Teresa Edwards, who won four Olympic gold medals playing basketball, will serve as the U.S. Olympic Committee's chief of mission for the 2012 Games, taking a spot vacated by Peter Vidmar, according to Sports Illustrated. Vidmar, a gold medal-winning gymnast, left the post after the media reported on his opposition to same-sex marriage; out figure skater Johnny Weir called Vidmar's selection "disgraceful."
Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit seeking marriage equality on behalf of Garden State Equality, New Jersey's LGBT advocacy organization, and seven same-sex couples and their children who the plaintiffs say were "harmed from the unequal civil union system," according to a press release. The case combines both state and federal claims. It argues that the civil union law violates both the New Jersey Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal Constitution.
In Rhode Island, an LGBT organization is asking Gov. Lincoln Chafee to veto a civil-union bill that has passed through the state Senate, according to Advocate.com . After trying for same-sex marriage for several years, the state House approved civil unions in May; in addition, the bill makes heavy concessions to Rhode Island's Roman Catholic community. Ray Sullivan, the campaign director for the group Marriage Equality, confirmed that the organization has asked Chafee to veto the civil-union bill, adding, "We've been fighting to pass marriage equality. Given how bad the language [ of the provisions in the civil unions bill ] is and the potential for harm from this bill, we have no other choice but to oppose it." Chafee has said he will sign the bill.
A new survey from the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network shows the majority of gay students in Minnesota have experienced some form of harassment in school, Advocate.com reported. The data, gathered from 181 Minnesota teenagers, showed that 80 percent of them had experienced verbal harassment and 47 percent had been physically mistreated in school because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In California, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego initially denied funeral services for a gay man, according to an Advocate.com item. Businessman John Sanfilippo had been a member of Our Lady of the Rosary in Little Italy for decades, and even left money to the church in his will. However, the church initially said it would be unable to host his funeral services, although church officials eventually said they would allow the funeral. Sanfilippo's family and friends, including his partner of 28 years, have since arranged to have the services at the Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum in San Diego.
Outspoken conservative pundit Ann Coulter has criticized the media for starting a fight between Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, according to RealClearPolitics.com . Coulter said, "They are such sexists. They are trying to pit Palin against Bachmann. They like one another. ... Liberals are just so shocked that there are such talented conservative women politicians."
Cable news network MSNBC has indefinitely suspended senior political analyst Mark Halperin after he called President Obama "kind of a [ vulgarism for male organ ] " on the network's Morning Joe show, the Washington Post reported. He said the term after co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski assured him that the show had a seven-second delay and that he should "take a chance." In a statement, MSNBC said, "Mark Halperin's comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House, and all of our viewers." Halperin—who is also editor at large at Time magazine—apologized minutes after his comment.
Southwest Airlines pilot James Fritzen Taylor has apologized for a rant accidentally broadcast over cockpit radio in which he insulted gay people and women, according to the Huffington Post. Taylor sent a letter to the employees of the airlines accepting responsibility for the "derogatory" and "truly insensitive" comments. However, there was no special apology from the Argyle, Texas, pilot for the Chicago-based crew, which he described as "continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes" and "eleven f***ing over-the-top, f***ing a**-f***ing homosexuals."
In Washington state, Isaiah Kalebu said that God told him to brutally attack a lesbian couple nearly two years ago, according to the Seattle Times. In late July 2009, Kalebu raped, tortured and stabbed Teresa Butz and her partner in their home; Butz later died. "I was there and I was told by my God—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—to attack enemies," Kalebu said. Kalebu's testimony was cut short when the trial judge stopped his lawyers from questioning him about his history of mental illness.
In Minnesota, 23-year-old transgender woman Chrishaun McDonald is being held in solitary confinement in the Hennepin County Jail, according to the Washington Independent. McDonald has been charged for the murder of Dean Schmitz, 47, outside the Schooner Tavern. Despite identifying as a woman, McDonald is being held in the men's section of the county jail in downtown Minneapolis. Transgender-rights activists have criticized the use of solitary confinement, with one advocate calling it "incredibly punitive."
A gay activist group called the Center for Responsible Christian Living has taken credit for a hoax attacking the Southern Baptist Convention for its opposition to same-sex marriage, according to FoxNews.com . The Nashville, Tenn.-based group created a phony website and a fake telephone number, along with a press release that was sent to members of the national media. The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is looking into possible legal action against the attackers.
Thirteen Democratic senators released a YouTube video as part of the "It Gets Better" campaign, CNN.com reported. The nearly five-minute, black- and-white video features the 13 senators who are all co-sponsors of a bill that would repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. Among the politicians in the video are Sens. Al Franken of Minnesota, Dianne Feinstein of California, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. No Republican senators were asked to participate.
The Justice and Education departments reached a settlement agreement with the Tehachapi Unified School District in Tehachapi, Calif., to resolve an investigation into the harassment of a middle-school student because he did not conform with gender stereotypes, according to a press release. In September 2010, Jacobsen Middle School student Seth Walsh committed suicide at the age of 13; the next month, the Department of Education received a complaint alleging that Walsh had been severly harassed. The district has agreed to revise its policies and regulations related to sexual-and gender-based harassment, and to retain a consultant.
The Log Cabin Republicans announced that R. Clarke Cooper, its executive director, had been tapped to the Republican National Committee's finance committee, according to Advocate.com . However, the Family Research Council criticized the selection as well as what it calls Log Cabin's "homosexual-centered" goals. The council—which was co-founded by George Rekers, who was involved in a rent-boy scandal last year—urged readers to donate to its organization's own political action committee.
In an effort to begin a dialogue with Latino/a families and churches on sexual orientation, gender identity and the Bible, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign and the Latina/o LGBT-rights organization Unid@s, have unveiled a new Spanish language guide, "A La Familia: A Conversation About Our Families, the Bible, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," according to a press release. The release stated, "To help in the process of acceptance and inclusion, A La Familia is born out of a profound desire to faithfully integrate an excluded group of people back into the life of their churches and families."
The New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled that the New York Human Rights Law protects public-school students against discrimination and harassment, according to a Lambda Legal press release. In so ruling, the court decided in favor of Amelia Kearney and her daughter, awarding $50,000 to Kearney and $200,000 to her daughter, the Ithaca Journal reported. Justice Leslie E. Stein says it is unlawful for an education corporation or association to permit the racial harassment of any student or applicant. Thomas W. Ude, Jr., senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal, said, "Because the Human Rights Law is far more specific and explicitly inclusive than other antidiscrimination laws, it provides crucial protections and remedies to all students, including LGBT youth."
The American Medical Association ( AMA ) has adopted a new policy in support of same-sex marriage, according to the Dallas Voice. The AMA said that excluding same-sex couples from marriage recognition is discriminatory; it also supports relationship recognition as a means of addressing health disparities that gay and lesbian couples and their families face. Several organizations, including Freedom to Marry and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, applauded the development.
Longtime Democratic Party activist and LGBT-rights advocate Jean Harris has died at the age of 66, according to the Bend Bulletin. Harris' partner, Denise Penn, found Harris in her home. Among her accomplishments were being chief of staff to San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, who succeeded gay icon Harvey Milk after his assassination in 1978; and becoming the founding director of Basic Rights Oregon, the state's largest gay-rights organization, in 1996.
In Michigan, approximately 40 supporters of an LGBT-rights ordinance rallied July 4 on the steps of City Hall in Holland, Advocate.com reported. Last month the city council voted down the ordinance five to four. Activists plan to attend every city council meeting and ask ordinance opponents to reconsider.
In South Carolina, domestic-violence prosecutor Nicole Howland received a two-day suspension after allegedly dropping a case because it involved lesbians, according to Advocate.com . When the plaintiff in the case refused to drop charges, she reported that Howland "said that she was not going to try the case because she felt she could not find six jurors to hear the case due to my alternative lifestyle." The sheriff's department reported that Howland violated department policy, which requires that employees "should always be civil and courteous when dealing with the public."
In Texas, Jon Buice—one of 10 men convicted in the 1991 hate-crime killing of a gay man, Paul Broussard—has been granted parole, KHOU.com reported. "The Woodlands Ten"—a group of teens—beat, kick and knifed Broussard. Buice was sentenced to 45 years in prison, and was the last of the killers still serving time. Broussard's mother flew to Houston recently to ask the parole board to keep Buice in jail.
The hate-crime trial involving the killing of gay middle-school student Lawrence King began July 5, according to SDGLN.com . Brandon McInerney, now 17, is accused of shooting King to death. The lawyers planned to argue that the killing was voluntary manslaughter because McInerney is claiming he was provoked by King's sexual advances. A conviction would bring 53 years to life.
