In Indiana, state Rep. Edward Clere, R-New Albany, said he hopes his bill about consent for intersex children in state custody will open up a broader discussion on gender issues, according to Nuvo.net . House Bill 1242 would prevent intersex children in the custody of the state from receiving gender-differentiation procedures, unless medically necessary. "It's not a familiar topic," Clere said. "I'm hoping to spark interest in the issue here in Indiana."
A new survey from Visit Indy shows Indiana lost as much as $60 million in convention revenue alone because of last year's Religious Freedom Restoration Act ( RFRA ) fight, The Human Rights Campaign noted. "The evidence of the disastrous consequences from Gov. Pence's discriminatory RFRA fight last year is undeniable," said JoDee Winterhof, HRC senior vice president for policy and political affairs. "Despite the profound economic damage they inflicted on the state last year, anti-LGBT lawmakers are so vehemently opposed to equality that they are pushing for an even more catastrophic 'Super RFRA' this year."
A diverse coalition of advocates, academics, artists and others has launched the "Stop Hate/Dump Trump" campaign, a press release stated. A new web site, StopHateDumpTrump.com, "will provide a platform for those who do not and will not stand for the continued threats, rhetoric and fear mongering by the Republican Presidential front-runner," according to the release. Among those in the coalition are Kerry Washington, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Lily Tomlin, Harry Belafonte and Jane Fonda.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton named Appeals Court Judge Margaret Chutich to fill an open spot on the state Supreme Court, installing the first openly gay justice on the state's highest court, the Associated Press reported. The Democratic governor said that while he is aware of Chutich's sexual orientation, her performance over the last four years on the state's appellate court trumped any other factors. Chutich is the third woman the Democratic governor has appointed to the court since he took office in 2011.
Hillary Clinton has hit back at rival Bernie Sanders after he accused LGBT-rights leaders of colluding with the "establishment" by backing her, according to PinkNews. The Sanders campaign suggested the Human Rights Campaign's ( HRC's ) endorsement "cannot possibly be based on the facts" because he has been a lifelong supporter of LGBT rights—and accused HRC of being an "establishment organizations voting for the establishment candidate." However, Clinton fired back, questioning Sanders' claim that HRC and reproductive rights group Planned Parenthood are both part of the "establishment" for backing Hillary.
Trans veteran Donna Mae Stemmer was recently buried in Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery for veterans in Wrightstown, N.J.—but under the name "Donald R. Stemmer" because she hadn't legally changed it, EPGN.com reported. Stemmer, a Korean War veteran, served in the U.S. Army for more than 30 years; she reached the rank of lieutenant colonel and received 25 decorations. In 2008, Stemmer lobbied Arlington National Cemetery to allow her headstone to reflect her female name and affiliation with the City of Brotherly Love Softball League, an LGBT organization; however, she said Arlington denied her request.
U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett ( R-N.J. ) has been a longtime beneficiary of Wall Street—but that relationship may now be complicated by his views on gay-rights issues, WNYC.org reported. Garrett appears to have crossed a line last summer, when he withheld dues from the National Republican Congressional Committee to the party's campaign arm over the group's support for gay candidates—in stark contrast to Wall Street's leadership in the area of gay rights. Big banks like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase have already withheld funds from Garrett, and other banks appear set to follow. However, Garrett has now said his opposition to same-sex marriage comes from his faith, and he does not "have malice" toward any group of people, NJ.com noted.
Openly gay CNN anchor Don Lemon took the final moments of a show to remember the lives of three Atlanta gay men who lost their lives in a single-vehicle crash Jan. 9, The Georgia Voice reported. Adam Bailey, 33; Cordel Fowler, 24; and Esu Manzano, 36, were headed south on Interstate 75 when the driver lost control. Among other things, Lemon noted that Manzano left behind a partner and two children.
Sgt. Matthew Mahl—a gay 11-year veteran at the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and a former supervisor of the department's LGBT Liaison Unit—won election on Jan. 12 as head of the police union, according to The Washington Blade. Under the union's governing procedures, Mahl doesn't assume the office of chairman until April 1. Mahl was acting supervisor and, later, supervisor of the then-Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit from July 2012 to March 2015, when Sgt. Jessica Hawkins, the current supervisor, succeeded him.
In Minnesota, a public charter school in St. Paul is at the center of a debate over how to best meet the needs of transgender and gender non-conforming students, LGBTQ Nation reported. The parents of a 5-year-old child who is gender-nonconforming asked Nova Classical Academy to help make sure their student was not being bullied. St. Paul Public Schools approved a gender-inclusion policy in March; that includes bathrooms, which has some parents upset.
A legislative oversight panel will take a bipartisan approach to investigating a conference for gay and transgender youth, TheGazette.com reported. Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who leads the House Government Oversight Committee, appointed two legislators each to four issues he expects the committee to investigate during the legislative session. Among the subjects is the Iowa Governor's Conference on LGBTQ Youth; Kaufmann and other Republican legislators raised concerns about last year's conference, saying they heard reports of vulgar and inappropriate content, such as guidance on how to find orgies and calls to vandalize the property of people who disapprove of LGBT individuals' lives.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) issued a statement condemning a vote by the South Dakota House State Affairs Committee in favor of the measure HB 1008. The measure seeks to prevent transgender students in public schools from using facilities that are consistent with their gender identity, and has been amended to require educational institutions to pay the costs of the resulting legal challenges. HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow said, "This discriminatory measure would put state law in direct conflict with the United States Department of Education, and now lawmakers want to force schools in the state to pay for the expensive legal challenges that would result. These lawmakers are shamefully threatening to only compound the pervasive discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, and violence that transgender students already tragically face."
Gay-rights activist and LGBT publisher Tim Campbell died Dec. 26, 2015, at a hospice in Houston at the age of 76 from esophageal cancer, according to Press Pass Q. Campbell was perhaps best known as the publisher of the GLC Voice newspaper in Minneapolis, which was published from 1979 to 1992.
A documented member of the Latin Kings street gang allegedly used a hammer to beat to death a transgender teen who once considered him a boyfriend, LGBTQ Nation reported. A George County grand jury indicted 28-year-old Joshua Vallum in the killing of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, of Theodore, Alabama. Williamson's death made national news last year when Caitlyn Jenner remembered her during an acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe award at the ESPY Awards.
A man who fatally stabbed his live-in boyfriend and mutilated the victim's body at the West Hollywood, California, apartment they briefly shared has been sentenced to 12 years in state prison, according to WeHoVille.com . Andre Davids, 38, was found guilty Dec. 17 of voluntary manslaughter for the March 29, 2014, killing of Kurtland Ma, a 34-year-old emergency-room physician. Jurors acquitted Davids of the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
Equality Federation launched the Legislative Action Center ( LAC ), according to a press release. The LAC aims to empower state-based LGBTQ organizations to hold their ground during state legislative sessions while also winning nondiscrimination protections and other important policy advances for LGBTQ people and their families. The center is at http://equalityfederation.org/lac.
Sports Equality Foundation, an organization focused on empowering athletes and coaches to publicly come out, has launched, according to USA Today. The foundation branched off of the work of the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, which, for the last five years, has focused on anti-LGBT bullying in the United States and United Kingdom. See SportsEqualityFoundation.com .
In Maryland, a group representing LGBT Catholics protested the firing of music minister Jeffery Higgins at Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown, WTOP.com reported. They claim the dismissal was discriminatory because he is gay and married to a man. The rally was organized by Dignity USA, a national organization of LGBT Catholics.
In Houston, police are searching for a driver who hit a young gay man and then fled the scene, Advocate.com noted. Michael Alexander Hill, 21, died after being struck by a vehicle that ran a red light. Hill had loved figure skating, and worked as a server at two restaurants in Houston while studying for the foreign-services exam.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP—a drug taken daily to prevent HIV—was shown in a new study to be as safe for users as taking aspirin, UPI.com noted. Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles involved with the study analyzed five previous studies on PrEP involving 15,490 participants and two studies on aspirin safety with 61,947 participants. PrEP is a combination of the drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir, marketed as the drug Truvada, that can be taken by HIV-negative people at risk for contracting the virus.
CNBC reported that the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) is investigating Turing Pharmaceuticals for possible antitrust violations in connection with the company's decision to hike the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5,000 percent, a lawyer for former Chief Executive Martin Shkreli wrote. The probe was disclosed in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from Baruch Weiss, Shkreli's lawyer, as grounds for why his client would not answer questions about drug prices at a Jan. 26 hearing. The drug Daraprim—which was acquired by the company and whose price was raised to $750 a tablet from $13.50—is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection especially dangerous to AIDS patients and others with compromised immune systems.
In San Francisco, Robert Pritchard—the widower of hotel telecommunications engineer Thomas Conwell—has sued the IUOE Stationary Engineers Local 39 Pension Plan and its board of trustees for refusing to provide him with a spousal pension benefit because both spouses are men, according to a National Center for Lesbian Rights ( NCLR ) press release. ( NCLR ); the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center ( CREEC ); and the law firm Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow LLP are representing Pritchard.
A northern Virginia high school's boys basketball program has been suspended indefinitely following allegations of sexual misconduct on a team bus, the Associated Press reported. Shenandoah County Schools Superintendent Jeremy Raley on Thursday announced the suspension of the Strasburg High boys varsity and junior varsity practices and games until further notice. Shenandoah County Sheriff's Maj. Scott Proctor said his office is investigating an alleged sexual assault on a team bus in mid-December, adding that the alleged victim was a 16-year-old male who was traveling with the team.
A check-printing company accused of discriminating against a transgender woman working at one of its call centers is cutting a big check in a settlement after violating federal employment law, Advocate.com noted. Britney Austin was employed by Deluxe Financial Services, Inc. at its Phoenix, Arizona call center, where she says she faced harassment and discrimination because of her gender identity. The business, one of the nation's largest check-printing companies, has agreed to pay $115,000 and to implement numerous changes to company policies.
In Washington, D.C., a 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with the violent robbery of a gay couple, PinkNews reported, citing The Washington Blade. Calvin Lawrence, 48, said the incident took place when his partner Joseph Cowart, 43, tried to stop a group of teens from assaulting and robbing a 14-year-old boy. The 15-year-old has been charged with felony assault and robbery in connection with the incident.
A man has been charged with a federal hate crime in connection with an attack on a gay co-worker at an Amazon shipping facility in Virginia, the Chicago Sun-Times noted. James William Hill III, 34, of Chester, Virginia, was charged under the Matthew Shepard James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Act—the fourth time in history the sexual orientation provision in the act has been used in a state that does include the category in its list of protected classes, according to RVA.com .
A judge sentenced a man to 20 days in jail after he was convicted of "ethnic menacing" for harassing a gay man at a central Ohio health club, LGBTQ Nation reported. At his sentencing in Columbus, Michael D. Smith said it was "an unfortunate situation that got overblown." After he gets out of jail, he'll be on probation for two years.
Registration for the HIV is Not a Crime II Training Academy, to be held May 17-20 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, is open, according to a press release. Tracks will focus on effective and accountable leadership; rights, policy and justice; and campaign planning, strategy and messaging. The deadline for abstract submissions is Friday, Feb. 26; visit www.hivisnotacrime.com .
GLSEN has launched the new GLSEN Shop, which includes the first-ever lifestyle brand to support LGBT youth and improve school climates, a press release stated. For 25 years, GLSEN has worked with students and educators in schools across the country to ensure the existence of four key interventions that improve school climates. The shop includes GLSEN Proud, GLSEN Respect, GLSEN Resources and GLSEN Action; see shop.glsen.org/ .
The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association's Stylebook will be expanded for those outlets delivering the news in Spanish, Press Pass Q noted. The NLGJA Stylebook is intended to complement the prose stylebooks of individual publications as well as the Associated Press stylebook.
The co-founders of the LGBTI youth networking-app Distinc.tt have been included in Forbes latest 30 Under 30 list of consumer tech entrepreneurs to watch, Gay Star News noted. Thomas McAfee and Michael Belkin, each 29, launched Distinc.tt in 2014 for people aged 13 and older. The Wall Street Journal has described the app—which has its headquarters in San Francisco—as "Foursquare meets Facebook for the LGBT community."
