THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

In Florida, a federal judge has upheld the right of a gay-straight alliance (GSA) to meet at a middle school in Leesburg, according to Advocate.com . The judge's order upholds an agreement reached late last month that allowed the group to meet until the end of the school year. Eighth-grader Bayli Silberstein had tried to start the club, but her principal and school board members had been blocking her efforts since January; at one point they considered banning all clubs instead of allowing the GSA.

At this official residence in San Juan, Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed into law bills that protect LGBT people against discrimination and adds to the country's domestic-violence law protections for sexual orientation, marital status and gender identity, according to Gay Star News. The Puerto Rico House approved a sweeping bill that protects LGBT people in employment, housing, governmental services, public accommodations and private entities; the Senate approved a modified bill that removed banning discrimination in commercial transactions, property rentals, public transportation and other circumstances.

Michigan state senators have proposed four pieces of legislation that would advance recognition of same-gender marriages in the state, according to an Equality Michigan press release. Three of the bills specifically address same-gender relationship recognition in Michigan. An additional resolution calls on the federal government to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which restricts the federal government's recognition of same-gender marriages.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $32 million in grant awards to assist more than 1,300 extremely low-income persons and families living with HIV/AIDS annually, according to a press release. The funding is offered through HUD's Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program (HOPWA), and will renew HUD's support of 30 local programs in 20 states.

In Louisiana, a bill designed to set up state laws regarding surrogate parenting—including provisions to block gay and unmarried partners from the process—will undergo further changes after the sponsoring lawmaker (Democrat Gary Smith) refused to accept changes made in the other legislative chamber, according to NOLA.com . The legislation will now head to a conference committee, where six lawmakers will make final decisions on the bill's language.

In Ohio, the trial of lesbian teacher Christa Dias—who is taking on the Archdiocese of Cincinnati after she was fired after becoming pregnant through artificial insemination—has gotten underway, according to an NBCNews.com item. Dias has sued the archdiocese and the schools over her 2010 dismissal, contending they fired her simply because she was pregnant and unmarried. The archdiocese's attorney, Steve Goodin, told jurors "there was no discrimination," saying Dias was fired for violating a contract that he says required her to abide by Catholic doctrine.

Wade Davis—a nationally recognized speaker, activist, writer and educator—has been named the grand marshal of the 44th annual Chicago Pride Parade, according to a press release. Davis is a former professional football player who played for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks, as well as two different teams within the NFL Europe league. His writings and interviews have appeared in the LA Times, Huffington Post, The New York Times and The Advocate; recently, Davis launched the YOU Belong Initiative, a series of four-day comprehensive sports instruction and leadership development clinics for LGBTQ youth and straight allies.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court's decision that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and its allies cannot hide the names of donors to a 2009 campaign against same-sex marriage from the state's election oversight commission, according to the Bangor Daily News. The justices rejected NOM's contention that subpoenas from the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices violate donors' First Amendment rights and expose them to "threats, harassment and reprisal."

Trustees at the University of Illinois-Chicago voted six to two to approve a student insurance plan that, for the first time, includes coverage for gender-reassignment surgeries as of this fall, according to the Huffington Post. There will be a $60-per-semester increase for the CampusCare student insurance plan that also offers better benefits for out-of-network emergency care. About three dozen other schools—including nearby Northwestern University—already offer the insurance coverage for such operations.

It turns out that two Oregon bakers who refused service to same-sex couples (citing their religious beliefs) are not bothered with other occasions that some Christians criticize, according to On Top Magazine. In separate incidents separated by three months, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham and Fleur Cakes in Hood River received national media attention after each refused a request for a wedding cake from a lesbian couple. However, a reporter discovered that the bakeries were fine with cakes celebrating divorce as well as a baby born out of wedlock.

In Seattle, a growing number of LGBTQ, immigrant-rights and labor organizations are uniting to ask the Space Needle to fly the Rainbow flag during Pride annually and settle its ongoing labor dispute with workers, according to PR Newswire. These communities will launch an online petition ( www.change.org/petitions/space-needle-fly-the-rainbow-flag-and-respect-your-workers&; as well as weekly direct actions. Recently, the City of Seattle announced that City Hall would be flying the Rainbow flag during Pride, marking the adoption of marriage equality in Washington state.

Some U.S. religious leaders are cutting ties with the Boy Scouts of America, saying they will no longer permit local troops to meet at their churches in reaction to the group's decision to allow openly gay youth members, according to the Chicago Tribune. Some conservative churches in states such as Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky came after the May 23 vote to end the ban effect Jan. 1, 2014. Faith-based organizations charter about 70 percent of the Boy Scouts' more than 100,000 units.

Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin was elected bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA) May 31 during the synod's assembly in Woodland Hills, Calif. According to the Huffington Post, he has made history by being the first openly gay clergy person elected to serve as one of the 65 synodical bishops in the denomination. Erwin told GLAAD, "I know that many will see my election as a significant milestone for both LGBT people and Native Americans, and I pray that I can be a positive representation for both communities."

In Texas, members of the Church at Mable Peabody's are launching a book written by more than 20 members about their experiences of being queer and having faith in God, according to the Dallas Voice. The book—Stories from the Church at Mable Peabody's: The Spiritual Experiences of a Queer Church—focuses on the tales of "wounded healers," the Rev. Jeff Hood said. Mable Peabody's Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair is Denton's only gay bar.

Texas state judge Patrick Garcia refused to stop El Paso County from providing health benefits for its employees' same-sex partners, according to Courthouse News Service. Community activist Carl Starr filed the suit against county judge Veronica Escobar May 1, arguing the county's policy to extent benefits to unmarried partners is in violation of the constitution. Assistant county attorney Ruben Duarte disagreed, contending the plaintiff had no evidence or testimony showing the county's policy affected him.

A Texas judge has ordered a lesbian couple to stop living together due a morality clause in one of the women's divorce papers, the Dallas Voice noted. Judge John Roach of the 296th District Court in Collin County enforced the clause from Carolyn Compton's 2011 divorce decree. Under the clause, someone who has a "dating or intimate relationship" with the person or is not related "by blood or marriage" is not allowed after 9 p.m. when children are present; therefore, Page Price must move out by early June because the kids reside with the couple.

An attorney for a group that made millions suing over illegal downloads of porn videos asked a federal judge in Georgia to disregard a California court's order, citing the states' differences on gay marriage and immigration policy, according to Courthouse News Service. In November 2012, Georgia-based attorney Jacques Nazaire filed a copyright infringement lawsuit on behalf of AF Holdings in federal court in Georgia. AF Holdings and another entity, Ingenuity 13, are shell companies for Chicago-based law firm Prenda Law, which filed dozens of lawsuits against and threatened thousands of other Internet users to get them pay settlement fees for downloading pornographic files. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright in California reprimanded Prenda lawyers and their affiliates for what he called "plaintiffs' brazen misconduct and relentless fraud" in a similar case, ordering them to pay more than $81,000 in sanctions.

A recent anti-gay attack in New York ended with four teens arrested at the scene, Gay Star News reported. Kevin Kiadii, 25, and a friend were walking in Brooklyn's Prospect Park when they encountered a group of four teens, ages 13 to 18, who appeared to be intoxicated. Kiadii said he offered one of the boys a bottle of soda, and was greeted with shouts and anti-gay slurs, followed by attempted physical attacks. The teens in custody were charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime and gang assault.

Apple has banned a Christian app that claims to help users "cure" themselves of homosexuality; however, it remains available for download for Google Android users, according to Pink News. The app, called "Setting Captives Free," claims, "You can be set free from the bondage of homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ and the cross!" The organization Setting Captives Free has been in operation for a few years.

In Minnesota, marriage-license applications for same-sex couples will be available for the first time June 6 when service centers open that morning in Hennepin, Washington and Ramsey counties, according to StarTribune.com . A marriage license obtained in one county is good anywhere in Minnesota. There will be a slight change in the new marriage-license applications: Instead of asking for the names of the bride and groom, they will ask for the names of the first and second "applicants."

In Los Angeles, openly gay attorney and Democratic stalwart Ron Galperin's recently defeated City Councilmember Dennis Zine for city controller, according to FrontiersLA.com . The win—56 percent to 44 percent—also signaled a changing of the guard: Zine had been a fixture for years in L.A. law enforcement and city politics as a moderate Republican before becoming an independent.

Running June 14-Sept. 8, the Milwaukee Art Museum will present "30 Americans," showcasing the work of 31 contemporary African-American artists who tackle issues around race, religion, gender, sexuality and cultural identity, according to a press release. The exhibition will show nearly 80 works of art from individuals such as Nina Chanel Abney, Nick Cave, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Shinique Smith and Carrie Mae Weems, among others.

In Kansas, Jallen Messersmith of Benedictine College in Atchison told the Associated Press that he is gay, making him the first U.S. men's college basketball player to say he is gay while he is still playing, according to an L.A. Times item. Messersmith later gave a longer interview to Outsports.com, saying he wanted to come out to help other gay athletes feel comfortable about who they are. He said that when he told his coach last summer and his teammates just before the season started, no one was bothered by his disclosure.

In Ohio, transgender student Chris Calderon-Perez was allowed to follow the female dress code at Fostoria High School's graduation despite a conflict with school policies, according to News-Herald.com . Calderon-Perez, who was born male but lives as a female, was initially told she would be required to dress as a male to participate in commencement. The 17-year-old said that felt "completely awful" after living as a female for the past two years, including when attending the prom.

In a bulletin insert delivered to parishioners around the nation, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops warned that the Supreme Court could be preparing to affirm marriage equality, and urged sentiment and sermons to push back against the potential change, according to RawStory.com . In part, the bulletin reads, "The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined with many other organizations in urging the Supreme Court to uphold both DOMA and Proposition 8 and thereby to recognize the essential, irreplaceable contribution that husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, make to society, and especially to children."

Pacific Justice Institute President Brad Dacus, a leading anti-marriage equality activist in California, admitted to past same-sex attractions in a discussion with gay-rights activist and YouTube personality Jeff 4 Justice, according to a Gay Star News item. However, when asked if he had ever experimented sexually with another male, Dacus said 'Don't even go there,' saying that it wasn't appropriate to ask about those kinds of things. Dacus also apologized for a 2008 speech he gave which referenced Nazism and Adolf Hitler in speaking about same-sex marriage.

The Indiana Youth Group, an LGBT youth-support group, is celebrating a victory after a judge ordered the organization's specialty license plates to be reinstated after they were halted last year, according to a Towleroad item. An IYG press release stated that license-plate sales "were suspended in March of last year after 20 state legislators signed a letter to the BMV [Bureau of Motor Vehicles] on the last day of the legislative session requesting immediate suspension alleging that IYG and two other organizations were selling the low numbered plates." Recently, the BMV cancelled negotiations with the three organizations, citing recent legislation that set up a commission to deliberate on specialty plates.

As the nation marks the opening of LGBT Pride Month, executive directors from 35 LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations from across the United States released a joint letter committing themselves and their organizations to re-engaging the broader LGBT community in the fight against HIV, according to a press release. Among those who signed the letter were leaders from Family Equality Council, SAGE, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Center on Halsted, PFLAG National, Transgender Law Center and Equality Illinois. The full letter is at http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5208/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8020.

The court-martial of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of the largest security breach in U.S. history, began June 3 in Fort Meade, Md.—more than three years after he was arrested in Iraq, according to USA Today. Manning, a member of the LGBT community, has admitted to sending troves of material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and pleaded guilty to charges that would send him to prison for up to 20 years. However, the U.S. military and the Obama administration are also pursuing a charge of aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.

Media/technology company Comcast has launched Xfinity.com/LGBT, an online portal that brings together LGBT entertainment content, according to a press release. In addition, all HERE TV content on Xfinity On Demand and online will be available for free to Xfinity TV digital customers during the first week of June.

As poverty rates for nearly all populations increased during the recession, lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) Americans remained more likely to be poor than heterosexual people, according to a new research report published by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Gender, race, education and geography all influence poverty rates among LGB populations, and children of same-sex couples are particularly vulnerable to poverty. Among the key findings is that African-American same-sex couples have poverty rates more than twice the rate of different-sex married African-Americans. The report is entitled "New Patterns of Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community."

Chicago-based gay couple Steven White and Matt McCrea claimed they were kicked out of a taxicab onto a busy expressway after a quick kiss, according to a Huffington Post item. "He indicated that it was a public mode of transportation and we shouldn't kiss in his cab," White said. Although the report claims the driver accused the couple of "making sex," Sun Taxi Associates has not commented on the situation so far.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, a liberal Democrat who wrote some of the nation's most sweeping health and safety laws, died at age 89, according to USA Today. Lautenberg was the last of the "Greatest Generation" in the U.S. Senate to serve in World War II. Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement, "Senator Lautenberg was a beacon for equality in Congress. He fought for justice with more than simply his vote. He knew bullying in our schools is a scourge, and he stood up to end it. He knew that workplace discrimination and hate crimes erode the freedom of all Americans, so he worked to stop them, session after session."

The National LGBT Bar Association issued a statement praising the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section for taking up a resolution to protect victims of so called gay and trans "panic" legal defenses. The resolution supports the LGBT community by no longer allowing defense attorneys to use victims' identities or their sexual orientation against them in court. "This resolution puts an end to a longstanding injustice in our legal system and gives a voice to countless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of violence, one we never hear because they are no longer here to speak for themselves," said D'Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the LGBT Bar.

A landmark new report examines how LGBT workers might have the same job as a coworker, yet be legally fired, denied equal benefits and be required to pay thousands of dollars more in taxes simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a press release. "A Broken Bargain: Discrimination, Fewer Benefits and More Taxes for LGBT Workers" states that LGBT workers suffer compared to their non-LGBT peers in areas such as nondiscrimination protections, family health benefits and spousal retirement benefits, among other areas. Full and condensed versions of the report are available at www.lgbtmap.org/lgbt-workers.

Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) issued a statement lauding the New York State Assembly for passing a medical-marijuana bill. This legislation will allow physicians to discuss and prescribe limited access to medical marijuana for patients with severe conditions, including HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other illnesses. Janet Weinberg, chief operating officer of GMHC, said, "As a survivor of breast cancer, my challenges this year taught me first-hand the issues that GMHC's clients go through. ... Therefore I am relieved that medical marijuana could be a possible treatment for me and so many others."

A former member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs has come out to say she's now a woman, ABC News reported. Kristin Beck, formerly Chris, served 20 years as a SEAL and fought on some of the most dangerous battlefields in the world; however, after leaving the service she realized she wasn't living the life she wanted. Beck has released a book, Warrior Princess, that details her journey to being a transgender woman. Beck is currently on hormone therapy in preparation for gender-reassignment surgery.

The Department of Defense has designated June as LGBT Pride Month for the second consecutive year, according to an OutServe-SLDN press release. Army veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson praised Pentagon leadership for the action, saying, "Acknowledging the accomplishments and contributions of lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members sends an important message all the way down the chain of command: that our military is stronger, and our nation safer, because it includes them."

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, praised U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin on introducing the Strengthening America's Schools Act of 2013. A release states that Harkin's measure "takes critical steps to ensure that all students attend schools with safe, supportive and inclusive environments for learning by incorporating provisions of the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) and the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA)."

Boy Scouts and adult volunteers wore their uniforms June 2 as they marched in Utah's gay pride parade, according to NBC News. In doing so, they defied Rick Barnes, chief scout executive of the Great Salt Lake Council, who had said they couldn't do so under the organization's guidelines prohibiting the advocating of political or social positions. The Utah Pride Festival Parade came a little more than a week after national delegates of the Boy Scouts of America approved allowing gay youth to join.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released its annual report documenting the high level of hate violence experienced by LGBTQ and HIV-affected persons in the United States in 2012, according to a press release. It draws on data collected from 15 anti-violence programs in 16 states (with one organization reporting about two states) across the country. Among other things, the 2012 report documents 2,016 incidents of anti-LGBTQ violence in 2012 (a 4-percent decrease from 2011), and highlights a number of multi-year trends of severe anti-LGBTQ violence. The report is at avp.org/about-avp/coalitions-a-collaborations/82-national-coalition-of-anti-violence-programs.