In Florida, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce has sent its 5,500 members a new, carefully worded brochure about the benefits of providing health insurance for employees' domestic partners, the Miami Herald reported. There is no standard definition for ''domestic partner,'' a term generally used to describe an unmarried spouse, and companies interpret it in various ways. Some businesses include opposite-sex partners in their insurance programs.
The Washington State supreme court affirmed a judge's ruling that a recall petition against embattled Spokane mayor Jim West can proceed, The Advocate reported. Just hours after lawyers for West argued that the petition was factually and legally insufficient, the high court affirmed a lower court ruling that the document bearing a single abuse-of-office allegation could proceed to signature gathering.
The Bush administration suspended a federal grant to the Silver Ring Thing abstinence program, saying it appears to use tax money for religious activities, according to the Washington Post. Department of Health and Human Services officials ordered the group to submit a 'corrective action plan' if it hopes to receive an expected $75,000 grant this year.
A special panel of the U.S. Presbyterian Church appealed for the church's 2.4 million members to seek unity as they continue a divisive debate over homosexuality and the Bible, the Associated Press reported. The panel asked the church's 2006 national General Assembly to not change a 1997 law that limits clergy and lay officeholders to sex within heterosexual marriage.
Twenty-two federal lawmakers issued a letter to Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, voicing concern over the recent case of a man in that country who was sentenced to death by stoning for sodomy, according to a release from the office of U.S. rep Barney Frank, D-Mass. The letter states, in part, that the 'execution by stoning or by any other means of any individual for private, adult, consensual sexual activity is grossly inhumane and well below the standards that any civilized society should uphold.'
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Web site with a domain name resembling anti-gay preacher Jerry Falwell's does not violate trademark law and can remain an active site, GFN.com reported. The three-judge panel reversed a lower court's ruling, which had prohibited Christopher Lamparello from 'maintaining a gripe Web site [ Falwell.com ] critical of Jerry Falwell,' the appeals court opinion said.
Former U.S. Senator and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth, R-Mo., addressed the Log Cabin Republicans ( LCR ) in St. Louis, where he called for a more tolerant GOP, according to an LCR press release. 'There is no better voice for an inclusive Republican Party than John Danforth, whose credentials as a loyal Republican, committed conservative, and man of faith are unquestionable,' said LCR president Patrick Guerriero.
In Connecticut, 19 Episcopal priests and church leaders filed religious charges against Episcopalian Bishop Andrew Smith over issues stemming from his support of gay marriage and the ordination of gay priests, the Waterbury Republican American reported. These priests and lay leaders—from churches in Watertown, Bristol, Darien, Groton and East Haven—contend, among other things, that Smith's support of the gay community is against church teachings.
Two men being retried for the hate killing of a gay Florida man pled guilty in separate deals, according to the Sun-Sentinel. Bryan Donahue's and William Dodge's guilty pleas abruptly stopped their ongoing murder trials—the second for each in the April 27, 1998, beating death of Steven Goedereis.
A man who stabbed a Fresno, Calif., transgendered woman to death will serve only four years in prison, according to 365Gay.com . Joel Robles, who dressed as female but was biologically male and continued to use his birth name, was stabbed more than 20 times by Estanislao Martinez. Martinez said that he had killed a person he thought was female but discovered during sex was biologically male.
Black leaders are demanding action after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) released a study that shows that 46 percent of African-American men who have sex with men have been infected with HIV, according to Yahoo! News. The Black AIDS Institute published a letter titled 'Nearly Half of Us May Already Be Infected. Who Gives a Damn?' The open letter was signed by 51 leaders in the Black gay community, including Noah's Arc creator and Executive Producer Patrik-Ian Polk.
Just 14 months after the launch of the Philadelphia and Its Countryside gay-friendly tourism marketing campaign, gay travelers are spending 30 percent more than they did before the effort debuted, according to a U.S. Newswire item. Gay Tourism 2005, a new 30-page study conducted by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation ( GPTMC ) and Community Marketing, Inc., also revealed that for every dollar GPTMC invests in gay tourism marketing, $153 is returned in direct visitor spending.
On Sept. 21-23, the National Black Justice Coalition will host its first Black Leaders Summit, 'Tying the Wisdom Knot: Bringing Together Our Leaders to Strategize for the Future,' in Washington, D.C. Scheduled topics include fighting homophobia and campaigning for same-sex families. See www.nbjcoalition.org or call ( 202 ) 349-3755.
The California Supreme Court upheld Elysa Yanowitz's right to sue for retaliation after she refused to fire a worker who was not sexually attractive to her male supervisor. The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition ( GenderPAC ) , in a statement, called the ruling 'a victory for working women everywhere.'
