GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum said that he's "praying" for columnist, activist and "It Gets Better" co-creator Dan Savage, according to the Huffington Post. When RealClearReligion asked Santorum what he would say to Savage, the former Pennsylvania senator said, "I would tell him that I'm praying for him. He obviously has some serious issues." Savage—who once coined the word "santorum" as a mix of lubricant and fecal matter—responded by writing, "The man who wants to get his hands on the nuclear football so he can micromanage your sex life [...] thinks I have issues. That's hilarious."
The Ali Forney Center—the nation's largest organization working on behalf of homeless LGBT youth—recently held a successful "friendraiser" event at Soho's Housing Works Book Store Café, according to a press release. The attendees included a number of noted actors, including Sarah Jessica Parker; Ally Sheedy, Jon Robin Baitz, Ron Rifkin and Kathy Najimy. Activists who were there included Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund; Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry.
President Obama has appointed Grant Colfax as the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), according to a press release. Colfax was most recently director of the HIV-prevention Section in the San Francisco Department of Public Health. A component of the White House Domestic Policy Council, ONAP emphasizes prevention through wide-ranging education initiatives, and helps to coordinate the care and treatment of citizens with HIV/AIDS.
The newest public figure to endorse the legalization of marijuana is anti-gay evangelical leader Pat Robertson, the New York Times reported. "I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Robertson said. "I've never used marijuana and I don't intend to, but it's just one of those things that I think; this war on drugs just hasn't succeeded."
Family Equality Council—which connects, supports and represents LGBT parents and their children—announced the launch of the "Snap It & Send It" campaign, according to a press release. The program aims to encourage families to use modern technology to speak up about the out-of-date forms they come across that cater only to families headed by opposite-sex couples; people can send pics of the forms to forms@familyequality.org . See www.familyequality.org/get_involved/forms.
Officials of the University of California system have proposed asking incoming freshmen to identify their sexual orientation, according to the New York Times. The Academic Senate of the University of California system initiated the proposal to ensure that services are provided for LGBT students. Illinois' Elmhurst College announced last year that it would ask students about their sexual orientation on its admission application, making it the first college believed to make that move.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued a statement condemning Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., for using taxpayer dollars to distribute a misleading anti-gay mailer to his constituents, according to a press release. HRC says that the mailer "deceptively alleges that President Obama and his Administration will no longer enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, which is inaccurate." HRC President Joe Solmonese said, "Rep. Buchanan's decision to waste tax dollars on a misleading mailer spreading his anti-gay views is inappropriate and mean-spirited."
The U.S. Senate approved out gay attorney Michael Fitzgerald 91-6 to serve as a federal judge on U.S. District Court for the Central District of California—making him the fourth out LGBT federal, lifetime-tenured judge in the country, according to Metro Weekly. Senators voting "no" included Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; James Inhofe, R-Okla.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and David Vitter, R-La. President Obama nominated Fitzgerald in July 2011.
In Texas, AIDS Interfaith Network (AIN) announced that the 2012 Bloomin' Ball, presented by Texas Instruments, will be held Saturday, May 5, at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, according to a press release. "Bloomin' Ball happens every May and symbolizes renewal and hope," said Steven Pace, executive director of AIN. "Through Bloomin' Ball we are sowing seeds of hope; hope for people who are living with AIDS; hope that we will one day see an end to the pandemic of HIV/AIDS."
In New Hampshire, the state House has rejected a bill that would allow wedding-services providers to refuse same-sex couples, according to SeacoastOnline.com . The House voted 246-85 to kill a measure that would allow those providers to do so on the basis of conscience or religious faith. A vote on a repeal of marriage equality is slated to come up later this month.
At Iowa's Dunkerton High School, teacher and students said they were surprised when a traveling band, Junkyard Prophet, aired anti-gay, pro-life and other views during what they thought was an anti-bullying assembly, according to the New York Daily News. Besides criticizing homosexuality, the group also condemned transgender individuals and abortion, showing graphic images of fetuses that were reportedly aborted, according to Advocate.com . Principal Mike Cooper has resigned.
In Florida, out gay actor and bankruptcy attorney Stephen Jerome, 61, committed suicide, SouthFloridaGayNews.com reported. Jerome was slated to star as Max Bialystok in the opening of the Pembroke Pines Theater of the Performing Arts production of The Producers. He jumped out his law office building hours after being released from the Broward County Jail; he had been charged with possessing oxycodone, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
A gay teacher fired from a Roman Catholic school outside St. Louis after officials learned he was marrying his partner has tied the knot in New York City, the Wall Street Journal reported. St. Ann Catholic School (in Normandy, Mo.) let Al Fischer go after an official with the Archdiocese of St. Louis overheard him telling co-workers that he planned to marry his partner of 20 years. Fischer and partner Charlie Robin married in front of a fountain in Central Park.
In Illinois, a young transgender woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Cicero and two of its police officers, claiming she was discriminated against because of her gender identity. Bianca Feliciano, a Chicago resident, claims that two Cicero police officers singled her out for arrest because she is transgender and then continued to threaten and taunt her. According to the lawsuit, filed in February, police officers Scott Harris and Jose Calderon stopped Feliciano and a "companion because they were in an area 'known for a high concentration of prostitution-related activity.'"
In Chicago, a Lakeview bar has come under fire over allegations that it does not serve women during peak business hours. According to reports, Wang's has denied service to women not accompanied by men after 11 p.m. The Huffington Post broke the story in an in-depth look at the bar, which shares a location with Wakamono sushi restaurant. However, an Illinois Department of Human Rights investigation could not verify the claim.
Orlando, Fla., has become the first U.S. city to announce it will bid to host the 2018 Gay Games, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Mikael Audebert—executive director Converge Orlando, which will market itself as Orlando Gay Travel—said, "We've estimated [more than] 200,000 attendees over a seven-to-10-day period." Orlando is already known for hosting Gay Days, a series of events that culminates in a visit to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
The city council of Folly Beach, S.C., unanimously voted to pass a nondiscrimination ordinance with protections based on sexual orientation, according to Advocate.com . The council now becomes the fourth governing body in the state with such a measure. Retiring councilmember Charlie McCarty, 78, sponsored the legislation as one of his last acts in office. Folly Beach is located on Folly Island in Charleston County.
More than 40 high-ranking LGBT corporate leaders met at the fifth annual Out & Equal Executive Forum, according to a press release. Over the course of the event, held March 12-14 at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco, participants focused on building their strengths as executives in the world's largest corporations and furthering their skills as LGBT leaders. "The Executive Forum brings together key people who are working within their companies to build greater equality for LGBT people," said Selisse Berry, founding executive director of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates.
One of the co-founders of Invisible Children—the San Diego-based charity which is campaigning for the arrest of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony—has been hospitalized after police said he was detained for being naked and masturbating in public, according to the Guardian. Jason Russell, 33, was picked up by police in San Diego after receiving calls about a man vandalizing cars, being apparently under influenced by a substance and making sexual gestures while wearing only his underwear. Critics have condemned the organization for a seeming lack of financial transparency, adding that the group has taken donations from fundamentalist organizations that have also funded anti-gay causes.
President Obama has expressed his disapproval of North Carolina's Amendment One, a proposed ban of same-sex marriage and civil unions, according to the Huffington Post. Obama's North Carolina campaign spokesman, Cameron French, said in a statement that the initiative "would single out and discriminate against committed gay and lesbian couples—and that's why the president does not support it." The amendment is on the state's May 8 ballot.
SiriusXM OutQ, the nation's first and only 24/7 LGBT radio channel, and the Greater Than AIDS movement have announced the launch of "SpeakOUT: Real Talk about AIDS in Gay America," according to a press release. It will be a limited-run series of live, call-in shows that will connect listeners across the country with medical experts, people living with HIV and notable members of the LGBT community. For more information, visit www.siriusxm.com/greaterthanaids.
A Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington issued a stipulated order that respects the private communications of a Delaware same-sex couple married in California prior to the effective date of Delaware's civil-union law, according to a press release. The issue arose when half of the couple, David Theil, sued his former employer, claiming sexual orientation-based discrimination; the defendant subpoenaed documents and testimony from Theil's spouse, Kenneth Lanza.
Student plaintiffs in the now-resolved gender and sexual orientation harassment lawsuits against Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin School District deliver a special "It Gets Better" message to other students who are being bullied, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). The video is at www.youtube.com/watch. Six bullied students from Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin School District had the courage to challenge a district policy that made it difficult for staff to protect LGBT students, filing two federal lawsuits with NCLR's help.
Kyley Allworth—a former coach and librarian at the King's Way Christian School in Vancouver, Wash.—appeared in court on felony charges that she had sex with a female minor while working at the school, according to KBOI2.com . Allworth, 29, is charged with three counts of felony first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. Investigators said Allworth had sexual contact with a student eight times between Feb. 24 and March 8; Allworth resigned from her job at King's Way March 9, and was arrested March 13.
In San Francisco, criminals are targeting middle-aged gay men in the Castro district, according to SFExaminer.com . Sgt. Chuck Limbert, the LGBT liaison to the Mission Police Station, said the crooks apparently flirt with their victims and slip drugs into their drinks; when the victims become dizzy, the criminals take them home and rob them. However, police believe that gay men of all ages are victims.
Indiana's bureau of motor vehicles has pulled the specialty license plates for the LGBT organization the Indiana Youth Group, according to IndyStar.com . The move came after 20 state senators sent a letter to the bureau claiming that the group violated its contract by offering coveted plates with low-digit numbers in exchange for contributions. Executive Director Mary Byrne disputes the claim. Two other groups (the 4-H Foundation and the Greenways Foundation) also had their plates pulled.
U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., became the latest members of Congress to join the growing number of supporters of the Respect for Marriage Act (HR 1116 and S 598), which would repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, a press release stated.They signed on just days before the one-year anniversary of the Respect for Marriage Act's introduction, bringing the total number of co-sponsors in the House and Senate respectively to 140 and 31.
Black Men's Xchange (BMX) National—a group for same-gender-loving and bisexual Black men—has established a new chapter at Howard University in Washington, D.C., according to a press release. BMX National also designed, coordinated and conceived the "Innovations in Black MSM Policy and Advocacy Summit" recently held in New York; the Ford Foundation provided financial support for the event.
On March 12, the conservative group National Organization for Marriage urged the New Hampshire legislature to pass HB 437, compromise legislation to restore civil unions for same-sex couples, and repeal same-sex marriage, according to its website. However, groups such as Human Rights Campaign (HRC) are skeptical of the move. "This is complete and total policy reversal coming from one of the nation's most virulently anti-gay organizations," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "It smells like a Mitt Romney-style flip flop for short term gain. NOM's phoniness and opportunism never cease to amaze."
In Chicago, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., recently held a congressional field forum to discuss preventative measures to treat psychiatric disorders leading to suicide, the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States, according to a press release. Research shows certain groups are particularly affected by suicide, including veterans, who compose approximately 20 percent of all suicides, with male veterans committing suicide at twice the rate of civilians. In addition, research completed by Dr. Brian Mustanski, one of the forum panelists, indicates that LGBT youth are at least twice as likely as other youth to attempt suicide or hurt themselves in other ways.
In Nebraska, Omaha's city council narrowly approved anti-bias protections for LGBT residents, according to Reuters. The council voted 4-3 to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the city's law that already prohibits discrimination based on religion, marital status and race. Conservatives may challenge the ordinance.
Black women living with HIV are more likely to progress to AIDS and twice as likely to die of its complications, compared with their white counterparts, according to a POZ.com article. Factors influencing these rates may include lower access to care; lower adherence to HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy); or genetic or biologic factors. The result was reported at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle.
In Paradise Valley, Ariz., the school district governing board unanimously voted to fire lesbian high school prinicipal Cynthia Davis because of her sexual orientation, AZCentral.com reported. In a letter to her staff on March 5, Davis said she was being let go because the administration had issues with her "leadership ability and style." One board member allegedly had concerns about Davis' "lifestyle." The firing angered many parents.
March 20 marked the sixth annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD), according to a press release. NNHAAD provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the epidemic's effects on this community while encouraging American Indians and Alaska natives to take control of their health. American Indians and Alaska natives have the third highest rate of HIV infection in the United States, behind African Americans and Latinos.
Olga Vives, a lesbian who was executive vice preesident of the National Organization for Women (NOW) during 2005-09, died March 16, 2012. She was also NOW's action vice president from 2001 to 2005. NOW called her "our jefe and compadre—our sister, our friend, our boss and our conscience, our angel and party girl, our inspiration and our model, exasperating and exhilarating."
In New York City, First Lady Michelle Obama talked about the importance of marriage equality, according to Advocate.com . At a TriBeCa fundraiser hosted by Robert DeNiro and his wife, the first lady emphasized the importance of the next four years on the Supreme Court: "...Let us not forget what [the Supreme Court's] decisions—the impact those decisions will have on our lives for decades to come—on our privacy and security, on whether we can speak freely, worship openly, and, yes, love whomever we choose."
The U.S. Supreme Court has let a lower court's ruling stand that San Diego State University can refused to fund student groups that discriminate on the bases of religion and sexual orientation, according to Advocate.com . The court declined to hear an appeal from Alpha Delta Chi sorority and Alpha Gamma Omega fraternity; these houses require members to be Christians who are abstinent outside of marriage and refrain from same-sex activities.
