NEWS ABOUT: lesbians
lesbians stories: 50 news briefs
But angered rights campaigners want
more than just talk
New York Times Jun 23, 09 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
President Obama has invited gay rights leaders to the White House next Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the New York protests seen as the start of gay liberation. It's unclear whether Obama will address the strong criticism he's recently faced from gay and lesbian advocates. One leader said that while he hoped Obama would lay out a vision for expanded rights, he was afraid the president might be "having people in for shrimp cocktail."
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Washington Post Jun 16, 09 9:08 PM CDT
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President Obama plans to announce tomorrow that he's extending benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees, the Washington Post reports. The move, a victory for gay rights activists, will give the partners access to health care and other benefits. Obama's been under steady criticism from the gay community for not embracing same-sex marriage and for stalling on his promise to lift the military's don't-ask-don't-tell policy.
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USA Today Jun 15, 09 8:19 PM CDT
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With Congress set to pass strengthened hate crime legislation this summer, Conservative Christian leaders are ratcheting up their opposition to a bill that would extend those protections to gays and lesbians, USA Today reports. Conservative leaders say they’re worried that clergy who preach against homosexuality could end up liable for inciting hate crimes, and have called for the repeal of all hate-crime laws as “extraneous and obsolete.”
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OPINION
Lack of a ring turns top female Supreme Court candidates into targets
Slate May 6, 09 9:41 AM CDT
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David Souter is a lifelong bachelor, but the possibility of a bachelorette replacement has started an uproar. Why? Because those potential Supreme Court justices are women, and when a powerful woman is unmarried it "seems to make everyone think: lonely, misfit, or lesbian," write Dahlia Lithwick and Hanna Rosin for Slate. Two potential candidates are lesbians, but that hasn't exactly opened the door to a frank discussion of what it would mean to have an openly gay woman on the bench.
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Twice-married McGillis says she's 'done with the man thing'
SheWired Apr 30, 09 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Top Gun and The L Word star Kelly McGillis has confirmed longstanding rumors that she's a lesbian, saying she's unequivocally "done with the man thing," SheWired reports. McGillis, 51, said she has wrestled with her sexuality since adolescence and believed God was punishing her for being gay. "Life is a freaking journey, and it's about growing and changing, and loving who you are," she says.
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Blair had passed Duffy over fearing public wouldn't accept lesbian
Independent (UK) Apr 28, 09 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The UK looks set to honor a woman as poet for the first time, the Independent reports, and an openly gay woman at that. At 53, Carol Ann Duffy is Great Britain’s most widely read poet, and might’ve already been named poet laureate but for former PM Tony Blair, who thought that a lesbian wouldn’t be accepted by Middle England.
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Trend growing among heterosexuals
Oprah.com Apr 24, 09 11:50 AM CDT
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“Girl crushes” are now fairly common—and more women are leaving heterosexual relationships behind entirely, O the Oprah magazine reports. In some cases, women are quite honest with their male partners about the crush: “The acceptance of the husband, I think, gives them permission to explore being attracted to me,” says one reality-show star who often finds herself a target. More women, however, take it further.
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Company promises to restore gay, lesbian titles to ranking system
New York Times Apr 14, 09 2:51 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Amazon.com says “an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error” caused thousands of gay and lesbian-related titles to be removed from sales rankings and some searches, the New York Times reports. The company—the target of online outrage after the changes came to light—says the "glitch" has now been fixed, although some still doubt it was an error.
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Company blames glitch for shunting innocuous gay titles to adult list
CNET Apr 13, 09 6:56 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Amazon is facing a backlash for yanking hundreds of gay and lesbian titles from its sales ranking system, CNET reports. The bookseller has a policy of excluding material deemed "adult" from the sales and bestseller lists, but critics say its exclusion of titles like The Well of Loneliness —a Victorian book on lesbians without a single sentence of sexual description—smacks of discrimination.
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Miami Herald Mar 25, 09 3:54 PM CDT
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Remember Miss Cleo? Her thick Caribbean accent is familiar to many late-night TV watchers, from pitches for the Psychic Readers Network. The Miami Herald finds that since the lawsuit that took down Youree Dell Cleomili Harris’ former employer, she’s come out as a lesbian, voice-acted in a video game, released a spoken-word CD, and now has an internet radio show on Chicago’s Windy City Queercast. Click the link for more.
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Refugee fled after girlfriend sentenced to death by stoning
Independent (UK) Feb 16, 09 6:07 AM CST
(Newser Summary) -
A woman who fled Iran for Britain after her girlfriend was arrested has won her battle for asylum in the UK. In 2007 Pegah Emambakhsh was refused asylum, but gay rights groups claimed that she would be executed if she was forced to return to Iran and led a campaign to overturn the ruling. She is the second gay Iranian to receive asylum in Britain—last year a 20-year-old who faced a death sentence was allowed to remain.
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Los Angeles Times Feb 13, 09 3:49 PM CST
(Newser Summary) -
Wanda Sykes has been tapped to roast Barack Obama at this year’s White House Correspondents' Dinner on May 9. The lesbian comic will likely skewer the President’s anti-gay-marriage stance, but she has some skeletons of her own, the Los Angeles Times reports. After hearing about the engagement, “I made sure my taxes were paid,” she said.
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DC Comics' first openly gay crime-fighter to take starring role in Batman's absence
Daily Telegraph (UK) Feb 11, 09 8:45 AM CST
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With Batman presumed dead, keeping the streets of Gotham City safe will be left to comics' only gay hero, reports the Daily Telegraph . Batwoman—described as a "lesbian socialite by night and a crime-fighter by later in the night"—will star in a 12-issue run of Detective Comics being hailed as groundbreaking by gay organizations.
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Popeater Feb 4, 09 3:35 PM CST
(Newser Summary) -
Kelly Clarkson isn’t a lesbian, a large fan contingent and persistent rumors to the contrary, the singer tells PopEater. “I could never be a lesbian,” she says. “I would never want to date (someone like) myself, ever. I’m a crazy person. I need some kind of stable, quiet man.”
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Goodridge suit legalized same-sex marriage in state
Boston Herald Feb 3, 09 1:18 PM CST
(Newser Summary) -
A lesbian activist couple well-respected for leading Massachusetts' gay marriage charge has filed for divorce, the Boston Herald reports. Hillary and Julie Goodridge's landmark lawsuit legalized same-sex marriage in the state six years ago. The couple married a year later—after nearly two decades together—and share custody of their 12-year-old daughter. "They had a great thing going," Hillary's mom says.
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New York Times Jan 31, 09 5:48 PM CST
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So-called "womyn's lands" are quietly persisting across North America but face a cultural shift as modern gays embrace mainstream society, the New York Times reports. Founded in the 1970s to give lesbians man-free, safe, non-judgmental communities, the roughly 100 groups have seen membership dwindle and populations age. “In 20 to 25 years, we could be extinct," said one founder.
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Ex-flight attendant to lead until May elections
Associated Press Jan 28, 09 9:30 AM CST
(AP Summary) -
Iceland is set to appoint the world's first openly gay woman as prime minister: a former flight attendant who rose through the political ranks to become a cabinet minister. Johanna Sigurdardottir, the 66-year-old social affairs minister, is the pick of the Social Democratic Alliance Party to lead an interim government. Sigurdardottir's appointment is expected to be confirmed within days. She would lead Iceland until general elections, expected in May.
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Private body not ruled by discrimination laws
Los Angeles Times Jan 28, 09 8:07 AM CST
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A California court has ruled that a private school's expulsion of two girls for "conducting themselves in a manner consistent with being lesbians" was lawful, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court decided the religious school did not count as a business and was therefore exempt from discrimination laws. A lawyer for the girls—who deny they confessed their sexual orientation to the school's principal—said he plans to appeal the "very troubling" ruling.
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Scientists and psychologists study female desire
New York Times Jan 25, 09 6:54 PM CST
(Newser Summary) -
Nearly one in three women lack sexual desire, and sexologists are trying to help, Daniel Bergner writes in the New York Times. They've hooked up female sex organs to machines and run sexy movies, showing that unlike penises, vulva are excited by a wide range of stimuli—gay men, women, and ape erections included. Which suggests that women need only an emotional bond to get it on.
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New York Post Jan 3, 09 10:17 AM CST
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Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson kicked off the New Year with a blistering back-alley clash and a hotel brawl, the New York Post reports. A homeless man eating a sandwich watched them go nuclear behind a Miami club. "When I storm off, you are supposed to follow me!" screeched Lohan. Said a spy: "Lindsay was really unstable and flipping out."
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