Political comedian Bill Maher outed Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman ( who will step down from his post in January ) on a recent appearance on Larry King Live, Towleroad.com reported. At one point, when King asked, 'Why would someone who is gay take public anti-gay positions?,' Maher responded, 'Because Larry, hating yourself is the greatest love of all.' However, Maher's comments were later removed from the telecast.
Garden Guy, a Houston mom-and-pop landscaping business, is taking heat because its Christian conservative owners refused to do work for a gay couple, The Advocate reported. Michael Lord and Gary Lackey, a gay couple requesting bids for a landscaping job at their new house, received an e-mail from Sabrina Farber, a co-owner of Garden Guy: 'I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals.' Angry e-mails to the company have come from as far away as Australia.
In Texas, Dallas' Cathedral of Hope—regarded as the world's largest predominantly LGBT church at a membership of 3,500—was voted into the mainstream United Church of Christ ( UCC ) in a historic development, PlaneOut.com reported. Cathedral of Hope becomes the fourth-largest congregation in the UCC, which last year became the first mainstream Protestant denomination to endorse same-sex marriage.
In Massachusetts, legislators have taken action and delivered an appearent death blow to a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, The New York Times reported. Advocates of same-sex marriage managed to persuade enough legislators to vote to recess a constitutional convention until the afternoon of Jan. 2, the last day of the legislative session—when they will probably adjourn without voting on the measure, which would kill it.
Six Vassar College students were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing on Nov. 3 at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in New York City's Times Square after staging a sit-in to protest 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' according to a press release from the gay-rights group Soulforce. ( They were released the next day. ) Five of the arrestees were inside the recruiting station to support a sixth student, an openly gay man who entered the station and tried to enlist in the Army.
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson will be one of those counseling the Rev. Ted Haggard, the minister who was fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use, 365Gay.com stated. H.B. London, vice president for church and clergy at the ex-gay ministry organization, claimed that the counseling process, called restoration, could take years.
New York City plans to let trans people alter the gender on their birth certificates even if they have not had sexual reassignment surgery, according to The New York Times. Under the rule being considered by the board of health, statements from a doctor and a mental health professional will be sufficient to let people change their sex on the documents.
Information from the HIV Research Network shows that those with HIV can live longer with optimal health care but will pay $618,900 to do so, according to The Advocate. The report, titled 'The Lifetime Cost of Current HIV Care in the United States,' shows the results of a computer-simulated model to project HIV medical care costs.
In Okemos, Mich., a gay-straight organization is creating quite a commotion among parents of Okemos High School students, according to WLNS.com . A group of concerned parents have e-mailed others to urge them to take action. However, superintendent Lee Gerard says that the club is actually about promoting understanding.
In Minnesota, a gay pride flag was stolen from St. Cloud State University in late October, according to an item in The Washington Blade. The flag was raised in honor of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered & Allies History and Awareness Month and was supposed to be displayed through October.
A 19-year-old Iowa City man has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly hitting a man in the head outside a gay nightclub, The Washington Blade reported. Michael D. Murphy is accused of shouting derogatory statements on Oct. 27 at the 24-year-old victim and the victim's friends, who were standing in the alley outside the nightspot Studio 13. Murphy, who faces up to two years in prison for assault in violation of individual rights, then allegedly punched him once in the side of the head with a closed fist.
A new group called Invisible Man may provide answers to the problems of gay men on the Indiana University ( IU ) campus who do not identify with any existing student support networks, according to an item in the Indiana Daily Student. The discussion group, created by IU graduate student Matt Baber and supported by the GLBT Student Support Services office, will be an outlet for gays who feel they don't fit into traditional stereotypes.
GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ) , based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has pledged more than $200,000 in support of the HIV Medicine Association's ( HIVMA ) Minority Clinical Fellowship Program, according to a company press release. The program will help provide high-quality HIV training for physicians, particularly African-American and Latino ones, who serve in communities at risk.
In Nebraska, majorities on the Lincoln city council and Lancaster County board took a step in funding a program designed to help professionals do a better job of counseling gay and lesbian youths, according to an item on Gay.com . The $1,500 in keno tax revenue will be used to create a Web site, hold four seminars and gather materials for professionals.
According to a recent survey of 2,010 adults, nearly half of Americans are not sure God exists, Breitbart.com reported. The survey found that 42 percent of U.S. adults are not 'absolutely certain' there is a God, compared to 34 percent who felt that way three years ago. Also, when questioned on whether God is male or female, 36 percent of respondents said they think God is male; 37 percent said neither male nor female; 10 percent said 'both male and female;' and 1 percent said female.
K-Y® Brand has announced that it will donate $200,000 over the next three years to the GLBT National Help Center, a non-profit organization best known for operating the Gay and Lesbian National Hotline. The donation is largest in the organization's 10-year history and makes K-Y® Brand its first-ever corporate sponsor.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and the VIRxSYS Corp. of Gaithersburg, Md., will launch a more extensive trial after the first test of a potential new gene therapy for HIV was deemed encouraging, according to The Advocate. However, in addition to showing that the treatment was possible and didn't endanger the patients, the amount of virus in the subjects remained the same or decreased during the study.
In Virginia, William and Mary Gay and Lesbian Alumni, Inc. ( GALA ) announced the successful completion of its campaign to raise $100,000 for the Richard Cornish Endowment Fund at the Earl Gregg Swem Library at The College of William and Mary. Cornish, an English sea captain, was hanged in Jamestown, Va., in 1624—the first person executed in British North America for homosexuality.
To increase awareness of the upcoming film 3 Needles and to raise money to combat AIDS, filmmakers will donate money for every 'friend' who signs on to the MySpace page www.myspace.com/3Needles, The Advocate reported. The film—which stars Lucy Liu, Chloë Sevigny and Olympia Dukakis, among others—will be released on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, and will chronicle the current state of the epidemic.
There's been a high-profile break-up in the gay community—Mark Slackmeyer and Chase Talbott, III, the gay couple from the Doonesbury comic strip, have parted ways, an item on 365Gay.com reported. The twosome hosted a radio show with Mark arguing the liberal point of view, and Chase the conservative slant.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) has called on the nation's media to examine how growing cultural acceptance of the GLBT demographic helped to shape—and will be affected by—the 2006 election. Among other things, GLAAD Executive Director Neil Giuliano is encouraging media to report on the success of LGBT candidates across America as well as the diminishing returns of anti-gay ballot initiatives.
Tampa,Fla.-based Alternative Media Group, LLC, is behind the Web site DestinationMale.com, a self-described 'custom-designed hybrid site that offers a comfortable place between hooking up and serious dating in an atmosphere that clearly also makes a statement about the value of the total gay man regardless of their age.' The theme, 'Love or Lust, It's Your Choice,' offers two options for members.
