A well-known Washington, D.C., drag performer was shot to death last weekend, reports the Washington Post. Bella Evangelista, 25, was found dead on Saturday morning. Police stopped and arrested Antoine D. Jacobs, 22. Police say Jacobs was armed when they found him. Jacobs told police he shot Evangelista when she tried to rob him. Investigators say they believe Jacobs paid Evangelista for oral sex and killed her when he found she was biologically male.
The American Bar Association approved a policy last week to embrace the right of unmarried parents to form a legal relationship with their children. In the case of gay parents, this means second-parent adoptions in which two same-sex people can both be the legal parents of a child.
The city of Costa Mesa, Calif., dropped many of its concerns about the second annual Dyke March, reports the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot. The city created a 21-point rule book for the marchers including, among other things, requirements that copies of participants' drivers' licenses be provided to the city. The 21 restrictions placed on the permit were reduced to about 12. City officials say safety was a concern after one rider 'popped a wheelie' last year after a police officer asked her not to.
LGBT students and their friends, attending universities like Brown, Columbia, Duke and Harvard are reaping the benefits of the first national scholarship fund for LGBT students and their allies. The Point Foundation awarded more than $200,000 to 13 students over the past two years. 'Providing educational opportunities through financial support for LGBT scholars will ensure that no deserving student is marginalized because of sexual orientation or gender expression,' said Joe McCormack, Chairman of the Board. Visit ThePointFoundation.org for more information.
A New York state representative filed a lawsuit against New York Schools last week in an attempt to stop additional funding aimed at creating the city's full-fledged school for sexual minorities, reports the New York Daily News. Democratic state Sen. Ruben Diaz said public funding should not be used to create segregated schools. The conservative legal group Liberty Counsel joined Diaz in the lawsuit. The city plans to spend more than $3 million to renovate the school that has housed a special program for LGBT students for almost 20 years.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is backing the anti-gay marriage arguments of Alliance Defense Fund, a self-described Christian law firm in the state, according to the Arizona Daily Sun. Goddard's office argued in court papers that the state has an interest in promoting opposite-sex marriages because they are the only unions that can result in procreation.
The embattled Governor of California says he'll approve statewide civil unions in that state if a bill reaches his desk, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Gov. Gray Davis, the subject of a recall vote, pledged to sign AB205 that passed the assembly in June and is expected to pass the Democratically controlled state senate. The bill would give most of the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex partners. Opponents say the law would violate Proposition 22—the California law that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriage. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, currently leading the polls to succeed Davis should he be recalled, also supports the bill.
The Duluth city council voted 5-2 to recognize the Duluth Superior Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Ally Queer and Intersex Pride Festival, reports the Duluth News Tribune. Councilmembers in favor of the resolution said they want to promote diversity. Duluth Mayor Gary Doty has vetoed the measure in previous years. If he kills the bill this year, the council would need six votes to override his veto.
Bishop Stephen Jecko, the Episcopal bishop of Florida, has ordered that no funds be sent to the national organization until the Florida diocese can resolve their concerns about the confirmation of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson, reports 365gay.com . Jecko said in a letter to parishioners that money normally sent to the national organization would be escrowed until further notice.
The Boy Scouts refused to renew the charter of Sebastopol, Calif., Venture Crew 488, according to AP. Bev Buswell, a troop leader, said her application was denied because the troop includes a nondiscrimination clause pledging not to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation. Buswell said 65 teenagers and 21 leaders participated in the troop since 1996.
A Navy judge ruled that Cpl. Stephen Funk will stand trial for desertion, reports 365gay.com The openly gay Marine was away without leave (AWOL) for 47 days. The Marine's lawyers argue that he left in an effort to build his case as a conscientious objector. While AWOL, Funk came out of the closet. Judge John A. Maksym rejected the defense motion to dismiss the case.
Arguing that excluding gay teenagers from the Kansas 'Romeo and Juliet' law is unconstitutional after the recent Supreme Court decision striking down sodomy laws, the ACLU asked a state appeals court to free a bisexual teenager who is serving 17 years in prison for having oral sex with another young man. Matthew Limon is appealing a 17-year prison sentence he received because shortly after he turned 18 he performed consensual oral sex on another teenager at a residential school for developmentally disabled youth where they both lived in Miami County.
Outlining a long history of discrimination against transgender people, the ACLU has urged the Supreme Court of Hawaii to rule that gender identity discrimination is against state law. 'Discriminating against someone for failing to conform to stereotypes about how a man or woman should look or act is sex discrimination under the law,' said Ken Choe, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, which submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. The issue arose when the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission decided that transgender people are covered by prohibitions against sex discrimination in a case involving several complaints of gender discrimination against a company that provides inventory services to retailers.
In court papers filed Aug. 4, Lambda Legal joins the City of New Orleans in defending the city's policy extending health insurance benefits to domestic partners of its gay and lesbian workers and protecting the city's domestic partner registry. In 1997, the City of New Orleans, by executive order, extended insurance benefits to same-sex partners of city employees. The partner benefits policy and the city's partner registry have come under attack by a right-wing conservative group, the Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Ariz. At the city's request, Lambda Legal has joined the lawsuit today representing city employee Peter Sabi and his partner, Philip Centanni. Sabi has worked in the city's Vieux Carre Commission as a senior building inspector for nine years. Centanni is a self-employed writer.
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