HRC calls for hate-crime investigation in Black
gay man's murder
The Human Rights Campaign last week urged that an honest investigation take place in the murder of 26-year-old Arthur "J.R." Carl Warren Jr., as a news report emerged that contradicted law enforcement's claim that racial and anti-gay bias played no role in his death.
According to the Associated Press, Warren Jr. was beaten to death because he wanted to reveal a sexual relationship he claimed to have had with the teens accused of his murder.
"If this report is confirmed, then it is clear that anti-gay prejudice played a decisive role in this murder," said HRC Communications Director David Smith. "We believe as the facts continue to unfold, a portrait will emerge showing how underlying homophobia and racial bias led to this tragedy."
Warren Jr., whose body was found July 4, had left his parents' house and walked across town July 3 to a vacant house where two 17-year-old boys— David Allen Parker and Jared Wilson —allegedly beat and kicked him to death, AP said. The teens then attempted to cover-up the crime by running over the victim's body to make it look like he was hit by a car.
A candlelight vigil took place on last week at the Marion County Courthouse in Fairmont, W.Va. It drew a crowd of more than 500 people; Blacks and whites, gay and straight people, AP said.
Anti-gay Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church congregation from Topeka, Kan. waved fluorescent signs, but David Strickler, a 48-year-old local resident who is gay, strapped on an oversized pair of theater-prop wings and used them to block the protesters' view of the memorial, AP reported
Military recruits
criminals, but not gays
Stars & Stripes newspaper reports that the military is accepting more recruits charged with felony crimes.
Both the Army and the Navy are behind in their recruitment goals, and are granting waivers to recruits who have committed felonies or misdemeanors. The military does not recruit murderers, rapists or drug dealers, the paper said.
The number of Army recruits with felony arrests has increased from 166 in 1998 to 357 this year, and the Navy recruited 47 sailors with felony offenses in 1998, and 165 in 1999.
U. of Texas
backs nature theory
The Austin American-Statesman reports that a new study by two University of Texas researchers lends weight to the argument that homosexuality is more "nature" than "nurture." In a recently published paper, Dennis McFadden and Craig Champlin have documented differences in brain response of homosexuals and heterosexuals to sound.
According to McFadden and Champlin, heterosexual men and women process sound in different ways, both in the timing and strength of brainwaves spurred by sound. Lesbians and bisexual women handle sound in a "masculinized" way. However, gay and bisexual men's response to sounds, rather than falling in between the results for straight men and women, are "hypermasculinized."
The researchers said gays have been exposed in utero to higher than normal levels of androgens; a class of predominately male hormones.
Prowler attacks gay
men in Brooklyn park
Newsday reports that police are searching for a masked, late-night prowler dressed in a black ninja-style costume who has slashed three men and clubbed another in attacks in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
The attacks all happened between June 28-July 7, in a part of the park frequented by gay men.
Episcopalians nix rites
Last week Episcopal bishops argued for ceremonial rites for same-sex unions, a day after the provision was rejected by clergy and lay delegates at the church's national convention in Denver, reports Associated Press.
The church's House of Deputies rejected a provision to add rites for all unmarried couples, but called on the church to support unmarried couples in monogamous relationships. While homosexuals were not mentioned, the vote was seen as a response to the push within the church to recognize same-sex relationships, AP said.
Stonewall Dems confirm speakers for Convention
The National Stonewall Democratic Federation announced last week that openly gay Democratic National Convention Treasurer Andrew Tobias and White House Director of Gay and Lesbian Outreach Julian Potter will speak at the NSDF National Convention Aug. 10-12 at the Marquis Resort in Palm Springs, Calif.
Call ( 202 ) 783-8670; or visit www.stonewalldemocrats.org
Lesbian granted visitation
In White Plains, N.Y., a lesbian who helped raise the two children of her ex-lover has been granted temporary visitation. This is believed to be the first such ruling in New York, reports AP.
The Westchester Family Court judge agreed that the plaintiff had a parental bond with her former girlfriend's 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl, and ruled that she could see the children for four hours every other week. A hearing on permanent custody is set for Aug. 14.
PAC formed to defeat Vermont gay supporters
ConserVative News reports that Nancy Sheltra, a Vermont state representative, has formed a political action committee to defeat House and Senate Judiciary Committee members who supported the recently enacted civil union legislation.
Sheltra said STARS ( Standing Together and Reclaiming the State ) hopes to raise between $50,000 and $100,000 to recruit candidates to run against members of the Judiciary Committee.
Connecticut Judge
continues hold on
contributions to Scouts
At a hearing July 14 in Bridgeport, Conn, U.S. District Judge Warren Eginton ordered that funds from the Connecticut State Employee Charitable Campaign intended for the Boy Scouts of America be continued held in an escrow account. In a matter in which Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders sought to intervene, the judge denied BSA's request to order the Campaign to distribute the funds.
"The judge indicated that he wanted to give the state a chance to review this matter in light of the recent Supreme Court decision, Dale v. Boy Scouts," said GLAD staff attorney Jennifer Levi.
Priest arrested
for soliciting cop
In Miami, Fla., Patrick O'Neill, a Roman Catholic priest, has been arrested for soliciting sexual favors from an undercover officer posing as a male prostitute, his lawyer said in a statement, reports AFP news service.
During Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998, O'Neill headed the Florida Church delegation.
GOP lawsuit targets Iowa Gov. Vilsack
The Des Moines Register reports that 23 Republican legislators are taking Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack to court, saying he exceeded his authority by signing an executive order to protect gay state workers from job discrimination.
Bush says 'no'
to gay adoption
On July 11, Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush unveiled a plan to speed adoptions and increase financial incentives for families who adopt children out of the foster care system. However, Bush opposes all adoptions by same-sex couples or GLBT individuals, regardless of whether they are deemed to be qualified parents by professional social workers and family judges.
"I'm against gay adoptions. I believe children ought to be adopted in families with a woman and a man who are married," Gov. Bush said to the Dallas Morning News, March 23, 1999. When asked if in fact children currently being raised by GLBT parents should be taken away, he said, "I have no idea whether the children ought to be removed or not removed," according to the Houston Chronicle, April 5, 1999.
Ryan White
bill moves on up
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives opened hearings July 11 on its reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, the comprehensive federal care and treatment support program for communities and patients struggling with HIV/AIDS.
Lesbian couple
forced to move
The Texas Triangle reports that Sonny McDaniel and Sandy McGill, longtime residents of the small Texas town of Gonzales, are moving away for their own safety, and that of their daughter.
McDaniel is the mother of a fifth-grader at Gonzales Middle School. She has met with the school principal, teachers, and most recently the entire Gonzales ISD school board.
At issue is the safety of their daughter who is constantly being subjected to anti-gay slurs in school while teachers contribute, condone, or ignore the harassment, according to McDaniel.
McDaniels received no help from the school board, and said that during her presentation requesting they adopt a sexual orientation policy, they "picked at their nails, looked at the floor, and refused to take and read copies of her statement."
Gay Men's
Health Summit 2000
The second annual Gay Men's Health Summit runs July 19-23 in Boulder, Colo. Call ( 415 ) 487-9305or see www.bcap.org
Poll: More people not straight if given options
New research conducted by Harris Interactive in association with Witeck-Combs Communications finds that offering clearer descriptions to define sexual orientation increases the number of individuals who self-identify as something other than heterosexual.
When survey respondents are offered five specific options—heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender—808 or six percent of 13,276 people surveyed online consider themselves to be one of these other than heterosexual. [ Seven percent also declined to answer. ]
In Harris Polls of all adults conducted by telephone ( where respondents speak with live interviewers ) , two percent of all adults generally self-identify as "gay or lesbian." In online surveys, using identical questions, four percent of all adults self-identify as "gay or lesbian."
In this new online survey, fully six percent self-identify as either gay ( 2% ) , lesbian ( 1% ) , bisexual ( 3% ) or transgender ( less than half a percent ) .
Pataki signs hate bill
Gov. George Pataki signed New York state's new hate-crimes law last week, 10 years after a version first passed the Assembly, reports AP.
Van Ooteghem dies
Gary Van Ooteghem, 58, a former president of the Houston chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, and a longtime civil-rights activist, died of a heart attack after being admitted to hospital for pneumonia.
New report on intimate partner violence
Nearly 25 percent of surveyed women and about 7 percent of surveyed men say they have been raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse or partner at some time in their lives, according to a report from the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The survey also shows that stalking by intimate partners is much more widespread than was previously thought, with almost 5 percent of the surveyed women reporting being stalked by a former or current spouse or partner.
These findings and others are the result of the National Violence Against Women Survey, which compares victimization rates among women and men, specific racial and ethnic groups, and same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Findings are available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij ( then click on "What's New" ) , or from National Criminal Justice Reference Service 1-800-851-3420.
