’s the best way to knock back rumours you’ve fathered a love child?
Go for a night out on the shandy at “Europe’s hottest gay venue”.
Justin Bieber knocked back allegations he’s the father of a lovechild from a 30-second knee trembler with the camp night out in Belfast.
After winning two gongs at the MTV EMAs on Sunday, he did some more high-profile work on his defence, by choosing to spend the early hours of Monday morning in gay club Kremlin.
Not exactly the best place for some peace and quiet for an angelic looking young ‘un in a city far from home.
A source said: “Justin managed to shake off the thousands of fans who were following him around the city.
“He went to the official MTV party at the Europa hotel with his girlfriend Selena Gomez before being smuggled out in secret.
“The Beliebers were left waiting outside the front of the hotel hoping for a glimpse but he slipped through a side entrance used for kitchen deliveries and later left the same way.”
No jokes about the tradesman’s entrance, please.
The dodgy leather outfit he wore earlier in the night was a pretty good indication he was feeling the Police Academy Blue Oyster Bar vibe.
The ankle-biter deflected even more attention from the claims he has fathered a kid backstage at the bash, kissing Selena as artists including Lady Gaga looked on.
He was also caught running around the dressing room area giving her a piggyback.
Yesterday Justin went to Stamford Bridge for a private tour of Chelsea’s ground. He’s lucky gun-toting Ashley Cole didn’t mistake him for a ball boy — that could have ended in tears.
Selena looked less impressed than Justin as he dragged her around The Bridge, before heading to the Westfield shopping centre.
The promise of a spending spree at Claire’s Accessories got her through.
It’s just as well Selena got the shopping in before Justin made a speech switching on the Crimbo lights.
He told the thousands of teens waiting to see him: “My favourite part of London is the girls.”
Aye, and his favourite part of Belfast was the boys.
from The Sun
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Jenelle Hutcherson

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – Jenelle Hutcherson, a 25-year-old hairstylist at The Den Salon, is aiming to become the first openly gay winner of the Miss Long Beach pageant — and her hopes and goals do not stop there. She has also officially been accepted into the Miss California USA pageant, representing downtown Long Beach at its show in Palm Desert in January of next year.
Following a suggestion to enter by her longtime client and Miss Long Beach director, Justin
Rudd, Jenelle began gathering support through her Facebook fan page. Her words are those of a young woman truly attempting to engage a community. She writes that she “hop[es] to set an example and make people more aware of who we are, [a]s opposed to being uneducated about the matter.”
Her example on the pageant stage will be undoubtedly noticed as she takes advantage of the many rule changes that have been incurred, particularly in the evening gown and swimsuit areas. Ditching the normal, typical concept of a gown, Jenelle will sport a homemade tuxedo. And her swimsuit? Try a pair of board shorts with a tank. As she told Out in the 562 in a profile on her entry into the competition, her style is “elegant, with a metallic and punk-rock edge.”
Though unorthodox and unconventional, Jenelle’s message remains clear despite one’s viewpoint of her participation: “Help me to represent diversity,” she says, “and [the] message of equality.”
from The Long Beach Post

Brett Ratner

Tower Heist director Brett Ratner is known for his candid remarks on everything from his sexual experiences with Olivia Munn to his belief that some fans of the X-Men franchise considered him the “antichrist.” But the filmmaker went too far according to many when he said, “Rehearsal is for fags,” during a screening of his film on Friday.
On Monday, Ratner released a statement saying, “I apologize for any offense my remarks caused. It was a dumb and outdated way of expressing myself. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.”
Ratner was doing a Q&A session at the Arclight Hollywood after introducing the film to the audience. An audience member asked what rehearsals were like for the film, which stars Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Casey Affleck.
It was then that Ratner responded, “Rehearsal? What’s that? Rehearsal’s for fags. Rehearsal. Not much. A lot of prep, preparation, complex action sequences, visual effects.”
GLAAD quickly condemned the statement, and is now asking for more of a statement from Ratner.
“This apology is a good start, but we’re working with Ratner’s people for more action, to clearly send a message to Hollywood that the anti-gay slurs used by bullies and bigots have no place in the world of entertainment, or anywhere else,” GLAAD wrote in a statement.
Ratner’s next gig will be producing the 2012 Academy Awards, which will be hosted by Tower Heist star Eddie Murphy.
from The Hollywood Reporter

Anna Grodzka

WARSAW, POLAND -  A transsexual woman and an openly gay man took seats in Poland’s newly elected parliament as it held its first sitting Tuesday, historic firsts that reflect profound social change in this traditionally Roman Catholic country.
Anna Grodzka, who was born a man but underwent a sex change operation, entered the assembly hall wearing a burgundy skirt and jacket. Several men and women shook her hand, while one male lawmaker kissed her on the cheek.
Grodzka then took a seat next to Robert Biedron, a leading gay rights activist who is the first openly gay person to be elected to parliament. Both belong to Palikot’s Movement, a new progressive party that became the third-largest party in parliament in Oct. 9 elections.
Grodzka said she felt overwhelmed by emotion, particularly when the session opened with the playing of the national anthem and when she later took her oath of office.
“It is a symbolic moment, but we owe this symbolism not to me but to the people of Poland because they made their choice in the elections,” Grodzka told The Associated Press.
“They wanted a modern Poland, a Poland open to variety, a Poland where all people would feel good regardless of their differences. I cannot fail them in their expectations.”
Palikot’s Movement, led by outspoken entrepreneur-turned-politician Janusz Palikot, has vowed to push for liberal causes. It opposes the power of the church in society, promotes gay rights, and wants to challenge the country’s near-total ban on abortion.
The session was opened by a former parliament speaker, Jozef Zych, who invoked words spoken by the late Polish pope, John Paul II, and acknowledged the presence of archbishops and other church leaders who observed the ceremonial opening from a balcony.
Zych also remembered the late President Lech Kaczynski and lawmakers who died with him in a plane crash last year – words spoken as Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the late leader’s twin brother, sat with other conservative lawmakers.
Kaczynski heads the country’s largest opposition party, the nationalist Law and Justice party, which is riven by deep divisions and internal turmoil after expelling three key leaders on Friday who had called for a more democratic leadership style from Kaczynski.
The 460 lawmakers to the lower house, or Sejm, gathered for the first time since the elections last month gave the center-right prime minister, Donald Tusk, a mandate for a second term. The 100-seat Senate will meet for the first time later in the day.
The elections marked the first time since Poland threw off communism 22 years ago that a government won a second consecutive term, another historic first that reflects growing stability following political turmoil and revolving-door governments in the early years of democracy.
Lech Walesa, the hero of Poland’s anti-communist revolution and a former president, also watched the ceremony from a balcony in the assembly hall.
Tusk has remained popular thanks to an image he has cultivated of moderation and because the economy has grown impressively since Poland joined the European Union in 2004. It was the only EU country to avoid recession during the global crisis of 2008-09.
President Bronislaw Komorowski addressed the newly elected lawmakers, urging them to work together to maintain Poland’s strong economic performance as Europe faces a new financial crisis.
He called on them to show the courage to make changes that would bolster the nation’s development, including trimming bureaucracy, reforming the judiciary and the health system and tackling state debt.
“We know that state exists for the citizens, and not the other way around,” Komorowski said.
Lawmakers then rose, one by one, to take their vows.
Tusk formally resigned with his outgoing government, and later in the day will be ceremoniously tasked by the president with forming a new Cabinet. The new government will then face a confidence vote in parliament in coming weeks. No date has been set yet for that vote.
Tusk plans to keep governing with his junior partner of the past four years, the conservative agrarian Polish People’s Party. He also plans to keep many of his key ministers in their jobs, including Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski.
from The Associated Press