Minnesota's only openly gay Republican legislator, Sen. Paul Koering of Fort Ripley, won a hard-fought primary election against Brainerd City Council Member Kevin Goedker, who campaigned as a family-values candidate, the Star-Tribune reported. Twin Cities-based Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage had distributed flyers publicizing Koering's failure to vote three years ago on a floor amendment to ban the promotion or teaching of homosexuality and bisexuality in public schools.
Congressional support for repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' continues to grow, with Congressman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Congressman Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., now supporting the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, a measure that would repeal the law and allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces. Now, a bipartisan coalition of 121 members of Congress supports the bill, according to a press release from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) .
President Bush has issued an involuntary recall of Marine Corps Individual Ready Reservists due a lack of volunteers returning for duty in Afghanistan and Iraq—even as the military branch dismisses more gay and lesbian personnel, according to a release from the SLDN. The recall follows a report that the corps's dismissal of servicemembers under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has increased for the first time since 2001.
Professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP has announced that it has released 'Making It Real,' a report designed to help companies implement corporate policies that truly impact the day-to-day work experience of LGBT employees. The full report—the result of a roundtable held in July—is available at www.ey.com/us.
In Tennessee, Thomas Alva Austin, a Roane County judge facing prison for corruption, is blaming his situation on stress after learning his wife had been having a lesbian affair, according to 365Gay.com . He pled guilty to forcing kickbacks from driving-school instructors and a probation office chief, making possibly tens of thousands of dollars.
Audience members on The Oprah Winfrey Show said that former New Jersey governor James E. McGreevey revealed that he was having an affair with a man while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their child, Advocate.com reported. McGreevey, the country's first openly gay governor told Winfrey he believed he was in love with the man. ( The show aired Sept. 19. )
In a debate in which Republicans said that Democrats were advancing the 'homosexual agenda,' the California Assembly approved a bill allowing domestic partners to file joint state income tax returns, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. Domestic partnerships were recognized by the state in 1999 in a bill by State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, who also authored the tax filing bill, SB 1827.
California public schools cannot demean gay, bisexual or transgender orientation under legislation approved by the Assembly, The Sacramento Bee reported. The measure, Senate Bill 1437, passed 46-31; the bill will return to the Senate before reaching the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In Florida, a new Gainesville fraternity for gay and bisexual men has selected members of its pledge class, according to Gainsville.com . Of the 37 men who rushed to become part of the Gainesville fraternity Delta Lambda Phi's inaugural pledge class, nine were invited to a bid dinner. The organization is only the second branch of Delta Lambda Phi in Florida, with the first being at Florida International University in Miami.
In Colorado, the conservative group Focus on the Family and its political action committee has given over $700,000 to support an anti-gay marriage ballot measure, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
Lambda Legal and the Child Welfare League of America have launched Out in the Margins: A Report on Regional Listening Forums Highlighting the Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Youth in Care, which serves as a guide for helping the child-welfare system better meet the needs of LGBTQ youth in care. The information for the report, www.lambdalegal.org or www.cwla.org, was gathered during 13 listening forums attended by over 500 people from 22 states in 2003-2004.
The San Francisco-based group Out4Immigration is working with other gay-rights and immigration groups to promote a bill that would let gay Americans sponsor their foreign partners for immigration, the Washington Blade reported. Out4Immigration has championed the Uniting American Families Act during several immigration rallies in California.
The Advocate has published a new college guide that spotlights the 100 best institutions for gay students, InsideHigherEd.com reported. Among the top 20 schools are Duke University, Indiana University, Oberlin College and the University of Minnesota. According to Alyson.com, the book profiles institutions with the top 'Gay Point Averages' on LGBT-related issues involving policies and even local hangouts, among other things.
The GLBT-based charity known as the Rainbow World Fund has donated $360,000 to the Nation's Food Bank Network. The money went to the network's America's Second Harvest program to help provide emergency food and grocery products to the thousands of Americans still impacted by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
In Ohio, Deborah Coleman has been turned away from working at Flex, a private gay men's club that will boast saunas, spas, theaters and dozens of private rooms. Coleman has filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and has hired a lawyer, according to the Cleveland Scene.
Lt. Alexander Raggio, a West Point graduate, earned an academic award and Congressional recognition for a senior thesis arguing for the dissolution of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' because it violates military values. Among the honors Raggio received was a letter of commendation from Congressman Marty Meehan, D-Mass, according to the Washington Blade.
The Graduate Student Council at Uniformed Services University ( USU ) , a federally-funded military medical school, has elected its first openly gay president, Patrick M. High, to represent the institution's graduate students, according to a press release. High was able to be elected president because he left the military before entering the university.
The vehemently anti-gay Rev. Fred Phelps has hired an attorney who specializes in First Amendment cases to defend him against a defamation lawsuit by Albert Snyder, the father of slain marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, Advocate.com reported. The elder Snyder sued Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., after members demonstrated at Matthew's funeral, asserting that military casualties in Iraq are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.
The Centers for Disease Control ( CDC ) HIV/AIDS Hotline ( 800-342-2437 ) is now part of CDC-INFO ( 800-CDC-INFO ) , the new source for public health information from CDC, according to a release. This new service provides English, Spanish and TTY services, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As of January 2007, the old numbers ( 800-342-2437, 800-344-7432 and 800-243-7889 ) will no longer be in service.
The mother of Farmington, Mo., student Joshua Minks, 17, feels that bullying caused by gender stereotypes appears to be at issue in a school shooting, according to another GenderPAC press release. Amanda Minks stated that her son—who is 6'5' and 400 pounds—had complained of being subjected to daily taunting and homophobic slurs by classmates because of his appearance. Joshua Minks later fired a bullet into a school ceiling, but was subdued before anyone was hurt.
The American Psychological Association released a statement criticizing conservative groups such as Focus on the Family for creating an 'environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish' by mistakenly labeling homosexuality an illness and advocating for so-called 'conversion therapy.'
A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who has won millions of dollars in grants says he is leaving the school because of the school's lack of health insurance benefits for his domestic partner, The Duluth News Tribune noted. Rob Carpick, an associate professor of engineering, will transfer to the University of Pennsylvania, which offers partner benefits, at the end of the year.
According to the results of a University of Pittsburgh study released at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, HIV prevalence is set to skyrocket among Western gay men as they age, Advocate.com reported. Although only one in 12 gay men at age 20 were infected with HIV in North America and Europe in 2001, researchers project that the rate could rise to 58 percent at age 60.
The 5th Annual Bi Men Network will take place in Palm Springs, Calif., on Oct. 5-8. This four-day weekend event is hosted by the Bi Men Network, the world's largest social and support organization for bisexual, bi-curious and gay adult men as well as bisexual couples. See www.bimen.org/events.htm.
Marvel Comics has announced that it will no longer use the warnings 'Max' or 'Explicit' for comics with lead gay characters, according to an item on GLAAD.org . Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, had stated that warning labels came about because of negative attention Marvel got for its 2003 Western series featuring the gay character Rawhide Kid.
Bruce Steele, the editor-in-chief of The Advocate since January 2003, is leaving the magazine effective Oct. 6, according to PlanetOut.com . Steele, who lives in Los Angeles with his partner of 20 years, Christopher Oakley, previously served as executive editor of OUT magazine.
In California, Touro University College Of Osteopathic Medicine announced that a ban on the school's gay-straight alliance was a big misunderstanding, according to 365Gay.com . The controversy started when Vice President and Dean of Students Nathan Church told the group that the Jewish college had revoked funding for the alliance and had prohibited the group from using the university's name in promoting itself.
The organizing committee of the Reaching Out MBA Conference has negotiated an extension of hotel room discounts to Sept. 21. See www.reachingoutmba.org/nyc06/travel.shtml to find out about these substantial savings. The 2006 Reaching Out MBA Conference will be held Oct. 13-15 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
From September 7-10, 650 journalists and media professionals convened in Miami for 'Out in the Sunshine,' the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association's ( NLGJA ) 2006 National Convention & 3rd Annual LGBT Media Summit, according to a press release. The convention marked a major period of transition for the 16-year-old organization as Pamela Strother, who has been the organization's executive director for six years, will end her decade of service with NLGJA on Oct. 13.
Family Pride has announced the launch of a Back to School pamphlet entitled 'Building Family Equality in Every Classroom,' which educates school communities about the unique needs of children of LGBT parents in the classroom. Visit www.familypride.org or call 202-331-5015 to obtain a copy.
A planned honor for former state Attorney General Mike Bowers has raised the ire of The Stonewall Bar Association, a group of gay lawyers in Georgia, according to WTVM.com . The attorneys say Bowers' defense of the state's now-nonexistent anti-sodomy statute makes him undeserving of the award.
In West Des Moines, Iowa, some parents at Valley High School are upset over the school's decision to let students perform The Laramie Project, a play based on Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was killed because he was gay, the Washington Blade reported. The play discusses homosexuality, uses profanity and contains violence.
In Florida, Lambda Legal filed a complaint with the Orlando Human Rights Board on behalf of a gay man denied fertility services because of his sexual orientation, according to an organizational press release. Dr. Dennis Barros and his partner decided to have a child with a surrogate mother who agreed to carry an implanted egg. However, the fertility doctor's offices sent Barros a letter saying they were denying him fertility services because performing the procedure would breach FDA guidelines.
Fabulist Flash Publishing is looking for original works of poetry, creative non-fiction and fiction from LGBT writers for The Queer Collection: Poetry and Prose 2007. The collection is seen as the first of an annual anthology featuring the best queer prose and poetry written by the queer community for the queer community. See TheQueerCollection.com .
