Aguilera Slams Gay Marriage Ban
contactmusic.com

CHRISTINA AGUILERA has attacked the US laws that ban her pal LANCE BASS from marrying his gay partner. The former ‘N SYNC singer recently revealed his sexuality and confessed to a relationship with AMAZING RACE reality TV star REICHEN LEHMKUHL. Aguilera was amazed the news made headlines, stating, “I’m shocked that it’s a big deal! I’m shocked that people are shocked.” But she is more outraged that, under California law – and in most US states – Bass and Lehmkuhl couldn’t marry.

The newlywed says, “I think it’s really unfair that there has to be some kind of standard for marriage. Marriage should be about celebrating two people’s love for each other.”

[read via contactmusic.com]

Gay pride week kicks off Sunday with a blessing
PATRICK VILLANOVA, The Jersey Journal

The Jersey City Lesbian and Gay Outreach, Inc. and Grace Church Van Vorst will kick off Jersey City Pride Week Sunday by hosting a ceremonial blessing ceremony for same-sex couples.

The Rev. Gregory Perez will conduct the service, which will consist of hymns, songs of praise, scriptural and non-scriptural readings, prayer and a special blessing of relationships. Lesbian and Gay couples, their families and friends are all invited to the blessing.

City Pride Week will culminate with the Jersey City Pride Festival on Aug. 26 from noon to 8 p.m. at Exchange Place.

For more information, visit www.jclgo.org or www.gracevanvorst.org or call Grace Van Vorst Church at (201) 659-2211, ext. 4.

Historic Provisions for GLBT Families Signed Into Law TODAY!

By Human Rights Campaign

Working without fanfare and very closely with members of Congress for more than three years, the Human Rights Campaign secured two important protections that assist gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans in the Pension Protection Act signed into law on Aug. 17, 2006. The act includes provisions allowing non-spouse beneficiaries to roll over retirement benefits, and adding non-spouse beneficiaries to the retirement plan hardship distribution rules. The two provisions extend important financial protections to same-sex couples and other Americans who name non-spouses as their retirement plan beneficiaries.

Allowing Non-spouse Beneficiaries to Rollover Pension Funds (Sec. 829)
The first provision allows the transfer of an individual’s retirement plan (401(k), etc,) benefits to a domestic partner or other non-spouse beneficiary (sibling, parent, child, etc.) when the individual dies. Specifically, the surviving partner (or other non-spouse beneficiary) will now be able to transfer his or her deceased partner’s retirement funds into an Individual Retirement Account and either draw down the benefits over a five-year period, or over his or her own life expectancy. In the past, surviving same-sex partners and other non-spouse beneficiaries were typically forced to withdraw the entire amount as a lump sum and incur immediate tax charges. In addition, this action often bumped the survivor into a higher tax bracket because the withdrawal was counted as taxable income to the beneficiary.

Adding Non-Spouse Beneficiaries to Retirement Plan Hardship Distribution Rules (Sec. 826)
The second provision, which addresses retirement plan hardship distributions, allows gay couples (and others who list non-spouse, non-dependent beneficiaries, such as siblings, parents, children, etc.) similar access to laws that permit people to draw on their retirement funds in the case of a qualifying medical or financial emergency. In the past, the federal law covered only the spouses or dependents of employees when it came to accessing retirement funds during an emergency.

Go to the HRC Website’s page on this for information?

NY Wrongful Death Suit Dismissed
-No Legal Avenue For Same-Sex Couples

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(New York City) A New York judge has ruled that a Long Island lesbian cannot sue the man responsible for the accident that killed her partner because their relationship is not recognized by New York State law.

Victoria Sarafino, 56, was struck and killed by a car on March 25, 2003 as she crossed a busy street in Valley Stream. Her partner of 18 years, Linda Saegert filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Gerard Simonelli, the driver of the car.

Police ruled the death an accident and no criminal charges were filed against Simonelli. In the wrongful death suit his lawyer argued that Saegert was not legally entitled to sue since under state law unmarried couples have no status.

Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Daniel Palmieri agreed, dismissing the case.

In his ruling Palmieri noted previous court rulings in similar cases. Among them was the case of John Langan. His partner, Neil Conrad…continue via 365Gay.com?

Candidate compares gay marriage to bestiality

Rowland is a Mesa County, Colo., commissioner who appeared in a March 17 broadcast of the Rocky Mountain PBS program “Colorado State of Mind.” In it, she said homosexuality is an alternative lifestyle, and for some people, the alternative lifestyle is bestiality. Then she asked, “Do we allow a man to marry a sheep?”

Democratic nominee Bill Ritter’s campaign called the remarks “insensitive, close-minded, derogatory and crude,” and is demanding an apology.

Beauprez campaign manager John Marshall said Rowland regrets her remarks and…continue reading at Washington Blade?

Related: More at NBC11.com
More via DenverPost. com

NPR Song of the Day
Greek Myths in a Same-Sex Love Song
By John Murph

• ‘Narcissus’ by Patricia Barber (listen via NPR)

Patricia Barber won the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in the new category of songwriting.

NPR.org, August 14, 2006 · “I’m falling in love with her,” Patricia Barber sings in the opening line of “Narcissus,” from her splendid new Mythologies — a song-cycle based on the Greek myths from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Given the ballad’s title, it’s clear that Barber is touching on themes of self-adulation, but the subtext of same-sex romance remains apparent throughout…continue at National Public Radio?

Note: Our CEO, MW Savant interviewed Ms. Barber on Renegade Talk Radio’s “Queer Nation Show”, of which he was the host heard in more than sixty countries. “Patricia Barber is one of the most sensuous, intelligent and communicative vocalists of our time. She is a prominent and highly regarded GLBT artist and a true gem! I am so glad to have had the pleasure of hearing her music. Get her music. ASAP! You’ll be so glad you did!,” said Savant today.

At Home in Two Worlds

‘Among straight moms, I still feel like an outsider,’ says Craig Peterson (right) with Darrel Martin and daughter Mayacarol Martin-Peterson

These kids live with gay parents in a straight society. Now they’re beginning to find their voices—and each other

Oct. 18 issue – The other kids in grade school talked about family life. Camping trips with Dad, hanging out with Mom at the mall. Kyle Michaels kept quiet. Nobody would understand. Not in her Texas suburb of Cedar Park. You talked about cool clothes, hip bands and cute boys. You cheered for the football team on Friday nights and you went to church on Sunday. “If you go around our neighborhood,” she says, “everybody has a sign that says, ‘We support God and our troops.” If you didn’t hew to traditional values, it seemed to her, you kept quiet…continue reading at Newsweek?

New Jersey conservatives plotting moves if court allows same-sex marriage

As they await a New Jersey Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage in the Garden State, social conservatives say they are prepared to take the fight to the ballot box if they lose in the legal arena. “If we get to an imminent threat, if we get to the point where marriage is going to be decided by the court, shouldn’t we get to weigh in an issue of such magnitude?” said Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council.

Like advocates for same-sex marriage, New Jersey’s conservative lobbyists and lawmakers are gearing up for a political battle in the aftermath of the court’s ruling in the landmark case of Lewis v. Harris, in which seven gay couples contend not letting them marry is a violation of the…continue reading at The Advocate?

Clergy urge support for gay marriage

There was a time in American history when the Rev. William G. Sinkford’s marriage would have been illegal.

Sinkford, who is black, said he would have broken a law by marrying his wife, who is white. That changed in 1967, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of interracial marriages in the case of Loving vs. Virginia.

“Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are facing the same challenge that interracial couples faced before the high court changed American culture,” said Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

The precedent-setting case was decided 19 years after California became the first state to permit interracial marriages…continue reading at The Patriot News?

Atlanta Gay Lutheran Pastor Faces Dismissal
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Photo: St. John’s Lutheran Church, Atlanta

(Atlanta, Georgia) An openly gay pastor faces a church trial after telling his bishop that he is in a same-sex relationship.

The Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling could be disciplined or removed from his church.

Schmeling, of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta, says that he never kept his sexuality a secret and made it clear when he came to the diocese six years ago that he opposed a ban on non celibate gay clergy.

This week, after he informed Bishop Ronald B. Warren that he was in a committed relationship with another man, Warren began proceedings against Schmeling…continue reading at 365gay.com?

Related: “Discipline sought against gay pastor” By JOHN BLAKE
The Atlanta Journal Constitution