More than 200 governmental and business leaders convened in Seattle to explore the future of the international LGBT community's continuing fight for equality, according to an item in the Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrief. Among the highlights were the messages of U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Barney Frank, D-Mass., who told attendees the future looks brighter for gays and lesbians in the U.S., as the religious conservative stronghold on the GOP seems to be weakening.
Gay and lesbian students in Oklahoma City schools say that homophobic bullying is common and want the school board to provide greater protection, 365Gay.com reported. A student group formally asked the school board to add the words 'sexual orientation' to the district's anti-harassment policy; however, the board took no action on the request. Board spokesperson Sherry Fair later said that officials have to be careful about naming specific groups.
In Ohio, Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr., R-Cincinnati, sued Miami University, seeking a ruling that the Oxford school's domestic-partner benefits policy violates the state's constitutional ban on civil unions, ChannelCincinnati.com reported.
Equality California has added five field staff members and plans to establish two new regional offices in Southern California, according to a press release. The dramatic expansion positions the organization to build upon its past successes and prevent erosion of LGBT rights in the state.
In New Jersey, a cancer-stricken lesbian law enforcement officer who wants her partner to get her death benefits got an enthusiastic show of support when more than 100 gay-rights advocates appeared to denounce Ocean County officials for not agreeing to it, KYW.com reported. Lt. Laurel Hester, 49, a 23-year investigator for the county prosecutor's office, is fighting lung cancer—and is fearful that without her $13,000 death benefit, partner Stacie Andree, 30, will be forced to sell the house they now share after Hester dies.
The Human Rights Campaign has released its buyer's guide, according to an organizational press release. 'Buying for Equality' spotlights corporate policies on LGBT equality and allows consumers to make decisions based on a company's Corporate Equality Index score.
President Bush stumped in Denver, Colo., for a controversial Republican congresswoman who championed an anti-gay marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution, PlanetOut Network reported. Bush spoke at a $1,000-a-plate luncheon held to raise money for U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who narrowly won her race in the heavily Republican district in 2004.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has become one of the nation's most visible champions of gay marriage, has withdrawn as honorary co-chairman of a campaign fund-raiser for a Tennessee congressman who voted for an anti-same-sex-marriage bill, The San Francisco Examiner reported. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat from Memphis, decided to postpone the Dec. 3 fundraiser at the Bubble Lounge in San Francisco until mid-January after Newsom's office put pressure on the congressman to cancel the event.
In its second annual World AIDS Day report card, the Human Rights Campaign assigned poor grades to the U.S. response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The report card rates the U.S. government's response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in four key areas: prevention; care and treatment; research; and global AIDS. The grades in the areas were F, F, D and C, respectively.
In New Jersey, a police officer has filed a lawsuit against Washington Township, alleging that he was harassed after confiding to a co-worker that he is gay, according to NBC10.com . Michael Kurz, 34, filed suit in Gloucester County, alleging that his police supervisors turned a blind eye to the attacks on his homosexuality on several occasions.
Critics of a new series of television commercials sponsored by a Virginia church claim the ads imply a link between homosexuality and sexual abuse, Express Gay News noted. However, Lynn Carter, associate pastor at Arlington Assembly of God said the ads were intended only to extend a welcome to people who might have felt demonized by Christianity.
In New York State, the hot-button topics of abortion and gay marriage will likely be defining issues between Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi if Suozzi challenges Spitzer for governor, The New York Post reported. Spitzer has endorsed gay marriages and has said that he will sign a gay-marriage bill into law if it is sent to him by the Legislature.