The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee has announced that California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, is the recipient of its 2010 Pink Brick Award. The Pink Brick award is given annually to a person or institution whose actions are judged to have caused the most harm to the LGBT community. Ashburn—who has an extensive voting history of vigorously opposing LGBT rights—was recently arrested on a DUI after visiting a Sacramento gay bar. He subsequently came out of the closet and said that his votes reflect his constituents' views.
In Washington, D.C., members of the pro-LGBT group GetEQUAL disrupted a committee hearing April 21 on Capitol Hill to demand that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ( ENDA ) be sent to the House floor for a vote immediately, according to a GetEQUAL press release. The organization has been quite active on the activist front, as it also organized the April 20 and March 18 protests at the White House, where Lt. Dan Choi and other LGBT vets handcuffed themselves to the White House gates to remind President Obama's of his promise to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Servicemembers United—the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans—has announced that the total official number of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ( DADT ) discharges for fiscal year 2009 is 443, according to a press release. The number combines the total number of discharges reported by the Department of Defens ( 428 ) with the total number of discharges reported by the Department of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard ( 15 ) . This latest figure brings the official 17-year total to 13,425 DADT-related discharges.
An unnamed Illinois man has filed a lawsuit against the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI for allegedly covering up the late Father Lawrence Murphy's sexual abuse while the plaintiff was a student at a Wisconsin Catholic school, CNN.com reported. According to the suit—filed in the U.S. District court in Milwaukee, Wis.—the alleged victim said that Murphy molested him while he attended St. John's School for the Deaf. The pope is named as a defendant because he helped review sex-abuse cases when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and because he possesses the authority to remove priests.
In Florida, Michael Vance has left his post as executive director of Orlando's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Vance felt that he did not have the right fundraising skills for the position. The center's board chair, Jay Lovell, hopes to name Vance's successor by the time Vance departs July 7.
U.S. Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., re-election contest is becomingly increasingly intense. A member of his camp criticized J.D. Hayworth, McCain's primary campaign opponent, for associating with a Tea Party member who has called for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to "come out of the log cabin closet," Advocate.com reported. Hayworth supports the Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, whose leader, William Gheen, has been going after Graham. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers has called the Hayworth-Gheen alliance "unfortunate."
The Point Foundation—which gives scholarships to LGBT students—has announced that its annual gala, held April 19 in New York City, broke all of the organization's fundraising records, according to Advocate.com . The event raised more than $600,000 in sponsorships, live-auction proceeds and ticket sales. Point Foundation Executive Director/CEO Jorge Valencia said in a statement, "The evening's honorees, celebrity co-hosts and participants are a vote of confidence in our mission to provide financial support, mentoring, leadership training and hope to meritorious LGBT students."
In Kentucky, state authorities arrested 18-year-old Ashley Sams and Corinne Schwab as well as an unnamed 17-year-old, charging them with the kidnapping and attempted murder of lesbian classmate Cheyenne Williams, according to WKYT.com . The trio allegedly took Williams to Flat Lick Falls and tried to push her off a cliff. School officials said that the four individuals were friends. So far, no motive has been uncovered. CBSNews.com has reported that the defendants are claiming Williams was a willing participant in what they call a hoax.
In North Carolina, Duke University junior Justin Robinette has said that he was impeached from the school's College Republicans club because of his sexuality, according to The Daily Tar Heel. However, the official impeachment article stated that Robinette was ousted because of "conduct unbecoming of a person in a position of leadership," his "refusal to call club meetings" and other charges. Nonetheless, Robinette insisted, "Comments were made directly to me and my executive board before and after the meeting concerning my sexual orientation, calling me a supporter of the faggot center, calling me ironic, calling me disgusting."
In Tennessee, school authorities have assured Lambda Legal and the state's chapter of the ACLU that a student wearing pro-gay T-shirts will not be censored, 365Gay.com reported. Cole Goforth, who attends Greenbrief High School, was sent home in early April after wearing an "I ( heart ) Lady Gay Gay" T-shirt." Goforth and his mother contacted the ACLU and Lambda Legal after the incident—apparently, officials said that the student's clothes and messages were "disruptive."
A transwoman who is a former brother-in-law of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell spoke at a gay-rights rally held April 21 at the state Capitol, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Robyn Deane was once wedded to one of Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell's sisters; the couple split in 1999. Pro-LGBT activists rallied to urge legislators to outlaw sexual orientation-based discrimination in the state workforce.
In Ohio, two Miami University students claimed that they were attacked because they participated in a drag show, WLWT.com reported. However, police officers take issue with the claim that it was a hate crime, saying that the victims followed the other man out of a bar while they all argued, and that the victims possibly started the altercation. A protest in support of the victims was slated to take place on Miami's Oxford, Ohio, campus.
In Pennsylvania, state Rep. Babette Josephs, 70, has accused her primary opponent, Gregg Kavitz, of faking his bisexuality in order to snare LGBT votes, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. At a fundraiser, Josephs said, "I outed him as a straight person," but Kravitz, 29, has said that he finds men and women sexually attractive and is offended by Josephs' remark. Kravitz added, "My sexuality is not a qualification for office. I bring it up only in the context that it's important for the LGBT community to have a seat at the legislative table."
Gay-rights activists are upset over a blog post by ex-George W. Bush aide Ben Domenech that attacks U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who might be chosen to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court, according to SheWired.com . Domenech wrote that selecting Kagan "would please much of Obama's base … the first openly gay justice." ( A White House spokesman has denied that Kagan is lesbian. ) Human Rights Campaign's Michael Cole responded, "Even though the majority of Americans couldn't care less about a nominee's sexual orientation, the far right will continue to be shameless with their whisper campaigns to drum up their base and raise money off of prejudice."
The Trevor Project—the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth—received the Crisis Center Excellence Award from the American Association of Suicidology ( AAS ) April 22 at the 43rd Annual AAS Conference in Orlando, Fla., according to a Trevor Project press release. The Crisis Center Excellence Award is presented annually for "outstanding service in the face of extraordinary circumstances, or for service to the community through an innovative and creative program." The Trevor Project received a plaque and a check for $500.
The website GreaterThan.org is sponsoring an "AIDS Babyface Sweepstakes" that aims to test one's HIV/AIDS IQ—with one person being flown to Orlando, Fla., to meet singer Babyface in person and get VIP seats to his concert. GreaterThan.org ( Greater Than AIDS ) , a public-information campaign of the Black AIDS Media Partnership, is geared to increase HIV/AIDS awareness among African Americans.
Legendary New York City nightlife figure Marc Berkley has died, reportedly of a heart attack, at age 56, according to Joe.My.God. Berkley co-founded HX Media, the company that owned the now-defunct gay publications The New York Blade and HX Magazine. Before helping to start HX and the Blade, Berkley was prominent in NYC's nightlife, promoting clubs such as Limelight. Matthew Bank, his ex-business partner, stated that Berkley's "creative spirit and boundless energy helped make New York gay nightlife a shamefully good time for what seems like forever. Working with him to create HX was a grand adventure that I will relish for the rest of my life."
dot429, a networking community for the LGBTA community, has launched nationally with the introduction of dot429.com . Already well-known in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles for its professional mixers, dot429.com has the world's largest network of LGBTA professionals in the world. ( See windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php for photos of a recent event in Chicago. ) In a statement, dot429 Chief Creative Officer Sabrina Riddle said, "We want dot429 to be both a powerful place for professionals to connect, as well as an interesting place that stimulates the mind and creates conversation."
The American Bar Association ( ABA ) has issued a press release stating that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should be eliminated. The ABA has sent letters ( signed by President Carolyn Lamm ) to the U.S. Congress and the Department of Defense. In part, the letters read, " [ W ] e opposed enactment of this policy in 1993 as establishing a form of discrimination that was not based on the character of the servicemember's contribution to the national defense. The harm we foresaw has since come to pass. More than 13,000 men and women have been dismissed from service under the law, among them highly trained specialists like pilots, sharpshooters and translators." In addition, the ABA offered legal assistance in creating a new policy.
