Today show cuts ties with Steven Cojocaru

Steven Cojocaru, the gay fashion maven of the red carpet on NBC's "Today" show, has gotten the boot. "He's not going to be on the program again," show publicist Lauren Kapp told The Associated Press. "We are going our separate ways and we wish him all the best." Cojocaru is scheduled to talk about his recent kidney transplant operation on an upcoming episode of Oprah and there's some speculation he's being dropped because of it. Currently recuperating at his Los Angeles home, he plans to be back on Entertainment Tonight soon and will appear via satellite from his home to cover the Oscars.
CNN[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Canadian medical plan pays $237,000 to treat gayness as disorder

In British Columbia, doctors billed the federally funded Medical Services Plan more than 7,700 times in the past five years using a code that identifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, the provincial Health Ministry confirmed Friday. The government said the billings were most likely due to misidentified accounting procedures, and is confident no doctor was billing for treating homosexuality as a mental illness. They don't back up their confidence with any proof, however. Michelle Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, said the code was part of an outdated World Health Organization list. Total billed to the taxpayers over five years: more than $237,000.
Vancouver Sun[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Canadian politician says gays can marry, just not each other

Yeah, we've heard that clever little line before, too. Conservative MP Jason Kenney says gays have every right to marry anyone they want, of the opposite sex. Ex-legislator Svend Robinson - an outspoken gay-rights advocate and Canada's first publicly declared gay MP - was once married to a woman, noted Kenney. He added that lesbian Libby Davies was once married to a man. She says she wasn't, thank you. "I thought I'd heard it all," said Davies. "I wouldn't expect too much out of Jason Kenney on this (subject), but this is absolutely absurd. If there were an award for making an idiotic statement, this guy would get it."
myTelus[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Placerville takes gay discrimination seriously

In Northern California, one community is tired of anti-gay messages from a religious group calling itself Gay Marriage No. They've been placing signs around Placerville criticizing the "gay lifestyle." The El Dorado (County) Human Rights Group had 100 people marching from the El Dorado county courthouse to Highway 50 to demand an end to these hate messages. Last week the city council proclaimed Placerville a hate-free and discrimination-free city.
ABC 30 [Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Norma Kristie sells the Miss Gay America Pageant

In a bid for more national exposure, the Arkansas owners of the Miss Gay America Pageant sold the franchise to a Mississippi company. The annual pageant that has been headquartered in Little Rock for more than thirty years, is moving. Norma Kristie, who won the pageant in 1973, sold all rights to L&T Entertainment, a firm in Nesbit, Mississippi. The pageant draws 350 impersonators from all over America. Kristie said, "I've been doing this for 33 years. It's time for me to concentrate on something else." New owner Terry Eason said, "There were many people who felt that the pageant had reached a point of stagnation," Eason said. "It wasn't growing and it's time to move it around."
Sun Herald, Norma Kristie [Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Drug-resistant HIV strain alarms New York health officials

New York City Health officials are alarmed after a man infected with a highly drug-resistant strain of HIV progressed to full-blown AIDS within months of diagnosis. "This case is a striking reminder that the risk of getting infected with HIV has not gone away," said Dr. Jay Dobkin, director of the AIDS program at Columbia University. "In fact, risky behavior may be even more dangerous now since there is a change of infection with a virus we may not be able to treat." The department has issued an alert to doctors and hospitals to check other newly diagnosed HIV cases to see if they are also infected with the drug-resistant variant. The 40-something-year-old patient reported having multiple male sex partners and unsafe anal sex, often while using crystal meth. His HIV strain proved resistant to three of the four available types of antiviral medications. Meanwhile, Bush's 2006 budget submitted to Congress calls for cutting funds for federal AIDS prevention and surveillance programs by $4 million while throwing a $38 million increase to sexual abstinence until marriage education efforts.[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

San Francisco celebrates first same-sex wedding anniversary

San Francisco City Hall was the site where couples came, packing the rotunda and spreading out over two floors. With friends and family, carrying photos of their wedding ceremonies, balloons and champagne, couples marked the first anniversary of the day when Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. "It is no longer acceptable for politicians to come to you every election cycle and ask for money and then say, 'It's too much, too soon,'" Newsom told about 3,000 attendees. Standing on the grand marble staircase Newsom saved his sharpest rhetoric for Bush. "Don't give up the fight. Don't feel discouraged. Don't listen to the president of the United States," Newsom said to thunderous applause. "We were legally nullified, but they were not spiritually nullified," said Robert Castillo, who had wed his partner of 14 years, John Pennycuff, on March 5.
[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Mianne Bagger faces new challenges, including British Open

This year Mianne Bagger will have a very different fight on her hands. Having made history by becoming the first transsexual woman to qualify for a golf tour, the Danish-based player will now find out if she is good enough to make a living from the game. Ty Votaw, America’s LPGA Tou commissioner, has confirmed to Bagger a rule change is under discussion. “With any luck it’s a step in the right direction toward informing their membership and an eventual vote on changing their constitution,” she said. “If all the research shows I have no unfair advantage, what possible reason can there be for justifying the rules that are in place? When I hear people do that, the only thing I hear is prejudice and discrimination.” Meanwhile, transsexual golfers will be allowed to play in this year's women's British Open in a policy change made by the Ladies Golf Union. Bagger is expected to enter. However, Bagger would prefer you not call her a transsexual. (Thanks, Carl)[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]

Mianne Bagger faces new challenges including British Open

This year Mianne Bagger will have a very different fight on her hands. Having made history by becoming the first transsexual woman to qualify for a golf tour, the Danish-based player will now find out if she is good enough to make a living from the game. Ty Votaw, America’s LPGA Tou commissioner, has confirmed to Bagger a rule change is under discussion. “With any luck it’s a step in the right direction towards informing their member- ship and an eventual vote on changing their constitution,” she said. “If all the research shows I have no unfair advantage, what possible reason can there be for justifying the rules that are in place? When I hear people do that, the only thing I hear is prejudice and discrimination.” Meanwhile, transsexual golfers will be allowed to play in this year's women's British Open in a policy change made by the Ladies Golf Union. Bagger is expected to enter. (Thanks Carl)

[Date: 14-Feb-05 ]