Openly gay former NFL player Esera Tuaolo has criticized University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill for dismissing a claim from player A.J. Barker, who has quit the team, according to City Pages. Barker alleged that an assistant coach called him a "faggot" for his "spiritual views," but Kill quickly dismissed the allegation at a press conference. Tuaolo later said, "Listening to [Kill] speak kind of irritates me. If anything, the response should be, 'Let's get this out on the table, and let's see really what happened because our number-one receiver just quit'."
It's official: San Francisco has banned public nudity. According to the Huffington Post, Supervisor Scott Wiener's ordinance was approved 6-5, with the moderates on the board generally backing it and the progressives opposing the measure. Exemptions would be made for participants at permitted street fairs and parades, such as the city's annual gay-pride event and the Folsom Street Fair, which celebrates sexual subcultures.
The U.S military still bans all HIV-positive members of the military from being stationed outside the country, despite the government lifting the ban on HIV-positive foreign visitors two years ago, according to HIVPlusMag.com . However, the Navy has made a slight adjustment by allowing HIV-positive sailors to be stationed at some military installations outside of the country, and on certain large ship platforms. The military will not admit people with HIV, and those who become HIV-positive while in the military are tested to see if they can physically and mentally stay.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice issued a statement praising the rejection of a proposal to remove any reference to sexual orientation or gender identity from the resolution on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, according to a press release. "The proposed change would have effectively sent a message to the world that people targeted on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity do not enjoy the same right to life as others," Rice stated. Rice is currently under consideration to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
This National Adoption Month, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's All Children—All Families (ACAF) initiative is joining RaiseAChild.US, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization, in a campaign to encourage LGBT prospective parents to provide homes to children in the foster-care system, according to a press release. The campaign includes networking events, to be held in four cities/areas (San Francisco, Orange County, Los Angeles and New York City) that feature performances by actor Alec Mapa, who fostered and adopted a 5-year-old son with his husband in 2010.
Just a week after the Philadelphia-based ActionAIDS announced it had been awarded a $25,000 grant for its work with current and formerly incarcerated populations, the organization has been selected for a $193,000 grant for the program, according to the Philadelphia Gay News. ActionAIDS' Prison Linkage Program was one of five programs selected nationally for a grant from AIDS United's Access to Care initiative. This second grant will be in place for three years.
In New York state, the Syracuse Common Council okayed a bill 7-1 to amend the existing Syracuse Fair Practices Law—which was passed in 1990 to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation—to include gender identity and expression, LGBTQ Nation reported. The measure expands the local civil-rights law to protect transgender and gender non-conforming residents from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, such as restaurants, hotels and stores.
In Charlottesville, Va., members of the University of Virginia's Queer Student Union were angered over what police investigators are calling the "gay-bashing" of a student, according to LGBTQ Nation. The Queer Student Union said it is done tolerating hateful attacks on the school's campus, and that education is crucial to prevent future attacks. According to a police report, "The suspect, who was walking with a group of people, struck the victim in the face and then continued on foot."
In New York City, individuals paid tribute to murdered gay activist Lou Rispoli with a candlelight vigil, QChron.com reported. Danyal Lawson, Rispoli's husband, said, "I lost the great love of my life. I've been robbed of this amazing man. His friends have been robbed of a great soul." Rispoli, 62, was beaten with a blunt object outside a large apartment complex; authorities are unsure if the murder was a hate crime.
In Key West, Fla., authorities are calling the beating of two men on Nov. 10 an anti-gay hate crime and designated the investigation the department's top priority, according to LGBTQ Nation. The local newspaper the Keynoter reported that an unknown assailant attacked John Stutter, 33, and Nicholas Leddy, 31, a gay couple from Brooklyn; he also called them "faggots." Stutter said that, after cursing at them, "the unknown male then punched him in the neck." The victim also reported that he was then put in a headlock and punched "several times" in the head.
In Michigan, Royal Oak's city commission unanimously voted to approve drafting of an ordinance that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, LGBTQ Nation reported. City Commissioner Jim Rasor proposed the anti-discrimination ordinance. However, even if commissioners adopted such an ordinance, opponents could force a public vote by gathering petition signatures; about 1,700 would be needed.
In California, Takenori "Tak" Yamamoto—a pioneer Japanese-American gay activist and a longtime leader of the Manzanar Committee, which sponsors annual pilgrimages to the site of the Manzanar War Relocation Center—passed away on Nov. 9 at his home at the age of 74 of natural causes, according to Rafu.com . Yamamoto's family was sent to Poston, one of 10 U.S. concentration camps where Japanese-Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Yamamoto was openly gay most of his life, including during his service in the U.S. Air Force. He is survived by Karl Fish, his partner of 46 years.
Sparks Steak House, an upscale eatery in New York City, will pay $600,000 and take other steps to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed, according to a press release. According to the EEOC's lawsuit (EEOC v. Michael Cetta Inc. d/b/a Sparks Steak House, Civil Action No. 1:09-cv-10601), 22 male waiters were subjected to harassment based on their sex, chiefly by one male manager, for almost eight years. The misconduct included the manager groping the buttocks of the male waiters, making lewd sexual comments and attempting to touch their genitals.
In Indiana, legislators are considering a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, according to wcsi.whiterivernews.com . Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Indiana, but lawmakers overwhelmingly voted last year to put that ban in the constitution. It has to pass the state House and Senate again in 2013 or 2014.
In Florida, Miami Beach Gay Pride received a $10,000 grant from the Miami Foundation to continue its operations, according to SouthFloridaGayNews.com . With this grant, Pride can fund media services related to social media marketing, purchase Internet advertising and rent office space at the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce until May 2013. The fifth annual Miami Beach Gay Pride will take place April 8-14, 2013.
NBC News reportedly blocked supporters of a key marriage-equality measure in Washington state from using a video featuring Chelsea Clinton urging voters to back a statewide referendum on same-sex marriage, according to Buzzfeed.com . Clinton, a vocal proponent of marriage equality, made the video for a group supporting the Washington state measure (which passed Nov. 6), as well as a second video for another group. However, NBC, for which Clinton has worked as a "special correspondent" since last November, allegedly "scuttled" the campaign.
A Missouri group may soon start circulating petitions for a ballot measure aimed at making it illegal to discriminate against gays and lesbians in the state, according to SFGate.com . Aaron Malin, director of Missourians for Equality, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the goal is to get the issue before voters in 2014. The initiative must still pass several administrative hurdles with the Missouri secretary of state's office before supporters can start collecting signatures.
Former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman is looking to lure more LGBT people to the GOP, according to the Huffington Post. Mehlman, who is gay himself, has the nonprofit group Project Rights Side, which is aimed at convincing more conservatives to support marriage equality. "Conservatives—and I count myself as one—succeed when we attract new supporters to timeless traditions," Mehlman wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.
The Communications Workers of America, on behalf of passenger service agents at American Airlines, commended Pride at Work, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund and National Stonewall Democrats for their efforts to support democracy at American Airlines, according to a press release. The three national LGBT groups sent an open letter to American Airlines criticizing the company's "aggressive effort to prevent approximately 10,000 of your employees from holding a legal election to determine whether or not they will join a union."
A group of nuns from Ohio known as the Children of Mary claims that birth-control pills turn men gay and make women promiscuous, according to SouthFloridaGayNews.com . The nuns made a YouTube video with the claims; in it, a voiceover cites an experiment during the 1970s during which female monkeys were injected with a contraceptive. When all the female monkeys were injected with the birth control, one male monkey turned on his male counterparts and had "sexual interactions" with them.
In Maine, WVII News Director Cindy Michaels and Executive Producer Tony Consiglio (who also served as co-anchors) stunned Bangor audiences by tendering their resignations live on air, according to MPBN.net . Michaels and Consiglio both say that the station's managers have been exercising undue influence over news content—with just one example involving General Manager Mike Palmer objecting to Michaels and Consiglio having a gay man moderate a marriage-equality debate. However, Michaels said the moderator in question was a professional journalist who devised the idea of the debate—and the moderator's sexual orientation was never discussed.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray was among hundreds who attended the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance in the district's Metropolitan Community Church Nov. 20, according to the Washington Blade. Brian Watson of Transgender Health Empowerment honored Gray and Lisa Mallory, director of the D.C. Department of Employment Services, for their work on behalf of trans Washingtonians. "It is the right thing to do," said Gray after he and Mallory accepted their awards. "This symbolizes too that it is time, it is time for us to make sure if we're going to call ourselves one city, than everybody in the District of Columbia will have a place to be able to enjoy life in one city in the District of Columbia."
As fiscal cliff deliberations intensify, the Center for American Progress, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and a coalition of 23 other national LGBT organizations released "Caught in the Budget Battle: How the 'Fiscal Showdown' Impacts Gay and Transgender Americans," according to a press release. This report details how many federal programs, both directly and indirectly, function to support and serve the LGBT population, and lists negative outcomes related to the fiscal policy known as sequestration. See www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/budget_battle_2012 for the full report.
Morgan Freeman is the voice behind equality in a new ad for the Human Rights Campaign, according to a press release. In the ad (entitled "Dawn of a New Day for Marriage Equality"), Freeman says, in part, "Freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union. Now across our country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry the person they love. And with historic victories for marriage, we've delivered a mandate for full equality." The ad is at www.hrc.org/marriage-center/freeman/email and at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdnxMFs8tTk.
Thousands of students and graduates from the University of Notre Dame have joined a petition on Change.org calling on the school to publicly condemn legislation in Uganda that would criminalize homosexuality with life in prison and possible death sentences, according to a press release. Katie Dunn, a 2009 graduate of the University of Notre Dame who studied abroad in Uganda during her time as a student, started the petition. The petition is at www.change.org/petitions/university-of-notre-dame-issue-a-statement-condemning-uganda-s-kill-the-gays-bill-3.
The Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index reports that many U.S. cities lack sufficient protections for LGBT people, even in some the "bluest" states with progressive reputations, according to a press release. The index is the first-ever rating system of LGBT inclusion in municipal law, and showed that 11 of the 137 cities surveyed earned a perfect score of 100 points. The full report is at www.hrc.org/mei.
In Freeport, Ill., Freeport High School students created a flash mob in the city's Lincoln Mall to deliver an anti-bullying message, according to JournalStandard.com . A video of the event will be shown on the local broadcast station at the high school, and then uploaded to YouTube. "Bullying is emotional and physical abuse and by making this video we hope to lessen the percentage of people who suffer at the hands of others," senior Adam Beach said. "This is a video that needs to be seen by everyone—we are presenting statistics."
In Mobile, Ala., the brother of Mallory Owens' girlfriend brutally attacked Owens because of her sexual orientation, according to WKRG.com . Owens, 23, was celebrating Thanksgiving at girlfriend Ally Hawkins' house when the latter's brother, Travis Hawkins Jr., 18, attacked her; he beat Owens so badly she had to have facial-reconstruction surgery. Owens' mother, Kristi Taylor, said, "He tried to kill her. He's lucky he didn't kill her. She's lucky to be alive."
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); co-counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP; and the law firm of Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC filed a lawsuit in New Jersey against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), founder Arthur Goldberg and a counselor, Alan Downing, for peddling conversion-therapy services, according to an SPLC press release. The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, claims that the defendants violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act by saying their counseling services could cure customers of being gay.
President Obama nominated Judge Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro, a lesbian, along with Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo and Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl for District Court judgeships Nov. 27, according to a press release. Alejandro currently serves as a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, where she has presided over both civil and criminal matters. Quinones received her J.D. in 1975 from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law and her B.B.A. cum laude in 1972 from the University of Puerto Rico.
Gavin/Solmonese LLC, a corporate financial advisory and public affairs consulting firm, announced that the Velvet Foundation—the non-profit organization behind the National LGBT Museum in Washington, D.C.—is the beneficiary of the newly established Oliver-Grayson Holding Company, Benefit LLC. Joe Solmonese—managing director and founding partner of Gavin/Solmonese, and former president of the Human Rights Campaign—said, "It is vitally important to our community and to our country that the National LGBT Museum exists. Its mission is one step closer to being achieved thanks to the tireless work of the Museum team."
The Associated Press is dropping words such as "homophobia," "transphobia" and "Islamophobia" from its stylebook, according to Mediaite.com . The suffix "-phobia" is now defined in the AP Stylebook as "an irrational, uncontrollable fear, often a form of mental illness," and says it should not be used "in political or social contexts." If the AP ever covers anyone or anything involving derogatory remarks against gay people, it will be referred to as "anti-gay."
In San Francisco, Mayor Ed Lee, Supervisor Scott Wiener and former Mayor Willie Brown joined friends and family of slain Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone Nov. 27 at City Hall for the 34th annual candlelight vigil honoring the two men, according to SFGate.com . The annual event has grown out of a spontaneous demonstration that occurred Nov. 27, 1978, when former Supervisor Dan White assassinated the gay-rights leader and Moscone.
Andrew Davis is at Andrew@WindyCityMediaGroup.com .
