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04/19/2007


Manchester, UK Councillor Reveals HIV Status to Gay Pride Crowd

Manchester, UK Councillor Paul Fairweather revealed his HIV status to a crowd at the city's Pride celebrations, saying he hoped to end the stigma surrounding the disease.

Said Fairweather: Fairweather "We have to beat the stigma and the nonsense surrounding this. We can never put pressure on anybody to reveal their status – it's an incredibly individual, personal thing. And I cannot stand here tonight and talk about being HIV positive without [mentioning] the love and support of my family, friends and colleagues. Many of us have this love and support, but many of us don't. I and many other HIV positive gay men have experienced rejection and even hostility from within the gay community, as well as support.”

Fairweather later told the Manchester Evening News: "I made a planned and personal decision to make the announcement at the vigil and I have had an overwhelming response. I did it to challenge the stigma and the prejudice that still exists around this...I have the full support from my friends and family, but not everyone is so lucky. I have heard stories from people who have come out and their friends and family have abandoned them and some people have even lost their jobs. So I did this for them...Since the speech I have received such fabulous feedback, it's been overwhelming. I've had phone calls and texts from my friends and family, and even people I don't know.”


News: High Line, Martha's Vineyard, Salt Lake City, MRI, Mexico

RoadNew Jersey gears up for marriage battle...

HighlineRoadNew York's High Line Park features a 20-story peep show.

RoadThis is why some people hate pop music.

RoadWhy did last week's Mad Men come with a warning label? Was it because of this scene?

RoadTwo men charged for throwing eggs and yelling homophobic slurs in Manchester UK's gay village: "Peter James Young (23), of Hardman Street, and Phillip Shepherd (25), of Derby Street, have been charged with a public order offence. Young was further accused of common assault."

RoadMagnetic resonance intercourse.

RoadObamas set for Martha's Vineyard vacation.

RoadObama sneakers and basketball for sale.

Chace RoadChace Crawford to Interview: "I’m the biggest believer in not talking. I don’t Twitter or MySpace or Facebook. I want to keep to myself. I don’t want to be out there. You have to keep some kind of control over who you are."

RoadMale model fix: Santiago Peralta.

RoadPeter Staley on Obama's first step toward a national HIV/AIDS strategy.

RoadWoW's James St. James reports from the Ovahness Vogueing Ball.

RoadMexico decriminalizes drug possession for small amounts: "The maximum amount of marijuana for 'personal use' under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four joints. The limit is a half gram for cocaine, the equivalent of about 4 'lines.' For other drugs, the limits are 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams for LSD."

Lambertbox RoadAnd he's not sorry, it's human nature...

RoadGlasgow Gallery of Modern Art accused of censoring gay-themed art exhibit: "The reaction of GoMA and the council is exactly the same that is happening to these individuals, making it hard to talk about coming out, about being gay, about disclosing their HIV status."

RoadLive Nation sponsoring national tour of Jamaican murder music singer Buju Banton.

RoadSalt Lake City to consider anti-discrimination bill: "The current language of the bill would ban discrimination based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity (trangender protections) in the areas of employment, public accommodations and housing. Religious organizations and state agencies would be exempt from the law." Provo paper blasts effort...


Lady Gaga Works Ritz Cracker Look

Gaga

Lady Gaga made a stop in Manchester, UK to help decorate a charity garden for people affected by HIV. As usual, she made the most of her appearance:

"But the wacky wardrobe went down a storm with workers at the HIV charity she was supporting. She made her mark by dawbing the message 'Love + Art + Kindness' on to a picture of a herself on a wall as excited volunteers looked on."

I think it's supposed to resemble a painter's palette.


News: Heath Ledger Hoax, Italy, Matt Damon, Mexico, Diana Ross,

road.jpg Time magazine looks at the 15th anniversary of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": "The issue exploded during Clinton's first week as President, triggered by those in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill opposed to his campaign pledge to reverse an executive order barring gays and lesbians from serving. 'The issue is whether men and women who can and have served with real distinction should be excluded from military service solely on the basis of their status,' Clinton said at the time. 'And I believe they should not.' While the phrase 'don't ask, don't tell' wasn't used at that January 29, 1993, press conference, that's what everyone soon began calling the policy."

Damonroad.jpg Not that Oz: Matt Damon in the Emerald City.

road.jpg Diana Ross BOOED in Jamaica: Not ready for her close-up.

road.jpg 200 Mexican youths and parents march to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS: "Participants marched through the city's main streets chanting slogans, such as 'Not One More Infected Person' and 'Equal Rights for Young Homosexuals.' Some of the participants also dressed in costumes and distributed condoms. Josue Quino, head of the CAIPAJ gay adolescent and youth center, said the march was necessary to warn youth that a 'single unprotected [sexual] encounter is enough to' contract HIV. Members from the Group of Mothers and Fathers for Diversity also marched in the demonstration, carrying signs that said 'We're Proud of Our Children' and 'Our Children Have United Our Families.'"

road.jpg Manchester UK police investigate rape at gay sauna.

road.jpg Clay Aiken: no love.

Twiggy Which one's Twiggy, which one's Keira Knightley?

road.jpg Barbara Walters bans Kathy Griffin from The View...again. Griffin: "I was supposed to be on 'The View' [today]. But then I get a call from [producer] Bill Geddie and he says, 'You were too mean to Barbara [Walters] on your last special, so you can't come on.' Can you believe it? I've been banned before, but never re-banned!"

road.jpg Scammer, posing as Heath Ledger's father, takes advantage of doctor, funeral home, Tom Cruise, and John Travolta: " Cops want to arrest the con man on fraud and larceny charges, and sent detectives to Ledger's wake at the funeral home Friday in hopes of catching him, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. But police do not know the identity of the impostor - who also tried to finagle from one unidentified Hollywood star the numbers of actors Mel Gibson and Christian Bale, who have co-starred in movies with Ledger."

road.jpg Michael Jackson to get additional reconstructive surgery — this time to his album Thriller.

Penn_francoroad.jpg Method Acting: Sean Penn and James Franco, playing Harvey Milk and his lover Scott Smith, respectively, in the Gus van Sant biopic Milk, reportedly wanted to shack up together for a while before filming started to get to know one another, but due to scheduling difficulties, those plans fell through.

road.jpg Study finds middle age is truly depressing: "For men and women the probability of depression slowly builds and then peaks when people are in their forties -- a similar pattern found in 72 countries ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe, the researchers said. About eight nations -- mostly in the developing world -- did not follow the U-shaped pattern for happiness levels, Oswald and his colleague David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College in the United States wrote. 'It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children,' Oswald said. 'Nobody knows why we see this consistency.' One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their aspirations at middle age, the researchers said. Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more. But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old."

Flightroad.jpg German airline to offer nudist flight.

road.jpg Italian MP called 'faggot, fairy' and 'traitor' for voting against party lines in order to defend Italian Premier Romano Prodi: "The name-calling erupted on the floor of the Italian Senate on Jan. 24 as Sen. Stefano 'Nuccio' Cusumano shocked fellow members of the tiny Udeur Party by declaring his support for Prodi. The party decided a week earlier to withdraw from Prodi’s fragile ruling coalition, forcing a 'confidence' vote under Italy’s parliamentary system. The Senate voted 161 to 156 to defeat a resolution of confidence for Prodi, forcing him to resign immediately. Although the Udeur Party had helped Prodi form his center-left government in 2006, the party strongly opposed legislation backed by Prodi to provide legal rights and benefits for same-sex couples."

road.jpg Gay Fort Worth city councilman Joel Burns talks to the Victory Fund, calls anti-gay attack a galvanizing moment: “That morning was an awful, terrible, not good morning. I thought of my mother and father, the little rural town that they live in, and waking up and reading the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and seeing my name on the front page. No parent ever wants to see their child attacked, even if they’re an adult.”


Police Release Digital Image of Alleged UK Gay Basher

Efit_2At the beginning of the month I posted about a gay bashing that had occurred south of Manchester, England in which a 39-year-old man was thrown to the grown, punched and kicked in the head while his attacker said he would kill him. The victim remains in the hospital.

According to This is Cheshire: "Police are hunting a white man, aged between 30 and 35, who is around 6ft 2ins tall and spoke with a Liverpool accent. He had dark brown hair, shaven in a number three grade and was wearing a grey and yellow striped top, light blue jeans and white trainers, which police say may have blood on them following the attack."

Police released an efit (electronic facial identification technology) portrait of the perpetrator in hopes that someone would recognize him.

Homophobic attack - Efit released [this is cheshire]


Cristiano Ronaldo: Me Look Pretty One Day

Cr1_2

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo showed up to a signing for his new book Moments trying to cover up a black eye and a forehead gash sustained during a match on Tuesday.

At least his ego wasn't bruised. He told reporters gathered there: "It's not a problem. In four or five days I will be beautiful once again."

Cr2 Cr3

Ronaldo was elbowed in a collision with Mirko Vucinic of Roma:

Said Ronaldo of the injury: "I don't think it was intentional. I don't like to look like this but this kind of thing can happen in football."

Cr4

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