LOG CABINS MEET IN CHICAGO THIS WEEK
The Log Cabin Republican organization will meet for its 12th annual national convention this weekend in Chicago
"We look forward to celebrating our recent gains in keeping the GOP true to being the Party of Lincoln," said Rich Tafel, executive director of LCR.
An estimated 150 state and local LCR leaders and activists will gather beginning July 20 to review LCR's "Strategy 2000" campaign, which focused on "electing an inclusive Republican President of the United States," the group stated.
LCR will also hold a celebration dinner July 21 at Chicago Symphony Hall. LCR will award its highest honor—the Spirit of Lincoln Award—to two Republican officials in Illinois government: Glenn Good, Assistant Director of the State Central Management Services Department and the highest-ranking openly gay appointee by Gov. George Ryan; and State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan ( R ) , an advocate for the gay community in the state House.
Iowa man accuses HIV-positive man of putting HIM at risk
A 19-year-old Cedar Rapids man said he met Aaron Dahlberg at a party and had sex with him twice before finding out Dahlberg was HIV-positive, reports the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The man, 19, is listed as Victim No. 2 in a criminal report.
Dahlberg faces charges of criminal transmission of HIV, a Class B felony, carrying prison time of up to 25 years, the Gazette reported. Dahlberg, 23, was expected to turn himself in to police last week.
PROBABLE BIAS MOTIVE IN MURDER
A coalition of organizations are responding to last week's press conference disclosure by the Montezuma [ Colo. ] County Sheriff's Office that the killing of Cortez, Colo., youth Fred Martinez, Jr. probably was motivated by bias.
In an affidavit released by the sheriff's department, suspect Shaun Murphy, 18, of Farmington, N.M., is quoted as bragging to a third party that "he had beat up a fag."
"This has been a very sensitive, emotional investigation," said Montezuma County Sheriff Joey M. Chavez. "We cannot state with certainty that hate was a motive, but we continue to investigate it as a possibility."
The sheriff's office announced Murphy's arrest last week as part of the homicide investigation into the death of Fred Martinez, an openly gay, Two-Spirit Navajo youth whose body was discovered near Cortez on June 21. Reports from the sheriff's office and local media outlets indicate that Martinez, a 16-year-old Montezuma-Cortez High School freshman who disappeared on June 16, was bludgeoned with a blunt object and died from that beating possibly coupled with exposure. On July 2, the sheriff's office declared Martinez's death a homicide.
Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News reports that the suspect's mother, Angel Murphy Tacoronte, 34, said Friday from her Farmington, N.M., home that she herself is gay, and that she dates American Indian women—and she does not believe her son is anti-gay.
REPORT EXAMINES BIAS IMPACT ON LATINO GAY MAN
Current HIV prevention methods do not adequately address social and cultural factors that can contribute to increased risk for HIV infection among Latino gay men, according to a report released by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The report, "Social Discrimination and Health: The Case of Latino Gay Men and HIV Risk," connects social discrimination to an increased risk of HIV infection in the gay Latino population.
"Social Discrimination and Health" is based on the preliminary findings of the study "Nuestra Voces" ( "Our Voices" ) . Roughly 900 men participated in the study, which split its focus between three major cities: Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.
Emmy nominees include gay shows
Will & Grace is up for Best Comedy in the Emmy Awards this year, while all four of its stars are also nominated—Eric McCormack and Debra Messing for Best Actor and Actress in a Comedy, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally for their Supporting roles.
Ellen DeGeneres is also up for an Emmy, for her HBO Comedy Special. Showtime's Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City is up for Best Miniseries ( up against Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows ) .
Holly Hunter received a nomination for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role as Billie Jean King in When Billie Beat Bobby ( she's up against Judy Davis for her Garland role, Judy Dench in The Last of the Blonde Bomb-shells, and Emma Thompson for Wit ) . Barbra Streisand is nominated for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for Barbra Streisand: Timeless.
Showtime's Queer as Folk received no nominations.
DeGeneres will host the Emmys Sept. 16.
BRIEFLY
The Prairie Flame reports that the city of Springfield, Ill., has unveiled new signs that will greet motorists entering the city [ "Hate—Not in Our Homes—Not in Our Neighborhoods—Not in Our City!" ] . The city chose to use the word "Hate" as opposed to "Racism" on the signs, the paper reported, to be more inclusive, including of GLBTs.
The National Organization for Women became the first national feminist group to call for intersex children's right "to choose and be properly and fully informed regarding cosmetic medical procedures involving their bodies or genitals." NOW's action follows four years of intense effort by the Intersex Society of North America and GenderPAC.
PlanetOut Partners, Inc., parent company of Web portals Gay.com and PlanetOut.com, has revealed staff reorganization plans that included layoffs for 12 employees and revision of duties for others. The timing of the departures of Gay.com columnist and editor-at-large Michelangelo Signorile and PlanetOut Partners Vice President for Site Development and Senior Editorial Director Robin Stevens was coincidental, the company said.
Inside.com reports that "After questions about a possible conflict of interest, conservative pundit Andrew Sullivan decided ... to return a contribution to his personal Web site from the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America." Sullivan writes the weekly TRB column in The New Republic and is also under contract with The New York Times.
National media outlets have largely ignored or trivialized Wimbledon Men's champion Goran Ivanisevic's use of the word "faggot" July 9, reports GLAAD. While criticizing a call by a lines judge, Ivanisevic said: "Then I hit another second serve, huge. And that ball was on the line, was not even close. And that guy, he looks like a faggot little bit, you know. This hair all over him. He call it. I couldn't believe he did it." The comment, which drew scattered laughter from reporters, has received minimal coverage in the press. Only ESPN and The Los Angeles Times have covered the Ivanisevic incident in any depth.