Harvey Milk, Billie Jean King to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom Today

In a ceremony later today, President Obama will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the late gay rights activist Harvey Milk and lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King.

The Medal is the highest civilian award bestowed by the U.S. government to recognize individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

BJK said of the award, "I think it’s the first time the LGBT community has been acknowledged. It’s another breakthrough. I’m very visible because of being able to play tennis,” she added. “Believe me, Harvey Milk, that’s a whole other discussion. I’m so thrilled he’s going to be recognized.”

Milk's award will be accepted by his nephew, Stuart Milk.

Shooting at Tel Aviv Gay Youth Center Leaves Three Dead

(From The New York Times)
"TEL AVIV (Agence France-Presse) — A masked man opened fire on a crowd at a gay community center in Tel Aviv late Saturday, killing three people and wounding at least 10 others, the Israeli emergency services said.

A young man and a young woman were killed on the spot and the third victim died in hospital, the authorities said, and one of those who were wounded was in serious condition.

The gunman, who was dressed in black, unloaded an automatic weapon as he fired on the group of young gay men and lesbians near the entrance of the center, witnesses said, and he then ran away.

No one had been arrested by early Sunday.

The Tel Aviv police chief, Shahar Ayalon, ordered the closing of a nearby gay bar in the city and urged such establishments to remain vigilant.

Leaders of the gay community said they believed that the shooting was a homophobic attack.

'It is not surprising that such a crime can be committed given the incitement of hatred against the homosexual community,' the president of Tel Aviv’s gay and lesbian community, Mai Pelem, told reporters.

In the past, swastikas had been painted at the entrance to the center.

The head of Israel’s gay and lesbian national association, Mike Hamel, said: 'In our worst nightmares we could not have imagined that the hatred against our community, which is hurting nobody, could go this far.”

Chelsea Handler Takes on GLAAD

(From E-online)

"Apparently the folks over at GLAAD don't get E! with their basic cable package. How else to explain this oversight?

On her show [Thursday] night, Chelsea Handler expressed utter shock that the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation did not even include Chelsea Lately in its latest report on how well TV is doing when it comes to depicting gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.

'I can't speak for the rest of the network, but at Chelsea Lately, we're knocking it out of the park. We've hit a homo run,' she remarked. 'We always talk about gay issues and [sidekick] Chuy and I were king and queen of the Gay Pride Parade.'

Speaking of parades…

To prove her point further, Chelsea proceeded to bring out various members of her staff, including 'the biggest gay in captivity,' a person 'transitioning from albino man to albino woman' and somebody who, well, Chelsea wasn't quite sure 'what this is.'

'Like it or not, this is the face of Chelsea Lately,' she concluded. 'I'll be expecting an apology, which I assume will be on some hermaphrodite's stationery.'"

Nevada Legislature Over-rides Governor's Veto of Domestic Partnerships

Gay and Lesbian couples now have the right to go to Vegas, get way too drunk and get almost-married by an Elvis impersonator to someone they met the night before. Let's here it for almost-equality!

(From San Jose Mercury News) CARSON CITY, Nev.—The Assembly overrode Gov. Jim Gibbons' veto on a 28-14 vote Sunday and changed state law so that domestic partners, whether gay or straight, have many of the rights and benefits that Nevada offers to married couples.

The Assembly's vote—the bare two-thirds majority needed—followed the state Senate's similar decision, with no votes to spare, a day earlier to make the historic change in state law over the conservative Republican governor's objections.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, termed SB283 "the most important civil rights legislation we have had in all my years here," adding the law change ensures "justice for all, not justice for some."

Leslie said proponents of the new law were asking "that their government give them the ability to choose who they will live with and whom they will love."

SB283 provides that domestic partners have the same rights as married couples in matters such as community property and responsibility for debts. It also prohibits discrimination against domestic partners.

The measure states that no "solemnization ceremony" is required and it's "left to the dictates and conscience of partners entering into a domestic partnership" whether to have such a ceremony.

In CNN Interview, Elton John Compares Unsafe Sex Practices to Addiction

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down with AIDS activist/singer/song writer Elton John Tuesday for an interview that aired this morning. The music legend gave a speech at the Bio International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia where he talked abut the current rise in HIV infection in the US. John explained his frustration:

"I find this disease very cyclical. Every 10 years or so, after we spend a lot of money trying to educate people -- a new generation of people -- and we tell them to have safe sex and to abstain sometimes but have safe sex, wear condoms, we find that after 10 years another whole group of people come along. And we have to start all over again, which is really, really frustrating because it takes money for education. And we find that if we could get into the schools at a grass-roots levels, which we do in places like Africa where we get to kids at a young age and we tell them about preventive measures for not getting HIV, we find the success rate is tremendous."

Dr. Gupta asked the singer to comment on the relationship between new HIV medications and the rise in risky behavior:

Gupta: "Sometimes in medicine, you can actually be a victim of your own success. When the medications are pretty good, you see a resurgence of high-risk behavior. How do you affect that?"

John: "I'm a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. I know that when I used to use and drink, that my mind situation was altered completely. Your caution goes out the window and you think, "Oh, well, we'll gamble, we'll have..." and luckily, I was so lucky enough to not be HIV infected.

Once you have that drink and that drug, your mind-set goes out the window and a lot of people think, "Oh yeah, because there's medicine available now," as you say, "We're going to be OK, and we have to take now one pill a day maybe," which is incredible, because initially people had to take God knows how many pills a day, various cocktails to get them through this disease.

Now, people are going back into the work force, they're becoming alive again, they live for a much longer time, which is great. But, this is incredibly toxic medicine you're taking, and it doesn't work for everybody, and you're really playing... Russian roulette with your life. And it's sad -- you think that after all this time, and all of this education that has gone down, and with all the statistics and deaths that people have seen, and the Ryan White situation going down, that people would be a little bit more careful. But we're finding they're not."

The Elton John Aids Foundation has raised over $150 million for HIV/AIDS prevention, education, research and patient care.

Visit the Elton John Aids Foundation website for more information about the work being done to address the pandemic.