More than 90 percent of the country's largest companies state that diversity policies and generous benefits packages are good for their corporate bottom line, according to a new study from UCLA's Williams Institute. The study finds that more than half of these companies specifically state that their policies prohibiting LGBT discrimination or extending domestic partner benefits are good for business. The study is based on a review of statements issued by the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and the top 50 federal contractors when they first put these policies in place.
A new study by researchers at Indiana University and George Mason University found the sexual repertoire of gay and bisexual men more diverse than expected, according to a press release. The study—which includes feedback from almost 25,000 men, thanks to the OLB Research Institute at Online Buddies, Inc.—revealed 1,308 unique combinations of behaviors, with the most common being kissing a partner on the mouth. The study suggested that public health and medical practitioners might want to employ a broader, less disease-focused perspective when dealing with the sexual health of gay and bisexual men.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has called high school teacher Viki Knox's anti-gay comments on Facebook "disturbing," according to NJ.com . On WABC Radio, Christie said, "I think that kind of example is not a positive one at all to be setting for folks who have such an important and influential position in our society." Recently, Knox described homosexuality as "a perverted spirit" and "a sin that breeds like cancer."
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has launched Americans for Marriage Equality, a public-engagement campaign featuring prominent Americans who support committed gay and lesbian couples getting married, according to a press release. Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, who ranks on this year's Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world, kicks off Americans for Marriage Equality. In a 30-second spot, he says, in part, "I support marriage equality because I believe in the 14th Amendment: 'equal protection under the law.' And, I support marriage equality because I support love and, in this nation, we need a lot more of it."
Also, HRC has called on GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain to meet with Dr. Jack Drescher, MD—a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and a member of the DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders—to learn why being gay isn't a choice. On CNN, Cain reiterated his belief that being gay is an option. "Herman Cain is now one of the leading GOP candidates for President of the United States, and he is making remarks that have no factual basis and spread dangerous falsities about LGBT Americans," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "I strongly urge Mr. Cain to meet with Dr. Drescher—an offer he has so far ignored—to learn exactly 'what the science says' about being gay, and to develop a deeper appreciation for the very real challenges LGBT people face on a daily basis."
National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Michael Mitchell is leaving his post at the end of October, according to Metro Weekly. Mitchell told the publication that his commitment was originally for two years, adding, "We're at the end of that contract, so it just feels like the right time for me personally to not renew my contract." He also acknowledged that the group, like many other nonprofit organizations, has been experiencing financial troubles. Jerame Davis, who is the group's affiliate services director, will be the interim executive director.
In San Francisco, authorities say that a brass plaque honoring the late gay-rights activist Harvey Milk was stolen from the city's Castro neighborhood, according to Advocate.com . The three-foot-by-two-foot plaque (which had been bolted into cement) was in place for almost three decades, outside the gates of the Castro Muni Station in Harvey Milk Plaza. Supervisor Scott Wiener said, "It really means a lot to the community. Whoever took it, I just ask that you return it, no questions asked, and let us put it back up."
In Philadelphia, a health center is slated to open that will focus exclusively on transgender individuals, according to an Advocate.com item. The Morris Home will hopefully open next month, said Sade Ali, deputy commissioner of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health, to Metro.us. The city will fund the center, whose specific site has not yet been publicized.
In Wisconsin, former Sen. Russ Feingold has endorsed lesbian U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin in her run for the Senate, according to the Huffington Post. In an email to Baldwin's supporters, Feingold wrote, "I know Tammy has the values, the vision, and the guts to be a force the middle class in the U.S. Senate." Baldwin told the Post that she was "honored to have the support of Russ Feingold, a progressive champion who always puts Wisconsin's working and middle class families first." Should she win next year, Baldwin would be the first openly gay person in the U.S. Senate.
In Tennessee, the Monroe County Board of Education agreed to allow students to wear T-shirts in support of the formation of a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at Sequoyah High School, according to an ACLU press release. Recently, Principal Maurice Moser harassed student Chris Sigler for wearing such a shirt, and has reportedly stifled attempts to form a GSA. Sigler said, "We still want the GSA to be recognized as a club, but at least now the school won't punish us for peacefully expressing our opinions."
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry recently toured the GLBT Center of Colorado in Denver and spoke with members of the LGBT community about the importance of the American Jobs Act, according to a White House press release. Also, Berry was briefed on two programs geared towards getting that community secure and well-paying jobs: SAGE of the Rockies, which runs a skills-training and job-seeking assistance program for senior LGBT Coloradoans, and the Transgender Career Advancement Project, which provides job preparedness workshops and job fairs for transgender Coloradoans twice each year.
The judge in the Tyler Clementi case ruled that the man seen kissing Clementi on a webcam must be revealed, NJ.com reported. Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman had delayed a September order to release the name of Clementi's companion, known only as M.B. However, M.B.'s written request to keep his anonymity didn't convince Berman to reverse his earlier ruling. Clementi was the Rutgers University student who committed suicide in September 2010 after roommate Dharun Ravi caught his same-sex tryst with M.B. on a webcam.
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims denied the government's motion to dismiss an ACLU class-action lawsuit challenging the defense department's military separation-pay policy for involuntarily discharged gay service members, according to a press release. Joshua Block, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, wrote on his blog, "The government can't undo all the harm that ["Don't Ask, Don't Tell"] inflicted on Mr. Collins and other honorably discharged veterans. But it can at least take the small step of giving these veterans the separation pay that was gratuitously taken away from them."
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, Inc. (WPATH) recently held its symposium at Emory University's Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, the Emory Wheel reported. The event, a joint effort between WPATH and the President's Commission on Sexuality, Gender Diversity and Queer Equality, started with sessions providing information about transgender healthcare to healthcare professionals and surgeons. This year's symposium was the first in which members of the LGBT community were invited to participate.
In Michigan, the Rev. Bill Freeman was arrested Oct. 19 in Holland for protesting the city's lack of a gay-rights ordinance, Advocate.com reported. Freeman, the minister of Interfaith Congregation, refused to leave City Hall; he was then handcuffed and taken to Ottawa County Jail, where he later posted $100 bond. In June, the City Council voted 5-4 to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity from its nondiscrimination ordinance.
Columnist Dan Savage has some choice words for GOP presidential Herman Cain, who feels that homosexuality is a choice, according to the Huffington Post. Writing on The Stranger's Slog blog, Savage posted, "Dear Herman, If being gay is a choice, show us the proof. Choose it. Choose to be gay yourself. Show America how that's done, Herman, show us how a man can choose to be gay. Suck my dick, Herman. Name the time and the place and I'll bring my dick and a camera crew and you can suck me off and win the argument. Very sincerely yours, Dan Savage." Savage also said that Cain is insulting heterosexuals as well as gay people when he says that a person can choose sexuality.
Former Lambda Legal client and Lacey, Wash., resident Janice Langbehn was one of 13 people who received the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation's second-highest civilian honor, according to a press release. The event occurred Oct. 20 in the East Room of the White House. Earlier this year, President Obama—who signed a memorandum calling for an end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians in hospital-visitation policies—called Langbehn to apologize for what she endured in the hospital.
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has appointed lesbian attorney/activist Beth Robinson to fill the vacancy on the state's Supreme Court, according to Lez Get Real. In 1997, Robinson led the legal team that took the case that resulted in the country's first civil-union law. "I'm humbled by the confidence that Governor Shumlin has placed in me," Robinson said. The state Senate still has to confirm her appointment, but many see that as merely a formality.
In Heidelberg, Pa., Steven Iorio said that two former friends set his leg on fire because he's gay, according to a Huffington Post item. An eyewitness told police that Brandon Washington and David Blair poured a bottle of Bacardi on Iorio's leg and then set it aflame. Washington and Blair also reportedly "wrote disturbing things on his pants and drew on his face." The two have been charged with aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.
Gay-rights icon Frank Kameny will lie in state in the Carnegie Library at Mt. Vernon Square Thursday, Nov. 3, 3-8 p.m., according to DCist.com . The viewing will be open to the public, and civic leaders may be on tap to speak. Also, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is displaying a collection of Kameny's picket signs. The signs, donated to the Smithsonian in 2006, will be shown through Jan. 16.
A new iPhone app alerts users when anti-gay politicians get caught in gay-sex scandals, according to the Huffington Post. A release describes iScandal (which sells for 99 cents) as an app that "tracks hypocrisy among anti-gay lawmakers." Among its functions are notifications of the most recent scandals, synopses of recent incidents and links to detailed news stories.
In Connecticut, a gay kiss in the high-school musical Zanna Don't caused several individuals to walk out of the event, the Huffington Post reported. The musical played recently at Hartford Public High School; the show involves a high school where being gay is the norm and heterosexuals are the outcasts. After two male actors briefly kissed on the lips, a group of students (many of them football players) got up and left. Adam Johnson, principal of the Government and Law Academy at the high school, said, "It was visually evident [due to the jerseys the team was wearing] that a lot of football players got up and walked out. It was almost a symbolic kind of thing."
The National Organization for Women (NOW) has supported U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's contention that "rape will continue to rise" if the American Jobs Act doesn't pass, according to Yahoo! News. Terry O'Neill, president of NOW, told the Daily Caller, "I think he is concretely worried that with fewer police on the beat crime will go up. ... I think he is imagining the lives of real people. That is not a devise, that is an actual ability to know what everyday people go through."
A California man is claiming that Medford, N.J., Mayor Chris Myers paid him for sex in October 2010 at a California hotel, according to a Huffington Post item. The man said Myers identified himself as a mayor from New Jersey and offered ID as proof. A website, www.mayormyers.webs.com, has photos that show a man who appears to be Myers in his underwear lying on a bed. Myers, a Republican, ran for Congress unsuccessfully in 2008.
Maryville, Tenn., Carla Lewis—a member of the East Tennessee Equality Council and a former secretary of Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition—recently started a movement that resulted in General Mills pulling a transphobic ad for Totino's Pizza, according to OutAndAboutNewspaper.com . Lewis composed a petition on Change.org to General Mills asking the CEO, director of marketing and director of sales to pull the ad, which features a non-female identified cross dresser in a contest, "Totino's Pizza Stuffers Mom." Lewis blogged, "To their credit, not only did they pull the YouTube video, but have killed the entire ad campaign."
In Iowa, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is focusing on Democratic candidate Liz Mathis, who is running for the state Senate seat Democrat Swati Dandekar is vacating, On Top Magazine reported. Democrats control the state Senate, which has been able to repeal an attempted repeal of the state's marriage-equality law. However, Republican Gov. Terry Branstad's appointment of Dandekar to the Iowa Utilities Board could result in Democrats losing their one-seat Senate majority. Mathis' election is Nov. 8.
Rhode Island First Lady Stephanie Chafee will officiate the Nov. 5 civil union of lesbian couple Ron Margolin and Lynn McKinney, On Top Magazine reported. (The women first asked Gov. Lincoln Chafee, but he had a conflict in his schedule.) McKinney and Margolin, who have been together for 32 years, are close friends of the Chafees and political supporters of the governor.
Disgraced former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has joined Fox News as an analyst, according to Yahoo! News. Sanford, a Republican, was a two-term governor who resigned after being caught cheating on his wife with Argentine journalist Maria Belen Chapur, whom he called his "soulmate." The South Carolina state legislature censured Sanford and he left office in January 2011.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., urged the Department of Defense "in the strongest terms to end a discriminatory policy that bans the same-sex spouses of returning National Guard members from participating in official National Guard family events," SeacoastOnline.com reported. Shaheen was responding to a situation involving Charlie Morgan, 47, who is the only member of the New Hampshire National Guard who recently returned from a foreign deployment but is banned from bringing her spouse to a military-mandated "yellow ribbon reintegration" program.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has agreed to review its medical guidelines for applicants with compromised immune systems, including people with HIV, according to a press release from the ACLU. The agreement is part of a settlement between the TSA and the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida. In August 2009, the ACLU filed an administrative complaint on behalf of Air Force veteran Michael Lamarre, who was refused a job as a transportation security officer with the TSA because he is HIV-positive.
GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's former staffers in New Hampshire sent an angry letter explaining why they walked out recently, according to Newser.com . "The manner in which some in the national team conducted themselves towards Team-N.H. was rude, unprofessional, dishonest, and at times cruel," the letter says. "Team members were repeatedly ignored regarding simple requests, sometimes going weeks with little or no contact with the national team." Bachmann's national camp downplayed the situation, saying it had always planned to focus on Iowa.
Patrick Leahy—the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee—has set Nov. 3 for a debate and committee vote on the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the Washington Blade reported. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA. It's also possible the committee could vote on openly gay judicial nominee Michael Fitzgerald for a seat on a federal court.
Jenna Lyons, president/creative director of J. Crew, is divorcing artist husband Vincent Mazeau, and she reportedly fell in love with another woman, according to the New York Post. Lyons—who makes about $5 million annually working with CEO Mickey Drexler—is in a bitter battle with Mazeau over her money and custody of their son, Beckett. The couple are allegedly ironing out a settlement in which Mazeau may keep the house.
Alabama state Rep. Patricia Todd—the state's first out lesbian lawmaker—has pre-filed a measure that would expand anti-bullying policies to protect students on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity, according to LGBTQ Nation. Todd said that the same measure failed to make it onto a committee calendar last year. A survey that Equality Alabama commissioned and that Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research conducted shows nearly 70 percent of the state's residents support such a bill.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) will hold an Historically Black College and University LGBT Leadership and Career Summit Oct. 27-30, according to a press release. Summit participants will take part in a lobby day on Friday on Capitol Hill, talking to lawmakers about issues important to LGBT people of color. "People of color face unique obstacles in the fight for LGBT equality," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "Not only will we help these students raise their voices on Capitol Hill and gain valuable skills, they will also teach others about LGBT equality and social justice."
