Scientists have long believed that measuring the amount of HIV in a person’s blood is an indicator of whether or not the virus is actively reproducing. A University of Delaware-led research team reports new evidence that hidden virus replication may be occurring within the body’s tissue, despite undetectable virus levels in the blood. The findings were recently reported in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
The discovery came after the paper’s lead author, Ryan Zurakowski, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his research team created a mathematical model to represent how HIV infected cells reproduce.
Antiviral therapy, Zurakowski explained, suppresses HIV replication in most patients until the concentration of virus in a blood sample is undetectable. It is unclear whether similar suppression occurs in other tissues, known as sanctuary sites, including lymph nodes where most HIV is found.
“The majority in the HIV community have always believed...
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The Saint of 9/11: FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge
Published: May 2, 2013
By Brendan Fay
Fr. Mychal Judge was born on May 11, 1933, and died on September 11, 2001. He had a heart as big as New York. There was room for all. To everyone he met, from the streets of New York to the White House, he was...
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Out on the Front Lines
Published: May 2, 2013
By Lt. Lenny Broberg
The recent Boston marathon bombing made me and many others stop and think: What would I have done? If you had heard the explosions, which way would you have run? Chances are you would have run away from the perceived danger. That’s understandable, because our...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: April 18, 2013
President Obama’s newly released budget for the next fiscal year takes a bold step forward in the fight against HIV/AIDS and shows his administration is committed to creating the AIDS-free generation he envisions. The budget restores millions of dollars earmarked for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and Ryan White–funded...
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From Skim Milk to Harvey Milk: How Our Community Made History at Last Week’s Supreme Court Arguments
Published: April 4, 2013
By John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney Marriage Equality USA
Whether you marched in San Francisco or elsewhere around the country, or traveled to Washington, DC, for the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearings in the marriage equality cases, we have all just participated in history in the making. After going...
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On The Path to Marriage Equality
Published: March 21, 2013
By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis
(Editor’s note: The “Bay Times” is proud to launch this first article in a series that will be tracking the marriage equality rights movement over the next several months. Our thanks go to Stuart Gaffney, John Lewis and their colleagues for making the...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: March 21, 2013
Improved treatments for HIV/AIDS and marriage (for those who can wed) are both helping to increase the lifespans of LGBT men, new studies suggest.
For HIV-infected patients whose disease is well controlled by modern treatment, the risk of death is not significantly higher than in the general population,...
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“Cost of Marriage Inequality” Panel at NYU
Published: March 7, 2013
Bay Times advisor Nanette Lee Miller, who is a partner at Marcum LLP and head of the accounting and advisory firm’s national LGBT & Non-Traditional Family Practice group, recently spoke about tax inequities for same-sex married couples as part of a panel moderated by personal finance guru Suze Orman at...
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HIV/AIDS News Q&A re. Infant Believed Cured of HIV
Published: March 7, 2013
(Editor’s Note: Dr. Ian Hampson, a virologist from The University of Manchester’s Institute of Cancer Sciences, answers questions concerning the baby girl born with HIV that some researchers believe has been cured after very early treatment with standard drug therapy. Hampson was not connected with the research, but is an...
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March Madness! But Ready for a SCOTUS Slam Dunk
Published: March 7, 2013
“The President and Attorney General have determined that classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to heightened scrutiny for equal protection purposes…Private respondents, committed gay and lesbian couples, seek the full benefits, obligations, and social recognition conferred by the institution of marriage.”
Brief for the United States as...
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Honoring LGBT African Americans
Published: February 21, 2013
February is Black History Month, a time to recognize the many accomplishments and contributions of African Americans. LGBT people have often been left out of that picture. To turn the tide, several powerful organizations have joined forces to remind us of noteworthy LGBT African Americans, both past and present. These...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: February 7, 2013
Awareness Day Inspires New Apps Duane Cramer, an acclaimed photographer and HIV advocate, today joins the national HIV education campaign I Design. Duane has partnered with Project Runway star Mondo Guerra, who served as the voice of the campaign in 2012, to help empower people living with HIV to work...
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“Seize the Moment Together”
Published: January 24, 2013
— President Barack ObamaSecond Obama Inaugural Speech Makes LGBT History After taking the oath of office for his second term, President Obama included in his Inaugural Address: “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law -- for if we are...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: January 24, 2013
Researchers have discovered a new approach toward eradicating HIV from the body. They did this by decoding a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection. The system’s two vital components are high levels of a molecule that becomes embedded in viral DNA like a code...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: January 10, 2013
New insights into how a promising HIV vaccine works are provided in a study published today in the journal Immunity. By analyzing the structure of antibody-virus complexes produced in vaccine recipients, the researchers have revealed how the vaccine triggers immune responses that could fight HIV-1 infection. The study could help...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: December 20, 2012
The major reservoir for HIV infection was identified this week, representing a major breakthrough in HIV/AIDS research, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The reservoir, or cellular site where HIV can persist and replicate, turns out to be something called T follicular helper cells,...
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HIV/AIDS News
By Ann Rostow Published: December 6, 2012
The only way to protect against HIV and unintended pregnancy today is the condom. It’s an effective technology, but not appropriate or popular in all situations.
A University of Washington team has developed a versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized...
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Justice Delayed…Again!
By Ann Rostow Published: December 6, 2012
Before we start, I just read an article about how the sperm count of the average 35-year-old Frenchman has declined by 32 percent from 1989 to 2005. Why is this of interest? Because the article was written for Reuters Health by a guy named Andrew Seaman. Badda boom! In case...
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2012 Gay Marriage Timeline
Published: November 29, 2012
In the future, 2012 will be remembered by LGBT historians for its landmark gains in the fight for marriage equality. As of this writing, here are just a few US victories, with the biggest yet to come. Wedding bells are set to ring again for our community here in California....
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: November 29, 2012
The Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has applied for a patent for a genetically-engineered vaccine strategy to prevent HIV infection that targets the outer layers of body structures that are the first sites of contact with the virus.Designed to be a single dose and last a lifetime, the...
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Using Our Vote for a Better Future
Published: November 15, 2012
By Glendon “Anna Conda” Hyde
The election is over and we have piles of mail as a reminder of the cost. After all, we did just witness insane spending by people who “care” deeply about us. Every year my inner environmentalist goes out of her mind. No wonder we...
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Obama Administration Record for the LGBT Community
Published: November 15, 2012
▶ Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: The President signed the bill to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell on December 22, 2010, putting in motion the end of a discriminatory policy that ran counter to our values as Americans. As of September 20, 2011, when the repeal took effect, gay, lesbian,...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: October 18, 2012
Methadone reduces the risk of HIV transmission in people who inject drugs (PWID), as reported by an international team of researchers in a paper published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal. This team included Dr. Julie Bruneau from the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Department of...
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HIV/AIDS News
By Ann Rostow Published: October 4, 2012
Biologists at UC San Diego have unraveled the anti-viral mechanism of a human gene that may explain why some people infected with HIV have much higher amounts of virus in their bloodstreams than others. Their findings, detailed in the journal Nature, could also shed light on the mystery of why...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: September 20, 2012
The National AIDS Memorial Grove announced the expansion of its Young Leaders Scholarship Program, making available $1,000 to $2,500 scholarships to young leaders.
The purpose of the scholarship is to recognize, support and encourage the educational efforts of young people committed to active roles of public service and...
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Protecting LGBTQ Youth from “Reparative” Therapy
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 6, 2012
California is set to become the first US state to take a stand against the dangerous, discredited practices extremists claim can “cure” homosexuality. AllOut.org, a global movement to dramatically accelerate the move toward full equality for LGBTQ people all over the world is bringing its successful international campaign to combat...
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AIDS 2012 Ignites Momentum
Published: August 9, 2012
The global AIDS community recently concluded its biennial meeting with a clear sense that the end of the AIDS epidemic is possible with sustained financial, political and scientific commitment. Though a vaccine or cure is still necessary, scaling up resources and the tools available today has the potential to save...
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HIV/AIDS News: Q&A with UCSF’s Jeff Sheehy
Published: July 26, 2012
What constitutes a cure for HIV?A cure would mean that patients infected with HIV would not need to take medications to control the virus. A cure could be a “sterilizing” cure, meaning that the virus is completely eliminated from an HIV patient’s body, or a “functional” cure. A functional cure...
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Out in London: LGBTQ Summer Olympic Athletes 2012
Published: July 26, 2012
By all accounts, more Olympians this year are competing openly as out members of our community than ever before. We are excited to present this celebratory collection honoring these athletes at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. We hope you’ll join us in watching for and supporting them during the Opening...
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Out in London: Images & Trends
Published: July 26, 2012
Much has been said and written about how our community will be represented at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Issues concern who gets to room with whom in the Olympic Village, the famous pins that are traded like crazy during every Olympics, the likelihood of continuing the relatively recent tradition of...
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Affordable Care Act & LGBT Health
Published: July 12, 2012
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will provide health care relief to many LGBT families, numerous experts believe. In addition to providing health care to more than 30 million uninsured Americans, the act promises to safeguard against denial of coverage or...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: July 12, 2012
People at high risk of HIV infection can reduce their chances of acquiring the disease by taking antiretroviral drugs, according to Cochrane researchers. In an update of a systematic review first published in 2009, the researchers found that uninfected people in relationships with HIV-infected partners, men who have sex with...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: June 21, 2012
More than 15 percent of new HIV infections occur in children. Without treatment, only 65 percent of HIV-infected children will live until their first birthday, and fewer than half will make it to the age of two. Although breastfeeding is attributed to a significant number of these infections, most breastfed...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: June 14, 2012
The findings of a new study may help to clarify why some people infected with HIV are better able to control the virus. They also may pinpoint a target for treatment during early HIV infection aimed at increasing the supply of certain gut immune cells, which the study shows could...
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NAACP’s History-Making Vote
Published: May 31, 2012
By Andrea Shorter
The fight for same sex marriage equality recently gained two mighty allies over the past few weeks. Within a matter of days after President Barack Obama announced his support for same sex marriage in a television interview, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People...
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A Letter from President Obama
Published: May 17, 2012
I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
I hope you’ll take a moment to watch the conversation, consider it, and weigh in yourself on behalf of marriage equality.
I’ve always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally. I was reluctant...
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NCLR Celebrates 35 Years
Published: May 3, 2012
This Saturday, the National Center for Lesbian Rights celebrates its 35th anniversary. In honor of that milestone and the organization’s decades of tireless support for our community, the Bay Times is presenting this special commemorative issue.
NCLR was founded in 1977, when the brave and determined Donna Hitchens,...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: April 19, 2012
Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principal that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells, a team of UCLA researchers has now demonstrated that these cells can actually attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism.
The study, published in the journal PLoS Pathogens, demonstrates for the...
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EQCA Honors JC Penney Support for Ellen
Published: April 5, 2012
By Elizabeth Stewart
JC Penney didn’t blink when One Million Moms went on the attack. The Christian family group called for a nationwide boycott when the retailer several months ago hired Ellen DeGeneres as a spokeswoman recently.
The effort failed miserably, however, and in early March the...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: April 5, 2012
Women who have been infected by two different strains of HIV from two different sexual partners – a condition known as HIV superinfection – have more potent antibody responses that block the replication of the virus compared to women who’ve only been infected once. These findings, by researchers at Fred...
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Marijuana-Like Chemicals Inhibit HIV in Late-Stage AIDS
Published: March 22, 2012
Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered that marijuana-like chemicals trigger receptors on human immune cells that can directly inhibit a type of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found in late-stage AIDS, according to new findings published online in the journal PLoS ONE.
Medical marijuana is prescribed to...
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Department of Justice Will Not Defend DOMA
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 23, 2012
The Department of Justice has sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) stating its position with respect to McLaughlin et al v. Panetta et al, which challenges the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and federal statutes related to benefits for the spouses of service members and veterans....
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: February 23, 2012
New Studies Show Which Anti-HIV Drug Combinations Work Better Than Others, and WhyAIDS experts at Johns Hopkins have calculated precisely how well dozens of anti-HIV drugs work, alone or in any of 857 likely combinations, in suppressing the virus. Results of the team’s latest research reveal how some combinations work...
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Prop 8 Unconstitutional
Published: February 9, 2012
The federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that Proposition 8, the California constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2008 that stripped the freedom to marry from same-sex couples, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. It is the first time in...
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Celebration in Castro After Proposition 8 Goes Down
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 9, 2012
Celebrants took to the streets after this week’s monumental Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. In San Francisco, a victory party was held at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center at 5pm on Tuesday.
“We are thrilled that the US Ninth...
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A Lonely Heart Can Make You Sick
Published: February 9, 2012
Newly divorced middle aged women are more vulnerable to contract HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases because they tend to let their guard down with new sexual partners and avoid using protection since they are unafraid of getting pregnant, according to Christopher Coleman, an associate professor at the University of...
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SLDN Launches New Online Toolkit
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 26, 2012
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has launched a new online toolkit to assist veterans discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) or the prior regulations prohibiting gay and lesbian service in the military seeking changes to their discharge paperwork. These changes include upgrading of discharge characterizations, modifying the narrative reason...
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5 Stories to Follow in 2012
Published: January 12, 2012
This year promises many cliffhangers for the LGBTQ community, with decisions in 2012 potentially affecting everything from the well being of our youth to our basic freedoms. Here we spotlight 5 stories that we will be tracking for you over the coming months: 1. Presidential and Senate ElectionsAlthough the election...
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Transgender Rights Are Becoming Reality
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 12, 2012
Today, legal fairness and justice for transgender Californians is a reality. Last year, Governor Brown signed two bills that the Transgender Law Center co-sponsored, AB887 and AB433. As of now, they have become law.
AB 887, the Gender Nondiscrimination Act, authored by Assemblymember Toni Atkins, strongly clarifies the existing...
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Majority of Voters Support Employment Anti-Discrimination Laws
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 12, 2012
As another indicator that public opinion continues to shift in favor of fairness, the vast majority of Americans support employment non-discrimination laws protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination, according to a new poll released by the Human Rights Campaign in partnership with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. In...
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Taking a Step Towards Protecting LGBTQs from Deportation
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 29, 2011
Dozens of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer organizations across the country have been adding their voices to the growing national movement to end Immigrations & Customs Enforcement’s controversial fingerprint-sharing “Secure Communities” (S-Comm) program. By forcing local law enforcement to share fingerprint data for every person arrested - no matter...
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Activists Gather Signatures to Put Gay Marriage on November Ballot
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 29, 2011
The Los Angeles-based activist group, Love Honor Cherish, is gathering signatures for a measure that would undo Proposition 8, which removed legal marriage for gays. LHC and their coalitions have until May 14, 2012 to collect the 807,615 voter signatures required to qualify their initiative for the November 2012 ballot....
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Linguist Jase Daniels Reinstated to Active Duty
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 15, 2011
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster has announced that their client, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jase Daniels, discharged in April 2005 and again in March 2007 under the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) law, has been reinstated in the U.S. Navy and...
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President Obama and Secretary Clinton Stand Up for Global LGBT Rights
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 15, 2011
In an unprecedented memorandum, the White House has for the first time called on American agencies to promote LGBT rights abroad.
President Barack Obama has outlined a vigorous strategy to deal with human rights abuses of LGBT people. “The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and...
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As Rep. Barney Frank Retires, LGBTQs Lose A Fierce Advocate
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 15, 2011
US Representative Barney Frank, the state’s highest-profile congressman and one of the nation’s leading liberal voices after being among its first openly gay elected officials, has announced that he will not seek reelection next year – much to the dismay of LGBT activists. The Massachusetts Democrat is one of four...
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SLDN Files Motion for Summary Judgment in DOMA Challenge
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 1, 2011
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has filed a motion for summary judgment in the case of McLaughlin v. U.S., the legal challenge filed in October by SLDN and co-counsel Chadbourne & Parke on behalf of current and former service members seeking equal recognition, benefits, and family support for equal sacrifice...
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Anti-Equality Advocates File to Eliminate LGBTQ People from FAIR Act
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 1, 2011
Once again, anti-equality advocates have filed papers with the state to circulate petitions for an initiative on the November 2012 ballot asking voters to strip language that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from the landmark FAIR (Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, Respectful) Education Act. Specifically, the initiative would strike the...
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World AIDS Day 2011
Published: December 1, 2011
World AIDS Day, December 1, presents an opportunity for San Franciscans and people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV. This year’s event also marks the thirtieth anniversary of the pandemic. Those of us who were around in 1981 will never forget the chilling news that spring about five...
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Rectal Microbicide Could Reduce HIV Transmission Source: UCLA
Published: December 1, 2011
A topically applied microbicide gel containing a potent anti-HIV drug has been found to significantly reduce infection when applied to rectal tissue that was subsequently exposed to HIV in the laboratory, according to a new study by the UCLA AIDS Institute. The gel was also found to be safe and...
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Feds Ramp Up War on Medical Marijuana
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 17, 2011
In yet another attack by the Obama administration on medical marijuana, US attorneys in California have sent out a series of letters threatening landlords with property forfeiture for renting their property to dispensaries deemed too close to “sensitive areas” such as schools and parks. Prominent among the targets is the...
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Respect for Marriage Act Passes Senate Committee
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 17, 2011
After about two hours of discussion, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 along party lines to approve the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which would repeal the “Defense of Marriage Act” (also known as “DOMA”) of 1996 that banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage. In addition to repealing DOMA, the Respect...
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Baldwin Campaign Picking Up Steam
Published: November 17, 2011
By Kirsten Kruse
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), is running for the U.S. Senate and her numbers are looking good. Her campaign raised $738,000 in the 3rd quarter, and now has $1.5 million cash-on-hand. More than $625,000 of those Q3 contributions came after she announced that she was running. 91...
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US Conference of Catholic Bishops Rejects Respect for Marriage Act Honors
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 17, 2011
Catholic bishops are again attempting to officially destroy marriage equality. Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland is now urging the US Senate, along with the entire United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to reject the Respect for Marriage Act - a measure that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act...
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Governor Signs Gender Non-Discrimination Act
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 3, 2011
Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law Assembly Bill 887, the Gender Nondiscrimination Act, which will strengthen employment, housing, and other civil rights protections for all Californians, particularly those who face discrimination based on gender identity and expression. The bill was authored by Assembly member Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and...
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Shocking Report on Queer Domestic Violence
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 3, 2011
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has released its report, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Intimate Partner Violence in the United States in 2010.” In 2010, NCAVP programs received 5,052 reports of IPV, an increase of 38.1% from the 3,658 reports in 2009.
The LA Gay...
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Senator Dianne Feinstein Speaks Out for LGBTQ Rights at HRC Gala
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 3, 2011
Human Rights Campaign held its 27th annual Bay Area gala awards dinner at the Fairmont, featuring Senator Dianne Feinstein as keynote speaker. HRC President Joe Solmonese said, “This year has been nothing less than remarkable, and we’re only just getting started.” He continued, “There have been setbacks and speed bumps...
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Has Equality California Lost Focus?
By Dayna Verstegen Published: October 20, 2011
The dust is now beginning to settle on Roland Palencia’s resignation from Equality California, but the clearing has provided no more information than we had one week ago.
Answers to questions posed to Rebekah Orr of EQCA by the Bay Times were limited to only a few words. “This...
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Bay Times Endorses Bevan Dufty for Mayor
By Dayna Verstegen Published: October 20, 2011
The Bay Times has selected Bevan Dufty as our first choice for Mayor. Dufty’s commitment to improving public transportation, rent control, transgender services, solar power, as well as reversing “black flight” from our city, and hiring from within the city, are not only important to the LGBTQ community, but also...
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Seth’s Law Signed into Law By Governor Brown
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 20, 2011
Governor Jerry Brown has signed AB 9, Seth’s Law, into law. The bill is designed to address the pervasive problem of school bullying by providing California schools with tools to create a safe school environment for all students. It was authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and cosponsored by...
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Project Inform Announces News in HIV Eradication & Fashion Show
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 20, 2011
Project Inform, founded in 1985, fights the HIV and hepatitis C epidemics by assuring the development of effective treatments and a cure; supporting individuals to make informed choices about their health; advocating for quality, affordable health care; and promoting medical strategies that prevent new infections. Project Inform does not receive...
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FAIR Education Act Opponents Fail to Qualify for Ballot Referendum
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 20, 2011
Anti-equality advocates have announced that they have failed to collect the required number of signatures to place a referendum for the November 2012 ballot to overturn the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act. The FAIR Education Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Equality...
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Rally to Celebrate DADT Repeal but Struggle for Equality is Not Over
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 6, 2011
GetEQUAL, a national organization that works to secure LGBTQ equality through direct action, held a lively rally in Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro. Dennis Veite, an activist with GetEQUAL, acted as emcee for the rally of approximately 60 attending. The official GetEQUAL banner and a rainbow flag served as...
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Support for Gay Marriage is Growing Fast
By Dayna Verstegen Published: October 6, 2011
A new study released by the University of Chicago documents rapidly increasing support for gay marriage in the U.S. The General Social Survey (GSS), which is supported by the National Science Foundation, monitors societal change and the growing complexity of American society. The survey has been conducted every two years...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is History
By Dayna Verstegen Published: September 22, 2011
Monday night, September 19 was like New Year’s Eve in many gay bars around the country. At the stroke of midnight, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was officially repealed. Lt. Gary Ross was the first in the country to marry after the repeal. At the stroke of midnight he...
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National Organization for Marriage Tries to Circumvent Campaign Finance Law
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 22, 2011
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is a highly secretive organization believed to be largely funded by the Mormon and Catholic churches. During the country’s greatest economic decline in decades, NOM has amassed huge resources to stop marriage equality, whether at the ballot box or in court. NOM publicly projects...
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Short but Important Hearing for Gay Marriage
By Dayna Verstegen Published: September 8, 2011
Prop 8 proponents and plaintiffs for Perry v. Brown (the case brought by same sex couples claiming Prop 8 is unconstitutional) were in court again Tuesday. This time, proponents of prop 8 are asking the California Supreme Court for permission to appeal the ruling make by Judge Vaughan Walker last...
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Equality Organizations Launch Massive Coalition to Protect FAIR Education Act
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 8, 2011
Authored by Senator Mark Leno and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, the FAIR (Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful) Education Act ensures the fair and accurate portrayal of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights movement and people with disabilities in social science instruction. Anti-equality advocates, including the...
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Seth’s Law Against Bullying Passes Senate
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 8, 2011
The California State Senate approved Seth’s Law (AB 9) in a 24-14 vote on Sept. 2. Seth’s Law is designed to address the pervasive problem of school bullying by providing California schools with tools to create a safe school environment for all students. The bill is authored by Assemblymember Tom...
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SLDN Releases Post-DADT Freedom to Serve Guide and Demands Benefits
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 25, 2011
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has unveiled a comprehensive new legal guide for LGBTQ service members, veterans, future recruits, and their families. This first-of-its-kind guide documents the laws and policies related to military service in the U.S. following the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), as well as practical...
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Over 1,000 Groups Back 2012 AIDS March
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 11, 2011
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and 1,006 organizations from 78 countries have announced their collaboration on the “Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS March” set to take place in Washington, DC on July 22, 2012. The march will immediately precede the opening ceremonies of the International AIDS Society’s XIX International AIDS Conference,...
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Suspense Mounts about Historic First Lesbian Senate Seat Race
Published: August 11, 2011
By Kirsten Kruse Liberal Wisconsinites are waiting with bated breath for an announcement from Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin’s office. Will Ms. Baldwin run for Senate? Baldwin, a quintessential Madison liberal, who has represented her district in Congress since 1998, would be the first openly lesbian Senator in US history. In an...
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American Psychological Association Supports Marriage Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 11, 2011
On the eve of its annual convention, the policymaking body of the American Psychological Association (APA) voted unanimously in a 157-0 vote to pass a resolution reaffirming its support for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples and again calling for an end to marriage discrimination, citing a mounting body...
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HRC Goes on the Road for Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 11, 2011
“On the Road to Equality” is the Human Rights Campaign’s nationwide bus tour to spread the message of equality by educating the American public and empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to become advocates for themselves and their families. The twelve-week tour will travel to 17 cities in eleven...
Anti-equality advocates known as the Capitol Resource Institute have received approval from the state to circulate petitions for a referendum on the June 2012 ballot that asks voters to overturn SB 48 - the FAIR (Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful) Education Act signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown earlier...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Finalized in Less than Two Months
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 28, 2011
Gay service members on July 22 welcomed a key milestone in repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), as President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, formally issued their certification to the Armed Services committees of both houses of...
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Latest Study Finds One in Four Gay Teens is Homeless
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 28, 2011
The latest study, published July 21 by the American Journal of Public Health, is the first to quantify the risk of homelessness among teens of different sexual orientations with population-based data. Roughly one in four lesbian or gay teens and 15 percent of bisexual teens are homeless; versus three percent...
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Dumping DOMA Discussed at Senate Judiciary Hearing
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 28, 2011
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a historic hearing on July 20 to kick off the process of undoing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that says states do not have to recognize legal same-sex unions performed in other states and says the federal government can only...
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Seth’s Law Against Bullying Takes Final Testimony
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 14, 2011
On Monday, July 11, the Senate Appropriations Committee heard testimony Seth’s Law (AB 9), authored by Assemblymember Ammiano (D-San Francisco). Seth’s Law seeks to create a safer school environment by providing California schools with the tools to address the pervasive problem of school bullying. The bill is co-sponsored by a...
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DEA Rejects Petition to Reschedule Marijuana for Medical Use
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 14, 2011
On July 11, the White House, with little fanfare, issued its annual (and long overdue) 2011 National Drug Control Strategy Report. “As usual, the White House’s official justification for the ongoing multigenerational drug war was light on facts and heavy on rhetoric, particularly as it pertained to the federal government’s...
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Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell Is Not Quite Dead, but Certainly Dying
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 14, 2011
On July 6, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that put back into effect a lower court order barring the enforcement of the ban on queers serving openly in the military, known as “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell (DA/DT). The order instructed the government to declare whether or...
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A Look Inside the NY in for Marriage Equality
By Dayna Verstegen Published: July 7, 2011
Nearly two weeks ago, on Friday, June 24, the New York State Senate passed a bill legalizing gay marriage by a vote of 33 - 29. New York is now the sixth and by far the most populous state to pass marriage equality legislation. Much has been written about this...
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SLDN Denounces Votes to Amend DA/DT Repeal Process
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 7, 2011
Army veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis issued the following statement in response to the adoption of harmful amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that threaten to delay and derail repeal implementation of "Don't Ask/ Don't Tell" (DA/DT), the ban on queers serving...
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FAIR Act Passes State Legislature & Goes to Governor
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 7, 2011
This reporter received an email a few days ago from Isaiah Baiseri, Gay-Straight Alliance Network youth leader and board member. He wrote, "My high school just handed me a diploma; but it never taught me that LGBT people like myself could be successful, lead movements, inspire minds, or make the...
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Hundreds of Videos Submitted for DOMA Challenge, Deadline Extended To July 11
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 7, 2011
The Courage Campaign is extending the deadline for "Testimony: Take a Stand," featuring Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to 11:59 p.m. PST, July 11. The video project is part of their larger effort to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) by using real stories from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and...
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has done awe-inspiring and incredible work for the last 18 years, offering legal aid to men and women discharged from the armed forces under "Don't Ask/ Don't Tell," the military ban on openly gay service people, and giving helpful advice to queer military personnel regarding...
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New York Passes Gay Marriage!
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 30, 2011
Same-sex couples and proponents of civil rights have a reason to celebrate, as the New York State Senate has passed a bill that allows gay marriage. New York will be the sixth and largest state in the union to adopt gay marriage. Currently, five states - Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont,...
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Prop. 8 Advocates Lose Their Challenge to Walker Ruling
Published: June 16, 2011
By Dayna VerstegenOn Tuesday US District Court Chief Judge James Ware denied the motion by advocates of Prop. 8 to vacate the ruling by former Judge Vaughn Walker. If the motion had been successful, Walker’s 2010 ruling that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional could have been overturned.It was another of many...
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Gender Idenity and Expression Protected By New Senate Bill
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 16, 2011
On June 14, the California State Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Gender Nondiscrimination Act (AB 887) on a 3-2 vote. The bill was authored by Assemblymember Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and sponsored by Equality California and the Transgender Law Center. If passed by the Assembly, AB 887 will strengthen employment,...
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Marriage Equality USA Holds “Motion To Marry” Rally Against Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 16, 2011
Just before the hearing to deem Vaughn Walker fit or unfit to pass judgment on the constitutionality of Prop 8, Marriage Equality USA convened a “Motion to Marry” rally outside the Federal Court-house. The small but powerful crowd woke up early to raise their voices for marriage equality; while inside,...
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Seth’s Law Addressing Bullying Passes State Assembly, But With Omissions
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 9, 2011
The California State Assembly has passed Seth’s Law (AB 9), in a 52-26 vote. Seth’s Law is designed to address the pervasive problem of school bullying by providing California schools with tools to create a safe school environment for all students. The bill is authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and...
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Gay-Straight Alliance Network Awarded Federal Grant For LGBT Youth
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 9, 2011
Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network) is thrilled to announce its new Safe & Healthy LGBT Youth Project, made possible by the organization’s first federal grant. The Department of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded GSA Network over $285,000 for this...
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Courage Campaign Takes Orbitz To Task
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 2, 2011
Courage Campaign’s Rick Jacobs is calling out Orbitz travel company over its dubious handling of the boycott being launched against the company for advertising on Fox News.“As a gay man, I can be intolerant, and proudly so. But let me explain what I mean,” says Jacobs. “My intolerance extends only...
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Preachers Nationwide Lobby for LGBT Rights
Published: June 2, 2011
By Ed NessAaron, a middle school youth, was regularly taunted, insulted, and assaulted by other students. He reached out to his teachers for help. They told him to “toughen up.” Next he asked his mother for help. His mother asked the school administration why no one was helping to stop...
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Advocates Sue Federal Government For Unreasonable Delay In Rescheduling Medical Marijuana
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 26, 2011
Nearly nine years after filing a petition to reschedule marijuana for medical use, a coalition of advocates has filed suit in federal court to require the government to answer their petition within 60 days. The rescheduling petition, filed to the DEA on October 9, 2002 by a coalition of groups...
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BAMN Pleads Activists To Help Free Gay Tanzanian Edson Cosmas Now!
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 26, 2011
The coalition to defend affirmative action, integration, and immigrant rights, and to fight for equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) is building the new civil rights movement. They are a primarily student- and youth-based organization of leaders in schools and communities, committed to making real the promises of American democracy...
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SLDN Denounces Votes In House Armed Services Committee To Undermine DA/DT Repeal Process
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 19, 2011
Army veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis issued the following statement in response to the adoption of harmful amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that threaten to delay and derail repeal implementation of “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell” (DA/DT), the ban on queers serving...
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Watershed Moments In The Fight Against HIV/AIDS Are Happening
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 12, 2011
SF AIDS Foundation Honors Two Champions And A City In The Fight
This year, San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s annual Leadership Recognition Dinner was held on May 5 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Foundation honored two champions in the fight against HIV/AIDS: Anne Donnelly, director of health care policy at Project...
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Job Is Still Not Done With Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell Repeal
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 12, 2011
With President Barack Obama signing legislation into law that provides a pathway to repeal of “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” the ban on LGBT people serving openly in the military, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network family and greater LGBT community, along with their allies, should be proud of the role each...
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Clock Is Ticking For Repeal Of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 5, 2011
On the eve of the 120th day since President Barack Obama signed legislation allowing for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DA/DT), the ban on LGBT military persons serving openly, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) unveiled a digital clock on its website, marking the time passed since the signing and...
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Law Firm Drops Suit To Defend Defense Of Marriage Act
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 28, 2011
The law firm, King & Spaulding, hired by Republicans in the House of Representatives to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, withdrew on April 25 amid pressure from gay rights groups. Founded in 1885, K&S is one of the nation’s largest and most successful law firms, with...
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Gay Petty Officer in Navy Voted to be Retained Under DA/DT Repeal
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 7, 2011
Petty Officer 2nd Class Derek Morado is a 26 year old gay service member who was facing discharge on March 31 in California despite “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell” (DA/DT) having been repealed about 100 days prior. Petty Officer Morado joined the Navy at the age of 17, and six years...
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SLDN Calls For Accelerated Timeline For DA/DT Training
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 24, 2011
Ninety days after President Barack Obama signed repeal legislation of the “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell” ban on serving openly gay in the military, Army Veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis called on the U.S. military on March 22 to accelerate the timeline for training the...
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Newest Polls Confirm Majority Support Marriage Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 24, 2011
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll taken on March 18 has found that a majority (53-44%) of Americans support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, adding to an ever-growing list of polls that show America is moving unalterably towards full LGBT equality. Five years ago, at 36 percent, support for...
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Compassionate Action For Medical Cannabis Patients Offered
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 10, 2011
Meanwhile Medical Cannabis Defendants Fight For Their Lives The Axis of Love SF Patient Advocacy Team produced their Compassionate Action Monthly Dinner and celebrated Mardi Gras as their theme. They also celebrated many thanks to the Women’s Building for their six-month contract every month to continue this wonderful new...
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Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Makes Demands Regarding DA/DT
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 17, 2011
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) sent a letter Monday calling upon Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Dr. Clifford Stanley to establish special boards that would address issues faced by former service members discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DA/DT) and the...
The US military embarked upon a massive new training program as of Feb. 1 as it adjusts to the repeal of “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” the ban on queers serving openly in the military. It will be months before the changes make their way through the entire military, but the...
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Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Praises President In State Of Union Speech
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 27, 2011
SLDN Cautions Queer Military Personnel That DA/DT Still In Effect
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) was established in 1993 under President Bill Clinton’s administration when “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” the federal ban on lesbian/gay people serving openly in military service, originally passed. In addition to working on repeal,...
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A New Organization Takes Up LGBT Equality on the National Stage
By Kim Corsaro Published: January 27, 2011
A Conversation with Richard Socarides Fox News has a well-worn roster of people they cast as villains, such as President Obama and Nancy Pelosi. One of their favorite targets is liberal benefactor and financier George Soros. They have flung wild accusations against Soros, a Holocaust survivor, such as labeling him...
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Pro-Gay Justice Carlos Moreno Resigns
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 13, 2011
The only Democratic appointee and the only Latino on the California Supreme Court has announced that he will be stepping down next month, giving Governor Jerry Brown an early opportunity to shape the state’s high court. Justice Carlos Moreno, age 62, submitted his resignation to Brown on Jan. 5. His last...
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New Twist in Prop 8 Case Brings Delay
By Ann Rostow Published: January 6, 2011
Well, so much for the expedited briefing schedule that brought our case against California’s marriage ban so rapidly through the federal appellate court. On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit added months to the Prop 8 litigation by asking the California Supreme Court for a technical...
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Activist Community Reacts To Latest Appelate Court Action
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 6, 2011
As a federal appeals court said it cannot decide if California’s gay marriage ban is constitutional until the state’s highest court weighs in on whether Proposition 8’s sponsors have the authority to defend the ban, Bay Times interviewed several equality activists regarding this occurrence. “Today’s ruling is a significant...
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Gay American Heroes Foundation Honors Murdered Queers
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 6, 2011
The Gay American Heroes Foundation is creating the Rainbow Memorial, a national, traveling memorial to celebrate the lives of LGBT persons who have been murdered because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Its mission is to honor and remember LGBT victims of hate crimes; to engage and inform the...
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A Landmark Decision For LGBTâ€Rights
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 23, 2010
In the landmark decision on Dec. 18 in the Senate for the repeal of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell, the 1993 ban on gays serving openly in the military, senators voted 65 to 31, after the House had already passed the repeal. Eight Republicans (more than expected) joined Democrats in the...
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Stand-Alone DA/DT Repeal Sails Thru House. Next Up, US Senate Has The Votes, But Will they Get Around to It?
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 16, 2010
Opponents of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell, the ban on gay people serving openly in the military, are making a last ditch effort to overturn the discriminatory law. On Dec. 14, House Democrats had introduced legislation in parallel to a Senate bill written to lift the ban before the lame-duck session...
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Bill To End Bias in Education Introduced
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 16, 2010
Equality California and Gay-Straight Alliance Network are sponsoring the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act (SB 48), a bill introduced on Dec. 13 by Senator Mark Leno (D-SF), that would prohibit discriminatory education and ensure that LGBT people are fairly and accurately included in instructional materials. Studies have...
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Pediatric Journal Finds Unfair Treatment For LGB Teens
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 16, 2010
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are about 40 percent more likely than other teens to receive punishment at the hands of school authorities, police, and the courts, according to research published in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the world’s leading journal of pediatric medicine, and released online on...
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The Courthouse Marriage Equality Community Gathering
By Rink Published: December 9, 2010
Cheers, Jeers, and SongIt was an early morning of cheers, speeches, affirmation and song from the 60-plus people at a sidewalk community gathering organized by Marriage Equality outside the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco on 7th Street on Dec. 6. MC’s Molly McKay and Rev. Roland Stringfellow were able to...
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World AIDS Day : A Day of Remembrance, Tears, and Hope
By Rink Published: December 9, 2010
More than 200 people gathered in an enormous tent in the National AIDS Memorial Grove on Dec.1, World AIDS Day, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Grove’s founding. The Grove was created in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park as a living memorial to those who have lost their lives...
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Day With(Out) Art Observed On World Aids Day
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 9, 2010
On Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, Magnet health services in the Castro invited the public to interact with our gay history and see the impact HIV has had on it. They designed this retrospective timeline to provide an opportunity to not only think back to one’s life at the various...
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Harry Reid Just Might Get The Da,Dt Repealed
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 9, 2010
As Bay Times goes to press on Dec. 8, in a surprising move, Sen. Harry Reid just announced on the Senate floor that he might bring the Defense Authorization bill — including a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — to a vote that night!The cloture vote on the National...
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Pediatric Journal Finds Unfair Treatment For LGB Teens
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 9, 2010
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are about 40 percent more likely than other teens to receive punishment at the hands of school authorities, police, and the courts, according to research published in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the world’s leading journal of pediatric medicine, and released online on...
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Pentagon Report Says Gays OK to Serve
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 2, 2010
But The Few, The Proud, The Bigoted Still Say No
The Pentagon’s long-awaited report on gays serving openly in the military has firmly concluded that repealing the 17-year-old “Don’t ask/ Don’t Tell” law would present only a low risk to the armed forces’ ability to carry out their mission,...
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Checking Out The Prop H8 Trial
Published: December 2, 2010
A federal appeals court has decided that a hearing in San Francisco on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California’s ban on legal same-sex marriage, will be televised on C-SPAN. The cable station will carry the Dec. 6 hearing before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals live, despite the fact...
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Bullying of Transgender Teens Underreported
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 25, 2010
The community has just commemorated the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Gay and lesbian bullying and suicides have been in the news rather frequently recently, with the 14 (and counting, sadly) suicides of people who are clearly presented as gay and lesbian last month. But something has been missing in this...
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Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell Hearing Set for Dec. 2
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 25, 2010
It was revealed on Nov. 21 that the military’s report on the effects of a repeal of the Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell policy, which discriminates against LGBT people serving openly in the military, would be available on Nov. 30 - a day earlier than originally scheduled. This was “to support...
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12th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance
By Rev. Irene Monroe Published: November 18, 2010
Remembering Trans Heroine Rita Hester
This weekend is the 12th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR,) and many of us across the nation will be memorializing transgender Americans murdered because of their gender identities or gender expressions.The purpose of TDOR is to raise public awareness of hate crimes against...
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Repeal Of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell Must Occur During Lame Duck Session Or Else
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 18, 2010
The Senate has reconvened for its four-week lame duck session. If “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” the gay military ban, is going to be repealed by Congress, it’s now or never. As of Nov. 14, over 34,000 Americans - including nearly 7,000 veterans and their families - have signed an urgent...
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Cowardly Democrats Not Likely to Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in Lame Duck Session
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 11, 2010
The 56th annual Veterans Day Parade has come and gone, but not for veterans wanting repeal of the 1983 law, “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” which excludes openly gay people from serving in the military. For instance, Navy veteran John Caldera of American Legion Post #448 took advantage of the holiday...
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Ceremony Celebrates Everyday Heroes
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: November 11, 2010
Just one day before the Veterans Day Parade, veterans of the war against HIV/AIDS gathered at the War Memorial to celebrate everyday heroes. People who have directly or indirectly been touched by HIV, yet flourish, and those who love and support them all assembled on Nov. 6 in an interactive...
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Wiener Claims District 8 Seat
By Paul E. Pratt Published: November 4, 2010
Early Tabulations Place Wiener Ahead of Mandelman in D8 Supes Race
Though official results are not expected for several days as run-off ballots continue to be counted, candidate Scott Wiener has already declared victory in the City’s hotly-contested District 8 Supervisor race. “We did it!” Wiener announced to a roar...
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Human Rights Campaign Gala
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 4, 2010
The 26th annual San Francisco Bay Area HRC gala dinner, “No Excuses,” was held on Oct. 23 at the Fairmont San Francisco. The Human Rights Campaign represents a grassroots force of over 750,000 members and supporters nationwide. As one of the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights...
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Recruiting For Openly Gay Military People Begins with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell on Hold
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 21, 2010
The military is now accepting openly queer recruits for the first time in the nation’s history, even as it tries in the courts to slow the movement to repeal the “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell” policy that has so far discharged over 14,000 lesbian and gay troops. Queer activist groups have...
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GAPA Donates to SF Bay Area Organizations
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 21, 2010
GAPA (the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance), an organization dedicated to furthering the interests of gay and bisexual Asian/Pacific Islanders by creating awareness, by developing a positive collective identity, and by establishing a supportive community has completed reviewing 2010 donation requests from local partner organizations. In 2010, GAPA has supported Asian...
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Federal Judge Orders Immediate Injunction On DA/DT
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 14, 2010
On Oct. 12, Judge Virginia A. Phillips, a Clinton appointee, of Federal District Court for the Central District of California, issued an injunction ceasing enforcement of the Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell (DA/DT) law that banned openly gay service in the military and ordered the military “immediately to suspend and discontinue...
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Taking Action Against Gay Teen Suicide Epidemic
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 14, 2010
Billy Lucas, age 15; Cody Parker, 17; Asher Brown, 13; Justin Aaberg, 15; Seth Walsh, 13; Harrison Chase Brown, 15; Felix Sacco, 17; Raymond Chase, 19; Caleb Nolt, 13; Alec Whitney Henricksen, 19; Tyler Clementi,19; and most recently a couple, Jeanine Blanchette and Chantal Dube, who ended their lives together....
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GLAAD Changes Opinion on Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 14, 2010
For 25 years, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has been amplifying the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories; holding the media accountable for the words and images they present; and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories...
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A Rash of Gay Teen Suicides: Immediate Action Called For
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 7, 2010
The deaths of five teen boys in recent weeks has jolted the LGBT community and prompted an outpouring of grief, anger, and calls for solutions to what appears to be a growing problem. Asher Brown and Seth Walsh, both 13, Billy Lucas and Justin Aaberg, both 15, and 18-year-old college...
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Bridge To Equality Brings Out Hundreds Of Same-Sex Marriage Activists
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 30, 2010
A coast to coast call to action for marriage equality prompted approximately 300 activists in San Francisco and many others in New York to participate in the Bridge to Equality demonstration on Sept. 26. They marched across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and across New York’s Brooklyn Bridge...
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Lady Gaga Fights Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 23, 2010
Senate Democrats’ attempt to repeal the ban on lesbians and gay men from serving openly in the armed services fell short on Sept. 21, when Senate Republicans blocked the effort by Democrats and the White House to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), voting unanimously against advancing a major...
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Federal Judge Declares Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell Unconstitutional
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 16, 2010
U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips said last Thursday in Riverside that the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay service members, known as Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell (DA/DT), violates the Constitution, a successful challenge of the 1993 law that has put restrictions on the rights of American gay men and...
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Governor and AG Won’t Have to Defend Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 9, 2010
A state appellate court on Sept. 2 refused to order Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal Federal Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling overturning Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento dismissed without comment a lawsuit seeking to...
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Cal Marijuana Arrests Remain Near Record Levels in 2009
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 9, 2010
According to data from the Bureau of Criminal Statistics, California reported nearly the same number of marijuana arrests in 2009 as in the previous, record year.
In 2009, there were 17,008 felony and 61,164 misdemeanor marijuana arrests, for a total of 78,172.
In 2008, there were...
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Conservative Groups Try New Strategy to Preserve Prop 8
Published: September 2, 2010
The conservative Pacific Justice Institute petitioned California’s 3rd District Court of Appeals on Aug. 31 to force Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a Federal District Court ruling that declared California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional. Proponents of the law have pledged to appeal the District Court ruling...
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Meg Whitman Campaigns Against Same Sex Marriage
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 26, 2010
On Aug. 6, just after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown had filed motions opposing a stay of Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to overturn anti-gay Proposition 8, Equality California (EQCA) circulated a petition and set one up online asking marriage equality activists to urge California gubernatorial candidate Meg...
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Reigning Hip-Hop’s Queen Latifah is Outed in Pictures
By Rev. Irene Monroe Published: August 26, 2010
Long before the African- American celebrity gossip, news, popular culture and entertainment blog Bossip.com outed Dana Owens, a.k.a Queen Latifah, with photos of her and gal pal “personal trainer” Jeanette Jenkins in a tender embrace not meant for public viewing, the century-long reliable “chitlin’ circuit” told us our closeted Queen...
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Lt Col Fehrenbach Granted Temporary Restraining Order From DA/DT
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 19, 2010
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and Morrison & Foerster LLP filed a request for a temporary restraining order on Aug. 11 on behalf of their client, Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, seeking to block the Air Force from discharging him under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DA/DT), the discriminatory law barring gay...
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Marriage Equality Advocates React to Latest Legal Round
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 19, 2010
Hopes for same-sex weddings have once again been put on hold, and for quite a long time – possibly not until next year. Although the Aug. 16 decision could be a strategic victory for Proposition 8 opponents. An appeals court has put a stop to legal same-sex weddings for now....
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Surprisingly, Republicans Don’t Seem Too Upset
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 12, 2010
After the momentous decision by Judge Vaughn Walker to declare unconstitutional and thereby repeal Proposition 8 (the homophobic attempt to revoke the right for gays and lesbians to legally marry), people are wondering what is next in the fight for equal rights. Bay Times interviewed various equal rights activists and...
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DA/DT, ENDA Countdown Has Begun!
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 12, 2010
The Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network have launched a new grassroots campaign to increase support and to press for passage of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DA/DT) repeal in the U.S. Senate as well as passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the U.S. House. This nationwide...
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Finally, It’s Official: Lt. Dan Choi is Fired from the Army Under DADT
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 29, 2010
Little more than a year after he came out publicly, Lieutenant Dan Choi has been officially fired from the Army as a result of “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” the anti-gay ban on openly serving in the military. An Iraq war veteran and West Point graduate from Orange County, Choi was...
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Medical Marijuana Groups Oppose Michele Leonhart for DEA
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 29, 2010
Following recent raids, medical marijuana advocacy groups have called on President Barack Obama to withdraw nomination of Michele Leonhart to be DEA administrator. The following organizations have called on President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Leonhart if she does not end the attacks on individuals acting in compliance with...
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Anti-Gay Forces Are Uniting to Remove Legal Marriage Rights
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 22, 2010
Marriage equality activists in California anxiously await the decision against Proposition 8, the amendment to take away the right to same-sex marriage in the Golden State, to be ruled as unconstitutional. The legal battle could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile anti-gay forces are busy trying to have Prop...
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A Pride Proclamation by the President of the United States
Published: June 24, 2010
As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, and opportunities. Since our earliest days of independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished story is the movement for fairness and equality on...
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Closing Arguments Delivered in Prop 8 Trial, but the Remarks Were Not Televised
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 17, 2010
On June 16, more than four months after a two-week trial that captured national attention (despite a last-minute bar to its broadcast from the Supreme Court), Judge Vaughn Walker has heard closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 revoking same-sex marriage. Now, after Wednesday’s...
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Ike Skelton Worries About Mommies and Daddies and DA/DT, Oh My!
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 17, 2010
Lobbyists and activists trying to repeal “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell” (DA/DT) are seeing gradual progress toward that end. It is a long process as the wheels grind on slowly but surely. Unfortunately some Congressional Democrats are still dragging their feet. “This is the beginning of the end of a shameful...
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Path Forward On The Repeal Of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 10, 2010
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DA/DT), held a phone press conference to offer guidance for a forward path toward repeal of the ban on openly gay military service. On June 4, Army Veteran and SLDN Executive...
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The Wheels Grind Slower than Hoped On Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 3, 2010
A Pentagon panel is now studying the issues regarding queers serving openly, which will include surveys of thousands of servicemembers and their families. The panel - led by commander of the US Army in Europe, General Carter Ham, and the Pentagon’s top legal counsel, Jeh Charles Johnson - will deliver...
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Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Suddenly on the Brink of Repeal
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 27, 2010
An important compromise on May 24 between the White House and many Congressional Democrats has been reached to include repeal of the anti-gay military ban of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell (DA/DT) legislation in a bill to be voted on as early as May 27. This would permit Congress to vote...
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi Speaks at EQCA Benefit for Harvey Milk Day Kickoff
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 27, 2010
Kicking off a weekend of Harvey Milk Day activities, including a mass rally Saturday in San Francisco, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, appeared at an Equality California fundraiser on May 21 at the SF LGBT Community Center to help elect LGBT candidates and allies...
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How Women In Military Are Affected By Dadt
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 13, 2010
Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), the Palm Center (discharge data department) and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (studying gender composition by branch) have published facts and figures regarding women in the military being discriminated against because of the homophobic “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell (DADT) policy against serving openly queer...
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Secretary Gates and Obama Infuriate DADT Repeal Advocates
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 6, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged Congress on April 30 not to act this year to repeal “Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell,” the ban on open service by gay and lesbian members of the military. The leak of a letter written...
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Questions Raised About Obama Medical Marijuana Policy
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 6, 2010
A medical marijuana raid by the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service has led to the arrest of five defendants on March 27. The defendants have been federally charged for distributing marijuana for the R&C Collective next to the China Lake Naval Base.It should be noted that the NCIS, not the Drug...
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SLDN Advances Campaign for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 29, 2010
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) launched “Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama,” on April 26. This is a new media campaign to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell (DADT), the...
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Obama Announces New Health Protections For Gay Families
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 22, 2010
President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum on April 15 taking important steps to protect the visitation and health care decision-making rights of LGBT people. President Obama’s directive to the Department of Health and Human Services said to create new rules providing same-sex couples hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights...
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Prop 8 Repeal Effort Fails to Qualify for 2010 Ballot
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 15, 2010
Love Honor Cherish, which spearheaded an effort to place an initiative on the November 2010 ballot to repeal Proposition 8 and restore equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, announced on April 12 that they did not gather the 694,354 signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot. The group...
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LGBTQ Crime Victims Neglected by Nation’s Victim Support System
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 8, 2010
The National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs have released “Why It Matters: Rethinking Victim Assistance for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Victims of Hate Violence and Intimate Partner Violence.” This groundbreaking report, the product of a 2009 nationwide survey of mainstream victim...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is Officially Relaxed
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 1, 2010
But Fight To Repeal is Far From Over
Steps have been made toward softening the military ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military. New guidelines have been announced by Secretary Robert Gates, saying the changes reflect “common sense and common decency,” whereby anonymous tips,...
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National Organization For Marriage is At It Again
Published: March 25, 2010
The same people who launched the now infamous gays-are-gonna-get-you “Gathering Storm” ad across America last year are at it again. And this time, National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is expanding their attack on supporters of same-sex marriage to California politics, including Senator Barbara Boxer. NOM just launched a $500,000 TV ad...
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Medicare Expands Coverage for Facial Lipodystrophy
Published: March 25, 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on March 23 their decision to cover facial injections for Medicare beneficiaries who experience symptoms of depression due to the stigmatizing appearance of severely hollowed cheeks resulting from the drug treatment for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This decision is effective immediately....
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California Swears In Our First Openly Gay Assembly Speaker
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 4, 2010
The first openly gay lawmaker to lead either chamber of the California Legislature, John Perez (D-Los Angeles), was sworn in on March 1 in Sacramento to be Speaker of the 80-member State Assembly, as California is trying to close a $20 billion budget deficit, and while unemployment remains above 12...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Supported By Top Brass
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 25, 2010
Chief of Staff of the Army General George Casey appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 23 regarding the defense authorization request for Fiscal Year 2011. General Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, testified on the same subject before the House Armed Services Committee. Among...
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Ammiano Tries Again to Legalize Pot in California
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 25, 2010
Assemblymember Tom Ammiano has reintroduced his landmark marijuana regulation bill (AB 2254), building on the momentum from the Assembly’s first formal consideration of marijuana legalization in American history in early January. The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act (AB 2254) would create a regulatory structure similar to that used for...
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Study Proves Marijuana Has Therapeutic Value
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 25, 2010
In a landmark report to the state legislature, the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced that its studies have shown marijuana to have therapeutic value. The CMCR, established at the University of California in 2000 to conduct controlled scientific studies of medical marijuana, reported positive results in six different...
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It’s Time to Act Up for Marriage
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 11, 2010
National Freedom To Marry Week Is Here
It is National Freedom to Marry Week at local marriage counters in cities all over the country, including San Francisco where the Federal District Court is reviewing the constitutionality of Proposition 8. On this day and throughout the weekend, same-sex couples will...
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Religious Freedoms For Clergy Bill Introduced
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 4, 2010
Equality California announced it is sponsoring new legislation that protects clergy from performing any civil marriage that is contrary to the tenets of his or her faith and that provides clear distinctions between civil and religious marriage in state law. The Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act, SB 906, introduced by...
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California Assembly Passes Three Ammiano Bills
Published: February 4, 2010
The California Assembly approved three bills on Jan. 27 authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and they now head to the Senate for approval. Previously vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bills would address the safety of LGBT inmates; assist immigrants in accessing basic services; and give the Port...
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Reappointment 0f DEA Chief Outrages Marijuana Reformers
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 28, 2010
Medical marijuana supporters are outraged over President Barack Obama’s re-appointment of Bush leftover Michele Leonhart as Drug Enforcement Admin-istration (DEA) chief.“The retention of this Bush-era holdover is a profound disappointment to all of us who hoped that Obama would bring meaningful change to Washington,” commented California NORML Director Dale Gieringer....
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Freedom To Marry’s New Staff Has New Capacity For Equality
Published: January 21, 2010
In order to build on the momentum and meet the opportunities arising from a decade of unparalleled success, Freedom to Marry has brought on three new staff members with the creation of new capacity for marriage equality work across the country. Thalia Zepatos, a nationally recognized organizer and campaign...
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New Jersey Is 14th State To Legalize Medical Cannabis
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 21, 2010
Democratic Governor Jon Corzine signed New Jersey’s medical cannabis legislation into law on the night of Jan. 18, resulting in New Jersey becoming the 14th state to safeguard seriously ill patients from arrest and incarceration for usage of medical marijuana with their doctors’ written approval. Gov. Corzine signed the bill...
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The Trial Begins
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 14, 2010
Several dozen demonstrators braved the early morning chill to show up on the steps of the U.S. Federal Building in San Francisco, where the trial to determine the constitutionality of Proposition 8 was to begin a couple of hours later. The anti-gay marriage opponents sued at the last minute to...
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Marijuana Legalization Bill Passes Assembly Committee
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 14, 2010
In a historic vote, the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Jan. 12 voted 4-3 to approve Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s bill to legalize and regulate marijuana - the first time a legislative body has ever voted to repeal marijuana prohibition. AB390 would allow possession, sale, and cultivation of marijuana for people...
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Sunrise Vigil For Hope and Equality on Day Trial Opens
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 7, 2010
On the morning of the historic United States District Court proceedings challenging Prop 8, Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA), dozens of community organizations, and hundreds of Californians will be coming together for a vigil to support the Federal Constitution’s promise of equal protection for all. A rally will assemble on Monday,...
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Same-Sex Marriage Begins in New Hampshire On January 1
By Rex Wockner Published: December 24, 2009
New Hampshire becomes the fifth state where same-sex couples can marry starting Jan. 1. A bill opening marriage to gay couples was passed by the General Court (legislature) and signed by the governor in June. The bill also cancels New Hampshire’s civil-union law. On Jan. 1, 2011, all civil unions...
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Houston Elects Lesbian Mayor
By Rex Wockner Published: December 17, 2009
Voters in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the U.S., elected an openly lesbian mayor Dec. 12. City controller Annise Parker captured 53.6 percent of the vote in an election that saw a turnout out of fewer than 17 percent of registered voters.“I know what this win means to many of...
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Courage Campaign Pulls Out of 2010 Effort to Repeal Prop 8
By Rex Wockner Published: December 10, 2009
Refuses to Release New Research to Media The Courage Campaign, the second-biggest player for the gay side in California’s continuing war over same-sex marriage, said Nov. 30 that it was pulling out of the campaign to put an initiative before voters in 2010 to repeal Proposition 8.Passed by voters in...
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Promises Broken in NY Marriage Vote
By Rex Wockner Published: December 10, 2009
The New York State Senate rejected a bill to legalize same-sex marriage Dec. 2 in a 38-24 vote. The bill had passed the Assembly repeatedly, and Gov. David Paterson was chomping at the bit to sign it into law. Eight Democrats voted against the bill. No Republicans voted for it.“Promises...
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Memorial Vigils Held After Spate of Hate Crimes
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 26, 2009
In an act of solidarity, the Latino and LGBT Community gathered for a candlelight vigil for Jorge Steven López Mercado at Harvey Milk Plaza on Nov. 22. Nineteen- year-old aspiring fashion artist Mercado was found on Nov.13 – just days before the 11th annual national Transgender Day of Remembrance for...
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Group Begins Signature Gathering for Vote to Repeal Prop 8 in 2010
Published: November 19, 2009
Language for Five Initiatives Submitted to Sect’y of State
By Phillip Minton
For a year now, the debate on when to go back to the ballot to restore marriage equality to California and repeal Proposition 8 has raged not only amongst the Golden State’s LGBT population and its...
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Positive Living For Us Holds 10 Year Reunion
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 19, 2009
Positive Force, part of the STOP AIDS Project, commemorated ten years of a life changing program for newly HIV-positive people, known as PLUS (Positive Living for Us Seminar). This PLUS reunion also honored Ellen Goldstein on Nov. 13 at the Swedish American Hall. Draped across the hall was a large...
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We Need a Radically New Approach for Gay Ballot Props
Published: November 19, 2009
Commentary by Michael PetrelisIf you count the devastating California Prop 22 loss in 2000, which does not show up on list of gay marriages propositions we’ve lost, our list of such setbacks is 32, not 31 times we failed to persuade voters to uphold gay marriage principles. The 32 number...
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D.C. Likely To Get Same-Sex Marriage in January
By Rex Wockner Published: November 19, 2009
Same-sex marriage is expected to become legal in the District of Columbia in January. The bill to legalize it passed the D.C. Council’s Committee on Public Safety & Judiciary on Nov. 10 and now heads to the full Council where 10 of the 13 members are cosponsors of the measure....
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The Scary Lesson of Maine: It Has To Be Done
Published: November 12, 2009
Analysis by Phillip MintonIn a great article examining what happened to bring about Maine’s passage of Question 1, which threw out the state’s new marriage equality law, the Bangor Daily News takes a look at who voted and how the two opposing campaigns convinced their supporters to vote.Opinions may differ...
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On the Anniversary of the Passage of Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 12, 2009
The losing vote for same-sex marriage in Maine came a year after California voters rejected same-sex marriage by a nearly identical narrow margin. Voters in almost three dozen states have rejected such marriages through constitutional amendments, while same-sex marriages are legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont. After the discouraging...
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More Election Results
By Rex Wockner Published: November 12, 2009
On election day, voters in Washington state approved the new “everything but marriage” domestic-partnership law that extends to registered same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage. The vote margin was 52.56 percent to 47.44 percent. (Some votes still may be uncounted; in all but one county, voters were...
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Maine Voters Just Say No To Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: November 5, 2009
PORTLAND, Maine - Gays lost marriage in Maine on Nov. 3. A “people’s veto” at the ballot box wiped out the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor. It had not taken effect, pending the outcome of the vote. With 87 percent of precincts reporting, voters took...
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KC Chiefs Player Suspended For Calling Reporters Faggots
By Rex Wockner Published: November 5, 2009
Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was suspended by the team Oct. 29 for calling reporters “faggots” and calling a fellow Twitter user a “fag.” The suspension will last until Nov. 9 and reportedly cost Johnson around $600,000.In the locker room Oct. 26, Johnson muttered to reporters, “Get your...
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Mainers Split On Next Week’s Marriage Vote
By Rex Wockner Published: October 29, 2009
ALL OF US CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCEThey need us in Maine.
The vote is close. Everyone agrees that the side that gets the most of their people out to vote will win the election. No on 1 needs 500,000 phone calls made in the next 5 days. You can...
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Obama Signs Hate Crime Law
By Rex Wockner Published: October 29, 2009
The U.S. Senate sent a gay- and trans-inclusive hate-crimes law to President Barack Obama on Oct. 23, attached to the 2010 defense-spending bill. This is “...our nation’s first major piece of civil rights legislation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Too many...
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Lesbian Banned From Wearing Tux In High-School Yearbook Photo
By Rex Wockner Published: October 29, 2009
The Wesson Attendance Center, an elementary and high school in Wesson, Miss., has refused to publish lesbian Ceara Sturgis’ senior photo in the yearbook because she’s wearing a tux. The American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue over the matter but Copiah County School District Superintendent Ricky Clopton has...
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Obama Opposes Maine and Washington Referenda
By Rex Wockner Published: October 22, 2009
Prodded by The Advocate, the White House issued a statement Oct. 16 opposing the Nov. 3 referendum in Maine that would repeal the same-sex marriage law passed earlier this year. The law has not yet taken effect pending the referendum’s outcome. The statement also opposes the referendum in Washington state...
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Equality California’s Marc Solomon Talks About The Relaunching of Let Freedom Ring,” 2010 and 2012
Published: October 22, 2009
By Phillip MintonThere’s been a lot of talk lately about the progress Restore Equality 2010 has been making throughout California, a coalition of grassroots groups who believe in returning to the ballot in 2010 to restore marriage equality. They’ve created the Davis Plan, which divides California up into 10 regions...
The Stonewall 2.0 generation descended on the nation’s capital Oct. 11 to demand “equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.”National Equality March lead organizer Cleve Jones estimated the turnout at 200,000 to 250,000. Towleroad.com’s Andy Towle said police gave him the same figure. Mainstream...
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Hundreds March For Marriage Equality At SF Bridge Walk
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 15, 2009
Not everyone could afford the time or money to go to Washington, D.C.; so on Sunday, Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, starting at 9:30 a.m. at Crissy Field, local civil rights activists participated in Marriage Equality USA’s 6th annual Golden Gate Bridge walk, in solidarity with the simultaneous National...
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Governor Signs Three Gay Rights Bills, Vetoes Two
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 15, 2009
On Oct. 12, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law two historic LGBT rights bills – one recognizing the contributions of slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk, and another underscoring that same-sex couples married before the passage of Proposition 8 are entitled to full recognition as married spouses in California, regardless...
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Marching for Full Equality in DC
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 8, 2009
March Across Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations, announced on Oct. 5 that President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at the 13th Annual National Dinner on Saturday, Oct. 10 in...
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Texas Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
By Rex Wockner Published: October 8, 2009
Dallas District Judge Tena Callahan ruled Oct. 1 that Texas’ constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.The determination came in the case of two men who married in Massachusetts and now want to divorce in Texas, which Callahan decided to allow.Texas...
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Prop 8 Repeal Initiative Filed
By Rex Wockner Published: October 1, 2009
A ballot initiative asking voters to repeal Proposition 8 in 2010 was filed with the state of California Sept. 24 by the Los Angeles group Love Honor Cherish. The proposed initiative would remove from the California Constitution the sentence, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or...
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Prop 8 Deja Vu All Over Again In Maine Battle to Preserve Marriage Rights
By Rex Wockner Published: October 1, 2009
Maine voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to veto a law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor that legalized same-sex marriage. The law has not yet taken effect pending the outcome of the election.The TV ad war got under way Sept. 15, and it looks and smells...
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Speakers Announced for National Equality March
Published: October 1, 2009
Longtime gay activist David Mixner, who in May called for a national march on Washington “to empower our young and to show the nation that anything less than full freedom is unacceptable,” is among the featured speakers at the Oct. 11 National Equality March (NEM) in Washington, organizers announced today....
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HRC and Celebrities Endorse March On Washington
By Rex Wockner Published: September 24, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign said Sept. 14 that an Aug. 12 “statement” it made about the upcoming National Equality March in Washington, D.C., was an “endorsement” of the march. “Yes, we have endorsed the march,” said Communications Director Brad Luna. “Yes, the release didn’t say the word â€endorse’ but clearly...
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At Last: DOMA Repeal Introduced in Congress
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 17, 2009
Legislation to repeal the discriminatory so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA) was introduced in the House of Representatives on Sept. 15. The Respect for Marriage Act is sponsored by Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; House...
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NGLTF Endorses March On Washington: Coming Soon
By Rex Wockner Published: September 17, 2009
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has endorsed the National Equality March scheduled for Washington, D.C., Oct. 11. NGLTF joins a small number of other national GLBT groups — among them the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and Join The Impact...
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Focus of Marriage Equality Shifts to Ballot Battle in Maine
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 10, 2009
Since Maine has joined the states that have legalized same-sex marriage, the opponents have been busy trying to repeal equality. In reaction to this, Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) put on a festive fundraiser, “The Maine Event,” on the Symphony Towers rooftop on Sept. 3. Staying in theme, attendees were served...
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Maine Faces Nov. 3 Ballot Vote, Vermont Marriages Begin
By Rex Wockner Published: September 10, 2009
Maine voters will say yes or no Nov. 3 to the state’s law that legalized same-sex marriage. The law was supposed to take effect Sept. 12 but was delayed by the referendum process, which anti-same-sex-marriage forces completed on Sept. 2.Voters will be asked, “Do you want to reject the new...
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Moving Ahead With 2010 Ballot
Published: September 3, 2009
Activists gather in City to formulate plan to overturn Prop 8 in 2010 By Joseph AmsterUnder the banner Working Together for Equality, approximately 75 marriage equality activists from across California gathered in San Francisco on Aug. 29 to begin efforts to place an initiative on the November 2010 ballot...
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Ann Coulter’s “Joke” Shows Health Care Reform’s Challenges for Trans People
Published: September 3, 2009
Analysis by Beth ElliottAnn Coulter, the conservative author known for flying way out of control with her right wing political “humor,” managed to take a slap at transgender people and transsexuals as she ridiculed one of President Obama’s most extreme examples of an insurance company canceling health coverage because of...
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Harvey Milk to be Inducted into California Hall of Fame
By Rex Wockner Published: September 3, 2009
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver will induct the late gay activist Harvey Milk into the California Hall of Fame on Dec. 1. The honor follows Milk’s receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama on Aug. 12. Schwarzenegger’s move is surprising given that he vetoed a...
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First DEA Medical Marijuana Arrests by Obama Admin
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 27, 2009
In what are believed to be the first Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) medical marijuana arrests since President Barack Obama took office, the federal government arrested five Lake County defendants on marijuana charges on Aug. 18. The arrestees include Tom Carter, a well known local contractor; Scott Feil, former manager of...
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GLBT March on Washington, DC, Olanned for Oct. 11
By Rex Wockner Published: August 27, 2009
A grassroots GLBT network called Equality Across America will stage “a massive national day of action” Oct. 11 in Washington, D.C. According to organizers, the National Equality March has been endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and Join The Impact,...
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2009 Medal of Freedom: The Nationa’s Highest Civilian Award at The White House
Published: August 20, 2009
Billie Jean King, Recipient 2009 Medal of FreedomPresidential Remarks on Billy Jean King:“After purchasing an eight dollar racket, with money earned from chores, 11-year-old Billy Jean declared a goal to be the Number One tennis player in the world. Yet what we honor are not simply her 12 grand slam...
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Bill Clinton regrets DOMA and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
By Rex Wockner Published: August 20, 2009
Former President Bill Clinton said Aug. 13 that he regrets the way his Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell military gay ban was implemented, and that he doesn’t “like” the Defense of Marriage Act he signed into law.Speaking at the Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh, Clinton said: “When Gen. Colin Powell came...
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Remember! Join the Great National Kiss-In in San Francisco!
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: August 13, 2009
Same-sex marriage has been getting a whole lot of media coverage these days. It has put queers in the forefront of attention. This has brought some good results for visibility; but on the other hand, it has stirred up homophobia across the planet. For instance, two gay men in Utah...
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Employment Gay-Rights Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate
By Rex Wockner Published: August 13, 2009
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which bans workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Aug. 5. The proposed law would make it illegal to fire or refuse to hire or promote an employee based on his or her being straight, gay, bisexual...
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Harvey Milk to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
By Rex Wockner Published: August 6, 2009
President Barack Obama will award the late gay activist Harvey Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Aug. 12. Openly lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King will receive one as well. “Milk encouraged ... LGBT citizens to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they...
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Taking Action Against AIDS Cuts
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 6, 2009
On the heels of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s heartless elimination of state supported HIV prevention and care efforts, Project Inform, SF AIDS Foundation, STOP AIDS Project, the SF LGBT Community Center, and many other activist organizations have responded in protests and fundraisers. On July 28, Governor Schwarzenegger eliminated state funding for vital...
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Schwarzenegger Decimates AIDS Services Funding
By Rex Wockner Published: July 30, 2009
In an effort to balance California’s budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used line-item vetoes July 28 to chop more than $50 million in funding from the state Office of AIDS, including critical funding for HIV viral-load testing. Schwarzenegger decimated AIDS services across the board, leaving full funding in place only for...
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Power In Progress Dinner Held As HRC Fundraiser
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 30, 2009
With the theme of “Power in Progress,” the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) held its annual Greater Bay Area Gala Dinner at Westin St. Francis hotel on July 25 to celebrate and discuss milestones and the fight for equality ahead for issues and legislation including the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes...
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Gays and Friends Stage Kiss-In At San Diego Mormon Temple
By Rex Wockner Published: July 30, 2009
Thirty gays, lesbians and friends staged a kiss-in at the San Diego Mormon temple July 22 in solidarity with a gay couple who were arrested in Salt Lake City July 9 for kissing on Main Street Plaza. Salt Lake City sold the plaza to The Church of Jesus Christ of...
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Author E. Lynn Harris Dies
By Rex Wockner Published: July 30, 2009
Author E. Lynn Harris, who wrote best-sellers about black gay life, died July 24 at a hotel in Beverly Hills. He was 54. The cause of death was not reported. At press time, an autopsy was planned.Harris wrote 11 novels — including Invisible Life, Just As I Am, If This...
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TABC Says Ft. Worth Texas Bar Raid Was A Big Mistake
By Rex Wockner Published: July 23, 2009
The head of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission told the gay newspaper Dallas Voice on July 16 that his officers committed multiple “clear violations” of agency policy when they and local police raided the gay bar Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth on June 28, the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall...
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Episcopal Church OKs Gay Clergy
By Rex Wockner Published: July 23, 2009
The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops and House of Deputies declared in mid-July that open gays and lesbians — celibate or not — can serve as priests and bishops in the church.h. At the church’s triennial general convention, held in Anaheim, Calif., July 8-17, bishops voted for the policy 99-45...
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NCLR Releases New Publication For LGBT Elders
Published: July 23, 2009
On July 6, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) has released a new publication to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender elders and their families and caregivers navigate legal issues. “Planning with Purpose: Legal Basics for LGBT Elders” provides basic information about select areas of the law that are...
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Group Behind Federal Marriage Suit Rejects Intervention by Old-Guard Gay Rights Legal Groups
By Rex Wockner Published: July 16, 2009
The American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group challenging Proposition 8 in federal court with superstar attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, is strongly opposing an attempt by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights to intervene in the case. In a scathing...
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Ft. Worth Raid Victim Chad Gibson Goes Home
By Rex Wockner Published: July 16, 2009
Chad Gibson has been released from the hospital but still is in danger from a blood clot on his brain that reportedly could break loose and kill him.Gibson allegedly was beat up by cops during a June 28 raid of the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, Texas. Witnesses say officers...
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The Go-To Guy For the President On Gay Issues:
By Rex Wockner Published: July 9, 2009
A Conversation With Politico Steve Hildebrand
Steve Hildebrand was Barack Obama’s deputy national campaign director during the 2008 election. He’s also an openly gay men. Obama’s whirlwind campaign courtship of the GLBT community was tainted just after the election when he asked anti-gay evangelist Rick Warren to deliver the...
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Fort Worth Police Under Fire Over Violent Bar Raid
By Rex Wockner Published: July 9, 2009
Fort Worth police and agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission raided a gay bar June 28 - the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots - and roughed up several patrons, including one who is hospitalized with a life-threatening blood clot on his brain. The reason for the raid: To...
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Obama Speaks To LGBT Leaders on Anniversary of Stonewall Riots
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 2, 2009
Not Everyone Is Pleased With His Speech
President Barack Obama hosted over 250 LGBT leaders in the White House on June 29, in a celebration commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and Pride month. “I want you to know that you have our support,” Obama said. “I...
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Police Raid Ft. Worth Gay Bar On Stonewall Anniversary, Arrest 7; Critically Injure One Man
Published: July 2, 2009
By Tammye NashThe Dallas Voice
On the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, officers with the Fort Worth Police Department and agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission raided a Fort Worth, Texas gay bar.Fort Worth police released a statement to several mainstream media outlets on Sunday morning, saying...
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Gays March in San Diego Suburb Where Pride Leader Attacked
By Rex Wockner Published: July 2, 2009
About 65 GLBT activists marched through the San Diego working-class suburb of Lemon Grove the evening of June 26, three weeks after San Diego LGBT Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte was gay-bashed there. On June 6, deHarte had been participating in the “Equality Torch Relay,” a daylong effort that saw...
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Gay Portland Mayor Cleared in Affair
By Rex Wockner Published: July 2, 2009
There is no credible evidence that Sam Adams, the gay mayor of Portland, Ore., had inappropriate sexual contact with Beau Breedlove before Breedlove turned 18, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger said June 22. Adams, 45, and Breedlove, 22, have acknowledged having sex in 2005 after Breedlove’s 18th birthday, but Breedlove...
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Gay Tsunami Slams Obama
By Rex Wockner Published: June 25, 2009
You could fill 10 pages of this newspaper with stories and essays on how upset the gays have gotten with Barack Obama. Where to start? What has he done that’s good? He issued a nice proclamation for pride month and he extended a few spousal benefits to federal employees’ same-sex...
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Seventy-Seven Members Of Congress Urge Obama To Suspend Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 25, 2009
In a letter sent on June 22 to President Barack Obama, 77 members of Congress called on the White House to issue a moratorium suspending gay discharges from the military. The new strategy envisions immediate executive action, to be followed by legislative repeal of the Clinton-era Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell...
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If Obama is Our “Fierce Advocate,” Is There Any Hope?
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 18, 2009
President Barack Obama, that self-described “fierce advocate” for LGBT rights - after having enraged queer activists by failing to act to repeal Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell, and having his Department of Justice issue a horrendous memo supporting the Defense of Marriage Act, legislation he had vowed to repeal - announced...
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Second Pink Brick to Go to Runner Up Archbishop George Niederauer
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: June 18, 2009
The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee announced on June 15 that a second Pink Brick has been given to Archbishop George Niederauer. The Pink Brick is an annual “award” given each year to a person or institution whose actions are deemed to have caused significant harm to the LGBT...
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Miss California USA Fired
By Rex Wockner Published: June 18, 2009
New queen also thinks marriage is between a man and a womanControversial Miss California USA and Miss USA first runner-up Carrie Prejean was stripped of her California crown June 10. Pageant officials said she wasn’t fulfilling her duties.Prejean had become an unofficial spokesperson for the anti-gay-marriage movement after the brouhaha...
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Schwarzenegger To Slash HIV $$
By Rex Wockner Published: June 11, 2009
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed, and the California Legislature is considering, draconian cuts to all types of HIV-related funding in the near-bankrupt state. In the worst-case scenario, which is still not off the table, slashes to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program could result in thousands of Californians who make...
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Supreme Court Turns Down Challenge To Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 11, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 8 rejected a challenge to the Defense Department policy of Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell, barring gay men and lesbians from openly serving in the military. The Court declared a denial of a writ of certiorari in the case of Pietrangelo v. Gates, stating that...
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New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 11, 2009
New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage June 3 when Gov. John Lynch signed three bills, including one that had cleared the Legislature just an hour earlier. The bills open marriage to same-sex couples starting Jan. 1 and protect certain rights of religious organizations, associations and societies that oppose gay marriage. “Today...
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Poll 4 Equality Says There’s No Change in California’s Support for Same Sex Marriage Since November
By Kim Corsaro Published: June 4, 2009
At a cost of $85,000 a broad coalition of faith, civil rights, labor and LGBT groups banded together earlier this year to commission a private poll to determine how Californians feel about another ballot battle on the issue of same-sex marriage, and when best that battle should take place: 2010...
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ADAP in Financial Trouble; Action in Sacramento Planned
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 4, 2009
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to slash California’s HIV programs. If approved, this would mean massive cuts to the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), HIV testing, and other programs, and the virtual elimination of HIV prevention and education. This will endanger the health and well-being of more than 35,000 low-income...
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Day of Decision SUCKS
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 28, 2009
California Supreme Court Rationalizes Separate But Equal is OK in Pathetic Decision to Uphold Prop 8On May 26, known throughout the queer community as The Day of Decision, the 6-1 decision written by Chief Justice Ron George upheld the elimination of same-sex marriage rights, defeating the argument that the ban...
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Wisconsin Supremes To Hear Challenge To Marriage Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: May 28, 2009
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the state’s three-year-old constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage. The case was filed by University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh teacher Bill McConkey, whose daughter is gay. He claims the amendment passed by voters was improperly constructed because it dealt with more than one issue....
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It’s Time To Rule
Published: May 21, 2009
Rumors flew and magnified around the Internet that on Wednesday morning, May 20, the California Supreme Court was going to post an announcement on their Web site heralding a decision on the fate of Proposition 8, the nasty ballot measure in November 2008 that stopped same-sex marriage in the state....
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New Hampshire Governor To Sign Marriage Bill - But...
By Rex Wockner Published: May 21, 2009
Despite unrelenting pressure from anti-gay activists, including via TV ads, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch said May 14 he will sign a bill passed by the legislature legalizing same-sex marriage. Lynch, however, asked the legislature, known as the General Court, to make some changes to the measure first — alterations...
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Obama Backs Down on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal - Recent Firings Enrage Activists
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 14, 2009
Lieutenant Daniel Choi, an openly gay platoon leader in the National Guard, is set to be discharged from the military under the Obama administration, which has been rather quiet about the issue of lesbians and gay men serving openly in the military ever since the president’s campaign promise to repeal...
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Day of Decision Looms as California Supreme Court Decides Fate of Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 14, 2009
Just one year ago this week, The California Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking decision making same-sex marriage legal in the state. There was no end to joy in the LGBT community and among our friends as the magnitude of the Court’s announcement sunk in. It was a glorious day in...
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Marriage Moving in New England
By Rex Wockner Published: May 14, 2009
Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage May 6. The measure passed 89-57 in the House of Representatives and 21-13 in the Senate. The law will take effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends in June.Anti-gay activists could disrupt the process if they collect 55,000...
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Prisoner Safety Act Passes Assembly With Bipartisan Support
Published: May 14, 2009
The California State Assembly passed AB 382, the LGBT Prisoner Safety Act, on May 11 by a margin of 64 to 9. The bill garnered significant bipartisan support with an overwhelming number of Democrats and Republicans voting in favor of the legislation. Introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D–San Francisco) and...
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Gay Couples Begin Marrying In Iowa
By Rex Wockner Published: May 7, 2009
Nearly 400 same-sex couples got marriage licenses across Iowa April 27 when a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage took effect, and dozens married after receiving waivers of the three-day waiting period between obtaining a license and tying the knot. The Des Moines Register said gay couples bought licenses...
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Freedom to Marry Passes New Hampshire Senate; Hate Crimes Bill Passes U.S. House
Published: April 30, 2009
What a day! Wednesday, April 29, was a landmark day in the LGBT community’s march for full equality under the law. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act – popularly known as the Hate Crimes bill, or the Matthew Shephard Act - passed the U.S. House of Representatives with...
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Miss California U.S.A. Chats with a Gay Reporter
By Rex Wockner Published: April 30, 2009
Either it is a nonstory that “the media” made into a huge story. Or the U.S. gay world hit some kind of tipping point, and it’s no longer possible to “get away” with saying anti-gay things in many arenas — just as one can’t get away with saying sexist or...
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Transgender Faith Leaders Lobbied for Hate Crimes Bill
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 30, 2009
Dozens of transgender religious leaders converged on legislators on April 28 in Washington D.C. to deliver a joint letter in support of hate crimes legislation and against the history of violence against transgender people. Transgender faith leaders spoke out for both protection of transgender people - who are often targeted...
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New Yorkers Support Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: April 30, 2009
Fifty-three percent of New York state residents support legalization of same-sex marriage and 39 percent oppose it, according to a Siena Research poll. Gov. David Paterson introduced a bill in the Legislature April 16 to legalize same-sex marriage.The strongest support comes from women, Democrats, independent voters and young people. More...
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NY Governor Introduces Bill to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: April 23, 2009
New York Gov. David Paterson introduced a bill in the state Legislature on April 16 to legalize same-sex marriage. “We have a crisis of leadership today,” Paterson said. “We’re going to fill that vacuum today. (G)ay and lesbian New Yorkers ... have been the victims of what is a legal...
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Amazon.com Says “Embarrassed” at Gay Glitch
Published: April 16, 2009
By Tracy BaimWindy City TimesLGBT authors of all kinds were outraged last weekend when Amazon.com removed its books from its rankings ( which hurts sales ) and in some cases removed them from searches entirely. Amazon.com finally issued an apology Monday, April 13, but it did not seem to fully explain...
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11 Year Old Boy Hangs Himself Because of Gay Taunts
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 16, 2009
National Day of Silence Follows on Campuses Across United States
An 11-year-old Massachusetts boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, hung himself on April 6 after enduring bullying at school, including daily taunts of being gay, despite his mother’s weekly pleas to the school to address the problem. This is at least...
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Iowa Weddings Begin April 27
By Rex Wockner Published: April 16, 2009
Gay couples can begin applying for marriage licenses in Iowa on April 27. Some weddings likely will take place that day among couples who spend $5 to obtain a waiver of the three-day waiting period between applying for a license and receiving it.Demands by anti-gay activists and lawmakers that the...
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Iowa Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage. . .
By Rex Wockner Published: April 9, 2009
In a unanimous ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage April 3. The ruling will take effect April 24. The court said depriving gay couples of access to marriage violates the Iowa Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.The ruling is likely to stand. Any amendment to the...
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Castro Rejoices In Iowa Decision
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 9, 2009
An email blast on April 3 to local activists brought out over 100 people to Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro for a rally. Everywhere people wore “Liberty, justice, and marriage equality for all” heart stickers. Some homemade placards stated, “Marriage equality is never corny,” “I’m from Iowa: wanna marry...
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Website Says End The Lies About Queers
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 2, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign has added four new anti-gay voices to its interactive wall on EndtheLies.org, a website confronting lies and distortions repeatedly used to defeat LGBT equality measures. As Bay Times previously reported, EndtheLies.org refutes these mistruths with respectful dialogue and grassroots action. The latest additions to the wall...
Attorney General Jerry Brown Hasn’t Given Up on Court Overturning Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 26, 2009
In a conference call sponsored by the Courage Campaign on March 23, between California Attorney General Jerry Brown and several hundred activists across the state, the Attorney General proclaimed: “I’m not giving up on the [California Supreme] Court yet.” Speaking about the generally despairing attitude held by most legal observers...
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Gays March In San Diego St. Patrick’s Day Parade
By Rex Wockner Published: March 26, 2009
Gays are banned from marching in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the Big Apple every year, but a gay contingent faced no obstacles making its first appearance in San Diego’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 14. The contingent of about 25 people included a float featuring a giant...
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Postcards to the President: Campaign to Repeal DOMA
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 19, 2009
“Postcards to the President” is a campaign to flood the White House with personally written postcards urging Congress to support legislation that seeks to repeal the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) against queers legally marrying. The campaign is gaining momentum nationwide - in a time when there is finally...
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Petition To End The Lies Delivered To Ken Starr
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 19, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign has hand-delivered an online petition that approximately 46,000 users signed to the Washington, DC offices of Kirkland & Ellis where Ken Starr is of counsel. Starr argued before the California Supreme Court to both uphold Proposition 8, which bans marriage between same-sex couples, as well as...
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Polis Thought Federal GLBT Hate-Crimes Law Had Passed
By Rex Wockner Published: March 19, 2009
Openly gay freshman U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., thought there was a federal hate-crimes law protecting gays and lesbians, he said March 1. There is no such law, although passing one is a priority of gay activists under the Obama administration.Speaking at the First Biennial Statewide Conference of the Texas...
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Religious Leaders Speak Out Against Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 12, 2009
Before the Supreme Court heard the oral arguments regarding Proposition 8, many faith organizations had submitted “friend of the court” amicus briefs. Afterwards, on March 6, several leaders spoke out against the amendment to the California constitution that wrote in discrimination against same-sex marriage, supposedly for religious reasons. Bay Times...
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No on 8 Angst (Chapter 472)
By Rex Wockner Published: March 12, 2009
There’s been a lot of distress, angst and outrage over how the No on 8 campaign was handled and, even as many of us really would like to just move on ... we keep learning more, and it only gets more disturbing. I killed a troubling No on 8 story...
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New England Activists Sue to Overturn A Section of DOMA
By Rex Wockner Published: March 12, 2009
The New England legal group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders filed a lawsuit March 2 seeking to overturn portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prohibit the federal government from recognizing married same-sex couples.The case likely will end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.GLAD represents eight married...
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Using Obama’s Strategy to Gain Marriage Rights
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 5, 2009
On the eve of the California Supreme Court hearing to consider the challenge to the constitutionality of the nefarious Proposition 8, Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) has issued a report which, they hope, will take back the queer movement for full equality, which many believe has rested, unsuccessfully, in the hands...
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New TV Ad On History Of LGBT Movement, But Where Is Mention Of LGBT People?
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 5, 2009
On March 3, Equality California (EQCA) launched a television ad campaign on the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement that is now airing statewide. The ad is supposed to educate Californians about the discrimination faced by LGBT people throughout history to provide hope for the future. But...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Legislation
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 5, 2009
Lately same-sex marriage has been the poster child for equal rights. But activists sometimes forget that there are other civil rights that are withheld from queers. In a new era of hope with the Obama administration, the time is right to work for human rights in the military. Rep. Ellen Tauscher...
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Drag Queen Elected Homecoming Queen
By Rex Wockner Published: March 5, 2009
Students at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Va., elected a gay drag queen as homecoming queen Feb. 14. Senior Ryan Allen, who ran for the honor as Reann Ballslee, beat out two women for the crown.“It was just for fun,” Allen told the Washington Post. “In the larger scheme...
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NAACP Endorses Call To Overturn Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 26, 2009
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Feb. 23 endorsed measures before the California legislature supporting the court challenge to Proposition 8, which altered the California Constitution to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry and equal protection under the law.In response to this news, Equality...
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Marriage Counter Action Held on Anniversary of Summer of Love
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 19, 2009
The day began on Feb. 12, 2009 - the anniversary of the very first same-sex marriages of 2004, and the one-year anniversary of the last flood of same-sex couples tying the knots - with present day couples and supporters of the Freedom to Marry gathering in the Rotunda of San...
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EQCA Celebrates 11th Anniversary And 5th Anniversary Of Summer of Love
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 19, 2009
On Valentine’s Night, Feb. 14, Equality California held its San Francisco Equality Awards Gala; its 11th anniversary; and five years of California same-sex marriage in the Rotunda of SF City Hall. A gourmet dinner was prepared by Paula LeDuc Catering, followed by entertainment by out, proud, loud, Black activist comic...
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Report Reveals Growing Number of Businesses Protect Trans Employees
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 19, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of one of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations, has released its State of the Workplace report, showing rapid expansion of protections for LGBT workers in the private sector over the past decade. At this time, 35...
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Gay Couples Protest at Marriage-License Bureaus
By Rex Wockner Published: February 19, 2009
Gay couples descended on marriage-license bureaus around the country Feb. 12 for National Freedom to Marry Day. Forty-eight states prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.Actions organized by Marriage Equality USA took place in Tucson, Ariz.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lexington, London, Richmond and Louisville, Ky.; New York City; Salt Lake City; and, in...
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Freedom to Marry Day Actions Across United States on Feb. 12
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 12, 2009
On National Freedom to Marry Day, February 12, at local marriage counters in cities all over the country, same-sex couples will request marriage licenses at their local County Clerk’s Offices to raise awareness of the harms and the impact the inability to marry causes on their families.
“This feels...
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SF AIDS Foundation And Magnet Launch Initiatives To Radically Reduce HIV
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 12, 2009
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation has announced two pilot projects that target acute HIV infection, a medical condition responsible for as many as half of all new HIV cases in the city. People are at exceptionally high risk of transmitting HIV to sexual and needle-sharing partners in the weeks following...
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Tell Three for Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 12, 2009
The anti-Prop 8 activist organization, Join the Impact, has now partnered with other national LGBT groups to develop a web-based public education campaign, tell-three.org, to encourage queers and their supporters to have three conversations with friends and family to help build support for LGBT equality. “The passage of Prop 8 in...
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Oscar Wilde Books - World’s Oldest Gay Bookstore To Close
By Rex Wockner Published: February 12, 2009
The oldest gay bookstore in the world, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop on Christopher Street in New York City, will close its doors March 29. “Unfortunately we do not have the resources to weather the current economic crisis and find it’s time to call it a day,” owner Kim Brinster...
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Young Song, 1965-2009
Published: February 12, 2009
Young Song was born in Lubbock, Texas on December 10, 1965. At 10 years old, she competed in the state of Texas in a classical piano competition. Young was the youngest competitor, competing against high school students. She placed third. Later, at Coronado High School, Young was an honors student, National...
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Prop 8 The Most Expensive Social Issue Ballot Measure Ever in California History
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 5, 2009
Campaign disclosure reports made public on Feb. 2 have shown that donors gave more than $83 million to support or oppose Prop 8, the measure that wrote discrimination into the California Constitution and took away queer civil rights for legalized same-sex marriage in California. These new figures are surprisingly higher...
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Supreme Court To Hear Arguments Against Prop 8 in Early March
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 5, 2009
The California Supreme Court has set a date to hear oral arguments surrounding Proposition 8, the voter-approved measure banning same-sex marriages and amending the State Constitution to declare that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. The Justices will hold a three-hour hearing...
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Six States To Consider Same-Sex Marriage This Year
By Rex Wockner Published: February 5, 2009
Bills to legalize same-sex marriage are expected to see action this year in Maine, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. In addition, the Iowa Supreme Court will decide a case that could legalize same-sex marriage there.In California, the state Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in June on...
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No on 8 Leaders Admit Errors At California Equality Summit
By Rex Wockner Published: January 29, 2009
Who do you trust: Consultants and pollsters? Or your gut?More than 400 gay activists gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center Jan. 24 to organize and strategize to win back same-sex marriage in California. But attendees at the daylong Equality Summit spent just as much time looking backward - at...
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The Rick & Ted Show
By Kim Corsaro Published: January 29, 2009
This week, in the midst of economic crisis, job layoffs, escalation of the war in Afghanistan, harrowing winter storms, we get the full frontal PR blitz from disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard. He’s everywhere - Alexandra Pelosi’s latest film on him will air on HBO; Haggard is doing interviews with...
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Obama Posts Gay Agenda On White House Web Site
By Rex Wockner Published: January 29, 2009
Immediately after Barack Obama’s inauguration, the whitehouse.gov Web site prominently posted the president’s extensive gay agenda online. Gay activists and commentators gushed support for the move and praised the agenda’s comprehensiveness and unequivocal language. The agenda reads:* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest...
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At Last: President Barack Obama
By Ann Rostow Published: January 22, 2009
“You gotta give them hope.” That was the mantra of Harvey Milk, at a time when it was still possible to be arrested simply for being gay. Today, in this first week of the Obama presidency, we again have hope. For all of the stumbling blocks that we have experienced...
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Study: Legislators Are Not Hurt by Voting for Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: January 22, 2009
Voting for same-sex marriage or against an attempt to ban same-sex marriage is a safe move for politicians, a new study by the group Freedom to Marry has found. A review of such votes in 21 states by more than 1,100 legislators found that the legislators were consistently re-elected. The...
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Equality Summit Drops Ban on Media
By Rex Wockner Published: January 15, 2009
The Equality Summit, a large gay activist powwow being held in Los Angeles Jan. 24, has abandoned a plan to limit media access to only portions of the gathering. The meeting of more than 250 California GLBT activists at the Los Angeles Convention Center aims to organize and strategize to...
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Big Anti-DOMA, Anti-Prop 8 Demo
By Rex Wockner Published: January 15, 2009
San Diego took part in the Jan. 10 national day of protest against the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and against Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment that re-banned same-sex marriage in California.Reporters counted between 600 and 800 people at a march that wandered through downtown, beginning and ending at...
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NGLTF Analysis of Race and Prop 8 Vote Stirs Controversy
By Rex Wockner Published: January 15, 2009
An analysis of the Proposition 8 vote released Jan. 6 by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute said the driving forces behind the California marriage ban’s passage were Republican party affiliation, conservative political ideology, frequent church attendance and old age. But, in its primary focus, the study...
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Obama Supported Same Sex Marriage When Running for Office in Illinois
Published: January 15, 2009
By Timothy Stewart-Winter Windy City TimesAlmost 13 years ago, during his first campaign for office, Barack Obama answered a questionnaire with the phrase, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages.” The response appeared in a questionnaire that his campaign faxed to the office of Outlines - a Chicago LGBT newspaper that purchased...
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Big Prop 8 Summit Will Ban Gay Media From Key Session
By Rex Wockner Published: January 8, 2009
A Jan. 24 summit in Los Angeles to strategize about “winning back marriage rights” in California will be only partially open to media — a decision that has led to the resignation of one member of the organizing committee and to complaints from Californiaa gay media figures. The Equality Summit...
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Prop 8 Legal Battle Forges Ahead
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 8, 2009
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Lambda Legal filed a reply brief on Jan. 5 in the California Supreme Court, which is the next step in the lawsuit seeking to overturn anti-gay Proposition 8, which passed by a mere 52 percent on...
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New Gay-Friendly Laws Take Effect in California in 2009
By Rex Wockner Published: January 8, 2009
New laws that took effect in California Jan. 1 protect GLBT seniors and foster youth, and insert “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” language into several civil rights laws that lacked comprehensive lists of protected groups.Assembly Bill 3015 requires that existing mandatory training programs for foster-care administrators, foster parents and other...
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First Transgender To Serve on Capitol Hill
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 31, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign has praised Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman, House Financial Services Committee, for naming transgender rights advocate and HRC Business Council member Diego Miguel Sanchez, APR, as his legislative assistant for LGBT, Healthcare, Labor, Veterans, and Census issues. Sanchez assumes the post, based in Washington, DC, on...
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Rep. Frank Blasts Rice For Snubbing Gays at UN
By Rex Wockner Published: December 31, 2008
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Dec. 23 “strongly objecting” to the refusal by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to join 66 other nations Dec. 18 in signing a statement affirming that international human rights protections include sexual orientation and...
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Homophobic Rev Warren Enrages Queer Activists
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 25, 2008
Controversy has boiled up regarding President-elect Barack Obama inviting an openly homophobic, evangelical preacher, Rev. Rick Warren, to recite the official invocation prayer at the Inauguration. Some Democrats and many queers are offended by this choice of a man who has equated gays with pedophiles, among his other homophobic statements....
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Homophobes File to Nullify Marriages; AG Says Repeal Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 25, 2008
The Yes on 8 Campaign has filed a brief arguing that California can no longer recognize the same-sex marriages performed before passage of Prop 8 as legal. But then the California Attorney General Jerry Brown changed his position and has asked the State Supreme Court to void the ban on...
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27,000 Letters Urge Mormons To Honor Their Word On Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 25, 2008
After realizing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was blocking email letters urging them to be true to their word in supporting non-marriage legal protections to same-sex relationships, the Human Rights Campaign delivered more than 27,000 letters urging the church to publicly back Equality Utah’s “Common Ground...
Couple Walks From L.A. to Revoke Prop 8, Friday Arrival in SF to Rally at Supreme Court
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 18, 2008
On Friday, Dec. 19, 12 noon, Valerie Paget and Tracie Jones, a Los Angeles couple affected by the passage of Proposition 8, will arrive in San Francisco, having culminated a 450-mile march through California to demonstrate their conviction that the California Supreme Court should revoke Prop 8. People are invited...
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Iowa Supreme Court Hears Marriage Case
By Rex Wockner Published: December 18, 2008
The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments Dec. 9 in Lambda Legal’s case on behalf of same-sex couples who want to marry. “We put our best case forward, and hope that the court breathes life into the Iowa Constitution’s promise of equality,” said Senior Staff Attorney Camilla Taylor.The couples’ case...
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Responding to the Mormons And Catholics Behind Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 11, 2008
The news is spreading like wildfire that Archbishop George Niederauer of the SF Roman Catholic Diocese, previously the Bishop of Salt Lake City for over ten years, enlisted the help of the Mormon Church in partnership to raise millions upon millions of church dollars to pass Proposition 8, thereby removing...
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Pat Boone Attacks Prop 8 Protesters
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 11, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign responded on Dec. 9 to the exclusive commentary posted on the extremist, rightwing website, World Net Daily, by anti-gay activist and former singer Pat Boone. Boone published a bizarre and disturbing commentary comparing the horrific tragedy in Mumbai, which took the lives of over 170 people,...
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People For American Way Say Dump DOMA
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 11, 2008
People for the American Way has officially declared it is time to repeal DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Organizers say, “It’s time for some real change we can believe in. It’s time for the federal government to stop punishing loving same-sex couples. It’s time to repeal the Defense...
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Same-Sex Marriage Bill To Be Introduced In New Hampshire
By Rex Wockner Published: December 11, 2008
New Hampshire state Rep. Jim Splaine plans to introduce a bill next year to legalize same-sex marriage. New Hampshire already has a comprehensive same-sex civil-union law, and nearby Connecticut and Massachusetts allow gay couples to marry.Splaine told the Concord Monitor newspaper that the civil-union law bestows only about 90 percent...
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Florida’s Ban On Gay Adoption Struck Down by Circuit Court
By Rex Wockner Published: December 4, 2008
A Florida circuit court in Miami struck down a state law that barred lesbians and gay men from adopting Nov. 25.The court granted adoptions to a gay man, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, who has been raising two foster children since 2004. “Our family just got a lot...
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JOIN THE IMPACT
By Kim Corsaro Published: November 27, 2008
Netroot activsts successfully mobilized hundreds of thousands of queers to demonstrate for marriage rights across the country on Nov. 15 through their Web site:http:// jointheimpact.comNow, they have a short-term plan to continue our action to show the world that we’re serious about winning our rights back.On Wednesday, the dailykos Web...
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Prop 8 Protests Continue Across California
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 27, 2008
Over 5,000 Rally and March at State Capitol on Saturday
On Nov. 22, equality-minded citizens from across the state and country took part in “Take it to Sacramento,” a massive protest against the bigoted and hateful Proposition 8 on the steps of the State Capitol building in Sacramento. With...
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California Supreme Court Takes on A Trio of Legal Issues with Prop 8 Challenge
By Rex Wockner Published: November 27, 2008
The California Supreme Court on Nov. 19 agreed to hear lawsuits alleging that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. The initiative, passed by voters Nov. 4, amended the state constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage, which had been legal since June 16, courtesy of a May ruling by the court.Six of the seven...
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Sisters Protest Everywhere In Nationwide Action Against Prop 8
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: November 20, 2008
We Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence showed our activist roots in various orders around the U.S., participating in actions against the anti-marriage equality Proposition 8 on the national day of protest on Nov. 15. Starting in San Francisco, we queer nuns joined thousands who met at City Hall for a three-hour...
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Supreme Court Takes on Prop 8 Challenge
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 20, 2008
As Bay Times goes to press, the California Supreme Court has issued an announcement that they will accept the challenge to Proposition 8. They have issued an order to the various legal groups involved to submit briefs, with a deadline for all of the answering parties by the end of...
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Schwarzenegger: State Supremes May Undo Prop 8
By Rex Wockner Published: November 20, 2008
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told CNN on Nov. 9 that the state Supreme Court may well “undo” Proposition 8, the voter initiative that re-banned same-sex marriage Nov. 4 by amending the state constitution. And the governor suggested he thinks that would be a good move.“They had a very, very strong...
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Legal Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Proposition 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 13, 2008
The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have filed a writ petition before the California Supreme Court urging the court to invalidate Proposition 8. The petition charges that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to...
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Taking It To The Streets
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: November 13, 2008
Two days after the first protest against Proposition 8 - revoking the right of same-sex marriage in California – on Nov. 7 another demonstration occurred. This time over 10,000 people marched from Market and 7th in the Civic Center to Dolores Park to the Castro, chanting, “Equal rights” over and...
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Hank Wilson Dies
Published: November 13, 2008
Whether you knew Hank or not, as a queer person, your life was certainly touched by him. He was the greatest activist ever, with an enormous litany of accomplisments that could fill this newspaper, and he had the biggest heart a human being could. Nobody cared more deeply about full...
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Last Minute Weddings of Note
By Rex Wockner Published: November 13, 2008
Will & Grace Creator MarriesMax Mutchnick, a creator and executive producer of TV’s Will & Grace, got married to lawyer Erik Hyman on Oct. 25 in Beverly Hills. “We wanted to be a part of the wave of same-sex couples getting married before the election,” Mutchnick told The New York...
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Prop 8 Hangs by a Thread - Obama Elected President
Published: November 6, 2008
California voters went to the polls on Nov. 4 and overwhelmingly voted for a new President of the United States, contributing significantly to the election of Barack Obama. California voters also voted on Proposition 8, the state initiative that would amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.As Bay Times...
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Colorado Sends Openly Gay Man to Congress
By Rex Wockner Published: November 6, 2008
Openly gay Jared Polis was elected to the U.S. House of Represen-tatives on Nov. 4 from Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, which encompass- es areas north and west of Denver, including the city of Boulder. Polis, a 33-year-old Democrat, is the first openly gay man elected to Congress who was out...
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FBI: Anti-Gay Hate Crimes Rise
By Rex Wockner Published: November 6, 2008
Recorded hate crimes were down in the U.S. by about 1 percent last year, except for anti-gay hate crimes, which increased 6 percent, the FBI said Oct. 27. More than 7,600 hate-crime incidents were cataloged. Sexual-orientation-based hate crimes were the third most common, after crimes based on race and religion....
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Gay Candidates Elected Across U.S.
Published: November 6, 2008
Jared Polis to Join Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank as Only Out Members of Congress
Dozens of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates won election to public offices across the U.S. on Tuesday, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. The group, which endorsed a record-breaking 111 candidates...
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$3.9 Million Raised at Hollywood Fundraiser Against Proposition 8
By Rex Wockner Published: October 30, 2008
Some $3.9 million was raised in Hollywood Oct. 21 to fight Proposition 8, the proposed state constitutional amendment that would re-ban same-sex marriage in California. The measure is on the Nov. 4 ballot. Attendees who gave more than $50,000 at the event, held at the estate of supermarket mogul Ron...
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DONATE MONEY TO NO ON 8 - GO TO www.NOON PROP8.COM
By Kim Corsaro Published: October 23, 2008
We Can Only Win with $$We are at 12 days and counting in the battle to save same-sex marriage in California. As I write this on going-to-press day, Wednesday the 22nd, there is a poll which is to be released later today which states that we are now 8 points...
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Connecticut Residents Support Same-Sex Marriage Decision
By Rex Wockner Published: October 23, 2008
A Hartford Courant/University of Connecticut poll has found that 53 percent of state residents support the Oct. 10 state Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, and 42 percent don’t like it. Among Democrats, 72 percent support it, while among Republicans, 69 percent oppose it. The poll of 502 adult...
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Why Are We LOSING Marriage in California?
By Ann Rostow Published: October 16, 2008
This optimism building on the East Coast, where the Connecticut Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in that state, stands in contrast to the dark clouds gathering over California. We are in the fight of our lives to defeat Prop 8, the proposition that would pass a constitutional amendment to ban...
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Connecticut Becomes Third State to Allow Same-Sex Marriage
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 16, 2008
Many equality activists are lauding the 4 to 3 decision on Oct. 10 by the Connecticut Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision and rule that same-sex couples enjoy the same right to marry as different-sex couples under the state constitution. The Court ruled that it is a violation...
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Raucous Protest Against McDonalds in Kentucky
Published: October 16, 2008
“We’re Not â€Lovin’ It’!” Say Protestors of Super-Sized Harassment
Representatives of a variety of LGBT groups as well as other civil rights organizations protested in downtown Louisville this afternoon in response to an anti-gay incident at a McDonald’s restaurant. The protestors called for an end to anti-gay discrimination...
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Txt Out The Vote for No On H8
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 16, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations, just launched a free tool to send friends and family members a text message on Election Day reminding them to vote. Supporters are encouraged to visit TxtOutTheVote.com/p/hrc to set up these important reminders...
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Palin Tries to Walk Center Line on Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: October 16, 2008
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is strongly against same-sex marriage and has a history of speaking against gay rights, but in the current campaign, she’s attempting to strike a middle ground.“I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships,” she...
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Marriage Denial Harms LGBT Health
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 16, 2008
Three new research studies, two of which are slated to be released in the March issue of the National Sexuality Resource Center’s peer-reviewed journal, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, demonstrate that separate is not equal. Clear evidence points to the benefits of marriage for same-sex couples - findings so critical...
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Polls Flip On Prop 8, We’re Now Losing Marriage in Califonia
By Rex Wockner Published: October 9, 2008
A TV ad showing San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom saying California is going to have same-sex marriage “whether you like it or not” is being credited with flipping poll numbers to favor the Nov. 4 ballot proposition to amend the state constitution to undo the state Supreme Court’s legalization of...
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Google Opposes Prop 8
By Rex Wockner Published: October 9, 2008
Google has officially come out in opposition to Proposition 8, the Nov. 4 ballot measure that would undo the California Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage by amending the state constitution.“It is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly...
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Harvey Milk Day Bill Vetoed By Govenor
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 2, 2008
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation on Sept. 30 that would have created a day honoring the late great gay activist Harvey Milk, who was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country. Assembly Bill 2567 was authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality...
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Polls Show Prop 8 Losing, But Activists Are Still Worried
By Rex Wockner Published: October 2, 2008
Spielberg, wife Donate $100,000 to Save Same-Sex MarriageFilm director/producer/ screenwriter Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, donated $100,000 Sept. 22 to the campaign to keep same-sex marriage legal in California. Voters will face an initiative Nov. 4 to amend the state constitution to undo the state Supreme Court’s May...
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Prop H8 Supporters Launch Dishonest Attack Ad
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 2, 2008
On Sept. 29, the proponents of California Proposition 8, which we queer activists like to call Prop H8 as in “hate,” turned to their only real weapon when they began their ugly ad campaign to eliminate marriage for same-sex couples - fear and lies. Their ad claims that the California...
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Activist Donates Gay Books to Wasilla Library
By Rex Wockner Published: October 2, 2008
In response to ongoing questions about whether Sarah Palin tried to ban books when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, activist Michael Petrelis from San Francisco has donated two gay-themed children’s books to the Wasilla Public Library.Petrelis sent the library Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy’s Roommate.Library Director KJ Martin-Albright...
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Federal Court Rules Against Transitioning Discrimination
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 25, 2008
The Transgender Law Center, a civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities, applauds the victory achieved by Diane Schroer and her attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union. On Sept. 19, a federal judge ruled in Schroer’s favor, finding that the Library of Congress broke the law when it refused...
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George Takei, Star Trek’s Sulu, Marries Partner
By Rex Wockner Published: September 25, 2008
George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek TV series, married his longtime partner, Brad Altman, at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles on Sept 14. Takei, 71, and Altman, 54, have been together for 21 years.About 200 people attended the Buddhist ceremony in...
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NGLTF Launches National Survey On Transgender Discrimination
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 18, 2008
In the wake of one of the most violent years on record of assaults on transgender people, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have teamed up on a comprehensive national survey to collect data on discrimination against transgender people in housing,...
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Obama Answers Written Questions from Blade
By Rex Wockner Published: September 18, 2008
Barack Obama answered several written questions from the gay newspaper Washington Blade on Sept. 10. “Michelle and I have been blessed with many openly gay and lesbian friends and colleagues whom we have been close to for many years,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “While that fact has made the...
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Rainbow World Fund Gearing Up For Bus Of Hope
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 11, 2008
San Francisco queer humanitarian aid agency Rainbow World Fund is hitting the road in October with the “Bus of Hope,” and it is looking for volunteers and donors right now. The eight-year-old LGBT-and-friends aid organization is currently packing its school bus - a rainbow-colored fixture seen at recent Pride events...
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Biden vs. Palin: How Clear The Choice?
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 11, 2008
Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s choice of Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden has been praised by many LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations. But some claim that Biden is not the hero that queers are touting him to be. Governor Sarah Palin (R- Alaska) has been chosen as the Republican vice presidential...
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Trans Anti-Discrimination Law In Montgomery County Is Safe
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 11, 2008
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) applauded the decision on Sept. 9 by Maryland’s highest court rejecting an effort to eliminate a local anti-discrimination law that passed unanimously by Montgomery County Council last year. The failed effort would have repealed...
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Gay Leader Matt Foreman Marries
By Rex Wockner Published: September 11, 2008
The former head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Matt Foreman, and longtime partner Francisco Adex De León got married Aug. 31 in San Francisco, where Foreman now works as director of gay and immigrant rights for the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund.“It’s true you can’t imagine...
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365 Open GLBTs at Democratic Convention
By Rex Wockner Published: September 4, 2008
Some 365 openly GLBT delegates and other participants attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver — up from 275 at the 2004 convention, according to National Stonewall Democrats.. California led the way with at least 63 GLBT delegates, alternates, state committee members and pages, followed by New York with 28...
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Legislature Approves Protections For LGBT Seniors
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 4, 2008
Legislation that would help prevent bias in senior care facilities and nursing homes has passed the full Legislature with a 41-28 vote on the Assembly floor. The bill must return to the Senate for a routine concurrence vote before being sent to the governor’s desk.Senate Bill 1729, authored by Sen....
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Zogby Poll: Americans Would Be OK With a Gay President
By Rex Wockner Published: September 4, 2008
Sixty-five percent of Americans could support an openly gay candidate for president of the U.S. and 71 percent would be fine with the appointment of an openly gay Cabinet secretary, a Zogby International poll has found. Sixty-seven percent could support an openly gay vice-presidential candidate and 69 percent are OK...
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Law Schools to Honor Hyatt Boycott
By Rex Wockner Published: August 28, 2008
The Association of American Law Schools said Aug. 18 it will move the events of its January 2009 annual meeting from San Diego’s Manchester Grand Hyatt to the Marriott hotel next door. Attendees are scheduled to stay in, and events had been planned for, both hotels.The Hyatt is being boycotted...
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California Supremes Do It Again: Ruling Mandates Service For LGBT Patients
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 21, 2008
The California Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 18 in a unanimous decision that doctors must serve LGBT people despite their religious beliefs. The Court and Justice Joyce Kennard ruled in 18 pages that state law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination extends to the medical profession. “The First Amendment’s right to the...
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HRC Guide Advises Employers on Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 21, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, one of the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights groups, released on Aug.18 a guide advising employers on how to address marriage for same-sex couples in their spousal and partner benefits packages. Among the topics covered in “Marriage for Same-Sex Couples: Considerations...
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Democratic Platform Draft Calls For End To Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 14, 2008
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) commended the Democratic National Convention Platform Committee on Aug. 10 for its recommendation of an end to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that forbids service by open lesbians, gays, and bisexuals in the U.S. armed forces. SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said, “SLDN...
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Neil Patrick Harris Wants To Represent â€Normal’ Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: August 14, 2008
Openly gay actor Neil Patrick Harris from TV’s How I Met Your Mother tells Out magazine in its September issue that he wants to be a role model for normal gay people. “I’m striving to be an example of normalcy,” Harris said. “Because I’m noticed as an actor, people are...
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Show Them The Money
By Ann Rostow Published: August 14, 2008
I’ve been exhorting readers to send money to the California campaign against Proposition 8 for weeks and weeks, but to be honest, I haven’t gotten around to contributing myself because I’ve been too “busy” and I’ve been on vacation. It is now Aug. 13, and I swore to myself I...
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Appeals Court Upholds Med Pot Law
By Dennis McMillan Published: August 7, 2008
In 2003, the California Legislature enacted the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMP). Among other provisions, the MMP imposed on counties the obligation to implement a program permitting a limited group of persons - those who qualify for exemption from California’s statutes criminalizing certain conduct with respect to marijuana (the exemptions)...
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Massachusetts Opens Marriage To Out-Of-Staters
By Rex Wockner Published: August 7, 2008
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill AUGUST 7 repealing a 1913 law that prohibited people from other states from getting married in Massachusetts if the marriage wouldn’t have been allowed where they live.The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the bill in a 118-35 vote July 29 and the Senate...
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Californians Still Oppose Marriage Discrimination
By Rex Wockner Published: July 31, 2008
A second Field Poll has found that Californians do not plan to amend the state constitution Nov. 4 to re-ban same-sex marriage. Poll results released July 18 showed that 51 percent of likely voters will oppose Proposition 8 and only 42 percent plan to vote for it. The numbers are...
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Census Won’t Count Married Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: July 24, 2008
The U.S. government will not count married gay couples in the 2010 census, the San Jose Mercury News reported July 12 Instead, same-sex couples who accurately report that they are married will have their response tabulated by the Census Bureau as if they had checked “unmarried partners.”Same-sex marriage is legal...
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NGLTF Joins the Fight Against Prop 8
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 24, 2008
It marks a true equality milestone that LGBT people are now able to marry in the Golden State. But the right wing is poised to deny LGBT people this fundamental freedom. They successfully qualified an anti-LGBT initiative, Proposition 8, for the November ballot. If it passes, it would change the...
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AIDS Relief Fund For China Puts Out Call For Help
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 24, 2008
Humphrey Wou and the AIDS Relief Fund for China (ARFC) board held their annual fundraising dinner on July 9 at Be-My-Guest Thai Bistro. In the last four years, ARFC has co-founded a number of innovative projects including the Pen Pal Club, the Sunshine Doctors, and the Five Household Co-op. These...
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25,000 People Raise More Than $4.5 Million at SF AIDS Walk
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 24, 2008
The 22nd annual AIDS Walk San Francisco on Sunday, July 20, was the second-largest and most successful ever, with last year’s event of $6.4 million topping it by a bit. AIDS Walk is Northern California’s largest AIDS fundraising event. “Twenty-five thousand walkers, coupled with support from many leading Bay Area...
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McCain Speaks Out Against Lesbian/Gay Adoption
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 17, 2008
Showing how Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, is out of touch with today’s leading child welfare organizations, he told the New York Times that he remains opposed to adoption by same-sex couples, implying that he is opposed to single-parent adoption as well. In the interview, published Sunday, July...
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Kern County Supes: No Marriage Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: July 17, 2008
Supervisors in Kern County, Calif., voted unanimously July 8 to do nothing with a proposed ordinance to ban same-sex marriage in the conservative county. The measure was proposed by the Campaign for Children and Families. The supervisors acted after the county counsel informed them the ordinance would be unconstitutional. They...
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Top Homophobe Jesse Helms Dies
By Rex Wockner Published: July 10, 2008
AIDS Activists Inflate Giant Condom on Jesse Helms’ House
AIDS activists inflated a giant “reservoir-tipped condom” over U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms’ house Sept. 5 in Arlington, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. Helms, a North Carolina Republican, is Congress’ most outspoken opponent of safe-sex education, AIDS funding and gay...
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Schwarzenegger Denounces Effort To Re-Ban Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: July 10, 2008
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has strongly denounced the attempt to amend the California Constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage. Appearing on TV’s Meet The Press on June 29, Schwarzenegger was asked: “You have a lot of propositions on the ballot again this fall. One of them would mean a constitutional ban...
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Senior Care Bill Passes Assembly Health Committee
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 10, 2008
Legislation that would help prevent bias in senior care facilities and nursing homes has passed the Assembly Health Committee. Senate Bill 1729, authored by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality California, would train licensed health professionals about the unique needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors....
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HRC Gets on the Trans Bandwagon
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 3, 2008
Historic Hearing Held on Workplace Protections for Transgenders
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations, participated on June 26 in the first-ever Congressional hearing exclusively on the issue of workplace discrimination against transgenders. The hearing, held by the...
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Two Policemen Marry in Santa Rosa
By Rex Wockner Published: July 3, 2008
Two male cops have gotten married in Northern California. Santa Rosa police officer Chris Mahurin, 25, and San Rafael police officer Alex Holm, 25, tied the knot June 20 at Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa.“It’s just a dream come true,” Holm’s mother, Claire Ann Boyce, told the local Press...
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HRC Gala Boycott Launched By Coalition For Trans Inclusion
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 26, 2008
On June 24, at a closed press conference, a coalition of queer progressive organizations were on hand as SF Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Bevan Dufty announced their plan that day to introduce a resolution asking SF elected officials to boycott Human Rights Campaign’s biggest fundraising gala because of its alleged...
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Robin Tyler Feels Slighted in Marriage Case Coverage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 26, 2008
Veteran lesbian activist Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the first same-sex couple married in Southern California, have been missing from much of the material put out by the gay organizations involved in the California marriage battle. Although Tyler and Olson filed the first lawsuit in what became the consolidated marriage...
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California Marriages Could Spell Trouble for Wisconsin and Delaware Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: June 26, 2008
Same-sex couples from Wisconsin and Delaware might not want to get married in California.In Wisconsin, entering into a marriage outside the state that would have been prohibited inside the state can lead to a $10,000 fine, nine months in prison or both.Delaware has a milder law that punishes marriage “between...
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Spouses for Life
By Kim Corsaro Published: June 19, 2008
Monday, June 16, 5:01 pm. It was another San Francisco earthquake. This time, the impulsive, open-hearted gesture of Mayor Gavin Newsom that launched same-sex marriages in The City four years ago came full circle. This time it was fully, one hundred percent legal. It was really happening. And the first...
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Marriage Foes Fight Down to the Wire. But they LOSE!!!
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 19, 2008
The California Supreme Court declared the state could issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 16 after 5:01 p.m - which Alameda, Sonoma, and Yolo counties did. But San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to marry just one couple on the 16th, specifically honoring Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin...
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Gay Episcopal Bishop Enters Civil Union
By Rex Wockner Published: June 19, 2008
Calif. Episcopal Bishop to Marry GaysThe gay Episcopal bishop in New Hampshire who has almost single-handedly caused a near schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion entered into an official civil union with his partner June 7. The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson and Mark Andrew, who have been together for 19...
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HRC Endorses Obama for President
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 12, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest GLBT civil rights groups, announced on June 6 that the organization will endorse Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president of the United States. The decision was made by the HRC Board of Directors based on Senator Obama’s support for GLBT equality, his demonstrated...
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NCLR Celebrates 31st Year Honors Rep.Tammy Baldwin
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 12, 2008
It was the Kate and Kate night on May 31st at the May 31st celebration dinner for the National Center for Lesbian Rights at the Westin St. Francis Hotel. Comedian Kate Clinton emceed, and Kate Kendell, NCLR Executive Director, spoke of the organization’s accomplishments. “This is the last NCLR anniversary...
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USA Today/Gallup Poll Finds 63% Support For Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 12, 2008
A USA Today/Gallup poll released June 3 found that 63 percent of Americans believe the government has no business passing laws banning same-sex marriage and 30 percent think the government should not prevent polygamy either.Respondents were asked whether the decision to marry should strictly be a private decision between two...
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Same-Sex Marriage Ban Qualifies For November Ballot
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 5, 2008
Supreme Court Refuses to Stop Marriages in the Meantime
On June 2, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that the initiative to pass a Constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples in California had qualified for the November ballot, where backers needing almost 695,000 valid signatures more...
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Poll: Californians Support Same-Sex Marriage, Oppose Constitutional Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: June 5, 2008
A California Field Poll released May 28 found that 51 percent of registered California voters support same-sex marriage, 42 percent oppose it and 7 percent have no opinion. The respected poll also found that 54 percent oppose amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, 40 percent favor an amendment...
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HRC Jump-starts California Campaign to Preserve Marriage With $500,000 Donation
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 29, 2008
In light of the historic State Supreme Court decision, Human Rights Campaign is affirming its commitment to defeating a possible Constitutional amendment to make marriage ONLY between one man and one woman. The Human Rights Campaign has pledged an initial contribution of $500,000 to Equality for All to protect marriage...
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Senate Passes Bill To Protect LGBT Seniors
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 29, 2008
A bill that would help prevent discrimination against LGBT seniors in nursing homes and senior care facilities cleared the Senate on May 27 and will now go to the Assembly for approval. Senate Bill 1729, authored by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality California, would train licensed...
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Portland, Oregon Elects Gay Mayor
By Rex Wockner Published: May 29, 2008
Portland, Ore., became the largest U.S. city ever to elect an openly gay mayor on May 20. City Commissioner Sam Adams, 44, promised to make the city “cleaner, greener, more sustainable, smarter, more equal, better educated.” Adams got 58.6 percent of the vote in a contest that had 13 candidates....
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Marriage is Legal!
By Rex Wockner Published: May 22, 2008
With language and legal conclusions that could not have been stronger, the California Supreme Court granted same-sex couples access to marriage May 15. The weddings should begin June 16 or shortly thereafter. California law contains no residence requirement, so same-sex couples from elsewhere can take advantage of the change as...
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Actress Nixon Would Marry Girlfriend
By Rex Wockner Published: May 22, 2008
Actress Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda on HBO’s Sex and the City and reprises her role in the new film of the same name, likely would marry her girlfriend, Christine Marinoni, if New York state legalizes same-sex marriage. “I think that to get married to her would be a little...
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Arizona House Votes For Same-Sex Marriage Ban
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 15, 2008
Potential Ballot Measure Now Moves On to the Senate
The Arizona House of Representatives has voted to put a proposed State Constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage on the ballot. The measure now moves on to the Arizona State Senate, where legislators will decide whether to bring it to...
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Congress’ Highest-Ranking Vet Calls for DADT repeal
By Rex Wockner Published: May 15, 2008
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., whose military rank was the highest of any veteran now in Congress, has urged fellow lawmakers to join him in repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that bars open gays from the military. Sestak, a three-star admiral who spent 31 years in the Navy,...
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Michigan Top Court Ends Partner Benefits Statewide
By Ann Rostow Published: May 8, 2008
Drastic Ruling Stems from 2004 Marriage Ballot Ban
On Wednesday, May 7, the Michigan Supreme Court handed down an astonishing 5-2 ruling, effectively banning domestic partner benefits for public employees. That would include university professors at the state run colleges, city employees in Kalamazoo or any other Michigan town,...
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SF AIDS Foundation Cries Out: May Day!
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 8, 2008
San Francisco AIDS Foundation held its 21st annual Leadership Recognition Dinner on May 1st at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion. It was officially May Day, and the perfect time to call out, “May Day! May Day!” for rescue to the HIV/AIDS community and its supporters. “As one of the oldest...
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Gay Bishop To Enter Civil Union
By Rex Wockner Published: May 8, 2008
Openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire will enter an official civil union with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew, in June. Robinson’s 2003 consecration as bishop caused a serious rupture that continues to grow in the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the...
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PlanetOut, GLAAD, HRC Punish Big Donor to Anti-Marriage Amendment Signature Drive
By Rex Wockner Published: May 1, 2008
In apparent response to media inquiries, PlanetOut Inc., the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and the Human Rights Campaign acted swiftly April 22 and 23 to dissociate themselves from the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. PlanetOut, GLAAD and Global Hyatt Corp. have partnered to offer a Pride 2008 “GLAAD...
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HRC Announces Year To Win: Mobilizing Effort for Election 2008
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 1, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest GLBT civil rights organizations, announced on April 28 the launch of “Year to Win,” a nationwide electoral initiative aimed at mobilizing pro-equality voters in the 2008 election season. The effort will focus the resources of the organization’s more than 700,000 members...
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If Thou Dost Prick Me, Do I Not Bleed?
By Ann Rostow Published: May 1, 2008
Good morning everyone. I was just starting to download my news files, when I read Michael Petrelis’s blog entry on the North Carolina governor, Mike Easley, who told a crowd that Hillary Clinton makes Rocky Balboa “look like a pansy.” And my question to you is: is this an anti-gay...
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Far Right Claims 1.1 Million Signatures to Put Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment on Ballot
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 24, 2008
Homophobic groups claimed on April 21 that they had gathered more than enough signatures to place on the November ballot a vote to make a California Constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The result of a yes vote would thus officially place discrimination against marriage...
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Victoria Kolakowski Runs for East Bay Judge
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 24, 2008
Victoria Kolakowski has been Administrative Law Judge with the California Public Utilities Commission since 2007 to the present. She presides in proceedings related to utility energy procurement, high voltage power line siting, and environmental compliance under CEQA and NEPA, and renewable energy contracts. In 2007, she was on the faculty...
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Foreman Leaves Task Force
By Rex Wockner Published: April 24, 2008
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman quit his job April 15 and moved to San Francisco to head up the Gay & Lesbian Rights Program at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. The fund provides more grant support to GLBT organizations than any other non-gay...
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Schwarzenegger: Marriage-Ban Effort is â€a Total Waste of Time’
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 17, 2008
Marriage Activists React To Governor’s CommentsBy now it is no longer news that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told a group at the Log Cabin Republicans’ convention on April 11 that any attempt to ban same-sex marriage by changing the California Constitution would be a “total waste of time.” Schwarzenegger said that...
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200 attend Log Cabin Republicans Convention
By Rex Wockner Published: April 17, 2008
Speaking April 11 at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the effort by anti-gay forces to amend the California Constitution to permanently ban same-sex marriage is “a total waste of time” and that he will fight against it. Anti-gay activists claim they have collected almost enough...
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LGBT Rights Bill AB 2654 Clears Key Committee
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 17, 2008
The Assembly Judiciary Committee approved legislation on April 15 that continues an historic multi-year effort by LGBT Caucus Chair, Assemblymember John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and Equality California to overhaul California’s anti-discrimination laws. Assemblymembers approved the Civil Rights Act of 2008 in committee with a 7-3 vote.Assembly Bill 2654 strengthens the...
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In The Fight Against AIDS, The World Cannot Afford Discrimination
Published: April 17, 2008
By Kevin Robert FrostThis week an Egyptian court sentenced four men each to three years in prison because they are gay and HIV-positive. Taken into custody during a sweep of recent arrests of suspected homosexuals, the men were publicly shamed, forced to submit to HIV tests, and tortured by Egyptian...
Archibishop Desmond Tutu Speaks Out for LGBT Rights at SF’s Grace Cathedral
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 10, 2008
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) presented its 2008 Outspoken Award to Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu as part of IGLHRC’s “Celebration of Courage” in Grace Cathedral on April 8. Also awarded for its equality was IBM Corporation. The event opened and closed with the...
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Deadline Looms for Devastating Ballot Amendment to Block Same-Sex Marriage in California CaCalifornia
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 10, 2008
Urgent Appeal From Equality Activists
Equality activists say people have a chance to make history. The decades-long fight for the dignity and humanity of the lives of LGBT people has come to this moment, and we can only win with the help of other activists. Well-funded anti-LGBT organizations are...
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Bills Threatening Student Safety Die
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 10, 2008
Two bills opposed by Equality California failed in the Assembly Education Committee, safeguarding existing protections for California students. The measures would have stripped away important civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. Members of the Assembly Education Committee rejected both Assembly Bill 2085 and Assembly Bill 2086...
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1,000 at Oklahoma City Sally Rally
By Rex Wockner Published: April 10, 2008
More than 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City April 2 in support of beleaguered state Rep. Sally Kern. Kern has been under fire since March 7 when the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund posted an audio clip on YouTube of a speech in which Kern called...
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My Gayest Look is Latest Activist Fad
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: April 3, 2008
Give “The Bird” to Leno
Join the newest activist fad and make one comedian realize that making fun of gay people is not always that funny. Jay Leno has been known to use gay jokes that can be tasteless, hurtful, stereotypical, and just plain not amusing to some queers....
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State Senator Carole Migden Holds Campaign Fundraiser
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 3, 2008
On March 26, State Senator Carole Migden sponsored a campaign party at Waterbar, to raise funds for her reelection to the California Senate, where she represents the 3rd District, which comprises the eastern half of the City and County of San Francisco, all of Marin County, and portions of Sonoma...
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Oregon Man is Pregnant
By Rex Wockner Published: April 3, 2008
A Bend, Ore., man is pregnant, he told The Advocate on March 26. Thomas Beatie told the magazine he’d had a sex-change operation, become a man and married his wife but kept his female reproductive organs. “Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest...
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Queers Mobilize Against the War
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 27, 2008
On the fifth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, on March 19, thousands marched in San Francisco and hundreds were arrested in acts of civil disobedience, having brought traffic to a complete standstill. The death toll of American troops would soon reach 4,000. Well over 600,000 Iraquis have been killed....
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Barbara Walters Wins GLAAD Award
By Rex Wockner Published: March 27, 2008
Barbara Walters won an award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation March 17 at the New York edition of the media-watchdog group’s annual ceremonies. Walters was honored for her 20/20 story “My Secret Self: A Story of Transgender Children.” She said the award meant more to her than...
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Migden Says: Straights Deserve Equal Rights to Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: March 20, 2008
San Francisco Senator Carole Migden says straight people deserve equal rights. She has introduced a bill to expand the state’s comprehensive domestic-partnership law, which currently applies only to gay couples, and to opposite-sex couples who are over age 62. Opposite-sex senior couples were included in the original law because remarrying...
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Oklahoma Rep Goes Off The Charts in Homophobic Attack
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 13, 2008
Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern has labeled the gay community a “bigger threat, even more so than terrorists or Islam,” accusing gays of attempting to “destroy this nation.” A March 10 audiotape of her homophobic remarks was posted on YouTube.com by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund has been viewed...
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Ellen: Pay Attention When You Vote
By Rex Wockner Published: March 13, 2008
Ellen DeGeneres said on her TV talk show Feb. 29 that she’s not a political person but that people should vote for a presidential candidate who believes “we are all equal under the law.” “On Feb. 12, an openly gay 15-year-old boy named Larry, who was an eighth-grader in Oxnard,...
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Taking It To The Supremes
By Ann Rostow Published: March 6, 2008
Same-Sex Marriage Is Argued Before California’s Top CourtI return to the keyboard, after a lengthy hiatus, intending to write a leisurely warm up column. Much like a former gym rat who skips three months of workouts, I do not want to tax my flaccid brain muscles with excess research or...
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How Did We Do?
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 6, 2008
At Koret Auditorium in the San Francisco Public Library, Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) hosted a panel discussion to follow the earlier historic California Supreme Court hearing that will soon determine whether it is constitutionally permissible to allow same-sex couples the right to marry the person of their choice. This would...
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Obama Supports States’ OK of Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: March 6, 2008
Highlights Differences with Clinton on DOMA In a Feb. 28 open letter to the LGBT community, presidential candidate Barack Obama stated his support for full same-sex marriage in states that choose to go that route. To date, only Massachusetts has done so. Bills legalizing same-sex marriage have passed California’s legislature...
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Marriage Constitutional Amendment Dies In Indiana
By Rex Wockner Published: February 28, 2008
A move to amend the Indiana Constitution to ban same-sex marriage died in the House of Representatives Feb. 15 when Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, refused to consider the measure in the Rules Committee. The proposal had passed both houses in 2005 and had passed the Senate a second time...
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Rethinking the “Gay Agenda”
By Chris Crain Published: February 21, 2008
If the election results in a gay-friendly Congress and White House, we need to reconsider the legislative priorities for the movement. This year’s presidential primaries have been so exciting that it’s important that those who care about the gay rights movement remember to focus on what exactly we want from...
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Vigils Held Across U.S. for Murdered Youth Lawrence King
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 21, 2008
California law protects students from harassment based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. This was the purpose of the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act enacted in 2000, which has been further strengthened through the passage of AB 394 (The Safe Place to Learn Act)...
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Goin’ To The Chapel, NOT Getting Married....
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 21, 2008
Another Valentine’s Day, Another Day of Denying Marriage Licenses to Same Sex Couples
With the historic marriage equality lawsuit set to be heard in San Francisco on March 4, a ruling expected within 90 days, and this year marking the 60th anniversary of this Court’s decision eliminating the ban...
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California Supremes Ready for Marriage Case on March 4
By Rex Wockner Published: February 21, 2008
The California same-sex marriage case will be heard by the state Supreme Court on March 4. The justices will then have 90 days to issue their ruling. The case is a consolidation of several lawsuits challenging state law that limits marriage to opposite-sex couples. Plaintiffs include the city of San...
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AGUILAS AIDS Prevention Services Facing Budget Crisis
By Dennis McMillan Published: February 14, 2008
AGUILAS, a San Francisco-based Latino gay/bisexual non-profit organization offering programs focused on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, education, and outreach is holding a conference Tuesday, Feb. 19, 11am at the Community Center. The organization is facing a budget crisis that will force it to shut down and move out of its facility...
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New Push To Amend California Constitution On Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: February 14, 2008
Anti-gay groups are paying signature-gatherers in hopes of placing an initiative before voters in November to amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Previous attempts to collect enough voter signatures to force a ballot vote have failed.Gay leaders said the effort is being supported by the National Organization for...
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Swiss Experts Say HIV Positive People With No Viral Load Cannot Transmit HIV Virus
By Rex Wockner Published: February 7, 2008
Swiss AIDS officials have determined that if you’re taking anti-HIV drugs and you always take the drugs on schedule and your HIV blood tests come back “undetectable” for six months in a row and you don’t have any other sexually transmitted diseases, it is next to impossible that you could...
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Bush Tells Barney Frank He’s â€â€śOpen-minded” Toward Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: February 7, 2008
President George W. Bush has told openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., that he’s “open-minded” toward gays.It happened Jan. 28 in the House Speaker’s lobby after Bush’s State of the Union address, according to the Boston Globe.Before the address, Bush walked up to Frank, who was chatting on his...
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Foreman to Leave Task Force
By Rex Wockner Published: January 31, 2008
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman is leaving the organization to head up the Gay & Lesbian Rights Program at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund in San Francisco. The fund provides more grant support to GLBT organizations than any other non-gay foundation in the...
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Maryland Introduces Civil Marriage Protection Act
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 31, 2008
At a press conference on Jan.25, Maryland legislators announced the introduction of The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, a bill which would provide equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples while ensuring that religious institutions continue to have the right to perform and recognize only the marriages...
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EQCA Urges Activists To Sign Open Letter to the Governor
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 24, 2008
Equality California is urging activists to sign their open letter asking the Governor to tell the California Supreme Court that the current law is unconstitutional and that all loving couples deserve the freedom to marry. With the Court expected to rule this year on the legal right for gay and...
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LGBT State Assembly Candidates Endorsed
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 24, 2008
Five openly lesbian and gay candidates for the Assembly received early endorsements on Jan. 22 from the Equality California Political Action Committee. If elected, these candidates would become part of the LGBT Legislative Caucus. Of the five lawmakers currently in the Caucus, three will term out in November.The five Assembly...
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Bill Challenging Nondiscrimination Protections Fails In First Assembly Committee
Published: January 24, 2008
A bill opposed by Equality California failed in its first Assembly committee on Jan. 15. The measure, AB 1498, authored by Assemblymember Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, would have given organizations that receive public funds a special exemption to California’s nondiscrimination laws, weakening existing statutes that are designed to protect everyone, including...
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Log Cabin Denounces Huckabee
By Rex Wockner Published: January 24, 2008
The national gay group Log Cabin Republicans denounced Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as an anti-gay extremist on Jan. 18. “Gov. Mike Huckabee is establishing an unfortunate pattern on the campaign trail - making statements about gays and lesbians that demonstrate he’s out of touch with the vast majority of...
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Staph Infections In The Castro Causing Community Uproar
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 17, 2008
A new type of highly drug-resistant “flesh-eating” methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria is being spread, allegedly through sexual contact among gay men in San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, according to a new study. The report, published online by the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, found the greatest...
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Signature Drive Fails To Overturn Student Civil Rights Protections
By Ann Rostow Published: January 17, 2008
 Equality California (EQCA), the Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network), Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and the Transgender Law Center (TLC) responded on Jan. 11 to the failure of a signature drive to overturn the newly enacted California Student Civil Rights Act, SB 777. The new law,...
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SF AIDS Foundation Criticizes Governor’s Budget
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 17, 2008
 The San Francisco AIDS Foundation expressed deep concern about the effects of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget on Californians living with HIV/AIDS. The $11 million in cuts to AIDS programs will be especially harmful to low-income Californians who depend on public support for life-saving medication and quality medical care. These...
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HRC Publishes Best Places To Work For GLBT Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 17, 2008
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, one of the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organizations, has released its annual list of the “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality.” A total of 195 companies that achieve this honor will use the 2008 “Best Places to Work for...
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Do Tell, Don’t Go
By Rex Wockner Published: January 17, 2008
U.S. Army Sgt. Darren Manzella came out on the CBS-TV program 60 Minutes last month, complete with a video of himself and a former boyfriend kissing. Manzella figured that’d get him kicked out of the military under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which says members of the armed forces...
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CA Appeals Court Decision Secures LGBT Property Tax Benefits
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 10, 2008
In a major victory for same-sex couples, on Jan. 3 the California Supreme Court denied a petition by county assessors seeking review of a California Court of Appeal decision affirming the validity of basic property tax protections for domestic partners. The Court’s decision means that the validity of these protections...
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Gov. Huckabee Continues To Ignore Ryan White’s Mother
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 10, 2008
Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White and a board member of The AIDS Institute, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and The AIDS Institute itself are still waiting to meet with Gov. Mike Huckabee after he committed to meeting and discussing his shocking 1992 remarks that people living with HIV...
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New Laws Advance LGBT Rights in 2008
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 3, 2008
This year, a record 10 pieces of LGBT rights legislation – sponsored by Equality California - were introduced into the Legislature. A record 10 passed the Legislature. And a record nine will become law or official policy. As a result, youth will have more protections in our schools and juvenile...
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NCLR Wraps Up The Year And Lists Accomplishments
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 3, 2008
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) has accomplished much this year. NCLR’s latest victory was in protecting families in times of crisis. In a recent case where a non-biological mother was not allowed to be with her daughter in the emergency room, NCLR contacted the hospital to ensure that...
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Rainbow World Fund Wraps Up Year 2007
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 3, 2008
Rainbow World Fund and other like-minded organizations are reaching out to share what HIV/AIDS and the civil rights struggle have taught queers about caring, giving, and loving. RWF, a volunteer run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is changing how the world sees LGBT people through their giving time, energy, and money to...
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Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act Is Introduced
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 27, 2007
The Human Rights Campaign lauded Senators Gordon Smith and Joseph Lieberman and Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Henry Waxman, Tom Davis, and Chris Shays, along with 19 additional Senate cosponsors and 35 additional House cosponsors, for their support of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which was introduced on Dec. 20....
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EQCA, GSA Network File Motion To Protect Students
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 27, 2007
Equality California and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network filed a motion on Dec. 21 to intervene in federal district court in San Diego to defend the California statutes that prohibit discrimination and harassment in publicly funded schools, including the newly enacted Student Civil Rights Act (SB 777). EQCA was the official...
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Legal Protections For LGBT Youth Expand in New Year
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 20, 2007
On Jan. 1, California’s youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens will receive critical new legal protections and rights that will impact nearly every aspect of their lives. Seven bills sponsored by Equality California will become law, including three measures designed to protect students in public schools and youth...
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Horizons Foundation Hosts Grantee Appreciation Luncheon
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 20, 2007
Horizons Foundation, a philanthropic social justice organization, serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community throughout the Bay Area and beyond. For over 25 years, they have been meeting the needs, advancing the rights, and celebrating the lives of LGBT people through a diverse range of programs, services, and initiatives....
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NCLR Launches New Project For Rural California LGBTs
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 20, 2007
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) announced its partnership with California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) on Dec. 17 to expand civil rights enforcement on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Proyecto Poderoso – which translates to “Powerful Project” -will educate rural communities about LGBT rights and litigate...
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GOP Candidate Huckabee Urged to Repudiate AIDS Quarantine Remarks
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 13, 2007
The Human Rights Campaign and the AIDS Institute sent a letter to Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee on Dec. 11 asking that he personally meet with Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White, the boy who was diagnosed with AIDS on Dec. 17, 1984, and captivated the attention of...
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Hate Crimes Act Dies in Congress
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 13, 2007
House-Senate conferees confirmed that the Matthew Shepard Act, which had passed the Senate as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill, would be removed from the final version of the bill. This announcement was made on Dec. 6, after House Leadership’s whipping the vote count on the conference...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Protests Capture National Attention
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 6, 2007
Twelve thousand flags flew on the National Mall on the weekend of Nov. 30 to recognize the 12,000 men and women discharged from the military since the enactment of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Under this policy, the law forces the military to fire any service member who is found to...
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Congress Is as Congress Does
By Ann Rostow Published: November 22, 2007
We are taking a long overdue break from the g-ENDA wars this week, although I did notice that Ted Kennedy has not yet introduced an ENDA version in the Senate. Kennedy pledged to do so during “this Congress,” which gives the Massachusetts Democrat over a year to follow through, but...
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Gender Benders In the Crosshairs
By Ann Rostow Published: November 15, 2007
Enough of ENDA! Don’t you agree? I know, it’s important. It’s not just ENDA. It’s the whole idea of who we are as men and women, and what we’re fighting for. The millenium generation, or whatever they’re called, will not be battling sexual orientation discrimination in a few years. But...
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California Marriage Cases Gain Speed
By Ann Rostow Published: August 23, 2007
The slow moving marriage equality cases are inching closer to a high court hearing in California. On Aug. 17, GLBT lawyers submitted a supplemental brief, answering four questions posed by the justices last June. The marriage advocates also filed a reply brief, responding to the arguments advanced by the state...
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Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships: A Distinction With A Difference
By Ann Rostow Published: August 2, 2007
The Importance of Marriage Increasingly Clear as Alternatives Fall ShortThere was good news this week for United Parcel Service employees in New Jersey. The company, under pressure from Lambda Legal Defense as well as Garden State Governor Jon Corzine, revised its interpretation of state law and agreed to offer benefits...
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St. Louis Lawyer Nabbed for Fake Marriage
By Ann Rostow Published: August 2, 2007
It’s not exactly a busy news week in our long-suffering GLBTLMNOP community, although there are a few interesting nuggets on my list.But first, newshound Rex Wockner just sent me a clip from the St. Louis Post, detailing a fraudulent marriage arranged by the former head of the St. Louis public...
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Evangelical Lutheran Church Defrocks Gay Pastor
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 12, 2007
In a recent decision that has been made public, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Committee on Appeals has decided to remove Atlanta Pastor Bradley Schmeling from the church’s pastoral roles, because Pastor Schmeling is a gay man living his life openly and honestly. “We are outraged at the...
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California Supremes Delve Deeply Into Marriage Case
By Rex Wockner Published: July 12, 2007
Activists Call on Gay Californians To Engage ImmediatelyA series of questions sent by the California Supreme Court to the lawyers in the pending same-sex marriage case reveals that the court is seriously engaged with the details of the case. The court has asked the attorneys to file supplemental briefs by...
Last Thursday, 26-year-old Satendar Singh, a native of Fiji, was taken off life support; he died shortly thereafter. Earlier in the week, he had been brutally beaten in an attack that occurred while he was vacationing at Lake Natoma. Although the sheriff's department has not yet classified the incident as...
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Big Swinging Dick
By Ann Rostow Published: July 12, 2007
What’s this scuttlebutt we’re hearing about Fred Thompson? I read on Wonkette that Andrew Sullivan is alluding to the candidate’s “colorful and wide-ranging sex life,” code for the notion that Mr. Law and Order swings both ways. “Sullivan is not even close to the first person we’ve heard float this...
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Pass the Collection Plate
By Ann Rostow Published: July 5, 2007
A mid summer lassitude has lately slowed my professional metabolism. Today, for example, I could only bring myself to read 16 pages out of a 77-page opinion by the 4th District California appellate court on the subject of ecclesiastical property rights. The upshot, I gather, is that three renegade anti-gay...
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A Farewell to Falwell in the Castro
By Sister Dana Van Iquity Published: May 17, 2007
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, televangelist and founder of the Moral Majority in 1987, passed away on May 15 in Virginia at the age of 73. So at 5:15 p.m. on 5/15 at approximately 515 Castro Street, citizens of the Castro and beyond held an anti-memorial for the deceased Rev. Falwell....
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NCLR Celebrates 30th Anniversary In Grand Style
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 17, 2007
For the past 30 years, the National Center for Lesbian Rights has been at the forefront of nearly every legal gain won for LGBT people and their families. Founded in 1977, NCLR is a national organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBT people through litigation, public...
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Sen. Kuehl’s Student Bill Upsets Right Wing
By Rex Wockner Published: May 17, 2007
A bill by lesbian state Sen. Sheila Kuehl that synchronizes the state Education Code with existing laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people is drawing strident opposition from so-called family activists. Among other things, Senate Bill 777, the Student Civil Rights Act, mandates that “No teacher shall give instruction nor shall...
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Lesbian Custody Battle Loses Appeal
By Ann Rostow Published: May 10, 2007
They followed the classic lesbian script: girl meets girl, girls have child, girl loses girl, girl tells girl to go jump in a lake and forget about ever seeing child again, girl hires lawyer. But in this case, the pair managed to throw in a twist that attracted national attention...
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Right Wing Stirs Up Anti-Gay National Day of Prayer
By Ann Rostow Published: May 3, 2007
On Your Knees, Christian Soldiers!Thursday, May 3, is the National Day of Prayer, once a patriotic call to unite Americans of all faiths in a national day of reflection, and now an insidious annual event organized and promoted by the Christian right. Started by a Congressional resolution in 1952, the...
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ENDA Introduced in Congress, Includes Transgender Protection
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 26, 2007
On April 24, America made a historic stride forward in protecting the civil rights of transgender people. The introduction of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would protect against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The measure was introduced by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio),...
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EQCA Works Towards Safer Schools for Queer California Students
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 26, 2007
Vulnerable, at-risk youth in the state’s juvenile justice facilities received support from lawmakers on Tuesday. The Senate Public Safety Committee approved a measure that would protect incarcerated youth who are mistreated and harassed because they identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.SB 518, the Juvenile Justice Safety and Protection Act,...
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Scarborough Fare
By Ann Rostow Published: April 26, 2007
Before we begin our weekly excursion through the thrilling ups and downs of our communal journey towards equality, I must indulge in a brief rant on the subject of the sanctimonious and deliberately false reaction from some conservatives to the Supreme Court’s abortion decision. Just take this comment from Baptist...
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Anglican Archbishop Will Meet With U.S. Leaders On Gays in Church
By Ann Rostow Published: April 19, 2007
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams agreed this week to sit down with American church leaders at a U.S. Episcopal bishops New Orleans conference scheduled for next September. Although the 77-million member Anglican Communion has no official hierarchy, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals as the head of...
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Boy Butter Ad Deemed Too Controversial by Comcast
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 19, 2007
The first of its kind gay-themed TV ad is set to air in New York and Los Angeles, but not in San Francisco. An ad for Boy Butter lube was judged “too controversial” by San Francisco’s cable operator.The makers of Boy Butter, the latest in hot-selling personal lubricants, were a...
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Clergy Pushes Congress For Hate Crimes Legislation
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 19, 2007
In a historic showing of religious support for the passage of two major pieces of civil rights legislation, hundreds of clergy from a diverse reflection of America’s faith backgrounds gathered on Capitol Hill on April 17 to lobby their respective members of Congress to end workplace discrimination against their fellow...
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During Tax Season, Marriage Inequality Costs Taxpayers
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 19, 2007
Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) say they deplore the ongoing moral and financial costs of denying marriage equality to same-sex couples, not only for the LGBT families directly affected, but for all American taxpayers who collectively pay a financial price for that discrimination.“Each tax season, same-sex couples sit at their dining...
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Dine Out For Life Raises $$ to Help Stop AIDS
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 19, 2007
On Thursday, April 26 all across San Francisco, friends will gather at restaurants and eateries to help raise money for the critical work of the STOP AIDS Project. The 6th annual event, Dining Out for Life, is the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year - with thousands of hungry patrons...
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Queer Youth “Day of Silence” Protest Threatened by Right Wing Backlash Across U.S.
By Ann Rostow Published: April 12, 2007
The 11th annual “Day of Silence” school protest is set for next Wednesday, April 18. Started by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the event has grown over the decade to encompass as many as 500,000 students at over 4,000 high schools and colleges across the United States....
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GLAAD Excludes Gay Media, Raises a Ruckus
By Chris Crain Published: March 29, 2007
A gay cable network complains of exclusion by the media watchdog group, but the GLAAD Awards were never supposed to be the gay Emmys or Oscars.  Usually the critics wait until after an awards show to complain we wuz robbed — like when so many of us were crushed...
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AB 394 Offers Safe Place To Learn
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 29, 2007
California students, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender will be safer and better protected from harassment and bullying at school under a new bill that reinforces school compliance with existing anti-bias laws. The Safe Place to Learn Act (AB 394), authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine, D-Van...
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Federal Legislation Introduced To Combat Hate Violence
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 29, 2007
 The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a critical piece of legislation providing local police and sheriff’s departments with federal resources to combat hate violence, was introduced in the U.S House of Representatives. The Human Rights Campaign hailed the bill’s introduction and joined with more than 210 law enforcement,...
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ACT UP Comes Back to Life On 20th Anniversary in NYC
By Rex Wockner Published: March 22, 2007
General Pace is the TargetAbout 250 people picketed the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Manhattan March 15 in a demo that is being seen as the likely resurrection of ACT UP. The picket was organized two nights earlier at New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center after...
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US Episcopal Bishops Reject Anti-Gay Threats
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 22, 2007
The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church USA released a strongly worded resolution on March 21 that unequivocally rejected the call from the larger Anglican Communion to backtrack on ordination of lesbian and gay clergy and disavow the election and ordination of openly gay Bishop, The Rt. Rev. V....
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NCLR Honorary Lesbians Come Out
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 22, 2007
It was the NCLR Men’s Event. It was the night for all honorary lesbians to come out (so to speak) and play! It was held on March 15 at the San Francisco home of Geoff Kors and James Williamson. This year Equality California served as co-hosts. “Even though I get...
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Garrison Keillor Apologizes to Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: March 22, 2007
Radio personality and writer Garrison Keillor, of “Prairie Home Companion” fame, has apologized to gays upset by the March 14 installment of his syndicated newspaper column, saying he was just teasing. In the column, Keillor said: “Gay marriage will produce a whole new string of hyphenated relatives. In addition to...
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Neanderthal General Calls Gays “Immoral”
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 15, 2007
He Just Happens to Be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffIn an interview on March 12 with the Chicago Tribune and at an audience before the Tribune’s editorial board, the highest Pentagon official, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, compared homosexual acts to adultery...
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Ann Coulter Shoots Off Her Homo-Hating Mouth Again
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 8, 2007
On March 2 at the Conservative Political Action Conference sponsored by the American Conservative Union, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter spoke saying, “I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use...
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Utah’s Top Court Denies Lesbian Mother the Right to Sue For Visitation
By Ann Rostow Published: February 22, 2007
Last Friday, four out of five justices on the Utah Supreme Court ruled that a non-biological parent has absolutely no legal standing for a continuing relationship with a child after a parental break-up. This wasn’t simply a matter of denying parental rights to the lesbian mother in question. Overturning a...
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Don’t Want to Work
By Ann Rostow Published: February 22, 2007
It’s 4:45 and I have done absolutely everything I can think of to avoid actually beginning this column. I’ve spent an hour or two on my favorite legal blogs. I’ve read some old articles about sex toy laws. I’ve played Sudoku. I’ve rummaged around in the snack cabinet (which was...
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First Amendment Rulings Support GLBT Rights
By Ann Rostow Published: February 1, 2007
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is widely misunderstood, and I don’t pretend to understand it any better than the next hack journalist. But the one-sentence phrase (heavily sprinkled with semi-colons) is increasingly at the heart of the legal battles between the GLBT community and the religious right....
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GLAAD, GLSEN Meet with Washington over Anti-Gay Slur
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 25, 2007
On Jan. 17, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) President Neil G. Giuliano condemned actor Isaiah Washington’s on-air use of the word “faggot” during a backstage press conference at the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards, calling on him to apologize and make amends for what was his second use...
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Marriage Equality Has Big Plans for the Coming Year
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 11, 2007
Marriage Equality USA says it has much to celebrate and many battles to fight in the year ahead, with many exciting events just around the corner. For instance, on Feb. 19, New Jersey will become the third state (Connecticut and Vermont were the other firsts) to allow civil unions for...
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General Denounces DADT and Gets Strong Reaction
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 11, 2007
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Shalikashvili recently wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times, saying he now supports gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military. “I now believe that if gays and lesbians served openly in the US military, they would...
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Shalikashvili Calls For Rethinking “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Published: January 4, 2007
By Gordon Lubold The man who served as the nation’s senior military officer when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military was put in place says it is time to rethink that policy. Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997, says he supported “don’t...
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Conservative Judaism Rules For Same Sex Unions, Gay Ordination
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 28, 2006
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which interprets religious law for the Conservative movement of Judaism, has ruled to allow both commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples and the ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis. “We rejoice that, like our ancestor Jacob, our sisters and brothers in Conservative Judaism have...
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New Jersey Opts for Civil Unions, Also Extends Transgender Protections
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 21, 2006
In a one-two step, New Jersey lawmakers have passed two pieces of legislation on Dec. 14 that are seen as positive steps forward for GLBT equality in that state. The first piece of legislation, Senate Bill 362, adds gender identity and expression to the state laws prohibiting discrimination in employment,...
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Ryan White Care Act Moves From Congress to Bush
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 14, 2006
The Senate has secured passage of the Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization, and it has moved on to the House successfully. Now it goes to the desk of President Bush to be signed. The United States Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a compromise version to reauthorize funding for the Ryan...
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Veni Veni Emmanuel
By Ann Rostow Published: November 23, 2006
Israel’s top court ruled Tuesday that same-sex couples who legally marry outside the country must be allowed to register their unions with the government. The 6-1 decision by the High Court of Israel seems to open the door to equal marriage rights, at least for those couples who can afford...
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HRC Speaks Out On Anti-Gay Senator Mel Martinez
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 16, 2006
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, reacted to the recent announcement that Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) will head the Republican National Committee (RNC).“Senator Martinez was elected in 2004 by taking page one out of Karl Rove’s gay...
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Web Sites Strain Safety for LGBT Service Members Under DADT
By Stefen Styrsky Published: November 16, 2006
In the wake of an Associated Press report last week detailing the U.S. military’s increased surveillance of Web sites, the Service Members Legal Defense Network again cautioned gay and lesbian personnel to be extremely careful about what information they place online. According to the Associated Press, a recently established Army...
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Sweeping Victory!
By Chris Crain Published: November 9, 2006
Brightened Prospects In Congress Matched By Elation At First-Ever Defeat Of Marriage BanThe national wave that swept Democrats into power in the U.S. House and perhaps the Senate has brightened the prospect for gay rights legislation in Congress and thrilled activists by knocking off one of the country’s top anti-gay...
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Cost of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Double Federal Estimates
By Stefen Styrsky Published: November 2, 2006
A follow-up study by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities at UC Santa Barbara in the Military reinforces it’s earlier conclusion that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy has cost the U.S. government far in excess of its official estimate. In 2005 the U.S. Government’s General Accountability Office...
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Domestic Partnerships A Boon To State Economy
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 2, 2006
 Giving same-sex couples the right to enter domestic partnerships will boost the state of Colorado’s budget by $1 million annually, according to “The Impact of the Colorado Domestic Partnership Act on Colorado’s State Budget,” a study released Oct. 16 by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Savings...
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Queer Couples Less Likely To Have Health Insurance
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 2, 2006
The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy released a report on unequal access to employment-based health insurance for same-sex and unmarried different-sex couples. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal, “Contemporary Economic Policy,” analyzes new data on health insurance for couples from the “Current Population Survey” (CPS),...
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New Jersey Court Declares Gay Couples Equal but Separate
By Chris Crain Published: October 26, 2006
“What’s in a name?” That’s what this week’s New Jersey Supreme Court gay marriage ruling came down to deciding. All seven justices of the court, which is known as among the most progressive in the country, agreed that depriving gay couples of the rights and benefits of marriage was a...
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The Passing of Gerry Studds
By Rex Wockner Published: October 19, 2006
Former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass., the first openly gay member of the U.S. Congress, died Oct. 14 in Boston after suffering a blood clot in a lung. He was 69. Studds was elected to Congress in 1972 and retired in 1997. He came out in 1983 after a congressional...
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Foley Scandal: No Impact on LGBT Issues
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 19, 2006
The Human Rights Campaign has released a new nationwide poll that shows the aggressively coordinated attempts by anti-gay right-wing leaders and anti-gay groups to brand the Mark Foley scandal as a gay issue are a resounding failure. The new, nationwide poll shows that, by a 2-to-1 margin, voters believe that...
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Senate Unable To Reauthorize Ryan White Act Before Elections
By Dennis McMillan Published: October 5, 2006
SFAF Calls for Realistic Fixes Before Passage The U.S. Senate adjourned without taking decisive action on the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest dedicated federal funding program for HIV/AIDS care, treatment, and support services for low-income, uninsured, and under-insured individuals. The legislation that controls the $2 billion...
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Three Years and Counting...How Has Lawrence Affected Our Lives?
By Stefen Styrsky Published: September 28, 2006
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision in the Lawrence v Texas case, which legalized sex between consenting adults in the United States. With the recent death of Tyrone Garner, the second plaintiff in the case, it is perhaps the time to assess how the ruling,...
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Whose Constitution Is It, Anyway? Gays Or Christians?
By Ann Rostow Published: September 28, 2006
Do conservative Christians have a “constitutional right” to discriminate against gay men and lesbians? Does anyone?That question simplifies a lot of the legal issues at stake, but it’s at the core of an increasing number of lawsuits that pit claims of religious or ideological freedom against non-discrimination rules that include...
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Washington State Denies Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 27, 2006
In a 5-4 decision on July 26 with six separate opinions, a splintered Washington Supreme Court narrowly ruled that excluding same-sex couples from marriage does not violate the Washington Constitution despite what the plurality opinion termed “the clear hardship faced by same sex couples evidenced in this lawsuit.” “The plaintiffs...
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Congress Fails to Pass Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Again
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 20, 2006
By a vote of 236 to 187, the House rejected on July 18 a proposed constitutional amendment, HJ Res 88, to ban same-sex marriage, which will keep the conservatives temporarily at bay. Although House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) was not fazed, saying, “Be assured that this issue is not over.”...
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Alabama Elects First Open Lesbian To State Legislature
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 20, 2006
The combined efforts of the Human Rights Campaign, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Equality Alabama, and hundreds of Alabama Human Rights Campaign members as voters elected Patricia Todd to serve as the state representative in District 54. Todd becomes the state’s first open lesbian to serve in the Alabama state...
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UCLA Analyzes US Breaks With Intern’l Human Rights
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 20, 2006
UCLA’s Williams Institute has issued a report that identifies four ways in which the United States is noncompliant with antidiscrimination standards defined by the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Based on the Williams Institute’s empirical research, the report concludes that noncompliance harms a substantial number of gay and lesbian Americans...
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New Documents Show Extensive Domestic Spying on Gay Groups
By Stefen Styrsky Published: July 13, 2006
Documents released last month by the Department of Defense reveal that a domestic surveillance program of college organizations opposed to the presence military recruiters on campus was more extensive than first revealed.The 13-page report indicates that DoD collected information on the activities of student groups at the State University of...
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Military Equality Alliance Challenges Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 13, 2006
Shortly after the Fourth of July, the Military Equality Alliance “declared its independence” as a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization dedicated exclusively to grassroots lobbying for the passage of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law and allow patriotic American volunteers to proudly serve openly...
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Lesbian Gives Radio Interview, Discharged After 10 Years
By Stefen Styrsky Published: June 29, 2006
For naval Petty Officer Rhonda Davis, showing up at the rally on Brooklyn Bridge for marriage equality during Pride weekend was not really an outrageous action. Davis, a ten-year navy veteran and native of Virginia, wants to marry her girlfriend, a Korean citizen she met while stationed in Japan. She...
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The Bloch Affair Continues in D.C.; Conservatives Want Us Off His Back
By Stefen Styrsky Published: June 22, 2006
As first reported by The Hill newspaper last week, a group of conservative leaders have asked President Bush to call off the investigation of the embattled Director of the Office of Special (OSC) Scott Bloch. Bloch has been the target of an Office and Personnel Management investigation since last year,...
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Despite Bush’s Anti-Gay Slams, Federal Marriage Amendment Soundly Defeated
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 8, 2006
On the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, President Bush elected to use the day to call a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House to denounce gay marriage and urge Congress to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment. Concerned that his right-wing extremist base...
Among other things, the national dinners of gay organizations are meant to showcase big announcements. At the gala put on by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network this past Saturday in Washington, D.C., the big one was the group's decision to refile its suit to overturn the military's gay ban after...
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Gov’t Must Turn Over Documents Of Spying on LGBT Groups
By Stefen Styrsky Published: April 27, 2006
Federal Judge Rosemary A. Collyer of the D.C. District has ordered three government agencies to turn over by the end of May all documents they have regarding covert surveillance of domestic LGBT groups. The order is the culmination of a months-long struggle by the Service Members Legal Defense Network...
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Lawsuit Falters Against “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
By Stefen Styrsky Published: April 6, 2006
A federal judge in Los Angeles has said that the Log Cabin Republicans do not have enough legal standing to file suit against the U.S. military’s â€Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. Judge George P. Schiavelli gave the gay group until April 28 to amend their suit and avoid dismissal. The...
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Warning: Fundies Resisting HIV Vaccine
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 6, 2006
Lately we are seeing much hopeful research on what could help to prevent the spread of HIV. That is the good news. But there is bad news. Certain key fundamentalists are speaking out against the vaccine, with the subtext indicating they would obviously rather risk the death of hundreds of...
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Summer Sexual Orientation Law Courses Offered
By Dennis McMillan Published: April 6, 2006
Whittier Law School is offering American law students the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam and study sexual orientation law as part of its 2006 summer abroad program. The fully accredited program allows U.S. law students to earn up to six units of credit toward their law degree. This year’s program...
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Opposition Mounts To Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell - Even Among Republicans
By Tom Orr Published: March 30, 2006
It is a testament to the changing times that for those seeking to repeal the U.S. military’s ban on open service by gays and lesbians things couldn’t be much better. Ever since the election of President George Bush, the general perception is that the LGBT community has been on the...
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Feds Quietly Revise Rules on Security Clearance
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 30, 2006
Several months ago the U.S. government quietly revised the rules on security clearances, and now many are worried that the language is meant to exclude gays and lesbians from gaining such clearances.“The Bush administration’s stealth effort to allow discrimination against gay and lesbians citizens in receiving national security clearance is...
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New Orleans AIDS Agencies Struggle To Resume Service
By Rex Wockner Published: March 30, 2006
Liz Taylor Gives Local AIDS Group a Mobile ClinicNEW ORLEANS — Government and community-based HIV/AIDS agencies are still struggling to get back on their feet seven months after Hurricane Katrina broke the levees and flooded 80 percent of the city in up to 20 feet of water. “I’d say we’re...
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2 Gay Men Run for Mayor in a Fractured City
By Rex Wockner Published: March 23, 2006
NEW ORLEANS — Two openly gay men are among the 23 candidates seeking to become mayor of the hurricane- and flood-ravaged Big Easy. James Arey, a classical-music disc jockey and music manager for the local National Public Radio station, is running as “the arts candidate.”“Support for the arts equals...
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Right-Wing Family Guy Arrested for Shoplifting Spree
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 16, 2006
This week, President Bush’s top domestic policy advisor, Claude Allen, was accused of conducting refund scams at several large chain stores in Montgomery County, Maryland, an upper middle-class suburb just outside Washington, D.C.Before his arrest, Allen was considered a staunch conservative who was embraced by the Family Research Council. He...
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SAMHSA LGBT Health Web Site Removed by Feds After Family Research Council Lodges Complaint
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 16, 2006
On Jan. 21 a Web site containing information about LGBT health run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) was abruptly taken down by the federal agency that oversees the group. Critics say the action was taken because of complaints the Department of Heath and Human Services...
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Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Gay Soloman Amendment
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 9, 2006
In a unanimous decision on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a free speech challenge to the Solomon Amendment, ensuring that universities which continue to ban military recruiters based on the U.S. military’s â€Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy must do so at the cost of forfeiting federal money. FAIR, The...
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Eight Bills Will Ensure Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 9, 2006
Equality California (EQCA), California’s statewide LGBT civil rights advocacy organization, announced that it will sponsor eight bills in 2006 to strengthen protections for LGBT people in areas ranging from education to elections. Four new bills will be introduced in both houses of the legislature while Assembly Bills 606, 1160, and...
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New Orleans Mardi Gras is Smaller but Spirited
By Rex Wockner Published: March 2, 2006
New Orleans - It was a much smaller Mardi Gras in the gay area of the French Quarter this year, but spirits were clearly high and some people said they preferred not being crushed by the crowds.“I’d say it’s about a third as many people, but we only have 25...
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Anti-Gay Adoption Measures Not As Popular As Anti-Gay Marriage Ones
By Mubarak Dahir Published: March 2, 2006
There’s finally some good news for gay and lesbian families when it comes to putting their rights to a test at the ballot box: A much-anticipated and highly feared state-by-state push to ban gay and lesbian people from adopting children seems not to have gotten off the ground.Indeed, so far...
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The Fractious Alliance for Gay Families
By Richard J. Rosendall Published: March 2, 2006
Though much will be made of it, the federal Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) is unlikely to be the most important story on the marriage fight this year. To be sure, that constitutional atrocity must be defeated. But for most of us who are defending gay families, the fight is being...
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Report Shows “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy Costing Double What Was Predicted
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 23, 2006
A report issued last week by a commission from the University of California at Santa Barbara concluded that the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has cost $364 million dollars over 10 years, almost twice as much as the $190 million calculated by the General Accountability Office in 2005.
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Wiretapping and the Queer Community
By Mubarak Dahir Published: February 23, 2006
There was a lot of nervous energy around the military recruiting tables at the University of California at Santa Cruz last April. About 300 students from the campus group, Students Against War, had shown up as part of a protest to focus attention on the military’s discriminatory policies against gay...
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Proposed Marriage Protection Amendment Massive Threat
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 16, 2006
Conservative lawmakers are gearing up for a vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) in the U.S. Senate this year, an attempt to gain political advantage just before the November elections, according to gay rights groups and allies. The MPA would ban any state or municipality from recognizing a same-sex...
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Carnival Season Kicks Off in Gay New Orleans
By Rex Wockner Published: February 16, 2006
Carnival season got off to a raucous and politicized start Feb. 11 with the Krewe du Vieux parade through the heavily gay Faubourg Marigny and French Quarter neighborhoods.More than half of the 100-plus contingents took pot shots—ranging from biting to lewd—at city, state and federal officials and agencies for their...
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Coretta Scott King Fought For The Rights of Everyone
By Mubarak Dahir Published: February 2, 2006
Coretta Scott King was more than a gay rights advocate, more than a civil rights advocate.She was a true advocate of human rights. When Coretta Scott King died in her sleep overnight on Jan. 30 at age 78, America lost one of its most eloquent and forceful activists for gay...
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Virginia Moves to Ban Same-Sex Vows
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 2, 2006
With a final approval last week from the Virginia Senate, it is now all but assured that an anti-gay marriage amendment to the commonwealth’s constitution will go before the state’s voters in November.The amendment will be added to Virginia’s Bill of Rights and ban all forms of legal recognition for...
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Culture of Corruption. That’s Us!
By Ann Rostow Published: February 2, 2006
I figured the State of the Union speech would be good for a couple of paragraphs this week, but I fell soundly asleep midway through the grating display of presidential posturing. I gather this morning that I missed the gratuitous annual dig at the gay community. This year’s somewhat bizarre...
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Gay Marriage Political Football After MD Ruling
By Stefen Styrsky Published: January 26, 2006
Gay marriage is once again an election issue after a judge’s ruling in Maryland last week, just as the state’s Republicans and Democrats were wrangling over how best to ensure the rights of LGBT Marylanders.On Thursday Maryland Governor George Ehrlich proposed legislation that would help same-sex couples make medical decisions...
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Gay Groups Mount Oppositon to Alito
By Stefen Styrsky Published: January 19, 2006
Despite a glimmer during Judge Samuel Alito’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he might sympathize with LGBT plaintiffs, most of the nations’s gay right groups remain opposed to his nomination for a place on the U.S. Supreme Court.Alito, currently a judge on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of...
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Lesbian Mother Torn from Children by Bio-Mother
By Mubarak Dahir Published: January 12, 2006
Donna Ellis’ fingerprints are all over the lives of her two little girls. There she was, with her partner, holding the younger daughter at the girl’s baptism at Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando.For six years she coached the older girl’s little league team. There are shoeboxes full of photographs...
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Registered Domestic Partners in DC Protected by New Ordinance
By Stefen Styrsky Published: January 12, 2006
Last week, during a meeting more notable in the mainstream media for the passage of a bar and restaurant smoking ban, the 13-member Washington, D.C. city council unanimously okayed one of the nation’s most comprehensive and far reaching domestic-partner ordinances.The Domestic Partnership Equality Act of 2005 grants registered D.C. domestic...
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A Semi-Fond Farewell to 2005
By Ann Rostow Published: December 29, 2005
On balance, 2005 was a good year for the gay rights movement, as the country continued its long-term shift from widespread disdain, towards acceptance and equality. But progress is never smooth, and this year was no exception.MarriageSame-sex couples were well into their weddings in Massachusetts as the year began, although...
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MA Gov. and Opposer of Gay Marriage Will Not Seek Re-Election
By Stefen Styrsky Published: December 22, 2005
When the Republican governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, announced last week that he would not seek re-election in 2007 most speculation focused on when he would declare his candidacy for the U.S. presidency. Absent from the news was what Romney’s decision meant for gay marriage in Massachusetts, the issue upon...
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Gay Life In New Orleans After Katrina
By Rex Wockner Published: December 22, 2005
Gayest Neighborhoods Spared, Bars Are Fairly Busy. Gay Community Center May Collapse, Lesbians and Blacks Hit HarderA few Christian political activists blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays, noting that it hit immediately prior to gay-friendly New Orleans’ famed “Southern Decadence” gay festival. But, in fact, about the only parts of the...
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Gay Groups Unite to Oppose Supreme Court Pick Alito
By Ann Rostow Published: December 15, 2005
Five GLBT rights organizations have come out in opposition to the nomination of Samuel Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court this week. In a joint statement released Monday, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Parents, Families and...
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Bush Plegdes to Continue Fight on AIDS; Budget Number Still Lacking
By Stefen Styrsky Published: December 15, 2005
Two weeks ago in his World AIDS Day address, President Bush affirmed America’s commitment to fighting the worldwide AIDS epidemic with an unprecedented amount of resources. The occasion’s importance was reinforced by the presence of the “big five” from the Administration’s cabinet—Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condaleeza...
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High Court Likely To Back Military Recruiters vs. Pro-Gay Policies
By Ann Rostow Published: December 8, 2005
The case of FAIR v Rumsfeld, argued Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court, has been tagged by some as a gay rights lawsuit. In fact, although the dispute involves a consortium of law schools trying to avoid letting the military recruit on campus, the matter is more a question of...
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PA Senator Rick Santorum on LGBT “Hit List”
By Stefen Styrsky Published: December 1, 2005
Two Sundays ago, instead of enjoying a perfectly blue autumn sky, about 20 men gathered at a private home in Washington, D.C. to raise money for the National Stonewall Democrat’s campaign to defeat Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum. The party was the culmination of a week of “Santorum Retirement Parties”...
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Gay, Republican & Proud - Huh?
By Rex Wockner Published: December 1, 2005
Log Cabin Pres Patrick Guerriero Explains How He Manages ItThe Log Cabin Republicans have taken a noticeably more aggressive stance within their party under the leadership of President Patrick Guerriero, a former mayor and state representative from Massachusetts. We sat down in San Diego this week to find out what...
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Spokane Mayor Faces Recall as Election Looms
By Ann Rostow Published: November 24, 2005
In Spokane, Mayor James E. West continues to fight for his job on the eve of a Dec. 6 recall election. According to the Spokane Spokesman-Review, a poll of 1,105 likely voters suggests the embattled politician stands to lose his post by a 60-40 margin.Last summer, the Spokesman-Review exposed the...
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Faith and Activism at Creating Change Confab
By Joe Dignan Published: November 17, 2005
So much of the bigotry we face is framed around so-called “deeply held religious beliefs,” said National Gay and Lesbian Task Force director Matt Foreman, that the gay civil rights movement will not advance further unless it goes forward as a united secular and religious community.Oakland was the host to...
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The Second Coming of Militant AIDS Activism
By Stefen Styrsky Published: November 10, 2005
D.C. Activists Stage Several Protests in Nation’s Capital on MondayBefore 8:00 am in Washington, D.C. this Monday, dozens people carrying signs that read “Abstinence only is phony,” entered the lobby of the conservative Family Research Council building, nestled innocuously across the street from the city’s Martin Luther King, Jr. main...
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Rainbow World Fund Helps Guatemala
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 10, 2005
When Jeff Cotter, executive director of the Rainbow World Fund (the first ever queer humanitarian group for overseas) organized a troupe of 12 LGBT volunteers to travel to Guatemala in October to deliver 1,000 pounds of medical and school supplies, he knew his group’s efforts would make a difference in...
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Bush Nominates “Scalito” To Supreme Court; Civil Rights For All Threatened
By Stefen Styrsky Published: November 3, 2005
President Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor. Progressive and LGBT groups quickly criticized Bush for pandering to the Republican party’s right wing which sank his previous Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.Fifty-five-year-old Alito, a Princeton and Yale graduate, was placed on...
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All Eyes on Texas Anti-Marriage Vote
By Ann Rostow Published: November 3, 2005
As a writer who covers national news for the gay press from my hometown of Austin, Texas, I have not covered the impending vote on same-sex marriage that looms over our heads here like the sword of Damocles. I’ve been busy covering things like the gay rights repeal heading for...
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New Study On Bi-National Same-Sex Unmarried Partners
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 3, 2005
UCLA’s Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy has just released a study revealing that there are an estimated 35,820 bi-national same-sex couples living in the United States. These couples represent six percent of all same-sex “unmarried partner” couples counted in Census 2000.The Uniting American Families Act, proposed...
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OSC Investigation Continues in DC
By Stefen Styrsky Published: October 27, 2005
After a delay of seven months, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has begun investigating allegations of retaliation and misconduct by Special Counsel Scott Bloch, the Bush-appointed head of Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Notice of the investigation was revealed last week in documents obtained by Public Employees for...
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Million Man March Blocks Gay Speaker After Farrakhan Promise
By Will OBryan Published: October 20, 2005
When African American activist Keith Boykin showed up to speak at the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. last Sunday, he was denied his spot in the program. He had met earlier in the week with Minister Louis Farrakhan, who had agreed to let Boykin speak at the march. For...
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Of Dolls and Dykes
By Mubarak Dahir Published: October 20, 2005
Felicity and Elizabeth are best friends. They dress up together. Felicity loves her lavender gown, white stockings and black shoes with fancy buckles. She likes to have her long blonde hair brushed and tied with a matching lavender ribbon. Then she gathers her golden curls and tucks them underneath a...
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Another Supreme Court Nominee, Another Frightening Prospect
By Ann Rostow Published: October 6, 2005
What are the prospect the GLBT community faces with President Bush’s latest Supreme Court nomine, Harriet Ellan Miers? Miers has belonged to an evangelical church in Dallas since 1980, where her former pastor, Ron Key, said she eventually “came to a place where she totally committed her life to Jesus.”...
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House Passes Federal Hate Crime Bill That Protects LGBTs
By Stefen Styrsky Published: September 22, 2005
In a sudden development last week, a federal hate crimes bill that includes gay, lesbian and transgender protections, passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. This is the first time such a bill has passed the U.S. House, and first time either side of Congress has approved a bill that protects...
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Fired Gay 1st Lieutenant Reinstated to Position
By Stefen Styrsky Published: September 22, 2005
Steve Boeckels, the civilian recruiter volunteer for the U.S. Army’s West Point Academy, who was dismissed from his position two weeks ago for being gay, has been reinstated. “My commander called and said she had no problem with it and I was back on the job. I can’t explain it,”...
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Transgender Katrina Refugee Takes a Shower, Goes to Jail
Published: September 15, 2005
After spending five harrowing days between being stuck on an Interstate 10 bridge in New Orleans and then at the totally lawless New Orleans Convention Center, with precious little food or water, all Sharli’e Dominique wanted was a shower.But less than 24 hours after Dominque arrived at Texas A &...
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Former U.S. Army Lieutenant Fired From His Volunteer Position For Being Gay
By Stefen Styrsky Published: September 15, 2005
Steve Boeckels, a civilian volunteer for the West Point admissions office in Northern California has been dismissed from his position, reportedly because he is gay. Boeckels, a former U.S. Army lieutenant and now a pharmaceutical sales representative from San Francisco, had been a local admissions coordinator for the U.S. Army’s...
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Southern Comfort
By Mubarak Dahir Published: September 8, 2005
The small crowd that gathered to carry on this year’s Decadence parade exhibited the quint-essential Gay Spirit in the city of New OrleansDressed in an outrageous red polka-dotted tutu, and carrying a lavender parasol, Candice Jamieson marched defiantly down Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Sunday, Sept. 4, in what...
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“Grave Concern” Over John Roberts Shifts to Outright Opposition
By Ann Rostow Published: September 1, 2005
Four of the nation’s top gay rights organizations have issued a joint statement of opposition to the confirmation of Judge John G. Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court. The press release, dated August 25, was signed by the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National...
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Federal Marriage Amendment Author Withdraws Bill For This Session
By Stefen Styrsky Published: August 18, 2005
Colorado Republican Marilyn Musgrave, who gained notoriety for her proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have declared marriage the union of one man and one woman, told the Associated Press last week that she has decided she will not push for the measure until after her re-election next...
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Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell Discharge Policy Blurs For Outed Soldiers
By Stefen Styrsky Published: August 11, 2005
As an artilleryman in the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division serving in Iraq, Specialist Jeff Howe’s familiarity with computers got him the job of maintaining his company’s blog for his unit’s friends and family members. It was also this familiarity that eventually got him outed as gay, and separated from...
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Bush Announces Plan That Chops SF AIDS Funding
By Joe Dignan Published: July 28, 2005
Under a plan announced on Wednesday by the Bush Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services, San Francisco stands to lose about one third of the funding it receives under the Ryan White Care Act, America’s main vehicle for federal funding of AIDS services.The CARE Act expires this September, and...
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Supreme Court Nomination: Robert’s Record Lacking, "Grave Concerns Cited"
By Ann Rostow Published: July 21, 2005
Senior staff at the Human Rights Campaign held a conference call on Wednesday morning to discuss the nomination of John Roberts, a conservative 50-year-old federal appellate judge, to the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier in a press release, HRC president Joe Solmonese said the selection of Roberts endangers “the delicate balance”...
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Lambda Legal Director Jon Davidson Talks About Our Future in the Courts
By Rex Wockner Published: July 21, 2005
Shortly before President Bush nominated John Roberts to the United States Supreme Court, this writer sat down to talk to Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Legal Director Jon Davidson. In a wide-ranging discussion, Davidson talked about the GLBT community’s future in the legal arena, and the impact Bush’s Supreme...
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Proposed Bill To Protect Gay Federal Employees
By Stefen Styrsky Published: July 14, 2005
Last week 11 U.S. Representatives introduced legislation that would protect gay and lesbian federal workers from job discrimination based solely on their sexual orientation.The proposed law is a direct result of testimony Office of Special Counsel Director Scott Bloch gave to a Senate subcommittee in May. Bloch told the subcommittee...
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EEOC to Undergo Structural Changes
By Stefen Styrsky Published: July 7, 2005
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that on July 8 it will vote on a major reorganization meant to improve service and reduce costs. Several labor unions and minority groups contend that it will only hamper employment protections, and strain an already struggling federal agency.The EEOC enforces...
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DADT Might Affect Swedish Troops Serving with U.S. Army
By Stefen Styrsky Published: June 23, 2005
For 26-year-old 1st Lt. Ulrika Hansson, joining the military had been a dream of hers since she was a little girl. As a Swedish citizen, the fact that she is also a lesbian was never really an impediment to her service. Her country’s ban on gays and lesbians openly serving...
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New Bill to Help Same-Sex Couples Establish Citizenship
By Stefen Styrsky Published: June 23, 2005
This Tuesday, Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat introduced the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) that would allow gay U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their partners for residency in the United States.A companion bill was introduced on the same day in the Senate by Patrick Leahy, a Vermont...
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Gay Groups Call for OSC Director’s Ouster
By Stefen Styrsky Published: June 16, 2005
In the wake of Office of Special Counsel (OSC) Director Scott Bloch’s testimony before a Senate subcommittee, where he said he can not enforce anti-discrimination statutes for gay federal employees, several major LGBT organizations are calling for his resignation. OSC investigates complaints of discrimination based on an employee’s status, political...
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Gay Purple Heart Winner Discharged after Iraq Duty
By Stefen Styrsky Published: June 9, 2005
The Associated Press reported last week that Sgt. Robert Stout, a 23 year-old U.S. Army soldier awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received while on patrol in Iraq, has been discharged.Stout announced in April while recuperating in Germany that he was gay. He disclosed his sexuality to the Associated Press,...
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Federal Gay Employees Have No Job Protection
By Stefen Styrsky Published: May 26, 2005
Gay federal employees have no job protections simply for being gay, according to the Director of the Office of Special Counsel, Scott Bloch, in testimony he gave before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. “We are limited by our enforcement statutes as Congress gives them. The courts have specifically rejected sexual...
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Too Few Linguists Due to DADT
By Stefen Styrsky Published: May 26, 2005
This Wednesday the House of Representatives approved an amendment offered by John Hostettler, an Indiana Republican, to the 2006 Defense Authorization Bill that would grant “special immigrant status” to 63 foreign Arabic and Farsi translators who have been working with the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. military...
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End to U.S. Filibuster Threatens Gay Rights
By Stefen Styrsky Published: May 19, 2005
Keeping his promise to resolve the fate of President Bush’s judicial nominees before Memorial Day, Senator Majority leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, on Wednesday called for a floor vote on the appointment of Judge Priscilla Owen to a federal appeals court. The outcome, whether Democrats can successfully block her...
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New Bill Could Overturn Military Ban on Gays
By Stefen Styrsky Published: May 12, 2005
This year Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, was supposed to show up at a Tuesday reception held by the Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) after two days of lobbying Capitol Hill in support of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (MREA), a bill which would overturn the ban on...
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US. GAO to Look into Scott Bloch’s Methods of Dismissing Cases
By Stefen Styrsky Published: May 12, 2005
Federal employees depend on the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for protection against job discrimination, retaliation for whistle-blowing or anything else their bosses might not like, but which is unrelated to their work performance. However, under President Bush’s OSC Director Scott Bloch, these protections have slowly disappeared.Shortly after his appointment...
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Spokane Mayor Takes Temporary Leave as Scandal Builds
By Ann Rostow Published: May 12, 2005
The conservative mayor of Spokane, Washington, a Republican with a record of opposition to gay rights, was accused last Thursday of molesting boys in the late 1970s. Mayor James E. West was also caught approaching young men on Gay.com and offering jobs and perks. The revelations emerged from an investigation...
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Filibuster Block Threatens LGBT Community with Scary, Homophobic Judges
By Stefen Styrsky Published: May 5, 2005
As the televised Justice Sunday–Senator Bill Frist’s bid to gain support among Christian voters for his threat to end Democratic filibusters on the President’s judicial nominees—culminated before an audience organizers claimed was nearly 61 million strong, a smaller gathering in Darien, Connecticut underscored the divisions that have prompted one of...
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Study Released On Gay Parents And Children
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 5, 2005
A recent Texas legislative initiative that would ban gay men and lesbians from serving as foster parents has sparked renewed debate about gay and lesbian parenting. Two sets of studies provide useful information in considering this public policy debate: data from Census 2000 about same-sex couples raising children, and studies...
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Pentagon Takes Steps To Repeal Sodomy Ban
By Stefen Styrsky Published: April 28, 2005
Pentagon lawyers have asked Congress to repeal article 125 of Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military’s ban on consensual sodomy, according to a memo recently released by the Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and first reported by the New York Times.The memo was written after an annual review...
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Noted Homophobe Elevated to Papacy
By Richard J. Rosendall Published: April 21, 2005
Raising Cardinal RatzingerThe elevation of arch-conservative Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI illustrates an enduring trait of the Catholic Church that was evident even in the tumultuous years of the early 1960s: the tenacity of the Roman Curia (the Vatican bureaucracy) in resisting reform. Ratzinger is the consummate Vatican...
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Andrea Dworkin, Pornography, and Men Possessing Women
By Terry Baum Published: April 21, 2005
“Intelligent people are well-mannered and moderate, even in pursuing freedom.” -Andrea DworkinThe author of those words, while extremely intelligent, was neither well mannered nor moderate. In her life, which ended last week after 58 years, Andrea Dworkin was a writer, lecturer and crusader against pornography and violence against women. She...
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Kerry-Sponsored Workplace Religious Freedom Act Threatens Gays in the Workplace
By Stefen Styrsky Published: April 21, 2005
The rights of religious people in the American workplace are all the rage these days. So much so that two Senators, Democrat John Kerryand Republican Rick Santorum, normally opposites on the political spectrum are co-sponsoring a bill that would provide employees with greater freedom to express their religious beliefs at...
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Director of OSC In Trouble Again
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 24, 2005
The Bush-appointed Director of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Scott Bloch, is now facing more fallout from his agency purge of top-level employees who disagreed with his policy regarding sexual orientation discrimination complaints.Soon after his 2004 appointment, one of his first official acts, Bloch removed the words “sexual orientation”...
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West Point Professor Calls for Overturn of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell"
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 17, 2005
Allen Bishop, a Lt. Col in the U.S. Army and West Point professor has published an op-ed in the Army Times calling for the overturn of the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.Bishop is perhaps the highest-ranking active duty officer to advocate for the elimination of “Don’t Ask, Don’t...
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OSC Has Some Explaining to Do
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 17, 2005
A day after a reporter raised the issue with President Bush’s press secretary, Scott McClellan, at a White House briefing, the Washington Post has reported that Senator George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, has promised that he will hold a hearing regarding the reorganization undertaken by the Office of Special Counsel...
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HRC Names New Executive Director
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 10, 2005
After a three-month search, the Human Rights Campaign on Wednesday chose as its new president, Joe Solmonese, the gay CEO of EMILY’s List, a large and influential Democratic advocacy group that aids the election of pro-choice female politicians. He succeeds Cheryl Jacques who, citing “differences in management philosophy”, abruptly resigned...
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy Costing Millions
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 3, 2005
The U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) last week said that over the past 10 years, the American military has spent close to $200 million dollars for enforcing the Pentagon’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving in the armed forces. Opponents of DADT immediately...
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Nat’l G/L Task Force Changes Course, Moves Into HRC Turf
By Stefen Styrsky Published: March 3, 2005
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the nation’s oldest LGBT advocacy group, this week created a new Department of Public Policy and Government Affairs to lobby for increased funding from the federal government for LGBT health and human services programs and non-discrimination legislation.Vowing to work with other national...
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Feds Go After Gays
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 24, 2005
The seminar in the Feb. 28 Portland, Oregon suicide prevention conference was to be called “Suicide Prevention Among Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Individuals.” That is until officials within the federal sponsoring agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),...
For the third year in a row the number of service members discharged from all branches of the U.S. military for violating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT) has decreased, the Pentagon reported on Feb. 11.Gay-rights advocates immediately hailed the numbers as proof that gay soldiers do not undermine...
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REAL ID Act Poses Threat to Transgenders
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 17, 2005
On Feb.10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the REAL ID Act, H.R. 418, in an attempt to make it more difficult for terrorists to enter and live in the United States. Proponents say the measure is necessary to close loopholes exploited by the 9/11 hijackers. Transgender activists contend the...
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HRC Shake Up
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 10, 2005
This past week The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBT political group, underwent another major readjustment at the senior levels. A press release announced that Political Director Winnie Stachelberg would be assuming the newly created position of Vice President of the HRC Foundation.The Foundation is HRC’s educational wing,...
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Battle Looms Over Gay Adoption
By Stefen Styrsky Published: February 3, 2005
Emboldened by the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear a case that upheld Florida’s law preventing gay people from adopting in that state, Virginia state Delegate Richard H. Black has introduced H.B. 2921, a bill that would do the same for Virginia. The law could go into effect...
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It Really Wasn’t So Bad, After All
By Stefen Styrsky Published: January 27, 2005
New Report Says November Elections Were Not Such a Clear-Cut Conservative VictoryThe November 2004 elections were a disaster for gay rights. Not only did George Bush, who earlier that year had called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, win re-election, but the Democrats lost seats in both the...
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Federal Marriage Amendment Re-Introduced in Congresss
By Stefen Styrsky Published: January 27, 2005
At a press conference on Monday Republican Senate leaders announced its top 10 legislative priorities—designated S.1 through S.10—for the next two years. Among them were private Social Security accounts, overhauling the tax code, and extending President Bush’s tax cuts. Notable for its absence was Colorado Republican Senator Wayne Allard’s proposed...
