Hours after a committee in the Louisiana Legislature effectively voted down a bill that would explicitly protect people and businesses that do not want to participate in same-sex marriage, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued an executive order to accomplish much of what the bill had set out to do, The New York Times reported. "We don't support discrimination in Louisiana and we do support religious liberty," the governor said in a statement. "These two values can be upheld at the same time." Critics dismissed Jindal's move as an attempt to court conservatives nationally in advance of his likely presidential run.
Rep. Sarah Davis ( R-West University Place ) expressed support for same-sex marriage—becoming the first Republican state lawmaker in Texas history to publicly do so, The Texas Observer reported. Davis, who previously endorsed civil unions, made the comments in an interview about her decision not to sign an anti-gay marriage letter the House Republican Caucus recently issued. Davis said, "I don't feel the need to pass legislation or vote for legislation that prohibits two adults who love each other to be able to be joined in a civil union or marriage. It does not affect my marriage."
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin ( D-Wis. ) and Chris Murphy ( D-Conn. ) led a bipartisan group of 22 senators who want him to update the equal opportunity policies across the U.S. Department of Defense ( DoD ) and military services to prevent discrimination, harassment or intimidation of service members based on sexual orientation. In their letter, the senators explained that the 2011 repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" allowed service members to serve openly without the fear of being discharged, but failed to include binding protections for gay, lesbian and bisexual service members in Equal Opportunity Programs.
Boy Scouts of America President Robert Gates called for the organization to end its ban on gay adults while speaking at the organization's national business meeting. Citing "the social, political and judicial changes taking place in our country" regarding laws and sexual orientation, Gates said that "the status quo in our movement's membership standards cannot be sustained," CNN noted. Gates noted that the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was overturned by a judge in 2010, when he was defense secretary, prompting Congress to repeal the law.
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is an organization that welcomes transgender girls. The group's guidance on serving transgender girls, on its "Frequently Asked Questions" page, was actually made public in 2011. The page ( www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/faith/faqs.asp ) states, in part, "Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/group in question a top priority." The Girl Scouts USA cannot compel local councils to welcome everyone. Each of the 112 council in the United States is a separate nonprofit organization.
A federal judge in Alabama ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry throughout the state—but she put her ruling on hold until the Supreme Court decides the issue this spring, CNN noted. U.S. District Judge Callie Granade in Mobile had issued a preliminary injunction in February prohibiting the state Attorney General Luther Strange and Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis from enforcing Alabama's laws, which prohibit same-sex marriage. However, in her latest ruling, she made clear that the order applies statewide.
Gay real-estate developer Ian Reisner has once again apologized for his decision to host a reception and dinner at his Manhattan penthouse ( alongside business partner Mati Weiderpass ) for virulently anti-LGBT senator and 2016 candidate Ted Cruz last month, Towleroad reported. Reisner—who paid $10.1 million for a commercial strip along the Fire Island Pines in New York—has also pledged to underscore his support for LGBT causes and cut a $20,000 check for the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association ( FIPPOA ) PAC.
In New York City, police have identified the man who attacked two men with a chair in a Chelsea Dallas BBQ earlier this month as Bayna El-Amin, 41, according to Gothamist. The victims called it a gay-bashing and said the chair-wielder called them "white faggots"—but El-Amin is rumored to be gay himself. El-Amin has a lengthy rap sheet, having logged 18 arrests in several states for charges including assault, shoplifting, drug possession, credit-card fraud, drug possession, forgery and possession of stolen property.
London Chanel, a 21-year-old Black transgender woman, was stabbed to death in Philadelphia, Gay Star News reported. She is the eighth trans woman of color to be killed this year in the United States. Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told NBC10 that an argument between Chanel and her 31-year-old alleged attacker escalated into a physical fight; she was stabbed as a result. Chanel was a native of Victoria, Texas, and moved to Philadelphia several years ago.
A Lutheran pastor in Michigan resigned recently after being caught sending messages on a mobile gay dating app, Time noted. The pastor, Rev. Matthew Makela from Midland, is married with five children and has spoken of being gay as a "sinful temptation." In posts on the dating and hookup app Grindr, Makela said he was looking to "mess around" with a guy and sent shirtless photos. Screenshots of the conversation with an unidentified user found their way to the gay news site Queerty.
The Illinois House, on May 19, passed legislation 68-43 that protects minors from anti-gay "conversion therapy." The bill, HB 217, or the Youth Mental Health Protection Act, was sponsored in the House by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, and now moves to the state Senate, where it is sponsored by state Sen. Daniel Biss. Sixty-one Democrats and seven Republicans voted in favor of the bill, which prohibits mental health providers from engaging in practices intending to change the sexual orientation of minors.
Oregon has become the third state to ban conversion therapy, CNN noted. Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, the first openly bisexual governor in the country, signed the bill into law, which bars therapists from performing conversion therapy ( a practice the American Psychological Association has condemned ) on individuals under 18. Similar laws already exist in California, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
In the latest defeat for opponents of LGBT rights in Texas, the state House nixed a proposed measure that would have allowed child-welfare services to discriminate for religious reasons against LGBT people, The Washington Blade reported. Rep. Scott Sanford, R-Collin County, proposed the amendment to a bill for the Department of Family & Protective Services. But after he proposed the amendment on the floor, Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, raised a point of order that the amendment wasn't properly filed. The Texas House agreed to the point of order, sending both the proposed amendment and the vehicle bill back to committee.
In California, a state prison board approved parole for Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, an inmate who recently won a federal court order for the state to pay for gender-reassignment surgery. At the same time, a federal appeals judge granted the state's request for a stay, suspending U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar's decision that Norswothy has a constitutional right to the surgery. Norsworthy is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole at the Mule Creek State Prison for a 1987 second-degree murder conviction.
The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Michigan have filed a federal lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson challenging a department policy that makes it impossible for many transgender individuals to correct the gender on their driver's licenses and other forms of identification, a press release stated. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Detroit on behalf of six plaintiffs, seeks a court order declaring the policy unconstitutional and argues that the policy represents a refusal by the state to recognize and respect gender identity. Three of the named plaintiffs are Emani Love and Tina Seitz, two transgender women, and Codie Stone, a transgender man.
LeTourneau University—an NCAA Division III school in Longview, Texas—has banned its gay student-athletes from dating and has banned all athletes from vocalizing support for same-sex marriage, Outsports reported. The possible punishments listed for either "immoral" behavior includes dismissal from the athlete's team. The addition of the anti-gay language is new for the school, as the student-athlete handbook from the 2011-12 academic year did not contain any reference to homosexuality.
The Virginia Commonwealth University ( VCU ) School of Medicine now has a course on transgender health care, according to WRIC.com . Professor Dr. Tarynn M. Witten had been lecturing on trans research and medicine at VCU for the past seven years, and knew the issue reached a turning point when a student approached her about developing a transgender health course. The elective will begin this fall for fourth-year medical and nursing students, but members of the Curriculum Council are hopeful this is just the beginning.
One of the authors of a recent study that claimed that short conversations with gay people could change minds on same-sex marriage has retracted it, Politico reported. Columbia University political science professor Donald Green's retraction of a popular article published in the December issue of the academic journal Science followed revelations that his co-author ( UCLA graduate assistant Michael LaCour ) allegedly faked data for the study, "When contact changes minds: An experiment on transmission of support of gay marriage." The investigation into the paper began when graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley—impressed with the study—found they were not getting the large response rate that Green and LaCour received in theirs.
A new study into Truvada's efficacy as a form of pre-exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP ) has found that the drug is most effective at preventing HIV contraction after a person has been taking the drug for a full week, according to a Towleroad item. According to the study's findings, subjects exhibited risk reductions ranging between 75 and 91 percent after a single day's dosage. After three days, risk reduction rose to somewhere between 95 and 97 percent and, after five to seven days, the drug proved to be 98-99-percent effective. An important point: The study's findings applied specifically to people who were taking Truvada at regularly scheduled intervals from day to day.
A bill reaffirming the rights of clergy to refuse to perform marriages—including same-sex marriages—that violate their religious beliefs has passed in the Texas House on a bipartisan vote, after its sponsor reassured legislators clergy may only refuse to perform those marriages in their official capacity, according to The Dallas Voice. SB 2065 passed 141-2. In a statement before its passage, openly lesbian Rep. Mary Gonzalez commended the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Scott Sanford for carrying it. She told the floor she believes LGBT justice and religious freedom may coexist.
In North Carolina, an Orange County school said it won't remove King & King, a gay fairy tale that a third-grade teacher recently read to his class, WRAL.com reported. Three parents complained after Efland-Cheeks Elementary School teacher Omar Currie read the book to his class. The children's book is about a gay man's quest for love and includes a picture at the end of two princes kissing.
A high school teacher in Texas has resigned after admonishing a Black student for using a gay slur by comparing it to the N-word, according to Towleroad. Gretchen Summers—a science teacher at Pflugerville High School, which is just north of Austin—resigned after the school placed her on leave while it investigated the incident. Senior Isaiah Thomas reportedly used a gay slur in front of Summers, who responded by saying something along the lines of, "How would you like it if somebody called you a n——-?" Thomas' mother, Charlotte Swist, has demanded an apology from Summers.
The Hartford Courant reported that in Hartford, Connecticut, a plan to introduce municipal identification cards in the state's capital might give undocumented immigrants, the homeless and other residents who might be living in the shadows easier access to city services. Mayor Pedro Segarra said that any Hartford resident could apply for the ID card, regardless of citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation or arrest record. Matthew Morgan, executive director of Journey Home, also added that the cards could help transgender individuals, as the ID cards would offer the option of disclosing gender.
In New Jersey, state wrestling champion Alec Donovan has come out as gay, Asbury Park Press reported. "I felt I knew where I was in this world and knew the people I trusted. It is who I am," the 2015 145-pound wrestling champion from Brick Memorial High School said. Donovan added that publicly revealing he is gay was a huge relief.
Advances in same-sex marriage impact family members to different degrees depending on how relevant those advances are to their own lives, according to a new report by researchers at Palo Alto University and the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. The study, "Windsor and Perry: Reactions of siblings in same-sex and heterosexual couples," is reportedly the first study to ask same-sex couples and their heterosexual siblings about their reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in U.S. v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. More than 270 individuals were polled. The full report is at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00918369.2015.1039360.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson won the presidential straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City, beating out Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-Texas ), The Hill reported. Carson, who has made numerous anti-LGBT statements, is looking to solidify a position in televised debates, with Fox News and CNN announcing they will limit the stage to 10 top candidates in national polls. Carson won 25.4 percent of the vote, while Walker took 20.5 percent and Cruz received 16.4 percent.
The National LGBTQ Task Force has announced that the Miami Recognition Dinner's name has been changed to the National LGBTQ Task Force Gala-Miami, a press release stated. Now in its 19th year, the event is set to take place at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The Colin Higgins Foundation announced its 15th Annual Youth Courage Award winners, whom it will recognize for extraordinary leadership and advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ youth. The 2015 winners are: Alex Bergeron, 20, of San Francisco; Anthony James ( AJ ), 20, of Columbus, Georgia; and Victoria Villalba, 19, of Phoenix, Arizona. Each winner will receive a $10,000 award as well as an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles for the Christopher Street West/L.A. Pride parade and festival in June. Colin Higgins, screenwriter of the classic film Harold and Maude and writer/director of 9 to 5 as well as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, established the foundation to support LGBTQ youth in underserved communities.
Rivendell Media's annual Gay Press Report says that advertising spending in LGBT print publications for 2014 was a record high of $405.7 million, according to Business Wire. Actual LGBT press spending is up 6.4 percent from 2013 to $405.7 million, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth in recovery from the Great Recession. The increase in ad spending persists despite a 13.8-percent decrease in circulation for 2014 due to fewer titles ( corresponding with fewer issues ) of LGBT publications.
A group of anti-gay protesters has been unwittingly sending supporters the web address for a porn website after forgetting to re-register its blog, The Huffington Post noted. The domain, WarningsOfWrath.com, now redirects to a hardcore ( and very NSFW ) gay porn website specializing in "raw, breeding, bareback, hardcore XXX videos" after someone noticed the URL was available. The domain was previously owned by the Easley, South Carolina-based Open Door Baptist Church; congregants crashed a music festival last year with vinyl banners reading "FEAR GOD" and "AMERICA: GOD HATES YOUR SIN."
The editor-in-chief of The Bilerico Project has stepped down for financial reasons, according to Press Pass Q. While calling the job "an amazing ride," John Becker added, "The reason I'm stepping down is simple: money. Running Bilerico is a full-time job—you're basically on-call 24/7—but without the pay to match. News of Becker's departure comes nine months after he had sounded a warning bell, asking readers and fans for financial support in a fundraising appeal.
