WASHINGTON – The Senate this morning began debating President Barack Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court.

The confirmation vote will likely follow later this week, perhaps on Thursday. The Senate is scheduled to begin its August recess at week’s end.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 last month to advance the nomination to a final vote.

Despite a wealth of knowledge about the dangers of smoking, the LGBT community is puffing away at a higher rate than other segments of the American society.

Despite vigorous campaigns against tobacco use, smoking cigarettes continues to appeal to youths and the cycle of addiction, illness and death continues in the U.S.

The American Lung Association (ALA) estimates that more than 392,000 Americans die annually from tobacco-caused disease and that another 50,000 people die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Just how many LGBT people die of tobacco-caused disease is not known.

SAN DIEGO – Toni Atkins is most likely a shoo-in to be elected to the California Assembly, but don’t tell her that.

“Nobody has the luxury of complacency,” Atkins said in an extensive interview with San Diego Gay & Lesbian News.

Atkins hopes to represent Assembly District 76, which is considered safe for Democrats. Ralph Denney, her Republican opponent in November, is a long shot to pull off an upset. Daniel H. Baehr is the Libertarian Party candidate in the race, and little is known about him other than that he lists his occupation as school bus driver.

Editor's note: This article by Women's Voices For Change is followed by a report by SDGLN Copy Editor Morgan M. Hurley on lesbians and breast cancer.

A recent short article by Tracy Clark-Flory on Salon.com asks the provocative question: “Should we be pushing mammograms?”