The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has named Matt Foreman as executive director. Foreman, the current executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda in New York, is a longtime activist in the GLBT community. He will take the helm from Lorri L. Jean after her contract expires in May. NGLTF also announced a $1.1 million anonymous gift in support of their field work. Of this, $500,000 is earmarked for the new NGLTF Community Impact Fund to be re-granted to community organizations.
A Pennsylvania District Attorney will investigate the December murder of Nizah Morris, a transgender woman whose head was bashed in Philadelphia last December, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. Police say they gave Morris a ride home Dec. 22 when she was found drunk outside of a bar. Passing motorists report seeing Morris lying in the streets minutes after police recorded dropping her off. She died Dec. 24.
Coca-Cola shareholders will have a chance to voice their concern over what one shareholder calls 'deviant sexual behaviors,' according to the Houston Voice. Hou-Yin Chang owns 49 shares of company stock, worth more than $2,000, which allows him to introduce a shareholder resolution. Owners of the company will vote next week whether to recommend dropping anti-discrimination policies related to sexual orientation.
The Texas Senate State Affairs Committee approved a bill that would outlaw gay and lesbian marriages and civil unions in the state, reports gay365.com . The step brings the bill closer to a full senate vote. The executive director for the Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas told 365gay.com that the bill goes beyond outlawing gay marriage by removing some protections available to gay couples today.
A gay and lesbian wilderness retreat in Pollack, La., was vandalized for the second time in as many months, according to AP. Partners Joe Gary and Skip Ward run the camp each year from March until November. Last month, the men said they had to again replace a gate and fence destroyed by vandals. No arrests were made. Some area residents and ministers have condemned the camp that came to their attention recently.
A 12-year-old Denver-area middle school student was suspended for two days for using the word 'gay,' reports 365gay.com . The boy was playing four square and said a call made against him was 'gay.' Language relating to sexuality is not currently included in the district's anti-bullying policy, but principal Jody Mimmack said the suspension would stand.
A Hollywood, Fla., city commissioner apologized to gay residents last week. The Sun Sentinel reports that Sal Oliveri apologized for saying, 'Wake up America ... otherwise you have a pervert or a homosexual living next to you.' The comments were made after Oliveri complained about a city deal to bring another 'adult entertainment' business to town.
The Minnesota House and Senate approved new state employee contracts, dropping controversial domestic-partner benefits. During the senate debate, state Sen. Michele Bachman said the benefits could cost the state money it does not have because 'the homosexual lifestyle makes them more likely to be disproportionate consumers of healthcare services,' according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The Star Tribune also reports that Soul Force founder Mel White was banned from giving the homily at a Catholic church in Minneapolis. St. Joan of Arc church invited White to talk about embracing Jesus and each other.
The North Dakota senate defeated an attempt to repeal a law that makes it a crime for a man and a woman to live together without being married, according to Ananova. The anti-cohabitation law has been on the books since 1890 and applies only to heterosexual couples. If charged and convicted, those who break the law face up to 30 days in prison and nearly a $1,000 fine.
University of Kansas professor Dennis Dailey's sex ed class may cost the school more than $3 million, reports the Topeka Capitol Journal. Dailey allegedly showed pictures of the genitalia of 5- and 10-year-old girls and told girls in class to examine their own genitals for homework. State Sen. Susan Wagle said Dailey suggested that a girl leaving for the restroom during the presentation was masturbating.
Students at Elizabeth High in Elizabeth, Colo., won't hear from GLBT voices during 'Respect Week,' according to AP. After pressure from parents, a school board representative rescheduled the daytime talk to a 7 pm slot, which representatives from Colorado State University's office of GLBT services could not accommodate on short notice.
California's first openly lesbian judge will come out again, this time out of retirement, reports Metropolitan News Enterprise. California Gov. Gray Davis appointed retired San Francisco Municipal Court Judge Mary C. Morgan, 57, to the post of San Francisco Superior Court Judge.
And another lesbian judge, a Santa Barbara County, Ca. judge, will stand trial for abuse of her domestic partner, according to Gay.com . Superior Court Judge Diana R. Hall, 52, was charged with drunken driving, battery, and brandishing a gun. Hall's partner, Deidra Dykeman, told police the two argued over Christmas wrappings when Hall threatened to shoot one of the couple's dogs.
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