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Residents of the Castro are watching with growing concern as their neighborhood becomes a regular attraction on the sightseeing tour of the city. In the last three months, large tour buses have begun to park in the area on Thursday and Sunday afternoons, opening their doors and sending hundreds of tourists out to gawk and snap photos of the exotic sight of two men holding hands. For gay and lesbian residents, who are doing nothing more remarkable than, say, walking over to Cliff's Hardware Store, the idea that as many as six tour buses could turn up at once seems...

Yesterday, the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee met in Pittsburgh to review and amend the draft platform. In July, community meetings were held all across the country to gather input from people of all walks of life. Those of us in the 2nd Transgender Caucus stepped up in our own way to ensure that the concerns of the Transgender community were heard and ncluded. Amanda Simpson of Arizona met with her Governor, Janet Napolitano, who was the Chair of the Drafting Committee. Several others, including me, met directly with Platform Committee members from our respective states. Tennessee has...

Record number of gay, lesbian Dem delegates citedAssociated Press Vail, CO Colorado DENVER, Colorado — A Democratic group says a record 358 gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered delegates will attend the party's national convention in Denver this month. **SNIP** Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention Committee, says she can't yet confirm the numbers because the committee is still compiling demographic data on delegates. **SNIP**

Code Pink is now resorting to witchcraft to beef up the number of its supporters protesting Berkeley's controversial Marine Corps Recruiting Center. The women's anti-war group has told ralliers to come equipped with spells and pointy hats Friday for "Witches, clowns and sirens day," the last of the group's weeklong homage to Mother's Day.

It used to be a high point of Goldy Anthony's life. Every six weeks or so, as a kind of personal morale booster, she and a group of girlfriends would make appointments to see a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon for little touch-ups -- getting lips plumped and frown lines on the forehead smoothed out. He was "an artist" with Botox and Juvederm, she said. Afterward, in a carefree mood, the ladies would dine at a popular restaurant on the Sunset Strip. No more. The sub-prime loan crisis, the housing slump and the general decline of the economy have claimed another...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A transgender man who is six months pregnant said in an interview aired by Oprah Winfrey on Thursday that he always wanted to have a child and considers it a miracle. "It's not a male or female desire to have a child. It's a human desire," a thinly bearded Thomas Beatie said. "I have a very stable male identity," he added, saying that pregnancy neither defines him nor makes him feel feminine. Beatie, 34, who lives in Oregon, was born a woman but decided to become a man 10 years ago. He began taking testosterone treatments and...

The Degradation of Women by Feminist Extremists by Bridget Geegan Blanton The empowerment of women materialized only after a hard fought liberation... ...from the repressive identity that reduced a woman’s worth to her body parts. Those tough-minded Suffragettes, pioneers of the women’s movement, risked everything in the fight for rights and equal treatment under the law for American women. Feminist Extremists have squandered that legacy with an assault on the dignity of women and a dark retreat to the repressive past by claiming that a woman’s worth is defined by and limited to her body as propagandized in the demeaning...

San Francisco -- The pack of longshot challengers vying to unseat San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had their first - and likely only - chance in the campaign to go head to head with the incumbent during a candidate's forum Thursday, and they wasted no time getting right to the point. The most important issue facing the city, said H. Brown, a local writer and blogger, is "how to get the mayor to listen to us. Any candidate on this stage except the mayor, I guarantee you, will listen to the opposition more than five minutes every four years." Newsom...

Gen. Petraeus' report to Congress

BALTIMORE — The Rev. Ann Gordon stood in front of her United Methodist congregation last fall and announced that she was now he. Surgery and testosterone had transformed Ann into the Rev. Drew Phoenix -- still as liberal and laid-back as always, but now legally male. Most in the small congregation accepted their pastor's transition; they even threw him a renaming party, complete with birthday cake. But when Phoenix, 48, was reappointed to another year of ministry this spring by his bishop, it sparked a protest in the United Methodist Church. The denomination's highest authority, the Judicial Council, will take...

Buenos Aires, Sep 7, 2007 / 11:23 am (CNA).- In the wake of a scandal caused by school professor who dresses up as a woman, the Consortium of Catholic Doctors of Buenos Aires rejected the idea that sexuality is sentimental and not biological, noting that science demonstrates that only two sexes exist: male and female.The group of experts issued a statement referring to the case of a school teacher in Tierra del Fuego, who “dresses up as a woman and wears makeup.”  Radical groups have backed the teacher saying, “What is important is what the person ‘feels’ and one’s sex...

(Excerpt) Plans to allow British scientists to create human-animal embryos are expected to be approved tomorrow by the government's fertility regulator. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority published its long-awaited public consultation on the controversial research yesterday, revealing that a majority of people were "at ease" with scientists creating the hybrid embryos. Researchers want to create hybrid embryos by merging human cells with animal eggs, in the hope they will be able to extract valuable embryonic stem cells from them. The cells form the basic building blocks of the body and are expected to pave the way for revolutionary therapies...

Karima's dual 'conversion' Karima Tieleman's first 'conversion' was from male to female; six years later she converted to Islam. However, the acceptance she hoped to find has also proved to be sadly absent among her fellow believers. She believes it is her fate to be misunderstood and rejected for the rest of her life. Although she says she's happy with her life, she also admits that she sometimes tires of having to fight all the time. Karima Tieleman, her blushing Dutch face ringed by a black chador, speaks softly and is a little shy. It took her a while and...

According to news reports, "The Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, has accepted a nomination to become the next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago because she wants to follow God's call. Lind, a lesbian priest who lives in Cleveland Heights with her partner, Emily Ingalls, is one of five candidates for the bishop's seat. If elected, she will become the second openly gay bishop consecrated in the denomination." Tracy is gay but states, "I believe that accepting this nomination is what God is asking of me, and I, in turn, ask your prayers for me...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The highest court for the United Methodist Church is taking up the case of a minister who changed gender from female to male. The Reverend Ann Gordon had spent five years as minister at St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore before undergoing surgery and hormone therapy to become the Reverend Drew Phoenix. Bishop John Schol of the Methodists' Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference reappointed Phoenix this spring as pastor of the church, noting that the denomination's Book of Discipline says nothing about transgender clergy. The Judicial Council, scheduled to meet Oct. 24th-27th in San Francisco, will look at...

Four years after UCSF officials successfully defended the controversial work of an AIDS researcher under attack by a Republican-controlled Congress, the university is ousting the veteran professor, leaving up to $1 million in his grant money unspent and the future of HIV prevention programs for transgender people in doubt. Tooru Nemoto, 56, is a Japanese citizen and longtime U.S. resident. He has been studying Asian and transgender AIDS issues for much of his 16-year career at UCSF, and he charges that the university's decision not to renew his contract is motivated by racial prejudice, and lack of concern about his...

Woman minister re-appointed – as a man 'Who am I? I AM…' minister says after sex change procedure Posted: May 26, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com A woman who has served as minister at St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore for five years has been re-appointed to the position – as a man, according to church officials. The announcement came at the Baltimore-Washington annual conference of the UMC, where the former Ann Gordon announced the change to Drew Phoenix, and talked of a "spiritual transformation" since the sex change procedure. The move was not without challenge. Some...

A United Methodist minister who has changed gender since being chosen to lead a congregation in Baltimore will be reappointed there, church officials announced Thursday at a regional convocation. The Rev. Drew Phoenix told the church's Baltimore-Washington conference that he had gone through "spiritual transformation" in the past year, since changing his name from Ann Gordon and receiving medical treatment to become a man. The denomination bans sexually active gay clergy but does not have any rules about transgender pastors.

A veteran sports writer for the Los Angeles Times said in his column Thursday that he is a transsexual. Mike Penner told readers of his struggle to embrace his gender, and said when he returns from vacation in a few weeks he will be known as Christine Daniels. He did not say whether he was having surgery or why he's changing his last name. "I am a transsexual sports writer," Penner wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words."...

When school officials announce the name of the Fresno High School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be wearing a tuxedo just like the six boys vying for the honor. School officials this week added the 17-year-old's name to the ballot for prom king, reversing a previous district policy that allowed only males to run for king and females for prom queen. Gay youth advocates called it a landmark victory for campus gender expression and said they believe it's the first time in the U.S. that an openly transgender student has run for prom royalty. Covarrubias, who wears black-and-white...

'American Idol' says sayonara to Sanjaya NEW YORK - Sanjaya Malakar, the under-talented but unflappable singer who horrified and captivated millions in his improbable "American Idol" run, was finally voted off the show Wednesday night. When the result was announced, Malakar wiped away tears and got a big hug from LaKisha Jones, the next lowest vote-getter. "I'm fine," he told Ryan Seacrest. "It was an amazing experience." ADVERTISEMENT "I can promise you: We won't soon forget you," Seacrest replied.

The National Council on Organized Resistance is a gathering of liberals, progressives, and anarchists. This year they were joined by a select group of conservatives from across the D.C. area who posed as radicals and went undercover.

Confirmation of male anatomy makes marriage legal, judge rules By DERRICK NUNNALLY dnunnally@journalsentinel.com Posted: March 23, 2007 Despite Wisconsin's same-sex marriage ban, Barbara Lynn Terry and Nicole Winstanley carried purses into a judge's office Friday and emerged as Mrs. and Mrs. Terry. But first, a doctor had to confirm the male anatomy of Barbara Lynn Terry, who was born a man, lives as a woman and has been undergoing hormone therapy for years. "That's all I needed to hear," Circuit Judge David A. Hansher told the doctor, via speakerphone, after learning that gender-reassignment surgery hadn't been performed on the person...

An alternative beauty pageant to be held in a remote Icelandic town will reward contestants' wrinkles, saggy breasts and other bodily imperfections and hopes to challenge Western ideas of beauty, organisers said Wednesday. "Anyone can make the rules about what beauty is, we want to change the rules," one of the contest's organisers, Matthhildur Helgadottir, told AFP. "We think it's just coincidence if you have big breasts. How come this is beautiful? We are trying to show how ridiculous this is," Helgadottir said. The contest, scheduled for April 18, will be held in the town of Isafjoerdur, population 3,000, in...

Pardon Scandal Still Looms for Sen. Clinton's Brother A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee asked a federal judge this week to schedule a new court date in a case against Tony Rodham, the brother of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., accused of failing to repay $109,000 in loans from a carnival company whose owners received controversial pardons issued by President Bill Clinton in the last hours of his presidency. According to documents filed in the case, Rodham received the loans, before and after the pardons were granted, from United Shows of America, Inc., owned by Edgar Gregory and his wife, who had been...

Today begins Ashura, which like the festival of Eid al-Adha is another bloodthirsty Muslim holiday:      And we wonder why these people are so violent.Excerpted. Please read the rest at Sweetness & Light...

In 1973, Eric Karl Swenson was ordained in the Presbyterian Church and went to work doing what he’d always dreamed of: ministering to a congregation of the Southern Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. More than 20 years later, one dream almost ended when another began. When the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta discovered in 1996 that Swenson had finally fulfilled another lifelong desire—having sex-change surgery to become a woman—it started proceedings to revoke Swenson’s ordination.At the time of her “transition,” Swenson did not resist the church’s questions nor blame its reluctance. “I had been in the closet for 30 years, learning to...

Failure leaves a testy Barry BY T.J. QUINN DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Thursday, January 11th, 2007 Barry Bonds, already under investigation for lying under oath about his steroid use, failed a test under Major League Baseball's amphetamine policy last season and then initially blamed it on a teammate, the Daily News has learned. Under the policy, which went into effect only last season, players are not publicly identified for a first positive test. But according to several sources, when first informed by the MLB Players Association of the positive test, Bonds attributed it to a substance he had taken from...

BE HERE, OR BE NOWHERE!

After an aggressive campaign, Kim Coco Iwamoto earned a seat on Hawaii's statewide Board of Education and, according to national advocacy groups, a place in history as the country's highest-elected transgender official. Iwamoto, a 38-year-old lawyer, did not tout her gender status in the campaign but has openly advocated for transgender youth and related issues at the state capitol. She placed third in Tuesday's election among six candidates for three seats on the board. She was not immediately available for comment. However, in a statement early Wednesday she said she was looking forward to "working in collaboration with the other...

A bottlenose dolphin has been found with an extra set of fins, providing further evidence that ocean-dwelling mammals once had four legs and lived on land, scientists have claimed.

BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Five parents who asked to transfer their children out of Batavia High School classes with a transsexual teacher have been denied, according to city schools Superintendent Richard Stutzman. The written requests did not meet the guidelines set out by the district, Stutzman said Tuesday without providing specifics. "That's all between the school, the teacher, the parents," he said. Other students were allowed to adjust their schedules because their requests were based on changes in their academic programs, Stutzman said. Fall classes began Wednesday in Batavia, 31 miles southwest of Rochester. Diagnosed with a transsexual disorder, the teacher...

Saturday August 19, 2006 BY DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer BOSTON (AP) -- Wearing lipstick, a scooped-neck sweater and nearly waist-length hair, the witness cried while describing what it feels like to be a woman trapped inside a man's body. ``The greatest loss is the dying I do inside a little bit every day,'' said Michelle Kosilek, an inmate who is serving a life sentence for murder. Michelle Kosilek was Robert Kosilek when he was convicted in the killing of his wife. In 1993, while in prison, he legally changed his name to Michelle. Since then, Kosilek has been...

Syracuse University, along with Cornell University, Colgate University and Ithaca College, made the list of the 100 best campuses for LGBT students in a new book released today. While anti-gay rights efforts have gained traction in many places, particularly in opposition to gay marriage, college campuses are widely embracing efforts to support the gay community. To be considered for the guide, colleges had to be nominated by a current student. About 600 schools were in contention for the 100-best designation, said author Shane Windmeyer, who is the founder of Campus PrideNet, an online network that combats homophobia at colleges. Campuses...

Today: June 28, 2006 at 3:16:29 PDT Transgender Community Finds Acceptance By LISA LEFF ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A clash between police and patrons of an all-night diner here 40 years ago was once a forgotten footnote in history. For members of the transgender community, though, it was the start of their slow march toward widespread acceptance. Sparked by the riot, San Francisco activists started their own civil rights movement - three years before the more famous clashes at New York City's Stonewall Inn. A dedication this month of a granite anniversary marker at the site of the...

The first woman leader of the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church said Monday that she believed homosexuality was no sin and homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same gender. Katharine Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, was interviewed on CNN, one day after she was elected as leader of the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. When asked if it was a sin to be homosexual, she replied: "I don't believe so. I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of...

KDKA) PITTSBURGH Have you seen anything furry lately? Large, furry animals have converged in downtown pittsburgh. They're here for "Anthrocon 2006". Anthrocon's chairman says, to put it simply, this is a gathering of cartoon-animal-loving fans. Sam Conway says Americans love their animals and "furries" are just people who go to great lengths to show it. Many dress up in full costume and assume the full personality of their "animal." The furries are making history this weekend. “This is the largest anthropomorphis convention in the world,” said Conway. “We have a little more than 2,500 people so far and we still...

HOUSTON -- A Houston police officer who has been living a secret life decided to share it with his fellow officers -- he is having a sex change operation and wants to remain on the force, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday. Sgt. Jack Oliver has been with HPD for nearly 25 years. He works out of the Fondren Division. Oliver made one of the toughest decisions of his life this week -- to tell his supervisors of his decision to become a woman. Four months ago, Oliver began therapy and began taking hormone treatments, so his appearance is changing. "If...

Gay and straight parents moving into San Francisco's Castro District oppose racy porn shop windows; business owners say residents knew what they were getting into.

A group of students, faculty and staff under the name GU Affirms Equality released a letter to the community last week affirming "the spiritual, political, moral and social equality of the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] members of the Gonzaga community." The letter, which heavily cites Vatican documents and Catholic teaching, seeks to show that the Catholic Church's teachings affirm members of the LGBT community, and that recent actions on the part of the Vatican, including language addressing homosexuality in the priesthood, has not been consistent with the Church's overall teachings on homosexuality. These teachings prohibit malicious and offensive language...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Duncan Tucker's "Transamerica" was named the outstanding film in limited release at the 17th annual GLAAD Media Awards. The awards honor individuals and projects in the mainstream media and entertainment industries for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation presented the honors Saturday night (April 8) at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. "Brokeback Mountain" had been named outstanding wide-release film at GLAAD's New York ceremonies, which took place March 27. At the Los Angeles event, Showtime's "The L Word" was...

Thai transsexual boxer Nong Tum returns to the ring and wins her first fight. Transsexual boxer Nong Tum, famous in her native Thailand as the "beautiful boxer", has returned to the ring after a long hiatus. Nong Tum, or Parinya Charoenphol (pronounced Pa-rin-ya Ja-roen-pol), 25, made her comeback after an absence of nearly three years at Nong Tum Fairtex Gym, newly named in her honour. Her first opponent in the 135-pound contest was Japanese male Kenshiro Lookchaomaekhemthong (pronounced : Ken-shi-ro Look-chao-mae-kem-tong). The beautiful boxer hung up her gloves three years ago to have sex-change surgery which cost around 150,000 baht...

New York (AP) -- Transit police are dropping charges against a phone repair worker making the transition from male to female who says she was arrested three times in six months for using a women's restroom at Grand Central Terminal. At a rally, Helena Stone, 70, said one officer called her "a freak, a weirdo and the ugliest woman in the world." Stone's lawyer, Michael Silverman of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said he had filed complaints with the MTA police and the city Commission on Human Rights, whose guidelines say restrooms must be available to transgender people...

Like many gay Utahns, Ritchie Olsen has been bursting with anticipation over "Brokeback Mountain," the acclaimed film about a secret love affair between two Wyoming cowboys. After all, the movie could almost be the story of his life. Olsen grew up in Neola, Utah, a conservative town of about 500 people on the southern edge of the Uintas. His family ran a small cattle ranch, where Olsen spent much of his youth on a horse. Although Olsen struggled with his attraction to men, like the characters in the film he kept quiet and married a local girl, his true nature...

Jewish lesbian moms in San Francisco Lesbian mothers not uncommon in the San Francisco-bay area, but two sets of twins in 10 days keep one area couple plenty busy Dan Pine It’s 5:30 a.m. and the dawn’s early light has not yet warmed the eastern hilltops of Marin County. For new moms Shelley Friedman and Tania Lowenthal, it’s hard to tell if a new day has begun or the old one is still going. But their newborn babies –– all four of them –– are crying, and there is nursing to be done. It’s the first feeding of the morning...

As if the circus needed another clown, Wolf Blitzer just announced that CNN received a press release from Al Sharpton saying he would be joining Sheehan on Sunday for some kind of a religious service.

WASHINGTON — President Bush has survived summers of discontent before. But this season's doldrums — reflected in dismal poll numbers and a surprisingly weak Republican showing in a special Ohio congressional election — will be harder to surmount. They are the culmination of doubts about Bush that have germinated below the surface of public opinion for much of his presidency. Typical of the polls was a News-week survey released over the weekend. It showed Bush with a 42-percent approval rating, matching the lowest of his presidency. Only 34 percent approved of his handling of the war in Iraq. A remarkable...

The words that the Rev. James A. Forbes chose to share with the roomful of black gay and lesbian faithful might have come straight from the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Forbes reminded his listeners that discrimination has no place in this world and urged them to lay down the notion put forward by some black ministers that they are less favored by God. "Your job is to get up every day and be grateful to God for your DNA," Forbes said. "It took an artist divine to make this design!" Forbes, senior minister at the Riverside Church, was...

NEW YORK -- A doctor who once cared for sick children at Don Imus' New Mexico ranch has sued the tart-tongued radio personality for slander, claiming he made false derogatory comments about him on his "Imus in the Morning" show. Dr. Howard Allen Pearson says in court papers that on at least four days last year, Imus said Pearson "was one of the worst doctors in the world and did not care if children suffered." Pearson's lawsuit says Imus apparently misunderstood the physician's response to a morning call to treat a child for pain in July 2004. Pearson left the...