Beyond the Carolinas
A regional LGBT institution is gone with the Jan. 26 closing of Outwrite Bookstore and Coffeehouse. On the day of the closing, owner Philip Rafshoon told the Georgia Voice, “It’s been a great run, but we’re closed for businesss. For good. We’re not able to relocate. We thought we could. It just didn’t come together. It was a long shot to begin with and we wanted to cling to hope that we could find a new place.”
On Nov. 19, 2011, Florida A&M University student Robert Champion Jr. was found unresponsive aboard a band bus after the school’s biggest game of the year. Police ruled the death a homicide from hazing.
Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George ignited a firestorm when he compared advancing LGBT equality to the Ku Klux Klan in a television interview with Fox Chicago a few days before Christmas. Cardinal George said: “You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”
Petty Officer 2nd class Jase Daniels (pictured), discharged from the U.S. Navy in April 2005 and again in March 2007 under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” has been reinstated and returned to active duty. He was sworn in on Dec. 12.
Nearly three out of four Americans living with HIV do not have their infection under control, according to a Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released in conjunction with World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. The low percentage comes from the fact that 1 in 5 people with HIV do not know they are infected and, of those who are aware, only 51 percent receive ongoing medical care and treatment.
A new Williams Institute study released Nov. 18 finds there are more than 28,500 binational same-sex couples in which one partner is a U.S. citizen and one is not and nearly 11,500 same-sex couples in which neither partner is a U.S. citizen.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has filed a landmark federal lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, on behalf of current and former service members seeking equal recognition, benefits and family support for equal sacrifice and service in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Frank Kameny and Paula Ettelbrick, both prominent figures for decades in the LGBT rights movement, passed away earlier this month. Kameny, 86, died at his Washington D.C.-area home on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, of natural causes. Ettelbrick, 56, passed away from cancer four days earlier in New York City.
A settlement has been reached in the case of Vanessa Adams, a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) inmate at FMC Butner, who has gender identity disorder (GID). Adams sued BOP in order to receive appropriate treatment for her GID.
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that kept openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans from serving in the U.S. military officially ended Sept. 20 and according to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the national group that led the fight against the law, the repeal was welcomed with approximately 100 celebrations in all 50 states.
On Sept. 7, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released new guidelines that strengthen the Nov. 2010 hospital visitation rules that protect patients’ rights to be visited in the hospital by their families and loved ones. The guidance, which took effect immediately, makes several important changes to current policy and provides significant protections for LGBT patients and their families.
Deportation policy a step forward WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Obama Administration is implementing new procedures for assessing deportation and removal cases. The changes are expected to aid immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses and children who pose no threat to national security or public safety. Gay equality activists say this prosecutorial [...]
“Sesame Street” puppets Bert and Ernie are longtime roommates who have famously provoked the question “are they or aren’t they” for decades. However, in recent weeks the push for the plush pair to come out of the closet has gained even more steam with the creation of a popular change.org petition calling for the adorable couple to get hitched to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in New York. Plus: More national and global headlines.
President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen notified Congress July 22 that the military is ready to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the discriminatory two-decade old policy that bars lesbian, gay and bisexual people from serving openly in the military.
Activists upset with civil unions bill. Bachmann wants marriage amendment. New health guidelines praised. Suit filed for New Jersey marriage rights.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced June 15 the creation of a first-ever resource center to support the resettlement of LGBT refugees. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of ACF, awarded a $250,000 grant to the Heartland Alliance of Chicago to create this training and technical assistance center.
A new Gallup Poll shows a majority of the American people (53 percent) support marriage rights for committed gay and lesbian couples. Plus, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, has endorsed President Barack Obama for reelection, and other national and global news.
Civil unions approved in Delaware, Tenn. strips local laws. Plus: Full welcome for gay clergy, Teacher of the Year honored, ‘Milk’ is the cream of gay films.
Critical new research has found that LGBT youth who experience high levels of school victimization in middle and high school report impaired health and mental health in young adulthood. Plus: DOJ files to dismiss pay suit. NBA stars fight anti-gay speech. First out senator possible.
Delaware House of Representatives votes 26-15 to approve a civil unions bill that will provide same-sex couples who enter into such arrangements the same rights, protections and obligations now granted to married couples in the state. Plus, firm drops DOMA defense, legislative updates, President Clinton calls for N.Y. marriage and global briefs.
