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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The largest U.S. Presbyterian Church body approved a measure on Tuesday that would open the way for the ordination of gays and lesbians under certain circumstances. The new policy was approved on a vote of 57-43 percent among 500 church representatives at the biennial meeting of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. It gives local church organizations more leeway in deciding if gays can be ordained as lay deacons and elders as well as clergy, provided they are faithful to the church's core values. "It permits local governing bodies to examine candidates on a wider criterion than sexual...

Pride Festival Denied Funding Josh Pringle Tuesday, June 20, 2006 Organizers of Ottawa-Gatineau Pride Week say the future of the festival is in jeopardy. The comments were made after a City of Ottawa committee rejected a request for 20 million dollars in emergency funding. The Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee did approve 30-thousand dollars in city services and debt forgiveness. Vice-Chair of the Pride Week Committee Tamara Stammis says the board will have to meet to decide their next step. Stammis says the cash request was an important element for the festival. Councillor Diane Holmes tells CFRA News "is...

The governor of Maryland fired one of his appointees to the Washington Metro transit authority board for stating a negative opinion of homosexuality on a cable TV talk show. The board member, Robert Smith, had said: "Homosexual behavior, in my view, is deviant. I'm a Roman Catholic." The governor, Robert Ehrlich, said Smith's remarks were "highly inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.""Insensitive" sounds like a fair comment. "Deviant" is a harsh word for expressing one's non-approval of homosexuality. The governor is on less firm ground with "inappropriate." Smith's comment certainly was apropos of the talk-show topic, gay marriage. He was explaining why...

Metro Board Member Dismissed for Disparaging Remarks Washington (AP) - Governor Ehrlich has dismissed Washington Suburban Transit Commissioner Robert Smith for making derogatory remarks about gays. Smith also served on Metro's board of directors. Smith appeared last weekend on a Montgomery County (website - news) cable program to discuss the Senate's rejection of a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and referred to homosexuality as deviant behavior. Ehrlich says Smith's comments were highly inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable. The Republican governor is seeking re-election this year. The announcement came hours after openly gay DC Councilman Jim Graham demanded an apology from Smith...

Elissa Kane, left, and Lynne Lekakis, of Albany, N.Y., who were married in a Unitarian ceremony but were denied civil marriage licenses by the Albany City Clerk, wait outside the Court of Appeals in Albany, N.Y., Wednesday, May 31, 2006, for the state's highest court to hear four cases on gay marriage. Lawyers for gay couples seeking the right to marry in New York plead their case before the state's top court, hoping to reverse a string of losses in lower courts. (AP Photo/ Jim McKnight)

Liberty Counsel Files Suit on Behalf of Christian Businessman Who Refuses to Reproduce Pro-Homosexual Videos Arlington, VA – Today, Liberty Counsel filed suit in Arlington Circuit Court on behalf of Tim Bono and Bono Film and Video, Inc. against Arlington County Human Rights Commission (“Commission”), Arlington County Board, and Arlington County, Virginia, seeking Declaratory Judgment, Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relief, and Damages. The lawsuit challenges the authority of the Commission to order Bono Film to duplicate two pro-homosexual videos provided by lesbian activist Lilli M. Vincenz. Tim Bono was contacted by Lilli Vincenz via e-mail to reproduce two documentaries entitled...

Lifeguard on Tiberias beach uses loudspeaker to tell off homosexual couple making out in water ; young man to receive NIS 5,000 in compensation from municipality What is the value of a hug? Quite a lot, if you live in Tiberias. A resident of the northern city, who was making out with his male partner on the beach and was told off in public by a lifeguard with a loudspeaker, will receive a compensation of NIS 5,000 (about USD 1,117) from the municipality and its economic company. At first, the young man filed a lawsuit against the municipality, but the...

VANCOUVER, June 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A homosexual teacher and his same-sex partner who launched a human rights complaint with the British Columbia government have settled with the Government of British Columbia. According to the homosexual activist who launched a human rights suit, homosexual issues will soon be a mandatory part of school curricula taught in classrooms throughout the province, without the ability of students or parents to opt out. BC's Ministry of Education and Ministry of the Attorney-General agreed to review the province's curricula to ensure that the issue of homosexuality is included in all so-called 'social justice' discussions...

OTTAWA (CP) - The Prime Minister's Office has warned Conservative MPs not to comment on the marriage next month of two gay RCMP constables

WARSAW, May 11, 2006 – In an extraordinary outburst in the press, a Polish politician has hit out at next month’s Warsaw Equality March (Warsaw Gay Pride) and gays in general. And for added measure has threatened German politicians who have indicated they will be taking part in the Warsaw event. Wojciech Wierzejski, a former leader of All-Polish Youth and now an MP representing the League of Polish Families Party – part of the governing right-wing coalition, has branded gays as “cowards”. This evening, the Polish Social Democrats (SDPL) are understood to have reported Wierzejski to the Ethics Commission of...

BERKELEY, Calif. - Two gay figure skaters sued the Berkeley ice rink for discrimination after twice being told to stop holding hands while skating. Alan Lessik and John Manzon-Santosin sued in Alameda County Superior Court last month accusing the manager of Berkeley Iceland of unlawful and discriminatory business practices by denying them their right to skate as a pair. The manager, Monte Tiedemann, twice told the pair to stop holding hands during their preparations for Gay Games VII at the Berkeley arena. The pair, who met at the Sydney Gay Games in 2002, said they have not encountered similar admonitions...

PANORAMA CITY, Calif. -- A man who barricaded himself with two hostages in a Panorama City condominium for about three hours surrendered to police early Friday.

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A proposed law to curb prostitution in the U.S. capital has some homosexual activists worried that the profiling would unfairly target transgendered people. A coalition of 22 homosexual rights groups has signed a letter of protest against the proposed Omnibus Public Safety Act of 2005, which would allow police to establish “Prostitution Free Zones” in public areas. The group warns it “will increase harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.” Program coordinator Darby Hickey, from the homosexual rights group Different Avenues, complained that the program would unfairly target transgendered people. “There’s widespread profiling...

In an eagerly awaited landmark decision, the state's highest court ruled today that Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly had the authority to invoke a 1913 state law that Massachusetts used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying here when same-sex marriage became legal in 2004. The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the 1913 law when it was used to block same sex-couples from Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, because gay marriage is prohibited in those states. The court, however, did not rule on the claims of the couples from New York and Rhode Island because state...

A four-year-old boy died after he was brutally assaulted when he refused to call his mother's lesbian lover "Daddy", The Star newspaper reported on Thursday. Jandre's mother, Hanelie Botha (31), and her partner Engeline de Nysschen (33) appeared in the Vereeniging Regional Court on Wednesday and were found guilty of the boy's gruesome murder. His father, Jan, sat in court holding the hands of his fiancée, Yolanda Deysel, and listened attentively to Magistrate Rita Willemse, who in her judgement, accepted evidence that among the reasons that led to Jandre's brutal ordeal was his refusal to call De Nysschen "Daddy", the...

STRANGE INTER-LEWD: This is the cellphone photo of a straphanger who allegedly exposed himself. Police yesterday were searching for a pervert whose picture was snapped by a quick-thinking teenage girl after he exposed himself to her on a Queens subway train......took place at 4:25 p.m. on March 3 as the girl was riding an eastbound No. 7 train between Queensboro Plaza and Woodside...... The 15-year-old girl was seated ....while the unidentified man was standing in front of her. Suddenly, he exposed his private parts, and the teen quickly snapped a photo of him with her cellphone camera. The deviant...

Is this a sign of things to come? In the name of nondiscrimination, will more states force religious organizations to swallow their principles or go out of business? Same-sex adoption is becoming increasingly common, but it is still highly controversial. Millions of Americans would readily agree that gay and lesbian couples can make loving parents, yet insist nevertheless that kids are better off with loving parents of both sexes. That is neither a radical view nor an intolerant one, but if the kneecapping of Catholic Charities is any indication, it may soon be forbidden.

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are at particular risk in our society.They are surrounded by images and references that imply the unacceptability of their own feelings and identity. Heterosexuality is simply taken for granted as “the way to be.” Many sexuality education curricula assume all students are heterosexual. When sexual orientations are considered, homosexuality is often the only one examined. All young people benefit from learning about sexual orientation—their own and others.This education helps young people understand not only sexual development and orientation, but also the effect of stereotyping, homophobia, and prejudice on people’s lives. The activities in this section...

Veteran singer Sir Elton John has refused to accept husband David Furnish's pleas of adopting a child, and has reportedly told his life partner he has no desire to be a father. Even though the Candle In The Wind singer is jointly sponsoring an African orphan with his spouse, he apparently has no intention of legally fathering a child, as he is convinced that as parents the couple will not be able to do justice with the child's upbringing. "We've talked about it a lot and, personally, I would. But Elton feels that we wouldn't be around enough at the...

The Conservative Christian organizations that are increasingly targeting teenagers and young people with "ex-gay" conferences and therapy are deceiving parents, teens and the public about the effectiveness of their efforts, according to a report released Thursday by a gay rights organization. The report, "Youth in the Crosshairs: The Third Wave of Ex-Gay Activism," claims that organizations working to help people overcome same-sex attraction could be sued because they cause harm instead of accomplishing what they promise. "There's no evidence that conversion therapy actually works, but there's a growing body of evidence that it can be extremely harmful and unethical," said...