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

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., attempted to amend an extreme measure she opposes that would limit a woman's rights and endanger her health, according to a press release. In a House Health Subcommittee mark-up, Baldwin offered an amendment to the Republican-sponsored H.R. 358, the "Protect Life Act," so that the bill could not take effect if it increased taxes on individuals or small businesses. However, ruling it irrelevant, Republicans did not vote on Baldwin's amendment and passed the measure.

Following last year's anti-gay controversy, retail giant Target teamed with singer Lady Gaga by offering early free downloads of her new single, "Born This Way"—a song Sir Elton John has called the new gay anthem, according to TwinCities.com . In 2010, Target was in the crosshairs of gay-rights groups for making a $150,000 corporate donation aiding an anti-gay-rights Republican, Tom Emmer, in the Minnesota governor's race. Incidentally, in addition to Gaga, Target is collaborating with out gay singer Ricky Martin.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has allowed a woman to be named as a parent on a state birth certificate of the child born to her same-sex married spouse—without needing a court order, according to a Lambda Legal press release. Susan Sommer, director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, said, "Lambda Legal has advocated with the government for this important step for Maryland children, who now can count on having both their moms listed on their birth certificates from their first days in the world."

Regent Media—which owns OUT, The Advocate and Gay.com, among other properties—has been accused of scamming two Wall Street banks out of $90 million, according to Queerty.com . Regent allegedly created false movie-licensing and distribution deals and passed them off to the banks as legit ones in order to drive future revenue. The money then allegedly went into the pockets of Regent Group of Entertainment Companies CEO/Chairman Stephen Jarchow.

West Hollywood, Calif., resident Steven Krumholz was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands on suspicion of selling drugs during an event promoted as the "world's largest gay cruise," according to the Wisconsin Gazette. After boarding the Allure of the Seas, agents found drugs on a passenger who claimed that he had ordered the items from Krumholz. The authorities then searched Krumholz's cabin, where they reportedly found more than 142 Ecstasy pills, ketamine, meth and approximately $50,000 in cash.

Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin issued a statement in response to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's comments in support of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." On Feb. 11, Rumsfeld told ABC News Radio that repealing the ban on openly gay service is "an idea whose time has come." "With Secretary Rumsfeld's statement that the 'time has come' to repeal the ban, there are now three Republican Secretaries of Defense—Cohen, Gates, and Rumsfeld—who have come down on the side of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly," Belkin said.

Real-estate mogul and potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he does not support same-sex marriage even though he likes that New York City "has lots of gays," according to Advocate.com . Trump, who describes himself as "a conservative Republican," said, "New York is a place with lots of gays, and I think it is great. But I'm not in favor of gay marriage." When former pageant contestant Carrie Prejean spoke out against marriage equality, Trump defended her, comparing her views to President Obama's.

Gay couple Matty Daley and Bobby Canciello's record for the world's longest kiss has been broken, according to Advocate.com . Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat—a straight couple from Bangkok, Thailand—reportedly kissed for more than 46 hours. On their Facebook page, Daley and Canciello wrote, "Looks like we won't be getting our spot in the next Guinness Book, but mad props to these two for achieving something even more fantastic than we were able to do at the time."

In New York, the Brooklyn deli Hana Food is changing the names of some of its sandwiches (including one called the "Gay Boy") at its new location, according to an Advocate.com item. Among the other names customers coined for sandwiches were "Butter Face" and "The Illegal." The "Gay Boy" contained egg, vegan bacon, vegan cheese, avocado and sprouts in a sun-dried tomato wrap.

The Motor City Pride Festival is moving to downtown Detroit after being in Ferndale, Mich., for a decade, according to the Detroit Free Press. In addition to a change in location, the festival will expand from one to two days, June 4-5. Event chair Dave White told The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak that "Ferndale has been great to work with and it was a really hard decision to leave such a supportive city." Ferndale officials are reportedly disappointed with the development, saying that the city could handle the festival's expansion.

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach will be allowed to retire in October with his pension and full rank after he fought his discharge from the Air Force under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), according to Advocate.com . Fehrenbach, 41, told the South Bend Tribune "It was a great sense of relief. I didn't expect it." Fehrenbach was initially investigated in 2008 following a male civilian's claim that the officer sexually assaulted him; the allegations were eventually dismissed even though the DADT proceedings continued.

In Oregon, the Beaverton school district has settled a lawsuit filed by Seth Stambaugh, a student teacher who claimed he was fired after talking about marriage equality with a fourth-grade student, according to Advocate.com . When the youngster asked Stambaugh, who is gay, if he was married, the teacher responded, "No ... because I would choose to marry another man." The district agreed to pay Stambaugh $75,000 and "provide leadership training concerning issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression."

Approximately one in five syphilis cases is wrong, according to the Wall Street Journal. A CDC report revealed that a study of five U.S. labs shows about 18 percent of the positive results from a test method used since the 1980s were actually negative. The CDC is recommending additional tests when this particular test is used, although the center stressed that the analysis does not miss people who are positive.

In North Carolina, Michael Anderson, 19, is accused of murdering his gay roommate, Steven Starr—and told a 911 operator that he renderred the victim unrecognizable, according to Advocate.com . Anderson allegedly shot Starr and then hacked its torso with an axe. Anderson also reportedly told the operator he attacked the roommate because of his sexual orientation, adding that Anderson overdosed on Mucinex DM, which "makes him feel a little weird."

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., said on 60 Minutes that he was sexually abused as a child, according to USA Today. Brown—who won a surprise victory last year and is up for re-election next year—said even his mother didn't know that a camp counselor abused him when he was 10. Brown also discusses the abuse in his new memoir, Against All Odds.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) have renewed their partnership to work towards equality in Tennessee, according to an HRC release. HRC has provided a grant of $10,000 to TEP and will work closely with the organization to defeat anti-gay legislation at the state level and pass pro-equality local measures. Among the anti-LGBT legislation already introduced in the Tennessee legislature is the so-called "don't say gay" bill, which would ban LGBT-related conversations with students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has praised Facebook for adding "In a Civil Union" and "In a Domestic Partnership" options to user profiles, according to a press release. The option is now available for users in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. Last October, Facebook partnered with GLAAD and other national LGBT organizations to create the "Network of Support," an educational initiative focused on stopping anti-LGBT cyberbullying.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a major shift in how it treats certain same-sex couples who are married or are registered domestic partners in three states, according to a Lambda Legal press release. For the first time, as California, Nevada and Washington registered domestic partners and California same-sex spouses fill out their federal tax returns for 2010, the IRS will recognize jointly owned community-property income, the same way it does for different-sex married couples who file separate federal income tax returns.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has issued two executive orders that extend nondiscrimination protections to state employees on the basis of gender identity and expression, according to a release from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The orders will apply to all state agencies and programs, as well as businesses that contract with Massachusetts. Rea Carey, the task force's executive director, said, "We applaud the Commonwealth's continued commitment to equal opportunity and inclusion in its state workplaces, as well as services, programs and contracts."

In Bahrain, gay ABC News correspondent Miguel Marquez was beaten while covering protests there, according to Advocate.com . ABC said that a "gang of thugs" pulled Marquez's camera from his hands as he struggled to break free as he shouted "Journalist! Journalist!" to show he also wasn't a protester. Marquez said later that he was "a little beat up, a little bruised, but nothing worse than the typical family vacation, I suppose." Several reporters have been attacked, including CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan, who suffered a sustained sexual assault in Egypt.

In Indiana, prominent gay activist Bil Browning has said that he will expose secrets about any member of that state's legislature who votes to ban same-sex marriage, according to Advocate.com . Browning, who now lives in Washington, D.C., said he is looking for information on different members' same-sex affairs and extramarital dalliances. Browning said that he has received various tips "about naked pics, illicit affairs and kiddie porn"; however, he has sworn to verify them first.

The California Supreme Court has announced it would hear arguments as to whether marriage-equality opponents have standing to defend Prop 8 in court when state officials have refused to do so, according to Advocate.com . The development will further delay an ultimate decision in the case, now on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In Virginia, a state House panel has killed a bill that would have banned sexual orientation-based discrimination, Pink News reported. Virginia currently provides no legal protection to LGBT individuals employed by the state, although it protects on the bases of race, gender and other traits. Sexual orientation was removed from the law in 2010; state Sen. Donald McEachin tried to have it reinstated, but the measure has been tabled.

Almost three dozen gay and lesbian alumni of Westmont College—a Christian, liberal-arts college in Santa Barbara, Calif.—published an open letter in the school's newspaper expressing the "doubt, loneliness and fear" they experienced on campus, according to Advocate.com . New students at the campus in Montecito near Santa Barbara have to sign a campus pledge that prohibits "homosexual practice." However, a university administrator said that in her more than two decades of service, the school had not expelled anyone because of his or her sexual orientation.

In California, the City of San Francisco has become the first municipality to distribute female condoms to gay men, QSaltLake.com reported. Posters promoting the campaign have started appearing on streetcars and buses. Raymond Dennehy, a philosophy professor at the University of San Francisco, said that the Catholic Church opposes condoms for women and, in this case, men. He added that "[t]he Catholic church is teaching it's the very notion of homosexual activity that's a frustration of the goal of sex."

In Iowa, 80-year-old mother Jean Argus has posted a YouTube video in which she defends her gay son and criticizes opponents of marriage equality, according to ChicagoPride. During the three-minute video, Argus said, "When our son came out to us, we were stunned, confused and angry. We wondered what we had done wrong as parents. Years later, when we saw the life our son had created with his future partner, I realized we had done nothing wrong as parents."

In North Carolina, organizers of the Outer Banks' first gay-pride festival admit that they are facing opposition—but added that they are not intimidated by it, according to UPI.com . David Miller, a co-founder of the group planning OBX Pridefest, said, "We're just slowly trying to change those attitudes so that these folks coming to the Outer Banks won't get dirty looks from people." Roanoke Island Baptist Church Pastor Charles Taylor is claiming that the festival is being marketed as family-friendly to corrupt children.

In The Advocate, the Rev. Ted Haggard said that he now supports same-sex marriage, according to On Top Magazine. Haggard once led a megachurch in Colorado but was ousted after admitting to meth use and "sexual immorality" after male escort Mike Jones said that he and Haggard had a three-year affair. The married father of five added that his new Colorado Springs church is inclusive of everyone—although he has previously said that no same-sex couples will be permitted to marry in his church.

The U.S. House voted 240-185 to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood on Feb. 18, according to Politico.com . A group of Republicans applauded the vote when it hit 218 (the majority of votes); 11 Democrats joined them in voting against funding. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who proposed the defunding amendment, had tried three times previously to cut off legislative funding (Title X) for any group that provides abortions.

In an unprecedented effort to make Chicago, Ill., safer for transgender individuals, Genderqueer Chicago, a local youth group, launched the "T-Friendly Bathroom Initiative," a grassroots project that challenges business owners to recognize and protect gender identity in their public restrooms, according to a press release. This year, more than 500 businesses and organizations will be asked to sign a pledge that commits them to allowing gender-variant customers to use the bathrooms they choose.

An anonymous group has denied threatening to "eradicate" the websites of Kansas' anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church if members keep protesting this year, according to BBC News. News developed that the group of "hacktivists," simply known as "Anonymous," stated in an open letter to church members, "We will target your public Websites, and the propaganda & detestable doctrine that you promote will be eradicated." The church reportedly called the "Anonymous" members "a puddle of pimple-faced nerds." However, Anonymous has said it has more pressing matters than the church.

Speaking of Westboro, Shirley Phelps-Roper, the daughter of church founder Fred Phelps, has admitted that he physically abused her and her siblings so they would follow his teachings, according to an Advocate.com item. On The David Pakman Show, the host asked Phelps-Roper about abuse claims made by estranged brother Nathan Phelps. She replied that their father hit them to teach "children exactly like their creator told them to do it."

In Iowa, highly regarded high school wrestler Joel Northup forfeited his match after refusing to compete against a female student, Cassy Herkelman, in a state tournament, according to CBS News. Northrup praised Herkelman and Megan Black—who became the first two girls to ever make the tournament—but said he doesn't think males and females should compete in the same sport.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is endorsing a legislative measure that would ease criminal penalties for teens who engage in "sexting"—sending graphic images of themselves or other minors with mobile devices or computers, according to the Dallas Voice. However, there is still a difference for age-of-consent laws involving gay and straight teens. If a 17-year-old male has consensual sexual contact with a 16-year-old male in Texas, the older individual can be charged with a second-degree felony and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. On the other hand, if the convicted couple is heterosexual, the older person can argue an "affirmative defense" and have the charge dismissed on that basis.

In Texas, openly gay Fort Worth City Council member Joel Burns has filed for re-election, according to the Dallas Voice. There are still a couple weeks before the filing deadline but so far, Burns is unopposed. Last year, Burns made headlines for delivering an emotional speech urging gay teens to not despair when they're being bullied.

The 19th annual Equality Forum—the largest annual national and international LGBT civil-rights summit with more than 40 programs, 25 panels, nine parties and seven special events—has launched its website. The forum, which will take place in Philadelphia April 25-May 1, will air such films as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and run panels on issues ranging from seniors to LGBT challenges in Latin America. See www.equalityforum.com .

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in partnership with Yale Law School, has launched a campaign called "Don't Filter Me" to assess censorship of web content in public high schools, according to a press release. The campaign asks students to check to see if web content geared toward the LGBT communities—a frequent target of censorship in schools—is blocked by their schools' web browsers. Students can report instances of censorship to the ACLU LGBT Project at http://action.aclu.org/dontfilterme.

The ACLU and the ACLU of Michigan also welcomed an announcement by Mona Shores High School in Muskegon, Mich., that it will allow students to vote for a "prom court" this spring rather than a prom queen or king. The announcement came after controversy erupted last fall when the school denied transgender student Oak Reed the chance to be homecoming king. The ACLU, with assistance from the law firm Sidley Austin LLP, sent the school a letter about suppressing free speech and practicing discrimination based on gender identity. Voting for the upcoming prom court will be open to all juniors and seniors.

Francis DeBernardo has written the book Marriage Equality: A Positive Catholic Approach, which discusses Catholics' support for same-sex marriage, according to a press release. Written in a question-and-answer format, the book dispels the myth that Catholic lay people follow the bishops' public opposition to same-gender marriage. In particular, the book looks at the state of Maryland, where legislators are considering a marriage-equality bill; DeBernardo says that the state's Catholics (23 percent of the population) strongly favor same-sex marriage.

In New York, six firms will host "Out on the Street," the first-ever annual LGBT leadership summit for the Wall Street community by the Wall Street community, according to a press conference. The event will take place March 30 at Deutsche Bank, and participating companies include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The summit will focus on two areas: Wall Street as a workplace of choice for LGBT professionals, and leveraging LGBT diversity to enhance business development.

In Kentucky, the Creation Museum informed a same-sex "couple" that they could not enter the facility—and reportedly did not refund their tickets, according to an Advocate.com item. LEO Weekly writer Jonathan Meador, his female guest and another man were waiting to enter the museum. When the other man, Joe Sonka, said that he was waiting for his male date, they were barred from entering. The museum's communications director, Mark Looy, said that promotional materials indicated that only heterosexual couples can enter the museum.

In Tennessee, Paul Monette's book, Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir, was pulled from a middle school's library, according to HIVPlusMag.com . A 12-year-old checked out the book from the Cheatham Middle School library, prompting his mother to complain to the school. In the book, Monette recounts his promiscuity and the AIDS-related death of his lover; in some sections, profanity is used.

In Vashon, Wash., the Two Wall Gallery has been forced to remove art that the building's owners objected to because of its gay content, according to Advocate.com . The owners—Ray Rice, wife Louise Rice and daughter Wendy Rice—have claimed that whatever is displayed is their choice. Ray Rice told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Louise didn't think it was appropriate to show the homosexuals doing their thing in the building, and that's her prerogative." The artwork, now being shown in a store across the street, were photos of semi-nude same-sex couples.