Dharun Ravi, 19, has said that he is not guilty of 15 charges related to allegedly spying on former Rutgers University roommate Tyler Clementi's tryst with another man, according to the Boston Herald. Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge Sept. 22, 2010. During his eight-minute court appearance, Ravi did not speak and entered his not guilty pleas through attorney Steven Altman.
The National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Bar Associationthe nation's only association of LGBT legal professionals, judges and law studentshas selected Christian Dowell, legal director of global brand protection at Yahoo! Inc., as a recipient of the organization's Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award, according to a press release. The Out & Proud Corporate Counsel Award will be presented June 16 at a reception at Slide Lounge in San Francisco.
Frank Bailey, a former aide to Sarah Palin, paints an unflattering portrait of her in his book Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years, according to the Huffington Post. Bailey worked with Palin on her 2006 election campaign for governor in Alaska, as well as in her role as Sen. John McCain's running mate during the last presidential election. Bailey uses thousands of emails that he kept over the yearsalthough sources close to Palin have disputed several anecdotes in the book.
In Virginia, four people brutally beat a transgender woman outside a 7-Eleven store in Fredericksburg, according to Advocate.com . The victim, said her attackers pulled up in a car as she exited the store and backed her against a wall, kicking her and beating her with their fists and a metal broom handle while shouting transphobic slurs. In April, two girls allegedly attacked a transgender woman at a McDonald's in nearby Maryland.
In New York, marriage-equality supporter Kathy Hochul scored an upset victory in a special election for a congressional seat, according to Advocate.com . Hochul competed for the 26th District seat vacated when Republican congressman Christopher Lee resigned after it was revealed that he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman on Craigslist. Republican state assemblywoman Jane Corwin appeared to have an early edge, but voter anger over the GOP's plan to overhaul Medicare helped propel Hochul to the win.
Georgia-based megachurch leader Bishop Eddie Long has reached an out-of-court settlement with four young men who accused him of sexual coercion, according to CNN.com . B.J. Bernstein, the attorney representing the men, said that her clients have agreed to never discuss the suit. Art Franklin, a spokesman for Long, said Thursday that the pastor settled because it "is the most reasonable road for everyone to travel." Anthony Flagg, Maurice Robinson, Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande had accused Long of forcing them into having sex with them while they were teens.
The Williams Institutea research center on sexual-orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Lawannounces new findings from the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, the longest-running study ever conducted on American lesbian families (now in its 25th year), according to a press release. In an article published in the Journal of Health Psychology, 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers in the study who reported experiences of homophobic stigmatization did not report higher levels of substance use. The study is the first to date to explore the association between homophobia and substance use in adolescents raised by lesbians.
Kansas state Rep. Pete DeGraaf has compared being impregnated during a rape to having a flat tire, according to Pitch.com . DeGraaf, a first-term rep who is also an associate pastor, responded to Rep. Barbara Bollier's question, "And so women need to plan ahead for issues that they have no control over with pregnancy?" by saying "I have a spare tire on my car." Kansas legislators approved a ban on insurance companies offering abortion coverage as part of their general health plans unless a woman's life is at risk.
Fox News Channel Chairman Roger Ailes insisted on having bombproof glass installed in his office after Rupert Murdoch hired him to create the channel because, referring to activists, Ailes said, "They'll be down there protestingthose gays," according to Newser.com . The original article, in Rolling Stone magazine, also says that Ailes has bought the houses surrounding his New Jersey home to create a wider security perimeter; a source adds that Ailes "has a personal paranoia about people who are Muslimwhich is consistent with the ideology of his network."
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has ruled that transgender woman Sandy Battista has a right to receive hormone medication while civilly committed within the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, according to a press release from Battista's attorneys from McDermott Will & Emery. "This case is about one's right to medical care while incarcerated," said Neal Minahan, an associate in McDermott's Boston office who argued the case before the First Circuit. "Incarcerated, transgender individuals have as much right to medically necessary care as any other person in the State's custody."
A study has concluded that the vowel sounds in an unfamiliar voice quickly give away the speaker's sexual orientation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Participants were asked to identify the sexual orientation of the speakers when hearing only the first letter sound of certain words, the first two letter sounds or the entire wordsand were correct up to 75 percent of the time. "I'm not sure what exactly the listeners are responding to in the vowel," study lead author Erik C. Tracy. "Other researchers have done various acoustic analyses to understand why gay and heterosexual men produce vowels differently. Whatever this difference is, it seems that listeners are using it to make this sexual orientation decision."
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has announced its endorsement of President Barack Obama for re-election. According to a press release, "the decision was made based on the president's demonstrated commitment to LGBT equality and his record of accomplishment, from major legislative victories to critical administrative reforms." "President Obama has improved the lives of LGBT Americans more than any president in history," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. Information on Obama's LGBT record is available at http://www.hrc.org/ObamaEndorsement.
Virginians are narrowly divided over the issue of civil unions, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. A Washington Post poll showed that 47 percent of Virginians say same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry, while 43 percent are opposed. "We knew that public opinion was evolving," Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a spokeswoman for the gay-rights group Equality Virginia, said. "You end up leaving us in a posture where the public has moved and the policymakers haven't and won't."
In Minnesota, three men were arrested in connection with a possible hate crime in the city of St. Cloud, according to MyFoxTwinCities.com . Matthew Warren Thomas, 24, of Rogers; Chad Vincent Hands, 21, of Elk River; and Ryan Andrew Frane, 23, of St. Cloud, attacked Mark Miller, 22 at D.B. Searle's bar. The three men were taken to the Stearns County Jail, where they were slated to be charged with fourth-degree assault, a felony due to the hate-crime classification; however, they were later released on their own recognizance. Charges are still possible.
In Texas, District Judge Randy Clapp plans to nullify the marriage of transgender woman Nikki Araguz, whose firefighter husband died in the line of duty, on the grounds that they had an illegal same-sex marriage, according to Jezebel.com . Araguz, who was born Justin Graham Purdue, married Thomas Trevino Araguz III in 2008, and had gender-reassignment surgery two months later. Thomas died while fighting a fire last summer; now his family and ex-wife, Heather Delgado, are battling Nikki for $600,000 in death benefits and assets.
In Alabama, HB 273a bill that would protect teachers and other state employees from being fired because of their sexual orientationis languishing in the legislature, according to the Anniston Star. The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Patricia Todd, is already describing the bill as "dead" in the Republican-dominated state House. However, she added that it's important to start campaigning for equal employment rights for gay and lesbian educators.
In San Francisco, Calif., the Trevor Projecta nonprofit that provides suicide-prevention and crisis counseling to LGBT youthhas opened a call center in the former office of the late gay politician/activist Harvey Milk, SFAppeal.com reported. The Trevor Lifeline's Harvey Milk Call Center has space for four volunteers to help respond to the 3,000 calls the Trevor Project's hotline receives each month. Milk was first openly gay politician in the country when he and then-Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978 by their colleague, Supervisor Dan White.
President Obama will be the keynote speaker at the LGBT Leadership Council Dinner June 23 launching New York's pride celebration. The eventwith actor Neil Patrick hostingwill take place at the New York Sheraton & Towers. Like one of his heroes (Abraham Lincoln), Obama will be remembered for "his courage in further realizing the maxim 'all men are created equal,'" according to CommunityMatters.biz . The gala will also support Obama's re-election bid.
In Georgia, state Rep. Rashad Taylor has come out of the closet while dealing with rumors he had traded state funds and lobbyist gifts for sexual favors from men, according to Advocate.com . Taylor, a Democrat from southwest Atlanta, said he did not want to come out under these circumstances, but added he felt "lucky for all the support from those who are closest to me." A man named Jermaine Callahan contacted several lawmakers, accusing Taylor of sexual misconduct; however, Callahanwhom Taylor said was actually the ex of the man Taylor is now datingeventually admitted he had no evidence.
Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has admitted that he recommended his then-companion, Herb Moses, for a job at the housing agency Freddie Mac in the 1990s, according to the Boston Globe. Frankwho, for more than two decades, has been a member of the House committee charged with overseeing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Macconfirmed an account of the hiring that is in New York Times reporter Gretchen Morgenson's book about the country's financial crisis. Frank said he believed Moses was qualified, and that he never asked anyone to hire him. He also said that problems with the companies didn't occur until the 2000safter Moses left the job, and after he and Frank had split.
The Human Rights Campaign has praised the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for publishing guidance regarding transgender federal employees. Pursuant to a June 2009 presidential memorandum regarding federal employees, OPM added gender identity to the categories protected under the equal employment opportunity policy for executive branch positions. The guidance, available at www.opm.gov/diversity/Transgender/Guidance.asp, provides further information to federal managers and human-resources officials to ensure that transgender employees are treated fairly and equally.
It was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) vs. the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, according to Advocate.com . A group of peopleincluding 10 members claiming to be a branch of the KKK known as the Knights of the Southern Cross in Virginiastaged a counterprotest against members of the Kansas church, which is known for its anti-gay protests at soldiers' funerals. Dennis LaBonte, the "imperial wizard" of the Knights, told CNN, "It's the soldier that fought and died and gave them that right to free speech."
In Georgia, Bernice Kingthe anti-gay daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.has left her position as an elder of pastor Eddie Long's church, Advocate.com reported. Bernice's actions, so far, seem to be unrelated to Long's settlement with four men who accused him of sexual coercion when they were teens. Bernice has angered the gay community by saying, for example, that her father "did not take a bullet for same-sex marriage."
In Palm Springs, Calif., couple Russell Bates, 24, and Abigail Sheehy, 19, have been charged with battery as a hate crime after allegedly having a violent dispute with a gay couple over a parking space, according to Advocate.com . A same-sex couple, aged 63 and 45, argued with Bates and Sheehy over the space; when the victims started taking their picture, they allegedly yelled anti-gay slurs and started punching them. One of the victims lost teeth in the attack.