Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's called some of his Democratic budget opponents 'girlie men,' reports Associated Press. A spokesman for the California governor said no apology would be forthcoming. Democrats said the phrase was sexist and homophobic. 'If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers ... if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men,' Schwarzenegger said Saturday. The phrase is from a Saturday Night Live TV skit in which two Schwarzenegger-worshipping weightlifters repeatedly use it to mock people.
Suspects in Washington state were arrested late last week for allegedly beating a man because he was gay, reports the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Micah Painter, 23, was reportedly attacked on Pride weekend after leaving a gay bar. Police say the men from the university town of Bellingham, Wash., were driving through Seattle when they came across Painter. A break in the case came when one of the men allegedly bragged about beating a gay man and then loaned his cell phone to a stranger. Caller ID from that call led to the arrests. Bellingham police say they've had many encounters with one of the suspects.
Last week a superior court judge in Massachusetts heard arguments in a case challenging the 1913 law that Gov. Mitt Romney says prevents Massachusetts from performing gay marriages for out-of-state couples, reports the Washington Times.
A married lesbian couple in Massachusetts are apparently the first to take advantage of another benefit of marriage in that state—co-parenting. According to 365gay.com, Massachusetts law allows married couples to have both of their names on the birth certificate of a child conceived through artificial insemination. Cora Roelofs and Liz Steinhauser are named as mother and second parent.
Attorney Ellis Rubin will be filing an historical lawsuit on behalf of Rev. Nancy Wilson, of Metropolitan Community Church, and her wife, Dr. Paula Schoenwether, formerly a family marriage counselor, who were married in Massachusetts a few weeks ago. Rubin will be filing against the U.S. attorney general, who is in charge of enforcing federal laws, and against a similar state official in Florida, at the Federal Courthouse in Tampa this week. Although this will be Rubin's sixth lawsuit against the state and federal laws banning same-gender marriage, this will be the first lawsuit in the nation to be filed on behalf of a lesbian or gay couple, to have their legal marriage in Massachusetts recognized by another state.
Opponents of gay marriage in Montana gathered nearly twice the number of signatures required to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Missouri, Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah will all allow voters to determine the fate of gay marriage in their states.
As expected, about 100 protesters awaited Rosie and Kelli O'Donnell's R Vacations cruise ship when it arrived in the Bahamas this weekend, reports AP. The chartered Norwegian Cruise Lines ship held 1,150 adults and 450 children celebrating family. Protesters, led by Christian ministers, chanted, 'Gay Ways are Not God's Ways!' as families disembarked. The U.S. Embassy issued a statement saying the ship's passengers should be allowed to visit in peace. Days earlier, O'Donnell used the cruise as a platform to condemn President Bush's attack on gay families, according to News4 Jacksonville.
Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the U.S. against criticisms that the government focuses too much on abstinence-only campaigns to combat HIV, reports AFP. Powell told PBS that the U.S. is the largest government buyer of condoms for poor countries hit hard by HIV/AIDS. Powell said the Bush Administration has at least doubled the purchase of condoms for these countries.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a leader of the anti-gay marriage Constitutional movement, now says he supports allowing states to decide whether to allow civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.
A trans woman golfer was refused entry into a women's pro golf tournament because her birth certificate listed her gender as male, reports AP. Danielle Swope was raised male, but underwent gender reassignment surgery and is now female. The LPGA Tour, U.S. Golf Association and the Ladies European Tour require that participants be born female. The Indiana PGA and the Indiana Women's Golf Association added the same requirements last year when Swope tried to enter last year's tournament.
A former Des Moines, Iowa, high school student won a case against his school district and a police officer for not protecting the gay teen from harassment, reports AP. Tyler Rothmeyer, now 18, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year alleging that the school district and police discriminated against him and allowed harassment to continue because the teen is gay. Rothmeyer charged he was improperly suspended and arrested after he fought back against a verbal assault. A U.S. district court awarded $27,500 from the school district and police officer.
A gay couple in Florida almost became the next best thing to adoptive parents until the Department of Children and Family received a complaint, reports the St. Petersburg Times. As a licensed foster parent Curtis Watson, 40, had custody of two sisters for whom no suitable adoptive family could be found, according to the agency. On the agency's recommendation, a judge ordered 'long-term, nonrelative custody' be given to Watson. Since adoption by a gay man in Florida is illegal, experts say this is the closest to adoption gays and lesbians can get. After a complaint was received, DCF investigators reopened the case.
