By Ramy Eletreby

AFA Targets New NBC Series The Book of Daniel

One month after threatening a boycott against Ford Motor Co. for advertising in the gay media, the American Family Association (AFA) shifted focus to NBC and its new series, The Book of Daniel. According to the PlanetOut Network, the AFA believes the show, created by openly gay Jack Kenny, does not positively represent Christians and has urged its members to write protest letters. The series, which airs Friday nights at 9 p.m., depicts the life of a priest named Daniel Webster, played by Aiden Quinn, and his family, which includes a gay Republican son, a daughter who is a drug dealer, an adopted son who is sleeping with a bishop's daughter, an alcoholic wife, and a lesbian secretary sleeping with the family's sister-in-law.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) applauds the series' inclusiveness for portraying people of faith coexisting with LGBT people. GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine told PlanetOut, "It doesn't surprise me that the AFA would be afraid of this series -- it shows a family that's both deeply religious and loving and accepting of their gay son."

Other gay TV characters include Fred Savage as Mitch, a gay actor who moves back in with his parents on ABC's Crumbs; ABC's Emily's Reasons Why Not, where Khary Payton plays Heather Graham's character's gay best friend, Josh; and on CBS's Love Monkey, Christopher Whiel plays Jake, a gay ex-pro athlete and sportscaster.

Also in Hollywood, LGBT flicks Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Transamerica earned Screen Actors Guild Award nominations Jan. 4 for their lead and supporting actors. Gay-created Desperate Housewives won a comedy ensemble nomination and the cast of Six Feet Under, which just finished its successful five-year run on HBO, won a TV drama ensemble nomination. The SAG Awards will air Jan. 29 on TNT and TBS.

California Conservative Groups Fail To Get Marriage Initiative on June 2006 Ballot

Two conservative California groups working to place separate measures on the ballot in 2006 constitutionally banning legal recognition for same-sex relationships halted their respective initiatives, citing lack of funds, shortage of signatures, and the current political climate as reasons for the standstill. Press reports also revealed that tension over how the measures should be introduced also created an obstacle. Both groups, however, hope their respective measures will make the 2008 ballot in a presidential election year.

The measure proposed by ProtectMarriage.com, supported by Focus on the Family, was 200,000 signatures short of the required 591,105 needed by the Dec. 27 deadline to qualify for the June primary ballot, according to the Associated Press. The measure states that a "marriage between a man and a woman is the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

"Simplicity is always favored by the public. When it's easy to understand, it's easier to get the public to vote yes," ProtectMarriage.com's Peter Henderson told The San Diego Union Tribune.

The other group, VoteYesMar-riage.com, sniped at Protect-Marriage.com's measure and tactics. "People want true blue marriage protection. They don't want petitions they've signed to just sit in an office instead of being turned in," organizer Randy Thomasson, director of the Campaign for Children and Families, told the Los Angeles Times. VoteYesMarriage.com's measure would not only prohibit same-sex marriage and roll back domestic partnership rights but also eliminate requirements that private employers provide benefits to domestic partners. Thomasson said his group would not circulate petitions until it raises enough money to guarantee a successful drive by paid signature gatherers. However, he has re-filed his petition with signatures due by April to make the November ballot.

Some political analysts say the current political climate could also be a factor of in the failure of both of the groups to gather enough support this year, citing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto last September of the marriage equality bill. Meanwhile, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the voter-passed Prop. 22, which states that California only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman, is expected to reach the state Supreme Court either later this year or early next year.

LAPD Community Forum on Jan 19

The LAPD Community Forum will be held on Jan. 19 with openly gay L.A. Police Commissioner Shelley Freeman in attendance. Sure to dominate the agenda are accusations of LAPD selective enforcement and police sting entrapment of gay men in the area bordering West Hollywood and Los Angeles.

In a widely distributed e-mail before a postponed Jan. 9 community meeting organized in part by L.A. City Councilmember Jack Weiss' office, Hollywood Vice's Manny Romeral wrote: "Unfortunately, the LAPD and Hollywood Vice are under attack by the gay community, including the City of West Hollywood. Apparently, they do not approve of our enforcement strategies. As such, they have written complaint letters to the Police Commission, including our chief of police, accusing us of luring and entrapping gay men engaging in lewd conduct. Obviously, they are misinformed and their allegations are without merit. We are merely trying to do our job in helping the community."

Some gays call that "help" harassment. "I've seen several LAPD stops with my own eyes in the area of La Jolla and the surrounding streets of West Hollywood and Los Angeles. In fact, I have been harassed myself in that area, both while driving and walking," Gil Moreno, co-captain of West Hollywood's Neighborhood Watch Program, wrote in a detailed email to IN. "This sort of 'gay cleansing; by the LAPD must stop!"

Moreno, a co-recipient of West Hollywood's 2003 Outstanding Contribution to Public Safety award, intends to distribute a letter about his experience to Freeman, LAPD officials, as well as West Hollywood officials. -- Karen Ocamb

AHF Blasts L.A. County for Stalling Bathhouse Regulations

On Dec. 27, AIDS Healthcare Foundation blasted delays by the L.A. County Department of Health Services (DHS) in the implementation of public health regulations for L.A. bathhouses and commercial sex venues (CSVs). The first step in implementing the regulations was set for December with a vote to approve a CSV license fee, but that vote was postponed until January. Last November AHF staged a protest in front of DHS headquarters calling attention to the delays.

The criticism comes four years after county officials conducted their landmark Bathhouse Study and reported an HIV rate of more than 11 percent among MSM (men who have sex with men) who frequent these CSVs, and two years after DHS and County Counsel voted to draft such regulations. "These commercial sex venues are an important place for HIV prevention providers to offer testing and outreach services to a high-risk population here in Los Angeles," said Karen Mall, AHF's Prevention & Testing Programs director. "Every week that goes by without implementation of these important public health regulations represents countless missed opportunities in prevention, and we urge county health officials to fast track the roll out of these regulations."

AIDS Advocate Michael Petrelis Blogs About HIV Names Reporting

Decrying the lack of accurate media analysis about HIV and STD statistics, veteran gay and AIDS rights advocate Michael Petrelis used New Year's Day to blog about San Francisco's monthly sexually transmitted disease report released last December Petrelis reports that "data through November shows a 27 percent reduction in syphilis, compared with this time last year, 461 cases in 2005, and 630 for 2004." He compares that with the HIV incidence rate, the number of HIV antibody tests performed and positive reactions, which remained essentially stable between 2004 and 2005. In 2005, 140 positives were reported out of 3,014 tests (4.6 percent), as compared to 120 out of 3,482 in 2004 (3.4 percent).

But, Petrelis cautions, the statistics include repeat testers. "The lack of names reporting over the years has allowed HIV and public health advocates to use the syphilis rate as a surrogate marker for rates of HIV infections," writes Petrelis. "I have always found that argument suspect because syphilis is much easier to contract than HIV ... Syphilis is a names reportable disease, has been for decades, and it is clearly and abundantly decreasing in San Francisco, which for all intents and purposes means the 'gay syphilis rate' is continuing to drop. But no one from the public health community is speaking out either about the falling numbers or what the decline may mean related to HIV infections."

Petrelis blogs at www.mpetrelis.blogspot.com. To see the San Francisco Health Department report, see www.dph.sf.ca.us/Reports/STD/stdmonth.pdf.

L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Launches New HIV Prevention Campaign

Using $90,000, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center launched a new phase of their interactive HIV prevention campaign, "HIV Stops With Me," featuring six local spokespeople and ads on buses traveling throughout Los Angeles.

"The campaign's continuing goal is to get HIV-positive people to play a bigger role in preventing HIV," says Jeff Bailey, director of health education and prevention. "It's also designed to reduce the stigma associated with being HIV-positive, to encourage people with HIV to remain healthy, and to provide support for HIV-positive people who may feel isolated." For more information, go to www.HIVStopsWithMe.org.