Nearing the end of her two-year contract with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, executive director Lorri L. Jean announced she will step down as top dog at the GLBT political powerhouse. During her 18 months at NGLTF, Jean has instituted cutbacks and created a new, more narrow direction for the organization. The NGLTF Board of Directors praised Jean for her ability to eliminate the organization's debt and attract the group's first $1 million grant. Jean and Deputy Executive Director Darrel Cummings leave May 31 and resume leadership positions at the Los Angeles Gay Center, where they worked for six years.
Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy to a group of teens in TeenInk, according to the Washington Times. One teen told Powell that homophobia was a bigger problem in her school than racism or religious intolerance. Powell told the girl that the military is different than school. 'You're essentially told who you're going to live with, who you're going to sleep next to,' he told the group.
Meanwhile, the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network received a jump in calls Jan. 1-March 1 of this year—170 calls for help, up 30% from 119 during the same time in 2002. And SLDN expects those numbers to increase as the U.S. gears up for a possible war with Iraq.
MSNBC's Savage Nation premiered Saturday. Liberals and gay-rights advocates have criticized the program and called host Michael Savage intolerant. Savage threatened to call in a 'favor' from the Ashcroft Justice department to investigate his critics if they persisted. Kraft and Proctor and Gamble said they do not want their advertisements placed on Savage's show. Savage opened his program Saturday with an alleged lesbian police officer from San Francisco who stopped him to tell him she loved his show and wanted his autograph.
New York Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub cut the amount Leona Helmsley was ordered to pay the gay man she allegedly fired because of his sexuality. A jury awarded Charles Bell more than $11 million in damages. The award was cut to $554,000.
One of Springfield, Illinois' oldest gay bars closed last month, according to the State Journal Register. Smokey's Den didn't open as a gay bar in 1966, but quickly grew to be accepting of all sorts of people. Owner Mary 'Smokey' Schneider, 74, decided to close the bar so she could 'enjoy the few years that I have left.'
Fulton Count, Ga., District Attorney (DA) Paul Howard, is going national with his fight to rid the country of the 'gay panic' defense, according to 365gay.com . After Assistant DA Ahmed Dabarran was murdered, the alleged perpetrator argued that he was enraged when Dabarran made sexual advances. The argument went far enough to get the defendant acquitted. Howard wants DA's across the country to work to give gay victims equal justice.
Marla Dukler, 17, won her battle against the Klein Independent School District in Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle. Dukler and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the school district for stalling the creation of a Gay Straight Alliance. The two sides came to an agreement outside of court that would allow Dukler to start the organization.
The first case of an attempted dissolution of a Vermont civil union ended with Massachusetts' courts saying they had no jurisdiction. But in Texas, a judge had a different take, reports AP. Judge Tom Mulvaney signed a gay divorce decree for Beaumont, Tx., residents Russell Smith, 26, and John Anthony, 34. Smith's lawyer, Ronnie Cohee, relied on the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, a clause that isn't expected to go far if one state allows gay marriages. Cohee also said Texas law refers to a man and a woman in the case of marriage, but only refers to 'parties' when discussing dissolutions.
A California Appellate Court ruled in favor of a lesbian who was refused artificial insemination by her doctor. The woman, part of a group medical plan, was forced to find an alternate doctor, at her own cost, when her primary physician refused to administer the procedure because of religious reasons. The Appellate Court ruled that the woman did have the right to sue her doctors under the state's civil-rights laws.
