Grant Colfax, the openly gay head of White House efforts to confront the HIV/AIDS epidemic, intends to leave the Obama administration, The Washington Blade reported. Colfax, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, will leave Jan. 13, after having been named to the position a year-and-a-half ago. Before coming to the White House, Colfax was most recently the director of the HIV Prevention Section in the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
Louisiana lesbian couple Nadia and Liz Harris are the proud parents of quintuplets, according to Advocate.com . The couple had been trying to have children since they were married in Connecticut more than four years ago. After they moved to New Orleans in 2011 for career opportunities, they consulted Dr. Peter Lu of The Fertility Institute, who came up with a fertility treatment for Nadia and performed intrauterine insemination.
American Journal of Public Health released a preview of a study ( "Research Funded by the National Institutes of Health on the Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations" ) that highlights the national gaps in LGBT health research, according to a press release from CenterLink. Findings show only 0.5 percent of the abstracts have any mention of LGBT terms and, of that small number, only 18 percent are on topics beyond sexual health or HIV. Also, of the 628 total LGBT studies, only 14 percent examined lesbian health issues, only 10 percent mentioned youth health issues, and less than 1 percent mentioned LGBT elder health issues.
The New Mexico Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage, declaring it is unconstitutional to deny a marriage license to gay and lesbian couples, USA Today reported. New Mexico joins 16 states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay marriage. Eight of the state's 33 counties have started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since August, when a county clerk in southern New Mexico independently decided to allow the unions.
Several AIDS groups have issued a statement asking the Centers of Disease of Control ( CDC ) to change reporting methods in the wake of a report it recently released in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ( MMWR ). In part, the statement reads, "The full MMWR article is quite different in its messaging and emphasis [from the press release], skewing sharply to language that could encourage sexual stigma and blaming." The groups who signed the statement include ACT UP Philadelphia, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Gay Men's Health Crisis ( GMHC ), Positive Women's Network-USA ( PWN-USA ), HIV Prevention Justice Alliance ( HIV PJA ) and Transgender Law Center, among others.
Three years after the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Congress has gotten around to repealing the military's ban on consensual gay sex, MSNBC.com reported. Although the ban was made all but unenforceable by the 2003 Supreme Court decision finding anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional, some anti-LGBT activists still tried to keep it on the books as a symbol of official disapproval of homosexuality. Also, the amendment Congress approved calls for a report on HIV policy within the U.S. military.
In Pennsylvania, a man accused of brutally murdering a transgender woman this past summer will undergo a psychological evaluation before trial, according to The Philadelphia Gay News. Charles Sargent, 44, is charged with murder, possession of an instrument of crime and abuse of corpse in connection to the stabbing death and dismemberment of Diamond Williams. Sargent is also charged with making terroristic threats, after he allegedly threatened to kill his girlfriend if she contacted law enforcement about his alleged involvement in Williams' murder.
In a Tournament of Roses first, two Los Angeles men will celebrate their gay marriage on a Rose Parade float as it goes down Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Day, The Pasadena Star News noted. The wedding of Danny Leclair, 45, and Aubrey Loots, 42, will take place atop a giant wedding cake-shaped float sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Gay marriage was legalized ( again ) in California following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June.
Two more couples filed suit in federal court seeking to overturn Oregon's ban on gay marriage, OregonLive.com reported. In October, two other couples filed suit, claiming the ban violated their rights to due process and equal protection. Later that month, the Oregon Department of Justice issued an opinion requiring state agencies to recognize out-of-state gay marriages.
In New York City, Gregory Kenney claims his lesbian supervisor fired him from his job as a private-school gym teacher because of his "traditional family status," according to The New York Post. Kenney, who lives with his wife and three young children in Long Island, says he was a well-liked employee at Trinity School, which counts Ivanka Trump and Truman Capote among its alumni. Kenney adds that supervisor Pat Krieger forced him to coach three sports, even though his contract only required him to join two teams; when Kenney told Krieger that he couldn't keep working nights and weekends, she reported him to the headmaster.
Students and faculty at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Wash., protested after learning the popular vice principal and swim coach resigned after school officials learned he had married his male partner, according to The Seattle Times. The protest spread via Twitter and text messaging to other students at area Catholic high schools. At least one—Seattle Preparatory School—students showed solidarity with a similar sit-in protest.
Defense/aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is stopping its donations to the Boy Scouts of America over the organization's ban on gays serving as adult leaders after a review of the company's philanthropy guidelines, LGBTQ Nation reported. Lockheed Martin spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the company decided it will not support nonprofit organizations that do not align with its corporate policies or commitment to diversity. Lockheed follows UPS Inc., Caterpillar, Merck & Co. and computer-chip maker Intel in withdrawing support for the Boy Scouts over its no-gays policy in the past two years.
PR exec Justine Sacco caused controversy by recently tweeting, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!," The Huffington Post reported. Sacco is a senior director of corporate communications at InterActiveCorp ( more commonly known as IAC ), which responded, "This is an outrageous, offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of IAC. Unfortunately, the employee in question is unreachable on an international flight, but this is a very serious matter and we are taking appropriate action."
Kaitlyn Hunt, now 19, has been released from the Indian River ( Fla. ) County Jail, according to CBS News. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Hunt pleaded no contest in October to battery, interference with child custody and contributing to the dependency of a child. Hunt was charged in February with having sex with a 14-year-old female schoolmate when she was 18. Hunt argued the sex was consensual.
Maj. Daniel Toven and Johnathan Taylor celebrated their marriage Dec. 21 in the historic Main Post Chapel on Fort Bragg, N.C. with more than 100 family members and friends, the NewsObserver.com noted. They are the first same-sex couple to hold a celebration ceremony in a chapel on Fort Bragg. Toven, 44, is commander and conductor of the Army Ground Forces Band at Fort Bragg. Taylor, 24, is a registered nurse in a Fayetteville-area hospital and a pre-med student.
The Tennessee-based restaurant chain Cracker Barrel resumed selling Duck Dynasty merchandise after massive customer outcry, according to the L.A. Times. The company had previously said it would stop carrying the merchandise after Phil Robertson, 67, the show's patriarch, was suspended from the series for remarks he made about gay people and Blacks. Customers on social media quickly cheered Cracker Barrel's change of heart.
A federal judge has allowed gay marriage in Utah to continue, making Utah the 18th state plus the District of Columbia where gay and lesbian couples can marry, according to USA Today. Judge Richard Shelby, on Dec. 23, denied a request by the state that aimed to halt gay marriage until the appeals process was complete. The same judge overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage Dec. 20, ruling it is unconstitutional.
A United Methodist pastor from central Pennsylvania who was defrocked after officiating his son's gay wedding was invited by a California Methodist bishop to serve in her region, according to The Huffington Post. Frank Schaefer said he is deciding whether to accept the offer from Bishop Minerva G. Carcano to join the California-Pacific Annual Conference. The region includes California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.
In Virginia, U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski removed Gov. Bob McDonnell from a lawsuit challenging the state's same-sex marriage ban but refused to dismiss a Staunton court clerk as a defendant. Urbanski said the governor cannot be sued because he has no specific responsibility for enforcing the state's marriage laws. "We're grateful that we have the chance to move ahead to challenge this discriminatory ban on behalf of loving and committed Virginia couples," said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, in a statement.
In Ohio, a federal judge here ordered authorities to recognize gay marriages on death certificates—a move that ultimately could challenge the state's ban on same-sex unions, USA Today noted. Judge Timothy Black wrote that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that states cannot discriminate against gay couples simply because some voters don't like homosexuality. Rob Nichols, spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, said, "We disagree with the court's ruling, and the state will appeal it."
The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the state's law banning same-sex marriage cannot be used to invalidate a marriage if one spouse later changes his or her gender identity, according to LGBTQ Nation. The ruling stems from a divorce case involving David Paul Summers and Angela Summers, who married in Indiana's Brown County on Oct. 30, 1999. David Summers was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and legally changed his name to Melanie Davis in 2005. Davis and Angela Summers separated in 2008, and Davis filed for divorce in 2012. However, Monroe Circuit Judge Valeri Haughton rejected the divorce petition, saying the marriage was automatically invalidated when Davis' birth certificate was changed.
