Gay chamber, SoBe Social Club, Lucky Strike Lanes and GM to host holiday toy drive Tuesday

From Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce:

Happy Holidays ... from Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, SoBe Social Club, Lucky Strike Lanes and General Motors.

Holiday Toy Drive benefiting "Voices For Children"

TO RSVP - CLICK HERE...CLICK HERE

Bring an unwrapped Toy...free food and cocktails (details below)!!!

Video | Clinton, other Obama administration officials highlight progress on HIV/AIDS issues

From the White House:

On the eve of World AIDS Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, and other officials discuss the progress the Obama Administration has made in combating HIV/AIDS at home and abroad. November 30, 2009.

SAVE Dade Women's Committee to host social art event during Art Basel / Art Miami Week 2009

The works of art by Nelson Viera, hosted by the SAVE Dade Women's Committee. Join us in our very first social art event during Art Basel/Art Miami Week 2009 (a portion of the art sales will be donated to SAVE Dade)

Raffle tickets will be sold at the door. Main prize includes 2 Viera original, signed and numbered canvas art from his original cube collection.

Open Bar & Signature Cocktail ("Orange Blossom Martini") Sponsored by 4 Orange Vodka

Special Guest DJ

Friday December 4, 2009
6:00pm-9:00pm
4500 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33137

Tickets
$25 in advance
$35 at the door

savedade@savedade.org or call 305.751.7283

World AIDS Day: 12-Hour free HIV testing marathon Tuesday at Biscayne Blvd. Out of the Closet store

News release from AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

To commemorate World AIDS Day 2009, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a 12-hour free HIV testing marathon at its newest "Out of the Closet" Thrift Store in Miami at 2900 N. Biscayne Blvd. Tuesday, December 1^st from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. In addition, the "Out of the Closet" Thrift Store in Wilton Manors (at 2097 Wilton Dr.) will also offered expanded HIV testing hours from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1^st. The events are part of AHF's World AIDS Day 2009 "Testing Millions" campaign which seeks to test several million people for HIV in conjunction with this year's observance of World AIDS Day.

"All are encouraged to visit the Miami or Wilton Manors 'Out of the Closet' locations on Tuesday, December 1^st to take advantage of the extended testing hours, as finding out your HIV status is so important to protecting your health and the health of your partners," said James Vellequette, Regional Manager - Southern Bureau Prevention, Testing and Development for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "With this innovative World AIDS Day testing event, we are proud to be a part of AHF's larger global 'Testing Millions' campaign which, among other things, seeks to normalize and de-stigmatize HIV testing so that people look at it as a routine part of health care. I strongly urge people with any questions about their own HIV status to join us and get tested on Tuesday."

"Out of the Closet," the world's most fabulous thrift store, is a chain of twenty stores in Northern and Southern California and in South Florida, owned and operated by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest specialized provider of cutting-edge medicine and advocacy regardless of ability to pay. "Out of the Closet" Thrift Stores generate income that helps fund the medical services AHF provides. Ninety-six cents of every dollar earned goes to providing HIV/AIDS treatment, testing and prevention. In addition to regular retail operations, many store locations also offer free HIV testing and counseling on a regular basis-including the Miami and Wilton Manors locations.

Adjacent to the Miami and Wilton Manors "Out of the Closet" Thrift Stores is an AHF Pharmacy, which provides specialized expertise for people living with HIV/AIDS. AHF Pharmacy is also a full-service pharmacy, able to fill any prescription and open to everyone-whether HIV-positive or not. Revenues generated contribute to the care and treatment of AHF patients as well as supporting testing and prevention efforts worldwide. As the spokesperson for AHF Pharmacy, actor and activist Blair Underwood has said: "Any pharmacy can fill a prescription. Only one can change lives."

In Florida, AIDS Healthcare Foundation serves more than 15,000 people living with HIV/AIDS through a variety of programs, including Positive Healthcare (a statewide disease management program), Positive Healthcare Managed Care, testing and prevention programs, as well as healthcare centers in Jacksonville, Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

The 12-hour free HIV testing event in Biscayne is part of a global effort to test several million people for HIV in conjunction with this year's observation of World AIDS Day on Tuesday, December 1^st. AHF is spearheading and coordinating the campaign. "Testing Millions" has been organized by AHF in coalition with hundreds of global partners from 52 countries around the world. AHF is mobilizing non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local and national governments, international relief agencies, faith-based organizations and civil society to participate. The goal: a worldwide commitment to conduct millions of free HIV tests during the extended week surrounding World AIDS Day. Last year, AHF led the successful 'One Million Tests/World AIDS Day 2008' campaign which far exceeded its worldwide goal of performing one million tests by testing 1,603,272 people and identifying 61,399 HIV positive individuals.

"The commitment and incredible energy of our partners around the globe helped make our 2008 testing campaign an unprecedented success," said Terri Ford, Senior Director of Global Policy and Advocacy for AHF and Coordinator of the 'Testing Millions' campaign, in a statement from Africa where she is taking part in AHF's own 'Testing Millions' World AIDS Day efforts. "Our goal last year was to do one million tests-a goal we far surpassed by testing over 1.6 million people, identifying 61,399 HIV positive individuals in the process. This year, working together with our growing list of partners, we plan to do more than three million tests with the hope that we exceed that goal, like we did last year."

"As we kick off our second year with this World AIDS Day HIV testing campaign, our collaborators in the U.S. and around the globe are increasingly speaking with a united voice to advocate for easily accessible HIV testing in their communities as well as for greater access to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment worldwide," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Additional information is available at www.testingmillions.org and www.aidshealth.org

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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest global AIDS organization and currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 120,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and the Asia Pacific Region. www.aidshealth.org

Video | ‘The Young Turks: John Marcotte on defending marriage’

• Protecting traditional marriage: Movement under way in California to ban divorce

John Marcotte, who’s leading the movement to ban divorce in California, recently appeared on The Young Turks:

Argentine judge suspends first gay marriage

Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES -- An Argentine judge has overturned a ruling that would have allowed the first gay marriage in Latin America.

The official court Web site says national judge Marta Gomez Alsina ordered the wedding blocked until the issue can be resolved by the Supreme Court.

Jose Maria Di Bello and his partner Alex Freyre have been planning to wed on Tuesday, based on another judge's ruling. Their attorney says they'll still try to go ahead with the ceremony because they weren't told of Monday's ruling.

Attorney Maria Rachid argues that the new ruling should not overturn the original decision to let them wed.

Protecting traditional marriage: Movement under way in California to ban divorce

By JUDY LIN, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Til death do us part? The vow would really hold true in California if a Sacramento Web designer gets his way.

In a movement that seems ripped from the pages of Comedy Central writers, John Marcotte wants to put a measure on the ballot next year to ban divorce in California.

The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that's the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce.

"Since California has decided to protect traditional marriage, I think it would be hypocritical of us not to sacrifice some of our own rights to protect traditional marriage even more," the 38-year-old married father of two said.

Marcotte said he has collected dozens of signatures, including one from his wife of seven years. The initiative's Facebook fans have swelled to more than 1,100. Volunteers that include gay activists and members of a local comedy troupe have signed on to help.

Marcotte is looking into whether he can gather signatures online, as proponents are doing for another proposed 2010 initiative to repeal the gay marriage ban. But the odds are stacked against a campaign funded primarily by the sale of $12 T-shirts featuring bride and groom stick figures chained at the wrists.

Marcotte needs 694,354 valid signatures by March 22, a high hurdle in a state where the typical petition drive costs millions of dollars. Even if his proposed constitutional amendment made next year's ballot, it's not clear how voters would react.

Nationwide, about half of all marriages end in divorce.

Not surprisingly, Marcotte's campaign to make divorce in California illegal has divided those involved in last year's campaign for and against Proposition 8.

As much as everyone would like to see fewer divorces, making it illegal would be "impractical," said Ron Prentice, the executive director of the California Family Council who led a coalition of religious and conservative groups to qualify Proposition 8.

No other state bans divorce, and only a few countries, including the Philippines and Malta, do. The Roman Catholic Church also prohibits divorce but allows annulments. The California proposal would amend the state constitution to eliminate the ability of married couples to get divorced while allowing married couples to seek an annulment.

Prentice said proponents of traditional marriage only seek to strengthen the one man-one woman union.

"That's where our intention begins and ends," he said.

Jeffrey Taylor, a spokesman for Restore Equality 2010, a coalition of same-sex marriage activists seeking to repeal Proposition 8, said the coalition supports Marcotte's message but has no plans to join forces with him.

"We find it quite hilarious," Taylor said of the initiative.

Marcotte, who runs the comedy site BadMouth.net in his spare time, said he has received support from across the political spectrum. In addition to encouragement from gay marriage advocates, he has been interviewed by American Family Association, a Mississippi-based organization that contributed to last year's Yes on 8 campaign.

He was mentioned by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown" during his "World's Best Persons" segment for giving supporters of Proposition 8 their "comeuppance in California."

Marcotte, who is Catholic and voted against Proposition 8, views himself as an accidental activist. A registered Democrat, he led a "ban divorce" rally recently at the state Capitol in Sacramento to launch his effort and was pleasantly surprised at the turnout. About 50 people showed up, some holding signs that read, "You too can vote to take away civil rights from someone."

Marcotte stopped dozens of people during another signature drive in downtown Sacramento. Among them was Ryan Platt, 32, who said he signed the petition in support of his lesbian sister, even though he thinks it would be overturned if voters approved it.

"Even if by some miracle this did pass, it would never stand up to the federal government," Platt said. "And if it did, there's something really wrong with America."

Other petition signers said they were motivated by a sincere interest to preserve marriages. One was Ervin Hulton, a 47-year-old dishwasher who said he believes in making it harder for couples to separate.

"The way I feel, why go out and spend all these tons of money for marriage, the photography and all that? And along down the line, it's going to shatter," said Hulton, who is single.

The U.S. divorce rate is 47.9 percent, according to data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics reports. That figure, however, does not include California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana and Minnesota because those six states no longer report their divorce rates to the center.

California stopped because of budget problems, said Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health.

While most people would not support banning divorce, it does make sense for couples to be educated about the financial and emotional commitments of marriage, said Dan Couvrette, chief executive and publisher of Toronto-based Divorce Magazine. The publication has a circulation of 140,000, including a regional edition in Southern California.

"It's a worthwhile conversation to have," said Couvrette, who started the magazine in 1996 after going through his own divorce. "I don't think it's just a frivolous thought."

coralGAYbles.com December social 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mariposa at Neiman Marcus

From coralGAYbles.com:

coralGAYbles.com invites you to the December Social to be held:

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009, 6PM-9PM

Mariposa at Neiman Marcus
390 San Lorenzo
Coral Gables, FL
786-999-1018

Should obit writers cover apparent suicide of sportswriter Mike Penner or Christine Daniels?

From washingtoncitypaper.com

Should We Remember Mike Penner or Christine Daniels?

By AMANDA HESS

On Saturday, Nov. 28, Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner was found dead in his Los Angeles home, the victim of an apparent suicide. Penner had been covering the sports beat for the LA Times since 1983. But the writer’s public profile skyrocketed in April of 2007, when he came out as transgender, began living publicly as a woman, and changed his byline to Christine Daniels. The world lost Christine Daniels before it lost Penner: In 2008, Daniels quietly detransitioned back to Mike.

Penner’s impermanent gender transition left obituary writers with an identity problem. Whose obituary to write: Mike Penner’s or Christine Daniels’?

Click here to read more.

Letter to Clinton: Urge Ugandans to deny death penalty or charges based on sexual orientation

From Fort Lauderdale artist/gay activist Jarrett Terrill:

Subject: An Open Letter To Hillary Clinton

Attn: Hillary Clinton
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
(202) 647-4000

Dear Madame Secretary,

My name is Jarrett Terrill and I am a Democrat in Florida who campaigned for you during the primary election in 2008. I registered 500 new voters at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale for your campaign as well as the Campaign for Change.

So far, I have admired your work and the work of President Obama but recently something has come up in the news that is extremely distressing to me. That is the potential genocide that could arise in Uganda due to anti-gay legislation being considered there.

Ordinarily, I follow a libertarian approach to foreign affairs and I believe that sovereign nations should be left to create their own legislation as they see fit. However, the anti-gay movement in Uganda is not by the Ugandans own design but rather stems directly from a clandestine Hate Group operating within our own Government. This organization, which changes its name to avoid scrutiny, is best known as “The Family” and you, Madame Secretary, have attended one of their events – The Inaugural Prayer Breakfast.

My request to you is twofold:

1) Please sever or withdraw any support or connections you may have with the National Fellowship Council (aka “The Family”) and let it be known that our Constitution does not allow for religious theocracies to make legislative decisions in secret and operate without scrutiny from the media.

2) Please withdraw PEPFAR aid from being used toward this kind of legislation. Furthermore, you could urge the people of Uganda to deny any death penalty or criminal charges based on sexual orientation and remind them that HIV is, largely, a heterosexual disease in Africa. There is no reason for anyone in Uganda to fear their gay brothers and sisters because it is impossible for a heterosexual to contract an STD from a homosexual as long as sterile medical supplies are used. With preachers like Rick Warren creating unrealistic fears about gay people, these atrocities can only be expected to continue.

Thank you for considering my requests and taking the time to read my letter. I will be looking forward to your action on this matter and I will keeping an eye on the operations of the National Fellowship Council. As I understand it, Democrats such as my own Senator Bill Nelson are involved with the aforementioned nefarious group and have voted against a true public option in healthcare reform. Their involvement will be at the expense of my trust and future votes.

Thank you,

Jarrett Terrill