The Arcus Foundation and the National Black Justice Coalition ( NBJC ) recently hosted a telebriefing for traditional civil-rights organizations and LGBT-rights advocates to improve their outreach and impact around LGBT issues in the African-American community, according to a press release. Panelists included Michael A. Blake, deputy associate director, White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; and NBJC Executive Director Sharon J. Lettman, among others. A full copy of the report is available at www.arcusfoundation.org/assets/PDF/african_amer_report.pdf.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy has announced the availability of approximately $2.3 million in funding for the Add Us In initiative, which will fund up to four cooperative agreements with allotments ranging from $500,000 to $625,000 each, according to a press release. The initiative is designed to increase the ability of companies to employ individuals with disabilities, particularly businesses owned and operated by African-Americans; Asian-Americans; Latino or Hispanic Americans; members of federally recognized tribes and Native Americans; LGBT individuals; and women.
The New Jersey Supreme Court has refused to hear a case in which six same-sex couples claimed the state denied them rights granted to opposite-sex couples, according to Philly.com . The court voted 3-3—one vote short of what is needed for a motion to be granted. The couples must argue through the lower courts. In a statement, Garden State Equality called the decision "profoundly disappointing" but concluded, "rather than a definitive defeat, today's decision is a punt. The punt is frustrating as hell to our families in pain and to an entire people yearning for freedom, but it is a punt, and far from a final decision."
In Alaska, three same-sex couples have sued the state and the municipality of Anchorange, claiming that they denied them equal access to property tax exemptions that disabled veterans and senior citizens receive, according to Advocate.com . ACLU of Alaska lawyer Tom Stenson said, "Alaska law is clear that denying committed same-sex couples the same rights as married opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional."
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) has urged Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Ind., to immediately adopt an LGBT-inclusive patient nondiscrimination policy and staff training after a transgender woman claimed biased treatment, according to a press release. On July 18, transgender woman Erin Vaught went to Ball's emergency room, accompanied by her wife and their son, seeking treatment for what she suspected was a lung infection. According to the Muncie Star Press, staff members repeatedly degraded Vaught. At one point, Vaught's wife was allegedly asked by a nurse, "So is it a he or a she? Or a he-she?" In the end, after a two-hour wait without any medical treatment, Vaught was told "we don't know how to go about treating someone with your condition," referring to her gender history.
In Texas, Father Michael Rodriguez said that Catholics should oppose same-sex marriage, On Top Magazine reported. Rodriguez, parish priest of El Paso's San Juan Bautista Catholic Church, said in an editorial in the El Paso Times that " [ a ] ny Catholic who supports homosexual acts is, by definition, committing a mortal sin, and placing himself/herself outside of communion with the Roman Catholic Church." Recently, a lesbian couple married in San Antonio after El Paso officials rejected them.
The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association ( NLGJA ) has announced its latest inductees into its hall of fame: Lisa Ben/Edythe Eyde, Hank Plante and Richard Rouilard. Ben was the pseudonym of Eyde, the editor of the first lesbian publication, Vice Versa, which ran 1947-48. Plante—one of the country's first out television journalists—worked 25 years at San Francisco's KPIX, and won a Peabody Award and local Emmys. Rouilard, who died in 1996, had a career in journalism that included a stint as The Advocate's editor-in-chief. They will be honored at NLGJA's national convention, taking place Sept. 2-5 in San Francisco.
In New York, Long Island resident Pedro Jones, 20, has been accused of first-degree manslaughter in the death of 17-month-old Roy A. Jones, according to Advocate.com . Pedro, the boyfriend of the baby's mother, hit Roy because he was "trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl." Pedro has pled not guilty; he is being held without bail.
In Buffalo, N.Y., Trocaire College professor Csaba Marosan has filed a claim with the state's human-rights division, accusing a group of young gay men of heterophobia, according to an Advocate.com item. Marosan said that college officials ostracized him because he was not part of a clique of mostly younger gay men called the "Merry Men." He also claimed discrimination based on his gender and accent. Trocaire officials have denied Marosan's charges.
In Minnesota, Rev. Tom Brock is back in the pulpit at Hope Lutheran Church after admitting he lusts after men—even though he has railed against the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America for allowing gay ministers, according to the Minneapolis CityPages. However, Brock insists that it's fine for him to preach because he has not had sex with another man. In June, Lavender Magazine outed Brock, who, at the time, was attending a meeting for those dealing with same-sex attraction.
Justin Flippen could be Florida's first-ever openly gay state congressman, according to South Florida Gay News. Flippen, a member of the Wilton Manors City Commission, would represent District 92 ( which includes Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach and other cities ) at the state capitol in Tallahassee. He is facing Democratic state Rep. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed; however, the Equality Florida Action PAC alleged on July 27 that Clarke-Reed took thousands of dollars from Republican billionaire and Bush family friend Rich DeVos, who is against same-sex marriage. The election is Aug. 24.
In New Jersey, Burlington County's library system and Mount Holly's Rancocas Valley Regional High School have removed Revolutionary Voices, an anthology of first-person works written by gay youths, according to USA Today. However, there is even more controversy because an e-mail by the county's library director, Gail Sweet, referred to the book as "child pornography." Rancocas administrators removed the book after Beverly Marinelli—a member of the 9/12 Project, a conservative group founded by Fox's Glenn Beck—complained about Voices' content, according to the Courier-Post.
In New York, State Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango sentenced defendants Keith Phoenix ( hate-based murder and assault ) and Hakim Scott ( manslaughter and assault ) to 37 years in prison each for killing Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay in 2008, according to the New York Times. Phoenix and Scott attacked Sucuzhanay and his brother, Romel, because they believed the South Americans were gay. At one point while confessing to the killing, Phoenix asked, "So I killed someone—that makes me a bad guy?"
Campus Pride—devoted to creating safer communities for LGBT college students—recently released its 2010 Climate Index of gay-friendly colleges, according to the Huffington Post. Among the 19 campuses receiving the highest ranking of five stars are Syracuse University, the Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Southern California and Washington University in St. Louis. Campus Pride also announced the fourth year of the 2010-11 Campus Pride LGBT-Friendly National College Fair Program, which will visit cities such as Charlotte, N.C.; Boston; and Los Angeles.
In Nevada, the Blue Moon Resort—a 43-room Las Vegas hotel that catered to the gay male demographic—has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Manager John Hessling, who believes the hotel can turn things around, said that the resort started lagging on its loan payments to Community Bank of Nevada after Las Vegas strip hotels slashed prices in 2008; Blue Moon had to do the same to compete. The resort listed assets of approximately $85,500 and liabilities of about $937,000.
Bryan Rafanelli, the man hired to plan Chelsea Clinton's wedding, is openly gay, according to Advocate.com . Rafanelli, 48, is known for planning lavish events—and Clinton's event is rumored to have cost more than $2 million. During Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential run, Rafanelli's partner, Mark Walsh, was her director of LGBT outreach.
In Georgia, a federal judge ordered the state's general assembly to reinstate transgender woman Vandy Beth Glenn to her post as a legislative editor, according to the Georgia Voice. Glenn, formerly Glenn Morris, was fired three years ago after revealing plans to become female. A tearful Glenn said, "I've always known we were in the right. This is our time. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are no longer disposable. We can't be thrown out with the trash and this decision affirms that."
In Iowa, former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats has announced a campaign to get rid of three state supreme court judges who are seeking retention, according to an On Top Magazine item. The three justices are among the seven who unanimously ruled to legalize same-sex marriage in 2009. Vander Plaats—who made the announcement after Judge Vaughn Walker ruled against Prop 8 in California—said, "If the judges can do this to marriage, every one of your freedoms is up for grabs."
Servicemembers United's new lobbying arm, the Servicemembers United Action Fund, has launched its first Internet ad urging the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell ( DADT ) ," according to a press release. The new ad is the first in a series that will be air in August and September. The first ad, launched Aug. 10, features former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Brian Muller, a combat veteran and bomb disposal technician discharged under DADT. View the ad at www.MilitaryReadiness.org .
The JetBlue flight attendant who garnered the nation's attention when cursed a passenger over the PA system and slid down the plane's emergency chute is openly gay New Yorker Steven Slater, according to the South Florida Gay News. A federal court has charged Slater, 38, with reckless endangerment, criminal trespass and criminal mischief; if convicted on all charges, he could receive seven years in prison. Slater's Facebook page now features a YouTube video of the Johnny Paycheck song "Take This Job and Shove It."
The American Bar Association released a resolution backing marriage equality Aug. 10, according to a press release. Backing Judge Vaughn Walker's overturning of Proposition 8, the resolution reads, "RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges state, territorial, and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry." Chad Griffin, board president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, said, "With this action, the American Bar Association has affirmed the principles upon which this nation was founded—that every American is vested with certain inalienable rights and that all Americans are created equal."
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has gone on the record regarding gay foster parents, saying that he is against having them, according to Advocate.com . McCollum, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, said that he doesn't think that the state's strict adoption law ( preventing gay people from doing so ) should go further and ban gay foster parents as well. He said, "I really do not think that we should have homosexuals guiding our children. ... You need a mother and a father. You need a man and a woman. That's what God intended."
A group of nine out college presidents who met in Chicago in early August have decided to form a new group, called LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education, according to Inside Higher Ed. The group plans to meet again in a few months, and then possibly convene at next year's meeting of the American Council on Education. Regarding the Chicago meeting, Roosevelt University President Charles Middleton said, "As university presidents, we talked first and foremost about what is our presidential responsibility as leaders in higher education."
