U.S. Census Bureau stats for five more states continue to show a dramatic increase in the number of same-sex households nationwide.
The Census Bureau last week released data for Alabama, Missouri, Kansas, New York and Ohio. New York reported the largest number of same-sex households with 46,490, a 238% increase from the 1990 census.
Ohio reported the next largest number with 18,937 same-sex households, a 401% increase. Missouri ranked third with 9,428, a 388% increase. Alabama reported 8,109 same-sex households, a 659% increase. And Kansas reported 3,973, a 514% increase.
Census figures also show that the number of same-sex unmarried partners in rural areas have increased slightly. The most substantial change was in Missouri, where 7,095, ( 75% ) same-sex unmarried households are in urban areas while 2,333 ( 25% ) are in rural areas. This marks a significant change from the 1990 census when only 11% ( 1,711 ) of same sex unmarried households were in rural parts of the state and 89 percent ( 220 ) were from urban areas.
Gay man held in kidnapping at church
A California man who runs a popular queer music site has been arrested on kidnapping and burglary charges in a recent incident at a San Diego Baptist church, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Allan Ross, 46, is accused of entering the First Southern Baptist Church and taking a maintenance man hostage with a piece of sharp glass. He reportedly forced the man to contact a TV station so he could condemn the Southern Baptist Convention for its views on gays.
Police arrived, fired two rounds of "beanbag" bullets and let a police dog loose inside the church. Ross was treated for a dog bite and taken to a mental hospital for evaluation.
Ross operates usqueers.com, a Web site that streams 24 hours of queer music. Musicians who know him were surprised by the incident, with one Chicagoan calling Ross "a really great supporter of queer music."
Council releases report on gay youth
The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States featured frank discussions about young people and homosexuality in a recent report.
SIECUS Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning Youth details the experiences of young people across the country through the eyes of the students themselves and experts who deal with youth.
Articles include Some Notes on My Transgenderness by an Indiana teen, Advice to Latino Parents of LGBT Children by a PFLAG mom, and excerpts from the book What If Someone I Know Is Gay? Answers to Questions about Gay and Lesbian People by Eric Roberts.
Also included is a resource guide for GLBT issues and a bibliography.
See www.siecus.org .
NY HIV agency evicted over trans bias, suit says
Discrimination against transgendered clients has forced New York City's leading Latino HIV/AIDS agency to move from its home, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a recent lawsuit.
According to the suit, the landlord for the Hispanic AIDS Forum evicted the agency because its neighbors complained that transgendered people were using the "wrong" restroom.
The Forum has been in the same Jackson Heights, Queens, building for 10 years. The neighborhood is ground zero for AIDS in the U.S. Latino communities.
"This is unlawful discrimination—and prejudice with the highest of prices," said Tamara Lange, staff attorney at the ACLU AIDS Project.
"This landlord has made it much harder for the Hispanic AIDS Forum to reach the people who need HIV/AIDS services most, and this organization has been forced to pay higher rent and moving costs. That money could have been used to help more Latina/os."
The ACLU suit accuses the landlord of violating state and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex, gender and disability.
Lambda, others blast removal of HIV ads
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and other community organizations have issued a joint statement calling for the reinstatement of HIV/STD information ads to Bronx, New York, bus shelters.
The company that manages the shelters, Infinity Outdoor, removed the ads because of complaints. The ads were taken out by the Bronx Lesbian and Gay Health Consortium.
There are three different ads that were to run for four weeks and cost the Consortium $19,000. One ad showed two men, one with his arm around the other, above a caption that read, "I'm not gay, but I sometimes have sex with other guys," and included a number for a health line.
Another version of the ad showed a woman in a business suit and was intended for lesbians. A third showed a man by himself, with a caption saying that the man wanted to know how to help a gay friend get healthcare.
HRC applauds Satcher report
The Human Rights Campaign has endorsed Surgeon General David Satcher's report on sex education and is urging leaders to "let science guide our public policy."
Satcher's report, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Behavior, urges Americans to respect "the diversity of sexual values within any community" and recommends a "mature and thoughtful discussion about sexuality."
It also suggests that sex education begin early and be wide-ranging throughout people's lives.
In calling for fair treatment of gays and lesbians, it says, "In their extreme form, anti-homosexual attitudes lead to anti-gay violence."
The report goes on to say, "Averaged over two dozen studies, 80 percent of gay men and lesbians had experienced verbal or physical harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, 45 percent had been threatened by violence and 17 percent had experienced physical attack. Improved medicine has allowed people with HIV to live longer and healthier lives. But 40,000 new infections are reported each year—and half of them occur in people under age 25. About 750,000 HIV/AIDS cases have been reported in America since the discovery of the disease and nearly 450,000 people have died from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses."
3rd confab for lesbians of size set for N.J.
The third annual National Conference for Lesbians of Size is scheduled for Oct. 5-8 in Parsippany, N.J.
"Whether you are into politics, personal growth, activism, SM, butch-femme, swimming, dancing, or just hanging out with other fat dykes and their allies, you will find something for you here" says Dot Nelson-Turnier, conference organizer.
This year's keynote speakers are Marilyn Wann and Sondra Solovay, who led a successful effort to make weight-based discrimination illegal in San Francisco.
Performers include Toshi Reagon and Big Lovely. The workshops will be on topics such as Food, Sex and Sensuality, Fat Moves: Funky Dancing with Fat Girls and Fatphobia and Other Forms of Oppression. There will also be a beach ball festival and the Grand Fat Opry.
E-mail noloselass@excite.com or visit NOLOSE's website at www.nolose.org . Call ( 718 ) 622-7631.
NGLTF seeking poor people's stories
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Racial and Economic Justice initiative is looking for stories from GLBT people who have ever been on welfare.
"We are working on a welfare publication that will talk about welfare and welfare reform in general and also identify how welfare is a GLBT issue," NGLTF said in a release. The group is trying to identify how welfare has been discriminatory.
NGLTF is also asking people to spread the word about the program through list serves or newsletters.
For more information, contact Ingrid at ( 212 ) 604-9830 X25 or email at iriveradessuit@ngltf.org .
Poundstone arrested on child abuse charges
Comedian Paula Poundstone was arrested in Malibu, Calif, last week on three felony counts of committing a lewd act upon a young girl, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.
Poundstone, 41, was additionally charged with endangering another girl and two boys.
Poundstone allegedly committed the lewd acts on three separate occasions: May 19, June 5 and June 6. The child-endangerment incident also allegedly occurred on June 6. Police said the arrest was made following a lengthy investigation.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 13 years in state prison, authorities say. Poundstone was held for four hours at Santa Monica jail last Wednesday before getting released on $200,000 bail. An arraignment date has not yet been set.
"I have faith that the truth is the right thing," Poundstone told reporters as she left the jail.
Poundstone has had several foster children over the years. At last count, she had three adopted children and two foster kids in her charge, ranging in age from 12 to two months.
Poundstone has also donated her time for countless charities, including on behalf of te AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
