THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

COMPILED BY ANDREW DAVIS

Barneys New York has become the first major retailer to launch a campaign exclusively featuring the lives and stories of diverse transgender models and their family members, according to a Transequality.org press release. "Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters" was shot by renowned fashion photographer/filmmaker Bruce Weber, whose photographs have also appeared in GQ, Vogue,and Rolling Stone, while journalist Patricia Bosworth interviewed each model. In addition, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the LGBT Center of New York received half of 10 percent of all sales from Barneys' 11 flagship stores nationwide and Barneys.com on Feb. 11.

Thirteen Utah gay-rights activists were arrested Feb. 10 at the state capitol after staging a sit-in to demand lawmakers hear a bill barring housing and job discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to Reuters. About 20 activists, buoyed by a court ruling that briefly legalized same-sex marriage in the conservative state, had blocked access to part of the Capitol. They said they would not leave unless the Utah Senate president ensured the bill would get a hearing.

A 45-year-old man was found dead, sitting naked on a toilet in the bathroom of a 24-hour bathhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side, according to The New York Daily News. Cops said emergency responders found the man inside the East Side Club bathhouse, which bills itself as "New York's premier social relaxation club for gay and bisexual men." A police source said narcotics were found and that the death appeared to be an overdose. Release of the man's identity was pending notification of his family in the Philippines.

Michael Sam, an All-American defensive lineman from Missouri Tigers and the Associated Press' SEC Defensive Player of the Year, said that he is gay in interviews with ESPN's "Outside the Lines" and the New York Times on Feb. 9, according to ESPN. Sam is eligible for the NFL draft in May. Assuming that he is drafted, Sam could become the first openly gay player in the history of the NFL. Raised in the small town of Hitchcock, Texas, Sam said he grew up uncertain about what his sexual orientation was.

California cannot ban gay-conversion therapy until the U.S. Supreme Court says whether it will look at the law, the 9th Circuit ruled, according to Courthouse News. California's SB 1172, which the 9th Circuit upheld in August, bans state-licensed psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors from using the so-called "ex-gay" therapy on patients younger than 18. Counselors, psychiatrists and their patients filed two cases against Gov. Jerry Brown over the ban, which they challenge as a violation of their free-speech rights.

Maryland lawmakers recently held a hearing on a bill that would ban anti-transgender discrimination in the state, according to The Washington Blade. Members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee heard testimony from supporters and opponents of Senate Bill 212 that state Sen. Rich Madaleno ( D-Montgomery County ) introduced last month. Gov. Martin O'Malley is among those who submitted testimony in support of SB 212.

Gay Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin ( D-Alexandria ) officially tossed his hat in the ring on Thursday as a candidate for the Northern Virginia U.S. House seat retiring Congressman Jim Moran is vacating, The Washington Blade noted. Ebbin joins seven other declared candidates running in the June 10 Democratic primary for a seat representing the strongly Democratic 8th Congressional District. The district includes parts of Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax County.

A North Carolina boy attempted suicide after being repeatedly bullied over his love of "My Little Pony," according to The New York Daily News. Michael Morones, 11, was found hanging from his bunk bed after he finally cracked under the pressure of his pre-teen tormenters at school, his family said. Morones has been hospitalized at an area children's hospital; doctors have said that he may have permanent brain damage and needs a tube in his throat.

The ACLU has released a toolkit for addressing the sexual assault of LGBT prisoners, a press release stated. "End the Abuse: Protecting LGBTI Prisoners from Abuse" is a four-part toolkit that helps advocates devise a strategy to pressure jails and prisons to meet their obligations under PREA ( the Prison Rape Elimination Act ). The kit also identifies common violations of the PREA regulations as well as a "Know Your Rights" guide. See https://www.aclu.org/end-abuse-protecting-lgbti-prisoners-sexual-assault.

In California, the 32-year-old San Diego man who died in a hit-and-run crash has been identified as LGBT ally Seamus O'Bryan, a property master at Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park, according to SDGLN.com . Will Widick spoke of O'Bryan's humanitarian efforts, saying, "He was a straight man, but a HUGE supporter of LGBT equal rights including marriage equality. He was such a supporter, that he marched with us in several Prop 8 rallies."

Openly gay freelance journalist Itay Hod does not regret repeating a story from a friend about Congressman Aaron Schock ( R-Ill. ) that supposedly outed the politician, according to Gay Star News. The story involved the friend's gay roommate and Schock—who has seemingly gotten more coverage for his physique than his legislative efforts—allegedly emerging from a show together. Hod said at an NLGJA ( National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association ) event that he is frustrated with news organizations, both LGBT and mainstream, being so reluctant to out public figures.

A former employer of a young gay man from Atlanta launched an online campaign to raise money to help pay for his funeral, Project Q Atlanta reported. The body of Robert Glenn Hucks, 20, was found by hunters in a wooded area in Camden County, Ga.; police in Jacksonville, Fla., later arrested Jeremy Christian Pittman, 34, and charged him with murder in connection with the homicide. Porn studio BoyCrush Studios ( for whom Hucks performed in videos in late 2011 and early 2012 ) launched a YouCaring campaign to raise $8,000 to help the family with Hucks' funeral.

In Circle Pines, Minn., Centennial High School senior Ryan Eichenauer found two anonymous threatening letters that have prompted a police investigation—weeks after revealing he's gay, according to MyFoxTwinCities.com . The notes came after Eichenauer posted a videotaped message to friends, family and classmates on Facebook just before the New Year. One of the letters reads, in part, "I see there are many others who also want you dead. Good. And it's not just the two of us who have decided to speak up. It's everyone."

According to a new Williams Institute study that demographer Gary J. Gates has authored, 2.4 million ( 29 percent ) LGBT adults experienced a time in the last year when they did not have enough money to feed themselves or their family—a condition known as "food insecurity." According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 49 million residents ( nearly 16 percent ) were food-insecure in 2012. The full report is at http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Food-Insecurity-in-LGBT-Communities.pdf.

Talk-show host Piers Morgan and transgender advocate Janet Mock have sparred on Twitter over a CNN interview, according to Digital Spy. After appearing on Morgan's show, Mock complained on Twitter over being referred to as "formerly male" on the CNN news program. Morgan later defiantly responded to Mock's tweets and defended his own record in coverage of the LGBT community: "Totally support 100% equality for LGBT community, by the way. And have done on air. So find all this @janetmock business utterly ludicrous." He later tweeted, "I fear I am now a victim of 'cisphobia'."

A Missouri House Republican wants to impeach Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon over the acceptance of joint tax returns from legally married same-sex couples, according to LGBTQ Nation. GOP state Rep. Nick Marshall filed a resolution that states breached his duty to faithfully execute the laws and is guilty of "willful neglect of duty and misconduct in office." Missouri's Constitution only recognizes marriages between men and women.

Darrin P. Gayles, a Florida state circuit judge, appears to be on track to become the nation's first openly gay Black man to serve on the federal bench, according to Iowa Public Radio. Obama nominated Gayles, a former assistant U.S. attorney, to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida—who previously blocked the nomination of gay Black circuit Judge William Thomas of Miami—said he won't impede Gayles.

Attorney General Mark Herring said Virginia has been on the wrong side of landmark civil-rights cases during a press conference, according to WAVY.com . On Feb. 4, arguments were heard in the case of Bostic v. Rainey in a federal courtroom in Norfolk. ( Tim Bostic and Tony London are a gay couple living in Norfolk who wanted to obtain a marriage license and were denied. ) Herring announced shortly after he took office he believed Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, and he would not defend the law in federal lawsuits. Virginia Solicitor General Stuart Raphael argued in court on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Before National School Counseling Week ( Feb. 3-7 ), four leading organizations supporting the mental health of youth released a "Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention," according to a press release. The model policy—a collaboration featuring the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists and The Trevor Project—is research-based, comprehensive and easily adaptable for middle and high schools without policies or those that need help amending existing policies. See TheTrevorProject.org/pages/modelschoolpolicy.

Pozitively Healthy—a national HIV consumer advocacy and education coalition led by HealthHIV—marked National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day ( Feb. 7 ) and spotlighted the continued disparities in rates of HIV infection among Black/African-American populations in a press release. One example ( obtained from the CDC ) states that the estimated rate of new HIV infections for Black women ( 38.1/100,000 population ) was 20 times higher than the rates for White women, and almost five times as high as that of Latinas. Also, AIDS is among the top five causes of death among Black women and men aged 25 to 44.

A Florida high schooler was suspended for 10 days after a lunchroom fight in which he reportedly stepped in to defend a gay student from a bully, according to Advocate.com . Mark Betterson, a senior at East Lee County High School in Lehigh Acres, Fla., told WFTX TV that he got involved in the situation after James Griffin, 18, threw milk in a gay student's face, called him a gay slur and began beating him. East Lee County High School has a zero-tolerance policy on fighting, so Betterson was suspended for 10 days —a decision he plans to appeal at a hearing.

Empowered Products, Inc.—maker of the PINK and Gun Oil personal lubricants—planned to air its first-ever television commercial on Thursday, Feb. 13, and Friday, Feb. 14 ( Valentine's Day ), according to a press release. The 60-second spot—which the company "believes ... is the first by a major U.S. manufacturer or publicly-traded company to utilize an authentic portrayal of marriage equality and service by gays in the U.S. military"—was slated to air on the Bravo and E! networks in seven major U.S. markets.

Lambda Legal has filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights against BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana ( BCBS ) after the state's largest insurer stopped accepting federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program ( RWHAP ) third-party premium subsidies for low-income Louisianans living with HIV, according to a press release. Lambda Legal sent a letter to BCBS of Louisiana Jan. 27, asking that the insurance provider reverse its policy change and resume accepting RHWAP premium subsidies or explain the rationale for its abrupt and harmful policy shift; BCBS never replied.

A Roman Catholic priest in Missouri told a lesbian that she would not be able to receive communion at her mother's funeral because she was in a same-sex relationship, Advocate.com reported. Rev. Benjamin Kneib, the pastor at Saint Columban Catholic Church in Chillicothe, Mo., denied communion to Carol Parker and her partner of 20 years, Josephine Martin, because a newspaper listed Parker and her partner as survivors. Kneib has since apologized to Parker; however, Parker said she and Martin have found a new church an hour away.

Blake Brockington, 17, became the first trans homecoming king in the state of North Carolina and the first out Black trans homecoming king ever in the United States when he was crowned during a halftime ceremony at East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, TransGriot reported. Brockington was one of 13 seniors nominated for and competing for the honor, and raised the most money for East Mecklenburg High's chosen charity, Mothering Across Continents, a non-profit organization that funds the building of schools in the Sudan. Brockington is headed to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in the fall, and plans to continue playing rugby and mentoring young trans students.

Alabama's "Ten Commandments" chief justice wants the governors of all 50 states to pass a federal ban on gay-marriage ban via constitutional convention, Courthouse News Service reported. Such a convention under Article V of the Constitution has never been held, but Justice Ray Moore believes the time is right, and sent letters to the governors. This is Moore's second stint on the Alabama Supreme Court. He was removed from his post as chief justice in 2003 when he refused to comply with a federal judge's order to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery.

An advisory panel of the California Supreme Court has said that state judges should be barred from Boy Scouts membership because the organization discriminates against the gay community, according to Courthouse News Service. The state's code of judicial ethics prohibits judges from holding memberships in organizations that practice "invidious discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation," according to the advisory committee's report. The policy contains exceptions for religious, military and nonprofit youth organizations.

Nevada is withdrawing its support of the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, according to an Associated Press item. Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, in a motion filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, said Nevada's legal arguments in defense of the voter-approved prohibition are no longer viable. She cited the court's recent ruling that said potential jurors cannot be removed from a trial during jury selection solely because of sexual orientation.

One Democratic candidate for Wisconsin attorney general is starting a petition calling on the state's department of justice to stop defending the Wisconsin's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, according to LGBTQ Nation. Democratic Rep. Jon Richards, of Milwaukee, says he's for marriage equality and believes Wisconsin's ban violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause. Richards added that he won't defend it if elected attorney general. Another Democratic candidate, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, also says he also would not defend the gay-marriage ban.

Pastor David Slautterback of Ambassador's Bible Chapel in Pennsylvania announced to the congregation during a recent church service that a man's membership had been revoked because he was gay, Raw Story reported. After 20-year-old Bobbie Pierce was condemned by the church and denied communion, he posted a copy of a letter of discipline he received to The York Daily Record's Facebook page because he wanted others to know that they were not alone. In an interview with the Daily Record, Pastor Slautterback said that Pierce was welcome to continue attending church services as long as he did not speak out about his sexuality.

Idaho's top court ruled that state law allows a woman to adopt the children of her same-sex spouse, in a precedent-setting victory for gay couples in a socially conservative U.S. state that has banned the unions, according to Raw Story. The ruling stems from an adoption petition filed last year by an Idaho woman shortly after her marriage in California to her same-sex partner, the parent of boys ages 12 and 15. The unidentified woman was appealing a magistrate judge's rejection of her petition.

A Maryland teenager has become the first openly gay Boy Scout to achieve the youth organization's highest rank: Eagle Scout, according to Advocate.com . Pascal Tessier, 17, accepted the Eagle Scout badge Feb. 10 in Chevy Chase, Md. Tessier is the first known out scout to attain the Boy Scouts of America's highest rank since the organization's national council voted to lift its ban on gay members ( but not adult leaders ) last May. The new policy went into effect January of this year.