Last-minute hate-crimes lobbying
The Hate Crimes Prevention Act was expected to be offered as an amendment to the National Defense Reauthorization Act this week and is now called the "Local Law Enforcement Act of 2000."
The Human Rights Campaign said it is vitally important that Illinois residents contact Sen. Fitzgerald via fax and phone as soon as possible, because he could be a crucial swing vote. Ask him to vote YES on this amendment, and also to cosponsor the amendment as well.
Go to www.hrc.org and then clicking on "Take Action!" Or call ( 202 224-3121, and ask for your Senator's office.
27 gay demonstrators
arrested at Southern Baptist Convention
On June 14, a group of 27 gay and lesbian demonstrators were arrested outside the Orange County Convention Center as the group protested the Southern Baptist Convention's denunciation of gays as immoral, reports The Orlando Sentinel.
The arrests of members of Soulforce were expected. The protesters, among them Rev. Mel White and several members of the local Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, were charged with unlawful assembly and bail was set at $500.
After the demonstrators were arrested, ex-gay groups held a counter news conference, stating their belief that homosexuals can change, and that homosexuality was unacceptable to Christians.
During the Southern Baptist Convention, it was decided that women should no longer serve as pastors, risking an even wider split in the nation's largest Protestant denomination. They also reaffirmed their anti-gay positions.
Anti-gay churchgoer
excommunicated
In Asheville, N.C., officials at an Episcopal church have cast out a member of the congregation who has spent years criticizing them for welcoming gay members, reports AP.
Lewis Green was sent a letter May 30 banning him from church property and denying him the sacrament of communion. He could be reinstated if he apologizes for making an obscene gesture to the congregation, but Lewis said "it would be a cold day in hell" before he did that.
Escapee may face
murder charges
On June 7, authorities were considering murder charges against a Wyoming jail escapee accused of killing a man in 1999 because the man was gay, reports The Denver Post.
The materials collected by Denver detectives could lead to first-degree murder, felony murder, robbery, and aggravated motor vehicle theft charges against Samuel Grauman, 21. He's accused of the September 1999 slaying of Daniel O'Brien, 36.
Transgendered
couple v. the INS
The Washington Post reports that Katherine and Pat Spray, who lived on opposite sides of the Atlantic, became friends on the Internet in 1995. They fell in love and got married while visiting North Carolina, applied for a marriage-based visa for Katherine and settled down in Virginia.
Now the Immigration and Naturalization Service is trying to send Katherine back to Ireland and has threatened to prosecute the couple on charges of marriage fraud. The reason, according to the Sprays, is bigotry. Katherine was born Damien Niland and lived as a man until 1991, and Pat, once known as Patricia, was born female but now lives as a man, the Post reported.
The INS denies charges of bigotry, and says they questioned Katherine's visa application because Pat Spray did not disclose a 1975 marriage that they claim had not been properly dissolved, reports The Post.
College censured for
firing gay dean
In New Haven, Conn., a Roman Catholic college that fired a gay dean was censured recently by the American Association of University Professors, reports AP.
The AAUP accuses Albertus Magnus College of violating the academic freedom of Michael Hartwig, a former priest. A college spokesman called the censure "predetermined" and "biased," saying the school is not renewing Hartwig's employment for a different reason.
A lawsuit over the dismissal in 1997 is pending in federal court.
The AAUP report says Hartwig was dismissed to avoid negative publicity about his sexuality and a book he plans to write countering the church's teaching on sexual abstinence for homosexuals and other unmarried people.
Girls accused of anti-gay attack are sentenced
Three teenagers in Boston accused of taunting and attacking Moroccan students they thought were gay have been sentenced to undergo an eight-week tolerance course and perform 10-15 hours community service, reports AP.
The state attorney general's office had filed a complaint against the girls after they allegedly beat and groped the Moroccan girls' on a subway train, because they thought they were holding hand.
GLBT delegates
welcomed at Texas Democratic Convention
GLBT Democrats from across Texas recently gathered in Fort Worth for the Democratic Party's state convention. The Stonewall Democrats were warmly received by their fellow delegates, and resulted in specific mention in the Texas Democratic Party Platform planks calling for passage of the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Resolutions were passed on those topics and calling for legislation to protect GLBT youth in the public school system.
Members of the GLBT community were elected as National Delegates to the Democratic National Convention to be held in Los Angeles this summer. Party Chair Molly Beth Malcolm named Michael Milliken to the National Democratic Platform Committee. Sue Lovell of Houston was elected as one of only three at-large members from Texas to serve on the Democratic National Committee.
Man arrested for driving into gay pride parade
In Albuquerque, NM, participants in a recent gay pride say they were run down by a man in a minivan yelling obscenities, reports MSNBC.
Police say 71-year-old David Tully was behind the wheel.
One man was hit twice in the knees and thrown off the hood of the white minivan.
Another witness said Tully tried to swerve into the crowd three times before police finally pulled him out of the vehicle and handcuffed him.
There is no hate crime law in New Mexico, and so Tully was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon instead, MSNBC said.
Long Island police to march in uniform
Newsday reports that for the first time, police officers will march in uniform in the 10th annual Long Island Pride Parade. But state troopers won't.
The Long Island branch of Gay Officers Action League asked the administrations of both departments and the State Police to allow off-duty officers to wear their uniforms in the parade. The Nassau and Suffolk departments approved the request, but State Police denied the request of one trooper, Newsday said.
Utah school board to
hire private attorney
The Salt Lake City School District continues its fight after a state agency opted not to pay for an appeal of a federal injunction that allows a gay-issues club to meet, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.
In April, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell forced East High School to allow students to form PRISM, a group where students discuss homosexuality as it relates to government, history and sociology.
The Salt Lake City School District appealed the injunction, but has now learned that the Division of Risk Management, the state's self-insurance agency, will not cover costs of the appeal, the Tribune reported.
School district officials said they will now hire a private attorney to continue with the appeal.
Poll: Americans more tolerant toward gays
A Los Angeles Times poll of 2071 people concludes that Americans are more comfortable in the presence of gay people, and more believe they deserve stronger legal protection, even though a majority continues to consider homosexuality morally repugnant. 73% of Americans say they know someone who is openly gay. In 1983, it was 30%. In 1985, 40% said they were comfortable around gay men or lesbians; it's 60% today.
68% support protection from job discrimination, and 66% support protection from housing discrimination. 50% also support giving gay couples the same benefits enjoyed by married couples, such as inheritance rights, work health benefits and tax breaks.
On the subject of gay marriage, 34% support it compared to 58% who oppose it, the Times said.