It’s been an interesting week at the Supreme Court. Monday, the Court declined to take up any challenges to Circuit Court rulings in favor of marriage equality, apparently adding the five states involved to the 19 states already allowing same-sex marriage. (Those who remember this column, https://lgbtweekly.jeffjungblut.com/2014/02/27/marriage-equality-its-not-over-til-its-over/, will understand why I’m feeling a little smug.)…
When it comes to out members of the U.S. Congress, Democrats currently lead Republicans six to nothing, including five representatives and one senator. Moderate Republicans hope to change that this year, both to broaden their base and to woo back some large LGBT donors. The road for LGBT Republican candidates isn’t an easy one. In…
Sen. Barbara Boxer once told a group of LGBT activists “I’m your girl!” when lamenting her under use in the No on 8 Campaign. As one of the earliest and fiercest advocates for equality issues across the board, I would be sorry to see her retire, but various whispers and a depleted campaign account suggest…
If the National Football League (NFL) wants to maintain any credibility, it needs to fire or suspend Commissioner Roger Goodell. Should they choose the latter, it should be for at least as long as Goodell suspended Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, because Goodell committed the same crime. No, Goodell did not punch his wife…
“Lock him up and throw away the key.” That seems to be the prevailing sentiment about Thomas Guerra, aka Ashton Chavez, who was charged by the San Diego City Attorney’s Office with “wilfully exposing infectious person to another,” or, in English, lying about his HIV status and infecting his sexual partner(s). If all I have…
Sometime Saturday Michael Sam will find out if he is part of the St. Louis Rams’ 53-man roster, their practice squad, or cut. As the first openly gay player on an NFL team, his fate will be news. His shower habits are not news. Nor is the opinion of an unidentified teammate on said shower…
I almost worked on Ebola virus. A PhD candidate at Emory University, I had the option of working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After reading The Hot Zone and a lecture on emerging diseases from one of its heroes, C.J. Peters, I was ready to don bio-hazard gear for a P4 lab….
It finally happened. After a string of court victories for marriage equality, Circuit Court Judge Russell E. Simmons Jr., upheld Tennessee’s amendment against same-sex marriage, becoming the first jurist to uphold such a ban since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act last year. Having not won a case…
When Rep. Paul Ryan releases a new economic plan, I am typically left to wonder if he is on something. With his new plan for helping the poor, however, I think he might be onto something. Not the idea that poor people need a nanny to help them pull it together, mind you. That’s demeaningly…
When Jo Becker’s book Forcing the Spring: Inside the fight for marriage equality was published earlier this year, it set off a firestorm of arguments about who had contributed how much to the effort and when. Given the breadth of the title, some long term LGBT activists felt it focused too much on Hollingsworth v…
