San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom criticized President-elect Barack Obama and Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for not being more active in fighting Proposition 8, according to the Washington Blade. In an interview with the Blade, Newsom said that the other two politicians did not do enough to fight the measure, but added that they deserved credit for speaking out against the initiative when they did ( this past spring ) .
National Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon is leaving his post, The Washington Blade reported. According to a statement Sammon released, he will leave at the end of January 2009—after slightly more than two years—'to tackle new challenges. I'll be doing documentary filmmaking, which is what I did before joining Log Cabin's staff.'
On the TV show The View, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee implied that gays are not entitled to civil rights because they have not suffered enough, PageOneQ.com reported. In distinguishing the rights of sexual versus racial minorities, Huckabee said, 'Bull Connor was hosing people down in the streets of Alabama. John Lewis got his skull cracked on the Selma Bridge,' to which The View co-host Joy Behar said, 'Gay bashing goes on, too.' Huckabee also said he does not believe that Arkansas' Proposition 1—which bans unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children—targets gays.
eHarmony will now offer a dating service to gay people to settle a complaint filed against the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. A man originally sued eHarmony in 2005, stating the the dating site violated New Jersey's anti-discrimination statute by not offering options for gay people. To partially settle the case, the Pasadena, Calif.-based company will develop Compatible Partners, a same-sex dating service, and will let the site's first 10,000 users to register free.
Police are looking into death threats that have been made against Vermont State Sen. John Campbell after the said he would introduce a pro-same-sex marriage bill, according to 365Gay.com . An anonymous woman threatened Campbell and his family, saying that she would bomb his home.
In Syracuse, N.Y., Dwight DeLee, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder regarding the killing of Moses Cannon, 22, a man who lived his life as a woman, according to WSYR. Police said that DeLee did not like Cannon's sexual preference. In a statement, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said that ' [ t ] he senseless killing of Moses 'Teish' Cannon is a clear example of why we need to redouble our efforts on education and awareness to ending hate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.'
LGBT individuals use statutes banning sexual-orientation discrimination just as often as women and people of color utilize laws related to, respectively, gender and race, according to a release from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. The study revealed that five out of 10,000 LGBT people file sexual orientation employment discrimination complaints each year—a figure comparable to the number of sex- and race-related complaints filed annually.
In the Life Media—producer of the long-running LGBT TV show In the Life—will run an innovative Web-based educational video that tells the story of Josh, a young gay man in New York City, according to InTheLifeTV.org . The video, which centers on HIV awareness and prevention, shows Josh confronting such issues as unprotected sex and online hook-ups. Researchers at New York City-based Public Health Solutions and New York University collaborated on the project, and gay social networking site Manhunt helped promote it.
On Dec. 10—International Human Rights Day—LGBT individuals are being urged to call in 'gay' to work during what has been dubbed 'Day Without a Gay.' Interested persons should see daywithoutagay.org .
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates—a leading LGBT workplace equality organization—has launched www.LGBTCareerLink.com, according to a company press release. CareerLink, which connects LGBT-friendly businesses with job seekers, 'is the fastest and most effective way for LGBT candidates to find quality employment,' said Out & Equal Executive Director Selisse Berry.
