mimblr.com

Transgender and gay activists are objecting to some members of an American Psychiatric Association (APA) committee that will weigh changes to the definition of gender identity disorder (GID), a diagnosis that activists say is used to treat young trans and gay people with the goal of curing them.
But the members are not easily pigeonholed as anti-gay or anti-transgender and the diagnosis itself has been used to gain medical care and legal protections for some transgendered people.
“Kenneth J. Zucker, Ph.D., is a name that every gay man and lesbian woman should know, especially if they were treated to become ’straight’ at a camp or an ex-gay affirming psychologist’s office,” Autumn Sandeen wrote in a May 7 post on pamshouseblend.com, a website popular with gay, lesbian, and transgendered progressives.
On May 1, the APA named the members of 13 working groups that will consider the various diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the association’s official list of disorders. The DSM has definitions only for diagnoses and does not make recommendations for treatment.
The working groups will write the fifth edition of the DSM, which is scheduled to be published in 2012. Zucker, a leading GID expert, will chair the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group. A sub-working group, chaired by Dr. Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis of VU University Medical Center in The Netherlands, will consider the GID diagnosis.
Zucker is accused by activists of being a proponent of reparative therapy, a purported cure for homosexuality, and of treating children with GID with an eye toward preventing adult homosexuality or transsexuality.
A second working group member, Dr. Ray Blanchard, a psychiatry professor at the University of Toronto, is deemed offensive for his theories that some types of transsexuality are paraphilias, or sexual urges. In this model, transsexuality is not an essential aspect of the individual, but a misdirected sexual impulse. Blanchard is not on the Cohen-Kettenis sub-working group.

gaycitynews.com

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (3-4 p.m., NBC10) - Actor Ashton Kutcher (What Happens in Vegas . . .); Gavin DeGraw performs.
Oprah Winfrey (4-5 p.m., 6ABC) - Singers Cher and Tina Turner perform in Las Vegas.
Live From Lincoln Center (8-10:30 p.m., WHYY TV12) - This new semistaged production of Camelot features the New York Philharmonic and stars Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects) as King Arthur, Marin Mazzie (Still Standing) as Guenevere, Metropolitan Opera baritone Nathan Gunn as Lancelot, and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) as the dotty King Pellinore.
30 Rock (9:30-10 p.m., NBC10) - When his political job in Washington, proves disappointing, Jack schemes with a fellow government worker (Matthew Broderick) to get himself fired. Back in New York, a pregnancy scare has Liz feeling the absence of Jack as a friend to lean on. Kenneth applies to be a page at the Olympics.
Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m., CBS3) - Celebrity Paris Hilton; magician Steve Wyrick; Panic at the Disco performs.
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m., NBC10) - Actress Jenna Fischer; comic Robert Schimmel; Trace Adkins performs.
Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05-1:05 a.m., 6ABC) - Actor Ashton Kutcher; actress Isabella Rossellini; Gavin DeGraw performs.
The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (12:35-1:35 a.m., CBS3 - Actress Emily Deschanel; reality TV personality Melvin Lardy.
Late Night With Conan O’Brien (12:35-1:35 a.m., NBC10) - Actor Emile Hirsch.

philly.com

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centralohio.com

"The District of Columbia — a densely populated urban locality where the violence caused by handguns is well documented — will be unable to enforce a law that its elected officials have sensibly concluded saves lives," wrote lawyers for the city.
A federal appeals court in March had ruled the handgun ban to be unconstitutional.
The city’s 31-year-old law has prevented most private citizens from owning and keeping handguns in their homes.
Among major U.S. cities, only Chicago, Illinois, and the District of Columbia have such sweeping firearm bans. Courts have generally upheld other cities’ restrictions on semi-automatic weapons and sawed-off shotguns.
The District of Columbia reported 143 gun-related murders last year. In 1976, when the handgun ban was enacted, the district’s medical examiner said 135 homicides were firearm-related.
The March ruling that overturned the ban was the first time a federal appeals court had found a gun law unconstitutional on Second Amendment grounds.
That provision states, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
The Supreme Court has steered clear of settling whether the right is individual or collective, and it last examined the issue in 1939 without fully delving into the broader constitutional questions. The issue has remained essentially unresolved since the Bill of Rights were enacted in 1791.
Several District of Columbia citizens first challenged the handgun law, some saying they wanted to do something about being constant victims of crime.
Recent polling finds gun control, remains an important political issue with voters. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey of Americans in December showed 65 percent believe the Constitution guarantees each person the right to own a gun, while 31 percent said no.
The conservative high court majority has been generally supportive in recent years, letting states and cities craft gun-control laws.

cnn.com

Atlanta Pride has put a “hold” on the Atlanta Civic Center for next year’s annual celebration due to uncertainty over when or if the event can move back to Piedmont Park.
The state’s severe drought forced major events, including Atlanta Pride, the Dogwood Festival, the Peachtree Road Race and the city’s jazz festival, out of Piedmont Park this year. City officials say because they do not know when the drought will end, they cannot promise these events when they can return to their traditional home of Piedmont Park.
“What we have is a ‘hold’ on the Civic Center for June of ’09 to ensure we can use the same facility next year if we are still unable to return to Piedmont Park,” said Atlanta Pride Executive Director Donna Narducci.
While the "hold" on the weekends of June 20-22 and June 27-29 is not a firm commitment the event will be held at the Civic Center next year, there are no other suitable options if Piedmont Park is not available, she added. If Piedmont Park does become available, Atlanta Pride will look at holding it there the same two weekends, Narducci said.
“The Civic Center is truly the only viable option for us, and I think people who come to Pride this year will really like what the Atlanta Pride Committee will do with the facility for this year’s Pride weekend,” she said.

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