IMRU News for October 26, 2009
The Senate has passed the National Defense Authorization funding bill that includes hate-crimes protections for people targeted on the basis of their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. It has taken 12 years for this hate-crimes legislation to get to the president’s desk. Republicans have fought it all the way and this time round Senators McCain and Boehner were among those who voted against it. They hold that it is not necessary and that adding it to a defense funding bill dishonors the military. Other senators found it logical to include hate crimes in a military defense bill, because "the values our men and women fight for include tolerance and freedom from hate-inspired violence against our citizens”. President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law on Wednesday.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/22/Senate_Passes_Hate_Crimes_Measure/
http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=27785
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, two women and an man followed Brandon Patrick, yelling homophobic slurs and threats, that he ignored. Eventually, they surrounded him and started beating, biting and slashing at him with a blade. Brandon needed hospital treatment for the cuts on his head and body. The 23-year-old gay man had been taunted with insults on other occasions, but not physically assaulted. Oklahoma law does not consider openly homophobic assaults to be hate crimes.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20091020_11_A9_Whatsh689202
New York law recognizes homophobic attacks as hate crimes. New York police will charge Daniel Rodriguez and Daniel Aleman with assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime for their attack on Jack Price outside a deli in College Point. The attack, which was captured on video, left Price with a broken jaw, fractured ribs and a lacerated spleen. New York City and State politicians and other officials gathered in Queens and spoke out against the attack.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/nyregion/14beating.html?_r=1
The Navy will discipline Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint (too-’SAHNT) following an investigation into allegations of hazing and sexual harassment, when he was head of a Military Working Dog unit in Bahrain. He will receive a letter of censure, be removed from his current position and forced to retire. Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Valdivia, who replaced Toussaint, committed suicide after the investigation began. There were more than 90 hazing incidents between 2004 and 2006. Among the victims was a gay sailor, Joseph Rocha, who developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the abuse and left the Navy in 2007 by outing himself.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/TABC-Agent-in-Gay-Bar-Raid-I-Was-Not-Rambo-65101732.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYaebrgRfTbOcR1ieTJgDVdqzDYAD9BFOMFO0
Health and Human Services is establishing an annual grant of $250,000 to create "the nation's first national resource center to assist communities across the country to provide services and supports for older LGBT individuals”. It will also help educate the LGBT community to plan ahead for future long term care needs. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will propose new regulations to include LGBT families. HUD will ensure that there is no discrimination against LGBT applicants for federally insured mortgage loans and that grant recipients comply with anti-discrimination laws. HUD will also launch a "national study of discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the rental and sale of housing".
Congress approved the HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, enabling the Ryan White program for another four years. The program provides medical care and medication to more than half a million low-income people with HIV. Now, funding must be made available. Several gay groups applauded these actions but Paul Sousa, head of Join the Impact, wants to see real progress on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Defense of Marriage Act, and the military’s “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=4288
A new nationwide survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications included adults who identified themselves as LGBT. The results indicate that LGBT people are more supportive of environmental causes than other Americans. For instance, one in five (21%) LGBT adults agrees with the self-label of “environmentalist,” when contrasted with just 13% of heterosexuals. A higher percentage of LGBT adults consider the importance of environmental issues when job hunting, buying products and services, and when voting in elections. They are also concerned about the condition of the planet we leave to future generations. More heterosexuals believe the media exaggerate environmental issues and that ‘going green’ is a marketing strategy.
http://biggaynews.com/lgbt-americans-think-act-vote-more-green/3461#more-3461
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, also known as PFOX, a Chicago-based group, produces books and flyers claiming that sexual orientation is a choice and that being straight is what all gay people should choose to be. The group sees homosexuality as a condition that can be “treated”. Public and academic libraries have refused to carry their literature. Now PFOX is pressuring public school libraries to house them under the subject heading “reformed homosexuals”. PFOX claims to be a “pro-ex-gay” organization, rather than an anti-gay one.
http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-reversal-group-pushes-ex-gay-literature/
Twenty-nine-year old Eric Williamson was arrested last Monday for brewing coffee in his Springfield, Virginia, home -- in the nude. A neighborhood woman with a 7-yr-old boy claimed Williamson had exposed himself through a kitchen window and again through the living room window at approximately 8:30 am. The neighbor admits to cutting across Williamson’s yard. She is not considered to have trespassed or played, however inadvertently, a “Peeping Tom”. She is married to a local police officer. Williamson was charged with indecent exposure.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/22/Man_Arrested_for_Brewing_Coffee_Naked/
http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2009/10/naked-man-making-coffee-arrested-witness-was-cops-wife/
If you are going to Britain to see London and sample the local gay scene, you will get plenty of help when you arrive. London now has the nation's first LGBT travel office. Called KU and located off Leicester Square, the office will provide LGBT Americans and other travelers with tips on what to do and where to stay in Britain's capital.
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/10/26/London_Wants_You/
