During its recent conference in Chicago, the American Bar Association approved a resolution supporting the repeal of part of the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) , EDGE Boston reported. The resolution, carried by voice vote, seeks the end of the provision in DOMA that excludes married same-sex couples from access to federal benefits. Also, in San Diego, the National Education Association has aligned itself with LGBT causes involving DOMA, an employee nondiscrimination act, the Uniting American Families Act and the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act.
The gay-rights organization Campus Pride has criticized the Princeton Review for its rankings of the most LGBT-friendly campuses in the nation, according to InsideHigherEd.com . Campus Pride Executive Director/Founder Shane Windmeyer said, "This list is an erroneous, misleading indicator of acceptance for LGBT youth and their safety on campus." The Princeton Review survey is largely completed by heterosexual students; Campus Pride has its own index, which is based more on policies than students' opinions.
In Minnesota, the Anoka-Hennepin school district will pay a family $25,000 after two teachers reportedly harassed a male student because of his perceived sexual orientation, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. One teacher, Diane Cleveland, said the student's "fence swings both ways" while another instructor, Walter Filson, said in front of other students that the boy "enjoys wearing women's clothes."
In Tennessee, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools will unblock Internet access to LGBT Web sites, according to Advocate.com . The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) filed a suit in May on behalf of four students and a high-school librarian, leading the aforementioned school boards to allow access as part of a settlement. According to the ACLU, approximately four out of five Tennessee public schools use filtering software provided by Education Networks of America.
In Alaska, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan said that he is considering if he should veto an ordinance that protects residents on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the Anchorange Daily News. The city's assembly recently approved the ordinance by a vote of 7-4. If Sullivan rejects th\e ordinance, the assembly will need to override his move with a eight-vote supermajority.
A new survey reveals that former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey is more unpopular now than he was when he officially came out, Philly.com reported. The Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind Poll found that 62 percent of New Jersey's voters view McGreevey in an unfavorable light, compared to 53 percent who felt that way when he resigned in 2004. The twice-married McGreevey, who currently lives with partner Mark O'Donnell, is enrolled in an Episcopal seminary.
Naphtali Offen—president of the Coalition of Lavender-Americans on Smoking and Health ( CLASH ) and a University of California, San Francisco ( UCSF ) tobacco documents researcher—received this year's American Lung Association's ( ALA ) C. Everett Koop Unsung Hero Award in recognition of his decades-long fight against the tobacco industry. Among his accomplishments, Offen co-founded CLASH in 1991 to call attention to the damage tobacco causes to the LGBT community.
Lesbian writer Mary Wilbon died recently after a short illness, according to OutInJersey.net . She was the author of two acclaimed mysteries, Naughty Little Secrets and One Last Kiss, and was passionate about actress Greta Garbo, pets and her politics, KensingtonBooks.com stated. Wilbon wanted donations sent to the Human Rights Campaign and local chapters of the ASPCA.
In South Carolina, Stephen Andrew Moller has been released from prison early after serving a year for killing Sean Kennedy, a gay man, according to WYFF4.com . Moller was convicted of manslaughter in June 2008 after Kennedy fell and hit his head on the pavement while Moller attacked him, causing a fatal brain injury. In a statement, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said, "To release a man just one year after his sentencing in this heinous crime and to inform the victim's mother through an automated recording is despicable."
The Maine Supreme Court upheld the same-sex adoption of Patricia Ann Spado by IBM heir Olive Watson, which occurred back in 1991, according to the New York Times. Watson—a granddaughter of IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, Sr.—became involved with Spado in 1979, and adopted her to establish Spado's financial security. The ruling may help Spado as she pursues ( in Connecticut ) what she says is her part of the family fortune. Watson and Spado broke up less than a year after the adoption, but Spado is saying that she is a legal grandchild of Thomas Watson.
In Huntington, Ore., a lesbian couple was denied a couples discount when they entered a catfish derby, according to Advocate.com . Upon registering, Angela and Tina Corriere-Gooch noticed a discount for couples, but were reportedly told by a representativ, "none of this boy-boy, girl-girl couples crap." Event chairman Mike Raney said that he wasn't being discriminatory; he said he thought he would have to extend the offer to all same-sex couples, regardless of their sexual orientation. Raney also said he will write an apology.
