LGBT youth and adults, allies and local advocates delivered more than 125,000 petition signatures to online retail giant Amazon at the company's headquarters in Seattle, according to GLAAD. Seventeen-year-old Pascal Tessier, one the first openly gay Eagle Scouts, started the petition with Scouts for Equality in support of ousted gay Scoutmaster Geoff McGrath. He is asking Amazon to suspend its financial support of the Boy Scouts of America ( BSA ) until the organization lifts its ban on LGBT adults in leadership positions. Tessier, his mom and McGrath were among those who delivered the petitions.
Openly gay Congressman Jared Polis, D-Colo., was blasted in a full-page ad today in The Denver Post for his involvement with energy ballot measures that critics say would cost Colorado tax revenue and jobs. The ad, from the LGBT group Log Cabin Republicans, features a photograph of Polis that has been altered to show him wearing a crown and a robe. Critics say Polis' measures would kill more than 110,000 Colorado jobs and cost the state $1.6 billion in tax revenue and, like the Log Cabin Republicans, believe Polis is a culprit in the battle over the practice of fracking.
Pastor Fred Phelpsthe infamous founder of the intolerant, quasi-religious Westboro Baptist Churchmay have had a change of heart before his death, according to The Huffington Post. Former church member Zacharias Phelps-Roper allegedly posted on Facebook that Phelps ( his grandfather ) said "words to this effect to the Equality House: 'You are good people.' I feel like he had a change of heart after my grandmother nearly passed away, and he felt the pangs of loss."
A Fox News guest has apologized after saying that California shooter Elliot Rodger's behavior could have been driven by "homosexual impulses," according to Advocate.com . Robi Ludwig, Psy.D, a psychotherapist and host of One Week to Save Your Marriage, said Rodger might have been trying to fight homosexual impulses and that if she had met him in person, she probably would have diagnosed him as schizophrenic. Ludwig apologized on Facebook, posting, "I in NO way meant to indicate being a homosexual or having homosexual impulses is a cause for spree killing. ... I apologize to all those who felt offended. That was never my intention."
Lesbian Caitlin Cahow has been appointed to President Obama's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, according to a press release. Cahow was a member of the United States women's national ice-hockey team from 2005 to 2013. In addition, she was captain of the Boston Blades in the Canadian Women's Hockey League ( CWHL ), and has served on the CWHL board of directors since her retirement in 2013. Cahow received a A.B. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.
The six same-sex couples who sued Florida back in January and are asking a state court to rule that the ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional will have their day in court July 2, BrowardPalmBeach.com reported. Eleventh Judicial Court Judge Sarah Zabel will preside over the hearing in Miami, and will hear from the couples' attorneys as well as the Equality Florida Institute. According to Equality Florida, the couples' motion, claims that Florida's marriage ban cannot stand in light of last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the federal "Defense of Marriage Act" violates the federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.
The U.S. Postal Service dedicated a stamp to Harvey Milk, one of the nation's first openly gay elected officials, in a White House ceremony, according to The Washington Post. Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman said, "Harvey Milk joins other civil rights pioneers who have been honored with stamps including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Caesar Chavez." Milk was a San Francisco city supervisor when he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated at city hall Nov. 27, 1978, by a former city supervisor. Milk would have been 84 years old on May 22, the day of the White House event.
The principal of a Catholic elementary school in suburban Philadelphia is apologizing to parents for having used a photo of celebrity Ellen DeGeneres on an invitation to an Oscars-themed graduation dance, the Associated Press reported. St. Andrew Elementary School principal Nancy Matteo wrote in an email to parents Tuesday that using the photo was "completely wrong" because DeGeneres "lives her life outside the teachings of the Catholic Church." DeGeneres hosted the Oscars in 2007 and 2014.
Chipotle delivered a controversy-stoking double-whammy by running a new ad supporting LGBT equality and taking a stance against gun-toting customers, The Advocate noted. Following a demonstration from members of the pro-gun Texas group Open Carry Tarrant County, the fast-food chain issued a statement requesting that customers refrain from bringing guns into its restaurants. However, the company also released a new ad supporting LGBT equality that reads, "Homo estas?"
A California man convicted of orchestrating the 2008 gang rape of a woman who was targeted in part because she is lesbian has been sentenced to more than 400 years in prison, LGBTQ Nation reported. Humberto Salvador, 36, of Richmond, Cailf., was found guilty in December on 14 felony counts ranging from carjacking, kidnapping, rape and a wide range of other sexual assaults. The jury's verdicts included hate crime enhancements because of the role the victim's sexual orientation played in the attack.
New research conducted by scholars at the Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, estimates that nearly 150,000 transgender individuals have served in the U.S. armed forces, or are currently on active duty, according to a press release. The report, titled "Transgender Military Service in the United States," estimates that more than 15,000 transgender individuals are on active duty or are serving in the Guard or Reserve forces in the US. In addition, an estimated 134,000 transgender individuals are veterans or are retired from Guard or Reserve service. The full study is at http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-Military-Service-May-2014.pdf.
San Francisco Catholic school Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory has agreed to reprint its yearbooks after administrators removed the graduation photo of a female student who wore a tuxedo, SFGate.com reported. The school was widely criticized last week after Jessica Urbina's portrait was yanked from yearbooks, with students rallying behind her. The school responded with a lengthy apology from President John Scudder Jr. and Principal Gary Cannon.
Barely a year after finally approving an official LGBT student organization, the University of Notre Dame has stepped to the forefront of the movement to assure respect for gay athletes, according to The Chicago Tribune. Motivated by two gay Notre Dame athletes who wanted to increase acceptance on campus, the university's athletic department released a two-minute video voicing support for the You Can Play Project, which advocates equality and respect for all athletes. Representatives from all 26 of the school's sports teams participated in the effort.
CBS New York reported that the first-ever Youth Sexual Health Plan released by New York State shows that one in four adolescents is likely to acquire a sexually transmitted disease. To reduce the rate of HIV, the state suggested mandatory offerings of HIV testing to all persons 13 or older, as well as starting sex education in elementary schoolfor interested districts.
The city council in Saginaw, Michigan, recently debated an ordinance that would have banned local businesses from firing or refusing to serve LGBT people because of their sexuality or gender identitybut it was Councilman Dan Fitzpatrick's comments that really made waves, according to The Huffington Post. Fitzpatrick compared the LGBT community to Nazis, saying, "In about 1933, there was a real big youth movement in Germany called the party of National Socialists. A lot of people said, 'You know, I don't like them. I don't know. I don't understand. But man they're good for business.'" The council rejected the ordinance nine to zero.
The Human Rights Campaign said the Waveland, Mississippi, City Council has passed an anti-discrimination resolution recognizing the dignity and worth of all city residents, including LGBT individuals, according to WAPT.com . Waveland joins the Mississippi cities of Starkville, Hattiesburg, Greenville, Magnolia, Bay St. Louis and Oxford in passing anti-discrimination votes.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, during his term as Boy Scouts of America president, he wouldn't press for an end to the group's ban on gay adult leadersfor fear of causing permanent damage to the century-old organization, Reuters reported. Gateswho helped end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that barred gays from serving openly in the U.S. military while he was defense secretarysaid he strongly supported the Boy Scouts vote last year to lift its ban on gay youth members. He also said he personally supported going further, but would oppose efforts to reopen the issue in his two years as president.
In Kansas, the Topeka City Council approved two measures aimed at reducing discrimination against LGBT people after hearing emotional testimony from both sides of the issue, the Associated Press reported. The council approved establishing a city domestic partnership registry for same-sex and opposite-sex couples who are not married. It also OK'd an ordinance that would ban the city from discriminating in employment and hiring based on gender identity.
A proclamation recognizing the start of same-sex marriage in Illinois in June created controversy at an otherwise routine Champaign County Board meeting, News-Gazette.com reported. Democrat Lloyd Carter, who voted against the measure, said at one point that "no man has the right to change God's law. This shouldn't be in politics. It's the wrong thing to put this in politics." The resolution recognizing "Marriage Fairness Act Awareness Month" passed 11 to nine.
It turns out that the judge who legalized same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania was originally endorsed by ... then-U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, Slate.com noted. U.S. District Judge John Jones recently ruled in favor of marriage equality throughout the state. Twelve years ago, in his second and final term as the U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, the anti-gay Santorum urged the Senate to confirm Jones and Kit Connor.
A Virginia transgender woman whose routine name change request was stalled by a Lynchburg judge who flagged it for "extra scrutiny," has been granted her request and will not be subjected to a second hearing to justify the change, LGBTQ Nation noted. Judge F. Patrick Yeatts granted Julianna Fialkowski's name change after originally denying the request in January. Fialkowski, 24, who recently completed her first year of hormone treatments, originally submitted her request for a name change to the Lynchburg Circuit Court in December 2013.
Voters in Pocatello, Idaho, handed gay-rights advocates a narrow victory when they rejected a ballot referendum to overturn the city's LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, LGBTQ Nation noted. Pocatello residents voted to keep the anti-discrimination ordinance by a margin of 147 votes ( 4,885-4,738 ). Pocatello is one of seven Idaho cities where city leaders have adopted local ordinances barring employers, landlords and most businesses from discriminating on basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Iconic LGBT-rights activist Stormé DeLarverie passed away May 25, according to HenriettaHudson.com . A 2010 Huffington Post item said that DeLaverie "probably threw the first punch in the Stonewall Riot that sparked gay rights." She was also part of the Jewel Box Revuearguably the country's first gay communitywhich was a traveling troupe of impersonators that originally formed in 1939. A celebration of her life will take place Thursday, May 29, at Greenwich Village Funeral Home.
The openly gay band director at a private Georgia school claims he was fired from his job after officials learned he was planning to marry his longtime partner on Facebook, according to The Huffington Post. Flint Dollar told 13WMAZ that Mount de Sales Academy President David Held fired him, and that Dollar's pending marriage to his partner of six years was the incentive. Held reportedly wrote that following "the teachings of the Catholic Church" is a factor considered regarding personnel decisions. Meanwhile, students and parents have launched a "Save Flint Dollar" campaign on Facebook.
Gay Atlanta incumbents fared better than LGBT challengers May 20, according to Project Q Atlanta. Three lesbian lawmakers ( Simone Bell, Karla Drenner and Keisha Waites ) are headed back to the state Capitol while a gay challenger, locked in a nasty primary campaign, lost his race. Kyle Williams' historic bid to become the state's first openly gay state senator fell short, as he lost to former state Rep. Elena Parent. The race turned into an expensive, bitter campaign with Parent turning to anti-gay mailers and not-so-subtle homophobic marketing efforts.
In California, five people were arrested during a demonstration in front of the Santa Ana Jail at Civic Center Plaza in which protesters denounced deportations, according to OCRegister.com . Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said five people were arrested for unlawful assembly, refusing to disperse and blocking a roadway. The protest was held by LGBTQ immigrants and allies who demanded that city officials terminate the city's contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.