Memos Reveal Canadian Government Anxiety About Plans To Create Office Of Religious Freedom, World Health Organization States Obvious Suggesting That Improved Human Rights Are Required To Protect Gay Men From HIV/AIDS, New Zealand Defence Force Allows First LGBT Support Group To Organize, Transgender Inmate Fights For Right To Gender Reassignment Surgery, Rita Hayworth Grandson Commits Suicide, Ryan Phillippe

Communications lines drafted by the bureaucracy about the Canadian government's plan to establish an Office of Religious Freedom reveal a deep-seated nervousness about how the venture will be perceived by the public. During the election campaign last spring the Conservatives promised the office would become a key pillar of Canadian foreign policy. But, reports the CBC, documents obtained through access to information laws suggest the government is worried about the perception that the office would be used to curry favour with religious and ethnic groups in Canada. And it shows nervousness about the office being seen as an attempt to blur the line between church and state. The lines were drafted for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for a day-long consultation with religious groups, human rights advocates and academics, which took place in Ottawa on October 3. The meeting was closed to the public and the media. The document is a mock-up of potential questions the minister could face, and the appropriate responses. 'While still in its planning stages, the process of establishing this office is well underway'—MP Bob Dechert One of the anticipated questions speaks to the heart of the government's ongoing partisan project to woo immigrants and ethnic groups: "Is the creation of this Office politically motivated to curry favour with certain constituencies?" The answer steers away from domestic and partisan concerns completely: "This is about upholding Canada's commitment to defending fundamental human rights, the right to freedom of religion and belief, opposition religious hatred and promoting Canadian values of pluralism and tolerance abroad."

Vast improvements in human rights and access to treatment are needed to protect gay men against HIV/AIDS, the World Health Organisation said Monday."If you want to achieve zero new infections, you have to address the human rights issues," WHO official Ying-Ru Lo said after a meeting about infection rates among gay men at the International Conference for AIDS and sexually transmitted infections in Africa, according to the AFP. She said stigmatisation and high levels of discrimination blocked access to AIDS treatment, boosting infection rates among gay men in developing countries. "We must ensure the well-being of the most marginalised groups," she added. Men who have sex with men are 19 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS in lower income countries, according to a 2011 WHO report. Africa is the region hardest hit by epidemic. Homosexuality is illegal in more than 75 countries of the world, and is widely considered taboo in Africa. The director general of the African Medical and Research Foundation, Teguest Guerma, said it would take time to create laws protecting gay rights, but speaking openly about homosexuality was a crucial first step. "In the past they were really underground, at least now they are coming to the surface," she said. The ICASA conference in the Ethiopian capital has scheduled three sessions concerning the rights of homosexuals affected by HIV/AIDS, before closing on Thursday.

The New Zealand Defence Force is allowing a gay, lesbian and transgender support group to be set up. Flight Lieutenant Stu Pearce told Radio New Zealand the internal support group was a significant step for defence. New Zealand Defence will reportedly join just a handful of militaries around the world to form an internal support group for the minority groups. Pearce said while a gay personnel ban had been lifted in 1993, the defence force remains a conservative organization. The support group will launch in January and was approved last month. He said the internal support group would make sure all the welfare needs of defence personnel were met.

A transgender Virginia inmate has appealed the dismissal of her lawsuit asking the state to pay for her to have a sex change operation, saying a jury should decide if hormones and other therapies she receives are adequate. U.S. District Judge James Turk tossed out Ophelia De'Lonta's lawsuit in October, saying the state was adequately treating her gender identity disorder, a mental diagnosis in which people believe they were born the wrong sex. Turk said courts have ruled that inmates are guaranteed only minimum care, not preferred therapies, according to The Associated Press. De'Lonta, who was born a man, claims her disorder causes her to attempt castration and that the surgery is the only thing that will make her stop. In an appeal to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals filed last week, she cites established treatment guidelines that say the surgery is needed in severe cases. "Whether treatment is adequate is a question properly left to a jury," De'Lonta argues. "... The court seems to be saying that the fact that a prisoner is receiving any treatment at all precludes her demanding adequate treatment and forecloses altogether any argument on the level of care required." In 2004, De'Lonta won the right to hormone treatment, psychotherapy and other allowances, such as requiring prison officials to address her as a woman and allow her to wear some female clothing. The hormones have caused her to develop noticeable breasts and other feminine features. But De'Lonta says the therapy no longer works and that she cannot control the urge to mutilate her genitals. In interviews with the AP, De'Lonta has said she will continue to cut herself unless she gets the $20,000 surgery. Turk, however, cited federal court rulings that say there is nothing cruel and unusual about denying inmates treatments "that only the wealthy can afford." He wrote that De'Lonta was not being denied medical care, only her preferred treatment - surgery. The Attorney General's Office does not comment on pending litigation, spokeswoman Caroline Gibson said. De'Lonta is serving more than 70 years for robbery, drugs and other charges. She was hoping to become the first inmate in the nation to receive a state-funded sex change operation. Similar lawsuits have failed in a handful of other states, and lawmakers in some states are trying to ban the use of taxpayer money for the operations. Inmates in several other states have sued and won the right to hormone treatments. The lawsuit's dismissal is unlikely to affect the ongoing case in Massachusetts of convicted murderer Michelle Kosilek - born Robert - who argues her surgery is a medical necessity. She says state officials have violated her constitutional rights by refusing to provide the operation. Kosilek has received hormone treatments and lives as a woman in an all-male state prison. De'Lonta also is housed in a men's prison but demanded in her lawsuit to be moved to a female facility. Turk, however, said the state is right to treat her as it does any other inmate with male genitalia.

The grandson of Rita Hayworth was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Chelsea apartment, law-enforcement sources said Monday. The New York Post reports that the body of Andrew Embiricos, 25, was found lying face-up on his bed, with a plastic bag over his head, inside his apartment at 270 W. 17th St. around 8:30 pm Sunday, sources said. A friend, Aaron Edwards, made the discovery. No note was found at the scene. Sources said Embiricos is believed to have tried to kill himself before. Embiricos is the child of Hayworth’s daughter, Princess Wasmin Aga Khan, 61, a New York socialite who raises awareness for Alzheimer's. The princess rushed to her son's apartment after hearing the news last night.

Ryan Phillippe spotted arriving at Los Angeles International Airport Sunday, and seen Monday lunching with children Ava and Deacon, smoking sexy as always.