The American Psychological Association ( APA ) recently announced that it wants to be a leader in ending discrimination against the trans community by improving treatment for gender-variant people. The APA adopted a resolution supporting full equality for trans and gender-variant people at its annual convention. The resolution also calls on the APA to support legal recognition of trans individuals and necessary medical treatment, encourage more research, call on insurers to cover such treatments and more.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler has apologized for saying that Hurricane Gustav's arrival was a sign that God favored Democrats because the storm coincided with the start of the Republican National Convention, 365Gay.com reported. In addition to saying he was sorry, Fowler said that he was 'just poking fun at Jerry Falwell and the nonsensical thing he had said several years ago,' referring to the late minister's contention that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were God's punishment for abortion and homosexuality, among other things.
A nationwide poll done by Zogby International found that a majority of Americans would support a qualified, openly gay presidential hopeful. The poll found that 65 percent of voters would cast their ballot for an openly gay U.S. president if he or she were the most qualified person. Roughly 66 percent said they would support an openly gay, qualified vice president. In addition, 69 percent said they'd back an openly gay individual running for the U.S. Senate.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal recently dropped an executive anti-discrimination order. The order, put in place by a previous governor, prohibits employment discrimination against gay state workers. However, Jindal did not renew the order, so it expired Aug. 22. Former Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed the order in 2004. Jindal, a Republican, was a vocal opponent of the order back then, as well.
Matt Foreman—who headed the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and who is currently the director of gay- and immigrant-rights rights for the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund—married his longtime partner, Frank De Leon, according to joemygod.blogspot.com . Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, officiated the ceremony.
The Oregonian reported that a local Native American tribe, at the request of a lesbian couple, now recognizes same-sex marriages, even though Oregon state law does not. Because the Coquille tribe is a federally sovereign nation, they are allowed to legalize gay marriage if they wish. They are thought to be the first tribe in the U.S. to legalize gay marriage. The tribe, which is located on the southern Oregon coast, will only legally wed same-sex couples if one of the partners is Coquille.
Southern Voice reported that a Georgia church was vandalized with an anti-gay message. St. John's Episcopal Church in College Park had a handwritten message on a piece of cardboard posted on its door Sunday morning that read, 'homosexual priest in the pulpit in this church are an abomination! 666.' The church has an openly gay rector.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley have gay marriage opponents the green light to start collecting signatures in an effort to overturn the legislature's recent appeal of a law that prevents out-of-town same-sex couples from getting hitched. Massachusetts lawmakers recently overturned the 1913 law. But with Coakley's approval, opponents can now start collecting signatures for a ballot measure. If enough signatures are collected, the measure could potentially appear on the 2010 ballot. However, the Massachusetts Family Institute recently said it won't support a move to reinstate the ban because there 'is not winning on this issue.'
Goodasyou.org found out that an anti-gay organization, the Family Policy Network, which is an affiliate of American Family Association, recently bought the domain name www.boycotthallmark.com . According to a recent online posting, FPN said it will officially launch a boycott of the nation's largest greeting card company next week. Hallmark recently announced the release of same-sex wedding greeting cards because of consumer demand now that both California and Massachusetts have legalized gay marriage.
Gay and lesbian couples who have their relationships legally recognized stay together longer, according to a new study. The new study, conducted by three universities, appears in Developmental Psychology. The study, a five-year project that began when Vermont legalized civil unions, shows that same-sex couples that are not in civil unions are more likely to end their relationship. Of those studied, 9 percent of couples not in civil unions ended their relationship, compared to 3.8 percent of those in a civil union.
A 31-year-old woman was kicked out of a Los Angeles federal building recently for wearing a shirt advertising a lesbian Web site. A contract security guard hired by the Department of Homeland Security through a private company had the woman ejected from the building for wearing a shirt that read 'lesbian.com .' She was later allowed inside after her mother called the police. The Los Angeles office called the guard's actions inappropriate, and said they have notified the company.
