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National News Briefs

National Security

Army dismisses gay Arabic linguist 'outed' by anonymous e-mail campaign
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army recently discharged a highly regarded Arabic linguist who was the target of an anonymous e-mail "outing" campaign. Former Sergeant Bleu Copas was a member of the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division. His dismissal brings the total number of Arabic language specialists dismissed under the "don't ask, don't tell" ban to at least 55. Neither Copas nor his command said they knew the source of the e-mail campaign.

Judge dismisses lesbian's challenge of 'don't ask, don't tell'
SEATTLE – A federal judge has dismissed a challenge to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy brought by a highly decorated Air Force nurse who was forced out of her job because she's a lesbian.
Air Force Reserve Maj. Margaret Witt, 42, of Spokane had asked U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton to reinstate her, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a Texas anti-sodomy law. Leighton refused and dismissed her case after finding that the Texas decision did not affect the constitutionality of "don't ask, don't tell."
Witt, a 19-year Air Force veteran who had been assigned to a medical evacuation squadron at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, was suspended without pay in late 2004 after the Air Force received an apparently anonymous tip that she had been in a long-term relationship with a civilian woman. Her discharge is pending; the Air Force has not yet scheduled a hearing she has requested to contest it.

Politics

Win by gay candidate challenged in Alabama House race
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The mother-in-law of a defeated legislative candidate has challenged the outcome of a Democratic runoff election, claiming the winner timed the filing of a campaign finance report to keep voters from learning she was supported by a pro-gay campaign fund.
Mattie Childress asked the Democratic Party to review Patricia Todd's slim victory over Gaynell Hendricks, who is married to Childress' son.
Todd led Hendricks by 59 votes in the July 18 Democratic runoff for House District 54. Winning the runoff was tantamount to election since no Republican ran for the seat.
In the election challenge, Childress claimed that the release of a campaign finance report by Todd was timed to prevent voters from knowing that Todd received a $25,000 contribution from the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. Voters also didn't know that Todd made payments of $12,750 to two primary opponents who endorsed her, according to the challenge.

First openly gay candidate elected in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY – For the first time in state history, an openly gay candidate is poised to become a member of the Oklahoma Legislature.
Democrat Al McAffrey won a three-candidate primary race Tuesday with 51 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff in the House District 88 seat in the heart of Oklahoma City. No Republicans filed for the seat.
McAffrey, a longtime Oklahoma City funeral director and a Navy veteran, said he didn't hide his sexual orientation, but didn't make it the focus of his campaign.

Civil Rights

Judge orders woman to stop making anti-gay comments
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A judge has ordered a woman to stop directing anti-gay slurs at her homosexual neighbor, saying the insults amounted to "hateful conduct" and interfered with the man's right to live in peace.
The attorney general's newly formed civil rights advocate's office sued the woman in its first case, accusing her of harassing a gay neighbor with AIDS and threatening him with violence.
The judge on Friday ruled that the woman had deprived Kenneth W. Potts of his right to live peacefully under the state's Fair Housing Practices Act, which protects against discrimination, and issued an injunction forcing her to stop her behavior.

Marriage Rights

LGBT activists offer statement on marriage debate
A coalition of LGBT activists have issued a major statement titled, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision for All Our Families
and Relationships." Endorsed by over 250 signatories, the statement offers their vision for securing governmental and private institutional recognition of diverse partnerships, households, kinship relationships and families. While the document supports efforts to secure marriage equality for LGBT couples, it also states that Òmarriage is not the only worthy form of family or relationship, and it should not be legally and economically privileged above all others." The signers say that Òthe struggle for marriage rights should be part of a larger effort to strengthen the stability and security of diverse households and families.Ó
The full text of the statement and a current list of signatories is available at www.beyondmarriage.org.

Court urged to reconsider ruling on Nebraska equal marriage ban
LINCOLN, Neb. – Two advocacy groups asked a federal appeals court July 28 to reverse a ruling that reinstated Nebraska's voter-approved ban on equal marriage.
New York-based Lambda and the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Project asked that the three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverse its July 14 ruling or for the entire court rehear the case.
The appeals court panel overturned a judge's ruling last year that the ban was too broad and deprived gays and lesbians of participation in the political process, among other things.

Court agrees to hear equal marriage appeal
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland's highest court has agreed to hear a challenge to the ruling by a circuit court judge in January that the state law banning equal marriage rights is unconstitutional.
In a brief order dated July 26 and issued July 27, the Court of Appeals granted a motion to bypass the Court of Special Appeals and put the case on the docket for arguments in December. That means there will be no action on the politically explosive issue until after the November election.
Extremists tried during the 2006 General Assembly session to get legislative approval of a state constitutional amendment banning equal marriage rights, but the amendment was killed.

Religion

Gay priest denied participation in AIDS awareness mission
SYRACUSE, NY – A central New York State priest claims he was denied participation in a Catholic mission to help increase HIV awareness in Africa because he is gay. Fred Daley, said he applied for a spot in the Catholic Relief Services program in March, went through months of training, and was assigned to Lesotho in southern Africa.
However, Catholic Relief Services CEO Michael Wiest contacted Daley in July and said he had just been informed about the priest's sexual orientation, Daley said.
"He said he had received an anonymous call with information that I was an openly gay priest who publicly declared my orientation and that I have a high profile and therefore CRS made a decision to withdraw my application from their volunteer program," Daley said.

S.C. Episcopal bishop who opposed gay clergy retiring
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Bishop Edward L. Salmon Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, a vocal opponent of ordination of gay clergy, is retiring and three clergymen have been nominated to replace him, the church said July 28.
Last month, the diocese and two others opposing consecrating gay bishops voted to reject the authority of the national church's presiding bishop, but stopped short of a full break with the church.
All three of the candidates to replace Salmon also opposed the ordination of gay clergy.

International Briefs

British court refuses to recognize same-sex couple's marriage
LONDON – A British court has refused to recognize the same-sex marriage of two university professors, ruling that marriage has long been accepted in Britain as a union between a man and a woman.
Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger wed in Vancouver, Canada, in 2003, and had asked London's High Court for legal recognition of the marriage. They argued that their relationship was like that of any other married couple and that by calling it a civil partnership, Britain had violated their human rights.
However, the judge said lasting single-sex relationships were "in no way inferior" to relationships between a man and women.

Indian health authorities call for scrapping of gay sex law
NEW DELHI – Health authorities in India are calling for a repeal of a 145-year-old law that makes gay sex a crime, fearing it is causing HIV and AIDS to spread quickly in the country's gay community.
The government's main AIDS prevention agency has filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court, supporting a request by an AIDS activist group to scrap the law.
An Indian law enacted under British colonial rule in 1861 makes consensual sex between same-sex adults a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. While prosecutions are rare under the law, gay activists say police use it to harass them.

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