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COMING OUT STORY
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Daily Quote: "Children lack morality, but they also lack fake morality."
~Mignon McLaughlin
TOP NEWS STORIES
02/08/2010
Uganda antigay bill to be changed
A Uganda government official says the country’s horrific antigay bill is likely to be “changed” from its current form when it reaches its final stages.
Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem spoke with the BBC after President Barack Obama denounced the bill as “odious” at the National Prayer Breakfast.
"I am sure the bill will take a different form when it is tabled on the floor in parliament," Oryem told the BBC's Network Africa program.
Oryem did not give specific details about the potential changes, but he added that the government would not have power to make alterations while it remains a private member’s bill.
The bill proposes punishments including death and life in prison for gay people.
David Bahati, the bill’s sponsor, said two weeks ago that he is willing to “amend some clauses,” according to the BBC. A cabinet committee is examining his proposals.
02/06/2010
Ex-Gay fliers distributed in Maryland schools
An ex-gay group is touting the benefits of conversion therapy to high schools in suburban Washington, D.C., and school officials contend they do not have the authority to stop it.
According to TheWashington Post, fliers made by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, or PFOX, were recently distributed to about half the public high schools in Montgomery County, Md. "Every year thousands of people with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave a gay identity," the fliers read.
School officials allow literature not classified as hate speech to be distributed to students on a quarterly basis, as a result of a 2006 lawsuit. "These fliers are probably counter to what is available in our health curriculum, but that curriculum focuses on respect, and we respect freedom of speech," said Montgomery County board of education president Patricia O'Neill.
02/04/2010
Lawmakers ask Boy Scouts to end anti-gay practices
Cate and Elizabeth Wirth only wanted to volunteer with Boy Scouts and participate in the organization with their 10-year-old.
But things didn’t work out as planned or hoped. The Wirths were rejected as volunteers for their son’s troop. An official suggested the lesbian couple would “push their lifestyle on the boys.”
The string of events caught the attention of lawmakers. On Monday, 26 members of Congress wrote to Boys Scouts of America asking them to end their discriminatory practices.
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat and co-signer of the letter, said the Boy Scouts’ policies must change.
“I’ll always be a proud Eagle Scout, but this discriminatory policy must end,” said Ackerman in a news release. “Rejecting a Cub Scout’s mothers from volunteering just because of their sexual orientation doesn’t comply with the Scout law I recited at Scout meetings.”
The letter addressed to Robert Mazzuca, chief scout executive, notes how Boy Scout laws contradict the organization’s practices.
The letter states: “According to Scout law, ‘A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.’ We fail to see how it is friendly, courteous, or kind to bar loving parents from volunteering for their child’s Cub Scout pack just because of who they love. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine how singling out the parents of one Scout for exclusion is an example of Scout loyalty.”
02/03/2010
Before you file that tax return...
The U.S. Tax Court issued a highly anticipated decision about gender reassignment surgery on Tuesday, ruling that treatment is tax deductible.
The decision, O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, reasoned that gender identity disorder qualifies as medical care and is tax deductible. The case involved Rhiannon O'Donnabhain, a 64-year-old transgender woman disallowed a $5,000 tax deduction because the IRS said that her gender reassignment surgery was cosmetic.
According to a news release from Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which represented O’Donnabhain, the decision sets a precedent.
“In an opinion reviewed by the full bench, the United States Tax Court affirmed that medical treatments for GID, including surgery and hormone therapy, are deductible medical expenses,” said GLAD. “Moreover, the court stated that the IRS’s position that such treatment is cosmetic in nature ‘is at best a superficial characterization of the circumstances that is thoroughly rebutted by the medical evidence.’”
02/02/2010
Atlanta Gay newspaper disappears
A newspaper devoted to filling the gay news void in Atlanta left by the shuttering of the Southern Voice publication has itself stopped printing.
After five issues, the Atlanta Free Press most likely ran out of funding, reports the Atlanta Progressive News. Though the content of the Free Press's sixth issue could be found online, the print publication couldn't be located in any LGBT-frequented bar, restaurant, coffee shop, gym, salon, or bookstore. Potential advertisers also reported having trouble reaching sales representatives. One source told the Progressive News that the Free Press lost its editor and had no one else to produce content.
One of the owners of the Free Press, Chip O'Kelley, said the newspaper was still in existence even though all evidence pointed to the contrary. The Progressive News reports that many new Atlanta-based gay publications are readying launches.
FAM-A-SCOPE
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You find an opportunity that appears to have a reasonable balance of risk and reward. It’s true that you’ve been looking for a new direction. This might be it. Exercise caution, but don’t wallow in it.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Changes in the flow of work are a nuisance, but you see the reasons for them, and that makes it easier to adjust. What you don’t see is the promotion. Keep your focus and maintain your high standards, and all will be as it should.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You're not waiting around for handshakes and pats on the back. Still, the thing you’ve accomplished deserves some serious congratulations. There will be applause, and one person’s thanks in particular will mean the most to you.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You hear through the grapevine that someone is singing your praises. This might surprise you, but not because it’s undeserved. You just didn’t know the person liked you. Now you know you have fans everywhere.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). What you first thought was a slight to your character was actually a misunderstanding. It was an honest mistake by both parties. Thankfully, you are quick to let bygones be bygones. Life is too short to bear grudges.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Your dreams have been more vivid lately because you have been taking chances. Little ones, it’s true, but real gains come to those who dare. You’re on the right path.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You'll be reasoning with someone. Spend a little time figuring out what you want to say. Then spend double that amount of time thinking about where the other person is coming from.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). It's very easy to get distracted from your work, especially since you'll be doing a task you've done a million times before. When the challenges aren't finding you, you have to go out and find them.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Your attention to etiquette will only matter if the person you are dealing with shares your notions about what is proper. Do more listening and observing before you decide on a course of action.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). It's not true that beauty is only skin deep. The emotions in your heart animate your face. That's why you become more beautiful when you let love expand your soul.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You have a unique way of connecting ideas and understanding the relationship between things. Some will find your methods "trippy," but that won't keep them from admiring and respecting you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You don't know how it is that you're able to do a job with such effortless style, but the fact is that you do. It's as though you were born to do this. And just maybe you were!
TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 8). You cut out some of the superfluous junk in your life and get to the heart of what makes you happy. It's the difference between being busy and being productive. A business deal in April has the potential to make you rich. A friendly connection leads to adventure in May. Stay ethical and invest shrewdly. Sagittarius and Scorpio people adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 6, 20, 15, 39 and 19.
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