Free Republic

OTTAWA — A lesbian soldier who deserted the U.S. army won a key court victory Friday when a judge ordered the refugee board to reconsider her failed asylum claim and take into account compelling evidence that she was persecuted and that her sexual orientation could mean stiffer punishment for going AWOL. Federal Court Justice Yves de Montigny's order for the board to consider a gay U.S. soldier as a credible refugee candidate is believed to be a first, said a spokesman for the U.S. military. "I have never heard of anybody attempting to do that before," said army spokesman Lt.-Col....

A lesbian soldier who deserted the U.S. army won a key court victory Friday when a judge ordered the refugee board to reconsider her failed asylum claim and take into account compelling evidence that she was persecuted and that her sexual orientation could mean stiffer punishment for going AWOL. Federal Court Justice Yves de Montigny's order for the board to consider a gay U.S. soldier as a credible refugee candidate is believed to be a first, said a spokesman for the U.S. military. "I have never heard of anybody attempting to do that before," said army spokesman Lt.-Col. Christopher Garver....

This just came out to the HHS press list: DATE: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 FOR RELEASE: Immediately Contact: AoA Press Office (202) 357-3507 HHS to Create a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced plans to establish the nation's first national resource center to assist communities across the country in their efforts to provide services and supports for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

Rosie O'Donnell has confirmed that she and longtime girlfriend Kelli Carpenter are on the rocks. In a new interview with USA Today, she says, "We're a family. We will remain a family forever. And we are working on our issues." The 47-year-old O'Donnell -- who has been suggesting a split on her blog -- wouldn't confirm a National Enquirer report that Carpenter, 42, has moved out of their Nyack, NY, home and into Manhattan. (USA Today notes that Carpenter was not at the house during the interview.) Meet Rosie O'Donnell and other stars' surprise BFFs "We're a family, we remain...

A public school mistress who was “pressured” into a lesbian affair by a 15-year-old pupil will be allowed to continue see the girl after she is released from a 15-month jail term. Helen Goddard - a music teacher nicknamed “the jazz lady” by pupils - befriended the teenager over coffee after lessons and their relationship eventually became sexual. Goddard wept as she was jailed today at London’s Southwark Crown Court and placed on the sex offenders' register. But Judge Anthony Pitts decided not to grant a prosecution request that she be banned from seeing the teenager for five years. [SNIP]...

The friendship between teacher and student blossomed into an infatuation on a European high school trip in March 2006. But Leslie Merlino, then 36, knew she was headed for career-ending danger. Later, she stroked the girl's hair and began sending emails. That would lead to an assault charge and a court order to stay away from the student. From January to September 2007, they exchanged sexually explicit emails and talked frequently on the phone and in person. They held hands during strolls and met secretly in coffee shops. They kissed and fondled each other in their more private moments. By...

SAN FRANCISCO — Wah Cheong, a lifelong Republican and the soon-to-be divorced father of two teenage boys, sometimes surprises his co-workers and neighbors in a relatively conservative community outside San Francisco when he says he supports same-sex marriage. "Here is my situation," the 47-year-old chemical engineer tells them when the hot-button topic comes up. "If gays and lesbians were more accepted, I wouldn't have married a closeted lesbian."

Sotomayor takes her place on high court bench Courtroom onlookers included mother, brother, and singer Ricky Martin J. Scott Applewhite / AP The Supreme Court's newest member, Sonia Sotomayor, left, is escorted by Chief Justice John Roberts following her investiture ceremony at the Supreme Court in Washington on Tuesday. WASHINGTON - Justice Sonia Sotomayor has taken her seat at the Supreme Court in front of a packed courtroom that included President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The ceremony Tuesday was just for show. Sotomayor and the rest of the court will return Wednesday for the argument in a...

(08-24) 11:55 PDT Carson City, Nev. (AP) -- Monday marked the first day Nevada couples could begin registering as domestic partners in advance of a new law that takes effect in October. Same- and opposite-sex couples who apply soon could receive their certificates of domestic partnership as early as Oct. 1. That's the day a new state law goes into effect extending rights similar to those held by married couples to cohabitating couples, whether gay or straight, who register. Applications will be accepted at the secretary of state's office. There is a $50 fee, and the applications must be notarized....

A Davie couple celebrates their 70th anniversary as lesbian loversCelebrating an anniversary that has lasted as long as many people’s lives is some kind of feat. But doing it while having to keep your love a secret for nearly seven decades is a testament to just how strong the bond between Caroline Leto and Venera Magazzu is. The two women, who live in Davie, celebrate their 70th anniversary today and plan to bring in the monumental accomplishment like any pair of 90-plus-year-old-women would - with the polka. The forbidden romance started in 1939 at a party in New York. The...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reIbU9iJx5U

A Utah woman involved in a lesbian relationship left her partner and took her child with her, a move that led to a courtroom battle. Jana Dickson left the relationship with lesbian partner Gena-Louise Edvalson because she believed it was not a good environment to raise her two-year-old son, among other reasons. Salt Lake City Alliance Defense Fund attorney Frank Mylar represented Dickson. "This other party was living with my client and it was in a lesbian relationship -- and my client and the other party separated and cut off their relationship," he recalls. Dickson has since married a man...

Some members of a gay rights group were thrown out of the Fort Worth City Council meeting Tuesday night after interrupting the proceeding. An overflow crowd attended the meeting to protest the June 28 raid on the Rainbow Lounge in which one man was seriously injured. Several members of Queer LiberAction didn't want to wait until the the end of the meeting to comment and interrupted the mayor. Commenting on the Rainbow Lounge incident, one man shouted they shouldn't have to wait until the end of the meeting to be heard. "It's been over two weeks," one person said. "We...

June was National LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered) Pride Month. To honor this occasion President Barack Obama held a reception in the East Room of the White House. It was an opportunity Obama took advantage of to mend strained relations between himself and the homosexual community that he had courted during his campaign. Obama had promised to overturn DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), to change the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy used by the military in regards to homosexuals serving in the military, and to pass a comprehensive hate crimes law that would place homosexuals into a federally protected...

The push to end the nomination of Appellate Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is coming especially from the far right. They say that she is a bully, an activist judge, a dim bulb, an incomplete woman, and a lesbian. Err. . .that is right, some of the far end of the Conservative spectrum have alleged that Judge Sotomayor is a lesbian. While the notion for many in the LGBTI community has some appeal to it, it seems odd that some would use that as a reason to deny her a spot on the nation’s High Court. The...

"The Church of Sweden has appointed a lesbian as the Lutheran bishop of Stockholm. Eva Brunne, who is in a registered partnership, is believed to be the world's first lesbian bishop. She won the post by 413 votes against 365 votes and will succeed Bishop Caroline Krook, who is to retire in November. Brunne, 55, has a three-year-old son with her partner Gunilla Linden, who is a priest."

Jury finds 24-year-old woman not guilty of first degree murder in death of her female lover's long-time boyfriend Amid a torrent of emotion, a Toronto woman accused of using an axe to bludgeon to death her lesbian lover's possessive boyfriend walked free from a downtown courtroom yesterday afternoon, acquitted of first-degree murder. The verdict from the seven-woman, five-man jury capped more than three days of tense deliberations. Ashleigh Pechaluk, 24, and her parents embraced tearfully before stepping out into the bright sunshine to face a bank of microphones and television cameras. Arrested the day of the murder, she spent more...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 1, 2009 LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride...

Just a day after President Obama announced he was nominating appellate court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the battle over her confirmation has begun with former House speaker Newt Gingrich branding her a racist and saying she should withdraw. Gingrich today joined the chorus of conservatives such as Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, who called Sotomayor a "reverse racist." The accusations are aimed at comments Sotomayor made during a 2001 lecture at the University of California-Berkeley. Referring to former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's saying that "a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion...

LONDON - A FEMALE model who felt she was a man and attracted to women, has had a sex change and discovered she's now a gay man. Katherine Dalton was a sucessful glamour model in her teens and 20s, reported The Sun newspaper, who had a troubled secret. 'For years I was a man trapped in a woman's body. And although I was a beautiful woman I felt ugly because I was not who I wanted to be," the 31-year-old told The Sun. But after a sex change undertaken in her early 20s, Katherine became Adrian. He works for an...

Black Washington is a “don't ask, don't tell” world. If people know, there's a “don't-rub-it-in-the-face” attitude. Homosexuals and heterosexuals exist in parallel universes; their relationship is complex and complicated. There is an unofficial covenant that seeks to prevent an intersection or damage the core conservative, Christian-based, African-American culture.

Well Operation Save America came, they saw, they harassed, and they annoyed; but they did not close the clinic. The clinic stayed open, no patients were turned away, and the doors never closed. We remain victorious. And that victory is a good thing – but, make no mistake, even though OSA has gone home; our work is not done. If we were to leave this park and discover that clinic violence had become a thing of the past, never to plague us again, that would be a very good thing, indeed; but, still, our work would not be done. If...

Oprah.com and CNN have decided that there is a growing "new" trend in American sexual relations. The two Internet giants have teamed up and have decided that increasingly "women are leaving men for other women." Shocking news, I know. Only one little problem. Oprah.com has no proof for any such proclamation. After the shocking headline and the first three paragraphs proclaiming a new lesbian revolution in America today, though, the piece admits that there are no real statistics to prove the thesis. The whole claim is merely based on the anecdotal stories of the "experts" that Oprah.com dug up...

The California Supreme Court is letting stand a lower court ruling that allowed a private religious school to expel two girls for an alleged lesbian relationship. The state's highest court this week declined a request from the girls' attorney to review the case. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside in January had upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on their sexual orientation. The teens initially sued the Riverside County school in 2005 based on a state anti-discrimination law. Advocates for religious freedom called it the right decision but the...

The Victory Fund reports that Stanford Law School professor Kathleen Sullivan's name is being mentioned as a potential nominee to fill Souter's position on the SCOTUS: "Sullivan’s name appears on lists compiled by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and numerous law blogs. She is the founder and director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, and served as dean of Stanford Law School from 1999 to 2004. Sullivan has filed amicus curiae briefs in some of the most important Supreme Court cases involving LGBT rights, including Bowers v. Hardwick and Lawrence v. Texas."

Forty-five percent (45%) of U.S. voters now have an unfavorable opinion of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano following her department’s release of a controversial report on right-wing extremist groups last week. Twenty-three percent (23%) say their view of her is Very Unfavorable. Thirty percent (30%) have a favorable view of the former Arizona governor, with eight percent (8%) Very Favorable, in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. However, one-out-of-four voters (25%) do not know enough about Napolitano to have an opinion about her one way or the other. At the time President Obama nominated her for the Homeland Security...

Conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel e-mailed New Times yesterday to shed light on the context of her recent Janet Napolitano-bashing article that included a humorous -- though crass -- illustration calling Arizona's governor "The Lesbionic Woman." Debbie Schlussel New Times published an article in this blog on Monday that reprinted the poster, and we questioned why Schlussel used it conjunction with an article that focused on Napolitano's politically correct use of the phrase "holiday tree." Schlussel, a well-known pundit from Michigan who sometimes appears on national TV news programs, tells us that we missed her post on Friday that explained why...

HOME and Away will feature a second lesbian kiss in defiance of outraged family groups. The second kiss is part of the continuing romantic storyline between policewoman Charlie Buckton, played by Esther Anderson, and deckhand Joey Collins, played by Katie Bell. Parents and conservative groups have criticised the plot, arguing it shouldn't be seen in a show popular with children. Channel 7 responded to the complaints by editing out some of the more intimate moments between the characters. But Bevan Lee, Channel 7's head of creative drama, told gay website Samesame.com.au, "Channel 7 is not backing away from these kinds...

When the Iowa Supreme Court kicked off last weekend by approving same-sex marriage, conservatives across the board were saddened. Needless to say, Vermont’s decision as the fourth state to join the team, so to speak, is nothing less than a slap in our faces. Tuesday morning the Legislature voted to override Republican Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a bill permitting homosexuals to marry. With an override vote of 23-5 in the Senate and 100-49 in the House, Vermont is the first state to legalize gay and lesbian marriage with a legislature’s vote. It’s time to wake, Conservatives. The madness doesn’t...

ccording to Action Aid, Cape Town support groups report about 10 corrective rape cases a week. Corrective rape is where men are raping lesbians in hopes to cure them of their sexual orientation. Most of these brutal attacks are being reported from towns like Johannesburg and Cape Town, where the rape crime is immensely high. Despite these massive reporting, victims cries for help still seem to fall on deaf ears. Statics show that 24 out of every 25 reported men walk free due to the fact that the African government does not recognize hate crimes as a crime. It is...

Thursday April 2, 2009 "Abortion is a Blessing": US Episcopalian Lesbian Minister Appointed to Head Prestigious Seminary By Hilary WhiteApril 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, an openly lesbian minister in the American Episcopal Church, has caused a stir on the internet with a sermon, posted to her weblog, in which she called abortion a "blessing" and called for the suppression of rights of conscience for health care workers. In her sermon, titled, "Our Work is Not Done," she wrote that there should be no restrictions whatever on abortion: "If we were to find that, while we were...

A woman who allegedly intended to artificially inseminate her wife with her brother's semen has been charged with domestic assault and battery. Pittsfield police responded to a call shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the city's Morningside neighborhood, where the assault allegedly occurred. Stephanie K. Lighten, 26, was released on personal recognizance after denying the allegations in Central Berkshire District Court Wednesday morning.

Here'a an excerpt and a sample: Vanity Fair: Miss “Cable Queen,” as Vogue calls you, do you suffer from any paraphilia? Maddow: Paraphilia? Vanity Fair: Listen to this saucy pedant. Paraphilia is having a rare erotic fetish. Perhaps you may indulge in eproctophilia?
 Maddow: Duh? Vanity Fair: Darling! Eproctophiliacs are those sexually turned on by farts and farting! Maddow: That word actually exists?

PITTSFIELD — A woman who allegedly intended to artificially inseminate her wife with her brother's semen has been charged with domestic assault and battery. Pittsfield police responded to a call shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the city's Morningside neighborhood, where the assault allegedly occurred. Stephanie K. Lighten, 26, was released on personal recognizance after denying the allegations in Central Berkshire District Court Wednesday morning. Jennifer A. Lighten, 33, told police that Stephanie Lighten, her wife, was "all liquored up" when she returned to their Lincoln Street apartment, where the defendant then allegedly tried to use a syringe to inseminate...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a sideshow to diplomacy, lamented on Saturday her fashion sense, divulged when she fell in love and shared how she dealt with personal struggles. Appearing on a popular Turkish television chat show, Hadi Gel Bizimle (Come and Join Us), Clinton tackled a few diplomatic questions but the main focus was on her personal life, such as when she "last" fell in love. "It was so long ago, with my husband," she told the studio audience, adding that she first met former President Bill Clinton in the spring of 1971 when they were at...

Preaching God's word with an eye on national politics Pepperell vicar leads liberal think tank By Rich Barlow Globe Correspondent / March 5, 2009 One day about six years ago, the Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale was testifying before Congress on behalf of abortion rights, basking among politicians who were interested to hear her views and happy to shake her hand. The next day, the Episcopal priest was back for a meeting at St. David's, her tiny Pepperell church, where a 2-year-old scaled her chair to perch on her head.

"Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the 'road map'," Mrs Clinton said, referring to peace efforts between the sides. Mrs Clinton, on her first foray into Middle Eastern diplomacy since taking her new post, spoke in the West Bank town of Ramallah following a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Mrs Clinton, who drove into Ramallah under heavy guard as Palestinian police armed with assault rifles lined the road, said she would be raising the issue of the planned demolitions of some 80 homes Palestinian neighbourhood in traditionally Arab...

Rosie O'Donnell says she doesn't have time these days to view "The View." "I don't watch it too much," O'Donnell said. "I don't really watch too much daytime, having four kids and being kind of overwhelmed by that." O'Donnell — who left the daytime talk show in 2007 after a single tumultuous season — returns to TV on Saturday night with a Lifetime movie about the foster-care system called "America." She had been a foster parent to two children, including a girl named Rosie for 1 1/2 years, when an intern in 2002 handed her the book by E.R. Frank...

Poll:Do you think sexual orientation should be added to the state anti-discrimination laws?

Batwoman is making her comic book comeback -as a red-haired, crime-fighting lesbian. Billed as a 'lesbian socialite by night and a crime-fighter by later in the night,' she replaces the Caped Crusader after he was killed off in a recent issue. Batwoman -the alter ego of Kathy Kane -is clad in a figure-hugging black outfit and knee-high red stiletto boots. She is Detective Comics first openly gay superhero and will stalk the means streets of Gotham City from June. Writer Greg Rucka said the introduction of a gay character was 'long overdue' 'We have been waiting to unlock her,' he...

Central Michigan and its women's basketball coach are being sued by a former player, who claims her heterosexuality was a factor in losing a scholarship after two seasons. Brooke Heike said she fell out of favor with Sue Guevara immediately after the coach was hired in 2007. Heike said Guevara told her she wore too much makeup and was not the coach's "type." That meant she wasn't a lesbian, according to a lawsuit filed last week in federal court ...

Julie and Hillary Goodridge Boston, Feb 4, 2009 / 10:54 pm (CNA).- The lesbian couple whose legal case led the Supreme Court of Massachusetts to impose same-sex “marriage” on the state has filed for divorce.Julie and Hillary Goodridge were among seven homosexual couples whose lawsuit Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health led Massachusetts to become the first U.S. state to recognize same-sex “marriage.”The two were “married” on May 17, 2004 after a court ruling in their favor.In 2006, the couple announced that they were separating, Fox News reports.State recognition of same-sex couples has prompted many legal battles and many...

BOSTON — The lesbian couple who led the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts are filing for divorce. Julie and Hillary Goodridge were among seven gay couples whose lawsuit, Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health, thrust Massachusetts into the center of a nationwide debate on gay marriage. The couple became the public face of the debate in the state, the first to legalize same-sex marriages. The couple was married on May 17, 2004, the first day same-sex marriages became legal under a court ruling. Their daughter served as ring-bearer. The divorce filing is not unexpected. The couple announced they were...

Larry King, the King of Overstatement, is at it again. Apparently Obama’s victory has left him in such a state of euphoria that he told viewers we could have “a lesbian” in the White House within ten years. At least we think he said lesbian. To be completely honest, we usually lose interest in Larry’s show at about the 15 minute mark. He may have said “Lebanese.” We weren’t really paying attention. King’s contract runs through 2010. But we strongly urge CNN to buy Larry a nice condo down in West Palm now, so he can spend his golden years...

CNN's orange-haired septuagenarian chatterbox Larry King has been bowled over by the new Age of Obama, enthusing that his youngest offspring (from his seventh marriage) wants to be black. I guess it's a case of black being, er, the new black. Interviewing a visibly uncomfortable Bob Woodward on his eponymous CNN show last night, Larry, 75, gushed: "My younger son Cannon, he is eight. And he now says that he would like to be black. I'm not kidding. He said there's a lot of advantages. Black is in. Is this a turning of the tide?" The distinguished Watergate scribbler responded...

Metro Weekly: Washington, DC's gay and lesbian magazine Inauguration Celebration GLBT Groups to hold inaugural ball at Mayflower Hotel by Yusef Najafi email A coalition of GLBT-advocacy organizations, including the nation's largest, the Human Rights Campaign, have announced plans to celebrate Inauguration Day 2009 with a party, ''Out For Equality: The LGBT community commemoration of Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Inauguration,'' at D.C.'s Renaissance Mayflower Hotel. ''This is the dawn of a new political era of hope and engagement in the life of this country,'' said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund,...

Rules-link only http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=104707&catid=3

A woman raping another woman is unthinkable. This is not how women behave, society tells us. Our legal system is not equipped to handle woman-to-woman sexual assault, our women's services do not have the resources or even the words to reach out to its victims, and our lesbian and gay communities face hurdles in acknowledging its existence. Already dealing with complex issues related to their sexual identities, and frequently overwhelmed by shame, lesbian and bisexual survivors of such violence are among the most isolated of crime victims. In a work that is sure to stir controversy, Lori B. Girshick exposes...

Tension is mounting in a village in Macuata Province after more men were taken in for questioning for the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old last week. Police spokesman Atunaisa Sokomuri confirmed that a team of police officers in Labasa had been mobilised and sent to Lutukina Village in Dreketi to hunt five other men who are believed to be in hiding. Six others are already in custody at the Labasa Police Station. “At this point in time we are trying to look for five other men who we believe also took part in the gang rape,” Sokomuri said. “Tension...

I've been a Clinton Kremlinologist for years, and although there are many armor-plated guardians of Clinton's inner circle, Huma Abedin has been the toughest to crack. No exaggeration: with Clinton heading to State, Abedin is going to be a major force in American diplomacy for the next several years. -snip- She is also a Muslim who speaks fluent Arabic --her mother runs a university in Saudi Arabia -- and brings that perspective on a complex part of the world to HRC's sphere. it's not uncommon to see Huma on Bill Clinton's important trips to the region, because he too values...