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Ivy League schools reimburse LGBT workers; Tenn. school bans mention of homosexuality
NATIONAL ROUNDUP: Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times.
2012-01-04

This article shared 4139 times since Wed Jan 4, 2012
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Ivy League universities Columbia and Yale will begin reimbursing some of its gay and lesbian employees Jan. 1 for the extra taxes they incur when their partners are covered by their health insurance, the New York Times reported. Columbia will pay eligible employees with same-sex partners $1,000 over the course of the year. Yale will pay eligible employees $125 a month, or $1,500 a year, to cover the costs.

In Tennessee, Rossville Christian Academy has banned the mention of homosexuality among its student body, the Huffington Post reported. One unidentified parent believed the ban at Rossville—a private school with about 300 students in kindergarten through 12th grade—is illegally aimed at one gay student. University of Memphis law professor Steve Mulroy said that, with no state or federal law preventing anti-gay discrimination, the ban is legal.

Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York once proposed a threesome to texting pal Traci Nobles that involved another man, the New York Post reported. RadarOnline.com obtained the conversation excerpts from Nobles' proposal for a tell-all book. At one point, Weiner posted, "I'm not really talking about other chicks... How about with another guy?" After Nobles asked him, "Are you turned on by other guys?," Weiner responded, "Well, it depends on the guy, but generally yes."

GOP presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry drew a blank when asked about the landmark gay case Lawrence v. Texas, Advocate.com reported. When asked about the case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' anti-sodomy law, Perry responded, "I wish I could tell you I knew every Supreme Court case. I don't. I'm not a lawyer." Perry told a reporter afterward he didn't know what the case involved, even though it began while he was lieutenant governor and the Supreme Court ruling came after he became governor.

In the book Nixon's Darkest Secrets: The Inside Story of America's Most Troubled President, Don Fulsom claims that former President Richard Nixon had an affair with Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, a banker with apparent ties to the mob, the Huffington Post reported. (Nixon once said that gay people "cannot be in places of high trust.") The new book also alleges that Nixon beat his wife and that his aides called him "our drunk."

In Ashland City, Tenn., there have been petition drives to examine the anti-bullying policy in local schools since openly gay teen Jacob Rogers shot himself Dec. 7, according to the Boston Herald. A friend said clasmates verbally abused Rogers almost daily at Cheatham County Central High School. In the wake of Rogers' death, hundreds have signed a petition to toughen the anti-bullying policy; also, almost 2,000 people have signed an online petition that the Tennessee Equality Project started.

In Florida, a report from Attorney General Pam Bondi says the number of hate crimes reported to state police agencies leveled off in 2010, ending a five-year decline, according to Tallahassee.com . The annual report said 149 such crimes were reported in 2010—up one from 2009 but down from 334 in 2004. The annual summary said 69 offenses were related to race, 32 were attributed to sexual orientation, 29 were based on religious prejudice and 19 on ethnicity/national origin.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Franke—a retired university provost, Unitarian-Universalist minister and Lambda Legal client—died Dec. 26 at the age of 78, according to a Lambda Legal press release. Franke was Lambda Legal's client in the 2009 case Franke v. Parkstone Living Center, Inc., filed after he was evicted from Parkstone's assisted-living facility, Fox Ridge of North Little Rock, Ark., because he had HIV. The case was settled in September 2010.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed an award to Edward Russell, who suffered sexual orientation-related employment discrimination, according to Gay City News. At one point while the out Russell worked for ExpressJet, a general manager in Portland, Ore., said in front of him that "homosexuals" are "an abomination in God's eyes." A jury ruled in Russell's favor for $1.047 million, which the trial judge reduced to the statutory limit of $500,000.

Following outreach by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD) and the LGBT community, a calendar by cartoonist Joe King titled "I'm Not Gay, I'm Just a Sissy: 12 Months of Sexual Confusion," is no longer for sale on Barnes & Noble's website, according to a press release. (A spokesperson for the company yesterday also confirmed it was never sold in stores.) Herndon Graddick, senior director of programs and communications at GLAAD, said, "King has a right to his opinions, however anti-gay or anti-transgender they may be, but retailers also have the right to decide that they don't want to support hateful and dehumanizing content like this." King has defended his calendar, saying "AIDS is an 'elective' disease."

The LGBT-rights group Truth Wins Out took out a full-page ad in the Jan. 1 Chicago Tribune urging the city's Catholic archbishop, Cardinal Francis George, to resign because of his comments comparing the city's Pride Parade to a Ku Klux Klan march, Advocate.com reported. The ad is headlined, "Hey, Cardinal Francis George—Gay is not like the KKK," and it calls his remarks "offensive" and "unconscionable." Several pro-LGBT groups have called for the cardinal's resignation.

In Minnesota, marriage-equality opponent and state Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch has resigned amid allegations she had an "inappropriate relationship" with a male staffer, the Huffington Post reported. The development prompted a faux apology from the gay community. In an open letter to Koch, gay Minneapolis resident John Medeiros wrote, "On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community's successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage."

The North Carolina Family Policy Council has generated controversy by using a violent image to promote the state's proposed amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, according to the Huffington Post. The photograph, in the organization's Family North Carolina publication, shows a bride and groom in the crosshairs of an unseen sniper; the image accompanies an article entitled "Marriage In Society's Moral Crosshairs." Alvin McEwen of LGBTQ Nation wrote, "Maybe it's just me, but civil debates on marriage equality don't necessarily encompass images of an assassin targeting newlyweds."

In Somerville, N.J., Immaculata High School volunteer coaching assistant Patrick Lott was arrested for allegedly secretly videotaping 22 teenage boys showering at the school, where he was also a sports videographer, according to NJ.com . Lott's arrest happened just weeks after Pam Balogh, a former girls basketball and girls lacrosse coach at Immaculata, was paroled after serving three and a half years in state prison for having a sexual relationship with one of her players, who was 15 at the time.

In Michigan, Kent County residents have been sent a health alert that "possibly hundreds of people have been exposed to HIV" after authorities arrested David Dean Smith, according to the Huffington Post. Smith, 51 and HIV-positive, told police he was on a mission to infect as many people as possible. A recent admission to Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services showed that Smith was "sexually aroused by causing pain to females."

In Indiana, Stephanie Murry and Sandra Hurn have been charged with filing false claims for a part of the $5 million settlement fund for victims of last summer's state-fair stage collapse, according to the Huffington Post. Neither Murry nor Hurn was present at the Aug. 13 concert that killed seven individuals, including Chicago lesbian activist Christina Santiago.

As GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul attempts to distance himself from some controversial newsletters, his own books has provided inflammatory material, according to the Chicago Tribune. In his 1987 manifesto Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution after 200-Plus Years, Paul wrote that AIDS patients were victims of their own lifestyle, questioned the rights of minorities and argued that people who contend with sexual harassment at work should quit their jobs. Regarding AIDS victims, Paul wrote, "The individual suffering from AIDS certainly is a victim—frequently a victim of his own lifestyle—but this same individual victimizes innocent citizens by forcing them to pay for his care."

The lesbian event Club Skirts Presents the Dinah will bring the big guns as iconic singer Chaka Khan will headline the event's "The Dinah Goes To Rio" dance party March 31 in Palm Springs, Calif., according to a press release. Among other highlights is the "Laughing Loud" comedy show with Suzanne Westenhoefer, Karen Williams and Jessica Kirson. The Dinah will actually run March 28-April 1; see www.TheDinah.com .

The wife of U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor supports same-sex marriage, according to Towleroad. On 60 Minutes, Diana Fine Cantor—who's been married to Eric 22 years—told reporter Lesley Stahl, "I do disagree [on gay marriage]. There's really that respect. If I expect him to respect my views that could be different, I certainly need to respect his." Eric Cantor, who is a foe of marriage equality, also revealed that he likes rap music and that his mother-in-law lives with the couple.

Paul Angelo, a gay matchmaker from Miami, has urged that gay men older than 40 should refrain from engaging in anal sex for 60 days, according to SFGate.com . Angelo said that receptive anal sex diminishes self-esteem by forcing the person to assume a submissive position during an act of pleasure, eventually reducing that man's confidence and willpower.

Bruce Jacobs has apologized for anti-gay remarks he made during his ESPN show, Game On with Bruce Jacobs, On Top Magazine reported. While discussing two WNBA teams—the Los Angeles Sparks and the Phoenix Mercury—Jacobs called them the "Los Angeles Lesbians" and the "Phoenix Duke-ury." He later said, "My comments were ridiculous, stupid and amateurish." He added, "Bigoted, not even close. If you know me, and a lot of you folks don't know me, I don't do judgment on people, their personal lifestyles."

Illinois is addressing the problem of cyberbullying by now suspending or expelling students who engage in it, Advocate.com reported. The new state law took effect Jan. 1, and it "allows administrators to discipline students who make any online threat that 'could be reasonably interpreted as threatening to the safety and security' of another student or staff member."

In New York, a teenager has been sentenced to two months in jail for taking part in an anti-gay attack at the landmark Stonewall Inn, the Wall Street Journal reported. Christopher Orlando, 18, pled guilty in September to charges, including assault as a hate crime. Co-defendant Matthew Francis, who beat the victim in the establishment's restroom after using an anti-gay slur, is serving two years in prison.

More than a dozen cities in Michigan—including Grand Rapids, Detroit and Kalamazoo—could lose their human-rights ordinances if Michigan House Bill 5039 passes, according to Ferndale115.com . The measure, which state Rep. Tom McMillin introduced, would amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to limit protected classes to those outlined in the 1976 law, which does not include sexual orientation. McMillin, who once led the Michigan Christian Coalition, was involved in the defeat of Ferndale's LGBT-inclusive human-rights ordinance; that city subsequently passed such a measure.


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