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Trans
Woman Plays USGA
Fair Hills, NJ – To very little fanfare, the United States Golf
Association last month adopted a policy to allow post-op transgender male-to-female
golfers to participate in women's tournaments, according to Outsports.com
The USGA is the same organization
that outwardly seems to try to quiet the lesbian talk surrounding its
tours and still hasn’t seen a male pro come out.
Significant changes in the past
two years allow trans athletes to compete in professional sports. Last
year, a trans woman was allowed to compete in the Women's Australia Open,
and the International Olympic Committee ruled that trans athletes who
have had sex-reassignment surgery are now allowed to compete in their
chosen gender.
And until last month, the U.S. Ladies
Professional Golf Association specified that participants must be born
female, and denied Danielle Swope's request to play in a women's event,
according to Planetout.com
Raised as Daniel, Swope has lived as a woman since 1997.
Battered Women Lose Protection
Cleveland – Domestic violence charges cannot be filed against unmarried
people because of Ohio's recently enacted definition of marriage, a judge
ruled in late March, according to Associated Press reports.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas
Judge Stuart Friedman changed a felony domestic violence charge against
Frederick Burk to a misdemeanor assault charge because of the state's
constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Before the amendment, courts applied
the domestic violence law by defining a family as including an unmarried
couple living together as would a husband and wife. Now courts can't do
that because of the gay marriage amendment, Friedman wrote.
Opponents of the amendment have said
they hope the conflict over the domestic violence law would result in
the gay marriage ban being repealed.
GA Teen Lesbian Lovers Kill
Fayetteville, GA – A suburban Atlanta teen described as a cold-blooded
killer and her ex-lover pleaded guilty last month to killing the teen's
elderly grandparents, as reported at 365gay.com
In pleading guilty to two counts of
malice murder Holly Harvey told the judge that she planned the killing
because her grandparents did not want the girls to spend time together.
Harvey was sentenced to two consecutive
life sentences, and her former girlfriend, Sandy Ketchum, 16, was sentenced
to three concurrent life terms. When police arrested Harvey they found
she had jotted a to-do list on her forearm: "Kill, keys, money, jewelry."
Harvey laughed at arresting officers. "She was callous and cocky,"
Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department
said at the time. "She is the coldest and most heartless individual
I've ever interviewed."
Still Uphill In Massachusetts
Boston – The Massachusetts legislature is considering the repeal
of a 1913 law that bars issuing wedding licenses to people whose marriages
would be illegal in the states where they reside. The legislature will
also look at three bills to block all same-sex marriages in the state,
according to 365gay.com
Last year, Gov. Mitt Romney
declared that the 1913 law prevented town clerks from issuing licenses
to same-sex couples who do not reside in Massachusetts. The old law is
being challenged in court as lawyers for eight out-of-state same-sex couples
argued their case in the Supreme Judicial Court last month.
The bill before the legislature
has broad support but will likely face a veto from Romney.
The Judiciary Committee is also considering
three bills put forward by Rep. Emile J. Goguen (D-Fitchburg), one of
the state's most ardent opponents of same-sex marriages.
A constitutional amendment that would
ban gay marriage without providing a civil union option has been proposed.
Another bill would declare all gay marriages already performed in Massachusetts
to be without statutory basis. The third would remove the Chief Justice
and the three justices who authored the majority opinion legalizing same
sex marriage.
Silence Outshines 'Truth'
Washington, DC – An estimated 450,000 students across the United
States took a vow of silence on Wednesday, April 13, to bring attention
to the discrimination that many glbt students face in schools today, according
to the Washington Blade. This was the tenth Day of Silence coordinated
by GLSEN.
Just 1,150 students participated in
the inaugural 'Day of Truth' to protest the Day of Silence. The 'Day of
Truth' was organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group,
according to the Associated Press.
P articipants in the Day of Silence
do not speak during the course of the school day to highlight the isolation
and harassment experienced by many gay students.
Participants in the 'Day of Truth'
wore T-shirts with the slogan "The Truth Cannot be Silenced"
and passed out cards declaring their unwillingness to condone "detrimental
personal and social behavior."
This year's Day of Silence coincided
with the launch of a new "Teach Respect" campaign from the Gay,
Lesbian & Straight Education Network. The campaign was created to
help dismantle violence, harassment and bullying brought on due to a student’s
sexual orientation, by using public service announcements to "raise
awareness of the harmful effects of bullying and harassment in American
schools."
Outgames '06: Register Now
Montreal – The 1st World Outgames Montréal 2006 invites you
to register during USA Registration Week, April 29 to May 8, 2005. During
this week, US residents will get 10 percent off the regular registration
fee for sport, culture and the International Conference. There are no
minimum athletic standards to qualify for the Outgames. People with specific
needs or disabilities are integrated as full-fledged participants, volunteers,
officials and spectators. Visit the Outgames website, www.montreal2006.org
The games are to be held July 29 to August 5, 2006.
Open & Shut in Maine
Augusta, ME – A landmark anti-discrimination law received final
House and Senate passage last month, amending the Maine Human Rights Act
by making discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender illegal.
As Gov. John Baldacci signed
the bill, he said, "This act not only offers essential civil rights,
but serves as a welcome.... Our doors are open to all people. This is
a proud day for Maine."
The Christian Civic League of
Maine acted quickly to repeal the gay rights legislation by referendum,
according to the Associated Press reports.
If referendum organizers gather 51,000
petition signatures by June 28, statewide voters would be asked, at the
November election: "Do you want to reject the new law that would
protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education,
public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?"
The Christian Civic League
has vowed to put $2 million into this campaign.
An organization known as Maine Won't Discriminate
announced it will defend the gay rights measure. According to HRC, Maine
is the sixteenth state to outlaw anti-gay bias.
African Bishop Spurns 'Tainted' AIDS Cash
London – An African bishop has announced that he will not accept
funding to help AIDS victims because it comes from an American diocese
that supported the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire,
according to the London newspaper, The Guardian.
Jackson Nzerebende Tembo, the Bishop of South Rwenzori in Uganda, rejected
more than $350,000 from the US diocese of Central Pennsylvania, saying
its clergy and bishop endorsed the election of Robinson, an openly gay
priest.
On an American conservative
Episcopalian website, Bishop Nzerebende announced: "Of course this
will affect some of our programmes. We pray and believe that our God who
created and controls silver and gold in the world will provide for the
needs of His people. Halleluiah! Amen."
The church in Uganda, where homosexuality
remains a crime punishable by life imprisonment, has taken one of the
hardest lines against the gay issue.
Although several African primates
have declared themselves out of communion with the North Americans, they
have mostly continued quietly to accept cash for church projects.
Coming Out All Over
Lawrence, KS; Twin Cities, MN; and Edinburgh, Scotland – Last month,
the outgoing mayor of Lawrence, Kansas announced he was gay, according
to the Associated Press. Mike Rundel said he made the announcement partly
because of a statewide vote in favor of an amendment to the Kansas Constitution
banning gay marriage.
Within days, State Sen. Paul Koering,
a first-term Minnesota Republican, revealed to the Star Tribune
that he is gay. He is believed to be the first openly gay Republican elected
official in Minnesota, and his announcement could affect the debate over
a constitutional ballot question banning same-sex marriage.
In a similarly optimistic vein, The
Scotsman reported in March that Tony Blair has suggested that Britain
could one day have an openly gay Prime Minister. The topic was mentioned
in an interview in March for the gay magazine Attitude. In addition,
Mr. Blair, who noted that there are "plenty" of gay ministers
just below Cabinet level, urged the Church of England to resolve its differences
over homosexual bishops.
More Sex = $50K of Happiness
Atlanta – Increasing sex frequency from once a month to at least
once a week provides as much happiness as a $50,000-a-year raise, as reported
by the Cox News Service in March. The paper titled "Money, Sex and
Happiness: An Empirical Study" was submitted to the National Bureau
of Economic Research.
Written by two economists, David Blanchflower
of England's Dartmouth College and Andrew Oswald of the University of
Warwick in England, the paper is the latest contribution in a growing
field known as "happiness economics."
In their 2004 study, Blanchflower
and Oswald analyzed self-reported sexual activity and levels of happiness
of more than 16,000 American adults who participated in surveys since
the early 1990s.
The study found that a lasting marriage offers about $100,000 worth of
happiness a year. The researchers found no difference in the amount of
happiness from being in a gay relationship. Regardless of sexual orientation,
the most happiness came from having just one partner.
FMA: It's Baaaaaack
Washington, DC – Despite a resounding defeat of the measure in Congress
last year, lawmakers reintroduced the discriminatory Federal Marriage
Amendment last month. In a joint press release, The American Civil Liberties
Union and the Human Rights Campaign called on lawmakers to defeat the
measure once again.
HRC's Deputy Political Director Chris
Labonte stated, "Any way you put it, these measures are bad for the
country."
Compiled this month by Assistant Editor Susan McMillan.