Up to 1 million people marched across the country for immigration rights on April 10, according to the Oxford Press. After weeks of legislative battles over immigration in Washington, D.C.—where 200,000 people march—there were early signs that the massive rallies may have influenced Republican leaders, who announced that they intend to pass legislation that does not subject illegal immigrants to prosecution as felons. The debates have centered on border security and guest worker provisions for illegal immigrants.
Approximately 200 LGBT families were expected to attend the Easter Egg Roll at the White House and would be wearing rainbow-colored leis to distinguish themselves, The New York Blade reported. In total, 16,000 people were expected to attend the April 17 event. First Lady Laura Bush thanked all the children for bringing adults to the festivities and told young volunteers staffing the event they represent 'the very best of America,' UPI reported. The pro-LGBT Family Pride Coalition did not call the move a protest, but rather a 'celebration of our families,' CNSNews.com noted.
Justin Berry, 19, who, for five years, appeared in his own webcam child pornography business, told a House panel that the Justice Department is moving too slowly to arrest the 1,500 pedophiles whose information he surrendered last year, according to CNN.com . Berry's story of a lonely teenager who tried to seek friends over the Internet—but instead grew rich attracting pedophiles—was reported in December by the New York Times after a six-month investigation.
LPI Media Inc., has announced that it has named Aaron Hicklin as the new editor-in-chief of Out magazine, according to Advocate.com . Hicklin, who currently holds the same position at BlackBook magazine, will start April 24.
In Waynesville, N.C., authorities arrested lovers Richard Sciara, 61, Michael Mendez, 60, and Danny Reeves, 49, saying that the they performed castrations and other types of genital surgeries on at least six people, according to CourtTV.com . Detectives searching the home found bloody scalpels, syringes and prosthetic testicles in a room the men referred to as 'the dungeon.' The suspects admitted performing surgeries, but told investigators that the procedures were completely consensual.
The 2006 National STD Prevention Conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel in Jacksonville, Fla., May 8-11. Conference titles include 'Sexuality, Social Norms and STD prevention' and 'Syphilis Elimination 2006: Where Have We Come and Where are We Going?' See www.cdc.gov/stdconference.
In Kentucky, Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed an executive order removing language from the state's affirmative-action plan that specifically protected gay men and lesbians from discrimination, The New York Times reported. Administration officials claimed that the move was a way to increase the number of Blacks and women in state government.
A California adoption bill that would have judges consider the moral values of a dependent child's birth parents before allowing the child to be adopted was killed in committee in Sacramento, Advocate.com reported. The measure, which would have discriminated against, among others, LGBT adoptive parents, failed to earn enough votes in the state assembly's Committee on Human Services to further advance.
By a vote of 35-32, the Idaho House has passed legislation requiring parental approval for students joining school clubs—and critics say the development targets gay students, Gay.com reported. The move comes after a club for LGBT students at Lake City High School in the Coeur d'Alene School District sparked outrage.
In St. Petersburg, Fla., Eckerd College officials are trying to find out who is responsible for spray-painting on-campus slurs on campus against African-Americans and gays, reported TampaBays10.com . The gold-and-brown spray paint has since been washed off, but the Dean of Students sent out an e-mail to the campus asking for information.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., will be honored by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) for her work on behalf of LGBT service members, the group announced. Ros-Lehtinen will receive the organization's Randy Shilts Visibility Award at the organization's annual dinner in Washington, D.C., May 13.
Margaret Witt, a decorated Air Force Base major, who was once featured in a national recruiting pamphlet, sued the military after she was suspended for being a lesbian, The Seattle Times reported. Expecting her commanding officer to dismiss her after 19 years of service, Witt, a flight nurse from Spokane, filed an injunction in U.S. District Court in Seattle seeking to prevent her discharge.
USAction, a national organization geared toward social, racial and economic justice with affiliate members in 24 states, announced its adoption of a resolution urging Congress to repeal the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.
U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, will co-sponsor a bill that, if successful, could lead to a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, according to The Plain Dealer. DeWine's move regarding the measure comes while he faces a tough re-election challenge from a Democrat who casts him as too conservative and criticism form Ohio conservatives who say he is too moderate.
The Mautner Project, the national lesbian health organization, has launched the first-ever national online training curriculum that specifically addresses health concerns of lesbian patients. The 'Removing the Barriers' online course allows the providers to take it at their convenience while receiving two hours continuing education credit.
The leaders of Dignity/Boston and DignityUSA, groups representing LGBTA Catholics, spoke out against pressure brought by Catholic leaders that forced an end to the involvement of Catholic Charities of Boston in adoption. 'In all of this pressure and posturing, the real losers are the children who will now likely have to wait longer for adoption,' stated Marianne Duddy-Burke, Dignity/Boston spokesperson.
Lambda Legal announced the results of a workplace fairness survey of the LGBT community conducted with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. Among the findings were that 74 percent of the 1,205 respondents reported being out at work and that 19 percent reported hurdles in promotion because of their orientation.
Transgender students at Harvard University and their supporters held a rally to celebrate the university's recent addition of gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy and to call for the changes needed to implement the new policy, according to a press release from the school's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In a statement, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said that 'Harvard's step forward will ensure that its students and staff continue to represent some of the best this country has to offer.'
Two drugs already used to treat HIV infection have shown such promise at preventing it in monkeys that officials said they would expand early tests in healthy high-risk men and women, The Washington Blade reported. The two drugs are tenofovir ( Viread ) and emtricitabine, or FTC ( Emtriva ) , sold in combination as Truvada by Gilead Sciences Inc.
Gregory Michael Pisarcik, a man convicted of a brutally murdering a gay man in Southern California, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, PlanetOut Network reported. Pisarcik was convicted of first-degree murder last November for killing 53-year-old Narciso Leggs, Jr., in 2002, the Associated Press reported. Pisarcik bludgeoned Leggs with an unopened champagne bottle and cut the victim's ears with scissors. Leggs's apartment was ransacked, and he was found dead with an anti-gay slur written on his back.
In California, a lawyer for a gay couple suing for the right to wed told a federal appeals court that it's unconstitutional to prevent same-sex marriage, but two of the judges said the case could die on procedural grounds, according to the Associated Press. The case was brought by two gay men who sued after being denied a marriage license in Orange County.
At a historic summit, 100 leading sexuality researchers called for, among other things, support of innovative and traditional ways to study sexuality, according to a release from the Social Science Research Council. 'States of Sexuality: A 'Generative' Meeting of Networking and Discussion' took place outside Santa Fe, N.M., from March 30 to April 1, and brought top international researchers together.
