The first opportunity for the Anchorage Assembly to override Mayor Dan Sullivan’s veto of an ordinance banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation went by Tuesday night without action. Sullivan vetoed the anti-discrimination ordinance a week ago. Under city law, the Assembly has 21 days from that time to consider an override. The measure would guarantee equal rights in employment, housing, finance and public accommodations for gays, lesbians and transgender people.

We were having a debate on respecting other people's opinions.

I am sure mayor Sullivan's point of view harms no one, right?

Should we just respect his opinion and right to think as he chooses?

Not sure if anyone has shown this..but a video of Gaga with something odd down there.. Watch around 55 seconds... What do you thing?

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/rabbi.jpg[/img2]A Jewish initiative may see gay men marrying women to have children while continuing relationships with their male partners.

It was introduced by Rabbi Menachem Burstein, head of the prestigious Orthodox Puah Institute, at a conference titled 'Parenthood at any cost?'.

Rabbi Burstein said he has been approached by a number of gay Jewish men who want to have children but also want to keep within halachic law, which is Jewish religious law.

The idea would involve a gay man marrying a woman with both parties aware the union would be solely to produce children. The man would continue his relationship with his male partner, although it would have to be non-sexual. The man would also have to receive counselling about his homosexuality from religious psychologists.

According to TheJC.com, Rabbi Burstein said: "I explained to them that one thing I, or any other rabbi, could never do was to alter the prohibition on mishkav zachar [penetrative sex between men], as it is from the Torah. When they accepted that, and clarified that they wanted a solution within halachah, we could go forward."

He added: "Although this is certainly not an ideal marriage, if both sides are prepared, then it does not really matter if they conceive through artificial insemination or relations that are aimed solely at conception."

Rabbi Burstein said that although having desires for other men was not a sin, acting on them is.

"There is nothing wrong with two men having a close relationship without intimate relations and we should not penalise people who are not attracted to members of the other sex," he said.

"Of course we believe it is a problem and that the solution should be therapy, but there are always going to be a certain number of religious homosexuals who have tried and failed to change. What about them?" A number of senior rabbis are consulting on the issue and the next step is to discuss what the effect of such an arrangement might have on children born within it.

Despite its limitations, the move has been heralded as revolutionary, as it is a recognition from that Orthodox establishment in Israel that homosexuality does exist.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/hudsonchihuaha.jpg[/img2]A Chihuahua with pink earrings was allegedly stolen from a south Florida gay bar by a man with 'Britney Spears' tattooed on his arm or neck.

The theft was reported by owner Brian Dortort, 48, who says he has spent weeks trying to track down his beloved pooch, called Hudson Hayward Hemingway.

Dortort told the Sun-Sentinel he had let another man briefly hold the dog at a birthday party held at gay bar Georgie's Alibi on July 28th. He said the man disappeared with the dog when he briefly turned his back.

Hudson, who is four months old, is described as light-cream colored with a pink belly, pink ears and pink earrings.

Wilton Manors police say they have identified a suspect but have not been able to track him down.

Dortort said the thief was around five feet ten inches tall, weighed around 160 pounds, had short brown hair and a tattoo of Britney Spears' name.

The twins, named Valentino and Matteo, were born through a surrogate mother last August.

The pictures show the Latino heartthrob juggling a child in each arm as they relax on the beach in Miami.


Happy family: Ricky Martin on the beach in Miami with his twin sons Matteo (left) and Valentino, who were born through a surrogate a year ago

The 37-year-old looked to be taking fatherhood in his stride as he lay on the sand with the adorable toddlers.

He says the boys have very distinctive personalities: 'Valentino loves to sleep. I call him 'Mr. Peace and Love' because he's so chill and serene. Matteo is more alert and active.'

Martin, whose decision to become a father via surrogate has heightened rumours over his sexuality, claims he cares for the boys single-handedly.

He says: 'I don't have a nanny. I'm doing this on my own because I don't want to miss a moment. I'm the one who changes the diapers, the one that feeds them, the one that bathes them, the one that puts them to sleep.'


Baby love: Martin looks at ease as relaxes with his sons

The Twitter post also shows him shortly after the birth giving one of the babies their first bath.

Constantly questioned about his sexual orientation, Martin has not been in a relationship since splitting from Mexican television presenter Rebecca de Alba in 2005.

Since then, he has remained resolutely single.

In June this year he told Hispanic magazine TV Agui that his 'heart could belong to a woman or a man.'

In another interview on the subject, he is quoted as saying: 'I am a modern man, live a full life, do not feel any barriers inside myself.'

Since the birth, Martin has sold his Miami home in order to raise his sons in his native Puerto Rico.

After becoming a father he announced he was taking a career break, but is since rumoured to be working on a bilingual album due out next year.

The Tory Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands, Roger Helmer, wrote in his weblog few weeks ago:
"And while we’re mentioning semantic issues, let me point out that the neologism “homophobia” is not so much a word as a political agenda. In psychiatry, a phobia is defined as an irrational fear. I have yet to meet anyone who has an irrational fear of homosexuals, or of homosexuality. So to the extent that the word has any meaning at all, it describes something which simply does not exist. “Homophobia” is merely a propaganda device designed to denigrate and stigmatise those holding conventional opinions, which have been held by most people through most of recorded history. It is frightening evidence of the way in which political correctness is threatening our freedom. It is creating “thought crimes”, where merely to hold a conventional opinion is seen, in itself, to be unacceptable and reprehensible. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it."

Presumably, such "conventional opinions" also include racism, sexism and child abuse, all of which have been addressed by lawmakers in more enlightened times. Strange how the term, "political correctness" continues to be used as an insult when what it really refers to is being courteous. The freedom he feels is being threatened must be that of being ignorant of the lives of a large number of his contituents. To deny that homophobia exists is to display ignorance of facts and statistics, including a report recently published that homophobic attacks in Brighton have been on the rise.



If you check the reference in the link to Mr Helmer's blog I suggest you have a look at some of the correspendence his statements attracted. They include some of the most interesting and well-constructed arguments I have seen in a while.


Of course, David Cameron has told us all that the Tories are now a renewed party and that equality of opportunity is important in this agenda. He has yet to respond to the calls to discipline Roger Helmer. The writer, Tony Grew, puts it neatly when he says:
"Mr Helmer may think himself a liberal with a poorly-developed sense of "Gay-dar" and a nice turn of phrase, but his blindness to the most basic tenets of equality mark him out as the sort of Tory that Cameron should dump."

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/castersemenya.jpg[/img2]The world of athletics was hit by controversy last night after a female South African athlete who won the 800m final at the world championships was asked to take a gender verification test to prove she is a woman.

Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old who had never competed outside of Africa, before this week aroused suspicions when she posted the fastest 800m time in the world this year, winning gold at the African junior championships.

Tonight she won the gold medal in Berlin in 1 minute 55.45 seconds, the best in the world this year, beating Janeth Jepkosgei, the defending champion, by 2.45 seconds. The British runner Jenny Meadows won the bronze medal.

Semanya, from Polokwane, Limpopo province, possesses an unusually developed muscular frame and a deep voice and has clocked times which belie her youth – tonight's winning time is more than three-quarters of a second faster than Kelly Holmes's career best.

Nick Davies, a spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), confirmed today that the test was requested after Semenya's run last month amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman. "In the case of this athlete, following her breakthrough in the African junior championships, the gossip was starting to build up," said Davies.

Davies described the tests necessary to determine the gender of an athlete as "an extremely complex procedure" involving medics, scientists, gynaecologists and psychologists, the outcome of which is not expected for several weeks. "The situation today is that we do not have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run," he said.

"It would be wrong today to take a decision to withdraw an athlete. This is a medical condition. It is nothing that she has done. There is a need to make sure rules are followed. We are more concerned for the person and not to make this as something that is humiliating."

The world championships end on Sunday and Davies was unable to say whether any retrospective action could be taken to strip Semenya of her gold medal were she subsequently to be revealed as male. "I can't say that if X happens in the future that we will, for example, retroactively strip results. It's legally very complex," said Davies.

"If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud, that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results. However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating."

Molatelo Malehopo, the general manager of Athletics South Africa, reacted angrily to the rumours. "She is a female," said Malehopo. "We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts. We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening. We have not started testing and we have no plans to do." Bloggers on some South African websites are condemning the allegations as offensive, and even racist.

Semenya's previous personal best, set in 2008, was almost eight seconds slower than her best time this year. At last year's world junior championships, she failed to progress further than the heats, finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:11.98.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/outladygaga.jpg[/img2]Lady Gaga told Kanye West he had to accept the gayness of her show before they went on tour together.

Speaking to Out magazine, the star said she told the rapper that their US joint show, scheduled for October, had to remain gay to keep her fans happy.

She said she told him: "I just want to be clear before we decide to do this together: I'm gay. My music is gay. My show is gay. And I love that it's gay. And I love my gay fans and they're all going to be coming to our show. And it's going to remain gay."

In the interview, she discussed how gay culture had shaped her work.

"When I started in the mainstream it was the gays that lifted me up," she says. "I committed myself to them and they committed themselves to me, and because of the gay community I’m where I am today."

"I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream," she added. "It’s not an underground tool for me. It’s my whole life. So I always sort of joke the real motivation is to just turn the world gay."

Gaga appears naked yet artfully arranged on the cover of the September issue of Out.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/lesvampkillers.jpg[/img2]A number of supermarkets are censoring the DVD cover of Lesbian Vampire Killers, the comedy by Gavin & Stacey's Matthew Horne and James Corden.

'Warning' stickers have been placed over the word 'lesbian' and an image of a woman's cleavage.

The sticker obscuring the word 'lesbian' reads: "Warning: may display sexually suggestive cover image", while another which covers the image of a cleavage states: "Warning: contains explicitly fit bloodsucking hotties!".

A spokeswoman for Momentum, which is distributing the DVD, said said stores requested the word and image were covered up. "We were asked by a number of retailers to cover up certain parts of the cover, and we complied with their requests," she said.

Stores selling the censored DVD cover include Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Borders. However, all say they did not ask for the word 'lesbian' to be covered up.

Assistant editor of lesbian magazine Diva, Louise Carolin, said the coverup was "bizarre".

She said: "It's bizarre that in this day and age, when lesbians are more accepted in mainstream society than we have ever been, some people still think the "L" word is obscene.

"This is more evidence of a worrying trend that positions lesbians as pornographic playthings for straight male consumers.

"It's telling that the cover image of a scantily-clad woman's body - no face in shot - is apparently considered completely 'family friendly'. Are sexism and homophobia family values?"

Lesbian Vampires was almost universally panned by critics when it was released in cinemas.

The movie, which features the duo as a pair of friends trapped in a village and surrounded by lesbian vampires, was slated for its lads mag humour and "moronic" script.

James Christopher of The Times called it as "profoundly awful", describing Corden and Horne as "two witless slobs who go for a hike in Norfolk with an industrial quantity of condoms and end up being savaged by a posse of groaning 18-year-olds with plastic teeth, few clothes, pneumatic breasts and three brain cells between the lot of them."

The Daily Mail said: "It's desperately unfunny, unless you find vomiting, farting, decapitation, women's breasts and four-letter words the ultimate in hilarity."

Other reviewers criticised the movie's lack of wit, laziness and "slapdash" execution.

Only the Sun found something to laugh at, describing it as "brilliantly deadpan".

A pilot whose light aircraft crashed into a tree on a Dundee golf course has attributed his lucky escape to his love of the "Biggles" adventure stories.

Vince Hagedorn's two-seater microlight struck the trunk, on the 15th hole at the city's Caird Park Golf Course, at about 1650 BST.

He told BBC Scotland he copied his landing from one of the WWI flying ace's famous books.

Mr Hagedorn ran low on fuel after coming across bad weather.

He had been flying north to visit his daughter in Findhorn, in the north of Scotland, who had been coping with a family death.

The incident at the course, in a large area of parkland on the outskirts of Dundee, sparked a large emergency response, with police, fire service and ambulance staff attending.

Firefighters placed a 44ft ladder against the tree to reach the stranded pilot. Nobody else was injured in the incident.

Actual story web page BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | 'Biggles' tale saved crash pilot