BY ANDREW DAVIS

President Bush has tapped Mark R. Dybul, a gay physician, to be the United States Global AIDS Coordinator, according to The Washington Blade. If confirmed, Dybul would become the third openly gay person to hold a U.S. ambassador-level position.

James West, the embattled former mayor of Spokane, Wash., who opposed gay-rights measures but was outsed from office over an Internet gay sex scandal, died of complications from recent cancer surgery at the age of 55, the Associated Press reported. Last December, seven months after a newspaper began publishing results of a computer sting that followed West's online activities in a gay chat room, he was kicked out of office.

In Missouri, officials announced that they have lifted rules that prohibit gays and lesbians from becoming foster parents, according to Advocate.com. However, in a controversial statement, Deborah Scott of the state's Department of Social Services said putting a child with gay or lesbian foster parents might 'be confusing or add trauma to an already abused or neglected child'—something the state could take into account.

Transgender activists are claiming that media reports that a man using Hurricane Katrina relief funds to pay for a sex-change operation were based on a hoax perpetrated by conservatives, The Washington Blade reported. The first mention of a sex-change operation reportedly came from a representative during a June 14 U.S. Congressional hearing who said he heard about it on the news. A review of the Government Accountability Office report regarding Katrina funds does not mention a sex change.

In Washington State, Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens said she believes the court's ruling regarding the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban will be issued before this September's primary, according to an item in The Seattle Times The court heard arguments concerning 19 gay couples' challenge of the ban in March 2005.

Patricia Todd made history by becoming the first openly gay state representative in Alabama's history ( according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund ) , Advocate.com reported. Todd has no Republican opponent in November's general election in November. In a statement, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said, 'From big cities to small towns, from blue states to red states—equality is winning.'

The Massachusetts Nurses Association has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Boston to try to reverse an arbitration award that denied health insurance benefits to the same-sex spouse of registered nurse Maria Ciulla, PR Newswire reported.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $287 million over the next five years to an international network to accelerate creation of an HIV/AIDS vaccine, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The recipients of the grants include more than 165 investigators from 19 countries.

In Connecticut, lesbian couple Margaret Mueller and Charlotte Stacey filed a medical malpractice suit, claiming that botched ovarian cancer treatments negatively affected their love life, the Associated Press reported. Attorneys say this is the first case of its kind since the state legalized civil unions.

Various people—including politicians, lawyers and families of hate-crime victims—met in San Francisco to discuss how to block the use of the so-called 'gay panic defense,' according to 365Gay.com. The defense was used in the trials of two men accused of killing Matthew Shepard and of five men who killed transgender teen Gwen Araujo.

In Kentucky, Boone County High School has avoided a federal lawsuit by approving the formation of a gay-straight alliance, 365Gay.com reported. In June, the Kentucky Equality Association stated, among other things, that the school's stonewalling of the group may be illegal under the Kentucky Education Reform Act.

The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association ( GLMA ) has expressed concern over an Associated Press article of a study that it says minimizes the extent of crystal meth use in the U.S., according to Out in America. The study, carred out by the Sentencing Project, found that 0.2 percent of Americans are regular users of crystal meth; however, the GLMA says the report does not address meth use by gay and bisexual men.

The National Lesbian and Gay Law Association will present Associate Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court Steven H. Levinson with the Allies for Justice Award at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Bar Association on Aug. 4, Out in Cincinnati reported. The award will be presented, in part, for Levinson's landmark opinion in the same-sex marraige case Baehr v. Lewin.

Victor Willis, the original policeman in the '70s disco band The Village People, has pled no contest to drug possession charges, according to The Washington Post. Willis was arrested in March in South San Francisco after police claimed they found cocaine and drug paraphernalia in his car. On Sept. 1, a judge will decide if Willis should go to a residential drug treatment program or to prison.

In Kentucky, The Fairness Alliance and the Log Cabin Republicans are dismissing an apology from State Senator Richard 'Dick' Roeding, R-Lakeside Park, for referring to the latter group as 'a bunch of queers,' The Kentucky Post reported. Roeding has also come under fire for calling gays the 'wrong kind of people' after the University of Louisville Board of Trustees voted to allow employees' non-married straight and gay partners to participate in the school's health insurance plan.

Two men, including one armed with a gun, took more than $18,000 in cash after robbing the Wet/Edge nightclub complex, home to Washington, D.C.'s only remaining male strip club, according to an item in The Washington Blade. First District Cmdr. Diane Grooms said that the robbery is being investigated as a possible 'inside job.'

The National Center for Transgender Equality is seeking people to become involved in its Third Annual Congressional Summer School ( CSS ) , in which members of Congress can be educated about transgender-related issues. To obtain a CSS kit, e-mail Simon Aronoff at saronoff@nctequality.org , or call 202-903-0112. Training calls will take place Mon., July 31, at 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. CT; contact Aronoff for the passcode and conference number.

Reggae musician Beenie Man, speaking out for the first time since a New York City concert featuring him was cancelled because of protests from gay activists, said that he is outraged that the show got the axe. 'I am kind of getting really fed up because they came down on us two years ago, trying to take some songs we sang like 10 or 15 years ago, and try to say okay we push [ anti-homosexuality ] ,' according to andPOP.com. Beenie Man added that the situation is different in Jamaica, but he has apologized for his anti-gay lyrics.

Hundreds of families from all over the world will gather in Provincetown, Mass., for Family Pride's annual Family Week, a conference that is taking place July 29-Aug. 5. Among other things, the Brooklyn, N.Y., couple that was instrumental in many LGBT families attending the White House Easter Egg Roll this year will be recognized.

The Human Rights Campaign was honored by the Ummah Endowment Fund, a Washington-based HIV/AIDS organization, at its White Attire Affair, a social marketing event that also raises important funds to help fight the disproportionate effect of the disease on the Black community.

Julie and Hillary Goodridge, the lead plaintiff couple in the 2003 lawsuit that brought same-sex marriage rights to Massachusetts, told Bay Windows through spokeswoman Mary Breslauer that they have 'amicably separated.' Breslauer added that the couple is focusing on taking care of their daughter.