Central California's Diocese of San Joaquin became the first in the United States to secede from the Episcopal Church over the question of ordaining gays. It will now align the diocese with a conservative Anglican province in South America. Dioceses in Pittsburgh and Fort Worth have taken preliminary votes to do the same.

HEALTH INSURANCE

A recent study shows that domestic partners are at a disadvantage in health insurance because many employers do not provide it for partners and if they are covered it is taxable. This is not true of similarly-covered married couples. It is estimated that a pair of domestic partners pay an average of almost $1,100 more in taxes annually because of this inequality. Collectively it is estimated that all domestic partners pay $178 million more in taxes a year. Employers pay something like an extra $57 million a year.

POLITICS

One of the Republican candidates now running for President said in 1992 that AIDS patients should be quarantined and that homosexuality itself could "pose a dangerous public health risk". (He said it was an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle".) He also stated that it was the "first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population". He also said that Hollywood celebrities should fund AIDS research out of their own pockets rather than the federal government doing it. Among the celebrities he suggested were Elizabeth Taylor and Madonna---no doubt because they were considered gay icons. The name of the candidate: Mike Huckabee.

Republican candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee (surprise!) and John McCain have "come out" in support of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy of the military. Ex-Governor Romney, often accused of flip-flopping, has apparently done so again. In 1994 he stated that gays should serve "openly and honestly" in the military. Another GOP candidate added that gays can't be allowed to serve in the military because of most of their comrades would be conservative and believe in "Judeo-Christian values" (as if gay people don't). The candidate: also-running Congressman Duncan Hunter from the San Diego area. All the Democrats running have come out in favor of the law's repeal.

One of the very first wounded Iraq veterans visited by George Bush after the start of the Iraq War was a Marine staff sergeant. He was wounded by a land mine on the very first day of the War and had a leg amputated. Earlier this year he came out publicly as a gay man to decry "Don't ask, don't tell". He had served thirteen years. Almost thirty retired high-ranking military officers have now publicly stated that the law does not work. Polls have shown that between 63% and 79% of Americans support repeal.

URUGUAY

A/PGF Classifieds