· The OutGames open in Montreal, a week after the Gay Games closed in Chicago.

Phill Wilson, the cover of last month's Clik, is outraged that many in Washington are not concerned about the escalating HIV rates among blacks and have devoted more importance to flag-burning and anti-gay marriage amendments:

"If we learned nothing from Hurricane Katrina, we should have learned this: They are not going to send the boats or the buses for us in time. AIDS in America today is a Black disease. There is no getting around it. It's also painfully obvious that we can't wait for our political leaders to save us from that fact."

· Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returns to the Middle East to press for a peace agreement.

· A Rhode Island judge bars a woman from having any contact with her gay neighbor. State prosecutors say Theresa R. Deschenes of Warren routinely intimidated Kenneth Potts, the gay, HIV-positive man who moved in downstairs—calling him names, threatening violence, and, playing loud music and stomping on the floor. Deschenes' lawyer, Christopher Millea, has indicated that he will appeal and "said his client's comments were protected by the First Amendment and were merely part of a 'kindergarten name-calling contest.' "

· LGBT activists are too focused on marriage. Nearly 250 gay leaders and straight allies endorse a statement that says same-sex marriage is "diverting too many resources that could be used to fight for equality for others who have no plans to marry." Signatories include current and former leaders of national gay rights organizations such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and GLAAD, novelist Armistead Maupin and straight allies such as scholar Cornel West, Ms. founder Gloria Steinem and essayist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Comments

[Marc]

The full text of the marriage statement is at:
http://www.beyondmarriage.org