The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the Federal agency with responsibility for protecting Federal employees from discrimination and retaliation, has recently removed from its web site all references concerning OSC's jurisdiction to accept prohibited personnel practice complaints based on sexual orientation. OSC has removed references to sexual orientation from its basic brochure, its complaint form, as well as from a flyer, 'Your Rights as a Federal Employee,' and a set of training slides. A June 2003 OSC press release announcing the settlement of the first case involving sexual orientation discrimination against a prospective applicant at the Internal Revenue Service was also removed. Federal GLOBE decries this action by OSC as mere political pandering to the conservative right. Federal GLOBE is the umbrella organization for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual employee support groups in Federal workplaces.
The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida is suing a parish that separated from the church after the confirmation of openly gay bishop V. Gene Robinson, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The Church of the New Covenant voted to withdraw from the diocese and is trying to take its multi-million dollar assets with it. The Diocese sued the church, arguing that church canons prevent any parish from taking assets with them if they leave the Diocese.
A lesbian couple in Minnesota asked that their names be removed from the 'Waiting Families' portion of the Lutheran Social Services (LSS) adoption Web site, reports the Star Tribune. The couple said that they had been harassed. The Minnesota Family Council is taking credit for the removal, claiming that more than 200 Minnesotans complained about the lesbian couple. LSS says they have no policy banning gay couples from adopting.
Pennsylvania may become only the second state in the nation to ban gay adoptions, reports 365gay.com . A bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jerry Birmelin would ban adoptions by gays, remove benefits for gay couples from taxpayer-funded positions like state employees, and reaffirm the states Defense of Marriage Act.
The Washington state House passed a gay rights bill 59-39, reports KATU-TV. The bill would add 'sexual orientation' to the protected class list of the state's anti-discrimination law. The bill was first introduced in 1975. It faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
Two lesbian women, both the biological mothers of their children, are battling in a San Francisco court for custody of the children, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. One woman provided the eggs while the other carried the twin girls to term. Six years later, the two are separating and the mother who provided the eggs is contesting the waiver of maternal rights she signed before the birth. This appears to be the first custody battle in California in which both women can scientifically claim to be biological mothers.
The man convicted of two execution-style murders in Washington state was sentenced to 67 years in prison, reports The Advocate. Richard L. Keenum, 32, claimed his innocence and said the two gay men were dead already when he entered their cabin to rob it.
A group called America's Nazi Party gathered in Raleigh, No. Carolina, this weekend for a sanctioned rally in which they called Jews, Blacks, and gays the ruin of America, reports the News & Record. The group of about 35 Nazis was greeted by nearly 300 counter-protesters.
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