Τό γυναικεῖον τῆς Ὑπατίας - An Áit Bhanda na Hypatia - Hypatia's Gynaeceum

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/01/AR2009050103406.html
When Women Rule, It Makes a Difference

By Christina L. Boyd and Lee Epstein
Sunday, May 3, 2009

When Sandra Day O'Connor retired from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, national polls suggested that the public overwhelmingly supported replacing her with a female juror. O'Connor seemed to agree. "He's good in every way, except he's not a woman" is what she had to say about the nomination of John G. Roberts Jr.

Now, Justice David H. Souter is set to retire from the court, and President Obama is already facing similar pressure. Who might take Souter's place? We're already being introduced to Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Pamela Karlan -- all very accomplished individuals who happen to possess the one qualification that many commentators and court-watchers seem to agree is the most important this time around: They are women.

Some of the pressure comes from those who believe that the membership of our courts should reflect the makeup of our society. More than half the U.S. population is female. Nearly one-third of all U.S. lawyers are women. Approximately 30 percent of the judges serving on the lower federal courts are women.

But a diverse Supreme Court isn't just about a bench that looks like America. This is about jurisprudence, too. In research that we conducted with our colleague Andrew D. Martin, we studied the votes of federal court of appeals judges in many areas of the law, from environmental cases to capital punishment and sex discrimination. For the most part, we found no difference in the voting patterns of male and female judges, except when it comes to sex discrimination cases. There, we found that female judges are approximately 10 percent more likely to rule in favor of the party bringing the discrimination claim. We also found that the presence of a female judge causes male judges to vote differently. When male and female judges serve together to decide a sex discrimination case, the male judges are nearly 15 percent more likely to rule in favor of the party alleging discrimination than when they sit with male judges only.

This holds true even after we account for judges' ideological leanings. If Obama is considering two fairly moderate people, one a woman and the other a man, we would expect the woman to cast more liberal votes in sex discrimination cases. The same would be true if the president were considering two very liberal candidates, again, one a man and one a woman.

The retirement of the liberal-leaning Souter may not give the president a chance to move the court significantly to the left. But it does let him make a different shift. If he does choose a woman to fill Souter's seat, he could have a major impact on an area of law that's important to many Americans -- women and men alike.
=============

Got this on Facebook:

NATION-WIDE Campaign: Kathleen Sullivan for Supreme Court Justice!
Sullivan is incredible qualified and would bring a lot of diversity to the bench.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term after 19 years on the bench. The vacancy will give President Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction. We are urging the consideration and appointment of Kathleen Sullivan.

Kathleen Sullivan is hands down one of the most qualified candidates. She is a Marshall scholar and former Stanford Law dean whom constitutional law legend Laurence Tribe once called “the most extraordinary student I had ever had.” She is the author of the nation’s leading casebook in constitutional law, has litigated before the Supreme Court, and has been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal. Sullivan was also a professor of law at Harvard Law School from 1984 until 1993. She joined Stanford Law School in 1993 and became the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law in 1996. Sullivan then served as the dean of Stanford Law School from 1999 until 2004, when she voluntarily stepped down to serve as the inaugural director of a new Stanford center on constitutional law. Since 2004, she has been the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford Law School.

In addition to this impressive list of qualifications, Sullivan is also a woman and openly gay which would bring some much needed diversity to the Supreme Court.

If chosen, Sullivan would become the first ever openly gay Justice and third female Justice in United States history to serve on the Supreme Court leading to a Court that more truly reflects the composition of the American population.

You can read more about Kathleen Sullivan here: http://www.law.stanford.edu/directory/profile/57/

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ACTION FOR MAY 20 - 22:
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STEP 1. Call Obama 202-456-1111
STEP 2. Email Obama: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
STEP 3: Repeat on Thursday and Friday.

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No matter what anyone tells you, remember…

NOW is our time.

YES we can.

Continue to invite your friends to join the campaign.

By fatima - Mirrored from Feministing
(I am thrilled to see someone speaking out about this, so brilliantly... right on, fatima)

http://community.feministing.com/2009/04/the-truth-about-femmesor-we-fu.html

the truth about femmes...or we fuck with misogyny so it's just easier to ignore us

i originally wrote this as a piece when me and couple other people in chicago were trying to start our own femme mafia (http://www.myspace.com/femmemafia). i thought it would be useful for people to ponder here at feministing as well, since i have seen some femme-bashing in some of the comment threads. i hope this can open up your minds to what a queer femme identity looks like.

on any given night, approximately 293584577432 hot queer women of all shapes and sizes, races, ethnicities, ages, religions, abilities venture into their local queer bars in search of a good flirt, fuck, or maybe even someone to fall in love with. they wear dresses, lipstick, long hair, and heels. they are outgoing and shy, the most dominant of tops and the most submissive of bottoms. they are funny, brilliant, and friendly. one thing is for sure and that is that they are HOT. and yet so many complain that no one approached them, that no one even saw them, and that everyone assumed they were straight. because queer femmes are largely ignored by the 'mainstream' queer community. the fact that they are even separate from the 'mainstream' just shows how fucked the whole thing is anyways. because that means that they are the 'other' and that the 'mainstream' are the people who look stereotypically gay.

okay so i like to wear lacy bras and undies. i live in dresses. hot pink lipstick makes my lips look amazing. and i wear eyeshadow. i like to knit and i want to learn how to sew. when i have time, baking and cooking are actually fun for me. all this and i love women. everything about them is beautiful to me. they make me excited about life and love and sex. i am femme and i am queer. if people can't see both of those things as being complementary to each other then it shows nothing more than their FEAR of the gender that i have chosen for myself.
( there's more... )
so when feminists and queers decide that they are ready to really kick patriarchy in its privileged balls, of course we will need the genderqueer, androgynous, and butch people, but we will also need the people who adorn the lipstick, the heels, the push-up bras. open your eyes and truly see us. because we are femme and we are fierce.

Since I began address canvassing last week, I've discovered that this is the most pleasant way to earn money I've ever experienced. The work is dead easy, just walking door to door and entering map spots on a hand-held computer with GPS. I'm so glad they sent me out this time of year, when the spring weather is so beautiful, the trees are all in riotous blossom in gorgeous colors, and the fragrance of many kinds of flowers fills the air. It's actually blissful to work this way, and I get the exercise I need too.

Sometimes people come to the door and I get to say hi from the Census Bureau. Most of them are pretty nice. People from other countries tend to be more distrustful of the government, I imagine with reason if they grew up under systems that lack our concept of civil society, where the government is to be feared or distrusted.

The same holds true for groups in America denied their rights: Last week I encountered a couple of elderly lesbians doing yardwork in their front yard. Their age must have been in their mid-60s or pushing 70. I said hi to one, and she gestured to the other one, presumably the dominant partner who does the talking. She greeted me by saying, "We're not going to answer any questions." When I started to explain that all their information is strictly confidential and by law can't be shared with any other agency, she spoke over me, repeating "We're not going to answer any questions" in a firm tone of voice with a "go away" smile. She is old enough to remember the days when you could get in a lot of trouble if it was known you were a lesbian couple. (cf. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg) I smiled and said "Thank you" and kept walking.

I've been working in a neighborhood a stone's throw to the west of my own, except that the way these subdivisions are built, there is no road connecting them. So I have to drive east out my feeder road to the main thoroughfare, north a considerable way, and then southwest an even longer way on the other feeder road to my assigned area. Making the trip over 10 times as long. I'm not complaining-- because I get paid for mileage.

Today I canvassed an unusual cul-de-sac. The road formed a ring around a copse of trees in the center. It turned out to contain a small family cemetery from the 19th century. That explains why the road had been built around it like that. Not all of the gravestones were legible, but on one of them, belonging to Lucy Higgs (1842-1917) I read:

Dearest sister, thou hast left us
We thy loss most deeply feel
But 'tis God who has bereft us
He can all our sorrows heal.

Good thing I knocked off of work early today (I can set my own hours): although the weather was beautiful around midday, about a quarter past 5 there was a sudden hailstorm, making a huge racket on the roof and windows. When it stopped A. rushed outside to collect hailstones before they melted, in the belief that they have healing powers.

Dear sister,

Thank you so much for writing to me, it means a lot that you reach out, I'm here for you (I feel guilty saying that because I missed noticing your mail for a week, but I promise to watch out more carefully from now on). I know what you're going through-- we all go through this-- this is totally normal for gay people. It's painful and seems difficult or impossible to deal with, it wounds and scars people's souls, and there's no good reason for it. It just isn't fair that we get treated this way.

Religious prohibitions on homosexuality are left over from ancient times when small communities needed all the reproduction they could get, and if someone didn't have a heterosexual relationship and make babies, from the community's point of view, it was seen as an evasion of people's duty to keep the population going. In the old days, a large proportion of children died before they grew up and needed to be replaced. It was a fear of communal annihilation staring everybody in the face, people lived in smaller communities back then and their survival wasn't guaranteed unless they kept popping out a lot of babies. That's what the homophobia is all about. Fear. A prehistoric fear whose origin has long since been forgotten.

Nowadays the world has an enormous population, and humans have become hugely successful at survival, what with much higher yields of agriculture and prevention of diseases. We don't need to force everybody to reproduce any more. But religion has a way of getting a grip on people, and it has a way of keeping old stuff like this fear going long after the original reason for it is obsolete.

The result is the fear and hatred that oppress us just for being the way Allah created us. It's senseless and unjust to do this harm to people who never did any harm to anyone. The guilt that gets pounded into us... honey, although I came out and became an activist for LGBT rights, I still have to deal with the guilt my family pounded into me. I got it growing up even when I didn't know what it was about, I had such fear since I was a girl that I hid it all from even myself. So when I came out, my whole family rejected me. It took me a long time and a lot of work to be able to let go of them, and although it's better now, I still have these issues to deal with. It helps talking to people who remind me that there is no reason for this guilt, that those who put this guilt on us are wrong.

They're just plain wrong. We can't let them do this to us. We have to be strong within ourselves. It helps to talk it over with others, because like you said, if you had a gay brother or sister you'd have no problem with them. You could even reassure them there's no reason for guilt. So it's really important for us to support one another. If it helps you any to talk with me or anyone, please pass it along and help other LGBT people you see suffering. Individually, it's so hard to stand up to all the pressure and hatred and guilt, it can crush us. But when we support one another, we become so much stronger.

Sister, believe me, it can get better for you, it will get better for you, no matter how dark and gloomy this time gets, the truth sets us free. What oppresses you and me is falsehood, and Allah says truth always smashes falsehood. Falsehood can look scary but it's weak. Truth may seem dim and far-off sometimes, but it's always the strongest thing there is. The truth is, you are innocent, you do not deserve this guilt. Visualize yourself shaking it off. It doesn't stick to you. It's a product of unreality. The reality is you're a beautiful, caring, loving sister who has so much to offer. Allah created you good with great potential to bring love into the world and help make it a better place. No one can take this gift away from you. You have the right to be who you are, because when you're true to yourself is how you can bring good into the world. If family or community tries to force you to be false to who you are, don't obey them, don't listen to them. This guilt is harmful and destroys lives. Don't let them do that to you. Allah created you for all the good in life. There is so much love and beauty and joy to be found when you're healthy and whole within yourself. Believe you have the power to be happy and healthy, you have the right to be the whole person who you are.

Those of us who come out maybe had to pay a price, the loss of family and community, but your true family is the people who care about you, you have a community of LGBT sisters and brothers to support you and care about you. Sister, what you get by being true to yourself is so much greater than what you give up. So much richer and rewarding. You can live a beautiful life and bring love and beauty to the world around you when you start by being true to yourself.

Please gather a support network around you. Please find LGBT support services in the area where you live, and make contact. That's one of the most beautiful things I've found, queer people understand one another and are great at supporting one another. Within the LGBT community there's so much love and caring to be found. And healing. We've all been wounded this way, so we understand how to help each other heal. Just like you reached out to me in e-mail, which is great that you did, please reach out to LGBT support groups near you. It makes such a huge difference in a person's life.

You're welcome to write to me any time, I'm here for you, but I'm just one woman, write to the other sisters in our Lesbian Muslims group too, we're all here to support each other. You don't have to go to really dark places in the group like you did with me privately, but just drop a line and say hey you know this is rough and I need some support. It's one thing our people do so well. :)

Let me know how you're doing, I see you strong, healed, and joyful in your life ahead of you. I'm holding you in the light.

Love,
Jannah

Woman

I dream of a place between your breasts
to build my house like a haven
where I plant crops
in your body
an endless harvest
where the commonest rock
is moonstone and ebony opal
giving milk to all of my hungers
and your night comes down upon me
like a nurturing rain.

--Audre Lorde

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is the world's first lesbian to become a head of government. Frickin awesome. :)

First gay PM for Iceland cabinet

Iceland has announced a new government that will be headed by the modern world's first openly gay leader.

Johanna Sigurdardottir was named new prime minister by the country's coalition political parties.
( continued" )

If they can count $624 billion for war
Why can't they count our votes?
If they can count thousands of bombs and still be buying more
Why can't they count our votes?
We're not done, We're not tired
We won't stop until, Dick Cheney
YOU'RE FIRED!

If they can make cash machines that register each sale
Why can't they count our votes?
But they made voting machines that leave no paper trail and
Why can't they count our votes?
We're not done, We're not tired
We won't stop until, Michael Mukasey
YOU'RE FIRED!

Counting money, that one's easy
Corporate donations to their elections
Counting interest in the name of business
Credit cards to the maxes
You know they're gonna count your taxes

When they claimed they'd bring fair elections to Iraq
We said "Why can't you count OUR votes?!"
In Ohio we had lines that stretched around for blocks
Why can't you count our votes?
We're not done, We're not tired
We won't stop until, George Bush
YOU'RE FIRED!

Why can't they count our votes?
We're gonna count all the votes!

http://www.emmasrevolution.com/

http://www.afterellen.com/movies/2008/7/ajihadforlove
Calling for "A Jihad for Love"
by Julie Bolcer, Contributing Writer
August 25, 2008

You know that director Parvez Sharma is serious about focusing on women in Islam when he opens his debut documentary, A Jihad for Love, with a lesbian couple at prayer. Kneeling in a mosque with their faces obscured on-screen, the pair implores Allah to “Protect us from committing acts you won’t forgive. Help us remove this desire and replace it with love."

Neither utterly frustrated nor hopelessly conflicted, the women embody the timeless and universal question at the heart of A Jihad for Love: Why do humans long for acceptance from faiths, institutions and communities that reject them? In positing an answer as it relates to devout Muslims, director Sharma delivers a refreshingly lesbian-inclusive film that holds instructive value for anyone seeking a richer understanding of Islam, the world’s second largest and fastest growing religion.
( keep reading... )

http://www.myspace.com/katdevlin

The voice of my guitar every time I play those songs it reminds me
Of notes strung together forming memories that play on repeat in my mind
A soundtrack of moving reels of days and days and days gone by when I was where he now stands
Opposite of you, learning love kissing you too young to know too young to understand

And the skies they broke from that first kiss
'Cause my body never knew it could feel like this
Way up so high in a different world
I guess all I ever needed was the touch of a girl
And I thank you … for making me gay

Never will forget how it felt that night when your hands wrote the prologue to the rest of my life
Fingers over trembling skin never felt so right and our fumbling hands roamed until it was light
Followed by months and months of sweet discovery, two bodies, four hips and lips sensations I could not believe
Chapters of ink flowed free by kisses burned to memory the brightest whitest flame that you ignited in me

And the skies they broke from that first kiss
'Cause my body never knew it could feel like this
Way up so high in a different world
I guess all I ever needed was the touch of a girl
And I thank you … for making me gay

My history reversed in me
Realizing I had to rewrite dreams
Recognizing what I could be
Making them see that it’s alright, I’m okay, I’m happy
We rode the waves unaware of dark below before innocence got lost in life’s flow
When always meant always, forever meant longer, and eternity of time to grow
Now definitions change, words fade away and tomorrow is just another promise we make
But it was you in the first place, the place and time I can’t escape the naivety and honesty this world could not take

And the skies they broke from that first kiss
'Cause my body never knew it could feel like this
Way up so high in a different world
I guess all I ever needed was the touch of a girl
And I thank you … for making me gay

www.KATDEVLIN.com

Sweet woman, risin' inside my glow
I think I’m missin' you
Sing to me them soft words, takin' me to your secret
Letting me know, taking me in, you let it all go.

Oh the warmth, surrounding me
This night is starin' at me
Oh the warmth, surrounding me
It just won't let me be, just won't let me be.

A little passage of time 'till I hold you and you'll be mine
Sweet woman, risin' so fine.

--Lyrics by Jennifer Wysong, music by Cris Williamson

Saturday, June 14 -- Dupont Circle -- 2:00 PM
Be seen - Be heard

See you there!
Bring bottled water, signs, and your fabulous selves.

The 2008 Dyke March will be on Saturday, June 14th at 2pm. After the march, stick around to hear live music and speakers: Emily White, Elise Roy, The Mautner Project, Kim Richardson. We still need volunteers to help with equipment setup and Marshals for the March! Please get in touch if you'd like to help out. Spread the word!
http://www.myspace.com/dcdykemarch

from
http://www.meemgroup.org/

What is Meem?

Meem is a community of and for LBTQ women in Lebanon. LBTQ is defined as women who self-identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender (including male-to-female and female-to-male), queer, in addition to women questioning their sexual orientation. We believe in diversity.

Meem is based on values of equality, support, confidentiality, and respect. The group was created on the idea that women should be encouraged to empower themselves and each other through mutual support. We are a closed, private group, not out of fear, but because we work hard on guarding the safety and security of our members. We believe in empowerment through self-organizing.

Our goal is to create a safe space in Lebanon where lesbians can meet, talk, discuss issues, share experiences, and work on improving their lives and themselves. In a nutshell, Meem is a group of really cool women who look out for each other and work on making Lebanon a better home for lesbians. Oh, and we are really cool :)

Membership in Meem is restricted only to LBTQ women who are Lebanese (anywhere in the world) or living in Lebanon (of any nationality). These restrictions are there because a support group needs to remain focused. Meem started with 4 members and today has 129 members.

We are, however, working on providing support services for lesbians all over the Arab world, and we do welcome emails and inquiries from anyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, and geography.

What does the name "Meem" stand for?

The name "Meem" is derived from the Arabic letter "m" which stands for مجموعة مآزرة للمرأة المثلية "majmouaat mou’azara lil-mar’a al-mithliya" (a support group for lesbian women). In Arabic, the letter looks like this:
م

The letter "meem" as an initial for the word lesbian (mithliya) also symbolizes the anonymity of lesbians in the Arab world. Plus, we love how the logo combines the Arabic letter with the female symbol :)

Give them your support and encouragement!-- J.Hy

I do belong to a race of people, not linked by lines of descent but by a commonality of orientation. Whatever the cause of that attraction, for nearly all it is not a choice. To deny that we are such a race is to deny our appearance throughout history in diverse places and under the most adverse of conditions.

From She to whom we look as the mother of us, She who was the muse of Plato- the poet and academician Sappho, to Isabella of Hapsburg, to what some of us consider our "greatest generation" in Paris on the Left Bank in the 1920's with Stein, Toklas, Natalie Barney, Romaine Brooks, Dolly Wilde, and up to the modern era we have always existed.

From within our people came revolutions in literature (Stein, Woolf), art (Brooks, Laurencin), poetry (Renee Vivien, Stein, Barney).

From within our race came an upheaval in pediatric medicine with the work of Dr Kathleen Lynn.

The fire of a true revolution was fanned by us in the person of Maud Gonne McBride.

A woman's right to vote for you came out of the brilliance of Emmeline Pankhurst and Susan Anthony, two of our sisters.

From within our lineage came that champion of human dignity and equality, Eleanor Roosevelt and that supporter of the rights of working people Frances Perkins.

From one of our family came some of the earliest warnings about Fascism through the pen of Janet Flanner.

Our race lacks the familial descent of the other races, but we are a connected line through history nonetheless. Our race can move amongst you unseen if necessary to survive, yet somehow we have the innate ability to recognize each other.

If you deny us as a race you must explain our continuous existence even through the most difficult periods in history, which you cannot. We emerge over and over again despite repeated attempts to obliterate us physically, intellectually, religiously or philosophically.

It is time for our race, the race of women who love women, to be freed from the shackles that you would pound into place around our arms and feet to hobble us using a collection of Bronze Age tales as hammer against Liberty.

It is time, finally, for our race, our family to emerge into the daylight of Equality from the half-shadows of fear.

reposted from Pam's House Blend by permission of Maura:

Please feel free to quote anything that I write Hypatia.
My mind, my heart and all of my skills serve all of us.
That is why I am an activist - to serve.
"We want our rights and we don't care how. We want our revolution...NOW"
by: MauraHennessey

William Gladstone: Your Majesty, work on the Criminal Law Amendment is nearing completion in Parliament. I am pleased to inform Your Majesty that we shall be undertaking to outlaw every manner of... indecent behaviour.

Queen Victoria: We take it that you refer to the "Greek vice," Mr. Gladstone.

WG: Indeed, Your Majesty. That along with the practice of... er... Sapphism.

QV: We are not sure of your meaning, sir. Surely you do not mean to imply that ladies actually commit such vile acts?

WG: Um... er...

QV: Haven't you read your Bible, Mr. Gladstone? Well, have you?

WG: Er, yes, Your Majesty.

QV: I have, I mean, we have read right through the Bible and found no mention whatsoever of this. Therefore, it is beneath our notice. We will hear no more of this.

RED ROSES.

A cool red rose
and a pink cut pink,
a collapse and a sold hole,
a little less hot.

--Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/

Pam's House Blend is my major site for up-to-the-minute political LGBT news and commentary. Highly intelligent, confrontational, and informative, plus a really fine community of progressive hearts and minds has been growing there. Pam is a lesbian woman of color down South who REALLY tells it like it is. And she has lots of like-minded writers contributing. The blog is fast-paced, always something new, always current, vital, and alive. I feel at home there.

Pam's iconic image is of an always-steaming coffee cup, which is right on--hot, black, tasty, and mentally stimulating.

Yesterday at Dupont Circle the LGBT community gathered to pay tribute to a much beloved activist, archivist, and all around good gal, Cheryl Spector (1958-2007)--founder of the Rainbow History Project, which documents the queer movements to which she contributed so much. For hours in the hot sun the crowd listened to eulogies and fond reminiscences of Cheryl by many people whose lives she had touched, and by her brothers and sister Barbara who went around and thanked everyone for coming. I regret I never had the chance to meet her, but feel honored that shamantigre invited me to join him in sacred drumming for the event. I brought my djembe and we drummers opened and closed the ceremony. The steps up to the Dupont Circle fountain where the speakers stood were covered with a sheer shimmery gold cloth, and glitter was scattered all around by the DC Radical Faeries, who filled a cauldron with incense to bless the crowd as we drummed. Many portraits of Cheryl were displayed and there was a watermelon too, they said it was her favorite food. When Barbara Spector spoke, she held up Cheryl's necklace containing many charms from people she had known, and the power of her living spirit radiating from the necklace was palpable. Afterward, the participants moved the commemoration to a café but I had to get home so I missed that part. At the end of the Dupont Circle part, two other lesbian drummers and I sang "Hava Nagila" in Hebrew to the African rhythms. It turned out none of us was Jewish and we were all amazed at one another for having learned the lyrics in Hebrew. לחים L'Chaim!

From the Washington Blade online...

Iranian lesbian threatened with deportation in Britain could find refuge in Italy
Could face torture if returned to Iran
ROME (AP) | Aug 28, 12:21 PM

Italian politicians said Rome could grant asylum to an Iranian lesbian who faces deportation from Britain and a possible death sentence back home. Meanwhile, gay rights proponents and left-wing politicians rallied for her cause in a protest Monday outside the British embassy here.

Pegah Emambakhsh, 40, who fled to Britain from Iran in 2005 after her partner was arrested and tortured, is due to be expelled this week after her bid for residency was rejected, according to a British advocacy group.

Supporters in Britain are lobbying immigration authorities to show leniency. And activists in San Francisco have met with British representatives to press Emambakhsh's claim for asylum.

"If returned to Iran, she faces certain imprisonment, likely severe lashings and possibly even stoning to death. Her crime in Iran is her sexual orientation," said Peter Tatchell, of London-based gay rights charity OutRage.

The main Italian gay rights group, Arcigay, led about 100 people in a protest Monday evening outside the British embassy. Some left-wing politicians from parties in Premier Romano Prodi's center-left coalition joined the demonstration.

Arcigay has called on Prodi's government to offer Emambakhsh asylum.

"This life needs to be saved," Aurelio Mancuso, an Arcigay leader, yelled through a megaphone.

Government officials, including Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, have told reporters that Italy is ready to welcome the woman.

Italy, like other EU countries, does not have the death penalty, and began a push at the United Nations earlier this year for a worldwide moratorium on capital punishment.

Homosexuality is considered a crime in Iran and can carry the death penalty. In 2005, the Islamic regime hanged two teenagers on charges of involvement in homosexual acts.

Britain's Home Office declined to comment on Emambakhsh's case, saying it cannot discuss individual asylum cases.

Richard Caborn, a former British sports minister and a lawmaker for the northern English city of Sheffield, where Emambakhsh has lived since 2005, said he had won a temporary delay of her deportation and was planning to press British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith over the case.

"Maybe they wanted proof, but I don't know what proof I could have offered," Italian daily La Repubblica quoted Emambakhsh as saying in an interview published on Sunday. "I'd rather die than go back to Iran, where something more terrible and painful than death awaits me."

Emambakhsh was arrested in Sheffield last week and sent to an immigration detention center in London before her planned deportation.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini told the Italian news agency ANSA on Monday that Britain should look at the case "in depth."

He acknowledged Emambakhsh's case was difficult to prove but added that "even if there is a doubt, a reasonable suspicion, protection must prevail and the repatriation to Iran must be suspended."