Melissa Etheridge is going to Philly, Reading and Columbus, Ohio, but not Pittsburgh.  I hear she just doesn't sell well here.  Very sad.

Now that Melissa caught your eye, read on please.

Equality Advocates PA wants to build on the great turnout of gays and gay allies to the Pittsburgh hearing on SB 1250, the so-called marriage protection amendment.  They want you to turn out for the next hearing Harrisburg and a big rally on May 5.  Buses will be scheduled to transport folks from Pittsburgh.  Anyone want to go and carpool?  You guys should be really proud of yourselves for setting the bar so high vis a vis the turnout here in Pittsburgh.  Way to go, homos!  You rock. 

Scary international news from Rome (365gay.com)

Rome police are searching for members of a mob of youths who burst into the city's LGBT center, ransacking the building.

The attack on Mario Mieli Homosexual Cultural Circle occurred Thursday night while members were in the building.

As they attempted to confront the gang the youths yelled anti-gay and anti-Semitic slogans. As they ran off the gang yelled praises for Benito Mussolini, Italy's wartime dictator.

"We fear that this situation is linked to the electoral climate," the association said in a statement.

Rome is in the midst of a mayoral runoff between rightist and leftist candidates.

And in Kyrgyzstan (Pink News):

Human Rights Watch drew attention to the fact that the police action in the capital Bishkek was the second time Labrys had been targeted in this way.

The centre was hosting a dinner for local and international LGBT groups on April 8th when three officers entered and threatened to arrest anyone who did not produce identification.

They also searched private files at the centre, which also serves as a shelter for transgender people and women who are victims of violence.

Kyrgyzstan is a former Soviet republic in central Asia, home to more than five million people.

Although the majority are Muslim, the country is relatively secular and homosexuality is legal.

But in Columbia, some good news ...

Colombia's Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the government must extend pension benefits to same-sex partners.

The court ruled that same-sex partners must be given the same pension and health benefits as opposite-sex married partners receive.

The ruling said that to exclude same-sex partners would violate the principle of non-discrimination and human dignity as the expression of personal autonomy, protected by international law.

If you interested in a different perspective on gay issues, follow the link on the right the the Pink News site.  Lots of good stuff and an international perspective on US issues.  Did you know that other countries have elections with candidates from more than two parties (or one party, really, right?).  That candidates in Europe take pro-gay stances that are controversial.  That you don't have to surgically implant the Bible to your body to be taken seriously? 

Wow.

I love when there's good gay stuff in the City Paper.  It reminds me that journalists with actual journalistic street cred pay attention to our community and find us interesting and informative.

I fully expected the paper to cover Doug Shields' showdown with Sally Kerns. I was kinda disappointed they gave Diane Gramley so many inches to spew her bigotry and that they didn't talk to any of us gay people about the whole situation, but this isn't the first time I've disagreed with editorial decisions about content.  And, on the plus side, Gramley's own words pretty much prove my point that she's an idiot, without any homosexual accents.

To my intrigue, the CP's Melissa Meinzer wrote a really informative piece about Pitt's Rainbow Alliance providing support for Iraqui individuals who are LGBTQ.

So Hili formed Iraqi LGBT, a group dedicated to providing safe houses for LGBT people living in the war-torn nation. And the University of Pittsburgh's LGBT group, the Rainbow Alliance, is hoping to help.

The group, which recently had to close three of its five houses because of financial constraints, provides safe group housing, food and medical care for LGBT people living in Iraq. Many of the residents it serves need medical treatment for HIV or gender transitioning.

Sometimes it takes such a smack in the face to make us appreciate that dealing with Gramley and Kerns is the worst I've contended with recently.  And underscore the imperative for us to step up and demand leadership on LGBTQ issues, both local and international. 

I'm hoping all of you are taking a page from the Rainbow Alliance's book and making some calls to your elected officials about marriage amendments. 

I haven't been feeling especially bloggy lately, which usually means I scour the Internet for interesting gay tidbits that don't require a lot of commentary.  This is today's version ...

Russian Christians have attempted to purge the Moscow River in the wake of a gay cruise that sailed those very waters. 

[O]ne of the action's aims was "to purge the Moskva River after a large group of gays, who hired a similar ship to have a party going the same route last night."

Participants included state Duma member Nikolay Kuryanovich, who in February introduced legislation to recriminalize homosexuality.

Joining him were members of Cossack groups and assorted religious believers. They sung a prayer as they passed the Novospassky Bridge, then listened to a Christian rock band, Interfax said.

Huh.  That's an interesting approach.  Because I'm sure the very worst impurity involving the Moscow River is that it touched a boat that touched gay people.  No need to trifle with pollution or anything like being a steward of the earth or such nonsense.  Let's get rid of gay cooties instead.

In other news, the UK Gay News provides a transcript from Persian of an interview with an exiled lesbian Irani woman. She describes the torture she endured during years of imprisonment as well as her exile both from her home country and her entire culture.  It is very moving and disturbing.

What is your current situation?

I am alone.  Even here I am afraid, and I think it is this fear that isolates me.  A strange fear is my constant companion.  If I were to write the torments I have suffered on a piece of paper the reader would surely go mad.  Everyone has suffered pain in one form or another.  Have you heard of someone being tied to a car and pulled over the ground?  In Kashan, they tied me to a car and pulled me across the ground.  What should I say, who should I say it to?  If there was a God who would punish these criminals…

Why must I, at the pinnacle of freedom, even fear myself?  Why doesn’t anyone listen to us?  Where is this ‘human rights’?  Which Islam?  Which God?

You'll be amazed to learn that  <gasp> gays are less safe now than ever before in Iraq.

And, finally, Orthodox Jews did some big time damage to the city of Jerusalem during a destructive temper tantrum over the gay pride parade.  To the tune of $100,000.  City council members are calling for the money to be repayed.  Good for them.

Ledcat has been traveling this week, so tonight I'm frantically doing all the chores I promised would be completed for her return tomorrow.  So I've got my brand new copy of "Pride & Prejudice" (BBC version of course) playing the DVD player while I dust and sweep and sort the accumulation of stuff that does plague any household. 

The good news is that the house next door has sold to a delightful man who owns a dog and is very pleasing.  Hallelujah!  We are quite thrilled here at Lesbian Central.  You can never have too many neighbors with dogs. 

Here's some snippets from the gayiverse.

From Pam's House Blend comes word that Elizabeth Edwards will be speaking at the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club Pride Breakfast this weekend in San Francisco.  Pam determines that this is a huge illustration of how things have changed in the Presidential race.  Last time around, mad scramble to avoid us.  This time, pancakes in San Francisco. Let's see how that plays out.

Jerusalem Pride drew over 2,000 participants.  And at least one bomb carried by an Orthodox Jewish man.  Huh.

Japan might elect its first openly lesbian Parliament member.  Her name is Kanako Otsuji.

And Judy Garland died on this day in 1969.

Hey, that reminds me ... the Munchkins are getting a star on the Walk of Fame.  Many of them are like 70 years old, but they plan to be there.  I heard in on Fresh Air, so you know its gotta be true. 

Elizabeth just rejected Mr. Darcy's proposal.  I'm such a girl.

Oh those wacky Polish children's rights watchers .... always a day behind and a dollar short.  Remeber back in 1999 when Jerry Falwell deemed Teletubbie Tinky Winky a homo because he carried a purse (TW is the purple one)?  Now Ewa Sowinski is on the same bandwagon.  Well, she way until apparently someone reminder her of 1999 so she's off again.

"I noticed that he has a purse, but I didn't realize he's a boy. At first I thought that must be a bother for him," Sowinska told the magazine in an interview her office approved before publication. "Later I learned that there could be some hidden homosexual undertones."

Sowinska is a member of the League of Polish Families party, which is militantly anti-gay rights and anti-abortion. The party is a junior member in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Spokespeople from Sowinska's office have confirmed that they will not ask psychologists to examine the character.

Kacszynski has famously said, ""It's not in the interests of any society to increase the number of homosexuals, that's obvious."

I have a recurring dream that my father and I are on a long highway and we see a bridge that says "This way to Poland" and another exit that says "This way to France."  For some reason, I always want to go to Poland.  My father goes to France anyway.  For the record, as a lesbian and a woman, I'd much rather go to France.  Thank goodness for my Dad.