(CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — The lawyer for Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers University student found guilty of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate, has filed a notice of appeal, a court official said. Ravi’s roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, killed himself by jumping off New York’s George Washington Bridge into the Hudson…
NEW YORK (CNN) – It’s no surprise but a new poll shows President Barack Obama with a strong lead in the solidly blue state of New York. Fifty-six percent of voters in the state said they would pick Obama, while 31 percent said they would support Mitt Romney, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll…
DENVER – The member-delegates of the 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have passed a ground-breaking resolution at their 2012 national conference in Denver last week. The resolution states that SEIU local groups and members will bargain for transgender-inclusive health care coverage as part of their contract negotiations with businesses and employers. “This is…
MAIDEN, N.C. (CNN) – Just about everyone here is talking about the local pastor who made national headlines last week after a video that features him telling congregants how to “get rid of” gays went viral. Neighbors of the Providence Road Baptist Church – where a sign advertises “old time religion” – say Pastor Charles…
BALTIMORE, Md. (CNN) – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has announced its backing of same-sex marriage, following President Barack Obama’s expressed support for marriage equality. “The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure political, social and economic equality of all people,” Roslyn M. Brock, chairman of the NAACP’s…
WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama’s recent decision to support same-sex marriage was the lead selling point against Mitt Romney in the president’s campaign announcement last week of a new drive to court the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) community. “The choice we’re facing as a country and a community could not be clearer,” said Joe Solmonese, a…
WASHINGTON – The fatal stabbing last month of a Marine by a fellow Marine on Capitol Hill’s Barracks Row was a hate crime, the lead prosecutor in the case said in court last week. The Washington Post reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Liebman said that Michael Poth, 20, stabbed Philip M. Bushong, 23, after…
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee has approved the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO) S. 1910. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), would provide benefits for same-sex domestic partners of federal civilian employees on the same basis as spousal benefits. These benefits…
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CNN) – Prosecutors will appeal a 30-day jail sentence handed down last week against Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student convicted of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate, who then killed himself by jumping off New York’s George Washington Bridge. Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said Ravi’s crimes warranted “more…
RICHMOND, Va. (CNN) – Lawmakers in Virginia have voted down Tracy Thorne-Begland’s nomination as a judge to the Richmond General District Courts. The vote was 33-31 with 10 abstentions. He needed 51 votes. Delegate Bob Marshall (R -Manassas) wanted Thorne-Begland, who is openly gay, removed from consideration because of the prosecutor’s past involvement with the…
