In Wisconsin, a federal court has ruled that doctors can determine if trans inmates can continue hormone treatments in state prisons, according to Advocate.com . The state legislature passed a law four years ago that prevented prison physicians from prescribing/administering hormone treatments or gender-reassignment surgery for prisoners. Lambda Legal Transgender Rights Attorney Dru Levasseur said, "The court understood that medical treatment is critical for transgender people and that medical decisions should be made by doctors—not legislators."
Tuff Luck—a trans-inclusive cafe located inside feminist bookstore In Other Words—opened in Portland, Ore., last month, according to Advocate.com . Tuff Luck provides jobs and a venue for selling art to help trans individuals raise money for health care. Ryder Richardson said, "Down the line we'd like to set up an individual development account and get organizations to match whatever people can make working here."
A recent article in the New York Times magazine focused on the science behind same-sex mating throughout the animal kingdom, according to an Advocate.com item. Biologist Lindsay C. Young found out that, regarding the Laysan albatross, "a third of the pairs at Kaena Point actually consisted of two female birds, not one male and one female"—and that some of these lesbian pairs had been around at long as the scientists' data went back, which was 19 years. The article also stated that "same-sex sexual activity have been recorded in more than 450 different species of animals by now, from flamingos to bison to beetles to guppies to warthogs."
Count Beau Breedlove among those attempting to have Sam Adams—the gay former mayor of Portland, Ore., and Breedlove's ex-lover—recalled, according to Advocate.com . Breedlove was among approximately two dozen opponents of Adams at a recent rally who were collecting signatures for petitions seeking to remove Adams from office. When Adams ran for mayor in 2007, he denied having sex with Breedlove; he then said that he did not have sex with Breedlove until the latter turned 18.
The Census Bureau will release its first-ever official public service announcements ( PSAs ) targeting the LGBT community and encouraging LGBT people to mail back census forms, according to a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation press release. There are six different videos, including one Spanish-language video, each featuring a well-known community leader. This is the first time in history that the census has created PSAs specifically targeting the LGBT community. Actor George Takei and husband Brad Altman spoke at a press conference announcing the PSAs, and also unveiled their own census PSA, "Be Counted."
Annise Parker—the lesbian mayor of Houston, Texas—has signed a measure that adds gender identity to the city's nondiscrimination policy, according to an On Top Magazine item. Trans individuals are now protected from discrimination regarding public accommodations and employment. Kris Banks—who heads the Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Political Caucus—said, "A non-discrimination provision that protects sexual orientation but doesn't protect gender identity is toothless. … It's quite a thing, having a mayor that really understands all these issues."
A gay Florida couple involved in a historic legal case on adoptions attended the White House Easter Egg Roll with their children, according to ThinkProgress.org . Two years ago, a Florida judge allowed Frank Martin Gill and his partner to adopt two boys, saying the state's same-sex adoption ban was unconstitutional. However, the state appealed the ruling, and a decision from a Florida appellate court is forthcoming. Approximately 30,000 people attended the White House event, which took place April 5.
In New Jersey, Assemblyman Michael Carroll has said that same-sex relationships are of no "societal consequence," according to On Top Magazine. Carroll, along with GOP senators Anthony R. Bucco and Gerald Cardinale, are against a lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal that seeks marriage equality in the state. New Jersey allows civil unions, but the lawsuit says that those unions are not equal to marriage.
In Oklahoma, Tulsa authorities are saying that Keith Kimmel—an activist who sued the state's tax commission last year, wanting an "I'm Gay" license plate—was "aggressive" during an arrest that took place days before his death, On Top Magazine reported. Two days before his March 31 death, Kimmel filed a complaint against Tulsa officers saying they verbally and physically assaulted him at a gay nightclub called The End Up Bar. However, the Tulsa Police Department's Jason Willingham told a news outlet that Kimmel "was verbally aggressive, physically aggressive and resistant [ from the point of contact ] ."
Also in Oklahoma, gay college student Phillip Nelson has claimed that he has been attacked twice by anti-gay people, EDGE Boston reported. Nelson, who lives in Claremore, said that three men attacked him outside his apartment complex as well as inside his apartment, and that they beat him and wrote "fag" on a wall in his home. Nelson has added that the local police have not responded to his calls. Oklahoma's hate-crimes laws do not include sexual orientation.
Ever since Albert Snyder was ordered by an appeals court to pay the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, people have sent donations to help him, according to CBSNews.com . The church picketed the funeral of Snyder's son, Matthew, a Marine who was killed in Iraq in 2006. The elder Snyder sued the church, but he lost on the appellate level; the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the First Amendment case. Fox News' Bill O' Reilly has offered to pay Snyder's court costs.
Two communications staff members, Trevor Thomas and Brad Luna, have left the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) , according to EDGE Boston. Thomas, who is now a consultant with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, stated in a general e-mail that he "will now have the opportunity to focus full-time on repealing DADT and helping those discharged under the law." Luna was HRC's director of communications. The HRC Web site currently lists Michael Cole as its sole communications staffer.
Chad Noel, a gay-porn actor who sometimes performed bareback, had died of HIV-related complications at the age of 25, according to Queerty.com . Noel—who performed under the names Donny Price, Craven Cox and Kyle Young—co-starred in the 2004 Cobra Video film Every Poolboy's Dream, in which he had sex with then-minor Brent Corrigan. Corrigan later testified in the murder trial of Cobra producer Bryan Kocis.
In Mississippi, the state's department of corrections will no longer segregate HIV-positive prisoners from the general population, according to GoQNotes.com . Health experts state that there is no medical foundation for such segregation, which deny positive individuals from critical resources that can aid in their transitions to life after release. Now, Alabama and South Carolina are the only states left that separate seropositive inmates from HIV-negative ones.
In Texas, the state's board of education has decided to include favorable views of anti-gay leaders Jerry Falwell ( of the Moral Majority ) and Phyllis Schlafly ( of the Heritage Foundation ) in its history textbooks, GoQNotes.com reported. The vote was 10-5, along party lines. Faith in America's Brent Childers said, "It's unimaginable that millions of kids across this nation may now be taught that people who espouse and promote religion-based bigotry are to be looked upon as favorable." A final vote will take place next month.
Gay California activist Fred Karger is mulling a presidential run, according to Towleroad.com . On his Web site, Karger—who is the founder/director of Californians Against Hate—wrote, "I am strongly considering becoming a candidate for President of the United States in 2012. I would be an unconventional candidate, and if I run, I will wage an unconventional campaign." Karger, who would be the first out U.S. presidential candidate, added that he would discuss issues such as an HIV/AIDS cure and ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
U.S. senator and former GOP presidential candidate John McCain has a gay-porn connection, according to a Gather.com item. McCain posted a photo of himself holding an iPhone on his Twitter page—but someone took the image and posted it on the gay-porn site Guys with iPhones, which shows men clutching their iPhones and their "manly parts." A rep for McCain has stressed that the politician did not personally post the photo on the gay-porn site.
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy ( ONAP ) has released a report summarizing 14 community discussions that were held across the country and though an online submission process. The report, "Community Ideas for Improving the Response to the Domestic HIV Epidemic," will be used to inform the development of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy currently underway. Themes that were constant throughout the discussions included improving access to care; reducing stigma surrounding HIV; and coordinating HIV prevention and treatment. Visit www.whitehouse.gov/onap for the report.
