Police are investigating the stabbing death of an African-American transgender woman in Philadelphia's Frankford neighborhood, NBC Philadelphia reported. Maya Young, 25, suffered multiple stab wounds to her neck and chest. "Maya's name and memory now join an ever growing list of trans identified people who have lost their lives at far too young an age to violence," said Nellie Fitzpatrick, director of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs. Autostraddle reported that, just two days earlier, Black trans woman Veronica Banks Cano was found dead in her San Antonio hotel room.
The American Military Partner Association ( AMPA ) announced that Edie Windsor, the lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor, and Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges, will be honored at the 3rd Annual AMPA National Gala on May 7 in Washington, D.C., a press release stated. Both LGBT-equality advocates will be honored for their role in securing critically important benefits for the same-sex spouses of LGBT service members and veterans from the U.S. Department of Defense ( DoD ) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ( VA ) through their landmark cases that the U.S. Supreme Court decided.
Hedge-fund billionaire, LGBT-rights advocate and Republican megadonor Paul Singer looks set to be named national finance chairman of Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, Page Six noted. The move is sure to spark controversy among Christian conservatives in the party. Singer has rallied his wealthy contacts for contributions to both Rubio's official campaign and his super PAC. But, up to now, Singer has been careful to steer clear of Rubio's political operation, because super PACs cannot coordinate with an individual candidate's campaign.
John Gagnon—a sociologist who shifted the ground in sex research by proposing that sexual behavior could better be understood by looking at social forces rather than biology or psychology—died Feb. 11 in Palm Springs, California, at age 84, The New York Times reported. Gagnon began his career as a researcher at the Institute for Sex Research ( now the Kinsey Institute ) at Indiana University in the 1960s, and in the 1990s carried out a comprehensive survey of sexual behavior in the United States.
Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich struck a moderate tone on the subject of religious liberties, saying companies should not be allowed to deny services based on their religious beliefs, Politico reported. In addition, he's said that while he's "always favored traditional marriage," he's moved on since the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage constitutional. But, Kasich said, he would still fight for religious institutions, and pointed to his appointments of conservative judges in Ohio.
The LDS Church responded to an unverified report about suicide deaths among Mormon LGBT people, Deseret News noted. "We mourn with their families and friends when they feel life no longer offers hope," senior church leaders said through a spokesman. Wendy Montgomery—a co-founder of the Mama Dragons, a group of Mormon mothers with gay children—said that she had been told 32 young LGBT Mormons have died by suicide since early November.
A former aide to West Hollywood ( Calif. ) City Councilman John Duran who sued the city and his boss—alleging sexual harassment and wrongful punishment—is set to receive $500,000 after settling with both parties, The L.A. Times reported. Under the terms of the settlement with former City Council deputy Ian Owens, Duran and the city admitted no wrongdoing.
Infamous Kentucky clerk Kim Davis is against a Republican-backed law passed that creates separate forms for same- and opposite-sex couples who are getting married, LGBTQ Nation noted. The titles for same-sex couples are "first party" and "second party." Davis supports state Sen. Morgan McGarvey's amendment, which would maintain a single form for all couples; she said that using two forms invites problems.
Transgender Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox weighed in on a South Dakota bill that prevents transgender students in public schools from accessing restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender, Chicago Sun-Times reported. "Let's urge the South Dakota governor to veto H.B. 1008, the bill that ostracizes trans students and targets them for even more harassment and bullying," Cox wrote in an Instagram post, adding, "We should be creating safer, nurturing environments for our children not more hostile ones." Caitlyn Jenner has also asked her Twitter followers to persuade South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard to veto the bill.
Half of all Black gay and bisexual men in the United States are projected to be diagnosed with HIV, a government study shows, in a ratio parallel to the prevalence of the virus among such men in developing nations such as Mauritania and Senegal, Reuters noted. Black men who have sex with men are 250 times more likely as heterosexual U.S. men overall to be diagnosed with the virus, according to the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ).
For the first time, researchers have documented a case in which an individual has contracted a multi-drug resistant strain of HIV, LGBTQ Nation reported. He claims that, at the time, he was adhering to a daily regiment of Truvada ( tenofovir/emtricitabine ) as pre-exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP ). POZ reports that scientists have come to the conclusion that it's indeed possible to contract HIV even when adhering to PrEP, when exposed to a strain of the virus that's resistant to both drugs included in Truvada.
Under a bill advancing in the Mississippi legislature, state officials, private business owners and others who provide services to the public couldn't be punished for acting on religious beliefs that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, the Associated Press reported. Representatives voted 80-39 to pass House Bill 1523, which also specifies people couldn't be punished for acting on beliefs that only married couples should have sexual relations and that a person's gender identity is set at birth. The bill was held for the possibility of more debate before it goes to the Senate.
GLAAD has released Debunking the "Bathroom Bill" Myth—Accurate Reporting on LGBT Nondiscrimination: A Guide for Journalists in collaboration with a coalition of state and national LGBT-advocacy organizations, a press release noted. This media guide comes after the defeat of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance ( HERO ) in late 2015, as well as the emergence of current anti-trans bills in Georgia and South Dakota.
A Longview, Texas, baker is in the news for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple ( based on her religion ), according to LGBTQ Nation, citing The Longview News-Journal. Edie DeLorme, co-owner of Kern's Bakery, will face no repercussions for denying services to the men; discriminating against LGBT people is legal in Texas. Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo plan to marry March 27 and went to the bakery seeking a quote for their wedding cake.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Human Rights Campaign and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal consumer-fraud complaint against People Can Change ( PCC ), an organization the trio says "preys on vulnerable LGBT people and families by using damaging and discredited claims that it can change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity," according to a press release. The organizations are asking the Federal Trade Commission to take enforcement action to stop PCC's practices and investigate all practitioners making similar claims.
Dozens of people watched in horror as a man described as mentally disturbed stabbed a little dog to death in an Upper East Side Park in New York City, according to CBS New York. Randy Capehart, the owner of Buddy the Chihuahua, said Jose Rodriguez, his partner of 13 years, had been showing signs of mental illness recently, but he never thought something like this could happen. Rodriguez allegedly told detectives he thought he was being cheated on, but Capehart said he was in Texas burying his grandmother at the time.
The LGBT Health Initiative's 4th Annual LGBT Health & Wellness Conference will be the coalition's largest yet, according to current registration numbers that include health professionals, medical students and members of the general public. One Iowa, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Des Moines University form the LGBT Health Initiative, a coalition devoted to reforming Iowa's health care system to be accepting, understanding, and competent with the LGBT community. The 4th Annual LGBT Health & Wellness Conference will take place Saturday, March 5 at Des Moines University's Academic Center Lecture Halls.
A former gay porn star has been found guilty for raping a 14-year-old boy, Gay Star News reported. Christopher Steele—who is also known as HIV-positive "anti-condom advocate" bareback-porn actor Mike Dozer—pleaded guilty to the felony rape charge and also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment of another person. According to Philly.com, he was also charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, disseminating explicit material to a minor, corruption of a minor and other counts after being arrested in December 2014; these were dismissed in exchange for guilty pleas.
