Gay Chicago Pages

Dot Gay May be on the Horizon

2011-02-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

Move over .com and make way for .gay!

...or .love, .eco, .car, .health, .radio, .ski, etc. In fact, there's a large list of all the possibilities various groups already want to see when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) completes its tasks to implement the new Top level Domains over on the .NXT Conference site. The custom domain will also mean cities and states can have their own top level domain like .nyc or .florida. We may also see brand ones like .coke (.canon and .unicef are already listed).

What's the catch, you may ask? Having your own top level domain like this will be coming with a hefty price tag. $185,000 plus a $25,000 annual fee according to the Washington Post. Pretty big catch! Luckily, the dotGAYalliance and dotGAY will be pushing to have the .gay extension included so we may see eventually sites like hotel.gay, sports.gay, or health.gay popping up.

Unfortunately, as has happened in the past with the Bush Administration stopping the .xxx extension, the Obama administration is quietly pushing to allow countries, including the US, to veto top level domains. That then leads to the trouble that having a central domain such as .gay (or any number of potentially controversial extensions like .abortion, .aids, etc) would allow countries who aren't friendly towards a particular subject to block any domain with that extension if it was approved by the ICANN.

Confused About "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? You're Not Alone...

2010-11-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

As one of my followers on Twitter mentioned recently, the news about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been less than clear. He is, of course, absolutely right as it seems things are constantly going back and forth about whether it will be repealed or not (and even if it will be included in the Defense Authorization Act this year). I've been reading the stories as they appear on various news sites and have seen everything from the White House not approving any defense bill without the repeal of DADT to the lame duck congress won't be able to pass the defense bill with or without it due to the small time span.

While I won't be able to make anything clearer about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" myself as I'm not a member of congress, at least I can do some of the legwork by giving you a list of the most informative articles I've read lately to do with DADT.

While Wikipedia has its flaws in the communal editing and potential of false information being edited in by those who aren't up on their facts or are trolling, generally, it is always a good place to look for quickly updated information and source linkes. Don't Ask, Don't Tell article on Wikipedia

Advocate.com is also another source and is where most of the articles I've been reading has stemmed from. The latest one posted as of November 16, 2010 is A Midwestern DADT Repeal Effort.

Others Articles Posted Recently

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/yes_dadt_repeal_could_still_pa.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/mccain_is_still_on_the_wrong_s.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/the_morning_plum_131.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/on_dadt_its_imperial_presidenc.html

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/11/gates-launches-investigation-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-review-leak.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131223266

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-1114-court-gays-military-20101112,0,6155475.story

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cindy-mccain-opposes-john-mccain-dont/story?id=12131423

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20022790-503544.html

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/11/17/obama-restates-commitment-on-keeping-dont-ask-in-defense-bill/

Overall, we're going to have to wait and see what comes out of the lame-duck congressional session. Taking a look through some of those links will help to piece together a semblance of where things are currently standing. If it's anything like a couple recent days though, tomorrow it may very well be a different story.

Lady Gaga and Senator Tweet Regarding DADT

2010-09-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga and Sen. Harry Reid communicated via Twitter this week.

The subject of the Twitter chat was actually quite serious: the potential repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell". In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Gaga has asked that the opponents of the policy to call Reid and demand the Senate vote on the issue.

Lady Gaga tweeted on Tuesday to her 6.3 million followers on Twitter,"Gay Veterans were my VMA dates. Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. CALL HARRY REID to Schedule Senate Vote."

Harry Reid's replied to Gaga's Tweet..."@ladygaga There is a vote on #DADT next week. Anyone qualified to serve this country should be allowed to do so."

LADY GaGa says taking drugs inspired her music

2010-08-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga began using illegal substances after she dropped out of a music course at New York University in 2005, and she insists getting high helped her creativity.

“[Using drugs] I really figured out the art I wanted to make and was inspired. Some people find inspiration in dark places. I guess I’m one of them,” she said.

“What always made me different is that if I was doing drugs I was also making music. I wasn’t just doing drugs.”

She revealed her mother Cynthia didn’t understand why she felt she needed to take drugs and was confused by her early performances.

“At the beginning I was doing performance art in handmade leather and leopard bikinis talking about oral sex and Andy Warhol and heavy metal,” she said. “My mom was like, ‘You’ve lost your mind.’ I was doing drugs, I was really out of control. But I never got so far into it that I overdosed or anything.”

Gaga is adamant she doesn’t need drugs anymore and has toned down her wild lifestyle.

“Once you open those doors they’re open for ever,” she said. “People who say they need [drugs] to be creative are full of s**t. I’m not some chick on the road getting high and f***ed up every night. I wake up, drink coffee and get on the phone to talk about the creative direction of the next video.”

Divorce Court Needed

2010-08-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Joanne Gibeault gave up her cabinetry business and spent her days caring for her partner's ill parents. She was told to screw off by her now-ex when a younger lady found her way between the two.

Gibeault is filing a palimony suit, one of the state's first for same-sex couples.

"All I want is what married people would have if it happened to them,” says “She promised it to me. I am 53 years old. I don't have a lot of time left before I retire.”

Gibeault can't actually file a palimony suit, since the state doesn't recognize any form of same-sex relationships.

Gibeault is taking her ex to civil court, alleging they had a verbal contract that all of their assets, which are in the ex's name, would be shared.

A Lesbian Cure Pill?

2010-08-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Next month medical groups will release guidelines for doctors on the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a condition affecting 1 in 15,000 newborns that may result in girls being born with ambiguous/intersex genitalia (among other things), and the increasing use of the hormone treatment dexamethasone that's shown to eliminate the chances these female babies will be gay or exhibit masculine characteristics. So that should get everyone on the same page!

"Carriers of the gene mutation that causes this form of hyperplasia have roughly a 12.5% chance of having a daughter with the condition. The hormone treatment must be started as soon as possible, before the gender of the child is determined, for it to have an effect on genital development."

There is no medical group that appears ready to recommend research on the drug stop (medical types would never discourage this, of course), it seems like a slippery slope that will lead to the drug, or a variant, being used on boys to cure their homosexuality before they leave the womb.

Gay Marriage Will Stay in D.C.

2010-07-19T16:37:00.001-07:00

Washington DC legalized gay marriage in March of this year.

Opponent's of gay marriage attempted to take the topic to the polls and ask voters to vote marriage be defined as a woman and a man.

The D.C. appeals court ruled 5-4 to keep the law the same and off the ballot.

City officials said a district human rights law barred initiatives that would authorize discrimination.

President Obama Heckled While Speaking About DADT

2010-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

President Obama was heckled at a fundraiser as he talks about efforts to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."

Obama team working on a compromise on gays in military, meets with gay rights activists

2010-05-24T16:00:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — A proposal to step up the repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military but still allow the Pentagon time — perhaps even years — to implement new policies was being discussed Monday by administration officials and gay rights activists.

The White House had hoped lawmakers would delay action until Pentagon officials had completed their study so fellow Democratswould not face criticism that they moved too quickly or too far ahead of public opinion in this election year. Instead, administration officials now expect Congress to move ahead this week even though advocates on both sides say it's not clear there are enough votes to lift the 1993 ban.

Under the proposal emerging from talks at the White House, Congress would remove the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" law even as the Pentagon continues an ongoing review of the system. Implementation of policy for gays serving openly would still require the approval of President Barack Obama, Defense SecretaryRobert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. How long implementation might take was not known.

"We want to be clear: This review is focused on 'how' the military should implement repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' not 'if' it should," said Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Iraq warveteran who is leading the House effort of repeal.

Activists met at the White House through the day with administration officials who are trying to broker a compromise. Policy aides to Democratic leaders met Monday morning to discuss the potential deal and top Democratic lawmakers planned to meet Monday evening on Capitol Hill.

Hoping to secure those votes, Democrats described a compromise that would add the repeal to the annual defense spending bill but delay its implementation until after the Pentagon completes its study.

The emerging compromise was described by officials and activists involved in the process, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meetings were ongoing and there were still details to be finalized.

At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs declined to describe the talks. "Obviously, it's likely that Congress is going to act this week," he said. "If they decide to do that, we'll certainly examine what those efforts are."

Obama called for the repeal during his State of the Union address this year, and Gates and Mullen have echoed his views but have cautioned any action must be paced.

In a speech last year at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., Gated noted that the 1948 executive order for racial integration took five years to implement.

"I'm not saying that's a model for this, but I'm saying that I believe this is something that needs to be done very, very carefully," he told the audience.

The administration has argued that any repeal should start in Congress and have the backing of top military leaders. Gay rights activists criticized the administration as Obama did little to push for a repeal during his first year in office.

On Capitol Hill, the third-ranking House Republican promised unified GOP opposition to lifting the ban. "The American people don't want the American military to be used to advance a liberal political agenda. And House Republicans will stand on that principle," said Mike Pence, R-Ind.

Pence urged Democrats who control both chambers to wait until the Pentagon completes its review of what a repeal would take.

Congress led hearings on a repeal and heard testimony from Gates and Mullen — the top uniformed official in the country — in favor of repeal. Additionally, a Gallup poll earlier this month found 70 percent of American favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly.

Obama's relationship with gay activists has been rocky since his election. Gays and lesbians objected to the invitation of evangelist Rev. Rick Warren's to participate in Obama's inauguration because of Warren's support for repealing gay marriage in California. Obama responded by having Episcopalian Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the denomination's first openly gay bishop, participate at another event.

Obama has taken a slow and incremental approach to the politically charged issues. He has expanded some federal benefits to same-sex partners, but not health benefits or pension guarantees. He has allowed State Department employees to include their same-sex partners in certain embassy programs already available to opposite-sex spouses.

The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was imposed by a 1993 law intended as a compromise betweenPresident Bill Clinton, who wanted to lift the ban on gays entirely, and a reluctant Congress and military that said doing so would threaten order.

Under the policy, the military can't ask recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members can't say they are gay or bisexual, engage in homosexual activity or marry a member of the same sex.

Between 1997 and 2008, the Defense Department discharged more than 10,500 service members for violating the policy.

Orlando Sentinel

On the Media: The debate over Elena Kagan's sexuality

2010-05-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Supreme Court Justice-designate Elena Kagan, have I got a fella for you! He's quiet, scholarly and not bad looking. He knows a thing or two about those folks you hope to join on the highest court.

And David H. Souter, who retired from the Supreme Court last year, certainly could commiserate with you about how the media work their magic on anyone foolhardy enough to try for a seat on the court while in an unmarried condition.

It's been two decades since the mainstream media gave Souter a relatively muted once-over, airing and then rejecting rumors that the New Hampshire judge was gay. Over the last week, Kagan has been living the full-volume sequel as the Internet, cable TV and tabloids insist she is either a lesbian or an inexplicably single 50-year-old, which to some seems to be the same thing.

Distinctly missing from the recent Kagan baiting — filled with patter about her short hair, tendency toward plaids and apparent affinity for (Great Sappho's Ghost!) softball — has been any actual evidence that she is a lesbian and, more important, any good reason to think that her sexual orientation is crucial to the kind of justice she would be.

Most newspapers, wire services and television networks somehow have resisted the temptation (yes, with the exception of media criticism like this) of joining in this feeding frenzy. Big mainstream news organizations simply don't see news here. They have taken a nearly unanimous pass on the story so far.

In exercising something called news judgment — so passé to bloggers and others who only nominally occupy the same profession — the traditional media make some calculations many of the newcomers don't. They try to decide not just what's rumored, but what's true; not just what's interesting, but what's important; not just what the audience wants, but what it needs.

That may make the old-schoolers, by some accounts, out of touch, quaint and more than a little pompous. By my estimate, it also makes them distinctive, authoritative and trustworthy.

Newer media opinion makers may trash the traditionalists, but they care — oh, they care a lot — about what the mainstream media are doing. So do the U.S. senators who will determine whether to confirm Kagan, currently the U.S. solicitor general, to the Supreme Court.

They will find it much more difficult to raise the question of Kagan's sexuality when the news editors of the New York Times, Associated Press, National Public Radio, three television networks and many other big news outlets, including The Times have decided, at least for now, that it does not matter.

I'm guessing the big media will remain on the sidelines when it comes to Kagan's personal life, even with (no pun intended) strange bedfellows like liberal blogger Andrew Sullivan and conservative Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly agreeing that the issue is very important.

Sullivan, writing for theAtlantic.com, argues it would "be bizarre to argue that a justice's sexual orientation will not in some way affect his or her judgment" on issues likely to come before the court, presumably such as same-sex marriage. The questions about Kagan arise, Sullivan wrote, because "we have been told by many that she is gay."

O'Reilly declared that "Americans have a right to know if their Supreme Court justice has an orientation that may or may not dictate which way she votes on a vital issue. "When guest Sally Quinn suggested Kagan's sexual orientation is her personal business, O'Reilly responded: "How do you know it doesn't get in the way of her judicial decisions?"

Did I miss it when O'Reilly worried whether the heterosexuals on the court have let their sexual orientation cloud their decision making?

And speaking of the straight justices, just how straight are they? Many experts believe that human sexuality exists on a spectrum. Did today's happily married heterosexual judge have a youthful dalliance with a member of the same sex?

How far do we want to take this? Maybe we should also ask every justice-designate how many homosexuals they have known and what they felt about them. And Justice-designate Alito or Breyer, while we're at it: Spend much time in a Turkish bath? Did "Gladiator" arouse certain, uh, feelings?

Without knowing a thing about Kagan's sexuality, we already have a pretty good idea about her feelings about civil rights for gays and lesbians. She has called the military's ban on homosexuals "a moral injustice of the first order." There's a hint.

The speculation has been slowed not a whit by the White House's statements denying Kagan is a lesbian or by the statements of a college roommate, and still close friend, who said Kagan always has been interested in men.

The story took on new life when the Wall Street Journal illustrated its coverage of the Kagan nomination with a large, front-page photo of Kagan wielding a softball bat. Some gay and lesbian political activists accused the Journal of using the prominent photo to send a coded message about Kagan's orientation.

That, in turn, allowed that giant of American socio-sexual theory, Pat Buchanan, to deliver his verdict.

Yes, Pat assured us on MSNBC, affinity for softball surely marked possible lesbianism. He called it "a signal, like two men sunbathing together on the beach or something like that. The immediate indication is that they're gay."

When pressed by a writer for the Daily Beast website about how he knew Kagan was a lesbian, the Atlantic's Sullivan explained that as a blogger "my job is to think out loud. It is not my job to report stories."

Editors at both NPR and the Los Angeles Times explained that they have taken a different approach, one more tethered to, um, facts.

"If it becomes a focal point in the confirmation process, we will report on that," David Sweeney, news managing editor at NPR, said during an online chat this week. "We are continuing to monitor developments, and if the situation changes, we'll reassess."

Many of us look forward to the day when candidates can be open about their sexual orientation without fear of recrimination or backlash. I understand the activists who want to move that day forward, but it's not journalism's job to aid their cause.

In the meantime, should news editors responsible for covering the entire nation send out teams of reporters to look for Kagan boyfriends? (And, yes, it usually takes more than one individual to quickly track down this kind of personal information.) How about sending those reporters after more information on the would-be Times Square bomber? Or peeking beneath the surface at which lobbyists are bending the financial reform debate?
Orlando Sentinel

Supreme Court skeptical over keeping private the names of anti-gay rights petition signers

2010-05-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday about keeping secret the names of people who signed a petition to repeal Washington state's gay rights law, suggesting citizens cannot always hide behind anonymity if they want to be heard.

Opponents of gay rights want the court to keep the names private to avoid intimidation by the other side. But several justices questioned whether allowing petitioners to stay anonymous might imperil other vital open records like voter registration and lists of donors to political candidates.

"The fact is that running a democracy takes a certain amount of civic courage," Justice Antonin Scalia said. "And the First Amendment does not protect you from criticism or even nasty phone calls when you exercise your political rights to legislate or to take part in the legislative process."

The case, which will be decided by the court before the end of the summer, could draw a new line between voters' desire for openness in government and the right to political speech unfettered by fear of intimidation.

Opponents of the law that expanded the rights of gay couples mounted a petition drive that succeeded in getting a referendum on the "everything-but-marriage" law on last year's ballot. But voters backed the law by a 53 percent to 46 percent tally that granted registered domestic partners the same legal rights as married couples.

While the campaign was under way, gay rights supporters sought access to the petitions under Washington's open records law. Protect Marriage Washington, the group that organized opposition to the law, objected, saying its members would be harassed if their names were made public.

"No person should suffer harassment for participating in our political system, and the First Amendment protects citizens from intimidation resulting from compelled disclosure of their identity and beliefs and their private associations," lawyer James Bopp Jr. said.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to keep the names secret, but the Supreme Court stepped in and blocked release of the names before the vote. The justices later intervened in another case in which gay rights opponents complained about potential harassment. The court's conservative majority prevented broadcast of the trial on California's ban on same-sex marriage.

Bopp said people who signed the petition faced the prospect of harassment. Scalia called that "touchy-feely, oh-so sensitive."

"You know, you can't run a democracy this way, with everybody being afraid of having his political positions known," Scalia said.

"I'm sorry, Justice Scalia, but the campaign manager of this initiative had his family sleep in his living room because of the threats," Bopp replied.

Scalia said threats should be moved against vigorously. "But just because there can be criminal activity doesn't mean that you have to eliminate a procedure that is otherwise perfectly reasonable."

Washington Attorney General Robert M. McKenna denied there was evidence of violence or threats against petition signers.

If there was proof of violence, the petition signers could ask for a preliminary injunction, McKenna said. "Such situations should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to evaluate the reasonable probability of threats, harassments, and reprisals," he said.

Making the petition names public also helps the state fight fraud, McKenna said. And "it's also about finding plain old mistakes which the state, the secretary of state, or auditor has missed."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that while Protect Marriage Washington says it wants to keep the petition names anonymous, organizers of petitions often make the names public themselves by selling the names to other organizations and using them for fundraising.

"So that would be the end of a person's privacy," she said.

Chief Justice John Roberts compared signing a petition to voting, saying a person's vote might be chilled if it was revealed which candidate they voted for. McKenna argued that chill would be no more significant than it is for having campaign contributions or voter registration disclosed.

Justice John Paul Stevens, listening to his final arguments before retiring later this summer, said there might be a public interest in seeing the names on a referendum petition to "identify people who have a particular point of view on a public issue."

"And if you have the other point of view, don't you have an interest in finding out who you would like to convince to change their minds?" Stevens said.

But Justice Samuel Alito questioned McKenna on whether his office was willing to give out the home address of its lawyers so people could show up and have "uncomfortable conversations" with them about issues in which they disagree.

"We could not release it because they can come to the office and have uncomfortable conversations with them, which I can personally attest happens with some regularity," McKenna said to laughter in the courtroom.

The Associated Press is among 22 news organizations and media trade associations that filed a brief in the case supporting public disclosure of the documents.

The case is Doe v. Reed, 09-559.

Eds: CORRECTS in 17th graf name of organization to Protect Marriage Washington, sted Project Marriage Washington.

Anti-gay message painted on man's fence allowed to remain in Wyoming city

2010-04-26T15:29:00.001-07:00

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Casper officials say an anti-gay sign painted on a homeowner's fence near a high school will be allowed to remain because there's nothing the city can or should do about it.Chris Trumbull painted the words "Leviticus 20:13, To be gay equals death" on his fence. Trumbull says the message is the Bible's, not his.Trumbull's property sits along a route between Roosevelt High School and the Boys & Girls Club where dozens of high school students pass every day. City Code Enforcement Supervisor Shelley LeClere says the city asked Trumbull to remove the message, but he declined.Councilman Keith Goodenough says he didn't think it was the city's place to "draw the line."
Information from: Casper Star-Tribune - Casper, http://www.trib.com

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Chicago Gay-Bashings Increasing

2010-04-19T15:46:00.002-07:00

CHICAGO

It's a type of hate crime that's on the rise in Chicago, and the victims are often reluctant to seek justice.

Statistically, how bad it is depends on who you ask.

33-year-old Daniel Hauff will tell you it's a real problem.

Hauff was riding the Red Line back in January when he became a gay-bashing victim. Coming to the aid of a young gay man being verbally abused by three other El riders, the men quickly turned their wrath on him.

"I was punched repeatedly," Hauff said, "I had a bloody nose. I suffered a lot of injuries."

They arrived at the Argyle stop and spilled out onto the platform. The original victim disappeared, leaving just Hauff and his attackers. The punches and verbal abuse continued. Hauff recalls it matter-of-factly:

"At that point, I did the only thing I could think of to get them to stop- which was to smear blood on their faces."

He smeared his blood on the men and told them he was HIV-positive. He's not. The trio never touched Hauff again, but the verbal abuse continued. They were still at the station yelling anti-gay slurs, police say, when all three were arrested. They were charged with misdemeanor battery, a charge later upgraded to felony hate crime.

Illinois has some of the toughest hate-crime laws in the country. Chicago police say they enforce them vigorously.

Sgt. Allison Johnson heads-up the department's Hate Crimes Unit. "This is a city that prides itself on diversity," Johnson said, "However, we still have a few people that go to the extreme to express their hatred."

According to the statistics, more than a few, although the numbers vary. According to police, attacks based on sexual orientation were down sharply in Chicago last year from the year before- from 26 in 2007 to 18 in 2008.

The private Center on Halsted sees it much differently.

Total reports to its Anti-Violence Project are up in those same two years from 105 in 2007 to 125 in 2008.

While their data tells them attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims are extremely common, Lisa Gilmore, the center's Director of Education and Victim Advocacy, knows there are countless cases they never hear about.

"Some people have an experience of shame related to being attacked," she says.

In that sense, not much has changed since last fall, when President Obama signed a law making it a federal offence to assault someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The measure was named forMatthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student beaten to death in 1998.

It might seem that acceptance is at a historic high, but science suggests the opposite; that the more mainstream exposure gays and lesbians get, the more violence against them increases. For social service agencies, it's backlash with a physical manifestation.

Even so, the Administration's working to end the long-standing military policy of 'don't ask, don't tell,' allowing homosexuals to serve openly.

WGN-TV Newsletter | WGN-TV on Twitter | WGN-TV on YouTube

WGN Military Analyst, retired Maj. Gen. David Harris said, "The issue- I think- is it in some way discriminatory? Does it say that, well, we can't ask you if you are openly gay- and is that discriminatory in some way to people who want to join the military who are openly gay?"

Daniel Hauff knows about discrimination. He says he's been dealing with it for most of his life. He also knows about living as an openly-gay man, the inherent risks, and he's grateful, he says, that the law's getting tougher on those who commit crimes motivated by hatred.

"I'm certainly grateful that the Chicago Police Department and the State's Attorney's Office went back and looked at the case, reviewed the evidence and upgraded the charges to hate crimes, because that's what it was. You can't call someone a f***** and beat them up because of their sexuality or sexual orientation and think that's okay," he says.

Digging deeper into the statistics, it looks even less okay, if that's possible. Nationally, almost 10% of gay-bashing victims are actually straight. In those cases, the attack still falls under the hate crimes law, because the attack was motivated by hate.

Whether they're out or not, police and organizations like Chicago's Center on Halsted want all victims to come forward. You can do that anonymously by contacting the center's 24-hour crisis line at 773-871-2273.

Gay Metro Student Fighting 'Discriminatory' Blood Donation Law

2010-04-19T15:46:00.001-07:00

kansas city, mo

A Kansas City, Missouri, college student says that he was recently turned away from a campus blood drive, and he says that he was shocked to learn why he wasn't allowed to give blood.

James Stewart Jr., a student at Avila College, says that he was turned away because he was gay, and now he is working to change a federal law that he calls unfair and discriminatory.

In 1992, Congress passed a statute prohibiting gay and bisexual men from donating blood. At the time, the Food and Drug Administration said that the rule was necessary to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Stewart says that he was filling out the paperwork at the campus blood drive when he came upon a question he wasn't expecting.

"If you're a man if you've ever had sexual contact with a man before, true or false," said Stewart, who answered the question truthfully and then finished the screening process with a nurse.

"She looked at me and said I'd be deferred indefinitely from giving blood and essentially unless the rule was changed it would be something I'd never be able to do," said Stewart. "No one has ever told me before I couldn't do something based on my sexual orientation. This is the first time I've ever felt discriminated against."

Stewart says that he understands why the law was enacted in 1992, but says that technology makes the rule obsolete.

"I do realize why it was done, we didn't have information technology to screen this," said Stewart. "We didn't know who had it and who didn't. But now that we do, any given blood sample can be tested and we'd find out if there's something wrong with it or not."

Gay rights activist Christene Main says that the rule is definitely a case of unfair discrimination.

"The quality of the blood should be based on a persons safe-sex activities not based on their sexual orientation, not based on gender identity or sexual preference," said Main.

FOX 4 contacted the FDA to find out whether the law was still relevant given the changes in blood testing.

"The FDA has been actively engaged in reexamining the issue of blood donor deferral for men who have had sex with other men," the agency said in a statement. "We are considering the possibility of pursuing alternative strategies that maintain blood safety."

Meanwhile, Stewart says that he will continue to raise awareness and fight the law until it is changed. The American Red Cross, America's Blood Centers and the AABB all endorse amending the law given the upgraded testing technology. But other organizations like the World Federation for Hemophilia says blood donor rules are discriminatory by design to protect the recipients and should not change.

Even after death, abuse against gays continues

2010-04-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

THIES, Senegal —

Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world any more.

Madieye Diallo's body had only been in the ground for a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents.

The scene of May 2, 2009 was filmed on a cell phone and the video sold at the market. It passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men who say they now feel like hunted animals.

"I locked myself inside my room and didn't come out for days," says a 31-year-old gay friend of Diallo's who is ill with HIV. "I'm afraid of what will happen to me after I die. Will my parents be able to bury me?"

A wave of intense homophobia is washing across Africa, where homosexuality is already illegal in at least 37 countries.

In the last year alone, gay men have been arrested in Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. In Uganda, lawmakers are considering a bill that would sentence homosexuals to life in prison and include capital punishment for 'repeat offenders.' And in South Africa, the only country that recognizes gay rights, gangs have carried out so-called "corrective" rapes on lesbians.

"Across many parts of Africa, we've seen a rise in homophobic violence," says London-based gay-rights activist Peter Tatchell, whose organization tracks abuse against gays and lesbians in Africa. "It's been steadily building for the last 10 years but has got markedly worse in the last year."

To the long list of abuse meted out to suspected homosexuals in Africa, Senegal has added a new form of degradation - the desecration of their bodies.

In the past two years, at least four men suspected of being gay have been exhumed by angry mobs in cemeteries in Senegal. The violence is especially shocking because Senegal, unlike other countries in the region, is considered a model of tolerance.

"It's jarring to see this happen in Senegal," says Ryan Thoreson, a fellow at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission who has been researching the rise of homophobia here. "When something like this happens in an established democracy, it's alarming."

Even though homosexuality is illegal in Senegal, colonial documents indicate the country has long had a clandestine gay community. In many towns, they were tacitly accepted, says Cheikh Ibrahima Niang, a professor of social anthropology at Senegal's largest university. In fact, the visibility of gays in Senegal may have helped to prompt the backlash against them.

The backlash dates back to at least February 2008, when a Senegalese tabloid published photographs of a clandestine gay wedding in a suburb of Dakar, the capital. The wedding was held inside a rented banquet hall and was attended by dozens of gay men, some of whom snapped pictures that included the gay couple exchanging rings and sharing slices of cake.

The day after the tabloid published the photographs, police began rounding up men suspected of being homosexual. Some were beaten in captivity and forced to turn over the names of other gay men, according to research by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

Gays immediately went into hiding and those who could fled to neighboring countries, including Gambia to the south, according to the New York-based commission. Gambia's erratic president declared that gays who had entered his country had 24 hours to leave or face decapitation. Many returned to Senegal, where they lived on the run, moving from safehouse to safehouse.

In March 2008, Senegal hosted an international summit of Muslim nations, which prompted a nationwide crackdown on behaviors deemed un-Islamic, including homosexuality.

The crackdown also coincided with spiraling food prices. Niang says political and religious leaders saw an easy way to reach constituents through the inflammatory topic of homosexuality.

"They found a way to explain the difficulties people are facing as a deviation from religious life," says Niang. "So if people are poor - it's because there are prostitutes in the street. If they don't have enough to eat, it's because there are homosexuals."

Imams began using Friday sermons to preach against homosexuality.

"During the time of the Prophet, anytime two men were found together, they were taken to the top of a mountain and thrown off," says Massamba Diop, the imam of a mosque in Pikine and the head of Jamra, an Islamic lobby linked to a political party in Senegal's parliament.

"If they didn't die when they hit the ground, then rocks would be thrown on them until they were killed," says Diop, whose mosque is so packed during Friday prayer that people bring their own carpets and line up outside on the asphalt.

Sermons like Diop's were carried on the mosque's loudspeakers as well as in Senegal's more than 30 newspapers and magazines.

Around this time, in May 2008, a middle-aged man called Serigne Mbaye fell ill and died in a suburb of Dakar.

His children tried to bury him in his village but were turned back from the cemetery because of widespread rumors that he was gay. His sons drove his body around trying to find a cemetery that would accept him. They were finally forced to bury him on the side of a road, using their own hands to dig a hole, according to media reports.

The grave was too shallow and the wind blew away the dirt. When the decomposing body was later discovered, Mbaye's children were arrested and charged with improperly burying their father.

In the town of Kaolack three months later, residents exhumed the grave of another man believed to be gay. In November 2008, residents in Pikine removed a corpse from a mosque of another suspected homosexual and left it on the side of the road.

The grave-robbing has shocked even hardened gay activists, such as Nigerian Davis Mac-Iyalla.

"People have done horrible things (in Nigeria). I have seen people spit on coffins and people spit on graves," he said. "But it stopped there."

Among the people who appeared in the photograph published from the gay wedding was a young man in his 30s from Thies. He was an activist and a leader of a gay organization called And Ligay, meaning 'Working together,' which he ran out of his parents' house.

He was HIV-positive and on medication.

When the tabloid published the photograph, Diallo went into hiding, according to a close friend who asked not to be named because he too is gay. Unable to go to the doctor, Diallo stopped taking his anti-retrovirals. By the spring of 2009, he was so ill that his family checked him into St. Jean de Dieu, a Catholic hospital in downtown Thies, says the friend.

He was in a coma when he died at 5:50 a.m. on May 2, 2009, according to the hospital's records. Although the hospital has a unit dedicated to treating HIV patients, the young man's family never disclosed his illness, according to the doctor in charge.

Several gay friends tried to see Diallo in the hospital but were told to stay away by his family, says the friend.

When the AP tried to speak to Diallo's elderly father at his shop on the main thoroughfare in Thies, his other children demanded the reporter leave. One sister covered her face and sobbed. Another said, "There are no homosexuals here."

Hours after he died, his family took Diallo's body to a nearby mosque, where custom holds the corpse should be bathed and wrapped in a white cloth. Before the family could bathe him, news reached the mosque that Diallo was gay and they were chased out, says the dead man's friend. His relatives hastily wrapped him in a sheet and headed to the cemetery, where they carried him past the home of Babacar Sene.

"A man that's known as being a homosexual can't be buried in a cemetery. His body needs to be thrown away like trash," says Sene. "His parents knew that he was gay and they did nothing about it. So when he died we wanted to make sure he was punished."

The video footage captured on a cell phone shows what happened next. His thin body was placed inside a narrow trough in the middle of the bald cemetery dotted with clumps of weeds. Then you hear shouting.

The shaky image shows a group of men jerking around the edges of the grave. One of them straddles the pit and shovels away the fine gray dirt until you can see the shrouded body. It's still inside the trough when they tie a rope around its feet.

They yank it out, cheering as the body bends over the lip of the grave. The shroud catches on the ground and tears off, revealing the dead man's torso.

Rassul Djitte, 48, watched from behind the wall of a nearby school. He had not known Diallo personally, but says he felt a stab. "People were rejoicing," he says. "They dragged him past me and his body left tracks in the sand. Like a car passing through snow."

Seattle Times

U.S. Army backtracks on gay discharges, no moratorium

2010-04-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The secretary of the U.S. Army publicly corrected himself on Thursday about his assertion that there was a moratorium on discharging gays from the military, saying he had been mistaken.

John McHugh, the Army's top civilian, added he was unable to pursue disciplinary action against the three soldiers who he revealed on Wednesday had admitted to him that they were gay, in an apparent violation of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

"I am unable to identify these soldiers and I am not in a position to formally pursue the matter," McHugh, a former Republican congressman, said in a statement.

The rare, and very public, correction highlights confusion within the armed forces as the U.S. military seeks to survey troops about their feelings on potentially ending the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The law allows gays to serve in the military only if they keep their sexual identity secret.

The Pentagon hopes to prepare a study by December on the impact of integrating openly serving homosexuals into the force if Congress repeals the law -- one of President Barack Obama's policy priorities.

One option the Pentagon is considering is hiring a private, third-party firm to survey troops, a move that might allow officials to draw input from homosexual personnel without exposing them to the risk of discharge.

McHugh said on Wednesday that he felt pursuing disciplinary action against gay soldiers who had spoken to him "openly and honestly" seemed counter-productive, since he had been tasked to get the pulse of troops about potentially ending the ban.

But on Thursday, McHugh said he should have behaved differently given that "don't ask, don't tell" is still in force.

"I might better have counseled them that statements about their sexual orientation could not be treated as confidential and could result in their separation (from the Army) under the law," said McHugh, who was appointed by Obama.

IGNORING THE LAW?

Obama called for a repeal in his State of the Union speech in January, putting a spotlight on the hot-button issue before congressional elections in November.

The top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has supported repeal, but military officials and lawmakers have voiced concerns about lifting the ban at a time when the U.S. military is stretched by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Nathaniel Frank of the Palm Center, a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara, said top brass have long turned a blind eye to "don't ask, don't tell."

"We've known for years that military leaders are ignoring this law, especially during wartime," said Frank, a proponent of repeal.

The Pentagon last week issued new rules making it harder for the armed forces to discharge gay personnel but admissions of homosexuality are still grounds for discharge.

The directives announced by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the rank of those allowed to launch investigations against suspected violators of "don't ask, don't tell."

They also raised the level for what constitutes "credible" information to start an inquiry and curbed the use of testimony from doctors, lawyers and clergy.

Washington Post

More than 450 couples apply for marriage licenses in first week of DC same-sex marriage

2010-03-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of couples applied for marriage licenses in Washington during the first week they were available to same-sex couples.

Courthouse spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz says the 466 applications received from both gay and straight couples is much higher than the 50 or so applications normally received in a week.

Couples can pick up their license three business days after applying. Tuesday was the first day couples could pick up their licenses and actually marry in the city. The district Council approved a bill making gay marriage legal late last year.
Orlando Sentinel

Male-on-male sexual harassment claims increase, victims often perceived as 'not manly' enough

2010-03-08T17:50:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jonathan Pilkington's boss wouldn't take no for an answer.

During more than two years as a food runner at an upscale steakhouse in Scottsdale, Ariz., Pilkington says his male supervisor groped, fondled and otherwise sexually harassed him more than a dozen times.

"It was very embarrassing," Pilkington said. "I felt like I had to do something because the situation was just so bad."

Now Pilkington, a married father of two, is the star witness in a federal lawsuit against Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and one of a growing number of men claiming they are victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

From 1990 to 2009, the percentage of sexual harassment claims filed by men has doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent of all claims, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Women still file the overwhelming majority of sexual harassment claims with the EEOC and state and local agencies. But lawyers at the commission say they've noticed the increase in complaints by men — more than 2,000 were filed in 2009 out of about 12,700 cases.

Male claims made up about 12 percent of all cases a decade ago, but the percentage has continued to rise even as the overall number of sexual harassment complaints has declined. And last year, the percentage of lawsuits the EEOC filed on behalf of male victims hit an all-time high, making up 14 percent of all cases.

"It's certainly possible that there's more sexual harassment of men going on, but it could just be that more men are coming forward and complaining about it," said Ernest Haffner, an attorney in the EEOC's Office of Legal Counsel.

While some cases allege harassment by female supervisors or co-workers, most charges involve men harassing other men. Sometimes it's unwelcome romantic advances. Other times, men are picked on because they are gay, perceived as being gay or not considered masculine enough for the work setting.

In the past, some employers might have shrugged off such antics as "boys will be boys" horseplay or fraternity-type behavior. But the EEOC has been filing more lawsuits involving male victims, saying it wants to send a message that such behavior is unacceptable and unlawful.

In November, for example, the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain agreed to pay $345,000 to six male employees who claimed they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a group of male kitchen staffers at a Phoenix-area restaurant.

The EEOC said the abusers would drag some victims kicking and screaming into a walk-in refrigerator, touching and grinding against the victims' genitals and take turns simulating rape. The company denied the allegations but agreed to make a financial settlement and educate its employees and managers about sexual harassment.

Susan Strauss, a consultant who advises companies about how to avoid sexual harassment in the workplace, said she's seeing more cases in which men are subject to a sexualized form of hazing.

"If you don't fit the masculine stereotype or are viewed as effeminate, you get picked on in a sexual way to demean you," Strauss said.

Cases involving women making unwanted advances toward men may also be rising as women make up a growing part of the work force. Last year, the Regal Entertainment Group, which operates a national chain of movie theaters, agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a lawsuit by a male employee who claimed a female co-worker repeatedly grabbed his crotch at work.

When the employee complained to his supervisor and the theater's then-general manager, he claims, she failed to stop the harassment and instead retaliated against the victim with unfair discipline and lower performance evaluations.

The number of cases filed by men has grown steadily since a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1998 held that same-sex harassment is a valid claim under federal anti-discrimination laws. That ruling involved an offshore oil rig worker who said he was subject to humiliating sex-related treatment by other workers, including being sodomized in the shower with a bar of soap.

In Pilkington's case, he claims the restaurant's chef would grope and pinch his genitals or grab his backside when Pilkington walked to the kitchen or stock room. Despite his complaints to the restaurant's operating partner, he says the conduct didn't stop.

After one incident, Pilkington lost his composure and yelled at the chef, making a scene. Days later, he was fired — an action he claims was retaliation for his complaints. An EEOC lawsuit on behalf of Pilkington and three other current and former employees is pending.

"I think maybe it's just harder for males to come out and file a complaint because of how embarrassing it is," Pilkington said. "When I talk about it I get this nauseous feeling in my stomach."

The restaurant has denied the charges. In a statement, the company that owns Fleming's said the restaurant "has always been committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace free of harassment for all of its associates."

Many victims are hesitant to come forward because they are afraid of being considered unmanly or being derided by co-workers, said Mary Jo O'Neill, a regional attorney in the EEOC's Phoenix District office.

"All sexual harassment victims feel humiliated, lacking control and power," O'Neill said. "This has a different twist because everyone expects that they would be able to handle it and take care of it themselves."

Pilkington has since moved on to another job. While he is embarrassed by the publicity his case has received, he says it was the right thing to do. The EEOC lawsuit seeks damages for him and other workers alleging harassment, along with back pay and compensatory and punitive damages.

Orlando Sentinel

Groups send aid to Haiti’s HIV/AIDS population

2010-01-24T18:30:00.000-08:00

With every hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital and largest city, either damaged or destroyed by the series of devastating earthquakes over a week ago, the nation’s health care system is in shambles people in the country infected with HIV or AIDS, access to antiretroviral treatments is difficult – even in ideal circumstances.

“Here in Haiti, more than 2 percent of the adult population lives with the virus, and hundreds more are infected every year,” wrote Craig Kielburger, a Vancouver Sun columnist and founder of Free the Children who traveled in Haiti on Jan. 16 to offer food and medical aid. “Due to the extreme poverty and lack of medical access at the best of times, mother-to-child transmission through breastfeeding or at birth is quite common.”

Several corporations and aid groups have taken up the cause and are making concerted efforts to help rebuild Haiti’s devastated health care system and provide supplies to those infected with HIV/AIDS.

Abbott Laboratories, a global health care company and pharmaceutical provider, initially offered $1 million in humanitarian aid. This week, the company more than doubled their donation, providing $2.5 million in funding and pharmaceutical products.

“The recent earthquake has had a devastating impact on Haiti’s limited health care system, which was already facing significant challenges,” said Catherine V. Babington, president of the Abbott Fund in a news release. “Building on our existing partnerships with humanitarian organizations in Haiti, we are providing funding and product donations to help address the immense and immediate health needs.”

The release notes that Abbott and the Abbott Fund have provided more than $34 million in grants and product donations since 2007 to help address health needs in Haiti, including maternal and child health, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition.

New York-based Aid for AIDS is also coordinating an effort to help HIV-infected Haitians by collecting unused medications to treat the virus. In addition to collecting life-saving antiretroviral drugs, Aid for AIDS is also amassing medications including antibiotics, antivirals, antiallergics and antiparasite medications to treat infections associated with the virus.

Liliana Velaquez, marketing and communications coordinator for the group, said Aid for AIDS is working on sending their third shipment of medications this weekend.

“Many people are responding to the call,” she said.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is also lending a hand. The group raised more than $10,000 in the past week, the majority of which is going to SEROvie, a Haitian group that provides support to predominantly gay, HIV-infected men. At the time the earthquake struck, a support group was in progress at SEROvie’s office in Port-au-Prince – 14 men died as the walls of the building crumbled, said Sara Perle, communications director of IGLHRC.

“Now, they are providing support for the beneficiaries sort of out of their back yard,” said Perle.

A portion of the IGLHRC funds raised will also be sent to Collectiva Mujer y Salud, a human rights organization based in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

365 Gay

State Senate Says YES: Hawaii Is ThisClose to Gay Civil Unions

2010-01-24T18:03:00.000-08:00

In a veto-proof 18-7 vote, the Hawai'i State Senate yesterday voted to approve an "everything but marriage" civil unions billfor gay and straight couples, leaving the State House — which already approved a gays-only civil unions bill — with the momentum to line up its bill with the Senate's version.

Then it's off to the desk of Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, who hasn't said whether she'll support the bill, but has urged lawmakers to drop the issue altogether. Which could be a moot point if the House scores at least 34 votes, ensuring another veto-proof passage.

Queerty

Is California's State Bar Assocation Avoiding Doug Manchester's Hotel Because of the Boycott? Or a Better Deal?

2010-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

The American Historical Association learned the hard way about crossing the boycott line in front of Doug Manchester's Hyatt hotel in San Diego: People will scream at you! With organized protests against the Prop 8-supporting hotelier popping up anytime a large organization plans on holding a convention at the property comes word the State Bar Association of California has nixed plans to hold its 2011 conference at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. But not because they're scared of some angry homos.
The official reason for the Bar Association's move? Finances! In this economy, hotels are frothing at the mouth to attract money-making conventions, which guarantee huge blocks of rooms are rented out in addition to collecting fees for conference room use. Which means the State Bar got a better deal elsewhere. In Long Beach! Or at least that's their public position, negating the argument made by Californians Against Hate's Fred Karger, who insists it was the public pressure — and in-fighting among the group's local and LGBT chapters — that has them heading elsewhere for the 2011 conference. As Karger notes, last year's Bar Association convention was held at the Manchester Hyatt, and attracted a maelstrom of negative publicity and outcries.
But if the Manchester boycott is the real reason the Bar Association is changing locales, why not own up to it? Perhaps not to infuriate Doug Manchester, whom they might return to when all the hubbub dies down. Or to insist they won't cave to public pressure. Either way, the change means many fewer zeroes in Manchester's pocket.
(NB: Ridiculously, in reporting on the story, San Diego's Gay and Lesbian Times argued "not everyone in the GLBT community supports the boycott’s efforts," but the only person they quoted as disagreeing with the boycott is gay publicist Howard Bragman, whose client is none other than Manchester himself. That's not a showing of "lack of support"; that's a showing of "supporting my bill-paying client's interests.")

Queerty

NH gays ring in New Year with weddings at Statehouse as same-sex marriage law takes effect

2010-01-04T18:35:00.001-08:00

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Jubilant gay couples have rung in the New Year in New Hampshire with wedding vows to celebrate the state's new law legalizing same-sex marriage.

At midnight, New Hampshire joined Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa in allowing gay marriage.

About 15 couples braved the cold to exchange vows outside the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord (KAHN'-kard). Others planned private ceremonies around the state.

The law grants no new rights to gays but eliminates the separate status for civil unions.

Couples already in civil unions have three options to convert their statuses to marriages. They can have marriage ceremonies, file marriage paperwork with their town clerks to convert their statuses during 2010 or wait until the unions are automatically converted in 2011.
Orlando Sentinel

Meet the Bisexuals of the New Real World in DC

2010-01-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

MTV Shows

Real World XXIII: Washington DC - MTV Shows

Lisa Miller Bails on Jan. 1 Deadline to Turn Over Daughter to Ex-Partner

2010-01-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

Lisa Miller, the (former) lesbian and evangelical Christian who was ordered by a court to turn over 7-year-old daughter Isabella to her former partner Janet Jenkins, has officially defied a judge's order — missing yesterday's deadline to exchange custody. Miller (pictured, right) did not arrive at Jenkins' (left) home yesterday, prompting Jenkins to call the police, which are investigating. Lisa and Isabella's whereabouts have been unknown for weeks. It looks like this is no longer a case of child custody, but of kidnapping.
Queerty

Father accused of forcing 'gay' son to have sex with a prostitute

2009-12-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

A father is standing trial in Queensland, Australia, for allegedly forcing his 14-year-old son to sleep with a prostitute because he thought the boy was gay.

According to the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, the alleged incident happened in 2007 at a family barbecue.

The father, who cannot be named, was said to have phoned a sex worker and arranged to meet her at a motel on Yaamba Road, North Rockhampton.

He waited outside the motel room after telling his son he expected to see a used condom as proof he had sex, Rockhampton magistrates court heard.

The alleged offences came to light after the father called the Child Protection Investigation Unit in May 2008.

The police officer who answered his call said he claimed authorities had not acted on his suspicions the boy was abusing his younger brother and admitted he had taken the 14-year-old to see a prostitute to sort the situation out.

The boy's mother said her son had tearfully told her his father had taken him to see a prostitute but wouldn't say any more.

Magistrates said there was enough evidence to charge him with the rape of his son.

The case will be heard in a higher court next year.

Pink News

These Are the Faces of LGBT Youth. Who Have Nowhere to Call Home

2009-12-21T05:50:00.001-08:00

LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Interview with Zariah from holdynb on Vimeo.

Netflix Accidentally Told Everyone If You're Gay, And This Closeted Lesbian Mom Ain't Having It

2009-12-21T05:34:00.001-08:00

Nothing you put on the Internet is a secret. Ever. Despite what assurances are made to you by YouTube, Facebook, Gmail, Amazon, or in this case, Netflix, there's a very real possibility your personal data will leak, and it will embarrass you. That's the hard lesson being learned by a closeted lesbian mom, who is suing the movies-by-mail company for revealing her sexuality. Except she's got a great case, given that video rental records are actually among the most federally protected records in all the land.

In trying to create a smarter recommendation algorithm, Netflix launched a $1 million prize project and opened up its data records, "anonymously," to contest entrants. Except that supposedly unidentifiable data of nearly a half million customers — including the rating you gave a movie, when, and the reviews you've posted about it — was easily matched up with other data, like that of IMDB, to reveal an anonymous Netflix user's real identity. Reports Wired:

So it wasn’t surprising that just weeks after the contest began, two University of Texas researchers — Arvind Narayanan and Vitaly Shmatikov — identified several NetFlix users by comparing their “anonymous” reviews in the Netflix data to ones posted on the Internet Movie Database website. Revelations included identifying their political leanings and sexual orientation.

Does this lesbian mom — identified only as Jane Doe in Doe v. Netflix, which is seeking $2,500 in damages for every Netflix customer — have a case? Very possibly.

But video records count among the most privacy protected records in the U.S. — a reaction to a reporter getting Supreme Court–nominee Robert Bork’s records from a video store. The lead attorney on the new suit, Joseph Malley, recently reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Facebook over its failed Beacon program, which drew fire in part for sharing users’ Blockbuster rentals with their friends.

Meanwhile, in its mission to make its recommendation engine, Netflix is working on a second contest. Except this time it would also make available members' ZIP codes, ages, and genders — all but guaranteeing an increase in the number of recognizable "anonymous" customers. And all but guaranteeing more privacy violations, which is why Jane Doe's lawsuit is asking a court to nix the second contest.

It's understandable why your movie rental records are considered so private: Your viewing habits, like your library book check-out data, tell an awful lot about your person. And because these things (movies, books) are consumed in the privacy of your home, there's a reasonable expectation of privacy. Not only does federal statute (the Video Privacy Protection Act) make it a crime to release such data (and some states, like Michigan, go even farther), but Netflix's own privacy policy says it won't tell anyone if you like Brokeback Mountain or Eating Out 3.

What's shocking, however, is that your Netflix movie rentals are given broader federal privacy protections than the arguably more personal data you upload to Facebook — all of which is very, very identifiable. And even more capable of outing you.

Queerty

Two Brooklyn teachers – both women – caught with pants down in classroom

2009-12-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

Two Brooklyn teachers were caught with their tops off and pants down in an empty classroom by a janitor at James Madison High School in Brooklyn, NY.

Alini Brito, 29 and Cindy Mauro, 33, both Romance language teachers, were caught in a romantic embrace while students were at an evening talent show in the auditorium, according to the New York Daily News. Brito is married to a man.

The teachers, both tenured, were sent to the Education Department’s “rubber room” and are being investigated for misconduct.

Students said the teachers were popular.

From the Daily News:

A 16-year-old sophomore said Brito was a teacher students would come to with problems.

“She usually dresses elegant, looks smart,” he said. “She’s good-looking. And she was friendly, not flirty, just friendly.”
365 Gay

Barbara Walters Interviews Lady Gaga

2009-12-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

Kathy Griffin on the Chelsea Handler Show

2009-12-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

New York Senate Says NO to Gay Marriage

2009-12-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

FULL LIST OF YES/NO VOTERS:

Yea Eric Adams (D)

Nay Joe Addabbo (D)

Nay Jim Alesi (R)

Nay Darrel Aubertine (D)

Nay John Bonacic (R)

Yea Neil Breslin (D)

Nay John DeFrancisco (D)

Nay Ruben Diaz Sr. (D)

Yea Martin Malave Dilan (D)

Yea Tom Duane (D)

Yea Pedro Esapda Jr. (D)

Nay Hugh Farley (R)

John Flanagan (R)

Yes Brian Foley (D)

No Chuck Fuschillo (R)

No Marty Golden (R)

No Joe Griffo (R)

No Kemp Hannon (R)

Yes Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D)

No Shirley Huntley (D)

Yes Craig Johnson (D)

No Owen Johnson (R)

Yes Jeff Klein (D)

Yes Liz Krueger (D)

No Carl Kruger (D)

No Andrew Lanza (R)

No Bill Larkin (R)

No Ken LaValle (R)

No Vincent Leibell (R)

No Tom Libous (R)

No Betty Little (R)

No Carl Marcellino (R)

No George Maziarz (R)

No Roy McDonald (R)

No Hiram Monserrate (D)

Yes Velmanette Montgomery (D)

No Tom Morahan (R)

No Mike Nozzolio (R)

No George Onorato (D)

Yes Suzi Oppenheimer (D)

No Frank Padavan (R)

Yes Kevin Parker (D)

Yes Bill Perkins (D)

No Mike Ranzenhofer (R)

No Joe Robach

No Saland

Yes John Sampson

Yes Diane Savino

Yes Eric Schneiderman

Yes Jose M. Serrano

No Jim Seward

No Dan Skelos

Yes Malcolm Smith

Yes Daniel Squadron

No Bill Stachowski

Yes Toby Ann Stavisky

Yes Andrea Stewart-Cousins

'Good Morning America' cancels Adam Lambert after American Music Awards performance; CBS, yes

2009-11-30T05:39:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Lambert's racy American Music Awards performance cost him a gig on "Good Morning America," but he will perform live instead on ABC's morning rivals at CBS.

Lambert was to sing Wednesday on "GMA," but the network said Tuesday it was canceling the openly gay singer because "we were concerned about airing a similar concert so early in the morning."

While singing his new song, "For Your Entertainment," at the awards program on Sunday, Lambert kissed a male keyboardist, fondled a dancer and had another dancer briefly stuff his face in Lambert's crotch. The performance prompted many complaints to ABC, and the network cut out the brief oral sex simulation for its West Coast broadcasts.

"Obviously, I respect their decision — they gotta do what they gotta do," Lambert said Tuesday in an interview with Ryan Seacrest. "It's too bad — I think there were a lot of fans who were excited to come see me.

"They probably had a lot of pressure coming at them from certain people who weren't happy about it," he said.

ABC News' top management made the decision to cancel Lambert, spokeswoman Cathie Levine said. She said there was no pressure from ABC's parent The Walt Disney Co.

CBS had invited Lambert before the "GMA" cancellation, and when ABC balked, the singer's management turned to "The Early Show" and they gratefully accepted. Lambert will be interviewed, perform live and answer questions from audience members, said Zev Shalev, the show's executive producer.

Shalev said he expected no problems with the performance. Lambert won't sing "For Your Entertainment," but will perform two other songs instead.

"We spoke to them about who our audience is and our expectations," Shalev said. "He's a very smart, sophisticated performer," he said.

While women have often crossed the threshold regarding sexually provocative appearances on television — think Madonna kissing Britney Spears — Lambert's performance was perhaps the first time it has been done by an openly gay man. The singer said before Sunday's show that he was hoping to accomplish just that.

"There are a lot of double standards as far as that goes," Lambert said backstage, a few days before the awards show. "We've seen female pop and rock performers do that for the last 10 years. They've been very provocative, owning their power and sexuality. You just don't see men doing it very often. And I'm hoping to break down that double standard with this number."

Said Alicia Keys when asked about Lambert's performance, "I don't know. You make different choices as a performer. It's all about opinion. It's all about what works for the performer."

ABC said it felt burned because Lambert went further on the air with sexuality than he did in rehearsals — including the kiss. But the man putting his face to Lambert's crotch was included in a rehearsal, according to an Associated Press reporter who attended the rehearsal. It was that sort of unpredictability that bothered ABC, particularly on a morning show with many young viewers watching.

Shortly after ABC's cancellation, CBS quickly announced Tuesday that Lambert would appear on "The Early Show" Wednesday morning both to perform and discuss the reaction to Sunday's appearance. Lambert is also appearing on David Letterman's "Late Show" Wednesday, which was scheduled weeks ago.

The morning news ratings leader, NBC's "Today" show, did not consider Lambert because it already has a Bon Jovi concert scheduled for Wednesday, said its executive producer, Jim Bell.

The "Good Morning America" Web site was flooded with comments from viewers about the Lambert cancellation. Some applauded ABC for taking a stand against vulgarity, while others suggested the network was being homophobic.

ABC News representatives spoke to members of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination about the decision to cancel Lambert and assured the group that Lambert's sexual orientation had nothing to do with it, said Richard Ferraro, a GLAAD spokesman. Ferraro said GLAAD was also told that ABC's "Good Morning America" will work with Lambert and other gay and lesbian performers in the future.

Still, "it is disappointing that 'Good Morning America' did not give Adam Lambert the opportunity to tailor his performance to their audience, as he did in August," said Jarrett Barrios, GLAAD president.

Meanwhile, the conservative Culture and Media Institute of the Media Research Center criticized CBS for allowing Lambert's "brand of raunch" on the air.

"Rather than back ABC's decision to temper such trash, CBS is compounding the problem and rewarding Lambert with not one but two TV appearances," said Dan Gainor, the group's vice president.

The glam rocker finished second on "American Idol" this spring. His performances on the reality singing contest were not as provocative, but he was among the show's most colorful competitors with a voice compared to Queen's Freddie Mercury. After the competition, he came out publicly as gay.

"For Your Entertainment" is the first single from Lambert's new album, which went on sale Monday.

The "Good Morning America" cancellation was first reported on TVNewser and Hollywood Life Web sites.
Orlando Sentinel

Lady Gaga AMA Awards 2009

2009-11-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

Oprah's Tear-Filled Goodbye to Viewers (A Year Early)

2009-11-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

DC board says 'no' to putting gay marriage ban on ballot, citing human rights law

2009-11-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure to let voters decide whether to ban same-sex marriages in D.C. cannot go on the ballot because it would violate a city human rights law, the Board of Elections and Ethics ruled Tuesday.

The D.C. City Council is expected to approve gay marriage next month, but opponents wanted voters to weigh in.

The elections board said allowing residents to vote on a ban would conflict with the city's 1977 Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination.

Errol R. Arthur, chairman of the two-member board, suggested as much at an October hearing. He said in a press release Tuesday that the "laws of the District of Columbia preclude us from allowing this initiative to move forward."

Similar ballot measures derailed same-sex marriage in Maine, where lawmakers passed a statute allowing gay couples to wed but voters repealed it, and California, where voters repealed court-sanctioned gay marriage.

A group called Stand4MarriageDC wanted a ballot measure that said "only marriage between a man and woman" should be "valid or recognized" in the city. The group's head is Bishop Harry Jackson, a Maryland church pastor who has been vocal in opposing the same-sex marriage law.

Cleta Mitchell, an attorney for the group, said members would appeal the ruling in D.C. Superior Court, likely within the week. She said the ruling was not a surprise and the measure does not violate the city's human rights act. She said the board made a mistake.

If the D.C. Council has the right to "change the law in order for same-same sex couples to marry," she said, "the people have the same rights ... to make law on the same subject."

This isn't the first time the board has cited the act in striking down a proposal to put a same-sex marriage issue before voters. In June the board rejected an effort to hold a referendum on whether Washington should recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The D.C. Council had previously voted to recognize those marriages.

Rick Rosendall, vice president for political affairs for the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, said he was pleased with the ruling, though he recognizes it will be appealed.

"I'm very happy today," he said. "We're very, very happy about it."

Also on Tuesday the City Council set the first vote on its same-sex marriage bill for Dec. 1. The bill has to be voted on twice before passing. Four states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont — allow same-sex marriage, and New Hampshire will join them starting Jan. 1.
Orlando Sentinel

UCLA study: Gay spouses similar to heterosexual married couples in age, income, parenting

2009-11-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Same-sex couples who identify as married are similar to straight spouses in terms of age and income, and nearly one-third of them are raising children, according to Census data released Monday that provides a demographic snapshot of gay families in America.

The study released by a think tank based at UCLA also found that Utah and Wyoming were among the states with the highest percentages of gay spouses in 2008, despite being heavily conservative states with no laws providing legal recognition of gay relationships.

The data from the annual American Community Survey showed that nearly 150,000 same-sex couples in the U.S., or more than one in four, referred to one another as "husband" or "wife," although UCLA researchers estimate that no more than 32,000 of the couples were legally married.

The couples had an average age of 52 and household incomes of $91,558, while 31 percent were raising children. That compares with an average age of 50, household income of $95,075 and 43 percent raising children for married heterosexual couples.

"It's intrinsically interesting that same-sex couples who use the term spouses look like opposite-sex married couples even with a characteristic like children," said Gary Gates, the UCLA demographer who conducted the analysis. "Most proponents of traditional marriage will say that when you allow these couples to marry, you are going to change the fundamental nature of marriage by decoupling it from procreation. Clearly, in the minds of same-sex couples who are marrying or think of themselves as married, you are not decoupling child-rearing from marriage."

Gates said the report is the first to reliably compare same-sex couples who identify as married with gays who say they're in unmarried partnerships and with married opposite-sex couples.

In the past, same-sex couples who referred to one another as "husband" or "wife" automatically were recorded as unmarried partners, a step gay rights activists lobbied the Census Bureau to eliminate as more states have legalized same-sex unions.

Unsurprisingly, Massachusetts, where gay couples have been able to get married since 2004, had the highest proportion of same-sex couples who were either legally married or considered themselves married, 3.63 for every 1,000 households. Vermont, which allowed same-sex couples to enter in civil unions with all the rights and obligations of marriage in 1999 and made same-sex marriages legal this year, came in second, with a rate of 2.71 per 1,000.

But Hawaii, Utah and Wyoming — states with neither civil unions nor same-sex marriage — came in next, ahead of California, Nevada, Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island. What accounts for the phenomenon is unclear, but "it does provide this evidence that there are clearly couples in conservative parts of the country who do use these terms and do see their relationships in that framework."

Melissa Bird, a 35-year-old Utah lobbyist, said she understood why her home state has so many same-sex couples who see themselves as married, even though the state government does not recognize them that way. Bird and her 26-year-old partner had a commitment ceremony two years ago in Utah that wasn't legally binding. They tied the knot legally in California last year before voters approved a gay marriage ban.

"There is very much a marriage mentality here in Utah," said Bird, whom considers her partner her wife. "We know a lot of people who get 'married' in quotes. It never crossed our minds not to do it."

Once same-sex couples who labeled themselves as unmarried partners were factored in, however, the geographic distribution changed significantly. The District of Columbia came in first, with same-sex couples — both unmarried partners and those who called themselves married — representing 14.12 of every 1,000 households. Maine, where voters on Tuesday will decide whether to repeal a law that legalized same-sex marriage, was next, with gay couples heading up a little more than eight of every 1,000 households.

Although the report includes the first official estimates for the number of same-sex couples who call themselves wives or husbands, Gates said collecting accurate data on the marital status of gay couples remains difficult because of the hodgepodge of laws affecting their relationships. In addition, many couples may be reluctant to identify themselves as such if their neighbors, families and employers do not know they are gay, he said.

The Census Bureau has promised to produce a report on the marital status of gay couples after the once-a-decade national census is completed next year. However, the bureau said there was too little time to change the questionnaire to separate out legally married gay couples in the nationwide tally.
Queerty

Ellen's Dream Comes True: Oprah Let her on the Cover of Her Magazine

2009-11-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

Rosie O'Donnell + Kelly Carpenter Ending 5 Year Marriage?

2009-10-25T14:50:00.001-07:00

Rosie O'Donnell and Kelly Carpenter haven't been living together since August, if the National Enquirer was to be believed. And now they're going their separate ways entirely, Rosie told an interviewer after dropping hints on her blog. But, the former talk show host says: "We're a family. We will remain a family forever. And we are working on our issues." (They've got three kids together, after all.) The same week the pair married (in San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's office), George W. Bush announced he'd try to constituionally ban same-sex marriage. WELL. So long as we've got Ellen and Portia, we can remain strong.

Queerty

Why Is Obama Making Joe Lieberman His DADT Pointman?

2009-10-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Is the White House so afraid of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell that it's pawning off responsibility on non-Democrats? Barack Obama's minions are turning to none other than Sen. Joe Lieberman (Connecticut's Democrat-cum-Independent John McCain supporter) to trudge ahead on killing DADT. It certainly helps that Lieberman sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

It's hard to tell whether the White House's Lieberman strategy is more talk, or true action. Lending evidence to the former is hearing gay Office of Personnel Management director John Berry confirm Obama's camp is in talks with Lieberman . Generally when we hear the White House trumpet its "movement" on gay rights, it's a smokescreen to buy time and trust.
Queerty
But if Obama is truly trying to work with Lieberman on a DADT repeal bill, it might actually make sense to go the Independent route, since it could drum up bi-partisan support easier than a Democratic-led approach. Kerry Eleveld notes: "People familiar with the strategy around Senate introduction say the discussions generally involve two different tracks: the bipartisan track, with at least one of the cosponsors sitting on the SASC; and a second track, which would be a Democratic introduction by someone who sits on the SASC."

The Leiberman strategy also begs the question: What about Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Majority Leader Harry Reid, each of whom have publicly shown support for ending DADT? Well, neither sits on the SASC, which holds jurisdiction over military matters.

But it's not like there aren't any willing Democrats on SASC; Colorado's Sen. Mark Udall previously asked Adm. Mike Mullen to put together his DADT recommendations for this fall's Gillibrand-led hearings on the law.

Then again, it could be Lieberman who's most likely to drum up a few Republican votes for the bill (including Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe), something Democrats would struggle with.

California governor signs bill recognizing out-of-state gay marriages sanctioned before Prop 8

2009-10-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill recognizing gay marriages sanctioned in other states during the nearly five months such unions were legal in California.

Schwarzenegger says the action is consistent with a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the marriages of same-sex couples who tied the knot in California before voters approved Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment passed in November that limits marriage to a man and a woman.

The bill signed by the governor late Sunday also says gay and lesbian couples who were married in other states after Proposition 8's passage have the same rights and benefits that California grants domestic partners.

The bill was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco.
Orlando Sentinel

Boyzone Singer Stephen Gately Dead at 33...

2009-10-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

We were never fanatics, but we did always have a special place in our hearts for Irish boy band Boyzone. Especially for their token gay, Stephen Gately. Sadly, Mr. Gately has passed on. And the sensational, gay-tinged speculation has begun!

It's unclear what exactly went down, but investigators know this: Gately and his husband Andy Cowley were in Spain, where they have a vacation home. The gents went out on Friday night, tossed a few back and then returned to their apartment.

At some point in the night, according to investigators, Gately choked on his own vomit and died. A gruesome way to go, yes, and not one we enjoy passing on. So, sorry.

It's all very sad and unexpected, but, considering Gately's gay ways, a perfect opportunity for papers, like the Daily Mail, to turn his last hours into a tawdry scandal.

Consider the paper's headline: "Boyzone star Stephen Gately and partner asked Bulgarian back back to £1m apartment."

We're not entirely sure what this mystery man's nationality has to do with the scandal, nor do investigators think he had anything to do with Gately's untimely death, but it makes for great tabloid fodder, no? We wonder whether Gately's sexuality has anything to do with this admittedly pointless article. Or perhaps it's just for shits and giggles.

Gawker

Lady Gaga performs her rendition of 'Imagine' at the HRC National Dinner 2009

2009-10-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Carrie Prejean Calendar Where She Keeps Her Shirt On

2009-10-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

The Clare Both Luce Policy Institute is a leading, which we're pretty sure is a glorified astrology publisher, just released its 2010 "Great American Conservative Women." Featured inside are American treasures like Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, and this great nation's newest inductee into the 'hood, Carrie Prejean. This is a departure for Ms. Prejean, who is not used to posing so, uh, conservatively.

"I was so honored to be in the calendar as one of the great American conservative women," says Prejean. "As a former beauty queen, it's refreshing to be taken seriously" — perhaps unaware that appearing in a calendar is the quickest way to become a bigger joke than you are.

Queerty

AIDS Walk Washington set for Oct. 3

2009-09-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

5K walk to benefit Whitman-Walker Clinic

AIDS Walk Washington, a 5K fundraising walk to benefit the Whitman-Walker Clinic, is set for Oct. 3.

Money raised from the walk helps Whitman-Walker provide health care and other supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS.

For more information about the event, including registration forms, visit www.aidswalkwashington.org. General walk registration costs $25, general run registration costs $35, and student registration costs $15. A sleep walker registration, intended for those who want to support the event but cannot join the walk, costs $40.

AIDS Walk Washington begins and ends at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington.
Washington Blade

Doctors settle case for denying lesbian treatment

2009-09-30T07:11:00.001-07:00

Woman was denied artificial insemination based on sexual orientation

A California woman has settled a lawsuit against her former doctors who denied her artificial insemination based on her sexual orientation, attorneys for both sides said Tuesday. - Insert the sidebar information

Article Related Media

Guadalupe Benitez, 36, of Oceanside, and her spouse sued doctors at North Coast Women's Medical Group in Vista for discrimination in 2001. California's highest court last year barred the Christian doctors from invoking religious beliefs, ruling state law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination extends to the medical profession.

Attorneys for the doctors and Benitez said that they settled the case for an undisclosed sum of money.

The doctors said in a statement that they want all of their patients, including those who are lesbian and gay, to feel welcome in their medical practice.

Benitez has said the doctors treated her with fertility drugs and instructed her how to inseminate herself at home, but told her their beliefs prevented them from inseminating her.

One of the doctors referred her to another fertility specialist who didn't have moral objections. Benitez has since given birth to three children.

"It's been a long, hard fight to get to this point," Benitez said following the settlement announcement. "But we know we've made a difference in the law that will help people in California and across the country."

The statement issued by North Coast was encouraging, said Jennifer Pizer, Benitez's attorney.

"It shows a journey that our whole society is taking together, away from intolerance and towards inclusion," she said.

Washington Blade

Why Didn't Bill O'Reilly Want Anyone to Cover His Value Voters Summit Awards Speech?

2009-09-24T12:18:00.001-07:00

We were so focused on porn from this past weekend's Value Voters Summit that we nearly forgot Bill O'Reilly was honored there! Yes, he received a Media Courage Award, for his outstanding use of a highly rated cable news show to promote school bullying and scaring parents. But O'Reilly must have been quite humble over all the platitudes, because he demanded his award reception be closed to the press. Why ever would this attention whore want that?

One theory: He didn't want to provide Keith Olbermann with a clip of the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins handing him an award.

VVS wanted to honor O'Reilly "for being a voice of virtue in a culture of death." Charming, especially since the award was particularly focused on O'Reilly's coverage of abortion doc George Tiller — or, as Bill's viewers might know him, "Tiller The Baby Killer." And that's when things got interesting:

Tiller, O'Reilly told his audience, "was hiding behind privacy law."

At that point in the speech, blogger Mike Stark, semi-famous for his dogging of O'Reilly, began shouting. My friend couldn't quite make out all of Stark's words, but she did catch the phrase "while his first wife was pregnant." Whether or not Stark was referring directly to O'Reilly remains unclear.

I was standing on the other side of the ballroom doors with a dozen or so glum journalists, when suddenly the doors burst open and two burly men in uniforms dragged Stark, still shouting, through the exit doors and into a stairwell. That was the last I saw of him.

"Obviously," O'Reilly told the audience, "that must be an MSNBC host."

O'Reilly continued to defend his coverage of Dr. Tiller, calling the late doctor's clinic "a racket."

However, after Tiller was murdered "by this zealot," O'Reilly said, "I was the first one to say this shouldn't happen to any American."

But that didn't stop the media, who "went after me," O'Reilly complained. "They just want to attack you personally."

In fact, O'Reilly said, for a journalist to defend him would endanger that journalist's career. "If they went into a newsroom and said, 'O'Reilly got it right,' they would freeze you out," the told the audience.

He turned his focus to the injustice faced by aborted fetuses, comparing their fate to that faced by the captives held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, saying that Guantanamo was a "nice island; you can walk around." Making the leap that all held at Guantanamo are terrorists — never mind his conceit that the lives of fetuses (which he called "babies") parallel the lives of grown men — O'Reilly said, "Do babies have to blow something up before they get human rights?"

"Some guy can drill a hole in their heads for no reason whatsoever," he said. "They have no rights."

Well congratulations on your award, Mr. O'Reilly. You can place it on your mantle, right next to George Tiller's head.
Queerty

Dressed as a Woman But Your ID Says You're a Man? You Can't Enter This Chicago Bar

2009-09-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hunters Nightclub in Chicago could soon become a gay household name not because police raided it Stonewall style, and not because of allegations of drugs or public sex, but because of the way it's cracking down on cross-dressing hookers: By forcing patrons to present photo ID that matches their "gender presentation" as they enter the club.

Officially, the new ID policy is to crack down on cross-dressing prostitutes advertising their services on Craigslist, and using Hunters as a place to do business. But by forcing everyone, including men dressed "ladies of the night," to show ID with a photo of them dressed as the gender they look like, Hunters is also discriminating against transgender/transexual clientele. And dudes who just like to dress up as ladies now and then.s

Illinois' ACLU chapter is quick to point out the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits businesses from discriminating against gender identity — which it looks like Hunters is doing.

Now, it's worth commending the venue for doing something to crack down on prostitution under its roof. Say what you will about whether prostitution should be legalized, but with it comes sexual exploitation and, often, drug abuse. Plus, take it elsewhere; gay bars are for enjoying a night out with your friends and possibly meeting a mate (at least of the one-night variety), not for transacting business.

But a gay bar that's inherently banning drag queens and transgender men and women from entering because of a photo ID policy strikes as overreaching, and unfair. Especially because a cursory look through Hunters' photo gallery shows not one cross-dresser on display, but rather guys like this:

Okay, to be fair, we spotted this fella too … evidence they do love their guys-as-gals:
Queerty

Matt Damon and Brad Pitt Are Behind George Clooney's Gay Rumors

2009-09-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

Are Matt Damon and Brad Pitt to blame for the guy stripping down in Italy and proposing to George Clooney? Yep!

The Venice Film Festival, where this trio of BFF celebs were all promoting flicks (The Informant, Inglorious Basterds, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, respectively), was also a playground for screwing with journalists. While Clooney joked about marrying Goats director Grant Heslov at his own press conference, it was Pitt who, sick of being asked when he would marry Angelina Jolie, told an interviewer he would marry her when Clooney marries his boyfriend.

And then Damon got asked by another reporter if Pitt's remark was true. And Damon says yes!

And then the next day Clooney heads to Venice … to be confronted by the stripping man. Surely he was pleased.

Queerty

N.Y. marriage vote possible this month

2009-09-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

State senator optimistic at prospect for same-sex nuptials

The New York State Senate's only openly gay lawmaker said his chamber could vote on the proposed same-sex marriage bill later this month — and he's optimistic it will win approval.

Democratic Sen. Tom Duane, who's gay and represents part of New York City, said he's not expecting immediate action on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York when lawmakers return after Labor Day.

But he said a vote is possible before the end of September in a special session called by Gov. David Paterson (D).

"We are not going to bring up marriage on Sept. 10," Duane said. "I am hopeful that we will bring it up when the governor calls us all back into session. He hasn't set that date; it'll probably be in late September."

Duane said he hopes supporters of same-sex marriage will be "popping up the advocacy" to encourage senators to vote for the bill, adding that he strongly believes it will pass if lawmakers are allowed to vote their conscience.

"I remain optimistic that it'll pass this year and it'll pass with bipartisan support," he said.

Approval in the Senate is the last major obstacle in passing same-sex marriage legislation in New York. In May, the New York Assembly passed legislation that would grant marriage rights to gay couples, 89-52. Paterson has pledged to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Washington Blade

Obama Had 150 Gays Over to the White House – While He Was Out of Town

2009-09-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

He's previously hosted us at the Easter Egg Roll (ironic, because Christian tradition+gays is hysterical). In June, he had us over for tea, even sticking around long enough to talk to us. But that's about all the time he has for you, special interest gays. Because his latest invitation for queers to stop by came when he got the hell out of dodge.

In a previously unannounced event, the White House invited some 100 guests chosen the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, the Mautner Project, and Equality Maryland to pick who they wanted to come. The guest list topped out at 150, and invitees were treated to a private tour of the White House's fine china. (It's the same tour public visitors to 1600 Pennsylvania receive.) The tour, on Aug. 30, took place while Obama was away, and administration officials were not present. (Other groups, aside from LGBT organizations, were also invited on similar tours.)

None of this, of course, she be construed as an attempt to influence Gay Inc. groups, or to generate fundraising dollars! It's just Obama & Co. casually extending an olive branch to make nice with a group of people whose rights he doesn't much care about.

Spokespeople for the Task Force and HRC said the special tour their members and guests took would not impact their efforts to lobby the administration on LGBT-related issues.

“As has been our practice, the Task Force will continue to criticize the Obama administration when warranted and thank the administration when warranted,” said Inga Sarda-Sorensen, the group’s director of communications.

“We looked at it more as a thank you to our members,” said David Toth, executive director of Equality Maryland, a statewide LGBT advocacy group.

Toth said Bond extended an invitation to his group earlier in the summer during a national conference of state LGBT groups in St. Louis, which Bond attended.

“Brian told us it was not meant to be a fundraising tool,” Toth said. “He said the White House did not want to have people charged to go.”

Well good, because as any D.C. tourist will tell you, visiting the White House is always free of charge.

But we hope everyone at Gay Inc. had a good time with their guests at the White House. After all, we'd hate to see decent stationary wasted on neglected invitations to visit the large home of a man who publicly believes you're not good enough to get married.
Queerty

Former Pennsylvania ACLU Director Larry Frankel Found Dead in D.C. Park

2009-09-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Larry Frankel, the former executive director and legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania who's been missing since Wednesday, was found dead in a Washington park over the weekend, dressed in jogging clothes and said to have died of "natural causes." He was 54. Last year, Frankel joined the national ACLU as its state legislative counsel and top lobbyist. In remembering Frankel, State Rep. Mark Cohen writes Frankel was "a proud gay man, he was militant on the issue of gay marriage, believing that it was far more important to keep the legal option of gay marriage by defeating a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage than to enact civil unions legislation, an uphill battle that some, including myself, thought was winnable. His views on gay marriage were somewhat vindicated when four New England states and the state of Iowa legalized gay marriage this year."

Queerty

Carrie Prejean Sues Miss California Because She Is the Ultimate Discrimination Victim

2009-08-31T17:29:00.001-07:00

Supposedly it's because Miss California USA, in firing Carrie Prejean, discriminated against the pretty bigot's religious beliefs. So says the complaint Prejean filed in California Superior Court, which names officials Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler, and publicist Roger Neal as the evildoers, and also includes charges of libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. But it's Prejean's biggest charge — discrimination — that's also the most laughable.

Because Prejean wasn't fired for her religious (read: homophobic) beliefs.

In fact, Donald Trump make a big to-do about how he wasn't going to fire her for her stance on same-sex marriage, even holding a press conference announcing how he would be standing by her. It was only when Prejean started violating her contract, by doing things like not showing up places she needed to be, that she had her Miss California crown revoked.

For what it's worth, Prejean says she'll prove she wasn't fired for breech of contract.

But oh, what a world we live in where a woman can claim discrimination because of her beliefs in … discrimination.
Queerty

Sen. Ted Kennedy, ENDA Supporter and DADT Foe, Dies at 77

2009-08-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

After struggling with a brain tumor for more than a year, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who served 46 years in the Senate, died early this morning at his home in Cape Cod's Hyannis Port. He was 77.

Gay advocates will remember the Massachusetts senator most recently for standing behind a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Bill, a cause he reignited earlier this year. In his remaining weeks in office, and despite an absence on the Hill, Kennedy and his staff was also involved in generating support for a Senate-led repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell; we expect New York's Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to continue championing the cause. Kennedy was also a vocal supporter of marriage equality, consistently voting, in 1996 and again in 2006, against bills banning the practice. Kennedy lobbied for AIDS funding, joining then-First Lady Hillary Clinton's health care fight. Indeed, he spent much of his career championing health care reform — though it remains to be seen whether his Democratic colleagues will engender that legacy for him.

Was he a perfect politician? Of course not, but God has yet to make one. Kennedy was a voice for gay America when there was no other inside the halls of Washington.

Sen. Kennedy bids adieu to this life, where he kept our kind close to his heart. He will be missed.
Queerty

When Mark Oaten's Wife Learned He Paid a Rent Boy, She Kicked His Ass

2009-08-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

We honestly feel bad for liberal British legislator Mark Oaten, who was forced to resign in 2006 after the tabloids discovered he was having relations with a rent boy. Why our sympathy? Because Oaten says his wife Belinda beat the crap out of him when she found out. Of course, Oaten just happens to have a new book he's selling, so these sort of scandalous tidbits are lovely marketing material.
Queerty

Richard Hatch - Survivor Winner Released From Prison

2009-08-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Chicago holds first civic salute to LGBT veterans

2009-08-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

(Chicago) Gay war veterans were honored yesterday in Chicago’s Daley Plaza at the first civic sal

Many of those in attendance at the event spoke out against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Many revealed how they have personally been affected by the bill.

“If there was no ban and I were allowed to openly serve, I wouldn’t have had any of those extra stressors, I wouldn’t have had any of those extra worries, and I would have re-enlisted,” said former US Navy officer Steven Lorandos.

Several local politicians came out to also support the event and spoke out against DADT as well.

“I just came back from Iraq and I wasn’t able to see black, white, female, male gay or lesbian soldiers. They were all Americans fighting for us. And it is extraordinary that anyone would not want to let them serve and help our country,” said Rep. Mike Quigley, (D) Chicago.

Chicago’s 7 News reported that “the United States military has more than 65,000 gay members in active service.” House Resolution 1283 has been created by DADT opponents to ask Obama to repeal the bill.

Watch the full 7 News report here.

365Gay

Half of Chicago’s HIV-positive men unaware of status

2009-08-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

African-Americans double the risk of white and latino gay men

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Public Health Department estimates 17 percent of gay men in Chicago are HIV-positive, with half of them unaware they are infected.

Health officials also say black men who have sex with men have double the HIV infection rates of white and Hispanic men.

Public Health Department assistant commissioner Christopher Brown says it isn’t known why black men are disproportionately affected by HIV. He said the health department is working with social service groups to expand testing and increase contact with the city’s gay and bisexual population.

Health officials last week said information in the report on HIV infection marks the first time Chicago health officials have used blood-testing to determine infection rates among men.

According to Brown, past estimates have relied solely on interviews with gay and bisexual men about their HIV status.
Washington Blade

How Well Can a Web-Based High School Teach Gay Kids?

2009-08-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

There's Harvey Milk High in New York City. And Chicago was looking into plans to launch its own gay-friendly high school. But what about students who don't live in a big city, which have the numbers to support such institutions? Then maybe they can attend high school on the web.

Based in Minnesota, the GLBTQ Online High School aims to be a refuge for gay kids and their families who want nothing more than a safe haven for learning — without the threat of harassment and bullying from classmates. It's a project from David Glick, the (first) online learning coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education, and hopes to get online for the 2010 school year.

Unlike public schools, however, this one costs money: $5,900 per student for the full 2009-10 year, or $525 per course for part-time students. (There's a $50 application fee.)

So what can students expect? Aside from online teaching, there's the social networking aspect: A guarded, students-only site with "online social events [that] will provide students with fun and less structured opportunities to get to know each other. In cases where we have multiple students in a particular area, we can have face-to-face gatherings as well!"

Online schools aren't new, but this one remains ambitious. Anecdotal evidence tells us gay kids and their families are particularly adept at new technology and the web (often, the Internet is the only place many young gay people can turn to socialize), so we imagine this is the perfect demographic for early adopters. But $5,900 is a steep price for any family these days.

That said, we're in love with this idea, at least on its face. Gay kids need a safe place to learn. There's no reason they shouldn't be afforded the same opportunities to brush up on solving proofs and the periodic table like everyone else. But while some high school environments just aren't safe for gay teens, an online high school is a temporary solution for a much bigger problem: LGBT students still aren't completely safe in their own schools.

According to GLBTQ Online High School's FAQ, here's how the school will work:

Students and teachers use a robust suite of online communication tools to share information, ask questions and access curriculum. Online curriculum uses video, text, animations and other multimedia to present and assess content. Teachers provide guidance, answer questions, administer oral exams over the phone, and otherwise provide a wide range of assistance.

Students can work from home or anywhere else there is access to the Internet. Although some activities are done in "real time," most activities and assessments allow the student to complete them at anytime. Students can work at their own pace, on their own schedule and from wherever they choose.

This has promise, to an extent. We like the idea of "learning from anywhere." It's something we embrace around Queerty: Our staff works from all around the U.S., hopping on IM and conference calls as needed. We collaborate with web-based tools that, we're guessing, look a lot like the ones these kids will be using.

But while home schooling advocates might disagree, we tend to believe nothing can replace the face-to-face, in-person learning experience. It helps kids not only in their education and learning how to work well with others, but in socializing — a key aspect of any high school experience.

For now, however, an online high school for queers might just be the best option.

At the very least, let's hope that come June, there's a giant gay prom. Even if it means a bunch of teens getting dressed to the nines in front of their webcams.

Queerty

Chicago considers set asides for LGBT businesses

2009-08-05T22:49:00.001-07:00

Chicago’s first openly gay alderman on Tuesday reopened the volatile debate about whether City Hall should establish contract set-asides for businesses owned by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered residents.

Six years after raising the issue only to drop it like a hot potato, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) brought it up again during a Budget Committee hearing called to extend until 2015 a construction set-aside ordinance for minorities and women.

Prior to the unanimous vote for the extension, Tunney asked Corporation Counsel Mara Georges whether any other municipality has a “category” that defines “LGBT as a qualified minority.”

Georges said she knows of no such category anywhere in the United States. But, she didn’t slam the door.

“We are certainly happy to talk to you about it and whether that’s something we should attempt to pursue,” Georges said.

“I’m not certain that, even if we would attempt to pursue it, that we can support it. But, it’s certainly something we can look at.”

Afterwards, Tunney acknowledged that there is “no consensus” within the LGBT community about whether to pursue a special category similar to the 24 percent and 4 percent construction set-asides earmarked for minorities and women.

“We know we’ve been disadvantaged. But, there are programs for women already. And the perception is this would only enhance gay white males. That’s why there’s not consensus within our community,” he said.

But, Tunney said, “All I’m asking is just to explore this as we move forward with making it an even better ordinance. …We’re looking to do more research within the community about quantifiable discrimination in terms of access to credit and financial issues ... to see whether or not, at a future date, categories within the LGBT community might be eligible.”

Tunney first raised the idea of gay set-asides in July, 2003. Mayor Daley, who appointed Tunney and has strong support within the gay community, said he was open to the idea provided gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered Chicagoans can prove they were frozen out of city contracts because of past discrimination.

Today, Tunney was hardpressed to explain how someone would prove they’re gay to qualify for a city set-aside — especially after the seemingly endless string of stories about minority business fraud.

“Qualified domestic partners. That could be one factor,” the alderman said.

He added, “That’s why there’s nothing passed yet in any municipality. We still need to work on the definition.”

Chicago Sun Times

How Do You Turn Walter Cronkite Into a Friend of Gay Rights? Zap Him.

2009-07-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Walter Cronkite's illustrious career is remembered for the historic events he covered, from the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. to the moon landing and the Vietnam War. But Cronkite also reported on burgeoning social movements, including the struggle for gay liberation. After becoming a target of that movement, Cronkite would become a behind-the-scenes ally.

Following the Stonewall riots in 1969, as the nascent gay rights movement became increasingly combative, a gay Philadelphia teenager initiated his own guerrilla war aimed at television, including the "CBS Evening News." Nineteen-year-old Mark Segal became angry when he and a male friend were thrown out of a television dance program one August afternoon in 1972 after the program's host saw them dancing together. In retaliation, Segal barged into the studio of Philadelphia's WPVI a few days later during its evening newscast. Startled studio personnel wrestled him to the floor, tied his hands with a microphone cable and called the police.

Segal became a walking terror with his "zaps," as they were called. In 1973, his targets included "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and "The Mike Douglas Show." He and a friend staged their last and most notorious zap when they posed as college students and obtained passes for the "CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite." Midway through the broadcast on Dec. 11, 1973, as Cronkite began a story about Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Segal darted in front of the camera with a sign reading "Gays Protest CBS Prejudice."

ad_icon

"I sat on Cronkite's desk directly in front of him and held up the sign while the technicians furiously ran after me and wrestled me to the floor and wrapped me in wire -- on camera," he recalled in an interview. "The network went black while they took us out of the studio."

Ever the professional, Cronkite reported on the event. "Well, a rather interesting development in the studio here -- a protest demonstration right in the middle of the CBS News studio," Cronkite told viewers. He later explained: "The young man was identified as a member of something called Gay Raiders, an organization protesting alleged defamation of homosexuals on entertainment programs." Segal was charged with trespassing.

Cronkite may have been more startled when Segal's attorney tried to serve him with a subpoena to testify. After CBS attorneys blocked repeated attempts to deliver the document, Segal's lawyer informed the network of a little-used New York law that made photocopies of a subpoena as valid as an original. He threatened to make copies available to the Hells Angels, with a reward for anyone who served the subpoena. Faced with the prospect of having Cronkite stalked by gay activists and bikers, CBS lawyers relented.

When the trial began in April 1974, Cronkite took the stand, but CBS lawyers objected each time Segal's lawyer posed a question. During a recess, Segal felt a tap on his shoulder. "Why did you do that?" Cronkite asked about the incident in the studio.

"You're news censors," Segal responded. The anchorman was appalled. "If I can prove it," Segal then asked, "would you do something to change it?" He cited three examples, including a CBS report on the second rejection of a gay rights bill by the New York City Council. "Yes, I believe I wrote that story myself," Cronkite said.

"Well, why haven't you reported on the 23 other cities that have passed gay rights bills?" Segal asked. "Why do you cover 5,000 women walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City when they proclaim International Women's Year on the network news, and you do not cover 50,000 gays and lesbians walking down that same avenue proclaiming Gay Pride Day? That's censorship." Genuinely moved, Cronkite shook Segal's hand and thanked him.

The judge slapped Segal with a $450 fine. At the same time, Segal realized that his celebrity status was becoming a distraction. "I began to wonder if they were using me or I was using them -- I was not quite sure," he remembered. "After the Cronkite zap, the message began to get lost in the commotion. It began to look to me very unsavory."

Nevertheless, Segal's tactics paid off. Cronkite arranged meetings at CBS where Segal could voice his complaints to the top management. On May 6, 1974, Cronkite's newscast featured a segment on gay rights.

"Part of the new morality of the '60s and '70s is a new attitude toward homosexuality," Cronkite told his audience. "The homosexual men and women have organized to fight for acceptance and respectability. They've succeeded in winning equal rights under the law in many communities. But in the nation's biggest city, the fight goes on, with the city council due to vote on the matter again this week."

Reports on the status of gay rights in various cities followed, with one CBS correspondent pointing out 10 cities that had passed legal protections for gays and reporting that similar laws were under consideration in at least four others. At a New York luncheon 34 years later, I asked Cronkite about the zapping incident. "Oh, yes," he said with a smile and twinkle in his eye. "I remember that."

Meanwhile, Segal established his own newspaper in 1975, the Philadelphia Gay News, and remains its publisher today.

"He was the kind of man who believed in human rights for everyone," Segal said of Cronkite. "I am amazed and humbled by his willingness to reach out to me. He was a bridge between the gay movement and major media. We remained friends, and it was a privilege knowing him."
Washington Post

Market Days is the Weekend!

2009-07-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Eclectic! Exciting! Non-stop! And a people-watching extravaganza are just a few of the ways to characterize the 28th annual Northalsted Market Days® on Saturday and Sunday, August 1-2. It's the largest two-day street fair in the Midwest and it just keeps getting bigger and better each year!

Among the performers on Market Days' four music stages (which includes one dedicated to jazz) will be R&B icons En Vogue, Jody Watley, Kristine W, Cece Peniston and Kathy Sledge at the new "VIP Stage" near Addison. Among the more than 40 acts set to appear on stages at Belmont and Roscoe are disco legends The Village People, Eric Himan, Linda Clifford, Dot Dot Dot, Levi Kreis and 16 Candles.

Another big draw of Market Days are the 400 food and unique arts & craft vendors. From the tried and true to the zany and unique, the artisans (as well as food offerings) at the fest promise something for every taste!

Transgender Criminal Suspect Will Turn Herself In … When Breast Implants Heal

2009-07-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Only when her breast implants heal from plastic surgery will transgender criminal suspect Mitchelle E. Anthony turn herself in on charges of robbing a Family Dollar store. She's suspected of stealing $48 of Gain laundry detergent. She phoned the Charlotte police to let them know she'll stop by to surrender, but only when her bubbies are okay. How courteous.

(Thanks, Kevin!)
Queerty

Did Your Senator Vote Yes on Matthew Shepard Act?

2009-07-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

Alabama
Sen. Sessions (R) — No
Sen. Shelby (R) — No

Alaska
Sen. Begich (D) — Yes
Sen. Murkowski (R) — Yes

Arizona
Sen. Kyl (R) — No
Sen. McCain (R) — No

Arkansas
Sen. Lincoln (D) — Yes
Sen. Pryor (D) — Yes

California
Sen. Boxer (D) — Yes
Sen. Feinstein (D) — Yes

Colorado
Sen. Bennet (D) — Yes
Sen. Udall (D) — Yes

Connecticut
Sen. Dodd (D) — Yes
Sen. Lieberman (ID) — Yes

Delaware
Sen. Carper (D) — Yes
Sen. Kaufman (D) — Yes

Florida
Sen. Martinez (R) — Didn't Vote
Sen. Nelson, Bill (D) — Yes

Georgia
Sen. Chambliss (R) — No
Sen. Isakson (R) — No

Hawaii
Sen. Akaka (D) — Yes
Sen. Inouye (D) — Yes

Idaho
Sen. Crapo (R) — No
Sen. Risch (R) — No

Illinois
Sen. Burris (D) — Yes
Sen. Durbin (D) — Yes

Indiana
Sen. Bayh (D) — Yes
Sen. Lugar (R) — Yes

Iowa
Sen. Grassley (R) — No
Sen. Harkin (D) — Yes

Kansas
Sen. Brownback (R) — No
Sen. Roberts (R) — No

Kentucky
Sen. Bunning (R) — Didn't Vote
Sen. McConnell (R) — No

Louisiana
Sen. Landrieu (D) — Yes
Sen. Vitter (R) — No

Maine
Sen. Collins (R) — Yes
Sen. Snowe (R) — Yes

Maryland
Sen. Cardin (D) — Yes
Sen. Mikulski (D) — Yes

Massachusetts
Sen. Kennedy (D) — Didn't Vote
Sen. Kerry (D) — Yes

Michigan
Sen. Levin (D) — Yes
Sen. Stabenow (D) — Yes

Minnesota
Sen. Franken (D) — Yes
Sen. Klobuchar (D) — Yes

Mississippi
Sen. Cochran (R) — No
Sen. Wicker (R) — No

Missouri
Sen. Bond (R) — Didn't Vote
Sen. McCaskill (D) — Yes

Montana
Sen. Baucus (D) — Yes
Sen. Tester (D) — Yes

Nebraska
Sen. Johanns (R) — No
Sen. Nelson, Ben (D) — Yes

Nevada
Sen. Ensign (R) — No
Sen. Reid (D) — Yes

New Hampshire
Sen. Gregg (R) — Didn't Vote
Sen. Shaheen (D) — Yes

New Jersey
Sen. Lautenberg (D) — Yes
Sen. Menendez (D) — Yes

New Mexico
Sen. Bingaman (D) — Yes
Sen. Udall (D) — Yes

New York
Sen. Gillibrand (D) — Yes
Sen. Schumer (D) — Yes

North Carolina
Sen. Burr (R) — No
Sen. Hagan (D) — Yes

North Dakota
Sen. Conrad (D) — Yes
Sen. Dorgan (D) — Yes

Ohio
Sen. Brown (D) — Yes
Sen. Voinovich (R) — Yes

Oklahoma
Sen. Coburn (R) — No
Sen. Inhofe (R) — No

Oregon
Sen. Merkley (D) — Yes
Sen. Wyden (D) — Yes

Pennsylvania
Sen. Casey (D) — Yes
Sen. Specter (D) — Yes

Rhode Island
Sen. Reed (D) — Yes
Sen. Whitehouse (D) — Yes

South Carolina
Sen. DeMint (R) — No
Sen. Graham (R) — Didn't Vote

South Dakota
Sen. Johnson (D) — Yes
Sen. Thune (R) — No

Tennessee
Sen. Alexander (R) — Didn't Vote
Sen. Corker (R) — Didn't Vote

Texas
Sen. Cornyn (R) — No
Sen. Hutchinson (R) — No

Utah
Sen. Bennett (R) — No
Sen. Hatch (R) — No

Vermont
Sen. Leahy (D) — Yes
Sen. Sanders (I) — Yes

Virginia
Sen. Warner (D) — Yes
Sen. Webb (D) — Yes

Washington
Sen. Cantwell (D) — Yes
Sen. Murray (D) — Yes

West Virginia
Sen. Byrd (D) — Didn't Vote
Sen. Rockefeller (D) — Yes

Wisconsin
Sen. Feingold (D) — Yes
Sen. Kohl (D) — Yes

Wyoming
Sen. Barrasso (R) — No
Sen. Enzi (R) — No

Sacha Baron Cohen on the Today Show!

2009-07-17T09:22:00.001-07:00

Sonia Sotomayor Wisely Chooses a Non-Answer on Gay Marriage

2009-07-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

What, you thought Supreme Court justice hopeful Sonia Sotomayor was going to meet senators' litmus test on same-sex marriage? Oh hellz no!

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tried to get her on the record about whether she would allow a state to grant marriage licenses to gays, referencing the Minnesota case Baker vs. Nelson. But she wasn't budging, declining to give a real answer because of the cases moving their way through the courts.

Watch the above clip, and you tell us: Any indication, to your perspective, that she's leaning one way or the other?

(Sotomayor also dodged questions on abortion. None of her deflection should be terribly surprising.)
Queerty

Navy: Gay sailor's slaying at Southern California base appears not to be hate crime

2009-07-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The death of a gay sailor who was killed as he stood guard at Camp Pendleton doesn't appear to be a hate crime, officials said Thursday.

Seaman August Provost of Houston was found shot multiple times Tuesday in what investigators are calling a random act unrelated to the 29-year-old's sexuality.

"It is clear to the investigators right now that it could have been any sailor standing watch," Navy spokesman Capt. Matt Brown told The Associated Press.

Some in the gay community had called for a hate crimes probe. Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, said Provost's family told her that personnel on the base had been harassing the sailor.

Earlier in the day, Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of San Diego, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he would call for a Defense Department probe to see if the killing was a hate crime.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has taken a "person of interest" into custody but had not filed any charges. Navy officials said he had made incriminating statements that tied him to the killing, though these statements did not constitute a confession.

Another sailor was questioned and released Wednesday.

Brown said Provost's killer burned the guard shack to cover up evidence.

Brown described Provost as "a rising star in our Navy," who entered the service in March 2008. He had completed basic training and subsequent technical schools and was beginning preparations for overseas deployment.

Yahoo vs. Google in Gay Pride

2009-07-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

Whoever thought Internet search engines would be engaged in a battle to the death to show how much they loved the gays?

Okay, "death" might be stretching it. But while The Google is merely changing a blue line to a rainbow line on certain gay-related searches, Yahoooooooooooooooooooooo has gone all out with its own Pride section, featuring gay news, a pride celebration locator, and a historical timeline of the gay civil rights movement.

But what are the other search engines doing? Bing's got nothing, Ask.com doesn't care, Mahalo is static, and Wolfram|Alpha "isn't sure what to do with your input."

Looks like Yahoo is the clear winner!

Queerty

Pride Fest kicks off Pride Weekend in Chicago

2009-07-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Chicago, IL — Chicago Pride Fest, a two-day prelude to Sunday's Pride Parade, kicked off Friday afternoon on a near perfect Summer afternoon in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

Pride Fest, now in it's 6th year, has expanded to become a two-day celebration. The event is hosted by The Northalsted Area Merchants Association (NAMA).

"This opportunity to start celebrating at 3 p.m. on Friday allows us to bring more great talent, bands and performers, as well as more vendors who might not be willing to participate in a one-day festival," Drew Knecht, president of NAMA, told ChicagoPride.com.

The annual celebration, which showcases an eclectic lineup of arts and crafts, food and other vendors, also includes some exciting free entertainment on two stages including one dedicated to some of Chicago's fine performers in the gay community.

Friday, Martha Wash entertained the crowd. Other performances included the Kimi Hayes Band, Windy City Cowboys, eighties cover band Rock Candy, and powerpop group Dot Dot Dot (8 PM).

Saturday's festivities begin with Petco's Pet Pride Parade hosted by Miss Foozie at 12:30 p.m. The South Stage will feature the cheerleaders of the Chicago Spirit Brigade (2 p.m.), the Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps – ROTC (2 p.m.), The Joans, (3:30 p.m.), the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (4:30 p.m.), disco-funk-motown revue 7-DEEZ (6 p.m.), and eighties tribute band Sixteen Candles (8 p.m.). On the North Stage, there will be two drag shows (3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.) and performances by Boi Toiz (1:30 p.m.), former teen-pop idol Debbie Gibson (2:30 p.m.), R&B singer-songwriter Thelma Houston (4:30 p.m.), Crystal Waters (6:30 p.m.), Inaya Day (7:30 p.m.), and dance singer Ultra Naté (8:30 p.m.). There will also be a fashion show by the International Academy of Design & Technology at 6:30 p.m.

Suggested gate donation is $7. Pride Fest takes place on Halsted between Waveland and Grace

Chicago Pride Fest, as well as the following day's Pride Parade which draws more than 450,000 spectators, cap off a month of GLBT activities and events during Pride Month, which is celebrated each June.

The annual Chicago Pride Parade is Sunday, June 28, 2009 stepping off at Noon from Halsted and Belmont in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

NAMA also sponsors Northalsted Market Days, the Midwest's largest annual two-day outdoor street festival that draws more than 150,000 Chicagoans and LGBT visitors from around the globe. This year's Market Days—now celebrating its 28th year—will be held on Saturday and Sunday, August 1-2.
Chicago Pride

Don't Ask Don't Tell Harms Straight Soldiers, Too

2009-06-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

The dashing First Lt. Dan Choi, who played grand marshal at San Francisco's Gay Pride Parade, is on hand to remind mainstream America why we have these giant street celebrations. But more importantly in this CNN interview, Choi inserts a fresh Don't Ask Don't Tell talking point: The anti-gay policy hurts straight soldiers too, since kicking out gay soldiers rips apart a unit, which harms all of the troops.

Oh, and tomorrow? That's when Choi "will face a panel of colonels who will decide whether or not to fire me — to discharge me for 'moral and professional dereliction' under the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy."

Queerty

Randi Weingarten Quits Job, Risking New Lesbian Power Couple's Influence

2009-06-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Fresh from revealing she just formed a new lesbian power couple with Hilary Rosen, Randi Weingarten plans to give up her post as head of the United Federation of Teachers, where she's been president since 1998. With a formal announcement expected next week, the one-time senatorial hopeful is facing plenty of criticism as she makes her exit, since UFT's union contract with New York City expires this year, and there's no deal with Mayor Michael Bloomberg yet in place. More troubling: Without leading some 200,000 educators, how ever will we be able to call Weingarten a lady of power? Please don't extinguish the dominating force of Weingarten+Rosen just yet! Especially when the New York Post is calling you "the most powerful politician in New York" who could — get this! — return calm to the New York State Senate. Photo NYT
Queerty

Carrie Prejean's Replacement Doesn't Support Gay Marriage, Either

2009-06-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

Carrie Prejean might've been a well-publicized opponent to same-sex marriage, but her Miss California replacement isn't an ally, either. Runner-up-cum-title-holder Tami Farrell doesn't want to see you gays getting married, but adds, "I don't think I have the right or anybody has the right to tell somebody who they can or can't love." well bless her heart!

So much for the argument from Prejean (who just lost another contract) that she was ousted by Donald Trump because she's against marriage equality.

But even if she stands with Prejean on marriage, it's good to see Farrell (pictured here at Sunday's Playboy Jazz Festival) hasn't given up the Miss California title's tradition of supporting women disrobing.

Queerty

Sesame Street Discusses Marriage

2009-06-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Grover discusses marriage but doesn't mention anything about the sex of the couple. Maybe our government can take note from Sesame Street.

23 Year old beats up 2 Lesbians in P-Town

2009-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

"P-town cops say [Eric] Patten was drunk early Saturday when he got tossed out of Vixen nightclub and beat up two lesbians, one of whom was shoved through a window. Cops say Patten, a student at a New York college, spewed anti-gay slurs at the women during the incident outside the Post Office cabaret. He was arrested at the scene as an angry mob looked on, infuriated by his rant, police said."

Boston Herald

Ridiculous Chris Crocker Calls All Your Idol Texts 'Ridiculous'

2009-05-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Do We Still Need Pride Parades?

2009-05-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

As the 40th anniversary of the legendary uprising at Greenwich Village's now-historic Stonewall Inn approaches, we can look back at the brave men and women who raised up their hands and fists and said, "No more!" People were tired of being harassed, tired of being corralled and led away in shame and dishonor, tired of being treated like second-class citizens.

When the Stonewall was raided shortly after midnight on June 28, 1969, a group of gay men, lesbians, drag queens, street youth, hustlers and more fought back against the police. They used coins, bricks, garbage, bottles and their voices to tell the "authorities" to step back.

Two years later, the first gay pride parades took place in Los Angeles and New York and have spread to cities large and small the world over. But after 40 years, do we still need to gather in the streets in our capitals and small towns to tell the world, "We're here. We're queer..."? Ah, you know the rest.

It's an interesting concept, the pride parade. Whether it's to show Puerto Rican pride, Irish pride, American pride ... gay pride, people want to gather in the streets each year to say, "Hell yeah, this is who I am and I love it!" But do annual Pride parades still have the same objectives and reach the same goals today as they did 20 —or even 10—years ago? The gay community has made major strides in the last decade. We have representatives in politics, entertainment, sports, science and adademics, and we are allowed to get married or have a civil union in dozens of countries and a number of U.S. states. Yet we still have a ways to go before we truly have equality.

When you think about Pride in your town or city, what first comes to mind? Is it the riots that started our gay liberation? Is it the political factions who helped us get where we are? Perhaps it's the companies that supported our rights to work alongside straight people and get the same benefits. Or do you just think about how fucked up you're going to get while watching hot, buff, gyrating go-go boys toss beads your way?

However you view your Pride, you can't deny we got to this place today by the support and help of a lot of people. Whether you were in the trenches fighting or benefitted from those actions, each summer we come together to remember how we got here. But why can't we do this everyday? There is plenty of dissention within our community to make us all take pause and ask what it is we're proud of. If each of us takes a step back and thinks about it, we can remember something in each of our lives that makes us proud to be gay. But is it because of some politician or some company or a big fat party? Yes.

There are many ways to show pride in who you are. If you feel like you have to get wasted to do it, so be it. Otherwise, stay home. Just make sure you do something on one of the other 364 days of the year.
Gay.com

South Carolina Wants to Protect Teens From Dating Violence. Just Not Gay Teens

2009-05-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

If one were a responsible lawmaker, he would want a program that educates parents on the warning signs of abusive teenage relationships to include all types of relationships — even the gay ones. But then South Carolina Republican Rep. Greg Delleney isn't a responsible lawmaker.

As the South Carolina House debates a bill that "would require school districts to send home information or include in their student handbooks information about teen dating violence," Rep. Delleney introduced an amendment that would limit the information to heterosexual relationships. You know, because he doesn't "want the Department of Education or school districts to teach children in grades six through 12 about (same-sex) relationships."

So you would think the bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Joan Brady, would have a problem with this anti-gay measure, right?

Wrong.

Brady is fine with the amendment and anticipates the bill will pass today. "My intent is to make sure that every child is protected. But the predominant occurrence of teen dating violence occurs in girl-boy relationships."

Now you see, Rep. Brady, you just contradicted yourself. If you wanted every child protected, you would battle against the amendment. We've got a feeling a single phone call to the Anti-Violence Project would school you on the "less predominant occurrence" of gay dating abuse.

Queerty

Suspended Gay Porn Student John Gechter Won't Sue School, If …

2009-05-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

… they'll let him transfer his course credits to another school. "If [Grove City College] just lets me transfer credits and finish this situation quietly, [a lawsuit] is not something I’m going to pursue," John Gechter says. "It’s not the best of all solutions, but it’s fair."

Gechter — the Thai, Sicilian, and Yugoslavian mix known to his Randy Blue fans as Vincent DeSalvo — was kicked out of the school after administrators found out about his gay porn career, which he says paid for his tuition to the Christian college. But if they let him pack up quietly and move on? He won't take them to court.

What about the threat of lawsuits against his fellow students? Gechter "had also planned to sue individual students for slander and defamation of character after receiving more than 150 of what he called 'hate mails,'" reports Pennsylvania's Sharon-Herald. "Gechter also said fruit was thrown at him in the cafeteria."

Queerty

Rachel Maddow says to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell

2009-05-05T01:14:00.000-07:00

Rep. Virginia Foxx Insists: Matthew Shepard Wasn't Murdered For Being Gay

2009-04-30T05:23:00.001-07:00

Ring Ring! Mexico's Homophobic Advertising Is Calling

2009-04-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

Don't speak Spanish? That doesn't mean you won't be able to understand the homophobia in this ad!

Latin gossip site Guanabee reports: "In this regional spot from Northern Mexico for a cell phone dealer called Ahorro Cel, a woman receives a call from someone asking to speak to her, 'maricon,' or faggot, son. To which she replies, 'He’s no faggot!' To which her son, who has popped out of the adjoining room in drag, applying blush, replies in his queeniest whine, 'Yes I am, mah!' Then the announcer says something about expecting the unexpected from Ahorro Cel. And then there’s a gay little person because all adds about Mexicans must feature a little person."

Hopefully you've got Tony Perkins and Maggie Gallagher in your MyFaves.
Queerty

Ads target lesbian mom’s visitation rights

2009-04-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

New ads airing in Virginia are highlighting an ongoing child custody battle between a Vermont lesbian and her former partner.

Ads from the Protect Isaballa Coalition, which are hosted online by Liberty University, suggest Virginia’s constitutional ban on same-sex unions is “being violated” by rulings in the custody case.

“Virginia does not recognize homosexual marriages and civil unions — or does it?” says one ad. “Activist judges say Isabella Miller has two mommies. And she must travel between Vermont and Virginia to spend time with both. Our marriage laws are not protecting this child. Virginia’s Constitution is being violated. This is tyranny. Will you help Isabella?”

The campaign revolves around a child custody order that arose out of a Vermont civil union between Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven, Vt., and Lisa Miller of Winchester, Va.

Jenkins, a lesbian, and Miller, who no longer identifies as a lesbian, entered into a Vermont civil union in 2000. Two years later, Miller gave birth to a girl, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, who was conceived through artificial insemination. The three moved to Vermont soon thereafter.

In late 2003, the couple split, Miller returned to Virginia and denied Jenkins access to Isabella. The move triggered a protracted legal battle in two states and requests for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. The high court has declined to review the case and Miller has lost almost every legal step. Isabella turned 7 on Thursday.

Debbie Thurman of Sheer Faith Ministries, a Protect Isabella Coalition spokesperson, said Christian radio and television stations in Virginia are airing the ads, which are intended to draw attention to an appeal pending in the state.

But Jenkins, who first heard one ad’s script Tuesday from a Blade reporter, said the campaign is “pure insanity” and a futile attempt to change “a settled case.”

“They’re just so out of bounds,” she said. “It has nothing to do with marriage.”
Washington Blade

America's First Trans Mayor Might Get His Own Reality Show

2009-04-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Stu Rasmussen is America's first openly transgender mayor, running the show in a little place called Silverton, Oregon. Elected last November, she's already faced the wrath of the infamous jokesters of the Westboro "God Hates Fags" Baptist Church. Now, he could face the wrath of all America — if the reality show he's working on pans out.

Film crews began tailing Rasmussen to put together a teaser to shop to networks. Reports Oregon's Statesmen Journal:

Lead producer Gerald Massimei said Silverton has exceeded their expectations. "It will make a phenomenal background for a really interesting story," Massimei said. "There is something really special about this town. We want to invite people, if they see us filming, to come say hi to Stu. Don't be afraid of the cameras."

The show would be centered around Rasmussen and his challenge as a transgender person living in a small town. It would also look at the mechanics and intricacies of local government, including some "hot button" issues such as the Silver Creek Dam, Rasmussen said.

"I have a big ego, but not big enough to think this is going to be Stu-centric," he said. "I think it's going to be Silverton-centric because there are enough other interesting things going on in this community. I will be a recurring character but not the central theme."

The 60-year-old software engineer and co-owner of the Palace Theatre in Silverton said he's excited and apprehensive about the show at the same time. "I think it will be an interesting project if it comes together, but I think we have to be on top of this to make sure that it shows Silverton in the best possible light," he said.

Rasmussen's longtime girlfriend, Victoria Sage, has mixed feelings about the idea. "I think it could be good for Silverton, but it's definitely not my thing," Sage said.

Rasmussen said he will not be paid for the preview. If it goes to production, he stands to get a percentage of the total production cost. Production cost has been estimated at $30,000 to $35,000 per episode, he said.

Queerty

Bus ads promoting healthy gays defaced

2009-04-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

The ads were meant to tell Chicago that health issues for gay men are about more than HIV and AIDs.

Gay men practice yoga, swim and meditate, too.
An example of the ads promoting healthy lifestyles among gay men that are being defaced.

But someone removed or taped over three key words in the ads on the back of CTA buses: Gay, sexy and healthy.

"Clearly the words gay, sexy and healthy were provocative to some people,'' said Jim Pickett, director of advocacy for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

The posters show men doing yoga, meditating and swimming. They include the question: How are you healthy? And they also include the words gay, sexy and healthy.

Pickett noticed the vandalism last Friday while he was on his lunch break downtown. White tape had been affixed over the words on an orange poster on the back of a bus. Someone told him a red poster had been defaced with red tape. He also saw that the three words were cut out or scratched out on some posters.

Pickett, whose organization planned the ad campaign with three other groups, said he notified the company that put up the ads, and they were replaced immediately.

The campaign was launched on 40 buses, and about 150 posters were placed on the L. The CTA said its records show four ads were defaced, and it's on the lookout for vandalism at the North Side garage where the buses carrying the posters are housed.

"We are not going to tolerate someone defacing ads and leaving them up,'' CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said. The vendor "and CTA have been told to be on the alert."

Noting how quickly the ads were replaced, Pickett said the gay community has suffered worse indignities. Still, the vandalism was a reminder of the everyday hostility the gay community faces, he said.

"Some people . . . believe that gay people are unnatural and diseased and bad people,'' he said. "Homophobia is alive and un-well.''

Sun Times

Lawsuits accuse Chicago Police Officer Richard Fiorito of false DUI arrests, harassing gays

2009-04-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

Seven federal lawsuits have been filed against a Chicago police officer that allege he made false DUI arrests, used excessive force and harassed gays and lesbians.

On Thursday, four Chicagoans filed lawsuits against Town Hall District Police Officer Richard Fiorito in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Three other people filed lawsuits in February.

All the plaintiffs accuse Fiorito of violating their civil rights by falsifying DUI charges and other traffic violations against them.

Last year, Mothers Against Drunk Driving honored Fiorito for making 313 DUI arrests between Jan. 1, 2007, and June 6, 2008, according to the group's Web site.

Attorney Jon Erickson said Fiorito made up DUI charges in a scheme to earn extra overtime pay.

Fiorito could not be reached for comment.

In some of the lawsuits, the plaintiffs have also said excessive force was used against them, including in a suit filed in February, which alleges Fiorito grabbed Shawn Rauch by the throat in the police station, shoved him against a wall and called him a slur for a homosexual.

Of the cases filed, prosecutors dismissed DUI charges against two plaintiffs, and a jury found another not guilty of DUI. In another case, a judge ruled the officer had no grounds to arrest the plaintiff for DUI, Erickson said.

Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department, wrote in an e-mail that the city was reviewing the cases and could not comment on the allegations.

Officials at the city's Independent Police Review Authority, which looks into allegations of excessive force and bias-based verbal abuse by officers, said the authority has received complaints, and they are being investigated.

Chicago Tribune

Gay porn star spared death penalty in murder trial

2009-04-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

WILKES-BARRE — Their arms interlocked and tears rolled down their faces as the family of Bryan Kocis stood Monday within an arm’s reach of the man who killed their brother and son.

“I certainly hope that a day does not go by for the rest of your life that you do not remember the grief, the pain, the endless pain that you have caused that family,” Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said before sentencing Harlow Cuadra to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of Mr. Kocis in January 2007.

Mr. Cuadra, 27, said nothing before Judge Olszewski sentenced him. He wiped tears from his face, but stood stoic.

Judge Olszewski’s words were a formality; life in prison was the state-mandated sentence for first-degree homicide after the jury of eight men and four women couldn’t reach a unanimous decision about the death penalty.

“My brother was my best friend, and you’ll never have a clue what you took away from us,” Mr. Kocis’ sister, Melody Bartusek, told Mr. Cuadra.

Lead prosecutor Michael Melnick hugged Mr. Kocis’ mother after she fought through tears to tell Mr. Cuadra about her son.

“I hope you think every day of Bryan and the awful deed you did to him,” Joyce Kocis said.

Mr. Cuadra will be transported to a state correctional institution within 10 days to serve his life sentence.

“I’m not happy about the (life sentence),” Mr. Kocis’ father, Michael Kocis, told Judge Olszewski. “My son is in a jar. We have him in ashes, and I don’t see him walking around. What (Cuadra) did was unconscionable.”

Mr. Cuadra stabbed to death the 44-year-old Mr. Kocis at his Dallas Twp. home Jan. 24, 2007, before setting the house on fire. Mr. Kocis, a rival pornography producer, was killed by Mr. Cuadra and his former lover, Joseph Kerekes, the jury decided, in order to help their burgeoning gay pornography business. Mr. Kerekes pleaded guilty in December to second-degree homicide and is serving a life sentence.

Scranton Times

The same jury that convicted Mr. Cuadra on Thursday of first-degree homicide deliberated for about 5 hours Monday before telling Judge Olszewski they could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Kerry Asks Attorney General to Reunite Gay Couple

2009-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant asylum to a gay married man in his state who was deported despite his rape in Brazil.

In his letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, Kerry said Immigration Judge Francis Cramer found Oliveira’s testimony to be credible and he believed his fear of living in Brazil was genuine. However the judge denied the claim, saying the man “was never physically harmed” by the rape.

Kerry called that ruling “outrageous.”

In 1994 then Attorney General Janet Reno and Holders former boss, decided that a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) case, Matter of Toboso-Alfonso would be considered precedent, meaning that the BIA, Immigration Judges, and asylum officers had to follow its ruling in the future. Toboso-Alfonso recognized persecution based on sexual orientation as a potential ground upon which to apply for asylum, but for the last 8 years the Bush administration has largely ignored that precedent.

Genesio Oliveira had sought asylum because he was raped as a teenager and feared additional attacks if he returned to the Brazil.

However, Oliveira is also legally married to Massachusetts’s businessman Tim Coco, but while 19 other nations around the world allow their citizens to sponsor their same sex partners for immigration benefits, the United States does not recognize these relationships for immigration purposes.

Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, even same sex couples who have been legally married in states or countries that allow gay marriage or civil unions, are not able to immigrate based on those marriages and many already here live with the constant fear that an expired visa or a lost job will result in the couple being separated permanently.

The advocacy group Immigration Equality estimates that some 37,000 gay bi-national couples are affected nationwide by these rules.

The couple met in 2002, when Oliveira was on vacation and were married in 2005. They own a home together north of Boston and began to establish a life in with each other, but after losing their appeal in 2007, Oliveira was given 60 days to leave the country. With the exception of short visits and video calls on the computer, the couple has not been together since. Oliveira has even been denied a visa to return to Massachusetts last year so he could attend the funeral of Coco’s mother.

Ironically, if Mr. Coco was a foreign national being transferred to the United States as a green card holder or work permit holder, the State Department would issue a residency permit to Mr. Oliveira as well. This was done as a result of large corporations who hired employees in “skill shortage” areas from abroad, and who were losing these key hires due to DOMA.

Under Brazilian law, same-sex partners can sponsor their loved ones into that country and Coco has said he and Oliveira would eventually do whatever it takes to be together, even if it means Coco eventually leaving the U.S.

Hopefully that will not have to happen as Senator Kerry is also currently co-sponsoring the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) that would allow gays and lesbians from other countries to become legal residents based on their permanent relationships with U.S. citizens in the same manner as heterosexual couples. There are at present, 15 cosponsors of this bill in the United States Senate.

The UAFA was also introduced to the United States House of Representatives by New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler. There are currently 93 cosponsors of this bill there.

Kerry Letter to Holder (full text)

The Honorable
Eric Holder
United States Attorney General
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Mr. Attorney General,

I’m writing on behalf of one of my constituents, Tim Coco of Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Tim, and Genesio “Junior” Januario Oliveira, Jr., were married in Massachusetts in March 2005. However, since August 2007 they have been separated because of Junior’s immigration status. It is for that reason that I look to you for assistance. Under your discretion as Attorney General I ask that you review Junior’s case and if you deem it appropriate, overrule the lower immigration court’s ruling and allow Junior to return to the United States under his original asylum claim.

Junior applied for asylum in 2002 under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, based on a brutal rape and attack he suffered at the hands of government officials in his home country of Brazil. Even though presiding Immigration Judge Francis Cramer, stated that he found Junior’s testimony to be “credible” and his fear of Brazil “genuine” he denied the asylum claim and ruled that Junior “was never physically harmed” by the rape. This outrageous claim was allowed to stand when in June 2007 the Immigration Board of Appeals upheld Judge Cramer’s decision. Junior voluntarily left the United States following this ruling and has been separated from his husband ever since.

The injustice of the initial denial of Junior’s asylum claim continues to this day. Tim had to suffer the loss of his mother recently without his husband and Junior was unable to get a visa to attend the funeral of his mother in law. I hope that you will review this case and determine that the denial of Junior’s asylum claim was in error and let him return to this country. If you have any questions about Tim and Junior’s case please contact my staff at 202-224-2742. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

Lez Get Real

A look at the compensation paid to leaders of the LGBT rights movement

2009-03-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, which provides meals and nutritional services for homebound people with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C. area, had the highest salary among the heads of the nation’s most prominent LGBT advocacy groups and groups that provide AIDS-related services in Los Angeles, New York and D.C.

A survey of the compensation paid to heads of 30 LGBT and AIDS organizations, conducted by the Washington Blade, shows that Shniderman had a total salary and benefits package of $382,200 in 2008, the latest period for which the organizations’ salary and annual revenue data could be obtained for a completed fiscal year.
Joe Solmonese

HRC

$338,400

Shniderman’s earnings placed him ahead of Joe Solmonese, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT political advocacy group. Solmonese, who ranked second in the salary survey, received a total compensation package of $338,400 in 2008.

Shniderman’s salary also topped that of Lorri Jean, executive director of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, which had revenue of $48.5 million in 2008 and had nearly 300 employees compared to Food & Friends’ annual revenue of $7.9 million and 50 employees. The L.A. Center provides HIV/AIDS-related services as well as a host of social and recreational services for the LGBT community.

The L.A. Center’s $48.5 million was the highest among all the LGBT and AIDS groups in the survey. HRC had the second highest annual revenue among the 30 groups: $41.4 million. Equality California, the statewide group that coordinated the unsuccessful effort to oppose an anti-gay marriage amendment, came in third, with a 2008 figure of $24.5 million.

Geoff Kors, Equality California’s executive director, had a 2008 compensation of $171,000.

D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Clinic, the city’s largest AIDS service provider for the LGBT community and other city residents in the Washington area, had 2008 revenue of $21.5 million. Its executive director, Donald Blanchon, had a 2008 salary of $170,000.

The 30 national LGBT and AIDS groups are among the thousands of nonprofit organizations in the United States that must file annual reports with the IRS disclosing financial information, including the salaries of their chief operating officers.

In conducting the survey, the Blade asked the 30 organizations to disclose the salaries for their CEOs or executive directors for 2008 — the most recently completed fiscal year — as well as for the current fiscal year of 2009. The IRS 990 financial disclosure forms for nonprofit organizations do not become publicly available for two years, with the 2007 IRS forms being the latest year that the disclosure forms can be obtained by the press or public.

Twenty-six groups in the survey agreed to provide the salary and revenue figures for 2008 and 2009, even though they are not required by law to do so for one and two years successively. Four of the groups in the survey declined to provide the salary and revenue information for the most recent two years.

The groups declining to provide the information include Gay Men’s Health Crisis of New York City, one of the nation’s first and most prominent AIDS groups providing services to the LGBT community; the LGBT Community Center of New York City; Empire State Pride Agenda, a statewide LGBT political advocacy group in New York; and Log Cabin Republicans, a national LGBT political group based in Washington, D.C.
Lorri Jean

LA Center

$327,000

According to information compiled by two watchdog organizations that monitor salaries and other finance-related data of nonprofit organizations — Guidestar and Charity Navigator — some of the salaries of the leaders of the 30 LGBT and AIDS groups surveyed by the Blade, on average, were comparable to salaries of non-LGBT civil rights and “social action” groups with a similar revenue figure.

However, a number of the groups surveyed by the Blade offered higher salaries for their CEO or executive director than similar non-LGBT groups tracked by Guidestar and Charity Navigator.

The most recent Guidestar Compensation Report — for 2006 — offers a breakdown of average CEO/executive director salaries for a category of organizations labeled “civil rights, social action, advocacy,” which includes the LGBT rights groups.

In the report, organizations with an annual budget greater than $5 million pay CEOs on average $196,531, with CEOs who make $320,212 landing near the top in the 90th percentile for compensation.

GLAAD’s Neil Giuliano earned slightly more than $270,000 in 2008, putting his compensation near the average for a group with a $7 million budget. The Victory Fund’s Chuck Wolfe also falls into the average range, with annual compensation last year at $220,000; the group’s 2008 budget was $5.2 million.

The compensation for Food & Friends’ Shniderman puts him above the 90th percentile and at the top of the survey. Similarly, the Guidestar report places Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality above the 90th percentile for compensation. According to the report, the average executive director salary for an organization with less than a $500,000 annual budget — NCTE’s is $454,770 — is $54,521. Keisling earned a total of $82,321 last year.

But some gay rights leaders are paid less than the average salary for similar nonprofits, according to Guidestar. The National Stonewall Democrats’ Jon Hoadley, for example, earned $59,500 in 2008 on annual revenue of $650,000. The average salary for an executive director of a group that size is $83,042. Similarly, Dyana Mason of Equality Virginia was paid $59,000 from revenues of $700,000. Her replacement as director of the statewide activist group will be paid $79,000, bringing the salary in line with the average.
Neil Giuliano

GLAAD

$271,034

Charity Navigator recently released 2008 salary data for nonprofit organizations in a category it describes as “public benefit” groups, which includes civil rights and “advocacy” organizations. The Charity Navigator findings show that the average 2008 salary for CEOs and executive directors for groups within that category was just over $150,000. But the findings weren’t broken down into subcategories based on the annual revenue and overall size of the groups.

In submitting their information for the Blade’s survey, at least seven of the 30 organizations indicated that their executive directors had or would soon take a reduction in salary in 2009 due to problems associated with the nation’s economic downturn.

HRC’s Solmonese took a voluntary pay cut of 10 percent, lowering his total compensation from $338,400 to $302,200, according to HRC.

Neil Giuliano, executive director of GLAAD, agreed to a $20,000 salary cut in 2009, from $271,034 in 2008 to $251,034, Giuliano told the Blade. He also declined health insurance benefits from the organization.

Other groups disclosing 2009 salary reductions for their CEO or executive director included Lambda Legal; Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network; Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays; Family Equality Council; and National Stonewall Democrats.

National Youth Advocacy Coalition disclosed in its survey response that the current 2009 salary of its executive director, Greg Varnum, was $62,000, a reduction from the 2007 salary of his predecessor, which was $92,240. The group did not disclose the salary of its executive director for 2008, saying the group’s leadership post was in transition.

Washington Blade

Another ballot measure in California’s future?

2009-03-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

As attorneys in California argued the constitutionality of Proposition 8, this week, activists were considering whether a ballot measure in 2010 would be an effective backup method to repeal the state’s measure banning same-sex marriage.

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, questioned whether such a strategy would be wise. He said that “research has to be done” to determine the position of California voters in the next election year.

“The community is really going to have to come together and make that decision and decide how people feel we should proceed,” he said. “An affirmative ballot measure has never been won on an LGBT issue of any kind in this country. No minority group has ever won its rights at the ballot box.”

However, he said if the Prop 8 lawsuit doesn’t succeed, activists will “have to go back to the ballot at some point.”

Oral arguments in the case were set to occur this week after Blade deadline. Justices were to hear differing views over the constitutionality of Prop 8 as well as arguments over whether the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California are still valid.

Justices have 90 days to rule in the case, so a decision on Prop 8 is expected in June.

Robin Tyler, who with her partner Diane Olson was the first gay person to marry in Los Angeles, is a plaintiff in the Prop 8 case. She said she was optimistic about the case and didn’t want to consider pushing an amendment to win marriage rights.

“Nobody else had their civil rights voted on,” she said. “They didn’t vote to end slavery. They didn’t vote to have interracial marriage. They didn’t vote to integrate the schools, so why do we accept the fact that we get voted on? This is not ‘American Idol.’”

In the event that justices uphold Prop 8, Tyler said supporters of same-sex marriage should get out into the streets as opposed to leading efforts that ask voters to “please, please, please like us.”

Despite such reluctance to pursue another ballot measure, a number of groups are already engaged in efforts to expand public support for same-sex marriage, laying the groundwork for another vote if justices decide to uphold Prop 8.

The Courage Campaign, a grassroots organization, is hosting several “Courage Camp” trainings throughout California based on the “Camp Obama” trainings used during the presidential campaign.

Rick Jacobs, co-chair of the Courage Campaign, said the “Courage Camp” trainings are intended to train “the real army of progressive activists to be able to win this battle socially and, if necessary, electorally.”

Jacobs said the two-day training at each camp consists of attendants learning to use online tools to organize activities as well as teaching people to incorporate personal stories in their efforts to persuade others. The fee for participating at each camp is $10.

“We saw after the passage of Prop 8 in November the hunger that people have for training and for organizing is almost insatiable, and so we’re doing everything possible to provide it,” Jacobs said.

A camp in Los Angeles on Jan. 25 drew 225 people, Jacobs said. Another camp is planned in Fresno on Saturday. Jacobs said the courage campaign is working on other possible camps in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jacobs said Cleve Jones, a long-time gay activist best known for starting the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1987, will appear at each of the camps. For the camp in Fresno, Dolores Huerta, who founded the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar Chavez, is expected to make an appearance.

Jacobs said although a ballot fight against Prop 8 would not be necessary if justices invalidate the measure, supporters of same-sex marriage could still have to fight to preserve marriage rights for gay couples because “the right-wing is in such death-throes that they’ll cling to anything they can to try to divide society.”

Equality California is also spearheading the “I Do” campaign in which the organization provides buttons, stickers, lawn signs and other items with the phrase “I do support the freedom to marry” to participants.

Washington Blade

Penn says he assumes Calif. gov will honor Milk

2009-03-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for playing gay rights hero Harvey Milk, says he is confident California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign a bill recognizing Milk's birthday even though Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure in September.

Appearing Tuesday in San Francisco, Penn said he didn't want to insult the intelligence of his fellow actor by assuming Schwarzenegger would again oppose designating a Harvey Milk Day on May 22.

Unlike an official holiday, the so-called "day of significance" wouldn't give state workers the day off, but schools would be encouraged to conduct lessons on the late San Francisco supervisor's life.

In his veto message, Schwarzenegger said he thought Milk was more appropriately honored on a local instead of statewide level.

Washington Blade

Hearing set for Friday in Wone wrongful death lawsuit

2009-02-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

Attorneys for the wife of slain attorney Robert Wone will ask a judge Friday to approve a subpoena for the telephone and e-mail records of three gay men she accuses in a wrongful death lawsuit of being responsible for her husband’s death.

Katherine Wone filed the lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court in November against Joseph Price, his domestic partner, Victor Zaborsky, and the couple’s friend, Dylan Ward. She filed the $20 million suit shortly after the three men were indicted in a separate criminal case charging them with obstruction of justice in connection with the Wone murder.

Wone was found stabbed to death in August 2006 in the Dupont Circle townhouse where the three gay men lived.

Katherine Wone’s attorneys last week filed a motion asking the court to begin a process to force Verizon Communications to release telephone and e-mail records of the three defendants “from the relevant time period” pertaining to the Wone murder.

Superior Court Judge Brook Hedge is expected to consider that motion and others in a hearing listed as a scheduling conference.

Washington Blade

Oscar taboo: Homosexual Asians upset after 'gay' and 'lesbian' mentions censored on TV

2009-02-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Gay Asians voiced indignation Wednesday after television broadcasts of the Academy Awards in their region censored the words "gay" and "lesbian" in speeches that called for equal rights for homosexuals.

The speeches by actor Sean Penn and writer Dustin Lance Black — who won Oscars for their work in "Milk" — were shown in full during live broadcasts of the Oscars that were screened across Asia on Monday morning.

But viewers who caught recorded telecasts in the evening on STAR, an Asian satellite TV service that says it reaches more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, noticed that the sound was removed whenever both men mentioned "gay" or "lesbian."

"As a gay man, I am truly offended," Pang Khee Teik, a prominent Malaysian arts commentator, wrote in a letter sent out to several media organizations. "Stop censoring the words that describe who I am."

Pang said the move "sent a message ... that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public's ears."

Users of Internet forums in Singapore and India also complained about the censored speeches.

Jannie Poon, STAR's Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, stressed that the company had no intention of upsetting any viewers, but said it has "a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration."

Poon said she was not immediately aware that the speeches had been censored, but noted that STAR's preliminary ratings for the Oscar broadcasts indicated "record-breaking" audiences, especially in India and Taiwan.

Viewers first noticed that the words were silenced when Black offered a tribute to slain American gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk while accepting the Oscar for best original screenplay for "Milk."

"If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight ... that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you," Black said.

Penn, who was named best actor for playing Milk, commented in his speech on California's recent vote to ban gay marriage.

"For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support," Penn said.

Associated Press

Sean Penn in Press Room After Winning Oscar for Milk

2009-02-23T13:49:00.000-08:00