GXR GAY NEW

Few days went by without him being punched, kicked or tripped by classmates at Susquehanna Twp. High School.

The teenager, an openly gay boy described by friends as kind and compassionate, said he was constantly harassed, though he never reported it to anyone, not even his friends.

Finally, when some of his classmates told him to “go kill himself” to “make the world a better place,” the teen decided he’d had enough. He said he left school in the middle of his senior year because he could no longer bear the torment.

His departure inspired a petition by about 300 of his classmates calling for district administrators to prevent the same thing from happening to other students.

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Twenty-seven states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriages and next November, Florida could become the 28th.

But backers of the amendment shouldn’t expect Florida voters, most of whom do not approve of gay marriage, to be exercised about this issue during an election year in which there are so many other important matters to talk about.

Gay marriage is last season’s politics.

Besides, Florida already has a law outlawing marriage between people of the same sex, so formalizing a ban in the state constitution hardly merits front-burner status.

Florida law says a marriage made somewhere else between persons of the same sex is “not recognized for any purpose in this state.” The language is clear.

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BOSTON (AP) – Religious leaders who took opposing sides in Massachusetts’ turbulent gay marriage debate have found something to bring them together again: casino gambling.

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Do you remember the years you spent in high school? How about the pressure, social scrutiny, and the numerous other problems that you, as a teenager, dealt with daily? Now, imagine that you were to be faced with all of this, along with the confusion of your sexual orientation and the anxiety over the possibility of not being accepted by society, your friends and even your own family, over something that you cannot change.

We are responding to the commentary on Central’s Gay-Straight Alliance in the People’s Forum as well as at the Bay City Public School board meeting, both on Dec. 10.

We are members of the GSA and after reading the letter written by Kimberly Bublitz, we decided to attend the board meeting to hear her arguments. Toward the end of the meeting, audience members were allowed to speak and Mrs. Bublitz approached the microphone. Her argument was unjustifiable.

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(Fort Worth, Texas) Real estate agent Joel Burns has become the first openly gay member of Fort Worth City Council in a race that was marked by homophobia.

Burns defeated school trustee Juan Rangel Jr. a fellow Democrat, in a runoff election Tuesday.

During the campaign Republicans tried to use Burns’ sexuality as a wedge issue.

Fort Worth City Councilman Chuck Silcox told a GOP audience to vote for candidate Chris Turner for city council because he is both straight and a Republican, unlike his opponent.

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John Edwards, the former US Vice Presidential candidate who is seeking the Democratic party’s nomination for President, said yesterday that he will end “discriminatory” policies towards gay people if elected.

DOMA was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, the husband of Mr Edwards’ rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton.

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For the second time, a gay man has come out on top on TV’s Survivor. Todd Herzog, 22, a longtime fan of the show, won the $1 million prize after 39 days of outwitting and outlasting the other contestants. Herzog—the youngest winner ever—won Survivor’s 15th season by garnering four votes from the seven-member jury, which consisted of players who were eliminated before the final three: Herzog, Courtney Yates and Amanda Kimmel.

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BAGHDAD — In a city and country where outsiders are viewed with deep suspicion and attracting attention can imperil one’s life, Mohammed could never blend in, even if he wanted to.

Mohammed, 37, has been openly gay for much of his adult life. For him, this has meant growing his hair long and taking estrogen. In the past, he said, that held little danger. As is true throughout the Middle East, men have always been publicly affectionate here.

But, at least until recently, Mohammed and many of his gay friends went one step further, slipping into lovers’ houses late at night. And, until the American invasion, they said, Iraqi society had quietly accepted them.

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(New York City) A new study says there are at least 3,800 people under the age of 25 living on the streets of New York and that almost 30 percent are gay, lesbian or bisexual.

The study, by the Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services, has been turned over to City Council, which paid for it.

Nearly half of all homeless young people were Black, about 25 percent were Latino the study said.  Those numbers would be proportionate to Black and Latino populations in New York.

But the high number of gays on the streets is about three times the estimated percentage of New York’s LGBT community.

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One of New Hampshire’s leading gay rights groups has endorsed former North Carolina senator John Edwards for president. The New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition cited Edwards’s commitment to equal rights and fighting discrimination in all forms, according to a press release.

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