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the rest or our worl

Denver Protects Trans
Students

Denver — The Denver public school
system recently amended their policy,
stating that transgender and gender
non-conforrning students will be pro-
tected under policies unanimously
adopted by the school board at its
January meeting. As announced by
the National Transgender Advocacy
Coalition, the school board voted to
add the term “gender identity” to
other categories protected under the
policy that declares “Equal
Educational Opportunities” for
students.

“We were able to convince
the school board that since the
Denver City Council had passed an
ordinance that included transgender
people in anti-discrimination policies
in 2001, transgender students should-
not  lose that protection once they
walk through the doors of their
schools,” said local transgender
activist Zia Klamm.

“Transgender student safety
in schools is a critical problem across
the nation — one that virtually no dis-
trict in the country will recognize,
much less address,” said Vanessa
Edwards Foster, the chair of the
NTAC. “Far too often, students
whose gender doesn’t conform are
mercilessly harassed, threatened and
assaulted, resulting in a pandemic
drop-out rate among transgenders.

Utah Theaters Dump Gay
Film

Park City, Utah — After reportedly
receiving threats of intimidation from
conservative religious groups,
Madstone Theaters has cancelled its
Salt Lake City engagement of TLA
Releasing’s newest film, Latter Days,
which tells the story ofa young clos-
eted Mormon who falls in love with
another man while serving his mis-
sionary assignment in Los Angeles.

“We are extremely upset
that Latter Days currently has no
venue to premiere in Salt Lake City,”
says Raymond Murray, President of
TLA Releasing. “Very rarely is a
story like this presented in such an
entertaining, romantic, funny and
poignant manner."
Madstone’s president,

Thomas Gruenberg, confirmed the
threats in a phone interview but
denied that they were the cause of the

cancellation. Gruenberg claimed that .

Latter Days failed to meet the com-
pany’s standards of “artistic quality
and integrity,” and that the film failed
to tell a story that was sufficiently
“compelling.” When asked if the

decision meant the cancellation of
Latter Days at Madstone Theaters
across the country, Gruenberg stated
that this decision was just for Salt
Lake City. The film has received six

’ Audience Awards, including honors

at Los Angeles’ Outfest and the
Philadelphia International Gay and
Lesbian Film Festival.

Pride Goers wooed by
DNC

Washington, DC — The Democratic
National Committee, the Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and~Transgender
Caucus of the College Democrats of
America and GLBT youth communi-
ty leaders joined forces last month to
launch “Pride at the Polls.” This pro-
gram is designed to educate, register,
and mobilize the GLBT community
to help elect a Democratic president
and Democrats at all levels.

The program will be cen-
tered on GLBT pride season. Pride
festivals, attracting hundreds of thou-
sands of GLBT-receptive voters each
year, have proven to be one of the
most effective venues to reach GLBT
voters.

The goals of the program
are to establish a Democratic Party
presence at as many Pride events as
is possible, increase the visibility of
the GLBT community within the
Democratic Party, and give a diverse
group of community leaders an
opportunity to engage in a process
that will help support the election of
a Democratic president.

AIDS Vaccine Tested in
Germany

AIDS Vaccine Tested In Germany
Berlin — German scientists
announced late last month the begin-
ning of human trial on a new HIV
vaccine. Known as tgAAC09, the
vaccine targets HIV subtype C,
prevalent in South Africa, India and
China, and responsible for a large
part of the world’s HIV infections.
The vaccine was developed by
Seattle-based Targeted Genetics
Corp. and the Columbus Children’s
Research Institute.

As reported by
365gay.com, the yearlong test pro-
gram will involve up to 50 volunteers
at clinics in Bonn and Hamburg, and
at 2 hospitals. F irst-phase testing will
detennine the vaccine’s safety and
whether it produces immune respons-
es. If successful, second and third
phases of testing would be carried
out in developing countries.

The program is backed by
the New York-based International

AIDS Vaccine Initiative which esti-
mates that some 30 HIV vaccine tests
already are under way worldwide.

Gay Rights Down Under
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia —
Tasmania has become the first state
in Australia to accept same-sex
unions, giving gay and lesbian part-
nerships equal status to married cou-
ples under state law. Under the
Relationships Act, as of January 2,
2004, Tasmanian residents can legal-
ly register their same-sex union with
the state’s department of Births,
Deaths and Marriages.

The state’s progressive
laws and positive community atti-
tudes towards same-sex couples has
led Tasmania to become a top vaca-
tion destination for gay and lesbian
travelers.

Help for Gay Military
Families

Arlington, VA — The non-profit
Military Community Services

, Network organization, announced its
official launch in late Jarruary,,~_as the --

first-ever social support structure for
gay troops and their families.
Because of the “Don’t Ask / Don’t
Tell” policy, gay soldiers and their
partners are denied full access to crit-
ical mental health and medical serv-
ices. MCSN’s primary goal is to get
LGBT troops the help they need
when they are denied services by the
military.

Existing organizations
working on the gays-in-the-military
issue applauded MCSN’s creation
and pledged their support.

Retired Navy Captain and
Vietnam Veteran Dr. Michael Rankin
applauded the creation of MCSN,
stating, “Our gay and lesbian troops
are being shot at in Iraq and
Afghanistan, while their families
back home are being ignored by the
Pentagon. Most gay vets are unaware
of the current resources available to
them through the Department of
Veterans Affairs medical centers.
MCSN will help to educate Vets
about how they can safely utilize
existing resources.”

Frank Declines BSA
Request

Washington, DC — In late January,
Congressman Barney Frank made
public his response to a Boy Scouts
of America request for Frank’s sup-
port. Frank expressed his surprise
that the organization sought his
endorsement, noting that the Boy
Scouts have characterized gay men as

unfit.
Frank’s response stated:
“Where there is much about what the

Boy Scouts do that I admire and I am i

a former Scout myself, I was under
the impression that you considered
people like myself to be unworthy of
association with the Boy Scouts. I am
a gay man, which according to your
policy as I read it in various court
decisions, means that I am neither
“morally straight” nor “clean.” So I
will not be agreeing to any of the
three drafis you sent me, because it
seems to me hypocritical of you to
ask me to sign it, and even more hyp-
ocritical for me to do so.”
The letter to Congressman

Frank, from Roy Williams, Chief
Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of
America, announced a national serv-
ice initiative called Good Turn for
America. “We would be honored if
you would lend your support to this
important effort.” The letter contin-
ued, “together, we will continue to
positively influence the lives of
young people throughout the nation.”

Science at Risk
Washington, DC — The National

‘ Transgender Advocacy Coalition

strongly denounced a White House
attempt to change policy regarding
federally funded scientific research.
In a move seen as another attack on
scientific freedom, the Office of
Management and Budget is propos-
ing new peer review requirements for
all but a few government agencies.
This could politicize the proven sci-
entific practice of independent peer

, review.

The OMB plan would
impose new conflict-of-interest rules
for peer review possibly favoring
participation by industry-paid scien-
tists over independent scientists who
had been awarded government
research grants. OMB also proposed
that peer reviewers may be politically
appointed individuals or parties. This
has the potential to make a scientific
process vulnerable to manipulation.

“This heavy-handed intimi-
dation of scientific research is pre-
posterous,” fumed NTAC Chair
Vanessa Edwards Foster. NTAC
joined with such scientific organiza-
tions as the National Academies of
Science, the American Public Health
Association, and environmental, con-
sumer and public-interest groups in
opposing OMB’s proposal.

Black LGBT Pride Guide
Washington, DC — The 2004 Black
Pride Resource Guide will be

launched this month to serve as the ,
ultimate vehicle to reach thousands
of African-American LGBT con-
sumers. Each year, approximately 31
200,000 members of the Black LGBT_
community converge on Black Pride’
events in cities throughout the coun-
try. Cities such as Washington, Los
Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia,
Atlanta, and Chicago play host to
these annual celebrations of music, ’
arts, literature, and health within this’
diverse segment of the African-
American community. Similar events
are held in smaller cities including
Miami, Boston, Nashville,
Indianapolis, and Baltimore. The
Guide will serve as the primary _
source for all Black Gay Pride events
throughout the year.

The publishers expect to
distribute 20,000 copies free of _
charge to a projected readership of .‘
100,000 at night clubs, bookstores, 
health clubs, community’-based _
organizations, and other locations fre-
quented by members of the Black
LGBT community throughout the _ 
country. .. -ii‘*:‘.’-JJS SW5‘

' “tr

UN Orientation Debate 1
New York -— The International Gay L
and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission, along with a global
coalition of non-govemmental organ-
izations, last month issued a call to
LGBT organizations and allies to
mobilize in support of the UN
Commission on Human Rights
Resolution on Sexual Orientation and
Human Rights.

The resolution is the first
one in the history ofthe United
Nations that specifically and unam-
biguously identifies abuses on the
basis of sexual orientation as human
rights violations. It calls all govern-
ments to promote and protect the
human rights of people, regardless of
their sexual orientation. The
IGLHRC called for its allies tojoin
in mobilizing support for the passage‘
of this resolution which will be con-
sidered at the 60th session of the
United Nations Commission on
Human Rights in Geneva. Key coun-
tries targeted by IGLHRC include '
South Africa, India, Costa Rica and
the United States.

The Brazilian delegation to
the Commission introduced this reso-
lution in 2003. After prolonged
debate, the Commission voted to
postpone further discussion.
Beginning March 15, 53 nations will
sit in Geneva to publicly declare if
they believe that all people
should be protected from dis-

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