The Washington, D.C., LGBT bookstore Lambda Rising recently closed after 35 years of business, according to DCist.com .Co-owner Deacon MacCubbin founded Lambda Rising with an initial investment of $3,000 plus another $1,000 borrowed from a local gay activist. In January, the store was egged, which Lambda spokesperson Dan Mecredy called "a childish prank."
Three weeks after New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage, opponents have asked a state House committee to repeal the law, according to DigitalJournal.com . State Rep. Jordan Ulery said, "A man and a woman together create a family where individuals of the same gender cannot create a family." However, gay state Rep. Ed Butler countered, "Marriage is an incredible acknowledgment of our equality. Please don't take it away after so shortly having given us the opportunity to feel the incredibly powerful stamp of access to that word. Marriage is a powerful word."
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has released a comprehensive state-by-state report detailing LGBT-related legislation in 2009 and an outlook for 2010, according to an organizational press release. The report indicates that despite some setbacks for the LGBT community in 2009, there were as many positive bills passed last year as in 2007 and 2008 combined. The report also details expectations for 2010 with the fight for marriage equality and relationship recognition now focused on Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico and Rhode Island as well as continuing state and local efforts to protect LGBT employees. To view the report online, visit www.hrc.org/StateToState.
In Kansas, Scott Roeder, 51, said during his trial that he fatally shot Dr. George Tiller last May 31 to save the unborn, according to CNN. Roeder—charged with one count of first-degree murder—said, "There was nothing being done and the legal process had been exhausted, and these babies were dying every day. I felt that if someone did not do something, he was going to continue." Tiller was one of the few doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions. The jury took approximately half an hour to find Roeder guilty.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told PBS's Tavis Smiley in an interview that she will not serve a second term if President Barack Obama is re-elected, according to Advocate.com . Clinton said, "No, I really can't. The whole eight ( years ) , I mean that would be very challenging. But I... don't want to make any predictions sitting here." Secretaries of state rarely serve for eight years, with many leaving their posts before their first terms end, according to Politics Daily.
In Oklahoma, a Tulsa school district has refused to ban the gay-friendly book Buster's Sugartime after one student's parents complained multiple times to the school, according to Advocate.com . Buster's Sugartime is a condensed version of a 2005 episode of the Postcards From Buster TV series that featured the title rabbit visiting the children of a same-sex couple. Board member Ed Payton said, "I don't see the advocacy here. I see the reflection of reality here."
In California, the Menifee Union School District has decided that the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary will return to school bookshelves after being pulled for containing what some saw as obscene content, according to the Los Angeles Times. The reference book will be back in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms after it was discovered the dictionary has entries about various types of oral sex. However, parents will be able to provide their children alternative dictionaries.
The University of Notre Dame has sent a statement to Advocate.com saying that the school probably will not change its "Spirit of Inclusion" to more explicity ban sexual-orientation discrimination. Hundreds of gay-rights advocates have called for the university to add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy; however, administrators feel that "Spirit"—a formal statement adopted in 1997—includes LGBT individuals within the framework of Catholic teaching.
The American Red Cross LGBT Haiti Relief Fund has raised more than $150,000 through approximately 1,300 donations so far, according to the Miami Herald. According to the fund, the amount raised "was accomplished by significant outreach efforts to the LGBT community via donors and activists along with a massive email campaign to the members of three LGBT cruise companies, Olivia, Atlantis and RSVP."
In New York, Alan Van Capelle is leaving his role as head of the LGBT-rights organization Empire State Pride Agenda to join John Liu in the city comptroller's office, according to the New York Daily News. Capelle led a movement to have a gay-marriage bill voted in the state Senate last year; ultimately, the legislative body voted against the measure.
In New Hampshire, Democrats want Republican state Rep. Alfred Baldasaro to step down after he said that the state "sold" children for $10,000 to unmarried same-sex couples, according to the Talking Points Memo. Baldasaro is one of the main sponsors of House Bill 1590, which would repeal a state law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. He also mentioned incestuous couples, asking, "Aren't we discriminating against all them?"
In Georgia, the East Point City Council has elected Councilmember Lance Rhodes, a gay man, as the city's new mayor pro tempore, according to EDGE Boston. Rhodes—whose appointment was applauded by pro-LGBT group George Equality—will lead the city council in Mayor Earnestine Pittman's absence. "It is my hope that my service as a local LGBT elected official will encourage others within the LGBT community to remain committed to insisting on equal rights," Rhodes said.
In Hollywood, Fla., police officer Michael Verdugo—who appeared in a gay porn film—plans to take legal action against his department after it fired him, according to UPI.com . Verdugo, 35, was let go after his superiors learned of his appearance in the 1996 B&D film Rope Rituals. His movie role also cost Verdugo an appearance as Mikey V on the HGTV show Design Star.
LGBT organization Lambda Legal has sent a letter to Atlanta Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli and his attorney challenging the pro football player's claims that Internet reports about his alleged relationship with another man were defamatory, according to a press release. Lambda Legal staff attorney Beth Littrell said, "Saying that someone is gay is not an insult. Being identified as gay is neither bad nor shameful—not in life nor under the law." Mughelli's lawyer, Phaedra Parks, has sent letters to several Web sites asking them to stop posting the allegations.
The Indiana Senate has approved a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, according to Advocate.com . The Republican-controlled legislative body, introduced by state Rep. Carlin Yoder, voted 38-10 to pass it; however, the Democrat-controlled House is expected to defeat the measure, which includes a new restriction on civil unions as well.
A condition of unknown origin has caused fish in U.S. rivers to develop both male and female sex traits, according to a Parade Magazine item. A U.S. Geological Survey study has found intersex fish at approximately one-third of sites tested in the Rio Grande, Yukon, Savannah and Colorado River basins, among others. It seems that the fish are appearing in remote as well as populated areas, which would likely eliminate pollution as a possible cause.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i Foundation and Lambda Legal have announced that they plan to take legal action against of Hawai'i after the state's legislature did not pass a civil-unions law, according to a joint press release. The Hawai'i Senate had passed the measure 18-7; however, the House killed the bill even though it passed the same item 33-17 last year. Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage-project director for Lambda Legal, said, "Enough is enough. Infinite patience in the face of discrimination is irresponsible."
Project Inform, in a press release, thanked President Barack Obama for increases to HIV/AIDS and chronic viral hepatitis programs but expressed disppointment with his overall fiscal year 2011 budget. "We appreciate that President Obama has prioritized domestic HIV/AIDS programs in his budget," said Ryan Clary, Project Inform's director of public policy. "However, this proposal falls far short of building a serious effort to help people learn their HIV status and enter care, while reducing new HIV infections. ... Congress must improve these funding levels as it develops the final spending bill."
