Daniel Hernandez—the openly gay intern for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords—threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Major League Baseball All-Star game in Phoenix, Ariz., July 12, according to Advocate.com . Hernandez also threw the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in Washington, D.C., in June. The National League (which includes the Chicago Cubs) beat the American League (which includes the Chicago White Sox) 5-1, giving the NL the home-field advantage in the World Series this fall.
In New Jersey, Alrashim Chambers has pled not guilty to the 2010 murder of transgender woman Victoria Carmen White, Advocate.com reported. The shooting allegedly occurred after Chambers, who met White at a nightclub, discovered White was transgender. Chambers, however, did plead guilty to hindering apprehension, for which he could receive five years in prison.
The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld lower-court decisions that a biological mother did not permanently relinquish sole custody of her child despite her acknowledging her lesbian partner as a co-parent, Advocate.com reported. The higher court stated that "[Kelly] Mullen's actions did not confer on [partner Michele] Hobbs a permanent right to shared custody of [daughter] Lucy after her relationship with Mullen ended." "This decision is a tragedy for the child, above all else," said Christopher Clark, senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal's Midwest regional office in Chicago, in a statement.
The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn its opposition to joint bankruptcy petitions filed by same-sex married couples, according to Reuters. The department's about-face in policy developed in a case involved Gene Douglas Balas and Carlos Morales, who were married in California in 2008. Previously, the department's position was that the bankruptcy code only allowed joint filings by opposite-sex spouses as defined under the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); however, the Obama administration decided in February that it would no long support DOMA in court.
In Georgia, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner has fired six police officers and disciplined nine others for lying about what happened two years ago during a raid of the Atlanta Eagle, a gay bar, Midtown Patch reported. The police chief's actions follow the June 28 release of reports that name officers who lied or destroyed evidence when asked about the raid. However, the bar's owner and two patrons who sued the department say they aren't satisfied, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The owner, Robert Kelly, said, "What I don't understand is how some of them can get a letter of reprimand for doing the exact same thing that the other officers did … destroying federal evidence."
In his book, Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight, semi-retired psychiatrist Dr. Loren Olson looks at the lives of closeted gay men, many of whom have sex with other men but deny they are gay, ABC News reported. Olson—who was himself married but eventually came out—said, "These men lead hidden lives and that's a very lonely place to be." A 2006 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that 10 percent of men who called themselves heterosexual have had sex with men, many of them married.
In California, immigration judge Marilyn Teeter gave a deportation reprieve of two years to a Venezuelan man and his U.S. husband, according to MercuryNews.com . Alex Benshimol, 47, a Venezuelan citizen, and Doug Gentry, 53, a U.S. citizen, were legally married last year in Connecticut and current reside in Palm Springs. The couple still has to prove that they should be considered "married" under federal immigration guidelines.
Tenn. Gov. Bill Haslam said that stopping businesses from discriminating against gay people would harm the economy, Advocate.com reported. Haslam signed a bill in May that banned anti-discrimination ordinances created by cities and counties. "Why wouldn't I add gays as a protected class? I just feel like there's enough regulation coming down," he told a reporter, adding that discrimination "is a business issue in the sense that businesses keep having regulations put on them."
If lesbian U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin wants to run for retiring Sen. Herb Kohl's seat, she seems to have plenty of funds, according to Advocate.com . Baldwin raised $502,000 in the second quarter (including $435,000 in June alone) and now has $1.1 million in cash on hand. Baldwin may not make a formal announcement on a Senate run until the state recall elections in Wisconsin take place.
The ACLU of California is strongly urging the state agency that regulates mental-health counselors to immediately remove the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) from its list of approved organizations from which California counselors can obtain continuing education credits (CEUs), according to a press release. The agency, the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (CBBS), requires licensed educational psychologists, marriage and family therapists and licensed clinical social workers to take CEUs in order to renew their licenses. NARTH endorses reparative therapy and contends that homosexuality is an illness that can be treated.
In Utah, Democrats elected Jim Dabakis state party chair, making him the first openly gay person to hold that position, Advocate.com reported. An art dealer, Dabakis defeated candidate Robert Comstock 528-71. Democrats also narrowly selected Brian Doughty, who is gay, to fill the state House seat vacated by former representative Jackie Biskupski—who was the first openly gay lawmaker in the state.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Vermont have filed a lawsuit against a Vermont resort that refused to host a lesbian couple's wedding reception, according to a press release. The owners of the Wildflower Inn rejected New York couple Kate Baker and Ming Linsley because the owners' "personal feelings" prevented them from hosting "gay receptions." Vermont law bars denying access to public accommodations based on sexual orientation.
In Alaska, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU branch of that state have filed a brief seeking to allow transgender individuals to correct the gender markers on their birth certificates without undergoing major surgery, according to a press release. They contend that the surgery requirement places an undue burden on transgender individuals and presents a gross violation of an individual's right to privacy.
Out gay activist/columnist Dan Savage has apologized for saying he wished all Congressional Republicans "were fucking dead" while appearing on the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, Advocate.com reported. When Maher compared the Republicans to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Savage said, "Unfortunately not exactly like him. I wish they were all fucking dead." He later apologized on his blog, posting, "It was a stupid, rude, thoughtless remark. I regret it and I retract it and I apologize to anyone watching at home—particularly my father (!)—who may have heard me say it."
In Indiana, Aaron Pace, 22, is claiming that he was not allowed to donate blood because he looked gay, according to Advocate.com . Pace said he went to Bio-Blood Components Inc., which pays for both blood and plasma donations. He was reportedly told he could not donate blood because he "appear[ed] to be a homosexual." Men who have had sex with other men since 1977 have been banned from donating blood because of a supposed risk of transmitting HIV.
