Joep Lange, a former president of the International AIDS Society, was among those killed in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down Thursday over eastern Ukraine. According to the Washington Post the identities of the victims have not been officially confirmed by the airline. But Lange’s office in Amsterdam confirmed in a statement that…
Thursday, Monroe County Circuit Judge Luis Garcia, appointed by Republican Governor Jeb Bush, ruled against Florida’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, making the Sunshine State the latest to see such a ban struck down in court since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its historic marriage rulings last June. In Huntsman v. Heavilin, attorneys with the…
Many HIV/AIDS researchers and advocates travelling to the 2014 International Aids Conference are believed to have perished in the downing of Malaysia Flight MH17 by a reputed missile. The flight was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. While there are reports naming specific passengers, at this point no passenger has been confirmed by a credible…
As San Diego Pride celebrates 40 years, it is time to reflect upon what has been accomplished in the last four decades. The first San Diego Pride March, which really was a protest, was marred by shame as a few who marched put paper bags over their heads to hide their identity. Fear; fear that…
After two years at Liberty Station, San Diego IndieFest creators/ producers Alicia Champion and Danielle LoPresti have decided to make a big move and transition the festival to their own ‘hood of City Heights, in an experiment to help revitalize and strengthen the city’s most culturally rich neighborhood. California State Assembly Speaker, Toni Atkins, said, “I can attest to the singular effect that…
July 15, 2010, President Obama released the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which envisions that “the United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and…
While openly gay athletes in the United States are encountering a slow, grudging but increasingly accepting environment on the field for their skills, Australian athletes, especially those in the hypermasculinized world of rugby, face a unique degree of homophobia, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “In the largest survey of its kind, Out on the Fields…
Jan Adamec , a historian and political scientist who specializes in the histories of the USSR, Hungary and Czechoslovakia after 1945, has released his annual findings of Czech opinions on the social acceptability of homosexuality. The Public Opinion Research Centre of the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Centrum…
Assam, an Indian state of some 30 million people located in the country’s Northeastern corner, is known for many things. It has been designated as one of the richest biodiversity zones in the world, is the last refuge for a number of threatened species including the Bengal Florican, the white-rumped vulture and the one-horned rhinoceros…
Father’s Day, Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) honored retired SDSU professor Emery Cummins with their annual Rev. David Farrell Community Service Award in recognition of his longtime activism for social justice. Cummins was a supporter of “gay rights” long before it became fashionable. When I contacted Emery Cummins to arrange a time when I could interview…
