Americans may not be massacring one another because of religion, but we sure can use it to do plenty of harm. Many of us held our breath last week while Arizona Governor Jan Brewer tried to decide whether to veto a “free exercise of religion” bill. The bill’s critics charged that it would legalize discrimination […]
gay rights
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After marriage: the future of gay rights
For many in the LGBT community, the Supreme Court’s decisions on the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 have been painfully slow in coming.
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Scouts in a changing America
I can’t help feeling sorry for boy scouts: they’re caught in the middle of something they probably don’t understand. No matter how many badges they earn or how many ways they learn to survive in the wilderness, it’s humankind they will have to learn to live with daily. And Boy Scouts of America’s leadership is […]
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Scouting ways out of the culture war
Joel Helfrich was once a Boy Scout, eventually earning enough merit badges to reach Scouting’s highest rank: Eagle Scout. His experience with the Scouts while growing up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Pittsford was wonderful, he says, yet last year Helfrich renounced his affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America. Helfrich returned all of his scouting […]
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DOMA ruled unconstitutional
A second federal appeals court has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, according to the New York Times. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling Thursday. The three-judge panel said the law violates equal protection. The issue is expected to go to the Supreme Court.
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NEWS BLOG: HBO documentary showcases gay activist Vito Russo
Vito Russo is not a household name. He’s not even well known in the gay community, though he should be. The gay activist, who died in 1990 of AIDS, was extremely influential in getting mainstream media to change its approach to covering LGBT issues. “Vito,” a new documentary for HBO, aired for the first time […]
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NEWS BLOG: Gay marriage a year later
Driving home yesterday evening, I was stopped at a light when two attractive young women crossed the street in front of me. They were probably in their early 20’s, and they were holding hands. When they reached the other side of the street, the blonde leaned into her girlfriend and kissed her. It wasn’t a […]
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NEWS BLOG: Angry Blog part 3- boy scout bigotry
Words fail. A committee studying whether the Boy Scouts of America should let gay children be Scouts and gay and lesbian adults be Scout leaders has wrapped up its work – begun in 2010. And yesterday, it announced its decision. The Scouts will continue to discriminate. No gays and lesbians allowed. The decision puts the […]
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Metro ink – 3.15.06
SPRING CLEANING Paul Noto knows all about big cleaning jobs. He’s the operations manager for the city’s environmental-services department. And this week, his department begins working on one of its more unusual assignments: cleaning the Genesee River. Each spring, environmental workers begin removing debris that collects in what the department calls “the river pool” — […]
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Gay marriage: untying the ‘not’
You could be forgiven for thinking of Galileo in the dock. Up in Ontario this June, perceptions of the universe changed radically when a provincial court legalized gay marriage. But in September, Bishop Ralph Spence of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara effectively declared his solar system would continue to operate by previously accepted moral […]
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Parallel curves
Part two of a two-part series. It’s the flip side of pop singer George Michael’s arrest for “lewd conduct.” And it has odd analogies with bathroom humor. But the following news item means serious political business. In mid-January, while many New Yorkers were celebrating the enactment of the state’s Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, the American […]
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To discriminate or not to discriminate
On December 17, the New York State Senate will reconvene and vote on the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA). If the act passes — which is still far from certain — it will cap a legislative effort to protect gay rights that’s been three-decades in the making. Under the state’s Human Rights Law, it […]
