Embattled U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal offered his resignation ( and was replaced ) in the wake of a scandal involving an article in Rolling Stone Magazine, according to an Advocate.com item. In the article, entitled "The Runaway General," journalist Michael Hastings asked McChrystal's aide who the general was meeting for dinner; the aide responded, "Some French minister. It's fucking gay." McChrystal also called his first meeting with President Barack Obama "disappointing," and also takes swipes at Vice President Joe Biden, among others. Reportedly, it was the "gay" comment that angered Obama the most.
Columbia Law School's Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic has won asylum for a gay man who feared persecution based on his sexual orientation if had to return to his native Uzbekistan, according to a press release. The unidentified man said, "In Uzbekistan, I lived with terror every day. I was arrested and abused by the police for having an intimate relationship with another man. Even after I escaped the country, the police have tried to track me down at my parents' home, and I know if I had to return, my life would be in danger." In Uzbekistan, a central Asian republic, homosexuality is illegal, with offenders sentenced to up to three years in prison.
President Barack Obama has expanded the rights of gay and lesbian workers by letting them take medical leave to care for their partners' sick or newborn children. A 1993 statute allows employees who work in companies with at least 50 workers to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for spouses' children or newborns. The Human Rights Campaign helped the administration craft the family-leave policy. The Department of Labor set forth the policy June 23.
Openly gay Maryland state Sen. Richard S. Madeleno, Jr., was among those President Barack Obama's Father's Day mentoring barbecue, according to an Advocate.com item. Madeleno—who has two adopted children—was one of many fathers at the event, where leaders from different fields had dinner and listened to a speech from the chief executive.
In Minnesota, Lavender Magazine outed anti-gay minister the Rev. Tom Brock, who will probably keep his position, according to an Advocate.com article. A Lavender reporter witnessed Brock, who heads Hope Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, attending a meeting for those dealing with same-sex attraction. However, church officials are supporting Brock because he is reportedly abstaining from sex and is attending a gay-support group.
Zack Rosen, editor-in-chief of TheNewGay.net, has promised to post naked photos of himself online if he wins a scholarship to the summit NetRoots Nation, Advocate.com reported. Rosen has posted an image of himself on Fleshbot.com sans clothing—although he has a placed a piece of paper with "Vote for Zack Rosen" on it over his crotch. NetRoots Nation will take place in Las Vegas, Nev., in July.
The presence of gay-rights activist Will Phillips as grand marshal of the Fayetteville, Ark., Gay Pride Parade June 26 sparked controversy across the nation—because Phillips is only 10 years old, according to FOXNews.com . Last November, Phillips refused to recite the pledge of allegiance as a sign of his support of gay rights. The American Family Association has called Phillips' appearance "a form of child abuse" and wanted the mayor to not issue a gay-pride proclamation.
In Massachusetts, the state's chapter of Join the Impact held a rally to bring attention to a gay-bashing committed June 12 by two marines in Savannah, Ga., according to Bay Windows. Keiran Daly, an openly gay civilian, was with friends when marines Keil Cronauer and Christopher Stanzel accused him of "winking" at them; one then hit Daly, causing a concussion. Cronauer and Stanzel may have violated the federal Matthew Shepard hate-crimes law because the South Carolina-based marines crossed state lines.
Wisconsin's District 4 Court of Appeals has ruled that a woman who raised two adopted children while in a same-sex relationship is not a parent under state law, according to a Chicago Tribune item. The woman, identified only as "Wendy," was with another woman, identified as "Liz," for seven years before adopting two children, the first in 2002. Wisconsin law does not allow same-sex couples to adopt—which means that only one member of the couple can be deemed the legal parent. Wendy said she may appeal the decision.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has again provided funding for the Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative, according to the Bay Area Reporter. The funding was not in the proposed budget Newsom put forth June 1 but he has now included funding for the initiative, a collaborative that includes the Transgender Law Center and the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Tony Winnicker, Newsom's communications director, said that the funding is almost $240,000.
In Alabama, the hosts of the syndicated radio program "The Rick & Bubba Show" have derided the concept of Gay Pride Month—and have angered some viewers in the process, according to ProjectQAtlanta.com . Rick Burgess talked for almost 10 minutes about how President Obama's proclamation of June as Pride Month asked U.S. citizens "to embrace sin for a month and celebrate it," with co-host Bill "Bubba" Bussey calling the proclamation "hilarious." Some fans have responded by creating the "Rick and Bubba Must GO!" page on Facebook; the page has more than 1,200 fans.
The Texas Republican Party has voted on a platform that takes a conservative approach to sex, to say the least, according to the New York Daily News. The state's GOP has voted on a platform that would not allow oral and anal sex; outlaws strip clubs and pornography; and that would jail anyone who issues marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The 25-page proposal also says that homosexuality "tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit and leads to the spread of dangerous communicable diseases."
The Centers for Disease Control is awarding a five-year grant totaling more than $1.5 million to the Minnesota AIDS Project, according to a NewsBlaze.com item. The funds would go toward HIV-prevention services for young bisexual and gay men throughout the state, specifically those with substance-use issues.
In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Police Department is getting a new LGBT liaison, the Philadelphia Gay News reported. Stephen T. Johnson, a 32-year veteran, will replace Chief Inspector James Tiano, who is retiring. Johnson is the deputy commissioner of Homeland Security and Domestic Preparedness, which is making the transition to the Office of Professional Responsibility.
In response to the National Organization for Marriage's ( NOM's ) plans to have an anti-marriage-equality tour this summer, Freedom to Marry is launching a tour to promote same-sex marriage, according to Advocate.com . Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson said, "We want to help explain why marriage matters and the importance of rejecting that kind of discriminatory agenda that NOM will be pushing." Freedom's rallies will take place in 17 states and Washington, D.C., over the next two months.
Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova has finished her breast-cancer radiation treatment, according to an Advocate.com item. Doctors diagnosed Navratilova with ductal carcinoma earlier this year after a mammogram. She then underwent a biopsy and a lumpectomy before a month and a half of radiation.
The Vatican says it has no liability in a case involving a allegedly predatory priest who worked in the United States, according to the New York Times. A man identified only as "John Doe" has filed a lawsuit against the Vatican, claiming a Roman Catholic priest named Father Andrew Ronan allegedly abused the victim in Portland, Ore., after he had reportedly molested boys in Ireland and Chicago, Ill. ( Donan passed away in 1992. ) The Vatican's attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said his client would prove that Ronan was not an employee of the Vatican.
In Tennessee, a three-judge panel of the state's appellate court unanimously ruled in favor of a lesbian mother whose partner had been barred from being at home during the mother's overnight visits with her children, according to an ACLU press release. In so ruling, the court overturned a lower-court decision that had used a so-called "paramour provision" to ban said partner. James Esseks—director of the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project—said, "Hopefully such a stern rebuke from the appeals court will send a loud and clear message to judges across the state that these kinds of restrictions are unduly burdensome on lesbian and gay parents who are just as capable of being good parents but don't have the option of marrying."
At the recent Twin Cities Pride festival in Minneapolis, Minn., members of the local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans distributed condoms with wrappers that read, "Drill, baby, drill! ...just don't spill" in the wake of the Gulf Coast oil spill, according to Advocate.com . The wrapper added "just don't spill" to the "Drill, baby, drill" slogan first invoked by Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele two years ago. Log Cabin Republicans of Minnesota spokesman Alan Shilepsky said that the wording "was such a no-brainer."
Speaking of the Twin Cities Pride Festival, anti-gay evangelist Brian Johnson handed out Bibles at the event—a day after a federal judge allowed him to do so, according to KSTP.com . Johnson—who was arrested last year and charged with trespassing while at the festival—traveled from Wisconsin to be in Minneapolis' Loring Park. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. District Judge John Tunheim ruled that banning Johnson would have limited his freedom of expression.
Alan Medinger, a leader in the "ex-gay" organization Exodus International, died June 28, according to an Advocate.com item. Medinger was the first executive director of Exodus North America, and then started Regenreation Ministries, which reportedly offers "healing and support for men and women wanting to overcome homosexual brokenness," according to its website.
In California, two people were shot at a June 28 vigil in San Francisco for Stephen Powell, 19, who himself was fatally gunned down June 26 during that city's Gay Pride celebration, according to MercuryNews.com . The two victims of the June 28 shootings, men aged 20 and 21, were expected to fully recover. Ed Perkins, 20, has been charged with murder in Powell's case.
In Connecticut, people are investigating the death of revered gay journalist Michael Collins, 63, an ex-Associated Press broadcast editor who succumbed to antifreeze poisoning, according to an Advocate.com item. Orange, Conn., Police Chief Robert Gagne said that detectives are looking into "some unusual circumstances." Collins was in the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
