Australian Justice Michael Kirby holds a bit of a grudge against the government for its past sodomy laws.

The judge, speaking to a crowd on religion and sexuality, admitted that he would have come out sooner, but the nation's oppressive prohibitions kept him - and others - in the closet. And the government should apologize:

Looking back, it would’ve been better had I been more open about [my] sexuality earlier. But if I had been I would not have been appointed to any judicial position at that time. I hope that would not be so now, I think it might not be so now, but I’m not sure.
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People should be apologizing to me for oppressing me and others who were being oppressed by these silly laws.

We don't want to be negative Nancies, but Kirby shouldn't hold his breath.

There's a war brewing in the Middle East - and we're not talking about Iraq.

CONTINUED »

Roommates.com will have to renovate its digs. A San Francisco-based appeals court ruled yesterday that the domestic match making service cannot require users to disclose their sexuality:

To inquire electronically about sexual orientation would not be different from asking people in person or by telephone if they were black or Jewish before conducting business, the panel said in an 8-3 ruling that partly overturns a lower federal court decision.

"If such screening is prohibited when practiced in person or by telephone, we see no reason why Congress would have wanted to make it lawful to profit from it online," 9th Circuit chief judge Alex Kozinski wrote. "Not only does Roommate ask these questions, Roommate makes answering the discriminatory questions a condition of doing business."

A dissenting judge claim the ruling "threatens to chill the robust development of the Internet that Congress envisioned," which sounds a bit over blown to us.

The internet can sting at any time - and more than just once!

You may remember Chris Dreyfus as the British copper who got flack for his lickin', spankin' gay Facebook page. Well, poor Dreyfus' digital past cost him a promotion:

Inspector Chris Dreyfus, 30, British Transport Police’s head of royalty and government protection, had been offered a position as a chief inspector with Bedfordshire Police after an interview on February 13.

But the force subsequently withdrew the offer after carrying out background checks on him.

They discovered he had received a disciplinary warning from his seniors at British Transport Police over his Facebook page.
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A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said: “After the interview (on 13 February) we ran routine background checks and we were told he had a live sanction against him. “Therefore we felt unable to proceed with the job offer.”

Speaking of flashbacks, here's how BTP spokesman Simon Ludin said last year, when the original story broke: "We will look into [suspension], but our professional standards people had a quick look yesterday and didn't find anything wrong."

Today's the day! The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission will release its official report this afternoon. Non-profit Garden State Equality got its gay hands on the complete document and posted it at Civil Unions Don't Work. They've also provided some videos of men and women testifying before the Commission that civil unions are flawed. We've included one such testimony above. It's the most exciting thing we've seen since we woke up.

In addition, GSE started airing a new 60-second radio ad this morning on - you guessed it - how civil unions don't work. Listen to it here.

Canadian queers are fuming over a recent decision to regulate Pictou County's flag poles. The County's council voted 7-6 Monday to only allow official, state-recognized flag to adorn its shiny staffs, a move that many gay activists consider homophobic, while others say it helps contain haters:

Ramona Westgate, an activist with the Pictou County Pride Group, said officials did not speak with other community groups before voting on the policy. "They didn't reach out to any of the community organizations, including the Pride of Pictou County, and ask them how they feel or what they thought the effects of this policy would be," she told CTV Atlantic.

Warden Allister MacDonald dismissed any notion the new policy was created from homophobia. He said the restrictions would actually protect the gay community. "A hate group could come and ask for us to raise a flag, and we would be discriminating against that particular group (by not raising the flag)," he said. "They could take us to a human rights court. This way we're trying to be proactive so that there would be no controversy down the road."

Ah, yes, the old "one step ahead" argument - works every time!

Sacramento's gay better be careful where they cruise - or stop cruising:

The Police Department has declared war on "cruising," or the practice of seeking anonymous gay trysts in public areas.
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The crackdown on cruising comes with the Citrus Heights Police Department's pledge to focus on blight crimes throughout the city.

"Certain things cross a line," said police Commander Mark Boettger. "It affects places where children and families should be able to go without fear or concern of finding a needle or a finding a condom."

At least they're using condoms!

Cops are reportedly monitoring cruising websites to find the meatiest meeting places.

It's a historic day in Gayville! From Box Turtle Bulletin:

Today marks a very important milestone in LGBT history. Fifty years ago today, on January 13, 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its first ever pro-gay ruling in ONE Inc. v. Olesen, a landmark decision that allowed a magazine for gays and lesbians to be sent through the U.S. mail.
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the Supreme Court issued its short, one-sentence decision on January 13, 1958 without hearing oral arguments. That decision not only overturned the two lower courts, but the Court expanded the First Amendment’s free speech and press freedoms by effectively limiting the power of the Comstock Act to interfere with the written word.

Good thing, too, because otherwise we'd be out of a job!

Reformed anti-gay activist Stephen Dunne returns to Gayville this week. The law student caught our eye - and ire - last year when he sued the Massachusetts State Bar Association for including a gay marriage question on the would-be lawyer's exam. Dunne refused to answer the question, which cost him the test and then promptly sued for religious discrimination. Dunne later withdrew his case.

Dunne's given the matter much thought over the past few months and wrote to Bay Windows explaining that his lawsuit was "misguided" and he was simply "lashing out". The staffers at Bay Windows were so intrigued by Dunne's turnaround that they dispatched Laura Kiritsy to dig into Dunne. Here's a sample of their exchange:

Q: Did you hear from [your] when you filed the lawsuit?

A: There’s a lot of gay people I know that don’t know what I did. And you know obviously I’m not going to bring it up today because to a large degree I don’t want them to know because I’m embarrassed at what I did. They’re great people, they’re great parents, they’re educated people, they’re professionals. I have a lot of respect for them. Once you become friends with people it’s hard not to respect them, to change your opinion, change your direction of your previously preconceived notions that were incorrect.

Irishman Dunne also says that past discrimination against his ancestors helped bring him back to reality. He's currently studying for the bar exam. We'll done, Dunne!

Morocco's dispensing some queer justice. Authorities arrested six allegedly gay men last month and tried them for "lewd or unnatural acts." Following a brief and flawed trial, the men have been found guilty. Now Amnesty International's UK-branch is asking its allies to rally for their freedom:

Amnesty International UK is calling on its 2.2 million members worldwide to write to the Moroccan authorities demanding the release of six men who are facing jail because of their presumed sexuality.
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“The fact that the six men were convicted purely on rumour shows how prevalent homophobia is in Morocco,” said Tim Hancock, campaigns director at Amnesty International UK.
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“Amnesty has called for their sentences to be overturned and is calling on its members across the world to email or fax the Moroccan embassy demanding their immediate release.”

Click here for a complete list of Morocco's international embassies.

Gay marriage remains a hot judicial ticket in California:

One reason why the California Supreme Court is taking so long to decide whether gay marriage is legal is that the issue has attracted more "friend of the court" briefs than any other case in recent memory, Chief Justice Ronald George said Tuesday.

George said the court has received 45 such briefs from 145 different organizations lobbying the state's high court to decide the case in a variety of ways.

An array of civil rights groups and several cities have filed court documents in favor of gay marriage, while politically conservative and religious organizations filed papers supporting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's position opposing gay marriage.

Say what you will about us queers, but we sure do know how to pull in the heads…

Keeping up with his scandal-a-month rate, bent British musician Boy George has been charged with "false imprisonment" of his Norwegian escort Auden Carlsen, whom BG allegedly kidnapped earlier this year.

…Carlsen, 28, claims he was grabbed and chained to a wall by George and another man after the singer invited him back to his London flat to pose for photographs.

Scotland Yard said today that the 47-year-old singer, who was first arrested in April, had now been charged over an incident in his flat.

The singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, was released on bail and ordered to attend Thames Magistrates Court next week.

Police said: "George O’Dowd, 47, a musician of Ravey Street, EC2, is charged with the false imprisonment of a 28-year-old in Ravey Street on April 28. He has been bailed to return before Thames Magistrates Court on November 22."

Poor Boy…