links for 2011-05-09

"Rouen authorities decided to give the head back to the Maoris in 2007 but were overruled by the national government which feared setting a precedent for other museum holdings such as Egyptian mummies or relics of Christian martyrs. "The Senate made an exception for the Maori remains last year."

(tags: via:carleandriacook france maori ancestry burial reclamation)

"Documents from gay rights history are on display for the first time at the Library of Congress as part of an exhibit on the nation's constitutional history and civil rights protections. "The documents come from gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who was fired as a government astronomer in 1957 because he was gay. The library is showing Kameny's 1961 petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, contesting his firing."

(tags: via:carleandriacook LGBTQ history)