A task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has recommended that leaders allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy, according to a Chicago Tribune item. The recommendation will be voted on this August at the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.
Jermaine Jakes, the 29-year-old son of well-known evangelist T.D. Jakes, was arrested in January for allegedly exposing himself in an indecent way in front of an undercover detective, BET.com reported. According to a police affidavit, the younger Jakes walked up to a detective at a Dallas, Texas, park with his pants unzipped. He then supposedly began to masturbate while making eye contact with the officer. T.D. Jakes leads the the 30,000-member Potter's House megachurch in Dallas.
In San Diego, Calif., a jury has ruled that four male firefighters were sexually harassed in the 2007 gay pride parade, and ruled that they should receive $34,300 in damages from the city, the Los Angeles Times reported. The firemen said they were ordered to drive a truck in the parade even though firefighters in previous events were reportedly the subjects of sexual innuendos.
In Georgia, Lambda Legal has filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Eric Mongerson, a gay man who a child-custody agreement has prohibited from "exposing his children to his homosexual partners and friends," according to PinkNews.co.uk. The legal organization is arguing that custody-related restrictions should not involve sexual orientation and that no evidence exists that contact with Mongerson's same-sex acquaintances is harmful.
Officials at Clara Barton School—an Oxford, Mass., elementary school—have sent a letter to parents announcing that the night janitor who finished the previous school year as a man would start the next as a woman, according to WND.com . Although some parents have called for the janitor to resign, school authorities have repeatedly said they do not discriminate on the basis of "sexual orientation."
In Hawaii, the state House passed a civil-union bill by a vote of 33-17—one vote shy of a veto-proof supermajority, according to the Honolulu Advertiser. The measure, which now moves to the state Senate, would grant partners in civil unions the same benefits, protections and responsibilities as married couples under state law. Hawaii would also recognize civil unions, domestic partnerships and same-sex marriages performed in other states.
American Airlines has named lesbian Betty Young as its director of diverse segment marketing, according to a corporate press release. Young, a 19-year American Airlines veteran, will be responsible for the company's support and outreach to its loyal LGBT, African-American, Hispanic and women customers, as well as other diverse populations.
The family of Larry King, a California gay teenager who was shot to death in class, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit that accuses the school district, a shelter and a gay-rights organization ( the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance ) of failing to protect him, the Associated Press reported. King, 15, of Oxnard, was killed in February 2008. A classmate, Brandon McInerney, was charged and has pled not guilty to first-degree murder.
In Fairfax, Va., the students at George Mason University elected openly gay senior Ryan Allen homecoming queen, according to the Washington Post. Allen, who performs as a popular drag queen at local clubs, took the title of Ms. Mason over two women who competed for the crown.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle's latest budget proposal includes domestic-partnership protections, according to HuffingtonPost.com . The fundamental protections would include hospital-visitation rights and Family Medical Leave rights for same-sex domestic partners.
