Illinois may see gay marriage fight

"Illinois does not want to be the last state in the union to do this," said David Smith, director of Protect Marriage Illinois, a Chicago-area group organizing the petition drive to gather about a half-million signatures to get the question of gay marriage on the ballot next year. But gay rights activists predicted the effort won't get past the first procedural hurdle in politically moderate Illinois. Organizers are collecting signatures around the state to put on the November 2006 ballot an advisory referendum asking for an addition to the state constitution. The addition would read: "To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, a marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state." The story from Kevin McDermott the of St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Springfield, IL., bureau.

Illinois' New Sexual Orientation Protections

Beginning January 1st, The Illinois Human Rights Act is amended to include sexual orientation in its list of individual protections. The amendment ..."[secures] for all individuals within Illinois the freedom from discrimination against any individual because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental handicap, military status, sexual orientation, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, and the availability of public accommodations." The entire amendment is at the web site of the Illinois General Assembly.

Focus on Family to Distribute Balls

Focus on the Family plans to distribute 5,000 stress balls during Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, part of an effort to reach more people during the holidays with its faith-based advice on everything from eating disorders to depression and sex. For example, the information on talking to teens about homosexuality includes an article debunking the idea that people are born gay. The story from the Associated Press as published at The Washingtonblade.com.

CNN's Rick Sanchez: Thanksgiving Turkey

The always entertaining Malcontent writes "If this had happened on Fox News, the howls of protest would be deafening. But alas, it was on the "favored" network of the liberal elite." He's referring to this posting on the Manhattan Offender.

"Rainbow Vision" for Gay Retirees

Joy Silver is working to create a retirement facility--not only for herself but also for hundreds of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people who eventually will move into a soon-to-open community dubbed RainbowVision on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
The Chicago Tribune's national correspondent Kirsten Scharnberg has the details.

Judge releases Mayor West's gay-themed computer data

A judge on Thursday granted a newspaper's request to make public the gay-themed contents of Spokane Mayor James West's city-owned laptop computer, but prevented the release of 3,300 pictures from a gay-oriented Web site. West is the subject of a Dec. 6 recall election because of a sex scandal involving gay men, and several news organizations have demanded the release of the contents of West's computer under the state's Open Public Records Act. The story from Seattlepi.com. May contain a pop-up.

Fox New enters Brown's Sex Power God party

Brown U.'s annual Sex Power God tradition made national news Monday night when Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" aired footage of Saturday's party taped by a producer who attended the Queer Alliance event but did not identify himself at the time. Between images of grinding undergrads in their underwear, producer Jesse Watters described the event as "pure debauchery." Here's the story from the online edition of The Brown Daily Herald.

'Gay' Out of Fashion

According to a recent article in the International Herald Tribune, the word 'gay' no longer pertains to both men and women. Here's the article from the UK's Rainbownetwork.com.

Iowa gay students harassed says survey

The Iowa Pride Network has published the results of their 2005 "School Climate Survey". Researchers studied "the level of homophobia, racism and gender-bias our kids face everyday in their schools across Iowa". This page has links for both the summary report and the complete report in pdf format.

Statue penis = porn: SF Police

San Francisco police officers informed a shop owner that a teakwood tabletop holder on display in the window of the business violates certain city codes and is considered to be pornography. The story (along with a maybe-not-safe-for-work photo) from San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter.

Google: "Free Anal Sex" - OK..."Homo" - Not OK

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Texas' Second Approval to Ban Gay Marriage

Texas voters Tuesday overwhelming approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, making their state the 19th to take that step. AP National Writer David Crary's report on ABCNews.go.com.

Elton Becomes Chicago's Gay Games Ambassador

Elton John has become the latest celebrity to become an ambassador for the Gay Games, saying he is “thrilled” to be involved with the event that will take place in Chicago next July. The story from RainbowNetwork.com includes links to other Gay Games info.

Hip-hop, Logo flap dismissed as ‘misunderstanding’

Officials at the gay cable channel Logo backed off charges this week levied by the creator of one of the network’s shows, who said that a hip-hop recording label refused a request for its music to be played on the show. Ryan Lee of Washingtonblade.com explains the tiff centering around "Noah's Arc".

APQC Announces new Board Members & Officers

New Board Members and Officers were elected at the APQC (Aids Project Quad Cities) Annual meeting Oct. 24 at the Butterworth Center in Moline, IL. All the details are in the Nov/Dec APQC Newsletter available in pdf format here.

Iowa Forum: Gays deserve safety

More than 200 people turned out on Tuesday for a discussion of school bullying, verbal harassment and sexual identity at a forum in Burlington, Iowa. Here's a well-researched story from Craig T. Neises of Burlington's The Hawk Eye daily news.