On Dec. 19, President Bush signed an altered Ryan White CARE Act that shifts some federal AIDS money to rural areas and the South, according to The Advocate. On Dec. 9, the U.S. House agreed to reauthorize the $2.1 billion act. The Senate passed the bill earlier after senators from New York and New Jersey dropped their opposition. Lawmakers from some urban areas feared losing money under a five-year renewal of the law; the final deal renews it for three years.
The California Supreme Court has unanimously agreed to decide whether the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates a constitutional ban on discrimination, Advocate.com reported. ( However, an outcome is not likely until late next year. ) The justices are reviewing an October decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which ruled that California marriage laws do not discriminate because ame-sex couples can get most rights the state bestows upon married couples. Among those expressing joy at the development were Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, whose attorney, Gloria Allred, filed the first lawsuit in the state for equal marriage rights.
In an effort to ensure that same-sex couples in New Jersey are treated fairly under the new civil union law, Lambda Legal has launched 'Civil Union Watch,' an advocacy and monitoring program, according to a press release. Among the planned programs are education about civil union law and litigation preparation for couples who feel discriminated against.
In California on Jan. 1, eight new laws affecting LGBT residents will go into effect, according to a press release from Equality California. Among the statutes is a law that requires companies contracting with the state to provide employees with domestic partners the same benefits given to employees with spouses.
Robert Hickman, a former Subway employee who says he was fired because he has HIV, has reached a settlement in his lawsuit against a Subway restaurant owner in Nevada, Advocate.com reported. As part of the settlement , Donna Curry Investments, which owns the franchises where Hickman worked, will adopt written policies banning discrimination against qualified individuals with HIV. The company will also provide training for employees about HIV transmission.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said that the state will abide by an Alaska Supreme Court order to provide benefits to same-sex partners of state employees as of Jan. 1, according to Advocate.com . Palin's decision came one day after the court told the state to stop procrastinating and implement benefits for their same-sex partners, first ordered 14 months ago.
In Massachusetts, same-sex marriage advocate Sarah Loy was attacked by Larry Cirignano, leader of the Boston-based Catholic Citizenship group, when she showed up carrying a sign reading 'No discrimination in the Constitution,' 365Gay.com reported. Cirignano rushed from behind the lectern where he was standing and tackled Loy to the ground, allegedly saying 'You need to get out. You need to get out of here right now.' Loy suffered cuts and bruises; charges have been filed against Cirignano.
In Ambridge, Pa., the members of a gay-straight alliance at Ambridge Area High School said they have been targets of teasing and that attitudes about gays are getting worse, the Associated Press reported. Board member Brian Padgett has suggested that the entire student body go through diversity training if they are targeting people different from them.
Alex Saez, who works part time as a dancer at the New York City gay club Splash, is suing the bar and HX, the city's biggest LGBT club guide, after his picture appeared in an ad identifying him as a porn star, according to 365Gay.com . He says in his million-dollar lawsuit that the publicity over the ad cost him his job at a children's clothing store.
Alyssa Rodriguez, a 20-year-old transgender woman, has won a settlement in a discrimination lawsuit that claimed she was denied hormonal drugs while living at a New York juvenile facility, Advocate.com noted. The suit, which was filed against the Office of Children and Family Services ( OCFS ) , claimed Rodriguez's hormone deprivation caused physical and emotional distress. As part of the settlement, the OCFS agreed to work to evaluate its policies about transgender youths.
A poll of 545 service memebers shows that 73 percent of military members are 'comfortable' with lesbians and gays, and 23 percent 'know for sure' that someone in their unit is gay or lesbian, according to an item on ArmyTimes.com . The poll data was used by advocates to call for a change to the 'don't ask, don't tell' law enacted under President Bill Clinton.
In Florida, Palm Beach County's school board has started allowing students to view some LGBT advocacy sites, but others remain blocked after months of negotiations, 365Gay.com noted. Sites still banned include ones for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
A children's book about a couple of adult male penguins who raise a child will go back on the shelves of the libraries of four Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, N.C., elementary schools until a panel decides the book's fate next month, according to Advocate.com . And Tango Makes Three—a picture book based on a true story about two male penguins that raise an adopted hatchling together—had been ordered off bookshelves in the schools. Superintendent Peter Gorman acknowledged that his staff failed to follow district policy and banned the book after no formal complaints were made.
New York Police Department representatives have not responded to allegations that they beat two Black men, one transsexual, in November, according to The Villager. Members of the Audre Lorde Project, a Brooklyn advocacy group for Black gay youth, protested the alleged incident and demanded that charges against Shakur Trammel—whom Project members said was transsexual and was arrested on Nov. 1 after a Halloween party—be dropped.
In Scottsdale, Ariz., Paradise Valley Town Councilman Brian Cooney is offering a $10,000 cash reward for information about an assault on a gay couple outside a restaurant, according to The Arizona Republic. Detectives continue to search for as many as seven men suspected in the beating of Jean Rolland, 28, and Andrew Frost, 19, that took place outside Frasher's Steakhouse.
Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne, is dismissing the fuss over her openly gay daughter's pregnancy that has conservative groups upset, according to Advocate.com . ''Well, I think that it's just very lucky for me that I enjoy being a grandmother and I get to do it for the sixth time,' Mrs. Cheney said. Their daughter, Mary, and Heather Poe are expecting a baby in late spring.
Domestic violence among gays and lesbians is the subject of a two-year state government grant, accoriding to WDBJ7.com . Equality Virginia, the state's largest gay advocacy group, will use the money to create a resource guide for battered gays. A 2003 study found that 2 percent of domestic violence victims who seek help through mainstream Virginia shelters identified themselves as members of the LGBT community.
Sean Stout, a 29-year-old Maryland man, hesitantly pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 2004 falling death of his domestic partner, Richard Galla, 43, according to The Washington Blade. In doing so, Stout acknowledged allegations that he caused Galla to plunge 14 stories from the balcony of a Northwest Washington apartment as a result of a fight.
The University of Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions is starting the biggest study ever undertaken on the role of gender and sexual identity in alcohol use and victimization, 365Gay.com . The five-year study will involve 400 gay and bi men and women, and will include analyses involving alcohol use and interpersonal violence. The study is being funded by a $579,325 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
