Sen. Clinton at Gay-friendly NY St. Pat's Parade
The Irish band De Jimbe will represent Ireland in New York's inclusive St. Patrick's parade in Queens next month, organizers report.
The band will lead the parade on Sunday, March 4 in Sunnyside, Queens.
The inclusive St. Pat's parade was formed last year in response to the Manhattan parade's consistent refusal to allow GLBT groups to participate.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, told organizers she intends to march, as have a handful of other state and city officials.
Bashed student withdraws from Montana college
An openly gay senior at Montana's Carroll College has withdrawn from school after being knocked unconscious and beaten in his dorm, the Associated Press reports.
The student, 22, whose name has not been released, told school officials he was hit in the head with a bottle as he returned to his room from the showers, and his attackers beat him while he was unconscious. The attackers also wrote "Die Fag" on his body with a marker, and cuts on his eye required surgery. He has not been able to identify who beat him.
Student charged in
murders at Gallaudet
A 20-year-old Gallaudet University freshman has been charged with felony murder in two slayings at the school after telling investigators he killed his classmates for money, the Washington Post reported. Joseph Mafnas Mesa Jr., of Guam, was arrested in the September beating of gay Gallaudet student Eric F. Plunkett and the February stabbing of Benjamin Varner.
Gallaudet, in Washington D.C., is the nation's premier university for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Activists and officials had feared that Plunkett's killing was a hate crime related to his involvement in the school's GLBT student group, but Mesa reportedly told police he targeted Plunkett, who had cerebral palsy, because he knew he could overpower him. There is no evidence that Varner was gay.
Anti-Violence Project slams FBI hate stats
Representatives from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs are decrying the FBI's 1999 hate-crimes statistics, which they claim drastically understate the impact of hate crimes on GLBTs.
According to the FBI report, law enforcement officials in 49 jurisdictions nationwide reported 7,876 bias-motivated incidents in 1999, with 1,317 motivated by the victim's perceived sexual orientation.
However, NCAVP has reported tracking 1,965 anti-GLBT incidents in just 16 jurisdictions. The incidents involved 2,234 victims and ranged from harassment to murder, the agency said.
Of the NCAVP incidents, 704 involved assault; 65 involved rape or sexual assault; 11 involved abduction or kidnapping; and the victim was murdered in 33 incidents.
Man convicted in
2 gay-related killings
A suspect in two gay-related murders was convicted last week in New York, the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project reports.
Daniel Olivera was found guilty in the murders of Angel Roman and Roger Brooks, who were found dead in their Manhattan apartments in March 1997 and August 1997 respectively. Olivera was charged with two counts each of Murder in the 1st Degree, Murder in 2nd Degree with intent, Murder in 2nd Degree in association with a robbery, and Robbery in 1st Degree. He was found guilty on all eight counts.
Civil unions, Boy Scouts dominate law moves
Civil unions and the Boy Scouts dominate GLBT-related legislation in statehouses across the country, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reports in this year's first NGLTF Legislative Update.
So far in 2001, NGLTF has tracked 311 bills in 50 states, with 164 favorable bills and 146 that are unfavorable.
Legislation this year includes: seven civil union-related measures; three bills to keep public entities from cutting off the Boy Scouts; three hate-crimes bills; and two non-discrimination bills.
www.ngltf.org/statelocal/leg2001.htm.
Police investigate alleged gay-bashing death
After a barroom brawl in the Boston area that left a woman dead, investigators are looking into whether police took the incident seriously and whether the fight was a gay-bashing, the Globe reports.
Lauren J. Adolph, 31, and friends got into an argument with several men at a bar earlier this month, and the match apparently continued once the groups left and went into the parking lot.
There, Adolph either fell or was pushed to the ground and hit her head. One paper reported that an unidentified witness saw a man smash Adolph's head into the pavement.
While Adolph is not gay, at least one of the friends involved in the fight is, and that friend's attorney is claiming that comments made during the fight make the incident a gay-bashing.
Investigators are also looking into the women's complaints that police laughed off their report and were disrespectful, even after Adolph began vomiting in the police station.
Frank introduces DP bill
Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has re-introduced his federal domestic-partnerships bill, a measure that would extend insurance benefits to the same- or opposite-sex partners of federal employees.
Dems leadership changes
The National Stonewall Democrats has named Eric Bauman of Los Angeles national co-chair, joining Denise Kulp of Philadelphia. NSD co-founder Michael Perez stepped down as board co-chair after the 2000 election cycle.
The NSD Board also selected Kylar Broadus as secretary of the board, and Roger Lee as chairman of the board's Media Planning Committee.
Faith-based charity
legislation hits Capitol Hill
President Bush's faith-based charity legislation is gaining steam in Congress, with versions recently introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Cox News Service reports.
In the House, the bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, and Rep. J.C. Watts Jr., R-Okla., while U.S. Sens. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa., introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
The legislation would make it easier for faith-based groups and non-profits to get federal funds for their social services.
GLBT groups have expressed concern; they argue the funds could cover religiously based anti-gay efforts.
San Francisco to finance sex-change operations
San Francisco plans to become the first U.S. city to pay for municipal workers' sex-change operations under its health insurance program, Reuters reports.
The proposal, which is expected to be approved by the city Board of Supervisors and Mayor Willie Brown, would let city employees claim up to $50,000 of the cost of sex reassignment surgery, said Supervisor Mark Leno.
"This is a medically diagnosed condition —gender identity disorder. One does not enter in to this cavalierly," Leno said.
Increase in AIDS cases attributed to reporting
Improved reporting methods are the main reason behind Illinois' second consecutive rise in AIDS cases, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Rates were up from 1,557 in 1999 to 1,781 in 2000, said Dr. John Lumpkin, director of the Public Health Department.
The new reporting methods include counting previously unreported cases, some dating back to 1998.
Gay and bisexual men are still the most at risk for the disease, and 43% of all men who reported contracting the disease last year had sexual contact with other men.
Mandela visits Chicago for AIDS fundraising tour
Winnie Mandela comes to town this week for speaking engagements/fundraisers on AIDS orphans in Africa.
Mandela will appear at an awards luncheon at the Christ Apostolic Banquet Room, 1445 E. 65th St., noon, Saturday, Feb. 24. On Sunday, Feb. 25, she will visit: the St. Mark Church, Harvey, Ill., 11 a.m.; Christ Apostolic Church, 1445 E. 65th St., 12:30 pm; the Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester, 4 p.m., the Nation of Islam Saviour's Day Service, with Minister Louis Farrakhan at Christ Universal Temple, 11901 S. Loomis, 5:30 p.m.
A fundraiser will be held at 6:30 p.m on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl.
Moraga at Chicago event
University of Illinois-Chicago features a Kick-Off Celebration of Women's History Month with A Taste of Her Own Medicine: a dramatic reading by Cherrie Moraga, playwright and author of Waiting in the Wings: Portrait of a Queer Motherhood.
Reception and booksigning follow, March 1, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Illinois Room, Chicago Circle Center, 750 S. Halsted, ( 312 ) 413-1025.
