A gay man in New York should be able to hold St. Vincent's Hospital accountable for medical negligence that led to his longtime partner's death after routine surgery for a broken leg he suffered when he was the victim of a hit-and-run spree last year, Lambda Legal said in court papers. St. Vincent's Hospital is asking a state court to block John Langan from suing for wrongful death and medical malpractice, claiming that because he and Neal Conrad Spicehandler were a gay couple, their 15-year relationship cannot be legally recognized. Langan and Spicehandler were joined in a civil union in Vermont and had several legal documents reflecting their relationship, and the hospital treated Langan like Spicehandler's spouse throughout the medical ordeal.
Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, is among those critical of President's Bush's proposed economic stimulus package. 'The president's call on the first day of the new Congress for extraordinarily irresponsible and unfair tax cuts was followed ... by the renomination of federal judges with deeply troubling records on civil rights and other issues. The White House has once again made it clear that it has fully embraced a two-prong strategy by right-wing leaders to redefine and radically undermine the role of the federal government in protecting Americans' civil rights and addressing urgent domestic issues,' Neas said. 'It is, in fact, remarkable for the president to renominate judges like Charles Pickering and Priscilla Owen—who were rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee after open hearings about their troubling records on civil rights and other issues—so quickly after Trent Lott was forced to step down from his leadership post,' Neas said.
A group of 15 gays and lesbians now serving in all branches of the military has written to Congress to propose that if a military draft returns, acknowledged homosexuals should be included in the armed forces. The President of the group, known as the Gay and Lesbian Service Members for Equality (GLSME), submitted the Jan. 6 letter to Congress through an intermediary, the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, in order to preserve anonymity.
As it did in the Gulf War, the U.S. Marine Corps has again issued a 'stop-loss' order which prevents approximately 275,000 active-duty and reserve members from leaving—except this time, gay soldiers will be kicked out.
Key West City Commissioners approved a new city ordinance that adds the city to the growing list of municipalities that provide legal protection to transgender people. The new law protects trans people in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations and lending.
MSNBC reports that a New Jersey man and his friend from Miami who allegedly shot a transvestite may face hate-crime charges. Adrian Miller and his friend Billy Ledan are both charged with attempted murder. The two allegedly propositioned the victim before he said, 'I'm a man.' Miller allegedly yelled gay slurs at the victim before shooting.
A special election for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District ended in the victory of pro-gay Democrat Ed Case to the post of Congressman after Rep. Patsy Mink died. Democratic candidate Matt Matsunaga began running ads criticizing Case for trying to prevent the ballot initiative that effectively ended Hawaii's possibility of legalizing gay marriages. Matsunaga placed second.
Two men in California will stand trial for hate crimes. Ever Rivera, 20, and Selvin Campos, 19, of Los Angeles, each will stand trial on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, AP reports. The two are charged in the assault of a gay man and a transgender person, on separate occasions. Both defendants remained behind bars in lieu of bail.
More than 10 years after New York took on Cracker Barrel, the city's Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement System will file shareholder resolutions in seven or more Fortune 500 companies. The resolutions attempt to create nondiscrimination policies in the corporations, according to Gay City News. American Electric Power, El Paso Corporation, Reliant Energy, JCPenney Company, Inc., TXU Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, and Ingram Micro are the targets. The city has nearly $1 billion of investments in those companies.
The Human Rights Campaign has joined the New York City Employees' Retirement System in filing a shareholder resolution calling on ExxonMobil to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy.
The conservative Southern Baptist Conference is taking a page from the Democrats' playbook. Like the Democratic National Committee did with Miami-Dade to persuade the County to keep their nondiscrimination law, The Southern Baptist Conference is threatening to cancel a 2005 conference planned in Nashville if the city passes non-discrimination legislation, according to the Washington Times. The legislation survived two readings and is scheduled for a vote next week.
A former Morehouse College student who beat a schoolmate with a baseball bat was charged with a hate crime, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Aaron Price, 19, received formal notice of the charge that could add five years to his sentence and force him to serve at least 90 percent of his sentence if he's found guilty. Price beat a schoolmate with a bat after the other man allegedly looked at Price in a shower room.
A heterosexual police sergeant in the New York Police Department has filed a discrimination lawsuit saying his career was damaged after an inspector suggested the sergeant is gay, Newsday reports. Sgt. Robert Sorrenti says his transfer to Youth Services was denied because inspector James Hall, head of the group, thought Sorrenti was gay.
Lambda Legal plans town hall meetings in 13 states to discuss why sodomy laws in those states should be repealed.
In light of laws preventing most HIV-positive foreigners from entering the U.S. and laws preventing the same-sex loved ones of gay Americans from gaining citizenship, the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force is providing hopeful information on immigration, according to Newsday. The group says applicants and lawyers should be aware of persecution claims that may allow refugee status for HIV-positives and gays.