The U.S. military has fired three more Arabic linguists under the anti-gay 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, 247Gay.com reported. One of the linguists was serving in Iraq and, reportedly, his sexual orientation was known; however, he was formally investigated because of Internet chat room conversations he held. Almost 60 linguists have been let go under the policy.
Mitchell Gold, the founder of the pro-LGBT religious justice organization Faith in America ( FIA ) , has called on Pope Benedict XVI to expand upon an apology he made in order to include the gay community. The pope recently apologized for, among other things, saying that the Catholic Church had not imposed themselves on Latin American Indians, according to an FIA statement. However, Gold has challenged the pope to 'renounce bigotry and foster an environment where love, acceptance and understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people flourish.'
Lesbian California State Senator Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, has divulged that she has been diagnosed with leukemia, according to 365Gay.com . Saying in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that she had not mentioned the illness before because she 'didn't want to be pitied,' Migden still takes six chemotherapy pills daily even though doctors pronounced her cancer-free in February.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said that he is not gay-intolerant even though he opposes same-sex marriage ( feeling that such unions are not in childrens' best interest ) , according to 365Gay.com . Romney has displayed an inconsistent gay-rights record, championing himself as an LGBT-rights advocate in 1994, but tried to have an anti-same-sex marriage amendment put in the Massachusetts constitution in 2003.
In Maryland, church officials have announced that the Rev. Drew Phoenix—a United Methodist minister who was formerly Ann Gordon—will be reappointed to a Baltimore congregation, according to the Associated Press. Moreover, St. John's United Methodist Church's 50-member congregation is supporting Phoenix's return whole-heartedly. The denomination does not ban transgender clergy, although it does prohibit sexually active gay pastors from ministering.
Truth Wins Out, a pro-gay non-profit educational organization and think tank, has launched an online video campaign in which individuals talk about the so-called 'ex-gay' ministries, according to an organizational news release. The project, 'Talking Truth,' will feature former ex-gays discussing 'how [ the ministries ] are ineffective and ruin lives,' the statement said.
In Yuma, Ariz., Ruben Solario, 23, has been arrested in the two-year-old murder of drag performer Armancio Corrales, 23, according to 365Gay.com . Although many believe that the murder was a hate crime, the authorities have not categorized it as one. Corrales was a well-known drag performer known as Delilah.
In Illinois, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a measure that would establish a database in the attorney general's office that would help the AG and police find and prosecute child pornographers, according to a release from the Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office. Among other things, Senate Bill 697, which passed through the state Senate 57-0, would create the crime of aggravated child pornography.
In Kansas, city commissioners in Lawrence voted 4-1 to create a domestic-partnership registry that will give gay couples some official recognition—making it the first city in the state to do so, according to the Lawrence Journal-World & News. The registry, which may take effect as soon as Aug. 1, will require both partners to be at least 18 years old and require them to 'live together in a relationship of indefinite duration with a mutual commitment.'
In New York City, a lesbian couple has filed a federal lawsuit against Countryside mortgage company, alleging sexual-orientation discrimination, according to 365Gay.com . Adola DeWolf and Laura Watts allege that the company would not add Watts to DeWolf's mortgage after they moved in together in 2005, and that Countryside threatened to foreclose on the mortgage.
V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, and Martyn Minns, who heads a conservative Virginia congregation affiliated with anti-gay Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, were not invited to a once-a-decade global meeting of Anglican bishops, according to TheLedger.com . The archbishop of Canterbury has invited over 800 individuals to the Lambeth Conference, slated to take place in London in 2008. The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, wrote, 'I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the communion.'
