News section: Metro Weekly magazine, Washington, DC newspaper

Release, Change of Bond Denied for Furr

Off-duty MPD officer accused of shooting at transgender women denied bail as he awaits October trial

Published on May 24, 2012, 2:27pm

Kenneth Furr, the off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer who allegedly shot at a car containing five people, including at least two transgender women, remains held in jail without bail as he awaits an Oct. 15 trial. Furr faces six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault with intent to kill while armed and two counts of sexual solicitation. Appearing in court before Judge Ann O'Regan Keary today, Furr's lawyers, David Knight and Kia Sears, submitted a ...[more]

Virginia's Vexing Politics

State politicos see possible course correction on anti-gay extremes come November

Published on May 24, 2012, 2:49am

As the saying goes, ''Virginia is for lovers.'' While few would argue the tourism slogan applies to gay people, one might wonder when the state will reach its anti-LGBT bottom. An approved 2006 constitutional amendment banned gay marriage or any legal status or unions that ''intend(s) to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effects of marriage.'' Same-sex couples are not allowed to legally adopt, though LGBT individuals still may. There are no laws protecting LGBT people from employment discrimination. The ...[more]

Close to Home

Town-hall event set to discuss local LGBT youth homelessness

Published on May 24, 2012, 2:48am

It may not be a topic that fills the community with pride, but it's certainly relevant: LGBT youth homelessness. That's the topic the community will tackle Thursday, May 31, when The DC Center and Capital Pride continue the annual Pride season tradition of town-hall events. With LGBT young people making up a disproportionately high number of homeless youth – 20 to 40 percent, looking at data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Gay and Lesbian Task ...[more]

Global LGBT Briefs: Up in Africa, down in Caucasus

Malawi's Banda makes historic pledge, while Amnesty takes on anti-gay animus in three countries

Published on May 24, 2012, 2:47am

Malawi President Stands Up for Gay Rights President Joyce Banda of Malawi, who rose from vice president to her country's top spot in April following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, has pledged to eliminate the nation's anti-gay laws, The Guardian reports. Banda was making her first state of the nation address, May 18, when she said, ''Indecency and unnatural acts laws shall be repealed.'' The president needs Parliamentary support to make such a move, though her party is ...[more]

National LGBT Briefs: A Tee, a Test and Testy Meeting

Student's rights protected in Ohio, while panel recommends HIV test and American Family Association takes on Home Depot

Published on May 24, 2012, 2:44am

Ohio Teen Wins Fight for Anti-Homophobia Tee The question of whether Jesus may have been a homophobe might be a question for the ages. Judge Michael R. Barrett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, has decided, however, that high school student Maverick Couch may wear his ''Jesus is not a homophobe'' T-shirt to school. Lamdba Legal announced its client's win May 21, which included $20,000 for damages and attorneys' fees. In 2011, when ...[more]

Marking IDAHO at HRC

Human Rights First releases its new report on LGBTI refugees at event marking International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Published on May 18, 2012, 6:54pm

Activists around the globe marked the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) Thursday, May 17, a date chosen to mark the World Health Organization's 1990 decision to no longer list homosexuality as a disease. In D.C., the anniversary was marked with an event tied more to information than to activism. But it is information that will likely help save LGBT – and intersex, meaning those who identify as neither specifically female nor male – lives. At the Equality Center ...[more]

LGBT Locals Cheer Obama's Marriage-Equality Stance

D.C., Maryland, Virginia groups praise Obama's support for same-sex marriage

Published on May 17, 2012, 5:09am

To say that the reaction of the D.C. area's LGBT community to President Barack Obama's endorsement of marriage equality was favorable would be the understatement of the year. Just hours after Obama announced his support for marriage equality, during a May 9 ABC News interview, becoming the first sitting president to do so, several local groups and community figures began issuing a flood supportive statements. The Marylanders for Marriage Equality coalition used the juncture to call for renewed support of ...[more]

National LGBT Briefs: Little State, Big Move

Chafee orders recognition for out-of-state marriages, gay Indianapolis teen attacked, and Family Equality Council marks 30 years

Published on May 17, 2012, 5:05am

Rhode Island Moves to Recognize Out-Of-State Marriages Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) on Monday, May 14, signed an executive order to recognize same-sex couples legally married elsewhere, the Associated Press reported. Rhode Island does not offer marriage equality, though Chafee is pushing for it, saying his state is ''way overdue.'' Chafee characterized the order as ''following through'' on a nonbinding opinion issued in 2007 by then-Attorney General Patrick Lynch that favored recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The AP reported ...[more]

Global LGBT Briefs: Executions and Incitement

More gays said to be executed in Iran, while gay Israelis take issue with Torah-quoting councilmember

Published on May 17, 2012, 5:03am

Reports Surface of More Gay Executions in Iran While unconfirmed, reports are coming out of Iran that four men have been sentenced to death for sodomy. According to Pink News, ''Europe's largest gay news service,'' which cited the Human Rights Activist News Agency and Joopea News blogs, the four men will be hanged according to Shari'a law. Pink News's May 12 story quoted London-based human rights lawyer Mehri Jafari in it's coverage of the story. ''After this announcement it is ...[more]

The Gay Gourmand

Jonathan Bardzik feeds his passion at Eastern Market

Published on May 17, 2012, 3:24am

Jonathan Bardzik photographed at Eastern Market by Todd Franson, on March 31 Maybe you've heard that tired complaint about the word ''gay'' being ''corrupted.'' If anything, Jonathan Bardzik has reclaimed it. There's that winning smile, gregarious nature, the unmistakable joie de vivre. Bardzik is definitely gay. Of course, he also digs dudes – particularly his husband. That gaiety may have fueled a new chapter in Bardzik's life. ''A year ago, life was great,'' says Bardzik, 38. ''I was married, celebrating ...[more]

Judge Finds Probable Cause in Barracks Row Stabbing

Marine accused of killing fellow Marine in possible hate crime ordered held without bond to ensure ''safety of the community''

Published on May 16, 2012, 7:55pm

The trial of a Marine accused of killing a fellow Marine following an incident where he allegedly called the victim a ''faggot'' will move forward after a D.C. Superior Court judge this morning found probable cause that the defendant stabbed the victim. Specifically, Judge Ronna L. Beck found there was probable cause that Michael Poth, 20, of Southeast Washington, stabbed 23-year-old Philip Bushong, of Camp Lejeune, N.C., in the early morning hours of April 21 following a confrontation between the ...[more]

From Evolution to Romney

News Analysis: The past week has been a study in contrasts between Obama and Romney

Published on May 16, 2012, 11:40am

In the week since President Obama announced that he had ''evolved'' on the issue of same-sex couples wishing to marry, the contrast between Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, on LGBT issues has been stark — not the least of all because of a long-in-the-preparation Washington Post report about Romney's prep-school days. Obama — who spoke of meeting lesbian and gay servicemembers who felt ''constrained'' because they remain unable to marry — told ABC's Robin ...[more]

Stein-Backed McDuffie Wins in Landslide

Next Ward 5 councilmember considered a strong LGBT ally

Published on May 16, 2012, 10:16am

Judging from the results, the Ward 5 special election was a cakewalk for Kenyan McDuffie. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, not including absentee and provisional ballots, McDuffie won 44.5 percent of all votes in an 11-way contest, besting his nearest challenger, Delano Hunter, by more than 20 points, in the May 15 special election to replace former Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. (D). McDuffie, a Democrat, is considered an ally of the LGBT community, having run against Thomas ...[more]

Virginia Legislators Reject Gay Nominee

Republicans in the House of Delegates scuttle nomination of gay prosecutor to Richmond General District Court

Published on May 15, 2012, 6:01pm

The Virginia House of Delegates today rejected the nomination of an openly gay man to Richmond General District Court, denying him the 51 votes needed to become the first out gay judge in the commonwealth. Tracy Thorne-Begland, a prosecutor in General District Court, received 33 votes in favor of his nomination to the bench, with 31 delegates voting against, 10 delegates abstaining and 26 others not voting. The vote split largely along party lines, with 25 Democrats and eight Republicans, ...[more]

Threat Prompts D.C. Evacuations

Los Angeles Police convey bomb threat to ''national gay rights organizations''

Published on May 15, 2012, 2:03pm

Following a reported bomb threat, the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT organizations in Washington evacuated their offices today. According to Fred Sainz, HRC's vice president for communications, the Los Angeles Police Department received an unspecified bomb threat against a ''national gay rights organization,'' which led the LAPD to notify the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department of the threat, which subsequently notified HRC and others. An HRC email to staff quickly circulated among other groups, such as the National Gay and ...[more]

Capital Pride Names 2012 Heroes

Five locals represent community contributions on civil rights, HIV/AIDS, entertainment and more

Published on May 14, 2012, 3:50pm

Capital Pride this morning announced the five locals who have been selected to serve as the 2012 Capital Pride Heroes. They are Andrew Barnett, Eboné Bell, Michelle Benecke, Kevin Platte and Justin B. Terry-Smith. ''Each year, members of the community nominate individuals who have helped to further the causes of the LGBTA community,'' Capital Pride explained in a May 14 release announcing the heroes. ''A committee then selected this year's top LGBTA heroes from those nominations. In addition to the ...[more]

Beninda, Budd nominated for D.C. Commission on Human Rights

If approved by the City Council, the women would be the first transgender people to serve on the 15-member commission

Published on May 10, 2012, 5:43am

Neither Alexandra Beninda nor Earline Budd is a stranger to the LGBT community, so it came as little shock when Mayor Vincent Gray (D) nominated the two for seats on the D.C. Commission on Human Rights. The commission is an independent agency within the city's Office of Human Rights that primarily adjudicates private sector discrimination complaints brought under the D.C. Human Rights Act. The commission is made up of 15 commissioners, each nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the ...[more]

World LGBT Briefs: Women Take On Traditionalists

Manji, Clinton and the Forum for Empowerment for Women lead the LGBT charge

Published on May 10, 2012, 5:34am

South African Bloc Suggests Removing Gays from Constitution Responding to an invitation from the South African Parliament's constitutional review committee to submit comment, that country's National House of Traditional Leaders, a statutory body established in 1997, responded by suggesting that ''sexual orientation'' be removed from the document, according to South Africa's City Press. South Africa's groundbreaking post-apartheid constitution includes language that reads, ''The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, ...[more]

National LGBT Briefs: Milk, Mourning and Miami

San Diego gets a new street, the White House talks LGBT elders and Maurice Sendak dies at 83

Published on May 10, 2012, 5:30am

Harvey Milk Takes to the Street San Diego LGBT Pride announced Tuesday that the San Diego City Council voted unanimously to name a street in that city after the iconic LGBT civil right hero Harvey Milk. Milk, among the first openly gay Americans elected to office in the U.S., as a San Francisco supervisor in 1978, was shot to death Dan White, a fellow supervisor, less than a year later. White also killed the city's Mayor George Moscone. ''A year ...[more]

Sarah Smiles

After years of struggling with gender identity, AU student president comes out as transgender to supportive campus

Published on May 10, 2012, 5:20am

As April turned to May, change was afoot on D.C.'s American University campus. For starters, April 30 marked the end of Student Government President Tim McBride's term. The next day, The Eagle, AU's student newspaper, featured a column from the outgoing president titled ''The Real Me.'' ''For my entire life, I've wrestled with my gender identity,'' McBride wrote in part. ''It was only after the experiences of this year I was able to come to terms with what had been ...[more]

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