THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) —a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ( DADT ) —released a statement on a new audit reported in the Washington Post that shows the military spent about $193.3 million from 2004-2009 to fired and replace approximately 3,660 service members discharged under DADT. Each discharge cost an average of $52,800. Aubrey Sarvis, Army veteran and SLDN executive director, said that the "GAO report underscores that the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law not only deprives the military of the qualified Americans it needs, but has also been a huge waste of taxpayer dollars on replacing patriots lost under this discriminatory law."

It seems as if Tim Cook, a gay man, will succeed Apple head Steve Jobs as he goes on medical leave, according to Gawker.com . Cook, 50, is chief operating officer at Apple but is also the de facto CEO, overseeing daily operations. He has sold or amassed approximately $136 million in corporate shares. On a personal level, Cook is seen as a quiet workaholic who gets up at 4:30 a.m. and eats energy bars constantly.

Community activist/comedian Steve Berke has announced that he is running for mayor of Miami Beach, Fla., on a platform advocating marriage equality, according to a press release. Berke, 29, said, "This is a question of simple equality, as required by the U.S. Constitution." Berke's platform also includes legalizing marijuana and installing property-tax relief.

Saying the development "will be something I'm proud of for the rest of my life," Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Sabrina Shizue McKenna to a decade-long term on the state's supreme court, making her the first openly gay member of that judicial body, according to GayPolitics.com . The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that McKenna said, "I would like to believe that because of my background and my life experiences, I bring sensitivity to those who may not have been born into a life of privilege, a sensitivity to those whose life circumstances make it difficult for them to conform with all of society's expectations."

A Quinnipiac University survey revealed that 56 percent of New Yorkers support marriage equality, according to TimesUnion.com . Poll spokesman Maurice Carroll said that this is the highest number that Quinnipiac has recorded on the issue. Marriage-equality bills have failed to pass New York's Assembly three times.

Both houses of the Wyoming legislature have passed measures that would not recognize same-sex marriage performed elsewhere, according to an NECN.com item. The Senate voted 20-10 Jan. 27 in favor of a bill sponsored by Republican state Sen. Curt Meier. Conversely, among the other measures pending in the Wyoming House are bills that would allow same-sex marriage and civil unions.

The group Faith in America has criticized Joel Osteen—pastor of a megachurch in Houston, Texas—for what it called his "promotion of religion-based bigotry," according to a press release. On Piers Morgan's CNN talk show, Osteen said that "the Scripture shows that [ homosexuality ] is a sin;" additionally, when Morgan questioned Osteen about his statement's possible impact on gays and lesbians, the minister "said he didn't understand the issue." Faith in America Executive Director Brent Childers said, "I hope Osteen will stop for a moment to consider the grave impact his words have on gay youth. Such trafficking in religion-based bigotry toward gay youth doesn't uplift them rather it is literally putting many in an early grave."

Indiana University South Bend is removing a Chick-fil-A from its campus following the fast food chain's food donations to events run by anti-gay organizations, according to Advocate.com . Chick-fil-A, known as a Christian company, will be donating sandwiches to an upcoming conference sponsored by the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Chick-fil-A, Inc. President Dan Cathy has put forth a video in which he says, "Providing food to these events or any event is not an endorsement of the mission, political stance, or motives of this or any other organization."

The U.S. Army has ordered out gay activist Lt. Dan Choi to pay $2,500—what it calls the "unearned portion of your enlistment or reenlistment bonus," Advocate.com reported. However, Choi said he will not pay because he was discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." In an open letter, he wrote, "My obligations to take a stand, knowing all the continued consequences of my violations, are clear. ... I refuse to pay your claim."

Authorities have arrested 20-year-old Kentucky resident Grant Rose for assault after allegedly attacking gay Miami University student Benjamin Collings last spring, according to the Oxford Press. Collings was attending a charity event at a bar when he and Rose had a heated confrontation in the restroom. Outside the bar, things became physical, with Collings suffering a broken nose, two black eyes and a fractured cheek bone.

The imam of Park51, a controversial Islamic community center in Manhattan, has said that abuse causes the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians, according to Advocate.com . Imam Abdallah Adhami said, "An enormously, overwhelming percentage of people struggle with homosexual feeling because of some form of violent emotional or sexual abuse at some point in their life. ... You find this in the animal kingdom as well." Park51 is blocks from the World Trade Center site, causing some to object to its location.

Radio personality Don Imus called lesbian MSNBC talk-show host Rachel Maddow a "gutless coward" for not defending Keith Olbermann when he announced he was leaving the network. Imus said, "For this woman, who owed her job to him ... not to offer a defense of Olbermann, in spite of what you think about Olbermann, is unconscionable." Maddow has said that she was unaware of what was happening between Olbermann and the network.

In Georgia, Chris Staples said that his bedroom was set ablaze because of his sexual orientation, according to AJC.com . Staples said that someone first tossed a rock through the window of his Carroll County home; the rock allegedly had a piece of paper with anti-gay slurs attached to it. Later that evening, Staples woke up to find his room in flames. The matter is still under investigation.

In Philadelphia, Penn., same-sex couple Luis Berrios and Jason Mendez has filed brutality and harassment charges against local police, claiming they were removed from her homes and beaten with batons, according to LGBTQNation.com . Officers—responding to a domestic-dispute call from a neighbor—reportedly cuffed Mendez while screaming racial and anti-gay slurs; when Berrios demanded the authorities stop, they allegedly beat him as well. Berrios has been bailed out, but Mendez is still in custody because he was on probation for a drug-related charge.

President Obama has appointed two out individuals to administrative posts, and has nominated an openly gay attorney to the federal judiciary, according to Passport Magazine. Lesbian Roberta Achtenberg has been appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and Jeffrey Levi has been appointed to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. In addition, J. Paul Oetken has been nominated for a seat on the Southern District of New York federal court.

In North Carolina, a group of religious leaders met in Asheville to urge the city to pass an LGBT-inclusive resolution, according to Citizen-Times.com . People of Faith for Just Relationships wants "to stimulate Asheville and City Council to take a leadership role in a statewide effort to recognize the need for equal civil rights, employment rights, family rights and protection from bullying for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens," spokesman the Rev. Joe Hoffman said. Among other things, the group wants the city to enact an anti-bullying ordinance for all of Asheville's grounds and institutions.

In California, San Diego authorities are investigating at least one of a series of drive-by paintball attacks as a hate crime, NBCSanDiego.com reported. Police receive reports of at least three attacks in the North Park and Hillcrest area; in attacking the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center, the attackers allegedly yelled anti-gay insults. Raymond Penko, who was hit twice by the paintballs, said, "It scared the hell out of me."

Ted Haggard, the minister who was removed from his Colorado megachurch after admitting same-sex dalliances and crystal-meth usage, has said that he is probably bisexual in an interview with GQ, according to Slate.com . Haggard said, "I think that probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual." Also in the interview he said that he was not a homophobe and denied having sex with Mike Jones, the former escort who outed Haggard.

An investigation has revealed that the U.S. Army ignored warnings not to send out gay PFC Bradley Manning—accused to sending military documents to WikiLeaks—over to Iraq, according to a Slate.com item. Manning's supervisor at Fort Drum cautioned others about the private, who allegedly had tossed chairs at colleagues and shouted at his superiors. However, Army officials figured they badly needed intelligence analysts.

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., has dropped his bid for a presidential run, saying that he would rather run for a spot he has a better chance of winning, according to the Evansville Courier & Press. Pence said, "Our decision, honestly, did come down to the difference between opportunities to seek and opportunities to serve." Social conservatives had urged him to run, but he declined; many believe that he will run for the governor's seat.

There has been a settlement in a federal lawsuit the Southern Poverty Law Center, National Center for Lesbian Rights and Faegre & Benson, LLP, filed against the Anoka-Hennepin School District and Champlin Park High School on behalf of two lesbian students, Desiree ( "Dez" ) Shelton and Sarah Lindstrom, according to a press release. Classmates chose Shelton and Lindstrom as "royalty" for the Snow Days winter event at Champlin Park; however, in an effort to prevent them from participating as a same-sex couple, the school told the students that it would cancel a part of the festivities. Shelton and Lindstrom will be allowed to participate, and the suit will be dropped.

In Indiana, the Gary school district has settled a suit filed by Lambda Legal on behalf on K.K. Logan, a transgender student, Advocate.com reported. The West Side High School principal physically blocked Logan ( who is MTF ) from entering the prom; the school apparently banned clothing that portrayed "the wearer as a person of the opposite gender"—although a girl was reportedly allowed to wear a tuxedo. The school district now has LGBT-inclusive school policies.

Anti-gay activist Maggie Gallagher has written on her blog that Roe v. Wade led many woman to try anal sex, according to Advocate.com . Gallagher feels that the U.S. Supreme Court decision led to women being promiscuous, and that they engage in anal sex to satisfy their boyfriends. She wrote, "Women have less sexual power than they did even a generation ago. Women's bodies are designed for connection, to connect sex, love, and yes, even babies."

Confessions of a Gay Anchorman, the new memoir from Charles Perez, has stirred up controversy in his former home of New York, according to Advocate.com . In the book, Perez alleges that most of the staff as mean and overpaid—including Sam Champion, the openly gay meterologist on Good Morning America. Perez's time in Miami, where he worked after New York, was stormy as well; he claims in the book that he was fired because of his growing reputation as an out gay journalist.

In Hawaii, the state Senate passed a civil-unions bill Jan. 28, Advocate.com reported. The legislative body passed the measure 19-6 and is identical to a bill passed by both houses of the state legislative; however, then-Gov. Linda Lingle vetoes the bill. Now, there is a new governor—Democrat Neil Abercrombie—who supports civil unions.

Campus Pride, which works to create safer, more LGBT-friendly colleges and universities, has announced this year's Voice & Action National Leadership Award winners. The recipients are JeShawna Wholley, a senior at Spelman College, a historically Black liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, Ga.; and Samuel Brinton, a senior at Kansas State University. Campus Pride Shane Windmeyer said in a statement, "JeShawna and Samuel represent a growing community of LGBT young adult leaders stepping up to shape their schools, communities, nation and their futures in positive ways—simply by being who they are, acting bravely."

The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) has released the tenth video of the "New Yorkers for Marriage Equality" campaign—and this one features Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., according to a press release. "We are winning the fight for fairness in New York and nationwide," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is part of a family that has been fighting for equality for generations. We are honored to have him lend his respected voice and join others—both high-profile and every day New Yorkers—in the call for equality."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has again sidestepped questions about President Obama's changed position on same-sex marriage, according to Advocate.com . The Washington Blade's Chris Johnson once again asked Gibbs about Obama's 1996 statements ( originally run in Windy City Times ) that he supported marriage equality; since then, the president has said that he backs civil unions, but not same-sex marriage. Gibbs said, "I was not with the president in 1996. ... I would simply say that throughout the campaign of 2004 and the campaign of 2008, he's made his position clear on that."

The Democratic National Committee has chosen Charlotte, N.C., as the location of its 2012 convention during the week of Sept. 3, according to Advocate.com . Other cities bidding to be the site included Cleveland, St. Louis and Mineeapolis. In an e-mail to campaign supporters, First Lady Michelle Obama wrote, ""Vibrant, diverse, and full of opportunity, the Queen City is home to innovative, hardworking folks with big hearts and open minds. And of course, great barbecue."

In Florida, the state's House speaker, Dean Cannon, wants the ban on same-sex adoption to return, Advocate.com reported. The courts overturned the 33-year-old ban last year, and ex-Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the Department of Children and Familes to cease its enforcement of the ban. Former Attorney General Bill McCollum did not appeal the judicial ruling.