The Tea Party is looking for someone to challenge U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., in the next election since he has voted on several pro-Democratic measures, including the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," according to Advocate.com . Brown was chosen in a special election in January to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy; Brown is up for election in 2012. Brown is still very popular in his state, however, even polling stronger than senior Mass. Sen. John Kerry.
In West Virginia, gay coal miner Sam Hall is suing his employer, saying that some co-workers have harassed him because of his sexual orientation, according to Advocate.com . Hall claims he has been subjected to slurs and lewd gestures by his supervisors, and also says that his complaints have been ignored. The lawsuit, which Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Duke Bloom will hear, seeks damages for emotional distress and lost wages.
Seattle, Wash., will host LGBT chambers of commerce, convention and visitor bureaus, travel planners and chamber businesses at the first West Coast LGBT Tourism Summit, Jan. 6-8, according to a press release. The 2011 West Coast LGBT Tourism Summit will focus on providing tools for attendees to attract LGBT tourism to their city. Sessions at the summit include a city-by-city status report; information on how to develop a local LGBT visitors guide; utilize technology; and how to market and brand a city or region. See www.thegsba.org .
In Missouri, the same-sex partner of Cpl. Dennis Engelhard, a trooper killed in a Christmas Day accident, has sued the state for survivor's benefits denied to him because the state does not legally recognize the couple's 15-year relationship, according to a Kansas City Star item. The partner, Kelly Glossip, was denied benefits despite being named beneficiary on other assets. In lowering flags half-staff, Gov. Jay Nixon asked the state to pray for Engelhard's family, including his parents—but not for Glossip or his son.
In North Carolina, Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James called gay people "sexual predators" in an e-mail, Advocate.com reported. Fellow Commissioner Jennifer Roberts circulated an e-mail asking her colleagues to sign a thank-you note to the state's official who voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," prompting James to write "Homosexuals are sexual predators." A few years ago, James said that people of color "live in a moral sewer."
In Florida, Wilton Manors authorities said that couple Stephen Duane Adams, 52, and Kevin Mark Powell, 47, were victims of a double homicide, according to LGBTQNation.com . Police discovered the crime scene after going to the men's home at the request of one of the victims' sisters after he did not show up at her home for Christmas. A suspect, Peter Serge Avsenew, has been apprehended, according to Advocate.com; the 26-year-old is being held in Polk County jail with no bond.
New York's branch of the Log Cabin Republicans is launching the initiative "Starting at 1," which is designed to increase members' involvement in state and local politics, according to Advocate.com . The program got its name from its start date: Jan. 1, 2011. The goals of "Starting at 1" are to recruit and prepare successful candidates for elected positions. Gregory T. Angelo, a spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans of New York, said that the initiative is strictly that chapter's doing, "though it is a model that can be replicated by Log Cabin Republicans chapters throughout the country."
The large socially conservative organizations the Family Research Council (FRC) and the Concerned Women for America (CWA) have decided not to attend the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) because the event's organizers are including the gay Republican group GOProud for the second consecutive year, according to the Huffington Post. FRC Action Senior Vice President Tom McClusky said, "We will no longer be involved with CPAC because of the organization's financial mismanagement and movement away from conservative principles." FRC and CWA have added their names to a list of groups—including the Liberty Counsel and the National Organization for Marriage—boycotting CPAC.
It Gets Better project founder/sex-advice columnist Dan Savage offered his thoughts on Republicans and the gay organization GOProud on MSNBC's Countdown, according to On Top Magazine. Savage said that GOProud is being used to attract moderates but that the Republican Party generally is "rabidly anti-gay to its core." As for GOProud, which had conservative pundit Ann Coulter at its September gathering, Savage said, "GOProud isn't a pro-gay rights organization. They're an organization of gay quislings and useful idiots that help to window-dress the Republican Party."
Northern Trust, which is based in Chicago, announced the formalization of an LGBT and non-traditional family practice Jan. 4. According to a press release, "the new practice will provide fiduciary and wealth management services to help meet the unique needs of LGBT individuals and non-traditional families." John McGowan is the national practice leader responsible for implementing the program in markets throughout the country.
Technology giant Apple has rejected the anti-gay app "The Manhattan Declaration" for a second time, Advocate.com reported. The declaration is a 4,700-word statement that was "born out of an urgent concern about growing efforts to marginalize the Christian voice in the public square, to redefine marriage, and to move away from the biblical view of the sanctity of life." The app describes LGBT relationships as "immoral" and "not a civil right." Apple had approved the app in October 2010 before pulling it a month later.
The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention is creating a new task force to handle suicide prevention efforts among LGBT youths, according to Advocate.com . Leaders of the task force will be Kevin Jennings, who leads the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, and Charles Robbins, executive director of the Trevor Project. The alliance also launched suicide-prevention task forces for two other high-risk populations: American Indians and Alaska Natives, and military service members and veterans.
The 24-hour college network mtvU has named U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj as, respectively, its man and woman of 2010, according to a press release. Gates took a principled stand in a yearlong effort to overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"—which Congress repealed Dec. 18, 2010. Minaj, who released her Pink Friday CD in 2010, supported the Susan G. Komen for the Cure's efforts to end breast cancer, filmed an "It Gets Better" video to support victims of LGBT bullying and called for an end to homophobia in hip-hop.
Andrew Cuomo—who, during his campaign, promised to make same-sex marriage a priority—has been inaugurated as New York's governor, Advocate.com reported. The future of the marriage-equality measure rests on the state senate, where Republicans hold a slight majority, occupying 32 of the 62 seats. Cuomo said, "Rather than seek the apparent safety of the lowest common denominator, we must strive to reach the highest possible goal. We must realize that achieving political consensus in a political conference is different than providing government leadership for the people of the state of New York."
Father Alberto Cutié—who was initially thrust into the national spotlight when the supposedly celibate priest was spotted kissing a woman he later married—says in his new book that Catholic leaders are hypocrites who accept secret same-sex relationships, according to an Advocate.com . In Dilemma: A Priest's Struggle with Faith and Love, Cutié (who used to be Roman Catholic priest but is now an Episcopal one) writes, "There are so many homosexuals, both active and celibate, at all levels of clergy and Church hierarchy that the church would never be able to function if they were really to exclude all of them from ministry."
In Maryland, 39-year-old Douglas Lee Patrick was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after posing online as a cancer-stricken lesbian in order to lure teenage girls into sending him sexual images, according to an Advocate.com . Patrick frequented social-networking websites, where he assumed the identity of an 18-year-old lesbian with cancer. He then asked the girls to send him photos of their genitalia.
Chick-fil-A, a national fast-food chain, is supporting "The Art of Marriage," a series of anti-gay marriage conferences being held in Pennsylvania Feb. 11-12, according to Advocate.com . The Pennsylvania Family Institute and Chick-fil-A will sponsor two events that GoodAsYou.org says will aim to "help couples apply what the Bible teaches about marriage in a powerful way." Two years ago, Chick-fil-A had supported the anti-gay organization Focus on the Family.
In Indiana, a federal court dismissed a lawsuit alleging the state's bureau of motor vehicles arbitrarily rejected a license plate that supported the Indiana Youth Group, a gay organization, according to an Advocate.com item. However, the group's officials are content with the decision; Executive Director Mary Byrne told the Indianapolis Star that "what [the court] said is that if we submit a new application and make it perfectly clear that we will not use any of the money for administrative expenses—that all the money will go to programming—it is likely we will be able to get a license plate."
In El Paso, Texas, a group of conservative Christians—in trying to block healthcare benefits for the same-sex partners of city employees—may have stripped health benefits from all retired police officers and firemen, according to AmericaBlog.com . The measure, which was passed last November, was aimed at gay workers and their partners; however, in asking voters to limit benefits to "city employees and their legal spouse and dependent children," elected officials and many former city workers were also technically excluded.
