On Glenn Beck's radio show, Texas Gov. Rick Perry criticized Madonna over her GLAAD Media Awards fashion choice, according to the Houston Chronicle. In part, Perry said that his experience at the Conservative Political Action Conference was more exciting than the singer wearing a Boy Scout uniform to protest the organization's anti-gay policy. "It's fascinating that someone would make that kind of gratuitous shot at an organization that has probably done as much to promote young men to the type of values that the vast majority of the people in this country aspire to," Perry said.
Lesbian writer Judy Rickard was one of 11 people the White House honored March 26 as Cesar Chavez "Champions of Change," according to a press release. Rickard—author of Torn Apart: United by Love, Divided by Law—has worked to promote civil rights since 1973 as an LGBT-rights activist. She is a pioneer in applying for a green card for her wife, UK national Karin Bogliolo, with The DOMA Project.
President Obama nominated two women, including lesbian Elaine D. Kaplan, to serve on the United States Court of Federal Claims, according to a press release. (The other was Patricia E. Campbell-Smith.) Kaplan serves as general counsel of the United States Office of Personnel Management, a position she has held since 2009. The Washington Blade reported, "If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kaplan would become the second out gay person to serve on the specialized court, which hears cases brought by citizens against the federal government to recover monetary damages."
On March 19, the White House honored 14 women veterans as "Champions of Change," according to a press release. One of the women was Becky Kanis, a former U.S. Army officer who co-founded The Social Change Agency with her wife, Christine, to support non-profit leaders. The "Champions of Change" program was created as a part of President Obama's "Winning the Future" initiative. Each week, the White House features a group of people doing things to empower and inspire members of their communities.
The San Francisco Pride committee has released its slate of nominees for the public's choice for Individual Community Grand Marshal, Organizational Community Grand Marshal and the Pink Brick award, a press release stated. Among the nominees for the Pink Brick—given to the person/group who has done significant harm to the LGBT community—are Pope Francis, the Boy Scouts of America and Uganda Parliament Speaker Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga. Voting will conclude April 15, with live online voting at www.sfpride.org/vote.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is saying gay people should be allowed to marry to help ensure the health and well-being of their children, according to ABC News. The policy, published online March 21, cites research showing that the parents' sexual orientation has no effect on a child's development. Kids fare just as well in gay or straight families when they are nurturing as well as financially and emotionally stable, the academy says.
Greg Raymer, better known as poker champion FossilMan, was arrested in North Carolina in what was originally described as a "male prostitution sting" on CardPlayer.com, according to an Advocate item. Media outlets have conflicting reports, however, regarding the gender of the prostitute Raymer was allegedly seeking. What is sure is that police allege that Raymer responded to an online advertisement that undercover police posted.
The Mexican food chain Chipotle has pulled its support from a Utah Boy Scouts' annual event because of the group's current ban on allowing gay members, according to the Washington Times. The Colorado-based company initially signed on to provide about $4,200 worth of coupons to Utah's "Scout-O-Rama," set for May 4. Rick Barnes, executive of the Boy Scouts' Great Salt Lake Council in the Salt Lake City area, told the Associated Press that while the Scouts respect Chipotle's decision, "the show will go on."
A murder case that made history as the first involving a same-sex married couple in the state of Massachusetts ended in a hung jury, according to Advocate.com . After jurors failed to either acquit or convict Cara Rintala—on trial for murdering her wife, Annamarie, in their Granby, Mass., home in 2010—a Hampshire Superior Court jury declared a mistrial. Prosecutor Steven Gagne said, "We certainly look forward to re-trying the case; we are fully committed to re-trying this case."
The trial of gay former Army Lt. Dan Choi for his November 2010 arrest for chaining himself to the White House fence to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is scheduled to resume March 28 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., according to the Washington Blade. The trial, which began in August 2011, has been on hold for more than a year over procedural disputes. At the White House protest, Choi and 12 other LGBT activists and supporters were charged with disobeying a lawful police order to disperse from the White House fence after they handcuffed themselves to the fence.
An exclusive, women's liberal arts college has rejected transgender applicant Calliope Wong because a government financial-aid document still registers her as male, according to the Huffington Post. Signed by Smith College's Dean of Admission Debra Shaver, the letter thanked Wong for her application but said that "Smith is a women's college, which means that undergraduate applicants must be female at the time of admission." The problem, according to the letter, is that Wong's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) identified her as male.
A spokeswoman for Republican N.J. Gov. Chris Christie said that the politician "does not believe in conversion therapy" for gay people, but did not say if Christie plans to support a ban on the practice that's under consideration by state lawmakers, CNN.com reported. Maria Comella's comments came shortly after Christie made headlines for saying he hadn't decided if he would sign the ban into law. The bill would make it illegal for a professional counselor to "engage in sexual-orientation change efforts with a person under 18."
Anti-gay Muslim-themed ads will soon be seen on San Francisco buses, according to the Huffington Post. Purchased by the pro-Israeli American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), the most recent set of ads show inflammatory, anti-gay quotations from Muslims like controversial cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ADFI spokesperson Pamela Geller said that "the ads will increase awareness about the subjugation and oppression of gays under Shariah law."
Adult film actor, TV host, lecturer and writer Conner Habib—whose invitation to speak at New York's Corning Communty College (CCC) was rescinded— came to Corning anyway and spoke somewhere else, the Ithaca Journal reported. Habib, 35, gave his lecture, "Sex, Sexuality, Pornography and Culture," at the Southeast Steuben County Library instead of at CCC. Habib—who said the pro-LGBT college group Equal invited him—said that CCC's "president decided to cancel the talk against student wishes ... because of who I am and what I do."
President Obama announced his intent to nominate several individuals to key administration posts, including Fred P. Hochberg, the openly gay president of Export-Import Bank of the United States, according to a White House press release. Hochberg is a past board member of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Citizens Budget Commission, the Foundation for International Community Assistance and the New York State Financial Control Board.
Cheers erupted as Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a civil-unions bill during a ceremony at the History Colorado Center near the state Capitol, the Huffington Post reported. Hundreds looked on, with many chanting "Equal! Equal!" Colorado will join eight states that have civil unions or similar laws, while nine states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. Colorado's law takes effect May 1.
Writer Willa Cather's letters are coming to print (in The Selected Letters of Willa Cather) after decades of scholarly frustration and debate about her sexuality, according to a Newser.com item that cites the New York Times. Cather's ban on her letters—which pretty much expired with her will—fueled a vein of scholarship that sought out hidden sexual turmoil in frontier novels like My Antonia and O Pioneers! Cather did destroy her letters to Isabelle McClung—considered by many the love of her life—but may have done it out of depression rather than shame.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has released an 80-second video entitled "Imagine a World Without Hate," according to ADL.org . It imagines a world without racism, homophobia or anti-Semitism—a world in which the hate and violence that took the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, Daniel Pearl, Matthew Shepard, Harvey Milk and others did not happen. The video is at www.adl.org/imagine or www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KyvlMJefR4.
In New Mexico, two same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry filed a lawsuit in Albuquerque's district court after they applied for and were denied marriage licenses by the Bernalillo County Clerk, according to a National Center for Lesbian Rights press release. The couples are Miriam Rand, 63, and Ona Porter, 66, and Rose Griego, 47, and Kim Kiel, 44; Rand and Porter currently live in Albuquerque, while Griego and Kiel reside in Santa Fe. New Mexico is the only state that does not either explicitly recognize same-sex relationships through marriage or civil unions, or ban recognition of same-sex relationships by statute or constitutional amendment.
Army veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson urged the U.S. Navy to intervene in the case of a same-sex military spouse denied appropriate honor and recognition at the retirement ceremony of her wife due to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a press release stated. Navy Ship's Serviceman First Class Melissa Smith is retiring and has requested that her legal spouse, T.J. Jenkins, receive a customary certificate of appreciation and other appropriate honors from the commanding officer. The commander denied that request, citing DOMA, although other same-sex military families in the Navy have been recognized in that way.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear vetoed a controversial "religious freedom" bill the Kentucky General Assembly recently approved, according to Courier-Journal.com . Gay-rights groups have argued that the legislation could be used to challenge civil-rights laws in Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Vicco that are designed to protect gays and lesbians. Democrat Rep. Bob Damron said he would urge House leaders to let the chamber vote to override the veto.
At a shareholders' meeting, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz dismissed shareholder Tom Strobhar, who claimed the coffee company's support of same-sex marriage is hurting its bottom line, according to Politix. When Strobhar said that the National Organization for Marriage's boycott of Starbucks resulted in "disappointing" sales, Schultz responded, "If you feel, respectfully, that you can get a higher return than the 38 percent you got last year, it's a free country. You can sell your shares of Starbucks and buy shares in another company."
Allure's first-ever anti-aging survey reveals that LGBT respondents are more attracted to people 10 years older than them, according to a press release. Key findings include that LGBT respondents are more likely to be attracted to people older than them by more than 10 years, compared to straight respondents; and that they think they attract people younger than them by more than 10 years more than straight respondents do. The full survey is in the magazine's April issue.
Internal polling documents obtained that Scouts for Equality (SfE) obtained show that the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) policy of banning gay scouts and scoutmasters is a key component in scouts' decades-long membership decline, according to a press release. Specifically, the polling indicates that of the 5,800 survey respondents, 95 percent said the "reaffirmation of the membership policy negatively impacted their loyalty." For Boy Scouts and their parents, that number jumped to 97 percent.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has praised President Obama's nomination of Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez to be the next secretary of labor, according to a press release. Perez currently leads the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice and oversaw implementation of the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. HRC President Chad Griffin said, "The President made a strong choice for the next labor secretary by nominating Perez. Perez has been a longtime advocate for LGBT equality."
GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz appeared on MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry to affirm the organization has formally dropped the "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" from its name and will now be known simply as GLAAD, the LGBT media advocacy organization, according to Advocate.com . The organization also issued a commitment to incorporate trans and bi people in its efforts to support the entire LGBT community. "It is a natural progression that reflects the work GLAAD's staff is already leading," Cruz told Harris-Perry.
A committee of the Republican-dominated Arkansas House overwhelmingly approved a resolution supporting the state's constitutional ban against same-sex marriage as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act, according to Advocate.com . With no discussion or roll call, the resolution passed March 22.
Fox News contributor and former Bush Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove said on the ABC show This Week that he can imagine the next Republican nominee for the White House supporting same-sex marriage, according to ABC News. Rove's comments came days after Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, whom Mitt Romney considered as a running mate in the 2012 election, announced that he had shifted his position and supported gay marriage. Portman is the only sitting senator in the GOP to support marriage equality.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, announced his support for same-sex marriage, according to TPM LiveWire. Part of a Facebook post on his official page read, "I support marriage equality because it is the fair and right thing to do. Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone. ... I believe we should continue working to expand equal rights and opportunities for all Americans."
In addition, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) has come out in support of marriage equality, according to Towleroad.com . Rockefeller—who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act when it passed under President Clinton in 1996—said, "I'm against discrimination in all its forms, and I think we can move forward in our progress toward true equality by repealing DOMA."
The son of Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is defending his father against critics who wonder why the lawmaker waited two years after learning his son was gay to publicly support same-sex marriage, according to Gay Star News. Will Portman wrote in the Yale Daily News, "Part of the reason for that is that it took time for him to think through the issue more deeply after the impetus of my coming out. But another factor was my reluctance to make my personal life public." Will added that when former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney didn't choose Rob Portman to be his running mate, Will was "pretty relieved to have avoided the spotlight of a presidential campaign."
CourageCampaign.org released a statement signed by 25 mayors representing millions of Californians urging the Supreme Court to rule Prop 8 unconstitutional, according to a press release. The letter reads in part, "As Mayors, we have a special view of the separate class system created by Proposition 8. Individuals who are public servants and work to improve our cities do not receive important benefits for their loved ones as other couples do, because they are denied the recognition of marriage." Among the cities that are represented are West Hollywood, Redondo Beach, Oakland, Davis, Los Angeles and San Diego.
According to a CNN/ORC International survey, 57 percent of respondents say they have a family member or close friend who is gay or lesbian, up 12 points from 2007, CNN.com noted. "Some people have recently taken to calling it the 'Rob Portman effect,' after the Republican senator from Ohio who learned that his son is gay and changed his position on gay marriage as a result," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
Colorado has joined California, Oregon and the District of Columbia in expressly prohibiting discrimination in health insurance due to sexual orientation or gender identity, according to Advocate.com . In a bulletin that the Department of Regulatory Agencies' Division of Insurance published, the agency clarified that any insurance provider offering health care within Colorado may not deny, cancel, limit, refuse to issue or renew, or charge more for health insurance to a client based on the insured's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Hundreds of advocates and community leaders are expected to participate in the "Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS" march and rally April 6 in Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn, according to Business Wire. The event—the third in a series calling on officials to commit to stopping AIDS—will be hosted by radio and television personality Sway Calloway, and will feature the Rev. Al Sharpton. This third "Keep the Promise" march follows the inaugural "Keep the Promise" March on Washington last July, when a coalition of 1,432 organizations from 103 countries came together before the XIX International AIDS Conference.
In Portland, Ore., there are now unisex bathrooms at Grant High School to accommodate trans students, according to Advocate.com . Gender non-conforming and transgender students will not be mandated to use the six bathrooms, but will have the option. There are about 10 openly transgender students in the city's largest high school, which has 1,600 students.
