Australian government move on gay & lesbian rights. www.piperpost.net - 4.5.08. A long-overdue move is being made by the new Australian Federal government to extend legal recognition to same-sex couples in the areas of taxation, pensions and welfare payments.  Discriminatory provisions in an estimated 100 or so laws are to be modified. However, the Government is stopping short of allowing for gay marriages. The Australian Capital Territory had tried to introduce legislation to allow gay couple to formalize their relationships through civil ceremonies. This was disallowed by the previous conservative Howard administration and it seems that the new government will continue this opposition. Writing in The Canberra Times Wayne Morgan, Senior Lecturer in Law at the ANU College of Law, says: 'The Rudd Government's position on the ACT's civil partnership law is immoral and illegal.  It is immoral because it maintains a hierarchy that emphatically states heterosexual relationships are better than same-sex ones. It does this by saying that heterosexual unions are entitled to a publicly endorsed ceremony where the government validates the relationship, but same-sex unions are not. 'The Rudd Government's position is also illegal because it breaches Australia's international human-rights obligations. The UN Human Rights Committee states same-sex relationships must be accorded equality by all governments in Australia.' Mr Morgan added: 'The Rudd Government should reassess the influence it allows the conservative Christian lobby to have over its policies.' COMMENT: Marriage is whatever form is a purely a man-made invention and as such is often faulty. The Christian Church has no lien on the institution and if people wish to marry they should be allowed to do so by the state. Photographer refuses gay photo shoot. www.piperpost.net - 4.5.08. When Vanessa Willock approached a photographer to record a commitment ceremony with her lesbian partner, the photographer, Elaine Huguenin, refused. As a Christian Huguenin said she would only photograph traditional marriage ceremonies. In 2006 Willock filed a suit against the photographer with the New Mexico (USA) Human Rights Commission. Last month she won the case and Huguenin was ordered to pay the plaintiff's costs amounting to $6,637. A conservative Christian legal organization, the Alliance Defense Fund, has since challenged the verdict. The ADF says the commission failed to take into account Huguenin's constitutional rights. 'The Government is compelling speech here in a way that violates the First Amendment,' the ADF added. COMMENT: I do have some sympathy for the photographer in this case but believe she was being unduly petty. It really wouldn't have hurt her to take the photos. I think the truth is she preferred martyrdom. No gays at school dance?www.piperpost.net - 27.4.08. Gay males, students at the Anglican Grammar School in Brisbane (Queensland) have been told they cannot take gay partners to the school 'formal'. Some other private schools do allow same-sex partners to attend such functions. It is reported that at the Grammar school and at other private schools there are increasing numbers of openly gay students to be found. Not unexpectedly the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, joined the fray, supporting the school's ban. Queensland's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth said although there were exemptions from the Anti-Discrimination Act for private schools, this applied only for enrolling students of one gender or religious background. COMMENT: Maybe it is time the anti-discrimination authorities stopped religious bodies engaging in discrimination. Gays disappointed at Australian government. www.piperpost.net - 11.5.08 In our last issue we reported that a long-overdue move was being made by the new Australian Federal government to extend legal recognition to same-sex couples in the areas of taxation, pensions and welfare payments.  Discriminatory provisions in an estimated 100 or so laws are to be modified. However, the Government is stopping short of allowing for gay marriages. The Australian Capital Territory had tried to introduce legislation to allow gay couple to formalize their relationships through civil ceremonies. This was disallowed by the previous conservative Howard administration and it seems that the new government will continue this opposition. The ACT government has been advised that its plan to legalize same-sex civil unions would be overturned by the Federal authorities. The Federal government believes the ACT plan made gay partnership too much like a traditional marriage. COMMENT: Once again the Church, however small its true numbers (at best 20 percent of the nation's people) shows it can still control the Government of Australia. Shameful! Gay marriage gets the nod. www.piperpost.net - 18.5.08 The Supreme Court of California has overturned a ban on gay marriage. California now joins Massachusetts in allowing gay marriages. 'This decision will give Americans the lived experience that ending exclusion from marriage helps families and harms no one,' said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, who noted that same-sex marriages were legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa and Spain. (But not in Australia!) Traditionalists have vowed to work against the move. Religious and conservative groups will support an initiative proposed for the November ballot that would amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages and overturn the decision. COMMENT: I don't understand why religious and conservative groups get so uptight about preserving heterosexual marriage. Why does it matter? Gay bishop received death threats. www.piperpost.net - 11.5.08 Bishop Gene Robinson has received death threats after announcing he would enter into a civil union with his gay partner of 20 years. In 2003 Bishop Robinson became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church when he was elected by the congregations of New Hampshire in the USA. As well as receiving death threats Bishop Robinson has been shunned by the organisers of the next Lambeth Conference, to be held in July. The Conference is an event held every 10 years, when bishops from around the world gather to discuss church affairs. Anglicans from Africa and elsewhere (Sydney?) have protested about his presence but Bishop Robinson says he is going anyway. COMMENT: We shouldn't be surprised at the persecution of Bishop Robinson. After all hundreds of Protestants and Catholic murdered and maimed one another in Northern Ireland. And church history is dripping with blood. Anglican Church may split over gays. www.piperpost.net - 15.6.08 The Church of England's worldwide communion has stuck together through thick and thin for over four centuries. The masterly British art of compromise has surely been a major factor in cementing the disparate parts of this far-flung fellowship. Finally now it would seem the Anglican church is to be split asunder over the issue of gays in the ministry. A lengthy and thoughtful article in the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend (7th June) by David Marr examines what is potentially, in the observer's phrase, a Great Schism. On one side are members of the mainstream traditional middle-of-the-road Anglican communion (Episcopalians in the USA) and on the other 'Born Again' believers, many in African congregations and not a few located in the Diocese of Sydney, Australia, which has always had a strong Evangelical flavour. Curiously the notion of female priests does not seem to upset the Evangelicals as much as the idea of ordaining gays. Not that female priests are welcome; they are banned outright in Sydney diocese, for example, but nothing seems to stir the passions as does the gay bishop, Gene Robinson, elevated to his post in New Hampshire, USA, in November 2003. With the increasing movement to allow gay marriages in some US states the clergy will have to choose - to welcome marrying partners who wish to join their lives in marriage in a religious setting or shun them, leaving the Church open to the charge of discrimination, which they are usually quick to counter. Meanwhile the July Lambeth Conference - held every ten years - may see the split in its starkest form. Bishop Robinson has been told he cannot attend because of protests by conservatives and in any event some conservatives have indicated they will not attend themselves. Meanwhile the July Lambeth Conference - held every ten years - may see the split in its starkest form. Bishop Robinson has been told he cannot attend because of protests by conservatives and in any event some conservatives have indicated they will not attend themselves. In his book, In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God, Bishop Robinson writes: 'It's time that progressive Christians rescue the Bible from the Religious Right, which has held it hostage and claimed it as its own private territory for too long.' People who use the Bible to condemn homosexuals fail to understand Scripture, he says. It is called an abomination for a man to lie with another man as with a woman, but the Bible also says it is an abomination to eat pork or shellfish, to wear clothing made of two different fibres, or to sow two different types of seed in the same field! 'We’ve used Scripture to justify slavery and the subjugation of women. And now we’re realizing that what the Bible initially seems to say about same-sex relationships is not actually what we’re talking about today — faithful, monogamous, lifelong-intentioned relationships between people of the same sex.' COMMENT: As a member a great many years ago of the Sydney Anglican Synod and lay preacher I find it amusing now to see the old diocese still stalwart in the faith, at least as they see it! The Billy Graham Crusade in 1959 reportedly had a massive influence upon the present Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen. How embarassing to think that I was a counsellor during that Crusade! What a long way I've come from those benighted days. 'Lesbian' island unhappy at association. www.piperpost.net - 15.6.08 For years many residents of the Greek island of Lesbos (more correctly Lesvos) have been unhappy at the way gay women are described by the term lesbian.  The practice arose from the association between homosexuality and Sappho, some of whose verses, written in the 7th century BCE, expressed love of women. Sappho lived on the island. There is doubt, however, that Sappho herself was what could be called 'lesbian' and research seems to support the idea she had a family and committed suicide, not for love of another woman but of a man. Recently a group of islanders have taken the issue to court. An injunction is being sought, as a first step, ordering the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece to change its name. A publisher, Dimitri Lambrou, is leading the fight against the lesbians. Mr Lambrou says that when and if he wins this case we will then take the fight into the international arena. Many women have expressed their anger at Mr Lambrou. (Google his name and see what they want to do to him!). And many Greek traders are also upset as they see a potential fall in visitors to their island.  A spokesperon for the Homosexual and Lesbian Community group say the action is a groundless violation of their freedom of expression. An old map of the region around Lesbos CALIFORNIAN GAYS MARRY. Following court action allowing gays to marry, many couples have taken advantage of the change in the law. However Californian voters will be given the opportunity in November to express their opinions and the law may be reinstated. As the first marriage ceremonies took place rival groups paraded with Christian groups carrying signs such as 'Homo Sex is Sin'. www.piperpost.net - 22.6.08. Tasmanian gays remember their persecution. www.piperpost.net - 22.6.08 In 1988 in a market at Salamanca, in the southern Australian state of Tasmania, gay activists were operating a stall in an effort to promote the decriminalization of homosexuality. The Hobart City Council ordered the stall to be closed down, accusing the operators of allegedly distributing 'sexually-explicit' material. Over 100 stall supporters were subsequently arrested. Twenty years later the gay community is still awaiting an official apology. The well-known gay activist Rodney Croome refutes claims made about the material on the stall. 'It was quite clear at the time that the Council banned our stall simply because it was about gay law reform,' says Mr Croome. Gay priests' partnership ceremony upsets many. www.piperpost.net - 22.6.08 When the Reverend Dr David Lord, a New Zealander, joined in a ceremony to seal a civil partnership with the Reverend Peter Cowell, from England, they upset many in the Church of England. The ceremony was performed in St Bartholemew the Great church in the City of London by the Reverend Martin Dudley. Rings and vows were exchanged and the ritual reportedly followed the Prayer Book's Solemnization of Matrimony service. The event angered members of two wings of the Anglican church - High Church traditionalists and Evangelicals. The Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres, said services of public blessings for civil partnerships were not authorized in the Church of England or the diocese of London. Issues affecting gays in the Anglican communion are causing continuing divisions. Commented the officiating priest: 'We should not allow the cultural position of bishops from other countries to affect our response to the very large number of gay people and gay clergy in the Church of England.' A group of African and other Anglican clergy, including the Archbishop of Sydney (Dr Peter Jensen) have been meeting this month in Jordan and Jerusalem in order to formulate plans to meet the challenges to orthodoxy arising from homosexual clergy and same-sex unions. NO GAY ADOPTIONS FOR QUEENSLAND? The Australian State of Queensland has initiated moves to make it easier for adopted children to discover information about their original parents. However, in announcing the changes in the law, the Premier, Anna Bligh, stated that gays and lesbians would not be allowed to adopt children although de facto heterosexual couples in long-term relationships would be allowed to adopt. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08. U.S.A. may change 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08 The longstanding policy followed by the US Armed Services of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' - designed to avoid difficulties in relations between heterosexual and homosexual service members - is now being questioned. The US Congress is re-examining the policy which is linked to a 1993 law prohibiting gays and lesbians serving in the Forces. Opponents of the policy draw attention to the fact that several recent polls show Americans are now more accepting of gays and lesbians joining the services. The atmosphere has been helped by the 'coming out' of many high-profile gays and lesbians, such as Ellen DeGeneres. The conservative presidential hopeful John McCain opposes any change in the law but Democrat aspirant Barack Obama is in favour of a change. Democratic congress members say the process of dismantling the policy is long overdue. Legislation to do so was initially introduced in 2005, but the Republican control of Congress at the time ensured it would fail. The bill was reintroduced last year. Commented the bill's sponsor, Democrat Rep. Ellen  O. Tauscher: 'We have figured out how to deal with racial integration and gender discrimination. This is the last frontier.' COMMENT: A recently-released book, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation, by Christine Wicker (Harper) records a decline in the real (as against the supposed) strength of America's Bible-believing Evangelicals and a marked increase in the number of people describing themselves as 'non-believers'.  There's hope for the USA yet! Government minister disappoints gays and lesbians. www.piperpost.net - 09.08.08 Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, is well-known for being openly gay. Senator Wong, Born in Malaysia, came to Australia when she was aged eight and became a lawyer. She has had a distinguished career in law and the trade union movement and was elected to the Senate of the Australian Federal Parliament in 2001 and upon re-election in 2007 was given a ministerial appointment in the new Rudd Labor government. Although openly gay herself Senator Wong disappointed many gays and lesbians when during a recent Q&A program on ABC-TV she claimed that the Australian public as a whole believed marriage was a matter between a man and a woman. Her government, she said, respected this view. However, Senator Wong was roundly criticized by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. 'The statements made by Senator Wong on Q&A . . . were out of touch with the view of the majority of Australian,' asserted Hanson-Young. Recent polls clearly showed a majority of Australians were in favour of same-sex marriage. 'These polls back up what the Greens have known for a long time – the community is way ahead of the old parties when it comes to this issue. Australia is ready to honour the basic human right of allowing adults to marry whomever they love, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation,' she said. Pressure growing for gay marriage rights. www.piperpost.net - 09.08.08 Sunday, 3rd August, was celebrated by Australia's gay and lesbian activists as the National Day of Action - marking the fourth anniversary of amendments made to the Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961, specifically excluding same-sex couples from marriage.  Couples gathered in a number of major centres, including Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart, to conduct illegal 'marriage ceremonies'. Australia, both at a Federal level and at the state level, has been slow to legalize same-sex relationships, although the Victorian government provides for civil registration of such unions, but stopping short of actual marriage. SAME-SEX GREETINGS CARDS ON SALE.  Not to be left behind in these changing times, the US firm of Hallmark has started producing same-sex greetings cards. To date only two US states, California and Massachusetts, provide for legal gay marriage but some other states allow civil unions. www.piperpost.net - 23.08.08 GAY LADIES ANNOUNCE MARRIAGE. The Australian actress Portia de Rossi has married her girlfriend of four years - Ellen DeGeneres. The couple tied the knot in their Beverly Hills home before a group of friends and family members. Gay rights advocates have called for recognition of same-sex marriages in Australia. From Peter Furness of Australian Marriage Equality: 'Every time DeGeneres and de Rossi visit … Australia, their rights, protections and status as a married couple will cease to exist.' www.piperpost.net - 23.08.08 NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE ALLOWS SAME-SEX MARRIAGES. The Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast recently adopted a law recognizing same-sex unions which extends to gay and lesbian partners all tribal benefits of marriage, provided at least one of the partners is a Coquille. The state Constitution forbids such marriages but the Tribe is a federally recognized sovereign nation although there may still be a legal challenge mounted at some point. It is believed this is the first tribe to officially accept same-sex relationships. www.piperpost.net - 14.09.08 Same-sex marriages rights upheld in New York. www.piperpost.net - 07.09.08. A Christian group has challenged the move made by the Governor of New York to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other US states. New York Supreme Court Judge Lucy Billings has denied the challenge, stating that the policy is a legally allowable stand for fairness. A decision by gay couples to wed represents 'a personal expression of emotional devotion, support and interdependence and a public commitment,' she said in a written statement. 'With that validity, they expect equal treatment with other married couples.' Recently the state of Massachusetts has decided to allow out-of-state gay couples to marry there. As a result is is expected many New Yorkers will travel to Massachusetts to seal their unions. LESBIANS ACCESS FERTILITY TREATMENT. The Lower House of the Parliament of Victoria (Australia) has passed a law that will allow lesbian, single women and infertile couples greater access to fertility treatment. www.piperpost.net - 19.10.08. SCIENTISTS FIND TRANSSEXUAL GENE. Australian scientists have discovered a DNA variation linked to male-to-female transsexualism. It is more likely that such people have a genetic variation in a gene that could lead to a feminisation of the brain during early development. This discovery implies that transsexualism is not a lifestyle choice but a result of biology. www.piperpost.net - 09.11.08. AUSTRALIAN OPPOSITION SUPPORTS GAY LEGISLATION. The conservative Opposition in federal parliament has agreed to support Government moves to end discrimination against gay couples in 100 different areas of law. It is not the Government's intention to legalize gay marriage but it wishes to deal with issues such as superannuation. One law already passed gives the gay partner of a mother or father the status of a parent. Extremists among the Opposition parties are unhappy with the moves.  Senator Cory Bernardi claims the changes 'degrade the sanctity of marriage.' Gay couple, he says, should be treated differently from heterosexuals because they are different. www.piperpost.net - 26.10.08. TEACHER'S CLASS ATTEND LESBIAN WEDDING. When Erin Carder married Kerri McCoy under the recently-relaxed San Francisco regime permitting lesbian marriage, Erin brought her class of first graders along in the form of a field trip, to watch the event. The teacher's action has raised hackles among conservatives. The idea of the field trip was suggested by a parent. The Mayor of San Francisco officiated  while the students blew bubbles and threw rose petals, then mobbed and hugged their teacher. Footnote: The California Teachers' Association has donated $1 million to support same-sex marriages in the state. www.piperpost.net - 26.10.08. Christians impose their will on California . . . www.piperpost.net - 09.11.08. While the USA made a decidedly left turn in the election of Barack Obama and the Democrats, there is disappointment in some areas where Propositions reinstated the Christian moral position. Most notably in San Francisco where, backed by powerful support from the Mormon Church, 52.5 percent of voters supported a gay marriage ban.  Following a decision by the State's Supreme Court in favour of same-sex unions, San Francisco had become a haven for gay and lesbian couples wishing to tie the knot. The notorious Proposition 8 adds the words to the state constitution: 'Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in California.' Passing this Proposition now means the thousands of gay and lesbian couple who married are now left in legal limbo while their status is worked out.  The result of the ballot has lead to massive turnouts of protesters marching, especially venting their anger at the Mormons and calling for an examination of the church's tax-free status.  American churches, beneficiaries of government largesse, are not permitted to engage in political debate. Ellen DeGeneres, the lesbian chat-show host who became a "face" of the gay rights movement when she married her partner, Portia de Rossi, said she was "saddened beyond belief" by the passage of the proposition. Legal challenges are now being mounted against the move, gay rights activists claiming that banning same-sex marriages is a constitutional 'revision' and not an 'amendment' in which case putting the matter to a vote was illegal. COMMENT: Once again we see here the reason why I oppose religion so vigorously. It is the intolerance shown by Christianity and other religions to those with different moral standards. How dare people impose their particular view of marriage on the rest of society. No harm whatever is done to Christians if a few gay and lesbian couple marry. Leave them alone! Death of veteran lesbian activist. www.piperpost.net - 14.09.08 The death has occurred in the USA of veteran lesbian activist Del Martin. Del was aged 87 and had only recently married Phyllis Lyon, her love of more than half a century. In 2004 the pair married when the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, granted marriage licences to same-sex couples in defiance of the state law. However, the California Supreme Court nullified some 4,000 unions, including theirs. But Martin and Lyon were among a group challenging the law and when California legalized gay marriage they re-married. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon founded the Daughters of Bilitis (named after the fictional lover of Sappho). The organization later became active in the cause of sexual freedom as did other groups the two women joined, including the Council on Religion and the Homosexual. In 1972 they co-founded the Alice B. Toklias Democratic Club, which supports pro-gay politicians. Californian reaction to same-sex marriage move . . . www.piperpost.net - 16.11.08. Following the passing of the notorious Proposition 8 (albeit by a slim majority) in California, large crowds have staged protests, especially aiming these at the Mormon Church, chiefly blamed for the win by conservatives. Backed by powerful support from the Mormon Church, 52.5 percent of voters approved a gay marriage ban.  Following a recent decision by the State's Supreme Court in favour of same-sex unions, many couples had married. Doubts have now been raised about the legal status of the church which may have transgressed laws regarding the separation of church and state by pouring money into the campaign., For its part the church claims it did not use its own funds but money was contributed by individual members. Meanwhile several legal challenges have been mounted by bodies including the ACLU. According to the LA Times, lawyers for same-sex couples said they will argue that the anti-gay-marriage measure was an illegal constitutional revision. They contend that Proposition 8 illegally alters equal-protection guarantees. Elizabeth Gill, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California comments: 'A major purpose of the Constitution is to protect minorities from majorities. Because changing that principle is a fundamental change to the organizing principles of the Constitution itself, only the Legislature can initiate such revisions to the Constitution.; The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Equality California and six same-sex couples who did not marry before Tuesday’s election but would like to marry now. GAY ACTIVISTS INVADE CHURCH. A group of gay activists, estimated at about 25, earlier this month invaded the Mount Hope Church  in Delta township, Michigan, chanting slogans and handing out leaflets to the congregation. [COMMENT: I don't think it serves the cause of gay rights well acting in this thuggish manner.] www.piperpost.net - 23.11.08. Dispute over dating site . . . www.piperpost.net - 23.11.08. An American dating service, eHarmony.com, has faced legal action, accused of denying gays and lesbians access to its facilities. In 2005 in New Jersey and in 2007 in California eHarmony was sued, the disputants claiming the action of shutting them out violates their civil rights. The New Jersey case is as yet unsettled while in California a judge has referred the parties to mediation. eHarmony has to date faced four legal actions. In 2006 John Claassen, a married, 'straight' Californian man who had separated from his wife sued the site for not matching him because he was still married. Claassen dropped the charges in July 2008 – before the case went to trial. In 2005, Brad Becker sued eHarmony for not matching gay couples. He cited the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The department, however, found that the Unruh Act 'does not mandate a result whereby a business offers the exact same services to every customer.' eHarmony has operations in several countries, including in Australia. eHarmony website SAME-SEX COUPLES AND ADOPTION. The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby welcomes moves by the NSW state government to examine the issue of adoptions by gay and lesbian parents. www.piperpost.net - 07.12.08. CALIFORNIAN ATTORNEY-GENERAL CHANGES VIEW. The Attorney-General of California, Jerry Brown, has changed his view on gay marriage and now says Proposition 8, recently passed by a slender majority, is unconstitutional as it denied gays fundamental rights. The Attorney-General has filed a 11-page legal brief with the court, setting out his views.  Meanwhile opponents of gay marriage have filed a lawsuit calling for the recently-sanctioned gay marriages to be annulled. www.piperpost.net - 28.12.08. Anti-gay pastor to pray at Inauguration . . . www.piperpost.net - 28.12.08. Barack Obama has chosen the fundamentalist pastor and author, the Reverend Rick Warren, to lead the prayers at his forthcoming Inauguration in Washington, D.C.  on January 20 next. Warren, author of the top-selling believers' success book, The Purpose-Driven Life, is well known for his hardline views on both homosexuality and abortion. And he also subscribes to the primitive notion of creation as outlined in the two conflicting accounts in the book of Genesis. Since the announcement Pastor Warren has appeared on TV talk shows claiming he is not anti-gay. But this claim does not stand up. He is one of those fundamentalist clerics who try to 're-educate' gays so that they go 'straight'. He has been quoted as equating homosexuality with incest, child abuse and polygamy. And he was an active supporter of the notorious Proposition 8 which denied gays in California the right to marry. 'By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table,' Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a letter to the incoming president. Responding to the criticisms Obama said he is a 'fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans.' But he said he will build relationships with people of opposing views, and wants his inaugural to reflect that goal. [COMMENT: I have been greatly enthused by the coming of Barack Obama on the US scene but it is disappointing to see him embracing at such a critical point in his career a clergymen who is every bit a ratbag as was the pastor of Obama's home church, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Once again we see the powerful influence of the Christian Right in American politics.] RICK WARREN'S CHURCH CHANGES WEBSITE. Following the controversy over Barack Obama's choice of Pastor Rick Warren to lead the prayers at his Inauguration the pastor's Saddleback Church website has removed an anti-gay section of material from its website. A statement on the site described homosexuality as 'an enormous sin' and compared being gay to being an alcoholic. It urged gays to 'repent' and go straight. www.piperpost.net - 04.01.09. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN FILM ADAPTED FOR ITALIANS. Italian television has screened a specially-adapted version of the movie Brokeback Mountain excising references to homosexuality. Two scenes between the male leads were cut from the movie. The cuts involved a kiss between actors Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal and a love scene in a tent. The Italian TV audience were treated to what appeared to be an ordinary tale of friendship between tow cowboys. www.piperpost.net - 04.01.09. Legal challenge to Inauguration prayer . . . www.piperpost.net - 04.01.09. As reported in our last issue, Pastor Rick Warren, a well-known conservative Christian writer, has been chosen by Barack Obama to lead the prayers at his forthcoming Inauguration in Washington, D.C.  on January 20 next. Warren is known for his hardline views on both homosexuality and abortion. And he also subscribes to the primitive notion of creation as outlined in the two conflicting accounts in the book of Genesis. Now Michael A. Newdow, together with 17 other individuals and 10 groups representing atheists, have sued Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., along with several officials in charge of inaugural festivities, the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery and Pastor Warren. Roberts will administer the oath of office to Obama at the Inauguration ceremony while Warren and Lowery are scheduled to deliver the invocation and benediction, respectively. A draft of the lawsuit reads: 'Both of these activities are completely exclusionary, showing absolute disrespect to Plaintiffs and others of similar religious views, who explicitly reject the purely religious claims that will be endorsed, i.e., (a) there exists a God, and (b) the United States government should pay homage to that God.' Gay rights and liberal groups have all expressed outrage at Obama's choice of Warren. Commented Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign in a letter to Mr Obama: 'By inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table,' Michael Newdow also tried to have prayer removed from the Inauguration ceremonies for George Bush but his legal action failed. Gay cleric also prayed at Obama festivities . . . www.piperpost.net - 25.01.09. Barack Obama upset many people when he chose anti-gay Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren to pray at his Inauguration. Mr Obama must have been stung by the criticisms from gays and lesbians for he chose controversial gay cleric, Bishop Gene Robinson, to pray at the rock concert held beforehand. Also at that concert a black pastor, describes as 'liberal', prayed too. [COMMENT: It is wondrous to behold America at prayer. Not one but three prayers should ensure the new President does well and added to these, Obama attended a service on his first day in office. Mumbo-jumbo is alive and well and filling the air with nonsense in Washington!] Lesbians kicked out of Lutheran school . . . www.piperpost.net - 15.02.09. When two 16-year-old girls were expelled from California Lutheran High School in Riverside County for 'conducting themselves in a manner consistent with being lesbians,' they took the matter to court but lost their case. A three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal decided that a private religious school was not a business and thus was not subject to state anti-discrimination laws. The lawyer for the girls says they will appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the verdict. The dispute started when in 2005 another student told a teacher that one of the girls had said she loved the other. At the suggestion of the girl the teacher looked at the girls' MySpace pages. One of the girls described herself as 'bisexual' on her MySpace page and the second wrote that she was 'not sure' of her sexual orientation. The website also contained a photograph of the girls hugging. The school's Principal called each girl out of class separately and demanded they admit their lesbian affair. The Principal 'just looked at me like I was a disease and I was so wrong,' one of the girls later said. Their lawyer, Kirk D. Hanson, commented: 'The entire episode was very traumatic and humiliating for the girls.' [COMMENT: One assumes the school is supported with at least some Federal and/or State funding. Surely if this is the case they should be made to comply with the anti-discrimination laws.] Nigeria persecutes same-sex couples  . . . www.piperpost.net - 15.03.09. Nigeria is proposing a law that not only makes gay marriage illegal but would jail gay couples simply living together. Unsurprisingly the country's churches reportedly support the move. Emmanuel Onwubiko, senior commissioner at Nigeria's mis-named 'Human Rights Commission' told the BBC: 'It is not Nigerian to be gay, let alone going ahead to legally get married as gay and even live as a family with adopted children. It's completely alien to our culture.' New York-based Human Rights Watch says the proposed law 'would infringe against the right to privacy, and would strike at the fundamental freedoms enjoyed by all individuals in Nigeria's long-vigorous civil society.' [COMMENT: If Nigeria is concerned about morals they should do something about the massive scams originating in the country, the so-called 'Nigerian email scams'. And countries like Nigeria that abuse human rights should not receive Western aid moneys.] HOMOSEXUAL 'CURE' FAILED.  The 27 February issue of The Sydney Morning Herald carried a delightful article headed 'Straight and Narrow' in which Katrina Fox, an admitted homosexual,  described her attendance at a one-day 'Grace and Sexuality Conference' run by an organization called Living Waters. It was held at Sydney's Wesley Mission. Alas, Katrina remained gay after this excursion into the wilderness of religion. Katrina: 'You've probably realised by now I have no intention of yielding my life to Jesus or repenting my "sin". Unlike many people who come to organisations such as Living Waters, I don't struggle with being a dyke. I live with my girlfriend of 15 years, a gorgeous, passionate and talented therapist who's blessed with amazing cheekbones, and when I stare at a photo of Debbie Harry, shame is the last thing I'm feeling.' [Check out the article, it's a great read.] www.piperpost.net - 08.03.09.

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