Get ready for marijuana-infused ice cream. According to IndyPosted.com, a California medical marijuana dispensary named Creme De Canna is selling half-pints of flavors such as Straw-Mari Cheesecake, TRIPle Chocolate Brownie and Banannabis Foster. Customers cannot consume the ice cream on-site and only marijuana patients who have their cards may purchase the desserts. Californians will vote on the general legalization of marijuana in November. Patients suffering from ailments such as cancer and HIV/AIDS regular take medical marijuana.
Simian immunodeficiency virus ( SIV ) is thousands of older than previously thought—and may hold bad news regarding HIV, according to AFP. A study led by researchers from Tulane University and the University of Arizona concluded that SIV, which affects monkeys, is most likely between 32,000 and 75,000 years ago. Univ. of Arizona researcher Michael Worobey said that SIV's slow evolution to a relatively harmless form means that HIV/AIDS may continue to kill for some time.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed approximately 3,000 HIV/AIDS activists and advocates at the United States Conference on AIDS ( USCA ) in Orlando, Fla., according to a press release from the National Minority AIDS Council. Among other things, Sebelius talked about the early years of AIDS ( "In this age of advanced treatments, when AIDS for many is no longer a death sentence, it's easy to forget how scary those first years were" ) and the intent to "intensify our prevention efforts in the communities where infections are concentrated. We're going to put our resources where the risk is."
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ( ELCA ) has received onto the clergy roster three pastors in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn., area who are lesbians in committed relationships, according to a GLAAD press release. Pastors Anita C. Hill, Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart were received as clergy during a ceremony presided over by Bishop Peter Rogness. Rogness said, "The celebration of this service and this day is testimony to the joy felt widely in this church that doors have been opened and gifts for ministry are now being affirmed."
In Georgia, a fourth man has come forward claiming that Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of the huge New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, forced him into a sexual relationship, Advocate.com reported. ABC News reported that Long has issued a statement denying the claims of three other men who said he sexually abused them when they were teenagers. The men, now all in their 20s, launched separate lawsuits. However, Long—who once called homosexuality a "spiritual abortion"—has said that he is "anxious to respond directly to these false allegations" and plans to do so.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) has released a new analysis indicating that, in a study of 21 major U.S. cities, 1 in 5 gay and bisexual men is infected with HIV, and that 44 percent of these men are unaware of their status, according to a GMHC.org press release. Other findings stress the racial disparities that exist among gay men, with Blacks most disproportionately affected by the virus.
The Sixteenth Annual LGBT-Affirmative Psychotherapy Conference will be held on Sunday, Oct. 17, at Antioch University Los Angeles, according to a press release. The one-day conference will present academic research and expertise on LGBT issues to professionals working with these clients in their psychotherapy practices.
Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland, has rejected an offer to head the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade because gay participants have repeatedly been excluded, according to an Advocate.com item. She wanted to march in both of the city's parades but ultimately chose the gay-inclusive event in Queens instead of the other in Manhattan.
Former President Bill Clinton has said that ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell convinced him that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a valid policy, according to an On Top Magazine item. Clinton told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, "I accepted it because it was better than an absolute ban. I was promised it would be better than it was."
In California, the City College of San Francisco's board of trustees has appointed transgender woman Ms. Bob Davis, 63, interim dean of the school's Castro campus and the liberal-arts program, according to the Bay Area Reporter. Davis, who has taught music at the school since 1976, became City College's first out transgender tenured faculty member in 2003. Davis was also an advisor to the college's Queer Resource Center and Queer Alliance, the LGBT student club.
Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust has said that the school would welcome ROTC ( the Reserve Officers' Training Corps ) to campus only after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is repealed, according to the Boston Globe. Harvard had expelled ROTC from campus in 1969, in the middle of protests against the Vietnam War. Regarding DADT, Faust said that Harvard prohibits discrimination by all undergraduate organizations.
Four members of the U.S. House and one member of the U.S. Senate are the newest co-sponsors of the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow same-sex couples to sponsor their foreign-born partners to become U.S. citizens, according to Advocate.com . The act now has 132 co-sponsors in the House and 25 in the Senate. Several more members of Congress are expected to become co-sponsors in the near future.
Two gay men, Bobby Canciello and Matty Daley, have achieved the record for the world's longest kiss, according to EDGE Boston. The two men, who are just friends, reached their goal of "queer [ ing ] the Guinness World Records" by locking lips for 33 hours on the campus of The College of New Jersey. Among the rules were that the couple had to stand in a public venue—and no adult diapers were permitted. They reported dealt with body waste with a special pre-event nutritional regimen.
The New York Public Library's Manuscripts and Archives Division has announced the opening of the records of the Gay Men's Health Crisis ( GMHC ) , according to a GMHC press release. The collection is composed of 170 linear feet of GMHC records, mainly dating from 1982 to 1999, including correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports and brochures that document the organization's activities. There are also approximately 1,000 video recordings of interviews with founders and early members of the organization, public service announcements and segments from GMHC's cable-access show, Living with AIDS.
In Los Angeles, Calif., Kaycee Olsen Gallery is presenting photographer Jeff Sheng's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" series through Oct. 23, according to a press release. This exhibition will be the first to feature the photographs and stories of more than 60 servicemen and woman currently affected by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The exhibition coincides with the artist's release of Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Volume 2, a 100-page, full color photography book ( available at www.DADTbook.com ) featuring the portraits taken in 2010 of various closeted service members.
In Michigan, transgender high-school student Oakleigh Reed won't be wearing the homecoming king crown even though he was receiving the most votes, according to SFGate.com . Reed told Wood TV that the principal at Muskegon's Mona Shores High School said that he was no longer on the ballot "because I'm enrolled at Mona Shores as a female." In response, some angry Mona Shores students started a Facebook group called "Oak Is Our King." Reed wears a tuxedo when marching with the band at football games, and will be allowed to wear the men's cap and robe at graduation.
Anti-gay bullying has led to yet another suicide. In Houston, Texas, the parents of eighth-grader Asher Brown have said that their son shot himself in the head after constantly being harassed at Hamilton Middle School, according to an Advocate.com item. His mother and stepfather, Amy and David Truong, said that other students verbally and physically bullied Brown, and said that the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District ignored their complaints; the district responded that it never heard from parents, school officials or other students.
