Voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Alabama, according to the Associated Press. Eighty-one percent of the state's residents voted for the amendment. However, they also, among other things, rejected Supreme Court candidates associated with the religious right.
Lambda Legal delivered a petition signed by 5,000 people asking Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to repeal the federal government's hiring policies and let Lorenzo Taylor, an HIV-positive individual, work as a foreign service officer. Taylor, who is being represented by Lambda Legal in a suit against Rice, passed the application process but was denied because of his HIV status.
The Florida Family Policy Council, a religious group, is claiming that officers with the Sunrise Police Department tried to stop its members' petition efforts regarding an anti-gay marriage amendment, CBS4.com reported. The members also claim that two of the male officers mocked volunteers by kissing each other.
In White Plains, N.Y., County Executive Andrew Spano has issued an executive order that makes Westchester the first county in the state to recognize gay marriages, Newsday reported. The order gives married gay couples the same county privileges as heterosexual couples, such as the right to seek emergency housing as a family.
In Missouri, gay- and children's-rights advocates lauded Attorney General Jay Nixon's decision to drop a legal fight over gay foster parents, the Associated Press reported. Nixon officially dropped the state's appeal of a judge's decision that a lesbian was wrongly denied the chance to become a foster parent.
Mary Cheney's book, Now It's My Turn, has sold fewer than 6,000 copies to date despite saturation media coverage, according to Advocate.com . At this rate, Simon & Schuster will probably not recoup the reported $1 million advance it paid Cheney.
Stephen K. Smith, the gay-market destination sales manager for the Monroe County ( Fla. ) Tourist Development Council, has been named president of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association ( IGLTA ) board of directors for 2006-07. Founded in 1983, IGLTA has over 1,000 partners of gay, lesbian and community-friendly travel professionals.
Because of the objections of the conservative group MassResistance Macy's department store has altered a window display marking Boston's gay pride week, according to the Associated Press. The display featured two male mannequins next to a list of several planned Boston Pride Week events.
Yahoo! has launched a Web page that will allow users to locate resources and event information related to global Pride celebrations. Individuals who go to events.yahoo.com/pride or who perform a Yahoo! search for 'gay pride' will find the desired information.
National Stonewall Democrats ( NSD ) issued a release responding to a statement by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., in which he said he is proud that his family is supposedly gay-free. Jo Wyrick, NSD Interim Executive Director, said that ' [ c ] hampioning family values means more than repeating rhetoric. It means that we must value all members of the American family.'
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the nation's largest gay and lesbian political action committee, announced that eight of its endorsed candidates won their elections or won enough votes to move on to a runoff. For example, Iowa's Matt McCoy won his primary in Iowa and Kathy Webb won her Democratic primary May 23 for a seat in the Arkansas state legislature.
The National Security Agency ( NSA ) told the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) that it will 'continue to neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence' of information obtained via surveillance of LGBT organizations. Steve Ralls, Communications Director of SLDN, accused the NSA of 'stonewalling.'
A new organization, Truth Wins Out, will combat so-called ex-gay ministries and organizations, according to The Advocate. Founded by former Sirius OutQ radio host and activist Wayne Besen, the organization will confront what he calls the 'lie ... that sexual orientation is something that can be directed or 'cured'.'
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which began in the United States, is the designated recipient of 50 percent of the funds raised from the Scotland AIDS Bike Ride, a seven-day event during which riders and crew members will gather in Meigle, Scotland, on Aug. 13-19. For more info on the ride, see www.pedaids.org .
SleepWithTheRightPeople.org, a new Web site, has been created by LGBT activists ( including AIDS Quilt founder Cleve Jones ) in an effort to inform, educate and mobilize LGBT communities across North America as part of the campaign of UNITE HERE, the union representing hotel and restaurant employees.
Paul Kuntzler, a Washington, D.C., gay activist who co-founded the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance and the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club in the 1970s, has started a self-financed campaign to promote his theory that U.S. government agencies were involved in the 1963 assassination of then-President John F. Kennedy, the Washington Blade reported. Kuntzler took out four full-page ads in the Blade that show a letter he wrote to the Washington Post; in the letter, he outlined his theory.
Logo, MTV Networks' gay and lesbian-targeted cable channel, has purchased the Web sites 365Gay.com, AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com, according to WorldScreen.com . The move is part of MTV Networks' plan to expand its multi-platform strategy.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) and XM Satellite Radio will launch a new, live talk show hosted by HRC President Joe Solmonese. 'The Agenda with Joe Solmonese,' which will include politics, entertainment and cultural news, will premiere July 17 exclusively on XM.
Olivia, a top lesbian travel agency, announced that Judy Dlugacz and Amy Errett—the company's founder/president and CEO, respectively—are finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2006 Award in the Northern California Region. Award winners will be announced at a special 20th-anniversary gala on June 16 at The Fairmont in San Francisco.
