Calif. killer was taunted
Several media outlets have reported that Andy Williams, the 15-year-old accused of opening fire at his Santee, Calif., high school last week, was often teased and called gay by classmates.
Mary Nederlander, mother of Williams' former girlfriend, told NBC Williams was distraught over his move from Maryland to California about 18 months ago because other kids constantly taunted him.
"He e-mailed us and told us that he just wanted to come home and that it was just awful over there. They were teasing him, calling him 'country boy.' He didn't dress right, he didn't look right. He was skinny, they called him gay," she said.
And the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Williams was routinely physically assaulted and called "faggot" by students who were larger than him.
Williams is accused of killing two students and wounding 13 others.
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network Executive Director Kevin Jennings has issued a statement on the reports of harassment.
"We are troubled, but not surprised by news reports that Andy Williams was targeted with anti-gay epithets. After all, these are the insults of choice on school campuses from coast to coast," Jennings said. "While we do not know whether anti-gay teasing was a motivating factor here, studies do show that among boys no other type of harassment, including actual physical abuse, provokes as strong a reaction as being called 'gay' at school. The alienating and well-documented effects of anti-gay harassment take a toll—regardless of the target's sexual orientation."
Jennings goes on to "challenge media and education officials to question what if any role anti-gay harassment has played in the cycle of school shootings, and to address the prevalence of anti-gay harassment as part of our ongoing national discussion on student safety and school violence."
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Man in woman's clothing found shot in Houston
The body of a man wearing makeup, a dress and a wig was found in Houston last week, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The name of the 29-year-old victim was not released, and police say the body has been shot in the face, stomach, and right shoulder.
Lesbian's complaint against dentist advances
The New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights has found probable cause that a dentist denied a woman treatment because she is a lesbian.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders filed a complaint with the commission in 1999 on behalf of the woman, claiming dentist Jay Roper violated state law by discriminating against her in a public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation.
According to the commission's decision, the woman had been a patient of Roper for almost three years when he asked why she had listed a woman's name in her records in the box marked spouse. When the woman said she considered her female partner her spouse, Roper allegedly refused to treat her.
Clinton won't march in NYC St. Pat's parade
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will not take part in New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade—but not because of the ban on gays, the New York Daily News reports. Clinton said a scheduling conflict is the reason for her refusal, and she plans to march in Syracuse's parade instead.
"I marched last year, and I was proud to march last year," she said last week. "I wish that there were sort of a central clearinghouse for scheduling St. Patrick's Day parades. There isn't."
Gay groups were reportedly angry over Clinton's decision to march last year. They had been fighting for the right to march in the official event for the last 10 years.
Deputy will keep job as he undergoes sex change, sheriff says
A San Antonio, Texas, deputy who has announced his intention to have a sex change has received the support of his superiors and will keep his job, Reuters reports.
Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez said the deputy, Lt. Brian Lunan, is protected by the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Lunan has received permission from the department to wear a female deputy's uniform, and Lopez has ordered other deputies not to make fun of him.
Complaint filed against Puerto Rican police
Lambda Legal defense and Education Fund is fighting on behalf of plaintiffs who challenged an anti-gay policy within the Puerto Rico police department.
In 1998, the Federal District Court of Puerto Rico struck down the policy, Regulation 29, saying it violated the First Amendment.
The regulation said, "It is a grave offense for police officers to associate with prostitutes, homosexuals, or other persons of dubious reputation." Officers who violated the regulation faced reprimands or dismissal.
While the police department has not contested the regulation being struck down, officials have challenged the awarding of attorneys fees to Lambda and its co-counsel.
Partner of lesbian mauled by dogs to
challenge state law
The National Center for Lesbian Rights recently became co-counsel on behalf of Sharon Smith, the San Francisco woman whose partner was mauled by dogs in the hallway of her apartment building in late January.
Diane Whipple was killed after two large dogs belonging to her neighbors attacked her as she tried to get into her apartment. Smith and NCLR are challenging current state law, which prohibits Smith from filing a wrongful death action against the dogs' owners.
See www.nclrights.org .
Man gets 15 years in murder of trans youth
A 22-year-old man convicted of killing a transgender youth has received a 15-year prison term, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Kozi Santino Scott was convicted in January of strangling 19-year-old Alina Marie Barragan, who changed her name from Manuel Reyes Eredia.
Scott allegedly killed Barragan after they had sex and he realized she was biologically male. He could have faced a 25-year-to-life sentence for first-degree murder, but the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder. Jurors also found that the crime was not a gender-based hate crime.
Merck cuts prices of AIDS drugs some places
Pharmaceutical firm Merck has cut the price of its AIDS drugs in developing countries by 40 percent, saying the move is an attempt to help African countries hit hard by the disease, the AFP reports.
Merck will cut the price for Crixivan ( indinavir sulfate ) to 600 dollars per year and Stocrin ( efavirenz ) to 500 dollars in developing countries effective immediately. The price comes to $1.64 per day for Crixivan and $1.37 dollars for Stocrin.
Merck is following the lead of other firms: Bristol-Myers Squibb last year cut the price of its Zerit medicine by 90 percent for Africa, and Pfizer agreed to supply the AIDS drug fluconazole at no cost to the South African government.
Some activists have complained that the plans exclude Latin America.