National News

(New York, NY) - Two U.S. Representatives, the Hon. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and the Hon. Howard Berman (D-CA) together have sponsored a forum on HIV, Human Rights and Men Who have Sex with Men at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Sept 16.

The Forum is scheduled to begin at noon and continue until 3:00 p.m in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2200. Organized by the lawmakers, it draws on the expertise of the United Nations AIDS or UNAIDS and is in collaboration with the HIV Policy Working Group on Men Who Have Sex with Men and other Sexual Minorities.

 

Presenters at the forum include: Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator; Tudor Kovacs, Population Services International, Romania; Jaevion Nelson, Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network, Jamaica; Michel Sidibé, executive director, UNAIDS; and Cheikh Traoré, Ph.D., senior advisor, Sexual Diversity, UNDP. Other organizations involved in the forum include, Advocates for Youth, "Until it's over" AIDS Action, Alliance, amfAR AIDS Research, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Global Health Council, Gay Men's Health Crisis, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, International Women's Health Coalition, MSMGF, National Association of Social Workers, and psi. According to Traore, the United States spends several billions of dollars every year as its contribution and part of its global AIDS response. "The meeting has been called…to sensitize U.S. politicians and law makers on the urgency of addressing the HIV-related needs of men who have sex with men, and transgender people, who have historically been largely forgotten by AIDS responses across the world. The U.S. has a powerful role to play to change this state of affairs," said Traore. While the Forum is open and free to the public, those interested in attending are advised to contact Genora Reed , Pauline Muchina,  or 202-223-7613, or Krista Lauer,  or 213-201-1317; or the Website, Other events around the world:

Sep 17 - 27 St. Petersburg, Russia The International Festival of Queer Culture Web Sep 20 Belgrade, Serbia Belgrade Pride 2009 Web Sep 21 - 25 Zagreb, Croatia Course - HIV Surveillance in Hard to Reach Populations Web Sep 22 - 25 Gaborone, Botswana Aids Impact Conference  Web Sep 25 London, UK Critical Sexology Seminar: Queer in Europe Web Sep 29 - 30 Pretoria, South Africa Conference Imagined Futures IV: Sexualities and Silences Web

Woman wins court battle for father's approval to marry school friend who has undergone sex-change operation

By Robert Tait
Guardian News

(Sept 11, 2009) Iran is set to allow what is believed to be its first transsexual marriage after the would-be bride asked a court to override her father's opposition to the match.

The woman, named only as Shaghayegh, told Tehran's family court that she wanted to wed her best friend from school, who had recently undergone a sex-change operation to become a man, but was unable to obtain her father's blessing, as legally required.

 

Iranian transexuals

Now her father has agreed to permit the union on condition that the male partner, Ardashir, who was previously a woman called Negar, undergoes a medical examination intended to prove it would be a proper male-female relationship. The case comes against the backdrop of Iran's notoriously repressive policies on homosexuality, which is illegal under the country's strict theocratic code. Gay rights groups have accused the authorities of executing homosexuals, although officials deny the charge.

The father's change of heart came after he was summoned to court to explain his opposition. He told the judge, Alireza Sedaghati, that he had been driven by "fear of humiliation." "During the last several years, Ardashir came to our house many times and all the neighbors and relatives know him as a girl," he said. "Now she has changed gender and turned into a man, I can't sit and watch my daughter's friend turning into my son-in-law." But he relented in the face of his daughter's insistence that she be allowed to wed Ardashir. Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other country apart from Thailand after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, issued a religious fatwa approving the practice, which has government funding. Critics have suggested that some of those changing sex are not true transsexuals but gays or lesbians who feel forced into the operation by social pressure.

"Ardashir and I have been together since adolescence and know each other very well. This familiarity can make us happy," she told the court. Etemaad newspaper reported that the two had been friends for 12 years after meeting at school and had later studied at the same university, where their close relationship had been well known to fellow students. After graduating, Negar changed sex under Iran's Islamic laws which deem transsexuals religiously permissible, in contrast to the blanket ban on homosexuality, which is considered a sin.

By Matthew Cardinale
The Atlanta Progressive News

(September 11, 2009) ATLANTA -- At approximately 11:30pm on Thursday, September 10, 2009, a gay bar in Atlanta, the Atlanta Eagle, was raided by the Atlanta Police Department (APD). The present writer for Atlanta Progressive News--who had come to the bar to dance--witnessed as several bar staff, male dancers, and patrons were arrested between approximately 12:30am and 1am and taken away in paddy wagons, but it is not immediately clear why. One source stated he believed it was because the bar did not have a license for the dancers, but that would not explain why some patrons were also arrested.

 

About ten police cars and about 15 cops raided the bar, allegedly looking for drugs.

However, the police were said to have ordered all patrons to get on the ground--including patrons who were just dancing or standing at the bar--and numerous patrons said people were handcuffed indiscriminately. Bar patrons were furious at the aggressive and indiscriminate treatment and called the incident "harassment." Patrons also stated that at least three undercover cops were present. One patron stated he knew this because he saw the undercover police first without their badges, mingling with the crowds, and then again with their badges on.

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Rep. Jerrold Nadler intends to sponsor Bill next week

News Brief: National

(New York, NY) -With 50 other Congressional Representatives behind him, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) next week plans to introduce a bill for the repeal of the much maligned Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).According to a report by Kerry Eleveld of The Advocate a Nadler aide confirmed that the New York Congressman plans to make an announcement about introducing a bill to repeal the act at a press conference at the House Triangle on Sept 15 at 11:00am.

 

Rep. Jerrold Nadler

While the bill currently has over 50 cosponsors, the Congressman has not yet circulated a letter to his fellow House members in advance. In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter in July, Nadler said that this bill would be a full repeal of DOMA, including Section 2, which advises states to disregard same-sex marriages that have been legally performed in other states, and Section 3, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. To all intents and purposes, if this bill is passed, it would be a back door recognition and acceptance of same-sex marriage. As a candidate, then Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) supported full repeal of the legislation as a candidate for the presidency and as President, has reiterated that support in the White House. "I believe it's discriminatory, I think it interferes with states' rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it," Obama said of the law during an Oval Office signing ceremony in June.

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Ice Cream Company Renames “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby,” for the Month of September to Celebrate Gay and Lesbian Couples Getting Married in Vermont

BURLINGTON, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ben & Jerry’s, known for its euphoric ice cream flavors and dedication to social justice, celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby.” In partnership with Freedom to Marry, Ben & Jerry’s aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and, to show its support, will serve “Hubby Hubby” sundaes in Vermont Scoop Shops throughout the month of September.

Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to social justice, including gay rights. Its partnership with Freedom to Marry, a national leader in the movement for marriage equality, aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and to encourage other states to follow the blazing trails of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Maine. Freedom to Marry promotes the national conversation about why marriage equality matters and brings together partner organizations into a larger whole – a shared civil rights campaign.

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Study: Black Churches Could Help HIV Prevention

A study presented at the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference found that HIV-risk reduction programs for inner-city black youth can be convincing when churches administer them, Pediatric Supersite reports. According to the article, investigators studied 613 African-American parents from black Baptist churches located in low-income communities in Philadelphia and paired them with one of their children who were ages 11 to 14. The parent-child pairs were randomly assigned to one of three types of interventions: a faith-based abstinence-only approach; a non-faith-based abstinence-only approach; and a general health approach. The interventions included films, exercises and group discussions for three consecutive weeks followed by additional interventions three and six months later. A large majority of the parent-child pairs were retained during the additional interventions. (Editor's Note: article republished from POZ magazine, previously published on Aug 28, 2009)

News Briefs: International: South America

The Argentine Justice Ministry's National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) ruled that a "gay cure" conference in Córdoba, Argentina engaged in prohibited discrimination by implying that gays are sick.

Acting on a complaint filed by gay activist Víctor Bracuto against the Integra Group Foundation, INADI determined that "holding a conference on sexual health, which has among its objectives 'curing the homosexual,' is discriminatory in terms of Article 1 of Law 23,592."

INADI interpreted that the law's ban on discrimination based on sex as including sexual orientation, and explained: "Homophobia is defined as intolerance or scorn toward gays and lesbians. That is to say, discrimination, hate, fear, prejudice, or aversion against homosexual persons."

The law states in part that "anyone who arbitrarily impedes, obstructs, restricts or otherwise impairs the full exercise on an equal basis of the fundamental rights and guarantees recognized in the National Constitution will be compelled, at the request of the victim, to nullify the discriminatory act or cease its execution and to repair the moral injury and material damage."

With the INADI's determination in the case as nonbinding, Bracuto said he plans no further legal moves.

The ruling by itself, he said, was "a historical development not only in Argentina but perhaps also in Latin America and the world."

(Published in the San Francisco Bay Times)

News Briefs: National: Gay Marriage

Group warns President likely to lose support from Blacks over DOMA

A groups calling itself The Black Coalition Against Gay Marriage sent a letter to President Obama warning him that if he endorses marriage between same-sex couples, he risks losing much of his African American support.

 

The coalition, which includes a veteran civil rights group, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Concerned African-American Pastors and other religious organizations, is particularly worried about Obama's intentions regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The Act is federal law enacted in the late 1990s which defines marriage as only occurring between a man and a woman, excluding unions between people of the same sex. Gay and civil rights groups have been pressuring the Obama administration to work to change or repeal the Act. "Changing the definition of marriage will have many unintended consequences which will hurt generations to come," the Coalition said in its letter.

According to the source of this story, Taylor Media Services (TMS), there is doubt as to how effective the Coalition would be in delivering its warning and undermining the president's support. TMS said that most major civil rights groups either support much of the gay rights agenda or remain officially neutral on the issue of homosexual marriage, and CORE, while a veteran group in the civil rights movement, has become increasingly conservative in recent years and is now mostly on the fringe of the modern civil rights effort.

News Briefs: NY City/ Tri-state region

New Jersey's state Division on Civil Rights (DCR) gave a gay black man the go ahead in his complaint against the Bank of New York. In the complaint, the man claims he was taunted about his race and sexual orientation then was fired when he complained.

According to the Cliffview Pilot, the state agency said in an opinion that characterized the hostile work environment as "pervasive and ongoing," that six other employees at a Hudson County facility confirmed Paul Nathan's allegations that a supervisor often called him derogatory names.

Allegedly, someone in the office where Nathan worked also posted a racially and sexually derogatory photo with a caption and a threat that Nathan would be sodomized with a stick.
Nathan worked for a securities and asset-management business which was owned by the bank for seven years, starting in April 2000.

In his complaint, he claims that his supervisor, Walter Gorski, an assistant manager, began harassing him in 2004, and was joined by Charles Ferrari, one of the company's vice presidents.
According to the paper, two other employees confirmed that Nathan and another Black co-worker were often assigned to a room dubbed "the plantation," to lift heavy items and perform manual labor.

In 2006, Nathan filed a formal complaint where he alleged unlawful discrimination based on race and sexual orientation. He was fired nearly a year later.

"The investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to support a reasonable suspicion that [Nathan] was differentially treated and was subjected to a hostile work environment because of his race and sexual orientation," the DCR said in a statement.

The agency's investigators found "reasonable suspicion that [Nathan] was discharged because of his race and/or sexual orientation for complaining about protected activity." The case now goes to what's known as reconciliation. If a settlement cannot be reached, a state administrative law judge would hear the case and could possibly fine the defendants. The Bank of New York merged in 2007 with Mellon Financial Corp. and is now known as The Bank of New York Mellon. A bank spokesman denied all the charges.

News Briefs: International - Middle East - Iraq

The U.S. news service, CNN quoting reports issued by Human Rights Watch on Monday said that hundreds of gay men have been tortured and killed in Iraq in recent months, by the people sworn to protect them, the nation's security forces.

While the rise in attacks comes amid calls from Iraqi clerics who say that homosexuality must be eradicated, the religious leaders also warn against anti-gay violence.

Interviews with doctors indicate hundreds of men had been killed, but the exact number was unclear because of the stigma associated with homosexuality in Iraq, the New York-based watchdog group said in its report.

"Iraq's leaders are supposed to defend all Iraqis, not abandon them to armed agents of hate. Turning a blind eye to torture and murder threatens the rights and life of every Iraqi," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.

Victims in interviews with CNN said that the attacks have intensified in the past few months.
"In 2004, militias and unknown groups started to go after the gays, but the peak was six months ago. It has become wide scale war against gays in Iraq." said Qaisar, who uses a pseudonym for fear of reprisal.

 

CNN International on Monday, Aug 17 featured an interview with an Iraqi, whose idenity was concealed for his safety, and who said that among the atrocities, gay men who are arrested on suspicion or for being gay, have a strong epoxy glue inserted in their anuses and between their buttocks. GBMNews.com earlier this year had reported that gay men in Iraq had their anuses and buttocks sealed with a powerful adhesive and then forced to ingest a laxative to induce a bowel movement, and without an ability to excrete, many have died horrible and painful deaths.
Iraqi government officials acknowledged that the nation's culture stigmatizes homosexuality, but said the government does not condone such attacks. Authorities are unable to provide homosexuals with special protection, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

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News Briefs: National: HIV/AIDS

(New York, NY) - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Aug 25 her intent to appoint Helene Gayle, MD, MPH as Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS at the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference held in Atlanta, GA.
"HIV remains a major threat to the health of our nation, and when one of our fellow citizens becomes infected with HIV every nine-and-a-half minutes, the epidemic affects all Americans," said President Obama.

Helene Gayle, MD, MPH

"As we organize numerous ways to engage the American people in confronting the HIV epidemic in our country, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS will play a critical role in developing and implementing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Dr. Gayle brings an intense commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS and unique experience in advancing public health. I look forward to her leadership and counsel," the President said.

In the announcement, Secretary Sebelius said that Dr. Gayle is an internationally acclaimed leader with a long history of working to end the epidemic both around the world and here at home in the United States.

"It is only fitting that we are announcing Dr. Gayle's appointment today at the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference since she sponsored the first HIV Prevention Conference when she was at the CDC.

"We are hopeful that the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, under her leadership, will serve a platform to share our plans and insights with the public health community and the public and serve as a vehicle to carry their ideas and input back to the Administration," Sebelius said.
The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), while advisory, provides advice, information, and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Service and the President regarding programs and policies intended to promote effective prevention of the HIV disease, to advance research on HIV and AIDS, and to promote quality services to persons living with HIV and AIDS. The HHS Secretary provides reports from the Council to the President, becoming the liaison between the Council and the President.

Dr. Gayle, in her appointment as Chair, is currently president and CEO of CARE USA, and is an internationally recognized expert on health, global development and humanitarian issues. Dr. Gayle spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she had focused primarily on combating HIV/AIDS, particularly in a variety of roles involving research, programs and policy. She was appointed as the first director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention and achieved the rank of Rear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General in the U.S. Public Health Service.

News Briefs: National: HIV/AIDS

From 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference, Atlanta, GA

Following on a campaign promise when he was a senator running for the presidency, President Barack Obama announced on Aug 21 the launch of the National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions, a series of nationwide events hosted by the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) to allow active public participation in the formation of a national HIV/AIDS strategy.

Senator Obama getting tested for HIV

"If elected, during my first year in office, I will develop and implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies," Obama said during the campaign when interviewed by the Washington Blade, a gay and lesbian weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C.
The first community discussion took place on Aug 25 during the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia.

In a statement to the conference, Obama said, "HIV remains a serious challenge to the American people, and I am committed to developing an effective National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions will provide an opportunity for members of the public to give their input on how we can best address this crucial issue. With the insights from communities across the country, we will have a strategy that is focused on the goals of reducing HIV incidence, getting people living with HIV/AIDS into care and improving health outcomes, and reducing HIV-related health disparities."

In the coming months, future discussions are scheduled for Washington, DC; New York City; San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, California; Houston; Albuquerque; Jackson, Missouri; Fort Lauderdale; Minneapolis; Columbia, South Carolina; Puerto Rico; and the Virgin Islands.

By August Brown

When Jamaican reggae artist Buju Banton booked a show at the Highlands club in Hollywood in 2006, protests from the L.A. gay and lesbian community were louder than the music.

The popular dance-hall singer has drawn the ire of gay activist groups for years, in large part because of the violently homophobic lyrics of his 1992 single "Boom Bye Bye," which proposes pouring acid on homosexuals and shooting them in the head.

In 2006, local Black and gay advocacy groups successfully protested Banton's show, leading to its cancellation at Highlands, though it was eventually re-booked at the Century Club. This October, Banton is scheduled to play a high-profile concert, at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, and once again, some of the same activist groups are working to get the show canceled. "We're disappointed that even after we've so clearly expressed how we feel about this, it would all be ignored now," said Thomas Soule, communications manager for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (LAGLC). "To schedule him again really feels like disregard for the community."

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Bequest from Bill Gates high school mate

News Briefs: Technology

According to the Associated Press (AP), Microsoft Corporation's founders, which included Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and one of the first employees, a high school classmate, Ric Weiland, bequeathed $65 million from his estate to gay rights and to HIV/AIDS organizations.

 

Ric Weiland 1953 - 2006

The bequests were previously announced in February by the Pride Foundation of Seattle, where Weiland was a board member for several years, calling the gift the largest single bequest ever given to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) causes. The AP article stated that Gates and Allen hired Weiland in 1975, the year they founded Microsoft, and where he worked as a project leader for the Microsoft Works word processing and spreadsheet software. Weiland was a lead programmer and developer for the company's BASIC and COBOL systems, two of the first personal computing interfaces. He left Microsoft in 1988. Before his death in 2006, Weiland had donated tens of millions to various organizations, from gay rights groups to environmental and education organizations. After a long battle with depression, he committed suicide at age 53, and is survived by his partner, Mike Schaefer. Seattle's Pride Foundation stated in an estimate that the $65 million is among bequests totaling about $160 million, the majority of Weiland's estate, made to various charities and to Stanford University, his undergraduate alma mater The Foundation was a direct recipient of a separate $19 million bequest intended to be used for scholarships and grants supporting the LGBT community in the Pacific Northwest. In this the latest bequest, AP reported, Weiland's estate had established a fund at the Foundation that would give $46 million over the next eight years to 10 national gay rights and HIV/AIDS groups, including Lambda Legal; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; and amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Star donates to preventing gay suicides

News Briefs: Theater/Arts

(New York, NY) -Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe on Friday, Aug 14, 2009, announced that he had made a donation to the gay group The Trevor Project, and called gay youth suicide "truly devastating."

Established in 1998, The Trevor Project operates a 24-hour suicide hotline for gay youth in the U.S. The organization was started by makers of the film Trevor, which won a 1994 Academy Award for best short-film. The film depicted a 13-year-old gay male who was rejected by his friends and who later attempted to commit suicide. Daniel Radcliffe

"It's extremely distressing to consider that in 2009 suicide is a top-three killer of young people, and it's truly devastating to learn that LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. I am very pleased to begin my support of the Trevor Project, which saves lives every day through its critical work," said Radcliffe in a statement about his donation. He has joined a list of other stars supporting The Trevor Project, including Jodie Foster, Sacha Baron Cohen and Anne Hathaway. Trevor Project executive director Charles Robbins said that the 20-year-old Radcliffe, as a high-profile young star in the Harry Potter series, is setting an incredible example for gay youth and the rest of the world. "He is setting a meaningful example for millions of young people around the world by embracing diversity and demonstrating that he cares deeply about the well-being of LGBTQ youth," Robbins said. Radcliffe added that it is vitally important that young people understand that they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value.

Quinn instrumental in decision

LGBT News Briefs: NYC

(New York, NY) - City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn, announced on Friday, Aug 14, 2009, in a letter to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community that the New York Police Department (NYPD) would bring about the reformation of an advisory committee. "This week I spoke with Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly about re-constituting an LGBT advisory committee," Quinn said in the letter.

 

Agreeing with Quinn, Kelly said that the LGBT committee is of vital importance to the NYPD, the City, and the continued safety of LGBT New Yorkers across the five boroughs. The Commissioner directed the NYPD's LGBT Community Liaison Tim Duffy to reactivate the committee. Christine Quinn

This important step by the Commissioner allows LGBT New Yorkers to voice their public safety concerns and have those concerns registered fairly and thoroughly dealt with at the highest levels of the NYPD. According to Quinn's letter, the advisory committee would discuss public safety issues affecting the LGBT community throughout the city. "Working with the NYPD's LGBT Community Liaison, I believe that this committee will help strengthen the working relationship between the NYPD and the LGBT community and help ensure the safety of all New Yorkers. I encourage you to raise any concerns you may have about the safety of a particular individual or members of the LGBT community with the LGBT advisory committee or the LGBT Community Liaison," said Quinn. Members of the LGBT community who have concerns could send their comments to Duffy at (646) 610-6017 or timothy.duffy@nypd.org, and to Erik Bottcher, the Speaker's LGBT Community Liaison, at (212) 788-5646 or ebottcher@council.nyc.gov.

by Borgna Brunner
Source: Tuskegee University

One reason why African American men don't trust doctors.

For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all.

 

The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis—which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death. “As I see it,” one of the doctors involved explained, “we have no further interest in these patients until they die.” Using Human Beings as Laboratory Animals The true nature of the experiment had to be kept from the subjects to ensure their cooperation. The sharecroppers' grossly disadvantaged lot in life made them easy to manipulate. Pleased at the prospect of free medical care —almost none of them had ever seen a doctor before— these unsophisticated and trusting men became the pawns in what James Jones, author of the excellent history on the subject, Bad Blood, identified as “the longest non-therapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history.” The study was meant to discover how syphilis affected blacks as opposed to whites —the theory being that whites experienced more neurological complications from syphilis, whereas blacks were more susceptible to cardiovascular damage. How this knowledge would have changed clinical treatment of syphilis is uncertain. Although the PHS touted the study as one of great scientific merit, from the outset its actual benefits were hazy. It took almost forty years before someone involved in the study took a hard and honest look at the end results, reporting that “nothing learned will prevent, find, or cure a single case of infectious syphilis or bring us closer to our basic mission of controlling venereal disease in the United States.”

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By Kristina Davis and Matthew Rodriguez
Union-Tribune

The investigation into the killing and burning of a Navy seaman during an arson attack at Camp Pendleton will remain open despite the apparent suicide of the prime suspect, Navy officials said yesterday.

 

Funeral services in Houston for Seaman August Provost

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Campos, 32, of Lancaster apparently asphyxiated himself Friday by ingesting toilet paper while in custody at the base's brig, said Brian O'Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.

Campos was charged with the June 30 shooting death of Seaman August Provost in an attack on the Marine base.

“We owe Seaman Provost and his family any answers that come up in the investigation,” O'Rourke said. “It's an ugly story all around that has affected so many people.” Campos was on a suicide watch, and the few items in his cell included toilet paper and a “suicide-proof” blanket.

Brig staff members had checked on Campos about 11:45 a.m. Friday and found him in “satisfactory condition,” O'Rourke said. At 12:21 p.m., however, he was found unresponsive on his cot.

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By Dina Kraft
UK Telegrath

Israeli police are hunting for a gunman who shot dead two people in an attack on a support centre for homosexual teenagers in Tev Aviv.

The attack, in which a further 15 people were injured late on Saturday, is being described as a suspected "hate crime" and the most violent incident ever to target members of the country's homosexual community.

 

Police and paramedics respond to the scene of a shooting at a center for gay youth in Tel Aviv. The incident shocked the gay community and residents of Tel Aviv, which is known as one of Israel's more tolerant cities toward homosexuals. David Furst / AFP/Getty Images

"I want to condemn the shocking murder," said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, joining a chorus of outrage from across the country's political and social spectrum. "I want to say to the citizens of Israel: we are a democratic and tolerant country and we must respect every person for who he is."

Homosexual activists and some politicians were quick to condemn what they called an atmosphere of incitement by elements in Israel's religious and specifically ultra-Orthodox society, including the Shas political party.

At a demonstation through the streets of Tel Aviv immediately following the attack, hundreds of protesters marched and carried banners accusing Shas of incitement.

But Shas, whose members and rabbis have been openly critical of the country's homoseuxual community, condemned the attack.

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By(Whitfield/Strong) Revised

 

 

I look out my window watch him as he passes by I say to myself I'm such a lucky guy To have a boy like him is a dream come true And of all the boys in new york, he loves me true It was just my imagination, once again Running away with me It was just my imagination Running away with me Soon we'll be married and raise a family Two boys for you, what about two girls for me I tell you I am just a fellow with a one track mind Whatever it is I want baby I seek and I shall find I'll tell ya It was just my imagination, once again Running away with me It was just my imagination Running away with me Every night I hope and pray Dear lord, hear my plea Dont ever let another take his love from me Or I will surely die His love is ecstasy When his arms enfold me I hear his tender rhapsody But in reality, he doesnt even know... me