A Southwest Airlines pilot was suspended after he was accidentally broadcast using anti-gay slurs and other demeaning comments to describe some flight attendants, TIME.com reported. On March 23, an unidentified pilot was speaking to someone else when his mic became stuck. The remarks ranged from homophobic to derogatory, and he even complained about two flight attendants who never slept with him. Southwest suspended the pilot without pay, and he has received "diversity education." Also, the pilot—who is back on the job—has apologized to the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration.
A new study shows that gay men who take the drug bicalutamide for prostate cancer are more likely to report adverse effects than heterosexual men, according to Advocate.com . The U.S./Romanian study followed men who each received 50 milligrams of the non-steroidal anti-androgen drug once daily for five weeks. The gay subjects reported a higher decrease in sexual performance and satisfaction. However, the study only followed 29 individuals ( 12 gay, 17 heterosexual ) .
In Arkansas, the newspaper The Batesville Daily Guard has apologized and agreed to reprint a gay man's obituary after omitting his partner's name, according to Advocate.com . When John Millican died June 11, his partner of 10 years, Terrance James, filled out paperwork to have the obit run in the Guard; however, the publication left out James' name but listed Millican's deceased parents and surviving siblings, with whom he reportedly had little contact. Gay-rights groups such as GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign pressured the Guard, and the newspaper relented.
In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie said that he opposes a marrige-equality bill that openly gay Assemblyman Reed Gusciora has introduced into the state legislature, according to On Top Magazine. Christie said, "I couldn't change my mind on [ the bill ] , but I am in favor of making sure that homosexual couples have the same type of legal rights that heterosexual couples have." New Jersey currently recognizes civil unions.
In Pennsylvania, a bill that would require voters to produce a government-issued photo each time they go to the polls could be a tricky situation for members of the transgender community, the Philadelphia Gay News reported. Those undergoing a gender transition, or whose gender presentation may not match the gender marker on their IDs, could face problems—which could discourage people from voting. Civil-rights advocates say the measure could marginalize other demographics as well, including racial minorities and the elderly.
Gay-rights activists are angry after two lesbian bloggers have been exposed as men, according to the Guardian. Paula Brooks, executive editor of the news site LezGetReal, has been exposed as a creation of Dayton, Ohio, resident Bill Graber, 58. The revelation came shortly after Tom McMaster—a 40-year-old Georgia resident who attends Scotland's Edinburgh University—was behind the "A Gay Girl in Damascus" blog.
In Michigan, a state House committee recently approved a pair of anti-gay bills, according to Advocate.com . Republicans on the Oversight, Reform and Ethics Committee voted to prohibit employers from offering benefits to anyone not married or related to an employee. Republicans ( outnumbering the Democrats four to two ) also voted to make it illegal for any union to negotiate benefits for unmarried couples. Same-sex marriage is illegal in the state.
Army Veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis issued a statement in response to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ( DADT ) repeal would not be certified before he retires June 30, instead coming from his successor Leon Panetta in late July or early August. Sarvis said, "We are seeing an overabundance of caution by the service chiefs coupled with the Pentagon bureaucracy at work. It's hard to explain, much less justify, why this stage of the process is taking more than six months. Hopefully, Secretary Panetta will bring a new sense of urgency and energy and wrap up certification in a timely way."
In Alaska, a convertible carrying the grand marshal of Anchorage's PrideFest parade hit and killed a man just as the event began June 25, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The victim was James Crump, 50; Eagle River resident Edith Bailey, 70, was the driver. Grand Marshal Doug Frank said that Bailey had trouble with the car's accelerator. The parade was canceled.
Critics have charged that Google has not featured a "Doodle" in honor of Gay Pride Month, according to CNN.com . Instead, a rainbow appears next to the search bar when users search certain terms, such as "gay" and "transgender." A spokeswoman said, "it's difficult for us to choose which events to celebrate on our site, and have a long list of those we'd like to celebrate in the future." However, the gay publication Instinct Magazine said that Google "should be commended" for doing anything. The search engine has changed its logo in honor of everything from Pac-Man's 30th birthday to painter Paul Cezanne's 172nd birthday.
Bank of America, the sponsor of San Francisco's Pride celebration for the eighth year, presented nine local LGBT groups with a check for $130,000, according to Advocate.com . The groups benefiting from the bank's largesse include the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center; Our Family Coalition; the National AIDS Memorial Grove; San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center; Horizons Foundation; National Center for Lesbian Rights; Project Open Hand; San Francisco Pride Celebration; and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
The Out & Equal Workplace Summit will take place Oct. 25-28 in Dallas, Texas. Among the featured speakers are JC Penney CEO/Chairman Mike Ullman; out gay Fort Worth, Texas, City Councilmember Joel Burns; and Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez, head of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. Other slated guests include out Bravo exec Andy Cohen and lesbian actress Meredith Baxter.
Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, issued a statement about the discharge of three additional servicemembers pursuant to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. "It is rather shocking that we continue to see isolated incidents of servicemembers trying to force the Pentagon to let them out of their service obligations because the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law still technically remains on the books," said Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United. "The Pentagon has made it abundantly clear that it does not want to enforce 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' any longer and that it is more than willing to deal with any lingering harassment issues through the chain of command or, in the case of command involvement, the base's or post's Inspector General's office."
In Wisconsin, United Methodist Church ( UMC ) lesbian pastor the Rev. Amy DeLong has received a 20-day suspension for officiating a same-sex union ceremony in 2009, according to Advocate.com . A 13-member UMC court handed down the suspension June 23, unanimously finding her guilty of the charge. She was acquitted of another charge of violating the denomination's requirement of celibacy. DeLong had pled not guilty to the charges. The suspension began July 1.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has won a ringing endorsement from an unlikely person: former GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, according to the New York Post. Giuliani—who has also been mayor of New York City—said that Cuomo has brought leadership that has been missing for decades. "Gov. Cuomo deserves a lot of credit. Even if you don't agree with the result, it showed a lot of leadership to execute the result," Giuliani said of the passage of the marriage-equality bill that needed bipartisan support to succeed.
In California, five people were wounded June 25 at a shooting near San Francisco's gay-pride activities, according to Advocate.com . Witnesses said that two groups fought near the corner of Market and Seventh Streets when shots rang out about 6:15 p.m. A 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man were arrested "on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon as well as charges related to gun possession and gang affiliation."
In Portland, Ore., two men were arrested in connection with an anti-gay attack—and then released, Advocate.com reported. Shawn Siefke and Christian Sanchez-Villavencio asked a man for directions, and allegedly began hurling anti-gay epithets at him before pushing him to the ground. The duo was eventually arrested and chraged with assault and intimidation, but were both released. Police are still investigating the incident.
Openly gay New York Rep. Daniel O'Donnell is engaged to be married, according to On Top Magazine. O'Donnell, 50, said, "My partner John Banta and I have been together for 31 years. We've always been engaged in our hearts, but now that marriage equality has passed, we're engaged with the knowledge that soon we will be legally married in the state we were born, raised, and lived our adult lives."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to launch a tourism campaign that takes advantage of the state's new same-sex marriage law, according to Bloomberg.com . The "NYC I Do" campaign "will create millions of dollars in additional economic impact to the city's $31 billion tourism industry," Kimberly Spell, a spokeswoman for New York & Company, the city's marketing office, said.
First Lady Michelle Obama has been silent on the subject of marriage equality, according to Advocate.com . Her communications director, Kristina Schake, told Politico that "Mrs. Obama has never made any public statements about same-sex marriage." Former N.J. Gov. Jim McGreevey, who's openly gay, implied during an interview with CNN that Michelle Obama might secretly be pressuring the president to be more accepting of same-sex marriage.
Texas may get its first out gay U.S. attorney, according to KUTNews.org . President Obama is set to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Lee Pitman as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, an area that stretches from El Paso to Austin. Intererstingly, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison—two Texas politicians who each scored zero on the Human Rights Campaign's annual scorecard—nominated Pitman. That development has angered some social conservatives.
After New York legalized marriage equality, the San Antonio, Texas-based Brown Coffee Company sent an anti-gay tweet, according to Eater.com . Someone at the company posted, "No human law can ever legitimize what natural law precludes"—which has led to some ramifications. For example, New York City coffee shop RBC NYC has announced that it has pulled Brown's coffee, issuing the statement, "Although we won't tell you what RBC stands for, we'll let you know it doesn't stand for intolerance and bigotry, therefore we will not be doing business with The Brown Coffee Co. anymore."
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said that same-sex marriage will not be coming to his state, the Bradenton Herald reported. Scott told reporters, "Well, as you know, by the constitution, that can't come here. So … it won't be … it's not really a discussion here." Section 27 of the state's constitution defines marriage as "the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife."
Teresa Edwards, who won four Olympic gold medals playing basketball, will serve as the U.S. Olympic Committee's chief of mission for the 2012 Games, taking a spot vacated by Peter Vidmar, according to Sports Illustrated. Vidmar, a gold medal-winning gymnast, left the post after the media reported on his opposition to same-sex marriage; out figure skater Johnny Weir called Vidmar's selection "disgraceful."
