Homosexuality

Last month, Sen. John McCain dropped by “Saturday Night Live,” drawing laughs from his promise, if elected president, to fight expensive federal projects -- such as, he spoofed, a Department of Defense device to "jam gaydar." That was a joke. But some scientists are, in a way, working on gaydar, the supposed ability to discern whether a person is homosexual by reading subtle cues from their appearance. Just don't refer to it that way. The preferred term is "sexual orientation correlates."

BEIJING - Orgies and anal sex hardly seem the usual fodder of traditional Chinese folk art, but that is exactly what one Chinese artist is depicting in a series of provocative paper-cuts that are now being exhibited in Los Angeles for the first time. Paper-cuts originated in Eastern Han Dynasty China (AD 25-220) and are hung on windows or doors for good luck. But instead of the usual decorative flowers and birds, Xiyadie, whose pseudonym means "Siberian Butterfly," portrays graphic and daring depictions of homosexual love - long considered taboo in China.

Each year in the United States, perhaps a few dozen pregnant women learn they are carrying a fetus at risk for a rare disorder known as congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The condition causes an accumulation of male hormones and can, in females, lead to genitals so masculinized that it can be difficult at birth to determine the baby's gender. A hormonal treatment to prevent ambiguous genitalia can now be offered to women who may be carrying such infants. It's not without health risks, but to its critics those are of small consequence compared with this notable side effect: The treatment might reduce the likelihood that a female with the condition will be homosexual.

Mitt Romney apologized Thursday after a newspaper story described bullying behavior on his part when he was an 18-year-old senior at an elite, all-boys prep school in Michigan. The Washington Post detailed a 1965 incident at Cranbrook School in which a buttoned-down Romney apparently was incensed by the dyed blond locks of a junior known for his "nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. " He led a "posse" of students in a charge against the boy, the Post reported. "He can't look like that," Romney reportedly told a close friend at the time.

In striking down Proposition 8, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker penned an opinion that was heavy on findings of fact. In eloquent detail, he described the evidence presented at trial, and the utter lack of evidence for any of the arguments used to deny marriage to gay and lesbian couples. Though higher courts may overturn Walker's conclusions, the facts laid out should remain an important part of any future legal considerations. But tucked away in the opinion is something else that could carry weight not only in this lawsuit, as it moves through the courts, but in other same-sex marriage cases and debates about the rights of gays and lesbians.

Each year in the United States, perhaps a few dozen pregnant women learn they are carrying a fetus at risk for a rare disorder known as congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The condition causes an accumulation of male hormones and can, in females, lead to genitals so masculinized that it can be difficult at birth to determine the baby's gender. A hormonal treatment to prevent ambiguous genitalia can now be offered to women who may be carrying such infants. It's not without health risks, but to its critics those are of small consequence compared with this notable side effect: The treatment might reduce the likelihood that a female with the condition will be homosexual.

I have one simple request for Michael McGough on his article "What the Bible really says about gays" (Opinion, July 18) and student Justin Cannon, who is trying to justify homosexuality using the Bible. Give us one, just one, Bible verse that encourages homosexuality. P.S. You'd better pack a huge lunch! Matt Stankus Temecula

For those willing to pay for it, some clinics offer therapy to solve a problem of filial distress. "They get some beautiful men to walk around naked beside you, or make you watch gay porn," says Zhang Beichuan, one of China's leading experts on homosexuality, describing a practice he doesn't advocate. "The man naturally will get an erection. When his erection reaches a certain level, the instrument emits an electrical discharge, which upsets him. They repeat the process until the man doesn't get excited anymore.

Carol Lindstrom Luedtke's thoughtful piece on the ordination of practicing homosexuals to be pastors in their churches was a surprisingly compassionate opinion on a very divisive religious issue ("Modern American Church Needs No Scarlet Letter," Op-Ed Page, Jan. 24). The Times is to be commended for publishing one woman's refreshing counterpoint to a usually hard-line approach to gay clergy joining their heterosexual peers. I differ, however, with her opinion that Saint Paul condemned homosexuality in the New Testament.

Gold urges gays not to be defensive about their "life styles." He thinks that the moral high ground has been conceded wrongly to those who think homosexuality is wrong. He writes that if he believed homosexuals were immoral, he would "try not to be one, even if it meant a painful struggle," because he tries as hard as possible "to live a moral life." Gold is to be congratulated for taking this attitude. Let us hope that he will display the "honesty and courage" that he says it takes to defend homosexuality, in examining candidly the question of whether it is right or wrong.

Girl Scouts are dangerous -- and not just to your diet. At least that's what Indiana lawmaker Bob Morris says. He has labeled the Girls Scouts of America a radical organization that promotes homosexuality and abortion and is out to destroy American values. The Republican state representative is being roundly ridiculed for his position, even within his own party. But Morris isn't backing down. "My family and I took a view and we're sticking by it," Morris told the Associated Press this week, adding that his daughters are now members of a group for conservative Christian girls.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post A novel Emily M. Danforth Balzer & Bray: 480 pp.: $17.99, for readers age 14 and up There's something about the open spaces of the Great Plains that make the exploration of nascent homosexuality even more alienating and risky than the same experience in a big city or suburb. At least that's the story detailed in Emily Danforth's young adult debut, "The Miseducation of Cameron Post," a book that reads like a literary response to the Katy Perry hit "I Kissed a Girl" if it took place under a big Montana sky. Cameron Post is just 12 when she kisses her best girl friend on a dare - ostensibly as practice for future liaisons with boys.

A trio of South Carolina evangelicals threw their support behind Rick Santorum on Wednesday with a provocative statement that praises the former Pennsylvania senator for putting his name to “extremely politically-incorrect statements about homosexuality, heterosexuality and marital fidelity,” while rebuking front-runner Mitt Romney for “homophilia" and suggesting that his Mormon faith is “heretical.” “Rick Santorum clearly sees homosexuality...

In February 1970, a top aide to President Nixon warned J. Edgar Hoover that a new reporter in town, Jack Nelson, was said to be gunning for the FBI. Hoover took the advice to heart. "Keep an eye on these characters," the FBI director wrote his subordinates, referring to Nelson and two of his editors at the Los Angeles Times. "They are up to no good. " As reports on Nelson's activities poured in from FBI field offices, Hoover would scribble comments across the bottom. The more he read, the more vitriolic he became.

Ventura County prosecutors, trying for a second time to convict a former middle school student of fatally shooting a gay classmate, will drop the key allegation that the crime was motivated by a hatred of homosexuals. The announcement came Tuesday as several jurors from the original trial, which ended last month in a hung jury, expressed strong misgivings about the prosecution's case. They said they didn't believe Brandon McInerney killed Larry King because the boy was gay and urged that he be tried in Juvenile Court instead of as an adult.

Fred Karger, Republican candidate for president, knows there is no chance he will be the GOP nominee, much less the next leader of the free world. "I'm not delusional," he says, though one might wonder what, exactly, he is thinking. Karger is no political naif. He spent nearly 30 years as a campaign advisor to several of California's top Republicans and served as an election strategist for corporate clients, including cigarette maker Philip Morris. His trophies — a home a block from the ocean in Laguna Beach, a second one above Laurel Canyon and a silver Mercedes to ride between the two — speak to his success.

A conference on curing homosexuality through sports and therapy has drawn fire from some health professionals and gay activists who say homosexuality cannot be cured because it is not a disease. The Utah chapter of the National Assn. of Social Workers voted 6 to 5 last week not to allow social workers who attend the conference to receive academic "continuing education" credit for doing so.

Handing more ammunition to detractors who say Rep. Michele Bachmann has an aggressive anti-gay agenda, the GOP presidential candidate attended a church service in Iowa on Sunday in which the pastor labeled homosexuality "immoral" and "unnatural. " According to NBC News, Bachmann attended a non-denominational church near Des Moines along with her husband Marcus. She was holding her personal copy of the Bible. Bachmann read to the congregation from the book of Philippians, NBC reported, saying, "Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, think well of these things.

Jonathan Turley is probably not the most popular man right now with supporters of same-sex marriage. The George Washington University law professor has filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of Utah's anti-polygamy laws — and his argument is based on a landmark 2003 Supreme Court gay rights decision. That's not good news in the view of most gay rights supporters, who don't want their cause linked to that of polygamists any more than they want to see parallels drawn with people who engage in incest, bestiality and other taboo sexual practices.