Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States will immediately begin issuing immigrant visas to same-sex couples, according to Politico.com . Speaking at the U.S. Embassy in London, Kerry said the applications will be given the same consideration as heterosexual couples. As long as the marriage is valid in the jurisdiction, either U.S. or foreign country where it took place, it is valid for immigration purposes, the State Department issued in statement. An engaged couple who cannot marry in the foreign fiance's country can apply for a fiance(e) (K) visa.
Colorado's first same-sex divorce has been finalized, marking a precedent for gay and lesbian couples who were married in other states but reside in Colorado, according to Advocate.com . Juli Yim and Lorelei Jones married in 2009 in Massachusetts, but Yim has said the relationship soured quickly; Yim has since reconnected with childhood friend Suzie Calvin, and they are now engaged. Colorado's new civil-union law treats same-sex marriages performed outside of the state the same as a heterosexual couple's marriage.
The HIV Prevention Trials Network has begun screening men for possible involvement in what may be a landmark study, according to HIVPlusMag.com . The study, known as HPTN 073, will be studying pre-exposure prophylaxis initiation and adherence in HIV-negative Black men who have sex with men. The study will occur at three of the network's United States research facilities in Washington, D.C.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Los Angeles.
If given the opportunity to vote on a law legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states, the slight majority of Americans, 52 percent, would cast their vote in favor while 43 percent would vote against it, according to Gallup.com . Across the nation's major demographic, political, and religious groups, support for the proposed law ranges from as high as 77 percent among self-described liberal Americans, and 76 percent among those with no religious affiliation, to as low as 23 percent among weekly churchgoers, and 30 percent among Republicans and conservatives.
The bipartisan campaign Americans for Workplace Opportunity announced it had formed in order to help pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) 19 years after its first introduction, according to a press release. ENDA would ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The group plans to spend more than $2 million on the effort and has hired Matt McTighe, a veteran strategist who most recently served as marriage project director for Gill Action after winning the campaign to bring marriage equality to Maine, to serve as the campaign manager.
Dozens of gay couples began tying the knot Aug. 1 at Minneapolis City Hall as Minnesota—along with Rhode Island—became the latest state to legalize same-sex marriage, NBC News reported. Rhode Island and Minnesota have become the 12th and 13th U.S. states (along with the District of Columbia) to allow same-sex marriage. In Minneapolis, Hennepin County judges married dozens of couples in the hours before dawn. The national gay-rights group Freedom to Marry estimates that about 30 percent of the U.S. population now lives in places where marriage equality is legal.
Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) joined Wisconsin colleague Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-2) to introduce legislation supporting LGBT runaway and homeless youth, according to a press release. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), last reauthorized in 2008 as the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act, is up for reauthorization this year. Currently, the legislation omits language relating to LGBT youth.
The U.S. Senate, on Aug. 1, confirmed several of President Obama's appointees, among them five openly gay individuals. Notably absent from the list, however, was James "Wally" Brewster, the openly gay Chicagoan who the president nominated as Ambassador to the Dominican Republic in late June. Church officials in the Caribbean nation objected to Brewster's nomination and instigated protests in July. Among the appointments confirmed were Daniel Baer to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Rufus Gifford as ambassador to Denmark and James Costos as ambassador to Spain. John Berry will be ambassador to Australia, making him the first openly gay ambassador to a G-20 country. Finally, Stuart Delery will be assistant attorney general for the Civil Division.
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia are filing a federal class-action lawsuit seeking the freedom to marry for all same-sex couples in Virginia as well as an end to Virginia's refusal to recognize marriages same-sex couples have legally entered elsewhere, according to a press release. Lambda Legal, the ACLU, ACLU of Virginia, and Jenner and Block are filing the lawsuit together as co-counsel in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. More about the case, Harris et al. v. McDonnell et al., is at www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/harris-v-mcdonnell.
In California, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said that sensitivity training is needed after a city commisioner made public comments that the mayor said were offensive to Jews and gay people, according to the L.A. Times. Parris said that Stan Muhammad of the city's Neighborhood Vitalization Commission made the statements at a July 20 rally and that "it was not a city event, he was not representing the city" when he said them. Muhammad's rant included the word "faggots" and referred to the "synagogue of Satan."
An Iowa community is reeling after a teen's suicide—the sixth at the local high school over the past five years, according to the Huffington Post. Alexander "AJ" Betts Jr., 16, was reportedly subjected to intense bullying at Southeast Polk High School because of his sexuality (he came out as gay about a year and a half ago) and his mixed-race background. Four Southeast Polk teens took their own lives in 2008, while a 17-year-old followed suit in December 2009.
A Southern California man who taught at a Catholic high school for 17 years was fired days after he married his partner, the Huffington Post reported. Teacher Ken Bencomo, 45, and partner Christopher Persky, 32, were one of the first couples to line up July 1 at the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder's office to get married after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. On July 12, Bencomo was notified in person by Assistant Principal Sister Helen Dziuk that he was being terminated because his marriage violates the church's teachings.
In Alabama, a judge has granted Chelsea Hughes, a lesbian mother of four, full visitation rights with her children, reversing a lower court's decision barring the woman's partner from being present during visits, according to Salon.com . The state's so-called "paramour restrictions" prevent unmarried partners from spending the night during custody visits, a challenge for blended same-sex families in the state, where gay marriage isn't legally recognized. Hughes' ex-husband had previously denied her access to her children because of her sexual orientation.
A gay couple is considering legal action against a bus company after they were allegedly forced to sit in the back of a shuttle bus in New Mexico for holding hands, the Huffington Post reported. Ron McCoy and his partner, Chris Bowers, flew into Albuquerque June 28 for the city's PrideFest and a Southwest road trip. After leaving the airport, they hopped on a Standard Parking shuttle bus and sat in the front of the vehicle holding hands. The shuttle driver, Mychael Jones, allegedly said, "Okay, if you're going to do that, you're going to the back of the bus."
In Nevada, five retired United Methodist ministers are taking a stand against their church's rules regarding same-sex unions, according to CBS San Francisco. Retired Revs. John Emerson and Nadene DeWitt of Sparks and Karla Bowman of Reno announced at a news conference in Reno that they've signed onto a covenant with 80 of their colleagues in California to perform same-sex holy unions. Retired Revs. Bill McCord of Carson City and John Sublett of Sparks also are on board.
A new report ("Still Serving in Silence: Transgender Service Members and Veterans in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey") shows the extent of discrimination transgender people face in the military, according to a press release. Among the key findings are that veterans were more likely to have lost a job due to anti-transgender bias (36 percent) and/or to have not been hired for a job due to bias (53 percent) than non-veterans, and that some veterans described difficulty obtaining corrected military records to reflect their gender identity, causing problems in obtaining health care and in receiving retirement and disability payments.
The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association announced its latest inductees into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame, according to a press release. The inductees are Bob Ross, founder of the Bay Area Reporter, and Mark Segal, founder of the Philadelphia Gay News. Inductees will be honored Aug. 24 during the NLGJA Awards Reception at Boston: Uncommon, the 2013 NLGJA National Convention and 9th Annual LGBT Media Summit. Among the other honorees is Windy City Times' Kate Sosin, who wrote "Generation Halsted, A Special Windy City Times LGBTQ Youth Investigation," with Erica Demarest, Bill Healy and Tracy Baim.
The New Orleans Police Department and FBI are investigating a possible hate crime against the leader of a gay-rights organization in Louisiana, according to Gay Star News. A surveillance videotape shows a suspect at the home of Forum for Equality Chairman John Hill getting out of a van with a stepladder and removing a gay flag from Hill's second-story balcony; the person then returns to spray-paint an anti-gay slur on a shutter. Hill and his fiance, John Weimer, discovered the damage later in the day. The slur remains, but the couple have put up two rainbow flags.
While discussing her opposition of the legalization of same-sex marriage, conservative radio host Sandy Rios linked LGBT love to the feelings Ohio kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro had for his victims, according to the Huffington Post. Rios, American Family Association talk show host and Fox News contributor, mentioned the topic of same-sex marriage while speaking with Chicago anti-gay pastor Erwin Lutzer. David Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement called Rios' comments "offensive and ludicrous." Castro kept victims Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus captive in his Cleveland home for a decade; he was recently sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in prison.
It turns out that Jeff Bezos, the Amazon.com founder and CEO who recently made news by purchasing the Washington Post for $250 million, is a strong proponent of same-sex marriage, The Atlantic noted. For example, he and wife MacKenzie pledged $2.5 million to support a referendum on same-sex marriage last year in Washington state, where he lives. (The referendum passed.) The Post has been supportive of marriage equality but has taken what the Atlantic calls a "gradualist approach."
In Florida, a 2-year-old boy was called a "faggot" and assaulted for wearing a pink hairband, according to Gay Star News. Katie Vyktoriah was shopping with her toddler son, Dexter, when a man who she described as being "overly large with a bushy beard and camouflage shirt" approached the family. He then tore the headband off Dexter's head and slapped the child on the back of the head. After Katie told the man not to touch Dexter, he responded, "Your son is a fucking faggot. He'll get shot for it one day." Although she thought Dexter "rocked the headband," Katie later wrote on The Huffington Post that she now fears for gay kids.
In Illinois, a Cook County Circuit Court judge heard oral arguments Aug. 6 in a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought about last year on behalf of 25 couples seeking the right to marry in Illinois. Darby vs. Orr and Lazarro vs. Orr were filed against Cook County Clerk David Orr in mid-2012. Lambda Legal and ACLU Illinois are representing the plaintiffs. Orr, who is in favor of marriage equality, has refused to defend the state's marriage ban, so the Thomas More Society, a conservative law firm, is representing five opposing county clerks in the matter. Judge Sophia Hall said that she would issue her ruling about the dismissal Sept. 27.
