LONDON, Oct. 3 (UPI)

A major in the British army has been arrested after he allegedly groped a male soldier under his command, military sources said.

The sources said the major was arrested after witnesses reported seeing him touching one of his men in a sexual fashion, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

An army source said the incident, which occurred while the regiment was in Cyprus for a “decompression” period after a six-month tour in Afghanistan, appeared to be consensual but army rules bar officers from engaging in sexual activities with subordinates.

“This is one of the biggest sex scandals we’ve ever known,” an army source told The Sun. “It’s unprecedented for a major to be arrested over something like this.”

“The fact it was an allegation of gay sex makes it even more embarrassing. And the fact it’s the (paratroopers), the toughest of the tough, makes it more shameful still,” the source said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MONROEVILLE, Pa., Oct. 4 (UPI)

The Episcopal diocese of Pittsburgh voted Saturday to cut its ties with the church, affiliating with a conservative Anglican province in South America.

Clergy delegates to the diocesan convention voted for departure from the Episcopal Church 121-33, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Lay delegates approved separation 119-69.

While conservatives have a range of disagreements with the Episcopal Church, the consecration of New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, a gay man in a committed relationship, set off a firestorm in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Province of the Southern Cone in South America and churches in Africa have been working with U.S. conservatives.

Immediately after the vote, the priest at Calvary Church in East Liberty announced that his congregation would stay with the U.S. church.

Presiding Bishop Katherine Jeffords Schori released a statement saying that she expected most Episcopalians to be “intensely grieved” by the Pittsburgh vote, Episcopal News Service reported.

“I have repeatedly reassured Episcopalians that there is abundant room for dissent within this church, and that loyal opposition is a long and honored tradition within Anglicanism,” she said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

OXNARD, Calif., Oct. 2 (UPI)

Investigators in Oxnard, Calif., said they found white supremacist literature in the bedroom of a student accused of shooting a gay classmate to death.

The materials seized in the room of Brandon McInerney, 14, included drawings of Nazi swastikas and literature on what prosecutors called a “racist skinhead philosophy,” the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

McInerney is charged with the February slaying of Lawrence King, 15, an honor student at E.O. Green Junior High School.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox wrote in a court that materials found in McInerney’s room played a major role in the decision to add a hate crime charge to the murder charge against the defendant, who is being tried as an adult.

Deputy Public Defender William Quest, who is representing McInerney, said his client had the materials because he was working on a school project and also shared an interest with family members in Germany military matters. Quest called the prosecution claim a “stunt” and said prosecutors were trying to turn the public against the defendant.

“There is no evidence Brandon was ever in a gang, no evidence he had any gang tattoos,” Quest said. “His best friends at school were black and Hispanic.”

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Florida Adoption Law Has New Challenge (Big Gay News)
Groups fight Ark. policy on foster parents (AP via Yahoo! News)
McCain’s limp responses to questions from gay community (Pink News)
Gay-rights group kicks off tour at Liberty U. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Sarajevo Queer Festival organizers still under threat (Amnesty International)
State party leaders quizzed on gay issues (New Haven Register)
Lesbian activist Del Martin honored at City Hall (San Francisco Chronicle)
Dr Who writer backs gay film fest (BBC News)
Churches sponsor equality forum (Post-Bulletin)
Gay-rights activist to speak at MSU (MSU Reporter)

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MIAMI, Oct. 1 (UPI) — A gay Florida man resumed his effort Wednesday to adopt two half-brothers who have been living in his foster home since 2004.

Frank Martin Gill and his American Civil Liberties Union attorney are asking Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman to grant Gill the right to become the boys’ legal father, the Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

The effort comes just one month after a Key West judge declared Florida’s 31-year-old law prohibiting gay adoptions unconstitutional in a separate but narrow case brought by Gill and a team of ACLU lawyers.

Because the Key West ruling was not appealed to a higher court, lawyers say its significance as legal precedent is weak.

“What’s at stake in this trial are two little boys getting to know that they get to stay at the only home they’ve ever known,” said ACLU attorney Robert F. Rosenwald Jr.

The Florida Department of Children and Families and the state attorney general’s office are opposing the adoption.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Canadian Federal Candidate: ‘Kill Gays’ (Big Gay News)
McCain Talks to Gay Press for the First Time (Centre Daily Times)
HC raps Centre, says gays living in fear of prosecution (The Times of India)
Pace appointment to university chair riles gays (Navy Times)
Montana Judge Grants Custody to Lesbian (The Advocate)
Gay man claims harassment stemmed from gender bias (Centre Daily Times)
Religious homophobia attacked (TVNZ)
HIV up sharply among women, gay men in China (Reuters)
Judges hear case of fired gay man (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Bulgarians continue to reject homosexuality (Pink News)
Anti-gay bishops meet in Uganda (Independent Online)
State floats the Gay Mardi Gras (Daily Telegraph)

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SUDBURY, Ontario, Oct. 1 (UPI)

An independent Canadian federal candidate in northern Ontario may face hate crime charges for his “execute gays” remarks at a high school, police said.

Candidate David Popescu told some 200 students Tuesday afternoon at Sudbury Secondary School “God would hurt” those who had an abortion, Sun Media reported.

Soon afterward, a student asked Popescu’s opinion of gay marriage, to which he responded homosexuals should be executed, the report said.

It wasn’t reported who contacted the Greater Sudbury Police Service to complain of hateful speech, but Sun Media said Popescu repeated his statement in a telephone interview.

“A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed,” he said. “My whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn’t be more clear on that point.”

Deputy Police Chief Frank Elsner told the news agency the complaints were being taken seriously.

“We are actively conducting a criminal investigation in this matter,” he said.

Canada’s federal election is scheduled for Oct. 14.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

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Canadian Faces Gay-Bashing Charge (Big Gay News)
Record Number of Gay Candidates Running for Office (Big Gay News)
The Bronx Has NY’s Highest % of Gay Couples With Kids (The Advocate)
Veteran actress claims coming out killed her mother (Pink News)
Accused gay-basher’s case moved up to provincial court (Vancouver Province)
In Hollywood, sexuality is less secret, still can be big deal (CNN)
Gay pride parade case may go to jury today (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Matthew Shepard monument dedicated in Wyo. (PlanetOut)
Curbing gay sex is not a solution for HIV problem: HC (Outlook India)
Gay refugee claim accepted (CNews)
The key to gay rights in India lies in legislation and education (Guardian Unlimited)
UI investigates anti-gay graffiti (The Gazette)
2 political leaders to talk on GLBT issues (New Haven Register)
GLBT titles donated to Wasilla Library (Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman)
Gays reluctant to report assaults, group says (The Globe and Mail)
Police investigating death of 22-year-old as suspicious (The Sacramento Bee)
‘De-gendered’ toilets spark row (BBC News)
British minister marries her lesbian partner (The Times of India)
Greeks protest government crackdown on gay marriage (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

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Washington, D.C.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today announced it has endorsed 100 openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) political candidates in 2008, making this endorsement slate the group’s largest ever. LGBT candidates are running for offices at all levels of government, from school boards to the U.S. Congress, according to the group.

Chuck Wolfe, the Victory Fund’s president and CEO for the past six years, said the surge in openly LGBT candidates in 2008 reflects the community’s growing willingness to embrace political leadership as a path to change: “I think reaching this milestone is a testament to a new attitude in our community about how to achieve political change. We don’t have to accept sitting on the sidelines and hoping others will do the heavy lifting. We can roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.”

The Victory Fund expects to continue endorsing candidates for a few more weeks, according to Laura Esquivel, senior vice president for political affairs. “This is a really exciting political season for the LGBT community. We’re extremely proud of the out candidates who are stepping up to run for office all across America, and of the role that the Victory Fund plays in preparing and supporting these candidates. We’ll endorse in even more races in the next couple of weeks, putting us well past 100 candidates for the year,” Esquivel said.

For more information, visit www.victoryfund.org.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 29 (UPI)

A man accused in a weekend attack on a gay man in Vancouver, British Columbia, made an initial court appearance Monday.

Michael Kandola, 20, of Vancouver faces a charge of aggravated assault causing bodily harm, the Canadian Broadcast Corp. reported. However, authorities indicated they may seek to have Kandola prosecuted under Canada’s hate-crime law, the CBC said.

Kandola, whose first appearance was in the city’s community court, is to be back before a judge Tuesday in provincial court, prosecutors said.

Vancouver police Constable Tim Fanning said several witnesses reported hearing Kandola utter gay slurs before the Saturday morning assault in the city’s West End.

Jordan Smith, 27, told CBC News he was walking and holding hands with another man when a group of four young men approached them and called out gay slurs. One of the four allegedly hit Smith in the face with enough force to knock him to the sidewalk, causing him to lose consciousness.

Smith reportedly suffered multiple fractures to his jaw and was to have surgery to repair the injury.

Police said they were looking for at least three other suspects.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ahmadinejad: There Are Gays in Iran (Big Gay News)
Male Model Suing Over Gay Magazine Photo (Big Gay News)
Ignore Ramadoss’ view on gays: Govt tells HC (IBN live)
Greeks protest for same-sex marriage ahead of trial (Pink News)
Circumcision ‘can protect gays from HIV’ (AAP via Yahoo!7 News)
DeGeneres urges voters to save CA’s gay marriage laws (Yahoo! UK & Ireland News)
Google Opposes Anti-Gay Marriage Ban (CBS News)
Morocco may give gays some rights ‘within fifty years’ (Pink News)
Gay marriage debate to continue (The Nashua Telegraph)
Gay marriage on back burner among election issues (The Appleton Post-Crescent)
Gay Philippines (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
U.S. improving for gays, victim’s mother says (Seattle Times)
Son of N.C. televangelists takes on discrimination against gays (The Rock Hill Herald)
Taipei holds massive gay pride march (AAP via Yahoo!7 News)
SF Memorial Set For Lesbian Activist Del Martin (CBS 5 Bay Area)
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, trangender groups gather at UMD (Pioneer Press)

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NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad conceded this week there are “a few” homosexuals in his country.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Ahmadinejad called homosexuality “an unlikable and foreign act” that “shakes the foundations of society.”

Ahmadinejad was in New York for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly. Last year, in the city for the same event, he claimed during a forum at Columbia University that his country has no gays — eliciting both laughter and boos.

Human rights groups say the country hanged two teenagers for homosexuality in 2005. Given a copy of a photo of the teens, Ahmadinejad said being gay is not a capital offense under Iranian law.

“Either they were drug traffickers or they killed someone else,” he said.

Ahmadinejad said U.S. politicians who support gay rights have little to be proud of.

“Just because some people want to get votes, they are willing to overlook every morality,” he said.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI)

A gay men’s lifestyle magazine, Genre, has damaged a straight model’s reputation by featuring a photograph of him in the U.S. publication, a lawsuit contends.

An attorney for Benjamin Massing alleges that by featuring a photo of the 20-year-old model next to advertisements for sex toys and gay chat lines, Genre tarnished his client’s reputation, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

“He’s not (gay),” lawyer Liah Catanese said of the aspiring actor.

“It’s definitely put him in a class where he’s going to have difficulty obtaining contracts for family-related shows.”

Massing’s Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit against Genre and fashion photographer Rick Day accuses the co-defendants of violating his privacy by using a photograph he had taken for his personal portfolio.

The Daily News said Massing alleges in the suit, which is for unspecified damages, that the magazine photo has caused him to become the target of unwanted advances from strangers.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

‘Sexual Cleansing’ Rampant in Iraq (UPI)
Isis Won’t be ‘Next Top Model’ (DCist)
Indian government argues to retain ban on gay sex (Pink News)
Iranian President attacks US acceptance of homosexuality (Pink News)
Bosnia’s first gay festival to close (TVNZ)
Homosexuality in Cameroon (Radio Netherlands)
Gay rights opponents unhappy with civil union commission (Asbury Park Press)
Without gender-neutral housing, Yale discriminates (Yale Daily News)
Transsexual singer faces jail over army slur (Pendle Today)
Gene variant more prevalent in transsexuals (New Scientist)
Gay-Rights Clash Over Rome Coliseum Kiss (Time Magazine)
Illegal Lesbian Adoption Stands (Gay City News)
Gays fear Islamist offensive (News 24 South Africa)

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