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Beth Richie on race, gender and the 'prison nation'
- Beth Richie is professor of African American Studies, criminology, law and justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago and director of the university's Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy. One of the most cited scholars on the intersection of race, gender and prisons, Richie also has a long and illustrious history as a feminist activist and was ...
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Letter to a prisoner
- A letter from Andrew Deppe to Charles in prison, Sept. 17, 2012. Dear Charles: Just checked my email and spent about an hour on the computer with the U.S. Chess Federation website, so I thought I'd compose a note to you at the keyboard this time. I got your letter of September 3 with the long list of legal websites ...
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Dear Brother Behind Bars: LGBTQ letter-writing
to prisoners
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Ditching technology and the email that goes with it, men reach for pen and paper to write letters to their pen pals behind prison bars. Brothers Behind Bars is a letter-writing campaign run though RFD (Radical Faerie Digest) magazine, a national quarterly publication geared toward gay, bisexual and transgender men, Dating back to 1974, RFD is a reader-written journal, focused ...
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Cook County Jail works on transgender policies
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Cook County Jail has quietly expanded its transgender policies and services in recent months, opening a protective unit for transgender women and bringing in local advocates to work with detainees and staff The women file in all at once, in a fit of laughter and hugs, turning a quiet, empty room into a reunion. Bonnie Wade and Channyn Lynne Parker ...
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Chicago House partnering with jail on transgender programs
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - HIV service agency Chicago House has been making headlines the past two years for a massive expansion into transgender housing, employment, medical services, programs and legal support. Now, the organization is taking that work into Cook County Jail. The Cook County Sheriff's Office has announced a new partnership with Chicago House in a Windy City Times exclusive. "This is the ...
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LGBTQs and the Criminal Legal System series index
- A Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - When we talk about LGBTQ people and the courts today, we're often referring to the seemingly endless stream of LGBTQ victories coming out of judicial systems across the country. But in the criminal courts, LGBTQ people have long faced a different reality. Perhaps nowhere has that been more visible than in Cook County, historically a model for criminal legal systems ...
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Charges filed in hazing case
- Charges have been filed in the high-profile case involving Maine West High School hazing rituals, the Cook County State's Attorney's office announced. Former soccer coach Michael Divincenzo, 37, faces charges of Hazing, Failure to Report Abuse as Mandated and Battery, all Class A misdemeanor offenses, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a statement. The Des Plaines high school ...
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Bar association offers training regarding LGBT domestic abuse
- BY MATTHEW C. CLARK - "Feel free to walk out now if you don't want to get in touch with your feelings," said Director of Education & Victim Advocacy at the Center on Halsted Lisa Gilmore, getting a few chuckles in response. "C'mon, it's lunch time." In a conference room at the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), a group of lawyers with the LGBT Committee were ...
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NCAVP responds to New Jersey murder
- From a press release - The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) is deeply concerned about a recent homicide that occurred in Clark, New Jersey last weekend. Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, an internet celebrity also known as "Kai the Hitchhiker," was arrested yesterday in a Philadelphia bus station in connection to the homicide of a well-known New Jersey lawyer, Joseph Galfy, Jr. According to media reports, ...
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For justice or profit? The challenge for U.S. prisons
- By Clark Baim - What is prison for? Even if you've never visited a prison—voluntarily or otherwise—you're likely to have an image of what prison is. You might have an image of bars, watchtowers, guards and clanging gates. Inmates, too, are stereotyped: tattooed, pumping iron, and razor-wire dangerous; a great mass of the bad, the mad and the risky to know. When you work ...
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State's attorney's LGBTQ/hate crime specialist on crime, justice
- Anyone who identifies as LGBTQ has good reason to be wary of the criminal justice system, but the Cook County state's attorney's office has stocked the ranks of its victim assistance program with at least one ally. Alicia Oeser is the state's attorney's LGBTQ and hate crimes specialist. When a case opens that clearly falls under either umbrella, it finds ...
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Bruises left on Chicago's LGBTQ community by violence
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - In March 2011, Dejon said good night to his friends and headed home from an evening out in Boystown. As he was walking down the sidewalk, a man wearing a ski mask got out of his car and charged toward him, screaming. Dejon was robbed, stabbed and left almost dead. He called for an ambulance. "Having it happen to me ...
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Stranger danger: Pickup crimes in the gay community
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - On April 15, 2010, a well-known Washington, D.C., school principal named Brian Betts was found murdered in his home. In the weeks that followed, investigators learned that Betts, 42, had arranged a meeting with his attacker through a sex chat line a few hours before the murder. Betts agreed to leave a door to his house unlocked so that 19-year-old ...
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With Malice Aforethought: LGBTQs and the criminal justice system
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - The legal definition of malice aforethought includes "an intent willfully to act in callous and wanton disregard of the consequences to human life." Throughout much of U.S. legal history, this would be an apt description of the legal system's approach to people beyond the traditional definitions of sexuality and gender identity. The ways the system has harmed the LGBTQ community ...
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When Cruising Goes Bad: The private aspects of public indecency
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - Every place with a gay presence has had a place where men have gone to trick—the Ramble in New York City, Dolores Park in San Francisco and Union Station in Los Angeles are just a few. Chicago is no exception. Numerous locations around the city—the restrooms in the old Marshall Field & Co. building and the Palmer House Hotel on ...
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Bars For Life: LGBTQs and sex offender registries
- Part of a Windy City Times Special Investigative Series - In 1977, Anita Bryant launched her crusade against a recently passed Dade County, Fla., ordinance that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As the leader of a coalition named "Save Our Children," Bryant and her supporters tapped into an old perception of gays as sexual predators of children. In a now-famous statement, she declared, "As a mother, I ...
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Security guard allegedly commits gay hate crime
- From a press release - CHICAGO — Attorney Yao Dinizulu of the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. filed a hate crime complaint on May 1 on behalf of plaintiff Falon Carter, 30, who alleges that an apartment security guard beat her with a steel flashlight and used derogatory terms to her relating to her sexual orientation. The complaint states that security guard, Stanton Robinson, had repeatedly ...
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Moderator of MCC stands against human trafficking
- From a press release - Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson is the moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches, which has ministries in over 40 countries. Dr. Wilson was part of the first LGBT religious delegation to meet with a sitting president in 1979. She is currently a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House announced a forum to review ...
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Ex-Marine from Long Beach anti-gay attack arrested in Ill.
- A man facing anti-gay hate crime charges in a Long Beach, Calif. attack was arrested in a Chicago suburb April 8. John K. O'Leary, 21, was arrested at a relative's home in Evergreen Park, Ill., said Lieutenant Peter Donovan. "They contacted us from Long Beach," Donovan said. "We were informed that there was a warrant." O'Leary, a former Marine, is ...
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Chicago man arrested for threats against anti-gay lawmaker
- A Chicago man is facing a felony charge for allegedly threatening and Illinois lawmaker whose anti-gay remarks made headlines recently. Stephen S. Bona, allegedly threatened Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-42) twice in recent days after she called gay relationships "disordered" on Catholic Conference Radio Hour. A press release from the office of DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin states that Bona ...
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Trans teacher found dead in England
- Primary school teacher Lucy Meadows was found dead at her home in Accrington, Lancashire, England, according to The New Statesman. The death of Meadows, 32—who taught at St. Mary Magdalene's School—is not being treated as suspicious. An inquest will be held. Gay Star News reported that headteacher Karen Hardman wrote on the school's website, "It is with great sadness that ...
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Police announce arrest in Koziol-Ellis slaying
- Elgin Police have announced an arrest for the murder of Lisa Koziol-Ellis, a well known LGBTQ ally and artist who was found stabbed to death in her Elgin townhome March 2. Paul Johnson, 34, is facing four counts of first degree murder, one count of home invasion and one count of residential burglary for the murder, according to a statement ...
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Friends, family want information in murder of LGBT ally
- Friends and family of an artist well-known to LGBTQ Chicagoans, are looking for information about her murder. Lisa Koziol-Ellis, also known as "Foxy Goat," was found stabbed to death her in Elgin home March 2. She was 33. Koziol-Ellis was an active LGBTQ ally and community member. She rode in Chicago's Gay Pride Parade with Chicago Dykes on Bikes. She ...
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Obama signs Violence Against Women Act, mentions gay center
- Full remarks below - In signing the Violence Against Women Act Thursday (March 7), President Obama singled out a number of activists on the issue, including the head of an LGBT anti-violence group. "Today is about all the Americans who face discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity when they seek help," said Obama, pointing out Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New ...
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Gay man wins $13.2 million verdict in wrongful conviction
- From a press release - CLEVELAND — Early this afternoon a federal jury here returned what is probably the largest-ever civil rights verdict for this court — $13.21 million for the wrongful prosecution and imprisonment of David Ayers. The verdict award is among the top ten ever in the country for a wrongful conviction case. Ayers was represented by Russell Ainsworth and Rachel Steinback of ...
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Van Stephens sentenced to 39 years for killing boyfriend
- Herbert Van Stephens, a Chicago fashion designer, has been sentenced to 39 years in prison for the murder of his boyfriend John Atkinson. Van Stephens was found guilty of first degree murder Jan. 25. Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Stephens in March 6, a Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesperson confirmed. According to police, both Atkinson and Van Stephens suffered ...
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Friends, family of gender-variant youth want crime investigation
- New information about the death of a gender-variant youth last month has cast doubt on reports that the death was accidental. Friends and family of Michael/Makayla Gwinn want police to investigate a homicide, after a mortician reported that she found signs of trauma on Gwinn's body. Gwinn, a youth advocate and cosmetologist, was found dead Feb. 16 outside a residence ...
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'Gay Panic' claim in murder of Mississippi mayor
- From a news release - The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has learned that a "gay panic" defense might be used by the suspect in the homicide of Mississippi Mayoral Candidate, Marco McMillian. McMillian was found dead on Wed., Feb. 27 near the bank of the Mississippi River just west of Clarksdale, Mississippi, the town where he had been a mayoral hopeful. Lawrence Reed ...
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House passes LGBT-inclusive Violence Against Women Act
- From press releases - WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed the Senate-approved version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that includes important protections for LGBT people Feb. 28. Last May the House passed their own non-LGBT inclusive version in a highly partisan vote but that bill died at the end of the last Congress. Today's victory marks a rare occasion when Republicans and ...
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Senate passes LGBT-inclusive Violence Against Women Act
- From news releases - WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauds the U.S. Senate's passage today of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization bill, which includes explicit protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) survivors of domestic violence and enhanced protections for Native American and immigrant survivors. It also includes a new provision that would support prosecution ...
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Detroit man sentenced for anti-gay hate crime
- From a news release - WASHINGTON — Everett Dwayne Avery, 26, of Detroit, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara after pleading guilty to committing a hate crime by assaulting a man because the man was gay. Avery was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. The assault occurred on March, 7, 2011, ...
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Three charged in alleged anti-gay hate crime in St. Charles
- Three St. Charles residents have been hit with felony charges for an alleged anti-gay hate crime that took place Jan. 6. Christopher Miner, 30; Stephan Bolt, 31; and Susan Patton, 31, are each facing felony hate crime charges after they allegedly attacked two men and a woman outside a bar while yelling anti-gay slurs. According to a statement by the ...
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Man gets 3 years for infamous Lakeview stabbing
- A man charged in a July 2011 Lakeview stabbing that ignited controversy in Boystown has been sentenced to three years in prison. Cook County Judge William Lacy sentenced Darren Hayes, 25, of Hammond, Ind., to three years after he was found guilty of stabbing a young man after a Black pride event in 2011. Hayes had already served 528 days ...
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Young gay photographer with Chicago ties killed in Gary
- He dreamed of opening up his own photography studio and growing his business into a full-time career. Terrell Smith, a young gay man from Gary, Ind. who was active in Chicago LGBT organizing, died Dec. 16 after he was gunned down in Gary. He was 25. Smith had been a member of Chicago-based LGBTQ organization National Youth Pride Services (NYPS). ...
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Gay man helps neighbor during Uptown attack
- - Tom Schabow played a pivotal role in helping a neighbor Dec. 9 in Uptown as another man was attacking her. Schabow, a 32-year-old server, was returning from work that night in the tony Gold Coast district to his Uptown neighborhood. "I was just getting changed out of my work clothes and heard something out my window," Schabow, an openly gay ...
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Austin panel looks at violence against LGBTQ youth
- Responding to the murders of two transgender women in Chicago's Austin neighborhood this year, officials and LGBTQ youth came together Dec. 11 for a panel discussion about safety in the neighborhood. Kenith Bergeron, senior conciliation specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service in Chicago, moderated the panel. The discussion, held at Taskforce Prevention and Community Services, featured ...
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FBI data: hate crimes based on sexual orientation on the rise
- From a news release - Washington — For the first time, crimes directed against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation are the second most frequent hate crime committed after crimes based on race, according to the 2011 Hate Crimes statistics released today by the FBI as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Surpassing crimes committed on the basis on religion, the number ...
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Authorities: Ohio man had relations with minor
- An Ohio man allegedly sent an underage boy sexually explicit photos and videos, and then traveled to the Chicago area several times to have sex with the boy, according to the Chicago Tribune. Police and prosecutors had been investigating David Six, 53, since the boy's mother notified Palos Heights police that Six might be conducting an "inappropriate relationship" with her ...
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Man attacks sister's girlfriend in Ala.
- Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - In Mobile, Ala., the brother of Mallory Owens' girlfriend brutally attacked Owens because of her sexual orientation, according to WKRG.com. Owens, 23, was celebrating Thanksgiving at girlfriend Ally Hawkins' house when the latter's brother, Travis Hawkins Jr., 18, attacked her; he beat Owens so badly she had to have facial-reconstruction surgery. Owens' mother, Kristi Taylor, said, "He tried to kill ...
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Gov't leaders talk hate crimes, discrimination
- Representatives from city, county, state and federal government came together to talk about anti-LGBT hate crimes and discrimination at a special two-part panel hosted by Center on Halsted Nov. 27. The panel, which largely focused on how Chicagoans can file complaints or recieve support from government entities, included representatives from the Chicago Police Department (CPD), the Chicago Commission on Human ...
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Suit, report allege hazings at suburban high school
- A Des Plaines high school is facing down allegations that it failed to protect varsity soccer players after parents filed suit claiming their son was sexually assaulted in a hazing ritual this year, and the district received a similar report dating back to 2008. Maine West High School has taken disciplinary action against 10 students and reassigned two coaches over ...
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Lesbian attacked in Alabama, HRC responds
- From a news release - Washington — HRC President Chad Griffin released the following statement regarding the beating of Mallory Owens, an Alabama lesbian who was violently attacked by her girlfriend's brother on Thanksgiving: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Mallory Owens and her family as she recovers from the horrific injuries she sustained on Thanksgiving Day. Violence against anyone — no matter what the ...
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Petraeus scandal conjures recent LGBT legal skirmishes
- Who could imagine the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus over a sexual relationship with a woman other than his wife could have implications for same-sex marriage? Columbia Law School Professor Katherine Franke, writing in the school's Gender & Sexuality Law Blog Nov. 10, saw right away the parallel between Petraeus' resignation and the experience of many gay and lesbian civil ...
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GLAAD: Stop the Uganda 'Kill the Gays' bill
- From press releases - This article has been updated with the addition of news releases as they come in From GLAAD: Yesterday, the Ugandan Parliament added a bill to its schedule that would sentence LGBT people in Uganda to death. According to reports from international news providers like Agence France-Press www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/ugandan-parliament-debate-anti-gay-bill and LGBT news sites including Towleroad www.towleroad.com/2012/11/uganda-consideration-of-kill-the-gays-bill-imminent-activists-warn.html, the bill might be debated as ...
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Nov. 27 forum focuses on anti-LGBTQ violence
- "Anti-LGBTQ Bias & Our Rights: Local & Federal Responses to Hate and Discrimination"—a free community forum that the Center on Halsted and the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations are coordinating—will take place at the Center, 3656 N. Halsted St., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 6-9 p.m. The event will feature representatives from such organizations as the Illinois Department of ...
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Elmo puppeteer resigns
- Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash has resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, USA Today has reported. Clash, 52, had been accused by Pennsylvania man (identified as Sheldon Stephens) of having a sexual relationship when the man was 16. Later he recanted, claiming he was an adult at the time, and Sesame made plans for Clash to return to work. ...
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Chicagoan charged in men-seeking-men Craigslist robberies
- A man who allegedly used Craigslist men-seeking-men posts to lure robbery and assault victims is facing charges after he was arrested Nov. 16. Andrew Jones, 20, is facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery, armed robbery and aggravated unlawful restraint, according to a spokesperson for Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez. According to a statement put out by police, Jones ...
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Texas inmate pleads guilty to federal hate crime
- From a news release - WASHINGTON — John Hall, 27, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act stemming from his assault of a fellow inmate he believed to be gay, the Department of Justice announced. Hall assaulted his fellow inmate with a dangerous ...
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Two arrested in murder of gay youth
- Two young people are facing murder charges in the slaying of a gay youth on Chicago's Southeast Side. Jarone Carter, 16, and a 14-year-old, who will be tried as a juvenile, have been arrested for the murder of Terrance Wright, an 18-year-old gay youth. The 14 year-old was ordered to be held in custody. Carter's bond hearing is Oct. 31. ...
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Ky. men acquitted of hate-crime charges
- In Kentucky, cousins Anthony Ray Jenkins and David Jason Jenkins were found not guilty of a hate crime in the first case prosecuted that involved the sexual-orientation provision of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, according to Advocate.com. However, the defendants were found guilty of kidnapping openly gay resident Kevin Pennington. Federal prosecutors said that ...
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Underwriter files suit alleging sexual harassment, bias
- STORY REMOVED ...
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Gay youth killed in robbery
- Terrance Wright, a young gay man who recently switched high schools to evade bullies, was killed in an attempted robbery Oct. 19, according to a Chicago Tribune report. Wright, identified by police as an 18-year-old without gang affiliation, was shot on the 9900 block of S. Yates Blvd. around 3:40 p.m., said police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. According to ...
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Ky. site of first federal LGB hate-crimes trial
- In Kentucky, openly gay resident Kevin Pennington testified in federal court that he jumped off a mountain in April 2011 because he believed two men chasing him were going to kill him, according to an Albany Times Union item. Anthony Ray Jenkins and cousin David Jason Jenkins are charged with kidnapping Pennington, assaulting him and committing a federal hate crime; ...
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Local designer gets four years for fraud
- An upscale Chicago-based fashion designer is facing four years in federal prison for taking out fraudulent loans in his boyfriend's name, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Stevie Edwards, owner of I Luv Stevie Boutique, 1932 S. Wabash Ave., is now serving his third conviction. According to the Sun-Times report, Edwards took out a loan in boyfriend Eugene Rivers' name, despite ...
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Intimate partner homicides in New Orleans, Dallas come to light
- From a NCAVP news release - The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has learned of intimate partner violence (IPV) homicides in New Orleans and Dallas in the past week. According to police, on Oct. 17, in Central City, New Orleans, Marcel Ivory, was fatally stabbed by his boyfriend while he was beating the boyfriend. The boyfriend, whose name has not been released, is not expected ...
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Transgender murder 30th anti-LGBTQ homicide in Puerto Rico in decade
- From a news release - The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has learned of the latest in a string of anti-LGBTQ homicides in Puerto Rico, bringing the total known anti-LGBTQ homicides to 30 in the past 10 years. Transexuales y Transgeneros en Marcha (TTM), a transgender advocacy organization in Puerto Rico, reported that Malena Suarez, a transgender woman in Carolina, Puerto Rico, was discovered ...
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Gay youth killed in robbery
- Terrance Wright, a young gay man who recently switched high schools to evade bullies, was killed in an attempted robbery Oct. 19, according to a Chicago Tribune report. Wright, identified by police as an 18-year-old without gang affiliation, was shot on the 9900 block of S. Yates Blvd. around 3:40 p.m., said police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. According to ...
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Intimate partner violence report cites lack of ac cess
- by Matthew C. Clark - In an Oct. 10 telephone press conference, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released the major findings from its report, Intimate Partner Violence in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-Affected (LGBTQH) Communities in the United States in 2011. Lisa Gilmore, director of education and victim advocacy at Center on Halsted and a member of the governance committee of ...
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T's owner wears wire, gets new audits
- The auditor asked him to lunch. That was the first sign that something was off. The year was 2007, and Colm Treacy, owner of popular LGBT hangout T's Restaurant, was closing out his second successful year with his newer business, Sofo Bar (Treacy has since sold Sofo and is not affiliated with The Sofo Tap, at that same location, in ...
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Report: highest rate ever of LGBTQ intimate partner violence, homicide
- From a NCAVP news release, through GLAAD - NATIONAL - The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), in a national audio press conference today, released its report Intimate Partner Violence in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-Affected (LGBTQH) Communities in the United States in 2011. NCAVP collected data concerning intimate partner violence within LGBTQH relationships from anti-violence programs in 22 states across the country, including Arizona, California, ...
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Bisexual women, gay men, report increased intimate partner violence
- From a Williams Institute news release - LOS ANGELES—Bisexual women and gay men face elevated risks of intimate partner violence according to a new report by Naomi G. Goldberg, MPP and Ilan H. Meyer, PhD, Senior Scholar for Public Policy at the Williams Institute published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. "As Congress considers reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and we reflect on Domestic Violence ...
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Gay employee suing sheriff's department
- A gay Cook County sheriff's deputy has filed suit against his department, alleging that supervisors failed to interrupt his anti-gay harassment, according to CBS news. CBS reports that David Nardi alleges his fellow officers and sergeant tormented him with anti-gay slurs, lewd noises and homophobic comments since 1999. Nardi has filed complaints within the sheriff's office and the Illinois Department ...
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Cop accused of sex with male prisoner
- Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - Chicago police officer Nelson Stewart, 59, has been accused of promising a male prostitute early release from jail in exchange for sex. On Sept. 28, Stewart—a divorced father of two children ages 19 and 21—was ordered held on $100,000 bail on charges of custodial sexual misconduct, bribery and official misconduct, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The other man, 30, was arrested ...
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Club investigation continues amid rumors
- The investigation around a suspected arson at a popular Oak Park gay bar continues months after a fire ravaged the business, setting off rumors about the source of the fire and the future of the bar. A fire gutted the Velvet Rope Ultra Lounge in June, sparking fears that the business was targeted in an anti-gay hate crime. Officials previously ...
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Northstar under fire for alleged mass email
- According to a CBS report, Northstar Healthcare, a Lakeview-based HIV treatment and research center, is under fire for allegedly sending a mass email containing patient contact information. Northstar did not respond to a request to comment on whether it had sent a mass email to patients over the summer with email addresses and names visible to all recipients. The alleged ...
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Stephens case in pre-trial phase
- The case against a man accused of murdering his boyfriend in a Lakeview domestic fight is slowly moving along. Herbert Van Stephens, is facing two counts of murder for the slaying of John Atkinson, 25 in March. According to police, the men were mutual combatants in a domestic fight on the 600 block of West Stratford Place. Both men suffered ...
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SPLC sues over hate group's digital defilement of gay engagement photo
- From a news release - DENVER — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and co-counsel filed a federal lawsuit today against an anti-gay hate group that took a gay couple's engagement photo and misappropriated it for a political ad that attacked a Colorado lawmaker's support for same-sex civil unions. The lawsuit, filed in federal court for the District of Colorado, charges that Virginia-based Public Advocate ...
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Lambda seeks survivor benefits for partner of shooting victim
- From a news release - (Anchorage, AK, September 24, 2012) - Lambda Legal filed a legal challenge today on behalf of Deborah Harris, whose same-sex partner, Kerry Fadely, was shot and killed one year ago by a disgruntled former employee whom Fadely had fired. Under Alaska's workers' compensation law, the spouse of a person who dies from a work-related injury is eligible to receive survivor ...
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Arrest made in attack of prosecutor defending gay couple
- Police have arrested a man who allegedly beat an assistant Cook County state's attorney intervening in what he believed to be anti-gay harassment. Edgar Diaz, 21, faces charges of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery dating back to the Sept. 13 attack. A second assailant has not been arrested. The victim was walking in Lincoln Park when he ...
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Velvet Rope investigation continues amid rumors
- The investigation around a suspected arson at a popular Oak Park gay bar continues months after a fire ravaged the business, setting off rumors about the source of the fire and the future of the bar. A fire gutted the Velvet Rope Ultra Lounge in June, sparking fears that the business was targeted in an anti-gay hate crime. Officials previously ...
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Plea for clemency rejected
- In Pennsylvania, death-row inmate Terrance Williams hopes to avoid being the first person executed in the state in 13 years, according to the Associated Press. However, he suffered a setback when a divided Pennsylvania Board of Pardons rejected his plea for clemency Sept. 17, according to Philly.com. Williams, 46, is on death row for fatally beating Amos Norwood with a ...
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New CPD training includes LGBT directives
- The Chicago Police Department (CPD) has adopted a new plan for educating its officers around hate crime response, and the measure includes LGBT directives. Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced the new training at a Sept. 7 press conference. The training, developed in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is similar to past trainings conducted by ADL for CPD. But according ...
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Heartland Alliance, IACHR call for investigations of trans deaths
- From a news release - (Chicago, IL) Heartland Alliance lauds the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for their public condemnation of murders of Trans Persons in the United States as well as in other regions of the Americas. Heartland Alliance urges the US Department of Justice to provide a full investigation into the murders of Kendall Hampton and Tiffany; and urges the Cook County, Illinois ...
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NCAVP: Gender non-conforming murder in Philadelphia
- From a news release - The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) learned Sept. 4 of the fatal shooting of an unidentified gender non-conforming (GNC) person in the Frankford section of Philadelphia. NCAVP is working with Equality Philadelphia to determine if there was an anti-LGBTQH motive in this shooting. Including this incident NCAVP has learned of eleven murders of transgender or gender non-conforming (TGNC) people ...
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NCAVP: Intimate Partner Violence Murder-Suicide in AZ
- The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has learned of the death of Jessie McCaskill and Dallas Augustine August 27, in an apparent intimate partner violence murder-suicide in Phoenix. Police believe that Augustine, 32, killed her partner Jessie McCaskill, 50, before killing herself. In 2006, Dallas Augustine's mother, Kathy Augustine, a prominent Nevada lawmaker, was murdered by her husband, Chaz ...
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