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.
In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist ( a Republican ) has announced that he is running for a U.S. Senate seat as an independent, according to Advocate.com . The election will now pit Crist against Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek. Crist, whose GOP staff members are expected to leave their posts, was one of the politicians profiled in the movie Outrage, which focused on supposedly closeted individuals with anti-gay voting records. According to CNN, many Republicans were disappointed with Crist's decision, with former governor Jeb Bush saying, "This decision is not about policy or principles. It is about what he believes is in his political self-interest."
In Louisiana, legislators have rejected a bill that would have allowed gays and lesbians to adopt children, according to an EDGE Boston item. Following party lines, a state Senate judiciary committee voted the measure down 3-1. The bill would have let unmarried couples of any sexual orientation to adopt. Currently, only one member of any relationship involving unmarried people may adopt.
Sir Elton John; anti-Prop 8 lawyers David Boies and Theodore Olson; singer Lady Gaga; and Houston, Texas, Mayor Annise Parker were among those name to Time magazine's annual Time 100 list. According to Advocate.com, gay ally Cyndi Lauper wrote of Gaga, "I find it very comforting to sit next to somebody and not have to worry that I look like the freak. She isn't a pop act, she is a performance artist. She herself is the art. She is the sculpture."
The Los Angeles Times has endorsed pro-gay San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in his race to be California's next lieutenant governor, Advocate.com reported. Newsom is running against Los Angeles city councilwoman Janice Hahn in the June 8 Democratic primary. The Times wrote, in part, that "California needs Newsom's combination of brashness and smarts." Six years ago, Newsom became the subject of national attention when he cleared the way for same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses—a move that the California Supreme Court annulled.
A groundbreaking immigration-reform package circulating in Washington, D.C., would include LGBT families, according to Advocate.com . The document would allow U.S. citizens and legal residents to sponsor their partners ( no matter the sexual orientation ) for residency. Immigration Equality spokesman Steve Ralls called the news a "historic step forward."
In Florida, two mothers—Diane Venetta and Dixie Fechtel—are attempting to have nine books tagged for "objectionable" content, according to Advocate.com . Venetta and Fechtel, backed by the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel, want Lake County commissioners to label books that "glorify illegal behavior." Fechtel had already lobbied for the change after seeing her daughter read The Bermudez Triangle and the Gossip Girl series, which both contain gay material.
In California, closing arguments in the Prop 8 trial will take place June 16, according to On Top Magazine. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker cleared out his courtroom in January, saying he wished to review the evidence before hearing closing arguments. The trial is considering the constitutionality of the state's anti-marriage-equality initiative.
Also in California, the state Assembly has officially overturned an antiquated law that required the state to seek cures for homosexuality, Digital Journal reported. The legislative body unanimously passed a measure to change the law, which dates from the 1950s. The measure now goes to the state Senate. Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal said, "It was ludicrous then, it's ludicrous now, it's time to get rid of it permanently."
In Mississippi, lesbian high school student Ceara Sturgis was cut from the Wesson Attendance Center's yearbook, according to MyFox Atlanta. Sturgis had been battling with the school over her photo, which depicted her wearing a tuxedo instead of a dress. Last October, the school rejected the picture, but Sturgis and her mother, Veronica Rodriguez, got the state's ACLU chapter to protest the decision and ask for the inclusion of the photo. However, the Copiah County School District would not accept the image.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty has apologized for giving an award to Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays Executive Director Regina Griggs, according to the Washington Post. The certificate read that Fenty thanked Griggs for her "dedication, commitment and outstanding contributions" to the ex-gay movement. Gay-rights leaders want Fenty to go beyond apologizing—asking him to denounce the ex-gay movement and to explain how Griggs was chosen for the award.
At an April 29 rally at California State University-Long Beach, trans student Colle Carpenter spoke out after being attacked on campus, according to CBS 2. Carpenter, who held a cane as he approached the podium, revealed details of the brutal assault. "The person who attacked me knew my name, pushed me back in a stall and craved 'it' into my chest," he said, adding, "For those of you who don't know why 'it' is such a derogatory term, it takes away a person's humanity. It takes away their personhood. It makes them less than human." So far, no one has been apprehended.
Gay dwarf gay-rights activist Harry Wieder, 57, was killed April 27 after being hit by a taxi, according to the New York Post. Wieder became an activist during the 1980s after coming out of the closet and joining the AIDS activist organization ACT UP; he later became a fixture at community meetings and political events. Wieder, who was the child of Holocaust survivors and resided in a home for the deaf at the time of his death, was born with achondraplasia ( a form of dwarfism ) .
In New Jersey, a gay-marriage course will be taught at Seton Hall University, according to The Setonian. W. King Mott, an associate political science professor who will teach the course, said that the class is not about advocacy, insisting that it will teach the issue from an academic perspective. The course will teach views of different cultures as well as provide an analysis of developments such as Prop 8.
In her new memoir, Spoken from the Heart, former First Lady Laura Bush said that she urged President George W. Bush to avoid the issue of same-sex marriage back in 2004, according to On Top Magazine. In the book ( out May 4 ) , Laura Bush wrote, "In 2004 the social question that animated the campaign was gay marriage. Before the election season had unfolded, I had talked to George about not making gay marriage a significant issue. We have, I reminded him, a number of close friends who are gay or whose children are gay. But at that moment I could never have imagined what path this issue would take and where it would lead."
SOULFORCE—an organization that is working to end the religious and political oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people—has a new executive director: the Rev. Cindi Love. Love, who started April 22, previously served as the executive director of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, according to a press release. "I am really excited that Dr. Cindi Love has accepted the call to serve as Executive Director of SOULFORCE," said the Rev. Dr. Mel White, co-founder of SOULFORCE. "She is the ideal person to continue to lead our non-violent struggle to end misuse of scripture and religion to discriminate against God's LGBTQ children."
Constance McMillen—the Mississippi high school student who was in the middle of a prom-related controversy because she wanted to bring her girlfriend and the school board refused—has been named one of the grand marshals of New York's 41st Annual LGBT Pride March June 27, according to an NYC Pride press release. McMillen said, "I never dreamed so many people would support my fight to take my girlfriend to the prom, much less that I'd end up being asked to be a Grand Marshal at NYC Pride. I'm really honored and touched to be asked to be part of this celebration."
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in a media release, supported the American Psychiatric Association's ( APA's ) request to change the phrase "gender identity disorder" to "gender incongruence," but also called for the removal of "transvestic disorder" and expressed concerns about other proposed revisions to the upcoming 5th edition of the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ( DSM ) . Jaime Grant, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Policy Institute, said, "Gender variance is not a psychiatric problem; it's a natural human variation that in some cases requires medical attention and support."
Media Industry Newsletter awarded AARP for Best Online Exclusive Coverage of the 40th anniversary of The Stonewall Riots. AARP.org's Stonewall package includes video and radio clips; a photo timeline; related articles; and a glossary of terms related to the event. An overview of the website provides a comprehensive overview of this gay-rights milestone.
The organizations Truth Wins Out ( TWO ) has called on anti-gay advocate Dr. George A. Rekers to leave his "ex-gay" therapy group's board and apologize to the gay community after he was discovered taking a male prostitute with him to Europe, according to a press release. TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen said, "This is a bombshell that completely discredits the ex-gay industry and proves that the movement is a fraud." Rekers is a founder of the Family Research Council and a board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality.
More than 300 gay and lesbian veterans and their straight allies from across the country have registered to go to Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ( DADT ) May 10-11 ( National Veterans Lobby Day ) , according to a joint release from the Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United. Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United and a former U.S. Army veteran discharged under DADT, said, "We have laid out a path to repeal for this year that very much respects the Pentagon's position on this issue. There is simply no excuse for further delay."
In California, the West Hollywood City Council has voted to boycott Arizona in light of that state's controversial immigration-reform law, Advocate.com reported. The boycott includes a suspension of official travel to Arizona and a review of city contracts with Arizona.
In Maryland, 18-year-olds Sharif Tau Lancaster and Alante Saunders have been charged with the murder of Washington, D.C., principal Brian Betts, who met the suspects on a phone-sex line hours before he was killed, according to the Washington Post. Montgomery County authorities believe that robbery was the primary reason behind the killing. Betts was found dead in his home April 15 after he did not show up for work at Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson.
