The American Civil Liberties Union will present the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty award to Constance McMillen and Edith Schlain "Edie" Windsor, according to a press release. McMillen is the Mississippi teenager who successfully challenged her high school when it canceled the senior prom rather than let her attend with a girlfriend. At the age of 82, Windsor challenged the Defense of Marriage Act, which forced her to pay hefty estate taxes after the death of her spouse and partner of 44 years.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called upon federal and local government officials and law-enforcement authorities June 8 to strengthen their efforts to implement a long-term strategy to address violence against LGBT individuals in Puerto Rico. It has been reported that three LGBT Puerto Ricans have been found dead over the past several days and 18 LGBT Puerto Ricans had been murdered over the last year and a half. HRC President Joe Solmonese said, "Puerto Rican government officials and law enforcement, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, must ensure that LGBT people have the protection they need to survive."
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, wife Diane Patrick and daughters Sarah and Katherine Patrick will receive this year's Spirit of Justice Award from Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders Oct. 21 at the Boston Marriott Copley Hotel, according to a press release. In 2008, Katherine came out as a lesbian in an interview she and her father gave to Bay Windows; Diane is a partner at the law firm of Ropes and Gray and heads its diversity committee, which has initiatives for openly LGBT attorneys. Past winners include playwrights Tony Kushner and Terrence McNally; Bishop Gene Robinson; and lesbian couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
Point Foundation, the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBT students of merit, has announced its 2011 Scholar Class, according to a press release. Consisting of students with sterling academic records and leadership achievements, 34 scholars were chosen from almost 2,000 applicants. Additionally, each of the 10 finalists not selected as Point Scholars will receive a $500 honorarium. Over a decade, the foundation has helped more than 160 individual scholars with more than $5.3 million in direct financial support for their college education.
In North Carolina, two lesbian students at Jacksonville's White Oak High School claim that principal Debra Bryan suspended them for three days for hugging, Q Notes reported. Students Virginie Perrault and Judy Weatherington said that school administrators do not punish heterosexual classmates equally. Assistant Superintendent Barry Collins said the students were punished for allegedly disrespecting the teacher who confronted them.
Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican, plans to run for governor next year but experts say that he will have to distance himself from past anti-gay statements in order to win, according to Advocate.com . For instance, blogger Joe Mirabella wrote that "McKenna told reporters in 2004 that marriage equality for gays and lesbians could result in polygamy and incest." Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat who is an LGBT ally, is not expected to run for a third term.
Even though Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli recommended that there should be no protections for individuals based on sexual orientation, the state's board of juvenile justice unanimously voted to ban sexual orientation-based discrimination, Advocate.com reported. Currently there are more than 800 young people housed by the juvenile justice system in Virginia. Equality Virginia recently stated that 8 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls in juvenile detention do not identify as heterosexual.
In South Carolina, one of the state's largest counties unanimously passed an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance, according to Q Notes. Richland county—which houses the capital of Columbia—now joins its county seat and the city of Charleston in offering such protections. The ordinance protects individuals from discrimination on the bases of race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, disability or sexual orientation, with the last item defined as "a person's real or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity or expression."
The anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church is protesting the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) campaign against gay slurs, the Deseret News reported. The group plastered photos of NBA Commissioner David Stern, who started the public-service campaign, with congregants saying that now "God hates David Stern and the NBA." However, some social-network users are also criticizing the NBA's pro-gay ads; a poll revealed that 37 percent of opinions are against the commercials.
In Michigan, the Holland City Council has asked City Attorney Andrew Mulder to draw up a proposed amendment that would include sexual orientation and gender identity in the city's non-discrimination ordinance, according to WHTC.com . The council council will place the matter on the agenda for a June 15 business meeting, where they will decide whether to accept the city's Human Relations Commission's recommendation to approve such an amendment.
A USA Today study has found that one-third of HIV-positive people are diagnosed so late that they develop AIDS within one year. The analysis also found that Florida, New York, Texas, Georgia and New Jersey have the largest epidemics and the highest number of late diagnoses. The issue has taken on new urgency due to a National Institutes of Health study showing that HIV therapy cuts the risk that an infected person will pass HIV to a sexual partner by 96 percent.
Appearing on Piers Morgan's CNN talk show, conservative pundit Ann Coulter refused to answer questions about her personal life, according to On Top Magazine. At first, Coulter refused to answer when Morgan asked, "Let's talk about you for a moment. Engaged three times. You're 50 in December, are you?" However, she also refused to answer some hypotheticals, including how she would feel if she had a gay or lesbian child; she chose instead to ask Morgan how he would react. (He said he'd "be fine with it.")
In his new book, God Is Not a Christian and Other Provocations, Archbishop Desmond Tutu comments on including gays and lesbians in the church, according to a Huffington Post item. Tutu disagrees with the official policies of the world's Anglican churches, which maintain that gays and lesbians should be celibate. In an excerpt from a 2004 sermon, Tutu writes, "A student once asked me, If I could have one wish granted to reverse an injustice, what would it be? I had to ask for two. One is for world leaders to forgive the debts of developing nations which hold them in such thrall. The other is for the world to end the persecution of people because of their sexual orientation, which is every bit as unjust as that crime against humanity, apartheid."
HHS' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance to state Medicaid agencies clarifying that they are able to offer same-sex couples many of the same financial and asset protections available to opposite-sex couples when a partner is entering a nursing home or care facility. In a letter, CMS advised state agencies of their ability to ensure that same-sex partners can remain in shared homes without Medicaid liens being applied.
The Department of Education has issued a "dear colleague" letter to school districts around the country, reinforcing students' legal right under the federal Equal Access Act to form gay-straight alliances (GSAs). Under the Equal Access Act, schools are required to treat extracurricular clubs equally; however, school districts across the country have been refusing to allow students to form GSAs.
The number of gay and lesbian parents in the United States has doubled, according to an Advocate.com item. The 2000 census showed that 8 percent of same-sex couples reported having an adopted child; in 2010, that figure skyrocketed to 19 percent. The increase has happened despite legal hurdles in many states that do not recognize marriage equality and that ban gay people from adopting.
Officials at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church—Rev. Eddie Long's church in Lithonia, Ga.—had been paying each of the four men who accused the disgraced bishop of having sexual relations with them, $40,000 annually before charges were filed, according to the Washington Informer. A source reported that in addition to Long allegedly giving a private apology to the men, the church has settled the lawsuit they brought against him for nearly $25 million.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against U.S. House Speaker John Boehner for violating the Antideficiency Act, according to a press release. Boehner directed the House Office of General Counsel to sign a contract to pay an outside firm $500,000 to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. "It is ironic that Speaker Boehner—a fierce critic of government overspending—did not hesitate to pledge half a million dollars he does not have to defend a law of dubious constitutionality," said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan.
In Kentucky, a disabled gay couple was ejected from a public recreation facility in Hazard, outraging local pro-LGBT organizations, Advocate.com reported. A maintenance technician turned away the developmentally and intellectually disabled couple, saying, "We own this place and can tell you to leave if we want to." Several organizations plan to stage a protest at Hazard City Hall and at the Pavilion, the facility that threw out the couple.
A coalition of LGBT advocacy groups is urging the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to apologize for the harm its teachings are causing the LGBT community, according to a press release. The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Believe OutLoud, Faith in America, GetEQUAL, Human and Equal Rights Organizers, No Longer Silent, Soulforce and Truth Wins Out are organizing a petition drive. "We call on the Southern Baptist Convention to stop misusing the Bible to promote religion-based bigotry and start recognizing the enormous pain and suffering caused by its mistreatment of LGBT people, particularly vulnerable youth," said Dr. Jack McKinney, a former Southern Baptist minister and spokesperson for Faith in America.
In Los Angeles, Calif., a federal bankruptcy court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional in relation to a case involving a gay couple who filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, according to Advocate.com . Gene Balas and Carlos Morales, who were legally married in California in 2008, filed for bankruptcy protection under Title 11 of the U.S. Code. The United States Trustee wanted to dismiss this case, citing DOMA.
The Veterans Healthcare Administration has notified its hospitals and clinics that transgender veterans are eligible for hormones; care before and after gender-reassignment surgery; and mental-health counseling as part of their regular benefits, according to a Washington Times item. However, the administration reiterated that staff members are not allowed to perform genital surgeries on veterans in the process of changing genders.
The lesbian half-sister of GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has come to his defense, Advocate.com reported. Candace Gingrich-Jones, who works for the Human Rights Campaign, said that he has softened his stance on gay-rights issues, crediting his third wife, Callista. A majority of Gingrich's presidential campaign staff resigned after Gingrich went on a two-week cruise, which many staffers said was inappropriate during this point of the campaign.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo submitted a program bill to bring marriage equality to the state, according to NY.gov . The Marriage Equality Act allows all couples to enter into marriage, thereby removing the current barrier same-sex couples face in recognizing their relationships, protecting their families and obtaining essential benefits. "On the issue of marriage equality, our state has fallen behind," Cuomo said. "When it comes to fighting for what's right, New Yorkers wrote the book, and marriage equality is the next chapter of our civil-rights story."
In Seattle, Wash., the operators of the structure known as the Space Needle told the city's gay community that it will fly a Pride flag from the top—if residents can raise $45,000 for LGBT charities, according to Advocate.com . The Needle flew the flag for the first time last year, but when asked to do it again, they presented the fundraising challenge to Seattle. The money will go to the Greater Seattle Business Association LGBT and allied scholarship fund; Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project; Lambda Legal; and Mary's Place, a trans-inclusive women's shelter.
