GLBT Daily News

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Once again I find myself re-making this thread. The last one was allowed to die in my absence **ahem**, so this Dragon reporter will once again be scouring the Net to find news stories relevant to the GLBT lifestyle.

This first story is a perfect example of why people should NOT be giving their home or mobile numbers out in chatrooms.


Man convicted of killing business owner he met on gay chat line
Motive is unclear
SEATTLE (AP) | Jan 4, 8:50 AM A man has been convicted of fatally beating and stabbing a business owner whose body was found wrapped in blankets in his red Porsche, although the jury couldn't decide on a motive.

Michael Saga Maiava, 24, was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder following slightly more than a day of deliberations in King County Superior Court.

He faces as much as 34 years in prison for attack on Kevin Shaw, 44, who ran an executive recruiting service, invested in a home-building business and had worked for several accounting firms.

A native of Billings, Mont., Shaw attended Gonzaga University in Spokane and moved to Seattle in the early 1980s. His body was found in his car on Oct. 21, 2004.

Prosecutors said the two men apparently met on a telephone chat line for gays shortly before Shaw was attacked with an ice pick or similar device.

During a monthlong trial, Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey B. Baird said that in terms of a motive, "it appears that the act of killing was its own reward."

Defense lawyer Julie Lawry suggested that Maiava may have been defending himself during a fight, but jurors said they were not convinced that the heavyset defendant would have had to resort to deadly force against the smaller and slimmer business operator.

Jurors said that whatever the reason for the killing, DNA and telephone records clearly pointed to Maiava.

"We couldn't really come to a conclusion about motive," jury forewoman Christelle Creekmore said. "It's just unfortunate for everybody."

[Cat]

Originally Posted by -·=»‡«=·-Юåĝøŋ§ƒî®ê-·=»‡«=·-

This first story is a perfect example of why people should NOT be giving their home or mobile numbers out in chatrooms.

Shouldn't that say "People should be extremely cautious about who they give their home or mobile numbers too in chatrooms" Jamie? After all you like many of us in here have called someone on the phone, or even met a user from the room.

[-·=»‡«=·-Юåĝøŋ§ƒî®ê-·=»‡«=·-]

Originally Posted by ΩcatΩ

Shouldn't that say "People should be extremely cautious about who they give their home or mobile numbers too in chatrooms" Jamie? After all you like many of us in here have called someone on the phone, or even met a user from the room.

I stand corrected. When I said that I was talking about people who just come in the rooms and just post their numbers in the room and hope that someone calls, even if it is a stranger. I should have been more clear.

[Cat]

Originally Posted by -·=»‡«=·-Юåĝøŋ§ƒî®ê-·=»‡«=·-

I stand corrected. When I said that I was talking about people who just come in the rooms and just post their numbers in the room and hope that someone calls, even if it is a stranger. I should have been more clear.

And you believe those are their real numbers? Majority of the inbreeds usually post someone else's number, be it a neighbour, ex friend, or ex cyber partner, as opposed to their own.

And considering the amount of warnings given out via the net, media, even mods in rooms, people will invariably give out their number to chatters some time or other. Look around forums at those who post incessantly "Call me around <insert time>.

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N.Y. judge finds gay marriage void — but separation valid
Appeal is expected

NEW YORK (AP) | Jan 8, 5:25 PM

A New York City judge who said the Massachusetts marriage of two gay men was void has ruled the couple's separation agreement is valid and legally enforceable.


The judge issued the decision, published Monday, in the divorce case of David Gonzalez and Steven Green, who married in Massachusetts on Feb. 14, 2005. Gonzalez wanted a divorce, and Green wanted a ruling that they were never married.

Massachusetts is the only U.S. state that allows gay marriage, though other states allow civil unions that can include many of the rights of marriage.


State Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Gangel-Jacob said the marriage was void under both New York and Massachusetts law. New York does not recognize same-*** marriages, and Massachusetts bars marriage between domestic partners living in a state where the marriage would be void. The couple lives in New York.


Cohabitation does not prevent two unmarried people from making an agreement under the rules of contract law, Gangel-Jacob ruled, "provided only that illicit sexual relations were not part of the consideration of the contract."

Green, a real estate investor, and Gonzalez, a lawyer, moved in together in a New York suburb in 2001. In September 2005, they signed an agreement giving Gonzalez a one-time payment of $780,000 if they ended their relationship.


In January 2006, Gonzalez began his divorce action on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. Green sought a declaration that the marriage was void and asked that all property he had given Gonzalez, including two automobiles and a ski house, be returned.


Green's lawyer, Yonatan Levoritz, said he will file an appeal next week to try to get his client's $780,000 back.


"If you were never married, why should you be paying spousal support?" he said.

The judge rejected Green's argument that the agreement was the result of a mutual mistake because both men had thought they were married.

[-·=»‡«=·-Юåĝøŋ§ƒî®ê-·=»‡«=·-]

Generation Next more tolerant
47 percent favor gay marriage
WASHINGTON (AP) | Jan 10, 11:15 AM
The young adults of Generation Next are more optimistic, more tolerant and more likely Democratic voters than their predecessors, according to a new study.

The group's tilt toward the Democratic Party is far different from the previous younger generation, known as Generation X, who grew up during the Reagan administration of the 1980s and was more inclined to support Republicans.

'This portends a significant political impact as they get more engaged,' said Scott Keeter, a researcher from the Pew Research Center. 'If they carry their party leanings with them, that will make a big difference.'

Forty-eight percent of young adults age 18 to 25 said they were Democrats or leaned that direction while 35 percent said they were Republican or leaned that way in 2006, according to Pew polling.

The study also found a great acceptance for same-*** marriage. Forty-seven percent of those age 18 to 25 favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry while 30 percent of those 26 and older favor gay marriage.

While they are a generally optimistic group, large majorities think that casual ***, binge drinking, illegal drug use and violence are more prevalent among young people today.

Asked about their generation, most say getting rich and being famous are top goals.

The study found that the young adults:

--Are less inclined to vote than older generations, though young voter turnout was up significantly in 2004. About 54 percent of those from 18 to 24 voted in 2004, and 74 percent of those 25 and over voted, Keeter said.

—Have more liberal views than other generations on questions of race and homosexuality and immigration.

—Read the newspaper and follow the news on television and radio less than those in older generations.

—Keep in close touch with their parents, both for advice and for financial help.

—Are inclined to use online social networking sites like Facebook and My Space. More than half had used one of these sites.

—Tend to most admire people they personally know rather than the famous. Entertainers were twice as likely to be named as political leaders.

—Have often gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color or had a body piercing.

The study, a collaboration of the Pew Research Center and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, is based on Edison-Mitofsky exit polls, past Pew polls and a Pew survey of 1,501 adults, including 579 people from ages 18-25, taken Sept. 6 through Oct. 2. The study had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 5 percentage points for the young adults.

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Northern Mexican state of Coahuila approves law recognizing gay unions
Governor expected to sign bill
PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (AP) | Jan 12, 12:58 PM
The legislature for the northern Mexican state of Coahuila approved a law recognizing gay unions on Thursday, the second assembly to take such an action in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

The measure, which will provide gay couples with numerous social benefits similar to those of married couples, was approved with 20 votes in favor and 13 votes against, said Rep. Julieta Lopez, of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. Lopez helped the draft the bill.

Coahuila Gov. Humberto Moreira, who is also in the PRI, is expected to sign the bill into law.

In November, the Mexico City assembly passed a similar measure for the first time in the nation's history.

That law has been sharply criticized by the Roman Catholic Church and the conservative National Action Party of President Felipe Calderon.

While homosexuality is still taboo in many rural parts of Latin America, the region's urban areas are becoming more socially liberal. Mexico City and Coahuila join the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires and the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in legalizing same-*** civil unions.

At the national level, lawmakers in Costa Rica and Colombia have debated, but not passed, similar measures.

[Cherryz]

I have given out my phone number 3 times on the net out of 4 yrs. Once was an accident.(I tried to give out my bros number) The other two times it was people that I have been talking to a long ass time. Even though I've done it. I suggest not doing it.o0o and I have put someone else number on main and said call me for a good time.Acck. This threads scary Dragonfire.

[PhillyStorm]

Saturday January 13, 10:24 PM
Italian gays protest Pope's stance on marriage
ADVERTISEMENT


VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - About 150 Italian gays demonstrated in the Vatican on Saturday against Pope Benedict's opposition to gay marriage, on the anniversary of the protest suicide of a gay man in St Peter's Square nine years ago.
Men and women from the Italian gay association Arcigay and other groups waved rainbow flags and banners saying "No to the Taliban! No to the Vatican!", according to a Reuters witness.

Other banners urged Italy to offer legal recognition to gay and unmarried couples, an issue dividing the current centre-left government and stoking tension between leftists and the Vatican.

Pope Benedict has said in recent addresses that such changes would support "those ruinous theories that strip all relevance from the masculinity and femininity of the human being".

Some Arcigay members laid flowers at the spot in St Peter's Square where writer Alfredo Ormando doused himself with petrol and set himself alight in 1998, in protest at the Vatican's stance against gays. He died of his burns nine days later.

[PhillyStorm]

Gay Waiter Accuses Exclusive NYC Restaurant With Discrimination
by The Associated Press

Posted: January 14, 2007 - 12:01 am ET

(New York City) A former waiter at one of Manhattan's finest restaurants claimed in a federal lawsuit he was repeatedly harassed about his sexual orientation, then ignored by managers when he complained about the abuse.

Joseph Bassani, who worked at Jean Georges from February 2004 until January 2006, said in the lawsuit the restaurant's chef de cuisine and other employees insulted him after learning he was gay.

The lawsuit, filed Friday at a federal court in Manhattan, alleges a litany of anti-gay behavior at the posh restaurant.

In one instance, Bassani said managers hired a prostitute and threw a wild party for the departing chef de cuisine. The woman performed s.e.x acts on herself and the staff in the plush dining room.
At the urging of the chef de cuisine and another cook, the suit said, the woman "charged at Bassani, pushed him onto the top of one of the dining room tables, straddled him, and began to gyrate ... within inches of his face."

Bassani likened the incident to an assault. When he told management about the party and other demeaning incidents, Bassani said his superiors did nothing.

Unable to endure the continued harassment, Bassani said he quit last January. He also accused the restaurant of giving him a bad reference when he tried to get a new job.

Jessica Kingsland, a spokeswoman for Jean Georges Management, which operates the restaurant, declined to comment on the allegations. Kingsland said the company hadn't yet seen the suit.

She said Bassani left on "good terms with us."

Jean Georges is located inside Trump International Hotel and Tower. The upscale dining establishment is one of the best in the city, earning four stars from The New York Times and a coveted three stars from the Michelin restaurant guide.

It's owned by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, considered on the country's top chefs, who runs a vast culinary empire stretching from New York City to Las Vegas to Shanghai. Vongerichten was not named in the suit.

Bassani did not specify what damages he was seeking.