From the 'Could-We-Have-The-Name?' file: the Sun-Times ( 11/8 ) tells us that an asteroid, 2005 UT 12 will be named after a '... transvestite gypsy folk singer from Bulgaria.' Hmm, a mystery unless the name of the t.g.f.s. Bulgarian is UT 12.
Sweden may send a Pentecostal pastor to prison for an anti-gay sermon. PlanetOut ( 11/10 ) reports that two years ago Ake Green preached that homosexuality was a 'cancerous tumor', that Sweden was due for a natural disaster because of its leniency to gays, and that gays were more likely than others to '... rape children and animals.' Sweden's hate-crime law includes a section defending gay people; Green is on trial for allegedly breaking that law.
Turkish gays have a new way to pressure their government for rights, according to The Economist ( 10/29-11/4 ) . Turkey wants to join the European Union, whose European Convention on Human Rights has taken a dim view of the Turks for trying to ban KAOS-GL, a gay-rights association. The government dropped the charges and declared '... that being homosexual did not mean a person was immoral.' This is a first for the Muslim world but the article also pointed out that Turkey has no laws banning same-sex relations. This tolerance 'dates back to the Ottoman era when sultans would bring winsome boys on military campaigns.
Psychology Today ( 12/05 ) cites a study which shows that 'gaydar' really exists and is no urban legend. William Lee Adams of Harvard found that when volunteers checked out a photo with little added info ( no jewelry or make-up ) homosexual women and men were better ( and faster ) at identifying other homosexuals than straight folks were.
R.I.P. Tobias Schneebaum, whose obit was in The NY Times ( 9/25 ) under the heading 'Chronicler and Dining Partner of Cannibals'. Mr. Schneebaum's memoir Keep the River On Your Right told how he, a gay New York artist, lived and loved among the Peruvian Arakmbuts, an indigenous cannibalistic people. As a gay man and a Jew, 1950s America alienated him. He hitchhiked to South America and ended up among the Arakmbuts ( who he left when they actually did serve him up a piece of an enemy's heart. He ate it. ) A documentary film of his life proved the gay, if not the cannibalistic, part when his former lovers recognized and embraced him.
Remember the 'It's My Party' singer, Leslie Gore? Remember all those lesbian rumors? No rumors, she says in The NY Times ( 10/23 ) in an interview to tout her first album in nearly 30 years. Ever Since, the new CD, is on sale, but only online. The only rumor left is: who is her partner of 24 years? Could it be the still fabulous D.W.?
