Staff Sergeant Anthony Loverde will return to active duty in May 2012 following his dismissal from the U.S. Air Force in 2008 under the now-defunct ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) policy – the military’s former discriminatory procedure that forbade gays and lesbians from disclosing their sexual orientation. This is the second time a service member…
(CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — Despite long-term relationships, shared children and steadfastness to each other in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, same-sex couples like Heather McIver and Suzanne Lowe, Kelli Evans and Karen Wade, and J. Wesley Thompson and Trey Owen know that their commitments could be invalidated with…
(CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — Maryland’s highest court is set to issue a ruling in a case involving a lesbian couple married in California but denied a divorce in Maryland because the state does not currently allow same-sex marriages. Jessica Port, 29, and Virginia Anne Cowan, 32, were married in San Francisco in…
LOS ANGELES (CNN – San Diego LGBT Weekly) — The Miss Universe organization announced Tuesday it is ending its ban on transgender contestants after coming under scrutiny recently when a Canadian competitor was told she would be disqualified because she was born male. Miss Universe officials insist the change is in spite of, not because…
Next month, voters in the state of North Carolina will decide on a constitutional amendment, dubbed Amendment One, that will either allow same-sex marriages in the state or define marriage as between a man and woman. As the amendment gains foothold in the state, its tangled legal language has sparked debate on its legal loopholes…
BUDAPEST – The Budapest Police Department has refused to grant permission for this year’s Budapest Pride march. This is not the first time the police have tried to prevent the march, and this year they again justified their decision to restrict freedom of assembly with the claim that it is impossible to redirect traffic to…
VANCOUVER, Canada – A Canadian beauty pageant contestant who was disqualified after the Miss Universe Canada organizers discovered she was transgender has been allowed to compete. Jenna Talackova, a 6-foot-1-inch-tall blond model, was one of the 65 finalists selected to contend for the title of Miss Universe Canada and the honor of representing her country…
San Diego District Attorney and mayoral hopeful Bonnie Dumanis has taken action to remove synthetic drugs – commonly known as “bath salts” – off hundreds of retail shelves throughout San Diego County following a new state law that bans their sale. Nearly 100 letters were sent out from Dumanis and Sheriff Bill Gore warning businesses…
The fight for same-sex marriage has been lambasted by the right as the greatest threat to the institution of marriage since divorce. “It will destroy marriage as we know it,” shout the voices of fear and hate. Guess what? Those voices are potentially right. But achieving marriage equality for gays, lesbians and bisexual Americans in…
A California bill that would prevent the granting of rights to abusive spouses moved to the Assembly floor for a full vote Wednesday following the approval by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote. Introduced by Assemblymember Toni Atkins, AB 1522 follows the case of San Diego area woman, Crystal Harris, who was ordered…
