Fred Daley, a central New York State priest, claims that Catholic Relief Services stopped him from participating in a mission to help increase HIV awareness in Africa because he is gay, Advocate.com reported. Daley, of St. Francis de Sales Church, was scheduled to leave on Aug. 6 to wrap up training in Washington but received a phone call telling him that his application had been withdrawn.
Catholic Charities of San Francisco announced that it has found a way to help connect hard-to-place children with gay or straight parents without violating the Catholic Church's views on homosexuality: by partnering with another adoption service. Initially, the agency had planned to terminate its child adoption program because of a difference in church-related doctrine and state anti-discrimination law, The San Jose Mercury News reported
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese praised the fact that New Mexico's 2003 hate crime statute can be applied in the case of a man who was attacked in Santa Fe; three men have been charged. 'A vicious crime that left a gay man seriously injured and his friend fearful of her life has the full power of the law behind it thanks to New Mexico''s hate crimes law,' Solomonese stated in a press release.
Laquanda 'Swoop' Johnson, a 24-year-old lesbian, was shot to death in Washington, D.C., apparently because she decided to cooperate with prosectutors in a murder investigation involving a close friend, The Washington Blade reported. However, Johnson may have also been killed because of her openness regarding her orientation, some contend.
Martin Salinas, a Texas man who suffered severe brain damage and was left paralyzed after a brutal gay bashing in Manchester, England, in 2003, has passed away. According to Advocate.com, after extensive treatment, the 39-year-old Salinas returned to his family home in Texas, where he died of a seizure that was a direct result of brain scarring he received during the attack. 365Gay.com reported that the club's owner has offered a reward of almost $10,000.
The National Gay Basketball Association ( NGBA ) will play a tournament in Utah—one of the country's most conservative states—this fall, according to The Washington Blade. Sixteen teams from across the country will compete in the NGBA tournament Oct. 28-29 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
In Alabama, the mother-in-law of defeated legislative candidate Gaynell Hendricks has challenged the slim victory of would-be state legislator Patricia Todd, the Associated Press reported. If the win holds up, Todd would be the first openly gay member of Alabama's legislature, since there is no Republican challenger for November's general election.
Darlene Nipper, director of Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams' Office of LGBT Affairs, helped put together the country's first known transgender job fair sponsored by a U.S. city. According to the Washington Blade, the July 22 event attracted over 80 participants.
In Florida, the state's Republican gubernatorial frontrunner, Charlie Crist, says he has no objections to civil unions for gays and lesbians, according to an item on Gay.com . However, Crist—who is himself the subject of gay rumors—is against same-sex marriage and gay adoption.
In Massachusetts, a Springfield man who supposedly tried to pay University of Massachusetts students for sex is a paid lobbyist for the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, a pro-gay marriage advocacy group, the Boston Herald reported. William G. Conley was arrested by UMass police after allegedly posting an Internet message offering $50-$150 for 'oral relief.'
In Aldie, Va., police are investigating the vandalism of a gay couple's property as a possible hate crime, according to the Washington Blade. Heyward Drummond and John Ellis discovered the word 'fag' spray-painted on their driveway and fence; also, about 170 trees and bushes on their property were uprooted and gasoline had been poured on the lawn.
A transgender child in Florida who is genetically a boy will attend kindergarten in Broward County this fall as a girl, according to The Miami Herald. The student—who is thought to be the youngest trans child admitted into south Florida schools—will dress in gender-neutral clothing and use a gender-neutral name.
Perry McGuire, the Republican candidate for Georgia attorney general, compared gay-straight alliances in schools to 'a pedophile club or a gambling club,' 365Gay.com reported. McGuire made the statement to a Christian news service as he was answering a question about a court ruling involving a Georgia school sued by gay students.
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the country's largest gay and lesbian political action committee, is endorsing five more candidates, bringing the total number of endorsed candidates to 64 this year, U.S. Newswire reported. Among the newly endorsed candidates is Stephen Padilla, the Democratic incumbent mayor of Chula Vista, Calif., who came out last year at a Pride rally.
In South Carolina, the Constitutional Ballot Commission has approved a description of a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, according to 365Gay.com . The proposed amendment is already headed to the ballot on Nov. 7.
In Rhode Island, Superior Court Judge Netti Vogel characterized Theresa Deschenes' threats and slurs to AIDS-afflicted neighbor Kenneth Potts as 'hateful conduct,' The Providence Journal reported. Saying, 'She has threatened him with physical violence ... all connected to his sexual orientation,' Vogel issued an injunction against Deschenes, preventing her from having any intentional contact with Potts, her downstairs neighbor.
The FORGE Forward 2007 Conference and Intensives, scheduled to take place March 29-April 1 in Milwaukee, will tackle such issues as fostering HIV prevention, building anti-racist coalitions and training mental health professionals to work with transgender clients. For info or to register, go to www.forge-forward.org/conference, e-mail conference@forge-forward.org, 414-559-2123.
Joseph Mellilo, 59, one of the members of the three gay couples who sued Hawaii in 1991 to obtain marriage licenses, passed away July 25 of throat cancer, the Honolulu Star Bulletin reported. Mellilo's partner of nearly 30 years, Pat Lagon, was by his side when he died.
The International Federation of Black Prides ( IFBP ) —a coalition of Black Gay Pride organizations in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa—has announced the formation and recent IRS 501 ( c ) ( 4 ) tax-exempt status of the IFBP Fund for Leadership, Inc. According to a press release, the fund's board of directors has started developing a long-term plan to capitalize on the fact that more than 300,000 Black LGBT individuals and families attend the more than 30 Black Pride events held each year around the U.S.
A controversial new study of more than 400 people by Thomas Jefferson University in Pennsylvania showed that gays there are more likely than heterosexuals to experience domestic violence, according toThe Washington Blade. The survey found that gays there were 5 to 10 percent more likely to be harmed by a spouse, partner or family member.
A few scientists have stated that the AIDS virus hides out inside people's intestines, replicating in the lining of the gut and damaging the immune system from there, according to a Reuters item. Working with colleagues, Satya Dandekar, chairwoman of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California Davis Health System, said that the study was the first to explain why the drug cocktails taken by HIV patients often fail to work completely.
