The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from anti-gay activists who wanted to overturn Washington, D.C.'s, same-sex marriage law, according to Advocate.com . Beltsville, Md., minister Harry Jackson had sued the district's board of elections and ethics rejected his effort to let voters decide the issue. The board said that having such a question on the balot would violate non-discrimination regulations.
Chick-fil-A, Inc. President Dan Cathy has put forth a video addressing his company's alleged support of anti-gay organizations such as the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family as well as the event "The Art of Marriage," according to Metro Weekly. In the video, Cathy says, "Marriage has long been a focus of Chick-fil-A, starting with my own mom and dad, who are celebrating their 63rd year of marriage. ... Providing food to these events or any event is not an endorsement of the mission, political stance, or motives of this or any other organization. Any suggestion otherwise is just inaccurate."
In an article for CNN entitled "10 Realities About AIDS," iconic HIV/AIDS activist Larry Kramer wrote "AIDS was allowed to happen," according to Advocate.com . Kramer wrote that he wanted the article to break people's hearts, adding, "[AIDS] is a plague that need not have happened. It is a plague that could have been contained from the very beginning." He also wrote that AIDS "is a plague that is not going to go away. It is only going to get worse." Kramer co-founded Gay Men's Health Crisis and founded the organization ACT UP.
Oprah Winfrey's OWN has purchased the rights to Becoming Chaz, a documentary that follows Chaz Bono's journey to becoming male, according to Advocate.com . Becoming Chaz is slated to debut at the Sundance Film Festival later this month; OWN is reportedly going to announce the movie acquisition there. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato—the pair behind Party Monster and The Eyes of Tammy Faye—directed the documentary.
Two more high school students—Minnesota's Lance Lundsten and Pennsylvania's Tiffani Maxwell—have committed suicide, according to the Huffington Post. Lundsten, 18, was openly gay, and friends say that he was bullied because of his sexual orientation. U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said in a statement about Lundsten that his death was "a tragic event, not only for them, but for the school, and the Alexandria community and really for all of us. ... LGBT kids really do need [more] protection."
Ohio University will allow men and women to live in the same dorm rooms—an idea that was pushed on behalf of the school's LGBT Center, according to Thenews-messenger.com . The center's director, Mickey Hart, said that the new gender-neutral housing set-up will benefit transgender students, in particular. Other colleges throughout Ohio, including Miami University, are also experimenting with the housing concept.
In South Carolina, the Columbia HIV-prevention program YEAH! (Youth Empowered Against HIV) received a $20,000 grant from the Central Carolina Community Foundation, according to WLTX.com . YEAH! trains 18-to-24-year-old gay, queer or bisexual youth to be peer educators. The program is part of the Harriet Hancock Center, a meeting space and resource for the LGBT community.
Andrew Cuomo, the newest governor of New York, has appointed Erik Bottcher to a senior position in his administration, Advocate.com reported. Bottcher, 31, recently worked with the HIV/AIDS and LGBT communities in New York City on behalf of out lesbian council speaker Christine Quinn. He left that position last fall to serve as the LGBT liaison for Cuomo's campaign. Cuomo has also appointed Alphonso David, a gay African American, to the new position of deputy secretary for civil rights.
The federal rules that stop hospitals from sexual orientation- and gender identity-based discrimination have gone into effect. According to an Advocate.com item, "These new regulations require all hospitals participating in Medicaid and Medicare programs—virtually every hospital in the country—to permit patients to designate visitors of their choosing and prohibit discrimination in visitation based on a number of factors, including sexual orientation and gender identity." President Obama announced the rules last year.
Some may see the South as a hotbed of anti-gay sentiment, but data show that child rearing among gay and lesbian couples is more common in that area than in any other region of the country, according to a New York Times article. Gary Gates, a demographer at UCLA, said that this result is intriguing because the Southern families defy the stereotype of a mainstream gay—affluent, white, urban and living on the West Coast or in the Northeast. Gates, who used information from a U.S. Census Bureau sampling, added that Latino or Black same-sex couoples are twice as likely as whites to raise children.
Keith Olbermann has said that he "was told" that his Jan. 21 appearance on MSNBC would be his last, so he decided to say goodbye then and there, according to USA Today. Olbermann, 51—who had signed a four-year contract extension three years ago for approximately $30 million—said it "was just too much for" him. He made news in 2008 with an impassioned commentary about the merits of same-sex marriage, saying gay marriage "is a question of love."
In New York, a superintendent has reversed a school principal's decision to not have a gay-straight alliance at Nassau County's Valley Stream South High School, according to LIHerald.com . Principal Maureen Henry rejected the idea of establishing the group, instead offeing the students a chance to join the World of Differences club. Two seniors then wrote the district's superintendent, Dr. Richard Marsh, and board of education president, resulting in the reversal.
Conservative minister Terry Jones—who caused a firestorm of controversy in 2010 by threatening to burn copies of the Koran—has been barred from entering the United Kingdom, according to Advocate.com . The British cited his "extremism" as reason for the ban; Jones, whose daughter and grandchildren live in England, had planned on speaking to an organization called England Is Ours. Last year, Jones also protested the candidacy of gay Gainesville, Fla., mayor Craig Lowe by posted a "No Homo Mayor" sign.
The Wyoming House passed a measure that would ban the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other geographical areas, according to Advocate.com . The bill must now pass two more House votes before the Senate can consider it. Both bills that seek to ban marriage equality as well as legalize same-sex marriage and civil unions are on the slate to be considered.
In New York City, two female teachers who were fired for allegedly having a sexual encounter have filed lawsuits to be reinstated, according to Advocate.com . French teacher Cindy Mauro and Spanish instructor Alini Brito have sued the city's education department. In 2009, a custodian told a school administrator that he saw the women having sex in a classroom. After a state arbitrator reviewed the findings and heard from other witnesses, the teachers were fired.
In California, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has ruled that the state's gay and lesbian public employees can sue the government for barring them from enrolling their spouses in an insurance program under DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), according to Courthouse News Service. Three gay and lesbian couples sued the Internal Revenue Service, Treasury Department, California Public Employees Retirement System and their respective administrators after not being allowed in enroll in CalPERS' long-term care program. Wilken said that a section of DOMA takes away the state's power "to allow same-sex civil marriages that will be recognized under federal law."
In Oregon, a jury found Blake Andrew McCune guilty of knocking a cell phone out of a gay man's hand but acquitted him of attacking the man because of the victim's sexual orientation, according to OregonLive.com . Airick Heater, 42, claimed that McCune, 23, shouted an anti-gay slur at him, pushed him and walked away after the defendant allegedly was shouting slurs at patrons outside the Portland gay-inclusive nightclub Casey's—a situation that escalated into Heater and some other patrons following McCune, with alleged physical contact. McCune said that he did not know Heater's sexual orientation.
The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law has released a new research study that shows more than 43 percent of Utah LGB respondents and 66 percent of transgender respondents had been fired, denied a job or not promoted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a press release. Moreover, nearly 30 percent of LGB respondents and 45 percent of transgender respondents experienced workplace harassment on a weekly basis during 2010. The full report may be found at www.law.ucla.edu/WilliamsInstitute/home.html .
After a successful fight to overturn Florida's ban on same-sex adoption, the two young brothers adopted by Martin Gill participated in an adoption ceremony in Judge Cindy Lederman's chambers in Miami-Dade County Juvenile Court Jan. 19, marking the final step in their adoption process, according to an ACLU press release. Gill and his partner had served as foster parents to the brothers for six years. "We are thrilled that after so many years, we are officially a family in the eyes of the law," said Gill. "All children deserve a permanent, loving home. This is a happy day."
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)—a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)—released a statement on a new audit reported in the Washington Post that shows the military spent about $193.3 million from 2004-2009 to fired and replace approximately 3,660 service members discharged under DADT. Each discharge cost an average of $52,800. Aubrey Sarvis, Army veteran and SLDN executive director, said that the "GAO report underscores that the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law not only deprives the military of the qualified Americans it needs, but has also been a huge waste of taxpayer dollars on replacing patriots lost under this discriminatory law."
It seems as if Tim Cook, a gay man, will succeed Apple head Steve Jobs as he goes on medical leave, according to Gawker.com . Cook, 50, is chief operating officer at Apple but is also the de facto CEO, overseeing daily operations. He has sold or amassed approximately $136 million in corporate shares. On a personal level, Cook is seen as a quiet workaholic who gets up at 4:30 a.m. and eats energy bars constantly.
Community activist/comedian Steve Berke has announced that he is running for mayor of Miami Beach, Fla., on a platform advocating marriage equality, according to a press release. Berke, 29, said, "This is a question of simple equality, as required by the U.S. Constitution." Berke's platform also includes legalizing marijuana and installing property-tax relief.
