The Human Rights Campaign commended last week's Senate re-introduction of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the introduction of the Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act, a measure that would end the taxability of domestic-partner health insurance benefits and treat them the same as health insurance benefits for spouses and legal dependents. However, legal protection from discrimination based on gender identity and expression are not included in ENDA.
A weekend of gay pride and activism in Lynchburg, Va., will take place Oct. 10-12 and is being sponsored by 25 religious and civil-rights organizations. Lynchburg is the of home anti-gay televangelist Jerry Falwell, who stated that he is dedicating his talents, time, and energies to the passage of an (anti-gay) amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In Riverside, Calif., protesters want men convicted of manslaughter in slaying of gay activist Jeffrey Owens to get longer sentences, according to the Riverside Press. The three men entered a plea and are expected to serve no more than nine years each. Owens and a friend were attacked outside a gay bar in 2002. Owens was stabbed to death.
Psychologists say they have found powerful evidence to support the theory that a person's sexuality is 'hard-wired' into the brain before birth, reports Ananova.com of the United Kingdom. 'Researchers measured the 'startle' response, or eye-blink reaction, of both straight and gay test subjects who were subjected to sudden loud noises. They found significant differences in the response between male and female, heterosexual and homosexual participants which, they said, could be linked to the area of the brain which determined sexuality. Dr Qazi Rahman, of the University of East London, said the reaction of the lesbian test subjects was closer to that which would be expected among straight men. The same was true among gay men, although to a lesser extent, in that their reaction was closer to that of women. ... Heterosexual men had a PPI of 40%, compared to 13% for heterosexual women. Lesbians had a PPI of 33%—significantly stronger that that of straight women. Gay men averaged a PPI of 32%—slightly lower than straight men,' Ananova.com reported.
California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said opponents of the state's Domestic Partners Act may start collecting signatures to stop the law from taking effect, reports AP. If 373,816 signatures are collected by mid-December, the action would be placed on the ballot as a referendum. Sen. Pete Knight, who spearheaded the 'Knight Initiative' that will not allow California to recognize gay marriage, is at the head of this movement as well. The state also approved a petition that would ban the state from giving any protected status to GLBT people.
A Boca Raton, Fla., apartment complex settled a discrimination lawsuit with two gay men, reports the Sun-Sentinel. Fred Sternbach and Stephen Miller were allegedly rejected because they were a couple but unmarried. Royal Colonial will pay $75,000 to settle and agrees to abide by fair housing practices, which include renting to unmarried couples, reports Lambda Legal Defense.
Responding to the state's support of a 17-year prison sentence in the case of a bisexual teenager who had consensual oral sex with another male teenager, the American Civil Liberties Union filed legal papers with a state appeals court last week.
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