Page 1 Consider (12/06)

Merit Badge in Decency: For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city’s request to change its discriminatory policy toward gay people despite threats that if it did not do so, the city would evict the group from a municipal building where the Scouts have resided practically rent free since 1928. This week the Boy Scouts made their last stand and lost. "At the end of the day, you can not be in a city-owned facility being subsidized by the taxpayers and not have language in your lease that talks about nondiscrimination," said City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who represents the district where the building is located. "Negotiations are over." (NYT)

Trans(South)America: A 17-year-old Argentine has undergone male to female sex reassignment surgery only months after winning a court battle in the first case of its kind involving a minor in this country, a representative for the teen said. A judge in 2004 ruled the teen had to wait until age 21 for the operation, but the parents appealed successfully, swaying a court panel to issue a decision in September authorizing surgery as a minor. (AP)

Some Splainin' to Do: John Darwin was declared dead some four and a half years ago, so it was a bit of surprise when he walked into a police station here on Saturday, claiming to have no idea what he had been doing all this time. His claim of amnesia might have been more believable, however, if recent photographs of him and his wife down in Panama hadn't surfaced on the Internet ... (AP)

Glass (More Than) Half Full: A woman who was treated for HIV for nine years is now suing the doctor who treated her because -- oops -- it turns out she doesn't have the virus at all. (AP)

Unanswered Prayers: Brad Pitt says he's pondering quitting acting. Is that what he calls what he does in those films, like when he was "acting" in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"? (CNN)

Where's the Beef (Safety)? "If you gave me a million, zillion dollars and said give me a plant that doesn't have E. coli, I couldn't do it,” said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “It’s not about the will. It’s about the ability." What, is this guy 8? (NYT)

The Night the Fight Went Out in Georgia: It what has to be one of the most absurd election tricks to date, a transgender city council member lost a reelection bid in a runoff Tuesday in Riverdale, Ga., after a lawsuit that claimed she tried to fool voters by running as a woman. Michelle Bruce said that even though a judge dismissed the lawsuit the day before the vote, the suit served its intended purpose -- getting her out. (AP)

Desert ENDA: The Scottsdale, Ariz., city council voted 4–3 Tuesday to include workplace protections for LGBT city employees. The measure adds protections for gender identity and sexual orientation under the city's anti-discrimination law. (Advocate)

Heather Has Two Lawsuits: Two sets of parents whose lawsuit over the use of a gay-themed book by a Lexington public school was dismissed earlier this year were in federal appeals court in Boston on Wednesday seeking to have the case reopened. A teacher read the book "King and King" to second-graders at the Estabrook elementary school in April 2006 as part of a lesson about weddings. (365Gay)