In New York City, Bergouhi Elissa, 36, is suing the city a year after her son committed suicide, claiming that nothing was done to stop the bullying he endured, Advocate.com reported. "No child should be afraid to go to school," said Elissa, whose son, Elijah Mendez, hanged himself in March 2010 at age 12. The lawsuit claims that Mendez had been subjected to "repeated and frequent taunting, ridicule, menacing, threatening abuse, and bullying," suffering "physical and psychological injuries" because of his "perceived sexual orientation."
In a related case, Wendy Walsh is suing the Tehachapi Unified School District in California, alleging that stop the years of anti-gay harassment her late son, 13-year-old Seth, reportedly endured, according to a MercuryNews.com item. Tehachapi Unified's school board rejected a damages claim from Walsh earlier this year, allowing for her lawsuit. Walsh is seeking compensation for wrongful-death damages, punitive damages and medical expenses.
In Kentucky, city officials in Hazard have refused to change policy after a public employee kicked out a couple with developmental disabilities from a publicly funded swimming pool because the couple was gay, according to a joint press release from the Kentucky Equality Federation and Change.org . After the situation received media attention, the city began to institute reforms to prevent a similar situation in the future. However, the organizations added that City Attorney Paul R. Collinswho is responsible for changing city rulesreversed his stance and demanded that the Kentucky Equality Federation's Jordan Palmer produce a state law saying the pool could not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Data from the Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control's National Vital Statistics System show that five of the 10 states, plus the District of Columbia, with the lowest divorce rates are also among the nine jurisdictions ( eight states and the District of Columbia ) that currently perform or recognize same-sex marriages, according to U.S. News & World Report. There seem to be several factors responsible for the result, including marriage age and education. For instance, a 2009 University of Florida study revealed that for every additional 1 percent of a given county's population with a bachelor's degree, there was a nearly equal decrease in support for a federal marriage amendment that would abolish marriage equality.
At the University of South Florida, the harassment of a transgender student has led to new housing options, according to Advocate.com . Student completing housing applications can state if they're male, female or transitioning. Those who select "transitioning" ( a classification that will not be shared without permission ) will have the option to live alone, live with a friend or be assigned a random roommate. Next spring, the school will introduce a program that provides gender-neutral dorm rooms, although intimate pairings will be discouraged.
Openly gay GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger is lagging behind others in fundraising, Advocate.com reported. Karger has raised $80,000 during the last three months, but "now the fundraising begins," he said. Karger is planning an event in Beverly Hills, Calif., in late July, with others planned in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and San Diego. Front-runner Mitt Romney raised more than $18 million between April 1 and June 30.
In Springfield, Mass., an assault on an openly gay man has led to calls for changes in anti-gay violence education in public schools, according to PublicBroadcasting.net . Authorities say that nine youths ( five males and four females, ages 12-19 ) attacked the man, beating him and robbing him of an mp3 player. The youths have been charged with violation of civil rights with injurya hate crime. Springfield School Committee Vice Chair Denise Hurst, who took part in the demonstration, said the schools have strict anti-bulling and anti-harassment policies, but added there is work to do to address anti-gay discrimination.
In Iowa, social conservative Bob Vander Plaats has issued a pledge called "The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence upon MARRIAGE and FAMILY" that GOP presidential candidates are reportedly being pressured into signing, the Huffington Post reported. The pledge includes several concepts such as opposing same-sex marriage; embracing the idea of a federal marriage amendment; rejection of Sharia Islam; and commitment to downsizing the government "and the enormous burden upon American families of the USA's $14.3 trillion public debt." Vander Plaats unsuccessfully ran for governor last year.
President Barack Obama named Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton, an Army veteran who campaigned to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," to the board of visitors of the United States Military Academy, according to WSJ.com . Fulton is now the first openly gay person on the board that advises the president on West Point. Fulton, 52, is the executive director and co-founder of Knights Out, an organization of LGBT West Point graduates and allies. She graduated from the academy in 1980the first class to include women.
Former GOP Congressman Mark Foley has said that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo surgery within the next few weeks, according to Advocate.com . Foley's doctors believe that the cancer has been confined to his gland. The former politician resigned in 2006 after the discovery of lewd messages he sent to young male congressional pages.
Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy has signed a measure that makes the state the 15th to protect transgender individuals from discrimination, according to Advocate.com . The legislation, effective Oct. 1, will protect transgender people regarding employment, housing, public accommodations, credit and all other laws under the jurisdiction of the state's Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
New reports show that Bradley Manning, the soldier who allegedly sent government documents to WikiLeaks, had experienced anti-gay bullying and homophobia from other service members, according to Advocate.com . Manning discussed the bullying in 2009, writing to Zachary Antolak, "It took them a while, but they started figuring me out, making fun of me, mocking me, harassing me, heating up with one or two physical attacks." Manning is in a Kansas military facility awaiting court-martial.
In Virginia, Jeffrey Trammell has become the first openly gay rector of the College of William & Mary, Advocate.com reported. During his own years at the college, Trammell was president of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and was captain of the varsity basketball team. Trammellwho owns a communications and public-affairs consulting firmhas served on many boards, including those of the Human Rights Campaign and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Lambda Legal has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Oren Adar and Mickey Smith, a same-sex couple who have been denied an accurate birth certificate for their son by the state of Louisiana, according to a press release. "Lambda Legal argues that the State of Louisiana is violating both the equal protection and full faith and credit provisions of the Constitution, and they are punishing a child because they disapprove of his parents," the release states.
The Advocate has hired Diane Anderson-Minshall as the brand's new executive editor, according to a press release. Anderson-Minshall, who most recently served as editor-in-chief of Curve magazine, will be based in The Advocate's Los Angeles office and report directly to Advocate Editor-in-Chief Matthew Breen. As executive editor, she will place special emphasis on breaking news, analysis, politics, civil rights, social trends, international affairs, business and media.
More evidence has surfaced that GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's husband's Christian counseling clinics are in the business of so-called reparative therapy for gay peoplea claim that he denies, according to Advocate.com . The organization Truth Wins Out sent a hidden camera into Marcus Bachmann's office; there, a therapist allegedly claimed, "It's possible to be totally free of [ same-sex attraction ] . For sure." Michele Bachmann has endorsed reparative therapy over the years, even backing a book written by a woman who claims to be an ex-lesbian.
On a related note, the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) is asking the GOP candidates for president to disavow the "ex-gay" or "reparative" therapies endorsed by Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, according to a press release. Michele Bachmann recently signed her name to the far-right group the Family Leader's pledge "The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family," as did Rick Santorum. HRC President Joe Solmonese said, "Bachmann's support for things like reparative therapy signals just how fringe a candidate she really is."
Blake Mycoskie, the founder of charity shoe line Toms, has apologized for speaking at a recent Irvine, Calif., event for the anti-gay organization Focus on the Family, Advocate.com reported. Mycoskie issued a statement apologizing for his participation at the June 30 "Feet on the Ground" faith conference after blogs criticized him for his involvement with a group that had facilitated the "Love Won Out" ex-gay conference, now organized by Exodus International. Mycoskie said, in part, "Had I known the full extent of Focus on the Family's beliefs, I would not have accepted the invitation to speak at their event."
In North Carolina, 27-year-old cult leader Peter Lucas Moses allegedly shot and killed Jadon Higganbothan, 4, because he believed the boy was gay, according to a channel6newsonline.com item. Prosecutors say that Moses believed Higganbothan was gay because the boy's father had abandoned Vania Rae Sisk, his mother. Moses also allegedly killed Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28, because she couldn't have children and was looking to leave the group.
GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty claims to like Lady Gaga's musicbut does not agree with the message of her hit "Born This Way," according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Pawlenty was asked during an appearance on TV's Meet the Press if he believes being gay is a choice, or whether, as Lady Gaga says, gays are "born this way." He responded that "there's no scientific conclusion that it's genetic." Human-sexuality expert Eli Coleman said that sexual orientation is "a complex of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences. ... But it's really not a choice."
Despite the fact that marriage equality is not legal in Nevada, Las Vegas tourism officials are looking to cash in on the same-sex wedding industry, according to the Washington Post. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is considering marketing the southern region of the state as a honeymoon destination for gay and lesbian couples. Six states ( including New York ) and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage, which Nevada banned in 2002 through a statewide vote.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders' Transgender Rights Project and Realty Resources Hospitality, which operates six Denny's restaurants throughout Maine, have announced a resolution to a lawsuit brought by Brianna Freeman, a transgender woman who was denied access to the women's restroom at a Denny's in Auburn, Maine, according to a press release. Realty Resources Hospitality has agreed that at all of the restaurants it operates, all transgender individuals will have access to the restroom consistent with their stated gender identity. "The bottom line for me and other transgender patrons is that Denny's has welcomed us to use the restroom that is consistent with how we live our lives," said Freeman.
In Massachusetts, the Northampton City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the the Transgender Equal Rights Bill that called for the legislature to act quickly to pass the measure, according to a press release. "We are grateful to the Northampton City Council for its unanimous support of the Transgender Equal Rights Bill and for recognizing that all Massachusetts residents, including transgender people, deserve an equal opportunity to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families," said Gunner Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.
Lambda Legal filed an amicus brief in a case involving Cristina Ojeda and Monica Alcota, a married binational lesbian couple from Queens, N.Y. The brief argues that immigration officials are incorrectly relying on an inapplicable case for authority to continue deportation proceedings while the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged. Ojeda, a U.S. citizen, and her wife Monica Alcota, an immigrant from Argentina, have been together since 2008; in 2010, they married in Connecticut.
LGBT military-personnel organization OutServe has announced that the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) has signed on as a sponsor for the 2011 OutServe Armed Forces Leadership Summit, according to a press release. The Human Rights Campaign, Amazon, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Coverity, Out & Equal, Log Cabin Republicans, Stonewall Demoscrats of Southern Nevada and American Veterans for Equal Rights have previously signed on as sponsors. The summit will take place in Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 13-16 at New York-New York Hotel and Casino.