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

Joshua James Larson—a former Playgirl model who was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the 2011 beating death of San Diego gay man Jason "Cowboy" Huggins—was sentenced to an indefinite term of 19 years to life, LGBTQ Nation reported. During the June 22, 2011, crime, Larson first attacked Huggins' friend, Nathan Meza, by hitting him in the head with a rock; Larson then picked up another rock and viciously attacked Huggins, which led to his death two weeks later.

Kevin Fenton is leaving his position as director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD & TB Prevention to move to England with his partner, according to Project Q Atlanta. Fenton, who has been with the center for seven years, leaves the CDC Dec. 21 to become the health improvement and population health director for Public Health England, a new national agency that opens its doors in April.

In Florida, Key West resident Henry Hamilton, 64, allegedly killed himself because of President Obama's re-election, according to the Miami Herald. Partner Michael Cossey told authorities that Hamilton told him, "If Barack gets re-elected, I'm not going to be around." Hamilton, who owned a Tropical Tan business, was found dead Nov. 8 with the words "F—- Obama!" scrawled on his will and two empty prescription bottles—for Xanax and Seroquel—nearby.

More college courses are focusing on pornography, according to WorldOnCampus.com . For example, at Connecticut's Wesleyan University, undergraduates can take "Pornography: Writings of Prostitutes," and are required to produce works of pornography for their final projects. Evangelical anti-porn advocates and Christian scholars who analyze the pornography industry see the value in studying porn—but believe it should be in a strictly academic context, not that it should be appreciated.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California has decided to stay in Congress and serve as House Democratic leader for two more years, according to the New York Times. Pelosi, 72, had been privately deciding if she wanted to continue in the role, given the probability that regaining the majority will be difficult in the midterm elections. National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jerame Davis said in a statement that "LGBT Americans can rest assured knowing that one of our strongest and most vocal allies will lead our Party's caucus in the House."

The Smoking Gun has revealed the identity of the man who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of an improper relationship and then recanted his story. The former accuser Sheldon Stephens, a 24-year-old aspiring actor/model who often uses the name "Sheldon Xzavier." Stephens—whom a friend describes as someone who "attracts these high-powered men"—was once arrested for the knifepoint robbery of $250,000 in jewelry from a music manager for whom he interned.

On Sunday, Dec. 2, The Trevor Project will present its annual benefit event, "Trevor Live," presented by Audi of America and Wells Fargo and helmed by director/producer/choreographer Adam Shankman, according to a press release. Katy Perry will receive the Trevor Hero Award and Ricki Lake, Jane Lynch, Darren Criss, Zachary Quinto and Kristin Chenoweth will be among the celebrities appearing. The Trevor Project provides crisis-intervention and suicide-prevention services to LGBTQ people under 24.

In Minnesota, the Rev. Gary LaMoine at Assumption Church in Barnesville denied the sacrament of confirmation to 17-year-old Lennon Cihak after the teen took a public stance in favor of marriage equality, Advocate.com reported. Cihak posted a photo on Facebook showing Cihak with a sign against marriage equality that he had altered to be in favor of it. Cihak's family, longtime members of the church, said they are now being denied communion as well.

Also in Minnesota, gay and lesbian employees of St. Louis County recently asked the county board for equal treatment regarding workplace benefits, according to the Duluth News Tribune. Several employees joined approximately a dozen supporters to petition the board for equal use of sick time and funeral leave to care for and grieve for their partners. County commissioners did not comment after the employees' requests; the issue was not on the agenda but came during the regular time slot set aside for public comments.

In Georgia, former women's pro-basketball star Chamique Holdsclaw turned herself in to authorities after an arrest warrant had been issued because of an alleged violent dispute she had with ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lacy, AJC.com noted. Holdsclaw allegedly smashed the windows of Lacy's Range Rover with a baseball bat and fired a handgun inside the SUV. (Lacy was not injured.) Holdsclaw played 12 seasons in the WNBA; before that, she led the University of Tennessee to three straight national championships.

Philadelphia transgender prostitute Herman Burton pled guilty to murder and received 25 to 50 years in prison for the 2010 strangling of a Chester County man in a hotel, according to Philly.com . Burton, 24, admitted guilt to the charges of third-degree murder, arson and abuse of a corpse in the Oct. 30, 2010, killing of Patrick Michael Brady, 49, at the Omni Hotel. Authorities said Brady, a Center City hospital worker who worked at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, allowed Burton in his room in the early morning hours; a violent fight ensued that ended with Brady's death.

In New Jersey, Rutgers University has its first transgender-related course, according to MyCentralJersey.com . In "Introduction to Transgender Studies," Aren Aizura (a trans individual) has students explore the history and politics of what it means to be transgender, including the criteria doctors once used to determine if someone would be a good candidate for surgery. The class is one of a few of transgender-studies courses in the nation, and coincides with Rutgers' outreach efforts to transgender students.

President Obama has nominated Miami-Dade, Fla., judge William Thomas—a gay Black man—to serve as a federal judge, according to SouthFloridaGayNews.com . In a statement, Obama made reference to the diversity of Thomas and six other nominees: "They ... represent my continued commitment to ensure that the judiciary resembles the nation it serves." If the Senate approves Thomas, he would be the second openly gay Black judge after Deborah Batts.

A Human Rights Campaign (HRC) report shows that the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy funneled $2 million into unsuccessful efforts to defeat marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington state this election cycle, according to LGBTQ Nation. The HRC said the historic results spotlight the growing disconnect between the fair-minded Romany Catholic laity and the anti-LGBT Church hierarchy. Polling has indicated that marriage equality is one of the least important issues of concern for Catholics.

In Nebraska, the Grand Island City Council voted 8-2 to override a mayoral veto and enacted city employment protection for LGBT people, according to StarHerald.com . It's a small reversal for the council, which recently rejected a measure that would have banned businesses from discriminating against current or prospective employees based on their sexual orientation and would have covered housing and retail situations.

Mark Guenther, the executive director of the D.C.-area gay and lesbian chamber of commerce, was arrested earlier this month and charged with unlawful entry, according to LGBTQ Nation. Guenther was charged Nov. 5 by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia after a male neighbor in Guenther's apartment building was awakened at 3 a.m. Oct. 26 to find Guenther standing over his bed while he had been asleep. The complaint stated that Guenther sent him an e-mail several hours later apologizing for, and acknowledging, the entry.

The U.S. Supreme Court indicated that it has rescheduled the date when it will consider whether to grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry (formerly Perry v. Brown), the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, according to an American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) press release. The Perry case, along with several cases challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), have been distributed for consideration at the Justices' private Conference scheduled for Friday, Nov. 30. The Proposition 8 and DOMA cases had previously been distributed for the Conference of Tuesday, Nov. 20.

Corporate giant Prudential Financial Inc. released an online survey of more than 1,400 LGBT people, according to Reuters. When asked to rank the industry's attention to their financial needs—with 0 being poor and 10 being excellent—63 percent of respondents gave financial institutions a score of four or less. The findings indicate this as a missed opportunity for the industry, since the LGBT community is seen as having a higher median household income than the general population ($61,000 vs. $50,000).

In Arizona, a Phoenix man is recovering from a late-night attack in what police are calling an anti-gay hate crime, according to LGBTQ Nation. Two men attacked Austin Head—a disc jockey, activist and star of Logo's Positive Youth documentary—and an unidentified friend as they walked from a local gay bar. Jermon Barnes, 22, and Ernie Barnes 24, were arrested shortly after the attack, and were both jailed on assault charges. Authorities said because they apparently targeted Head and his friend because they are gay.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced a new campaign to educate people about the negative consequences LGBT people face with the impending cuts that will go into place if the "fiscal cliff" is not avoided, according to a press release. Among the possible ramifications is that more than 9,000 patients could lose access to HIV/AIDS medication due to cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. HRC has launched an online action for members and supporters to contact their members of Congress at: https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1505.

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) saw a steep decline in the amount of money it raised in 2011—dropping to $6.2 million from the $9.1 million it raised the previous year, according to a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) press release. "The National Organization for Marriage continues to push the notion that there is some sort of grassroots support for their discriminatory anti-gay agenda," said HRC Vice President of Communications Fred Sainz. "Last week, that notion was soundly rejected by voters in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington state. Now, NOM's own financial records are serving as the latest proof that support for LGBT equality is common-sense and mainstream. NOM is nothing more than a conduit channeling the anti-gay agenda of a few secretive, wealthy donors."

Howard Wallace, a longtime activist within the LGBT and labor communities, died at age 76 in San Francisco following a battle with Alzheimer's disease, according to Advocate.com . In 1974, Wallace—originally from Denver, Colo.—helped unite members of the Teamsters Union with gay activists to boycott Colorado-based Coors Brewing Company. Wallace was also a co-founder of the Lesbian-Gay Labor Alliance and later established Pride at Work, a labor group within the AFL-CIO focused on intersections between LGBT and labor issues.

Manchester, N.H., attorney Lisa Biron—who is affiliated with the anti-gay group the Alliance Defending Freedom—is accused of transporting an underage girl to Canada, coercing her into having sex and filming it, according to Advocate.com . Biron was arrested during a hearing to determine if she would be brought up on charges related to child porn found on her computer. In addition, authorities found 200 rounds of ammunition at her home, she allegedly threatened the person who informed police about the pornography, and two witnesses claim they saw her with marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine.

In Arkansas, Eureka Springs became the first city in the state to endorse marriage equality, the Dallas Voice reported. In an email to Dallas Voice, retired journalist Michael Walsh said he was one of two leaders of a low-profile campaign to persuade the city council at a recent meeting to adopt the marriage-equality resolution. Before his comments, Walsh submitted a 33-page list containing the names of more than 700 supporters, including former Eureka Springs Mayor Dani Joy and Arkansas state Rep. Kathy Webb.

In Oregon, state Rep. Tina Kotek will become the first out lesbian to lead a state legislative chamber after being her colleagues elected her House speaker, according to Advocate.com . Kotek told the Associated Press that she knows her success as an openly lesbian official has inspired other LGBT people: "We all look for people out there who look like us. I have had emails and text messages from people who are very excited." Openly gay leaders will control legislative chambers in five states—an increase of three before the Nov. 6 elections.

In an interview with GQ, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida condemned marriage equality, Advocate.com reported. Rubio claimed that social conservatives are being "silenced," adding that younger people see same-sex couples as "no big deal" and want Republicans "to stop putting these social issues out there." Rubio added his voice to robocalls in three states—Maine, Maryland and Washington state—where marriage equality was on the ballot.

In San Francisco, the iconic gay bar Twin Peaks Tavern is set to become an official city landmark, according to the Huffington Post. District Supervisor Scott Wiener presented an ordinance proposing the designation to the board of supervisors earlier this month; the board will vote on the recommendation Dec. 10. In 1972, Twin Peaks Tavern became the first gay bar in the country to feature transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, revealing the patrons inside—a risky decision at that time.

Number-cruncher Nate Silver has made a splash ever since predicting, with uncanny accuracy, how President Obama would defeat Mitt Romney, Gay Star News reported. Silver, who is openly gay, predicted with 90.9-percent certainty that Obama would win the Nov. 6 election months before it happened—and he also correctly predicted the electoral-college results in 50 out of 50 states. Silver, 34, made his predictions on his blog, FiveThirtyEight (named after the 538 electoral college votes), which was founded in 2007 and moved to the website of the New York Times in 2010.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) officially took place Nov. 20. It was established in 1999 to memorialize Rita Hester, a trans woman brutally murdered Nov. 28, 1998, according to Advocate.com . (Incidentally, her murder remains unsolved—as do most crimes committed against transgender and gender-nonconforming people.) This year, TDOR honored 265 trans people murdered because of hate.; 13 of those deaths took place in the United States.

In Massachusetts, a prisons-department psychiatrist testified that transgender inmate Michelle Kosilek, who won a court order for taxpayer-funded sex-change surgery, has no medical need for further electrolysis treatments, according to the Huffington Post. Dr. Robert Diener testified during a hearing in U.S. District Court that he evaluated Kosilek in 2010 and again last month and concluded that Kosilek's anxiety level hasn't changed, even though she hasn't had electrolysis treatments since 2008. The department has said it discontinued the treatments after finding she had already received significant hair removal.

AIDS Community Research of America, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) released a joint statement praising the appointment of Dr. Mark Dybul as the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Dybul, who is openly gay, led the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during the presidency of George W. Bush. Marjorie J. Hill, CEO of GMHC, noted, "Dr. Dybul's leadership in launching and administering PEPFAR has inspired great confidence. We hope he will make certain that nations receiving support from the Global Fund will use resources to increase testing, prevention and treatment in all communities affected by HIV and AIDS."

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of HRC, released "Buying for Workplace Equality 2013," the popular guide to hundreds of U.S. brands rated on businesses' treatment of LGBT employees, according to a press release. "Buying for Workplace Equality" divides businesses and their products into everyday purchasing categories, including apparel, banking/finance, food and beverage, home and garden, restaurants and technology. The guide is available for download and viewing online at www.hrc.org/BuyersGuide.

As part of Transgender Day of Remembrance, NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling and NCTE Director of Policy Harper Jean Tobin, along with two dozen other transgender advocates, joined the White House observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance, according to a press release. John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, led the group in a moment of silence to honor transgender victims of violence.