Jerry Sanders, the conservative mayor of San Diego, tearfully reversed his public opposition to same-sex marriage. With deep emotion, he said that he could not tell gay people---including his own Lesbian daughter---that their relationships were less important than those of heterosexuals. The San Diego City Council voted to back a lawsuit that attempts to overturn a gay marriage ban in California. Sanders had previously threatened to veto such a measure.

IOWA

An Iowa district judge ruled that the state's Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional but then stayed his decision pending an appeal. Before he did so one couple, a pair of male undergraduates in their early 20s, were married. This decision is expected to rally social conservatives who oppose gay marriage.

MARYLAND

The state's highest court upheld a 34-year-old state law banning same-sex marriage, while at the same time affirming that gays were the victims of discrimination.

CHURCHES

A national assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church urged its bishops to refrain from defrocking gay and Lesbian ministers who violate their vows of celibacy, but rejected the ordination of GLBT gays churchwide. At the gathering dozens of GLBT ministers defiantly proclaimed their sexuality.

The Reverend Drew Phoenix faced his United Methodist congregation. This was not unusual except for the fact that the last time he had done so he was the Reverend Ann Gordon! While the congregation gladly accepted the fact that "she" was now "he", the Judicial Council of the Church was not so welcoming.

They are deciding whether or not they will accept transgendered clergy.

The man heading the Council is the same man whom President Bush has nominated for Surgeon General of the United States. In the past he has written that gay sex is abnormal and unhealthy.

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

In the first ever appearance of major Presidential candidates on a gay television channel, several leading Democrats were "interviewed" on Logo TV, by Melissa Etheridge and others. John Edwards was asked about his previous statement that he was not "comfortable" around gay people. Predictably he said he had been "misquoted". (Or perhaps he just doesn't like being the object of hot fantasies?) Only minor candidates like Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich came out strongly for gay marriage; the others, including Clinton and Obama, "bobbed and weaved".

In a typical politician's evasion Clinton said: "I prefer to think of it as being very positive about civil unions". When New Mexico governor Bill Richardson was asked whether gay people were born that way or whether it was a choice, he quickly replied "It's a choice". When the event ended (and no doubt after his anxious staff had talked to him) he released a statement saying that he had "misunderstood the question".

To no-one's surprise the Republican candidates rejected a similar visit to Logo.

While the number of eligible people voting in Presidential elections often falls below 50%, a recent study found that an amazing 92.5% of gay men said they voted in the 2004 election. Nearly 91% of Lesbians reported voting in that election as well. It is estimated that there are almost 9 million gay voters.

TELEVISION

The number of gay characters regularly seen in series on cable television has risen from 25 this season to 40 for the 2007/08 broadcast year. There has been a drop in the few gays depicted on network series, only nine this coming year, mostly on ABC.

IRAQ

After the U.S. invaded Iraq, life for gays in that country has taken a distinct turn for the worse. They are the increasing targets of police and militias and religious "courts" have sentenced them to death. In 2005 the Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah issued a fatwa (religious decree) forbidding homosexuality, saying that gays should be killed in the worst, most severe way.

In the 1980s, along with Cairo, Baghdad was a gay social center of the Arab world. Even though Saddam Hussein shut down gay bars in the 1990s and passed a law against sodomy in 2001, gays still felt relatively safe. Although the U.S. recognizes asylum claims by GLBT Iraqis, only a small percentage of applications (fewer than 20%) have been approved.

AND NOW FOR THE HOWLER OF THE YEAR...

In his Columbia University appearance Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was asked about the punishment of homosexuals in Iran. His reply (LOL):

"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country...In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this."