In what some are calling a stunning upset, Republican political novice Bob Turner defeated Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin in a special election to replace former Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., according to USA Today. Democrats have a three-to-one registration margin in the New York City district, but the electoral result is being viewed as voter frustration over the economy and President Obama's policies. Weiner resigned after sexually provocative tweets and text messages he sent to women he met online began to surface.
Scientists at the United States' Mayo Clinic and Japan's Yamaguchi University have concluded that cats genetically modified to glow in the dark may provide clues to fighting HIV, according to the International Business Times. The researchers have developed an immunization strategy to combat the feline immunodeficiency virus ( FIV ) , which affects cats the way that HIV does people. HIV/AIDS has killed more than 30 million people worldwide.
Kevin Hall, a former staffer for GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, has claimed the campaign misrepresented the role of a gay advisor who was in a financial scandal, according to an Advocate.com item. Hall, Cain's former Iowa straw-poll coordinator, testified during a hearing with Iowa Workforce Development that ex-senior political advisor Scott Toomey "went underground" after he reportedly fail to report "financial discrepancies" in a previous position. Hall also said that Toomey's sexual orientation "had become an issue" with some campaign staffers, leading some of them to tell Toomey he was no longer part of the campaign.
The 2011 LGBT History Month Website is now online at www.lgbtHistoryMonth.com, according to an Equality Forum press release. Each day in October, an icon is featured with a video, biography, bibliography, downloadable images and other educational resources. Among the icons to be featured in October are athlete Kye Allums, actor Neil Patrick Harris, artist Frida Kahlo, singer Ricky Martin, Ugandan activist David Kato, former tennis player Amelie Mauresmo and youth activist Constance McMillen.
Democratic New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch will not seek a record fifth term, according to NationalJournal.com . At a press conference, he said, "Democracy demands periodic change, to refresh and revive itself. Democracy needs new leaders and new ideas." In 2009, Lynch signed a marriage-equality law the state legislature passed. Among the people seen as potential candidates in the gubernatorial race are 2010 GOP Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne and former Democratic state Sen. Maggie Hassan.
In Georgia, the father of a 7-year-old who was born a girl has been banned from using the boys bathroom at a school despite the child insisting that she's actually a male, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Tommy Theollyn, the child's father—who actually gave birth a year before beginning his own gender change—said he wants school officials to recognize his child as a boy. Theollyn recently presented a petition to the McIntosh Board of Education containing approximately 40,000 signatures supporting him and his son, nicknamed "D."
With the presentation of the All Children—All Families ( ACAF ) seal of recognition to the Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation launched a new "50-state strategy," according to a press release. The goal of the strategy is to secure at least one ACAF-recognized adoption agency dedicated to working with LGBT families in every state. The seal was presented to Lori Ross—the executive director of the Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association—for her leadership in establishing a supportive agency for all families.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) released a statement in response to a letter issued by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., asking for a delay of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ( DADT ) repeal, set for Sept. 20, according to a press release. In part, Army veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said, "This is another example of the hardcore opposition attempting to delay or undo 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal. I expect they will continue to look for openings to deny gay and lesbian service members the same rights and dignity as their straight counterparts."
Court documents connected with the trial of Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi portray a tense relationship with former roommate Tyler Clementi, according to Google News. In an online conversation, Ravi wondered about Clementi—who committed suicide after Ravi caught Clementi and another man in an intimate encounter on Ravi's webcam—"What if I catch him with a dude?" Clementi's own postings included thoughts such as ""I got an azn," adding that Ravi's family is "soo Indian/first gen Americanish." Ravi is accused of invasion of privacy, evidence tampering and committing a hate crime.
In Philadelphia, the National Liberty Museum will honor gay couple Franz Rabauer and Brian Daggett as the 2011 Collector Honorees at an awards dinner Oct. 14, according to the Philadelphia Gay News. The couple owns a glass-art collection that has grown to more than 70 pieces. The museum is home to 125 pieces of glass art, which are included in each of the venue's exhibits.
In Massachusetts, Judge Michael G. Allard-Madaus found gay activist and ex-police officer Albert M. Toney III not guilty of battery and indecent assault after Toney allegedly grabbed a male teenager's rear end last year, according to Advocate.com . The accuser, who is majoring in criminal justice at Westfield State University, claimed Toney grabbed his buttock and invited him into the steam room. Defense attorney Christopher LoConto detailed inconsistencies in the accuser's story.
Thirty years after HIV was first identified, Congress has launched its first-ever bipartisan HIV/AIDS caucus, according to the Huffington Post. Led by House members Jim McDermott, D-Wash. ) ; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; and Trent Franks, R-Ariz., the group marks the first time the GOP contingent has joined Democrats to create a group aimed at eradicating AIDS. "HIV is a monstrous international epidemic and a destructive force on humanity," Franks said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "My two top priorities as co-chair of the HIV/AIDS Caucus are to better enable faith-based organizations to implement life-saving medical services and to make significant strides so no child is born with HIV after 2015.
Almost seven decades after the U.S. Navy ousted Melvin Dwork for being gay, the military is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable," according to a CBS News item. The Navy let Dwork, 89, know that he will now be eligible for long-denied benefits such as medical care and a military funeral. When the Navy finally released the World War II vet's records last year, he learned that his then-boyfriend gave up his name.
At the University of California Hastings College of the Law, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called for equality for gays and lesbians, according to the Petrelis Files. She said, "We should not be stopped from pursuing whatever talent God has given us simply because we are of a certain race, a certain religion, a certain national origin, a certain gender or gender preference." Ginsburg also said the court should return to a 1972 ruling that halted executions nationwide.
In Georgia, a political official has shut down a community theater's production of The Rocky Horror Show, deeming it "too risque," according to EW.com . The mayor of Carrollton said after seeing a video clip from a rehearsal that he "found it very offensive, not in keeping with the community of Carrolton, if you will." The production was slated to start at the city-owned Carrollton Cultural Arts Center Oct. 27.
In New Hampshire, a state House subcommittee has passed a bill that would repeal the state's marriage-equality law and bring back civil unions, according to UnionLeader.com . The original bill banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions, but a revised version prohibits only marriage equality. The state law allowing same-sex marriage took effect in January 2010. The full House can't vote on this latest bill until next year.
Kara Kennedy, the eldest child of the late pro-gay Sen. Edward Kennedy, died Sept. 16 at a Washington, D.C.,-area health club, according to MSNBC.com . Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, one of her brothers, said that Kara loved exercising, but he thinks her cancer treatment "took quite a toll on her and weakened her physically." Kara had battled lung cancer, with doctors removing a malignant tumor in 2003.
Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of former Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale, died Sept. 17 after a long battle with brain cancer, according to the Boston Herald. Eleanor, 51, who was also a media personality, had been receiving hospice care in Prior Lake, Minn. Eleanor's brain cancer was diagnosed in 2005 after she suffered a seizure. She is survived by her husband, parents and two brothers.
The Human Rights Campaign has started a campaign that has sent 200,000 emails to Oklahoma state lawmakers and Gov. Mary Fallin, urging them to condemn remarks that anti-gay state Rep. Sally Kern made, Advocate.com reported. Kern has stood by statements she made three years ago in which she said that gay people were more dangerous than terrorists. So far, none of the politicians has criticized Kern.
GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to defend her and her husband's counseling service, according to CNN.com . Asking Bachmann why gay people shouldn't marry, Leno said, "That whole 'pray the gay away' thing, What? I don't get that." Bachmann responded that the clinics don't discriminate but insisted that marriage should only involve opposite-sex couples. When Bachmann joked that Leno could be her running mate, he said, "Well, we'd probably have an argument over that gay thing."
David Fowler, a former state senator who now leads the conservative Family Action Council of Tennessee, has criticized BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee for what he called a "cultural acceptance of homosexual conduct," according to Lez Get Real. In an email, Fowler also said, "Appears that the insurer is trading in its traditional blue for a rainbow of colors," referring to the color BlueCross uses in marketing and the multicolored gay-pride banner.
Black transgender and gender non-conforming people face some of the highest levels of discrimination of all transgender people, according to the document "Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at Black Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey." Among other items that are revealed, Black transgender people had an extremely high unemployment rate at 26 percent—twice the rate of the overall transgender sample and four times the rate of the general population. Read the analysis at http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/ntds_black_respondents.
In a win for many transgender workers, the Social Security Administration ( SSA ) will no longer compare gender markers on employment records with those in the Social Security documents, the National Center for Transgender Equality ( NCTE ) has announced. The change ends a practice that outed many transgender people to their employers and resulted in firings. The new policy took effect Sept. 24.
The Alaska Superior Court has ruled that the state's tax-assessment rules, which discriminate against same-sex couples by denying them equal access to a property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans, are unconstitutional, according to an ACLU press release. The ACLU, the ACLU of Alaska and the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP challenged the rules on behalf of three Alaska same-sex couples who were denied full access to a $150,000 property-tax exemption.
In Vermont Navy Lt. Gary Ross married his partner just as the repeal on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" took effect, according to a Boston.com item. The couple recited their vows at the stroke of midnight on Sept. 20—the first moment the ban ended. Ross, 33, and Dan Swezy, a 49-year-old civilian, traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., to wed in Vermont, the first state to allow same-sex civil unions and one of six that has legalized same-sex marriage.
The U.S. Department of Education hosted the second annual Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit Sept. 21-22 at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., according to a press release. Attendees included 175 leaders of corporate and non-profit organizations, researchers, school personnel, parents and students. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke, while workshops such as "'Bullycide': The Stories Behind the Headlines" took place.
In Texas, the San Antonio City Council voted 8-3 to provide domestic-partner benefits for city employees, according to Advocate.com . The council meeting included protests from people who had religious objections to the measure. Mayor Julian Castro, who supported the proposal, said, "This is not a new issue. This should have be done some time ago."
GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum has criticized rivals Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry for their stances regarding marriage equality, according to On Top Magazine. Santorum contended at a rally in South Carolina that his opponents were inconsistent on the issue, saying, "They go out and say, 'but we're for the federal marriage amendment,' therefore they can appeal to both sides. They can say, 'It's fine with me, and yet it's not fine.' Sort of like what Barack Obama does." Santorum supports a nationally uniform definition of marriage as an opposite-sex union.
The conservative American Family Association ( AFA ) is boycotting Ben & Jerry's new limited-edition Schweddy Balls ice cream, Advocate.com reported. Based on a Saturday Night Live skit featuring Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Alec Baldwin, the flavor is a target for AFA affiliate OneMillionMoms, which is asking its members to boycott all of Ben & Jerry's products. The AFA emailed, "the vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive. Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket."
In Texas, more than 60 floats took part in Dallas' annual Gay Pride Parade, according to NBCdfw.com . More than 35,000 people attended the 28th Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade; the event's theme was "It Gets Better." Openly gay Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns was grand marshal, while LGBT ally/rugby star Ben Cohen was another VIP guest.
Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is defending his gay-rights record from Democrats' criticism, according to the Boston Globe. Democrats criticized him for not joining a video offering encouragement to gay teens who might consider suicide, and they criticized his voting record and comments on gay-rights issues while he was a state lawmaker. In a press release, Brown talked about supporting the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." However, Democratic Party Chair John Walsh said Brown only did so "after it was clear that the repeal would pass without his vote." On Sept. 20, Brown was slated to receive an award at the 2011 Spirit of Lincoln Awards Dinner, a national event hosted by the gay-rights group Log Cabin Republicans.
