In Cincinnati, Ohio, the city's first openly gay councilman is offering his support to youth who are struggling with being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, the Associated Press reported. Chris Seelbach has been speaking out following the apparent suicide of 17-year-old transgender girl Leelah Alcorn in southwest Ohio. "You can because you're exactly who you're supposed to be," Seelbach has said. "You're the person God made you to be, and you have the strength to persevere. ... If no one seems to have faith in you, I do."
As part of its ongoing mission to create safe and affirming schools for all students, GLSEN is marking No Name-Calling Week Jan. 19-23 with educators and students across the country—and more than 60 partner organizations—by providing tools and inspiration to launch ongoing dialogues about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities, according to a press release. Since the initial No Name-Calling Week—created with Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing in 2004—13,000 educators have signed on to incorporate the theme of "Celebrate Kindness" into their teaching. GLSEN provides planning guides, lesson plans and ideas for activities to those who register. Visit http://glsen.org/nonamecallingweek.
A metro Atlanta family, composed of two gay Black dads and their kids, are the new face of a Nikon commercial, according to WSBTV.com . Kordale and Kaleb Lewis—who live with their three biological children live in Fairburn, Georgia—were in a media storm last year when a photo of the two fathers doing their daughters' hair on Instagram went viral. Nearly a year after the original photo was posted on social media, Nikon chose the Lewis family to be a part of its "I Am Generation Image" campaign.
The Supreme Court will rule by June on whether same-sex couples have the right to marry nationwide, according to Mashable. The justices will look at a ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November that kept bans on same-sex marriages in Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio, four of the 14 states in the country that still do not allow same-sex couples to marry. Other federal appeals courts had turned away anti-gay marriage laws, in effect legalizing same-sex unions in more than 30 states. The Supreme Court ducked the question of nationwide marriage equality in October.
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith told viewers that the same states that fought racial integration continue to oppose marriage equality, On Top Magazine reported. Smith was covering the announcement that the Supreme Court would hear cases challenging gay marriage bans in four states. "Not in every case, but in most cases, the same states which were fighting integration are fighting this as well," Smith said. "Those states which always seem to be behind the curve for reasons which are explainable and understandable."
The national Republican Party voted to censure Dave Agema, a committeeman from Michigan, The Daily Beast reported. Agema has come under fire for saying Blacks "cannot reason" or "control their impulses," calling Muslims "camel jockeys," and saying "filthy homosexuals" want "free" medical care "because they're dying" of AIDS. "Dave Agema's history of harmful and offensive rhetoric has no place in our party," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said. Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a potential presidential candidate, has reportedly joined the growing calls for Agema to step down, MLive.com noted.
In Colorado, a Lakewood minister reportedly refused to hold a memorial service Jan. 10 at New Hope Ministries for a mother of two at his church because the woman was a lesbian, according to Gazette.com . "Her casket was open, flowers laid out and hundreds of people sitting in the pews," supporters said in a Facebook post. "[The minister] collected money for the funeral and has yet to return it." Vanessa Collier was 33 when she died in late December, leaving behind her wife and children. On Jan. 13, a "Dignity in Death" rally was held for Collier, according to 9News.com .
In Charlotte, North Carolina, the local Roman Catholic diocese is in hot water for anti-LGBT discrimination—this time firing a gay teacher after he announced he would marry his partner later this year, according to a Charlotte Observer item. Lonnie Billard, a retired drama and English teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School, was told just before the new year that he would no longer be employed as a longterm substitute teacher. Billard, 68, had worked for 15 years as a full-time teacher at Charlotte Catholic, retiring in 2012 and substituting ever since. Several pro-LGBT organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, criticized the move.
A Dallas billboard claiming that therapy intended to turn gay people straight "really works" will soon be removed, according to Advocate.com . Terry Kafka, president of Dallas-based Impact Advertising, said he was unaware of the billboard over U.S. Highway 75 until The Advocate contacted him. Kafka repeatedly stressed that he, as the company's president, and the company's sales manager both have a "live-and-let-live policy."
Former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran—fired over his anti-gay religious book—once pushed to discipline uniformed firefighters who supported anti-gay statements by the leader of Chick-fil-A, according to Project Q Atlanta. Steven Borders, president of the Atlanta Professional Firefighters union, cited the ( now-ironic ) incident as an example of firefighters being disciplined for making anti-gay or political statements, arguing that Cochran should face the same fate. The incident is outlined in a five-page report from the city's law department, which investigated Cochran and his book, Who Told You That You Were Naked.
A former Lowe's employee is alleging in a federal lawsuit that he was discriminated against for years at the store because he's gay, including by a manager who asked for oral sex and a co-worker who joked when he cut his finger that he might infect someone with AIDS, USA Today noted. Adam Haimowitz, 32, of Tallman, New York, says his frequent complaints to the human resources department fell on deaf ears and the company fired him in retaliation for his testimony on behalf of another gay employee who sued for sexual harassment. Haimowitz, a sales specialist who worked nearly 11 years at Lowe's in Orangeburg, New York, until his firing in August 2014, is seeking an unspecified amount of money.
An UberX driver reportedly sexually assaulted a 21-year-old man who hailed a ride in Chicago's Boystown last summer, according to DNAInfo.com . Adnan Nafasat, 46, choked and groped the victim before trying to force him to perform oral sex, Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Cooper said during a brief bond hearing. Nafasat was arrested Jan. 13 and charged with kidnapping, criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint; prosecutors did not say why he wasn't arrested sooner.
Despite a Kentucky law that bars the recognition of gay marriages performed where they are legal, a Jefferson Family Court judge has granted the state's first same-sex divorce, The Courier-Journal reported. In the first ruling of its kind in Kentucky, Judge Joseph O'Reilly permitted the divorce of two Louisville women who were legally married in Massachusetts. Although state law says gay marriages performed elsewhere are void in Kentucky, O'Reilly said that barring same-sex couples to divorce here violates the state constitutional guarantee that all people should be treated as equals.
Richard M. Krause—a microbiologist and immunologist who steered the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID ) through the early, tumultuous years of the AIDS epidemic—has died of pneumonia in Washington, D.C., at age 90, The Washington Post noted. Krause ( pronounced KRAU-zee ) served as NIAID director in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1975 to 1984—during which time AIDS, marginalized at first by many in the medical establishment as a "gay disease," began to emerge as a national epidemic. Over the years, AIDS activist Larry Kramer singled out Krause and other leading science administrators, saying they "crucified" the gay population for not addressing the crisis with single-minded urgency.
In Mississippi, Rankin County school board members approved a change in the district's school club policy in an attempt to prevent students from creating what Superintendent Lynn Weathersby referred to as "gay clubs," The Clarion-Ledger noted. Although school board members and officials said they were not aware of any attempt to form a club in the district, Brandon High School theater teacher Janice Weaver said she was approached by a student in December who expressed a desire to create a gay-straight alliance. Currently, students at several schools in the state, including Ridgeland High School in Madison County, have created such organizations or are working to form them.
The task force charged with creating the plan for ending the AIDS epidemic in New York delivered its recommendations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, even as initiatives that are part of that plan continue to be launched, Gay City News reported. The End AIDS Task Force's recommendations ( which number at least 40 ) included proposals for expanding public benefits, housing and healthcare for people with HIV; and using anti-HIV drugs to prevent people from becoming infected. In June 2014, Cuomo endorsed the plan aimed at reducing new HIV infections in New York from the current roughly 3,000 annually to 750 a year by 2020.
Speaking of Cuomo, he has also named Alphonso David, who once served as a staff attorney at Lambda Legal, to the post of counsel to the governor, according to Gay City News. David, 44, will assume the role in April after the governor and legislature complete work on the fiscal year 2016 budget. The position of counsel is one of two created within the governor's office by state law, the other being secretary to the governor, a post equivalent to chief of staff.
Equality Illinois announced Jan. 20 that it was launching an initiative to promote passage of a bill banning anti-gay conversion therapy in Illinois. The legislation, HB 217, or the Conversion Therapy Prohibition Act, was filed Jan. 16 by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy and prohibits mental health care providers from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with patients under the age of 18. It also says that providers found to be engaging in such conduct will be subject to discipline by their licensing agency or review board with appropriate jurisdiction. State Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, will soon introduce a counterpart bill in the Senate.
A plot to poison House Speaker John Boehner by an Ohio bartender was thwarted when his aspiring killer called 911 to report his sinister plans and belief that Boehner is the devil, according to The New York Daily News. Michael Robert Hoyt, 44, was indicted on charges of threatening to kill the congressman after serving him drinks for more than five years at a West Chester country club. He "advised he had a loaded Beretta .380 automatic and he was going to shoot Boehner and take off," the indictment stated.
Twitter suspended the main account of the anti-LGBT hate group the Westboro Baptist Church as well as that of its leader, Shirley Phelps-Roeper, Advocate.com reported. Phelps-Roeper, from a new account, claimed it was because the WBC picketed Twitter in August. Late last year the social-media giant upgraded its guidelines for reporting abuse and harassment among users.
Since joining YouTube just six months ago after moving to Los Angeles from a small town in Ohio, fraternal twins Aaron and Austin Rhodes already have millions of views on their videos. While most of the Rhodes Bros videos are of lighter fare like "How To Take A Selfie" or "Pros & Cons Of Being Twins," their latest video took an emotional turn when they both decided to come out to their father as gay, The Business Insider noted. In the video, they nervously tell their father, who eventually says, "You grew up in a much different generation than me. I just don't really know what to say. You know I love you both, that will never change. You've gotta live your lives."
The Transgender Law Center called for the release of Nicoll Hernández-Polanco, a Guatemalan trans woman currently being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at an all-male detention facility in Florence, Arizona, according to Advocate.com . In a "Free Nicoll" petition written with other LGBT- and immigrant-rights organizations, the Law Center explains that Hernández-Polanco came to the United States in October seeking asylum because of constant violent attacks, harassment, sexual abuse and discrimination in her home country and in Mexico.
Elad Strohmayer, Israel's deputy consul general to the mid-Atlantic region, married Oren Ben-Yosef at Philadelphia's City Hall in a same-sex wedding presided over by Mayor Michael Nutter, according to the Jewish Exponent. Nutter, who was presiding over the marriage of non-U.S. citizens for the first time, co-officiated alongside Rabbi Michael Beals of Congregation Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Wilmington, Delaware. Beals, who provided the tallit ( shawl ) for the chuppah ( intended as a roof or covering for a couple at their wedding )—the same one used for his own wedding—said he was a strong proponent of legalizing gay marriage in Pennsylvania and was delighted to be officiating at the event.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) issued a statement confirming that MillerCoors Chairman Pete Coors had withdrawn from participating in an event hosted by the group Legatus. HRC received confirmation via an email from MillerCoors that stated, "Pete Coors was previously unaware of the controversy surrounding Legatus's position on LGBT issues and will not be participating at their upcoming meeting." Along with Pete Coors, the 2015 Legatus Summit was set to feature speakers such as Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Father Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty. Actor Gary Sinise and Fox News anchor Bret Baier had previously announced they're withdrawing from the late-January event.
Wyoming Republican state Rep. Nathan Winters has filed a bill to stop what he called the "oppression" of county clerks that began last year when the state Supreme Court ordered them to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses, Raw Story reported. House Bill 83—also known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act—would allow county clerks or anyone else to withhold services from gay people if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. Winters, who is also a pastor, insisted that the bill would not just apply to LGBT rights, but he could not provide any other examples to the Casper Star-Tribune when the publication asked him.
In Oregon, a man who was fired from a Clackamas-area adult bookstore is suing for more than $330,000, The Bend Bulletin reported. Wilford Paul Bearden, a 73-year-old gay man, testified at the civil trial in Clackamas County Circuit Court that he has endured a lifetime of discrimination and wouldn't put up with an offensive drawing a co-worker made at Fantasyland II. He says he was fired when he complained about sexual harassment; Fantasyland's lawyer, Richard Franklin, says Bearden was fired because of customer and employee complaints about his bossy behavior.
An Illinois ad targeting same-sex couples advising them to get enrolled in health care under the Affordable Care Act aired in the state over the weekend of Jan. 10-11, The Washington Blade noted. Get Covered Illinois paid for the ad, which showed residents Jake and Allen—a real couple who are friends with the commercial's director—recount how they were able to get coverage prior to Jake getting appendicitis. The ad was part of the "National LGBT Outreach and Enrollment Week" effort from the Obama administration and its allies.
Hundreds of LGBT Christians gathered in Portland, Oregon, for the Gay Christian Network's ( GCN's ) largest annual conference to date, according to Advocate.com . Gay Christian Network is an organization that is inclusive of both "Side A" Christians, who favor marriage equality, and "Side B" Christians, who believe that gay Christians are called to live celibate lives. GCN Executive Director Justin Lee said the conference's growth to 1,400 guests represented "a huge leap forward for us."
In a twist, a Denver bakery has been slapped with a religious-discrimination complaint after refusing to bake a cake with an obscene, anti-gay message on it, Inquisitr.com reported. Denver's Azucar Bakery is a "pro-LGBTQ" bakery; however, it seems to have no shortage of customers who want cakes with religious themes, owner Marjorie Silva has said. After being rejected several times, the customer filed an official complaint to Colorado's Department of Regulatory Agencies.
