Singer Cyndi Lauper ( also co-founder of the True Colors Fund ) and the New York Times GLBT & Allies Network hosted a panel of LGBTA youth from across the country to discuss the most pressing issues facing them, according to a press release. The discussion, which took place at TheTimesCenter, was moderated by New York Times Editor-at-Large Marcus Mabry, and focused on coming out at home and at school, correlations between location and acceptance, and LGBT communities. Among those who attended were Jane and Joseph Clementi, parents of the late Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi.
An Oregon man walking across the country to bring attention to the issue of bullying after his gay son committed suicide was struck and killed by a big rig in Colorado, according to ABC News. Joseph Bell, 48, started his walk from Oregon to New York in April. His 15-year-old son, Jadin Bell, killed himself earlier this year after relentless bullying at school and social media over his sexuality. Investigators believe the rig's driver, 49-year-old Kenneth Raven, fell asleep while he was driving for a company called Farold Inc.; Raven was not injured in the crash.
A newly married same-sex couple is fighting the Georgia Department of Driver Services, according to WSBTV.com . Lesbian couple Danielle McCollum and Shakira Tucker were legally married this summer in Massachusetts; however, Georgia refused to put the new married name of one of the women on her driver's license. On Oct. 10, the couple held a brief press conference outside of the DMV in Sandy Springs, Ga., before returning Tucker's revoked driver's license and delivering more than 10,000 online petition signatures to the Georgia Department of Driver Services, according to a Change.org press release.
In Atlanta, vandals struck the lesbian-owned business Charis Books, painting graffiti on the building's exterior with phrases such as "fuck dikes" along with an image of a penis, according to Project Q Atlanta. The incident took place after the retail outlet hosted an event with Atlanta Pride spotlighting local authors. Charis Bookes mocked the vandals on Facebook, posting, "When will the homophobes learn how to correctly spell their slurs?"
In Florida, 19-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt—behind bars for having sex with an underage girl—has said she has one regret: trusting her ex-girlfriend, according to the New York Daily News. Speaking from the Indian River County Jail ( where is she serving a three-month sentence ), Hunt told a TV station that she believes she was "set up" by her now 15-year-old ex. "I never was educated on dating laws and ages and stuff so I still was confused about everything. I didn't know why I was in trouble," Hunt said.
In an open letter penned to Outsports, Hillsdale College basketball player Derek Schell publicly came out, becoming the first Division II basketball player to do so, according to Towleroad. Schell declares in the letter that his decision to come out has reignited his love for the game he has cherished since childhood. Throughout his adolescence, Shell writes he was plagued by depression, anxiety, "sleepless nights and undefined sadness." However, as Schell matured as an athlete and a person, he grew to believe that satisfying others' expectations did not alleviate any of his own anxieties.
Sen. Charleta Tavares, a Democratic state legislator from Columbus, wants to make Ohio the next state to ban licensed counselors from trying to change a youth's sexual orientation, according to The Columbus Dispatch. California banned sexual-orientation therapy last year for anyone younger than 18. In August, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, signed a similar law. Tavares said her bill more closely mirrors the New Jersey law, leaving penalties up to professional licensing boards.
Two openly gay Illinois students, who also happen to be close friends, have made national history when their peers voted them homecoming king and queen at their high school, the Huffington Post reported. Eric Irizarry and Ariana Reiff discovered they had both won the respective titles at Waukegan High School in Waukegan, Ill. Irizarry spends his time as a competitive cheerleader and lifeguard, while Reiff describes herself as a "chill person" who wants to pursue her dreams of becoming a veterinarian.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department says it "will review" a complaint lodged against National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown for his trip to Russia, The New Civil Rights Movement reported. Brown reportedly spoke to the Russian Duma ( parliament ) warning the legislative body against homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and adoption by LGBT people and same-sex couples. Fred Karger—an LGBT activist, long-time Republican political operative and 2012 GOP presidential candidate—filed a complaint with the State Department and the Department of Justice.
In New York City, four members of the LGBT-rights group Queer Nation disrupted the Oct. 10 performance of the Mariinsky Orchestra, led by conductor Valery Gergiev, demanding that Gergiev oppose the Russian government's attacks on LGBT Russians and that Russia end its war on LGBT Russians, according to a press release. Queer Nation members chanted, "Gergiev, Your Silence is Killing Russian Gays!" before the Carnegie Hall performance began. The protesters, who were met mostly with applause but also with some boos, were led away by security guards; there were no arrests. On Sept. 23, four protestors from Queer Nation delayed the start of the Metropolitan Opera's opening-night gala at Lincoln Center, where Gergiev conducted Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.
Saying that it is "good for business" in the state, the Illinois Restaurant Association ( IRA ) announced its support for the freedom to marry and urged members of the Illinois House to act quickly in passing SB10, the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, according to a media release. The Illinois General Assembly returns to Springfield in less than two weeks for its fall veto session. "As owners of small and large businesses, our members know the importance of treating all customers equally," said IRA president Sam Toia. "It's the right thing to do—and it's good for business."
The Harvey Milk Foundation announced via its Facebook page that the United States Postal Service will issue a stamp in honor of LGBT political icon Harvey Milk, according to Gay Politics. The announcement makes Milk, who made history as the first openly gay man to win political office in California when he was elected to San Francisco's board of supervisors in 1977, the first openly LGBT official ever featured on U.S. postage. ( He's not the first out gay person, though, as people ranging from writer James Baldwin to artist Andy Warhol have been honored. ) The stamp is slated to be introduced in 2014.
Nearly 140 faith leaders endorsed legalizing gay marriage in New Mexico in a full-page ad that ran Oct. 9 in four major newspapers: the Albuquerque Journal, The Santa Fe New Mexican, Las Cruces Sun News and The Alibi, according to On Top Magazine. The ad's headline reads: "We are faith leaders. And we support the freedom to marry in New Mexico." The Why Marriage Matters New Mexico campaign paid for the ad. The New Mexico Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 23 in a case asking the court to allow same-sex couples to marry in the state.
Family Equality Council—the national organization that represents the 3 million parents in America who are LGBT and their 6 million children—announced an agreement to deed all historical materials related to the organization and its role in the LGBT family-equality movement to Yale University, according to a press release. The agreement ensures the preservation of more than 30 years of materials related to the founding, growth and expansion of Family Equality Council, and documents the organization's ongoing efforts to advance equality for families with LGBT parents.
The New Jersey Supreme Court announced it would hear both the merits of the marriage case as well as the appeal on the stay motion Republican Gov. Chris Christie filed, according to a Lambda Legal press release. On Sept. 27, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that same-sex couples in New Jersey must be allowed to marry. Unless it is stayed pending appeal, the decision takes effect Oct. 21.
On National Coming Out Day ( Oct. 11 ), the Many Voices Visibility Campaign—which aims to foster a Black church movement for gay and transgender justice—released the first of six videos featuring the personal stories of African-American LGBTQ people who came of age in Black churches, according to a press release. The web campaign features lay people as well as high-profile clergy like lesbian Bishop Tonyia Rawls of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement and out transgender faith advocate Rev. Brendan Boone of Metropolitan Community Church. ( All interviewees are based in North Carolina. ) See www.manyvoices.org/video-campaign-launch.
In Illinois, organizers of the March on Springfield for Marriage Equality on Oct. 22 announced the roster of speakers at the rally. LGBT organizations, families and faith leaders will be joined at the podium by national and regional coalition partners for the 90-minute rally. Among the many slated to speak are Rudy Lozano, Uniting America director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Bonnie Grabenhofer, national action vice president of the National Organization for Women; openly gay ESPN senior writer LZ Granderson; lesbian Chicago activist Vernita Gray; and Tracy Baim, March on Springfield co-chair as well as founder and publisher of Windy City Media Group.
The U.S. Olympic Committee board of directors voted to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy, the Washington Blade reported. U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun made the announcement during a speech he delivered in Colorado Springs, Colo., as he discussed a Russian law that bans gay propaganda to minors. Blackmun also referenced the reassurances the International Olympic Committee has said it has received from the Kremlin that the statute will not impact athletes and others who plan to attend the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Steven Sanchez made history when fellow students crowned him homecoming queen of the University of Northern Iowa, becoming the school's first transgender homecoming queen or king, according to USA Today. Sanchez—who, as a child, endured relentless bullying and regularly cut his wrists and once overdosed on pills in a suicide attempt—said the moment left him speechless. A standing-room-only crowd had packed into a campus auditorium and erupted in applause when his name was read. Incidentally, the event took place on National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11.
A bill signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown ensures that insurance coverage for fertility treatments granted to heterosexual couples will now be extended to unmarried and same-sex couples, The National Review reported. The law was authored by Tom Ammiano ( D-San Francisco ) who felt that denying fertility coverage to unmarried and gay couples violates California's non-discrimination laws. Insurance coverage for fertility treatment usually kicked in only after couples attempted natural conception for a year.
The U.S. Marshals Service made an arrest in connection with the shooting death of renowned, openly gay Long Island, N.Y., equestrian riding instructor Ross Reisner, according to LGBTQ Nation. Brett Knight, 45, was apprehended at a house in rural Seymour County, Tenn. The nationwide search for Knight was initiated after Reisner, 50, and longtime partner Kevin Murray were sitting on a couch Sept. 24 when an unknown gunman, using a high-caliber weapon, fired multiple rounds through the window of the victim's East Setauket home on Long Island.
In New Jersey, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan fired a campaign adviser who gave a profane interview bashing Democratic opponent Cory Booker and questioning his sexuality, LGBTQ Nation reported. Lonegan said in a statement that campaign consultant Rick Shaftan's comments to the political website Talking Points Memo were "distasteful and offensive." Booker, who is single, has said his sexuality shouldn't matter to voters.
Attorneys for the state of Utah are defending a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union of a man and woman, saying it promotes the state's interest in "responsible procreation" and the "optimal mode of child-rearing," according to LGBTQ Nation. The state, in motions, asked U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby of Salt Lake City to find in its favor in a lawsuit over voter-approved Amendment 3 filed by three same-sex couples who claim it's unconstitutional. A hearing on the summary judgment motions is set for Dec. 4 before Shelby.
A former Home Depot employee claims the home-improvement store chain targeted gay male workers for termination to cut costs in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, according to Courthouse News Service. Hardy Housh aka Lex Housh sued Home Depot in Orange County ( Calif. ) Superior Court, seeking $100,000 for discrimination, sexual harassment and other counts. Housh, who identifies as gay, says in his complaint that Home Depot devised a scheme to trim its payroll at the expense of older higher paid managers and male gay employees as a response to the economic calamity of the late 2000s.
Lambda Legal filed a brief with the Alaska Supreme Court asking the Court to hold that it is unconstitutional to deny survivor benefits to Deborah Harris, whose same-sex partner, Kerry Fadely, was shot and killed in 2011 by a disgruntled former employee, according to a Lambda Legal press release. Under Alaska's workers' compensation law, the spouse of a person who dies from a work-related injury is eligible to receive survivor benefits, but same-sex couples are excluded from that legal protection. The appeal comes on the two-year anniversary of Fadely's death.
Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino, 35, married his partner of more than five years, Pem Brown, 29, at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, according to Towleroad. The wedding happened in the final days of Sciortino's primary bid for Massachusetts's 5th Congressional seat. Old South Meeting House was significant for Sciortino and Brown, as it was the place where the LGBT community came to celebrate the 2003 state supreme court ruling that cleared the way for marriage equality in Massachusetts.
Hillary Clinton hasn't officially thrown her hat in the 2016 presidential ring, but she is raising money in Hollywood, according to Deadline.com . The former secretary of state and presumed presidential candidate is the marquee name for a $15,000-a-ticket fundraiser Oct. 30 at media proprietor Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl's Beverly Hills home—although the event is said to actually be for ex-DNC chair and longtime Clinton pal Terry McAuliffe's Virginia gubernatorial bid.
Jack Andraka—the gay teen who became known as the "Boy Wonder" of science after his work in developing a new method to detect pancreatic cancer earned him the grand prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair—was profiled in the Oct. 13 episode of 60 Minutes, according to Advocate.com . However, while the segment dealt with everything from Andraka's family life to his theories, the fact that he is gay was omitted from the profile. However, the teen talked about being a gay person in science in a VocativVideo profile from August.
In California, the City of Sacramento's Law and Legislative Committee voted 4-0 to strengthen its protections against discrimination on the basis of a person's gender identity, incorporating and augmenting existing protections under state law, according to a National Center for Lesbian Rights ( NCLR ) press release. NCLR attorneys worked with Councilmember Steve Hansen to draft the law, utilizing the Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index as a guide. The legislation will now move to the full City Council for consideration.
In North Carolina, Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger will be the first government official in the South to seek approval to grant same-sex marriage licenses since the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, according to the Mountain Xpress. Reisinger will accept and hold same-sex marriage applications and push the question of equal marriage rights to the state's chief legal adviser, Attorney General Roy Cooper.
