PROOF: More Evidence surfaces that Manning is TRANS!

Bradley Manning “felt he was female," and looked into changing his gender, his former counselor tells New York. Though the suspected WikiLeaker “really wanted to do surgery,” the counselor says, “he was mostly afraid of being alone, being ostracized or somehow weird.” Manning used the Internet as a release: Online he could be “gay, patriotic, and powerful, too,” writes Steve Fishman. But in real life, his gender struggles and wartime deeds made him "feel like a monster," he sometimes wrote. 

Meanwhile, other soldiers “started figuring me out, making fun of me, mocking me, harassing me,” he IMed an online acquaintance. That led to "one or two physical attacks." He was deeply disturbed by his work in Iraq, particularly his role in providing information that led to an questionable killing. “I was a *part* of something … i was actively involved in something that i was completely against,” he wrote. The month he contacted the counselor, November 2009, was the same month he allegedly allied himself with Julian Assange.

VICTORY: Deportation Proceedings Dropped in High-Profile Same-Sex Binational Case!

The U.S. has dropped deportation proceedings against Henry Velandia in what is being seen as a significant victory for married same-sex binational couples who face being torn apart due to unjust immigration laws.

The NYT: Immigration lawyers and gay rights advocates said the decision represented a significant shift in policy and could open the door to the cancellation of deportations for other immigrants in same-sex marriages.

“This action shows that the government has not only the power but the inclination to do the right thing when it comes to protecting certain vulnerable populations from deportation,” said the couple’s lawyer, Lavi Soloway...

...The judge granted the motion to close the case on June 13, and Mr. Soloway received an official copy of the order on Wednesday.

HATE SCHOOL: The FBI Invited Westboro Baptist Church to Train its Police Officers and Agents!

The FBI invited Westboro Baptist Church to two of its facilities to help train agents and police officers, NPR reports: ...the FBI recently invited leaders of the fundamentalist church to the Quantico Marine base in Virginia to talk to FBI agents as part of the bureau's counterterrorism training program. But after four sessions this spring, the FBI canceled the arrangement amid criticism from inside the bureau, while church leaders claimed that they had been misled.

Apparently officers needed training on the kind of hate  the WBC inspires: He said the program was designed to teach agents "how to stay measured when they are speaking with a witness or a suspect with whom they have a strong, visceral disagreement."

San Diego Catholic Church Denies Funeral to Gay Man!

A Catholic Church in San Diego denied a funeral to one of its longtime parishioners because he was gay, 10 News reports: Local businessman and devout Catholic John Sanfilippo died last week after struggling with emphysema. Friends said Sanfilippo planned for the funeral mass to be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Little Italy, where Sanfilippo had attended for decades. Friends said he even left the church a large sum of money in his will.

This past weekend, Sanfilippo's partner of 28 years and Sanfilippo's family were notified that the church canceled the funeral because Sanfilippo was gay.

And, apparently after outrage and some attention, the church has changed its mind:

In an email, Rodrigo Valdivia, the chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, told 10News, "The Diocesan office was notified about this situation earlier today... Diocesan Authorities have concluded that the funeral as scheduled at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish may take place. Plans for the ritual are yet to be made."

At the cocktail lounge that Sanfilippo owned for 28 years came outrage from friends over what some called a confusing statement from the San Diego diocese.

"All of a sudden, they change their mind and say, 'Well, you know, we may still allow the funeral to be here.' Why? Because they got caught in the process of denying equal rights to people?" asked Neil Thomas, a friend and customer of Sanfilippo's.

UNCUT: States Drop Circumcision Funds From Medicaid!

(AP) – A nationwide debate about circumcisions for newborn boys, combined with cash-strapped public health budgets, has Colorado taking sides with 17 other states that no longer fund Medicaid coverage of the once widely accepted procedure. For years, Colorado lawmakers considered doing away with funding for circumcisions under Medicaid—a move that would save the state $186,500 a year. Now facing a budget shortfall estimated to be $1 billion at the beginning of this year, lawmakers finally approved the change, which takes effect July 1. "I think 99% of it was completely economic," a Republican senator said. 

The matter of circumcisions has gotten contentious in California, where San Francisco will be the first city to hold a public vote in November on whether to ban the practice. Jewish and Muslim families are challenging that proposal in court, claiming it violates their right to practice religion. South Carolina is one of the more recent states to eliminate Medicaid payments for circumcisions. Others include Arizona, California, Florida, Maine and Louisiana.

GROOVE: Paul and Frank Team Up to Legalize Pot!

Ron Paul and Barney Frank—surely Congress’ version of the Odd Couple—are set to introduce a bill today that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana, allowing states to legalize, tax, and regulate the drug. The bill would also “reprioritize federal resources” away from enforcing drug laws and fighting drug smuggling, Politico reports. 

It’s the first time such legislation has ever been introduced in Congress, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. They’re touting the bill as “bipartisan legislation,” though Paul is the only Republican cosponsor—four other Democrats are onboard. The group doesn’t expect it to pass, but “it’s definitely going to get a serious debate,” a spokesman tells Reason, though “probably more in the media than on the floor of the House.”

Sally Kern: Same Sex Marriage Will Lead to Man-Animal Marriage

Right Wing Watch points us to these excerpts from an interview in the Tulsa Beacon with Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kern, famous for her remark that homosexuals are a greater threat to our nation than terrorists. The interview is in advance of her forthcoming book, The Stoning of Sally Kern.

Here's how Sally sees it.

On the gay "lifestyle":

“I took a lot of heat when this all started because I said this is a lifestyle they choose,” said Kern.

"And when I say choose, they don’t choose it in the sense of like going through a cafeteria line and looking at all the different types of lifestyles and saying, I’ll take that one because it looks exciting.

“No. Everybody knows it is not exciting. It has many harmful effects. They choose it in the sense that they succumb to the temptation to give into it. They are not born that way. God would not call something an abomination and make someone where they had no choice. They have the opportunity, they have the power to say no to that lifestyle.”

GROUNDED: Southwest suspends pilot after Homophobic radio rant!

(AP) – Southwest Airlines Co. suspended a pilot whose disparaging comments about gays and older flight attendants were transmitted over an air-traffic control frequency.

The pilot was talking with another crew member and apparently didn’t realize that his microphone was on.

Southwest said Wednesday that the pilot was reinstated after going through diversity training. The incident happened in March and was reported this week by KPRC-TV in Houston.

On a tape of the two-and-a-half minute rant, the pilot can be heard talking about wanting to socialize with co-workers but complaining that many were gay or too old or too heavy. Sometimes using profanity and slurs, he called them “a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes.” An air-traffic controller in Houston told pilots in the area to check if their microphone was stuck open.

PROGRESS: Seattle Town Hall address the successes and the Delays in LGBT Equality!

Dunne and Pederson

by MK Scott

Last Night  the American Constitution Society For Law and Policy hosted an Informative Town Hall Meeting on LGBT Equality @ The Seattle Town Hall Meeting. Moderated by King County Superior and Lesbian Judge, Mary Yu with Panelists, State Rep, Jamie Pedersen; ACLU of WA Director, Sarah Dunne; and Jennifer Pizer from the Williams Intitute. WA has had many successes settle quietly behind closed doors and in fact before the News broke about the discrimination in Kent, the ACLU were talking about the it is already on the books that it illegal for business to discriminate consumers. Some Trans attendees has concerns about Health care cuts for Gender reassignment. 

Rep. Pedersen pointed out that everyone is being cut. Trans are protected in the Hate Crimes bill and Dunne spoke of the recent success in Kennewick that allowed the GSA to be formed.

Dunne also represented Margaret Witt on her DADT case. Dunne's secret blue print was OUTview Contributor, Nathaniel Frank's Book, 'Unfriendly Fire'. OUTview first profiled Frank and his book in May 2009. 

WARMING: Obama on Gay Marriage: 'Evolving,'!

Barack Obama was in favor of gay marriage before Senator Obama was against it, and now President Obama is again considering the issue, having said publicly that his views are "evolving." Obama will headline a pair of events for the gay community in coming weeks, and as he ramps up his re-election campaign, the White House is exploring the political realities of a sitting president endorsing same-sex marriage, reports the New York Times. 

Obama isn't under huge pressure from the gay community, having yanked the legal carpet out from under the Defense of Marriage Act and championed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal (Pictured with OURview contributor, Eric Alva). But with public support shifting in favor of gay marriage, the timing might be right for a president whose stance appears to be shifting from what's politically pragmatic to what is morally just. “This is clearly a president who is interested in making big historical changes,” says a strategist. “I think this issue has moved into that context for him.”

RIOT: Shame on You, Vancouver!

Vancouver's police chief is blaming "anarchists and criminals" for the violence that erupted last night after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup, reports the Vancouver Sun. Some numbers from AP: 100 arrests, 150 injuries requiring hospital treatment, 15 burned cars, 9 injured cops, three stabbing victims, and scores of smashed windows in a 10-block radius. All in all, a "world-class team and the worldly city it represents absorbed devastating blows Wednesday night," writes Helene Elliott in the Los Angeles Times. 

This wasn't about hockey, "it was about power and senseless destruction and the horrifying force of the mob mentality," writes Elliott. "The Canucks' loss—their third in three trips to the Cup finals—was a handy excuse to turn this beautiful city into an ugly, smoky mess." Smashed windows can be replaced, "but memories of the destruction will linger." (Maybe this qualifies as a bright spot? The police chief notes that it took three hours to quell the violence; when the Canucks lost the Cup in 1994, it took six hours.)

CRISIS: Bradford Wells, Gay San Franciscan, Fighting Against Husband's Deportation, Taken To Hospital!

This week, Bradford Wells, a gay San Franciscan, has been waging a last-minute effort to save his Australian husband, Anthony Makk, from having to leave the country on Monday. Things got much worse, reports SF Weekly.

"Bradford just had another heart attack (Actually it wasn't) and I'm on the way to the emergency room, and I really do have to go," said Anthony Makk when we called him this morning to interview him about his immigration case. Steve Ralls, a spokesman for Immigration Equality, a non-profit that is advising the couple in their immigration case, says they have not confirmed the heart attack.

No CUT: Russell Crowe's Anti-Circumcision Rant!

Note to politicians and celebrities alike: Maybe it would be a good idea to just step away from the Twitter. In the latest online scandal, actor Russell Crowe referred to circumcision as “barbaric and stupid” and compared it to human sacrifice, the Telegraph reports. Crowe was responding to a follower who was wondering whether or not to circumcise his baby, and he also aired his opinion that anyone who would do so is a “moron” and if they disagree, they can “f*** off.” 

“Many Jewish friends, I love my Jewish friends, I love the apples and the honey and the funny little hats but stop cutting yr babies,” he wrote. When another follower argued that circumcision is hygienic, Crowe said, “Why don’t you sew up your a** then?” He has since apologized.

PHONY? Skeptics Question Story of Kidnapped Syrian Lesbian Blogger!

On Tuesday I posted a story about Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, an out lesbian blogger from Damascus, Syria, who was allegedly seized by three men with government connections. The story has been picked up by all kinds of mainstream outlets, and now the story, as well as Araf's existence are being questioned.

The NYT writes, Although it remains possible that the blog’s author was indeed detained, and has been writing a factual, not fictional, account of recent events in Syria, readers should be aware that the one person who has identified herself — to The Times, the BBC and Al Jazeera — as a personal friend of the blogger, Sandra Bagaria, has now clarified that she has never actually met the author of the Gay Girl in Damascus blog. Ms. Bagaria told The Lede that she had also never conversed with Ms. Arraf face to face via Skype, but had conducted an online relationship with her since January entirely through Internet communications in writing, including more than 500 e-mails.

LIAR: Virginia delegate Bob Marshall regarding Anti-Rainbow Flag Mess!

Virginia delegate Bob Marshall, who wrote a letter to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond condemning the bank’s decision to raise a rainbow-striped gay pride flag, has been chastised by the LBGT Democrats of Virginia for lying about gay and lesbian people.

Marshall claimed in his letter that “homosexual behavior ‘celebrated’ by your Richmond’s Federal Reserve Bank . . . undermines the American economy, is a class six felony in Virginia, shortens lives, adds significantly to illness, increases health costs, promotes venereal disease, and worsens the population imbalance relating to the number of workers supporting the beneficiaries of America’s Social Security and Medicare Programs.” He then asked Lacker to remove the flag.
 

Lesbian blogger from Syria is missing

A critic of the Syria government, especially on gay issues, was allegedly abducted yesterday, reports 365gay.com.

On Monday Amina Abdallah Araf, who blogs at A Gay Girl in Damascus, was walking with a friend when three men forced her into a car.

“Amina was seized by three men in their early 20’s. According to the witness (who does not want her identity known), the men were armed. Amina hit one of them and told the friend to go find her father,” the blogger’s cousin, Rania O. Ismail, wrote.

As of this morning, no one knows her whereabouts. Ismail notes Araf’s kidnappers “are assumed to be members of one of the security services or the Baath Party militia.”

According to The Atlantic, the blogger has been getting notice ever since the start of the Syria uprising. Traffic has increased to her site and it has been noticed by various news organizations from CNN, Time, and the Washington Post.

Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Discrimination Suit Brought by Bisexual Players Against Gay Softball League!

In April 2010, three bisexual softball players sued the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance after it deemed them not gay enough to play in the Gay World Series and stripped their team of its second place finish. The lawsuit accused the organization of violating Washington state anti-discrimination laws.

The Seattle Times explains: The plaintiffs — Stephen Apilado, LaRon Charles and John Russ — were members of the team D5, which made it to the finals of the Gay World Series in 2008.

During the game, the manager of another team filed a protest under the rule that limits the number of non-gay players. The men contend they were brought, one at a time, into a room containing as many as 25 people and questioned about their sexual preferences.

The panel members then voted on whether they men were gay or "non-gay." Several ballots were held, and the men said the process was humiliating.

This week, a federal judge refused a motion from the softball league to dismiss the lawsuit. But the judge did allow the league to keep in place a rule allowing it to limit to two the number of heterosexual members on a team.

HIV Prevention Ads Taken Down in Australia After Complaints from Christian Group

An HIV-prevention ad featuring a fully-clothed gay couple embracing with a condom has been removed from bus shelters in Brisbane, Australia following complaints from the Australian Christian Lobby, the Central Telegraph reports:

ACL's State Director for Queensland is calling their campaign to have the ad removed “A massive groundswell of people power" despite only 47 complaints being made.

The advert has been released by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities as part of their Queensland Government funded HIV prevention and sexual health promotion work with gay men.

“We are deeply disappointed by the behaviour of Adshel in removing the advertisements, without even notifying us and without proper reason” said Paul Martin, Executive Director of Healthy Communities.

After 30 years of HIV/AIDS, real progress and much left to do

Three decades ago, the June 5, 1981, issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) reported on five previously healthy young gay men in Los Angeles diagnosed with pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), an infectious disease usually seen only in people with profoundly impaired immune function. As a specialist in infectious diseases and immunology, I had cared for several people with PCP whose immune systems had been weakened by cancer chemotherapy writes Anthony S. Fauci of the Washington Post. I was puzzled about why otherwise healthy young men would acquire this infection. And why gay men? I was concerned, but mentally filed away the report as a curiosity.

One month later, the MMWR wrote about 26 cases in previously healthy gay men from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, who had developed PCP as well as an unusual form of cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma. Their immune systems were severely compromised. This mysterious syndrome was acting like an infectious disease that probably was sexually transmitted. My colleagues and I never had seen anything like it. The idea that we could be dealing with a brand-new infectious microbe seemed like something for science fiction movies.

In, cases appeared in many groups: injection-drug users, hemophiliacs and other recipients of blood and blood products, heterosexual men and women, and children born to infected mothers. The era of AIDS had begun. Read the FULL article Here!

BLAME: Manning a 'Wreck' Army Shouldn't Have Sent to Iraq!

Bradley Manning never should have been let near Iraq, much less the classified trove he spilled to WikiLeaks, reports the Guardian in a look at the Army private's mental health. "He was harassed so much that he once pissed in his sweatpants," says an anonymous officer from the base where Manning trained, calling him "a mess of a child." Manning was prone to outbursts, regularly hauled in for psych evaluations, and once punched "a chick in the face"—yet sent on his way to Baghdad, security clearance intact.


"Low-flying planes could have seen that kid wasn't suitable," says a former soldier who recalls Manning "curled up in a fetal position on his bunk." "He was a wreck." Couple that with security so lax that passwords were scrawled on sticky notes on laptops at Manning's base, and as a former comrade says, "no wonder something like this transpired."