Gay News

New Jersey: Now there of a tourism boycott of Ocean City over what\\\’s happening to Laurel Hester and her partner. Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, pleaded with the board at Wednesday nights meeting on behalf of Lt. Laurel Hester, who is dying of metastasized lung cancer. Many are supporting her…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/gay_boycott_of_ocean_city_threatened_over_laurel_hester.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 13-Dec-05 ]

California: An appellate court in San Diego ruled that lesbian Guadalupe Benitez\\\’s doctors could defend their action of refusing articificial insemination by citing a religious belief. Benitez\\\’s attorney, Lambda Legal\\\’s Jennifer Pizer, said that decision opened the door for all types of discrimination based on religious beliefs. She wants the state Supreme Court to review the case…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/court_rules_guadalupe_benitezs_insemination_refusal_just.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 13-Dec-05 ]

Massachusetts: The wingnuts supporting a 2008 ballot initiative to eliminate gay marriage delivered petitions with more than 170,000 signatures to the secretary of state. 147,000 were certified by local election clerks. Only 65,825 were needed to quality for the ballot. They also want to ban same-sex civil unions…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/massachusetts_gay_marriage_will_go_to_the_voters_in_2008.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 13-Dec-05 ]

Page Six reports that the "Brokeback Mountain" gay cowboy craze seems to have inspired Marc Jacobs, pictured. The fashion designer is throwing a holiday hoedown Wednesday night at Skylight, and he\\\’s transforming the space into a veritable dude ranch with hay bales covering the floors and security men dressed as Wild West sheriffs. Jacobs\\\’ underlings have even reportedly been… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/marc_jacobs_joins_the_brokeback_gay_cowboy_craze.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

Gay porn star Mark Dalton is cutting down on partying now that he\\\’s on parole and back home in Denton, Texas. Dalton, 25, real name Jeremy James Son, has been released from prison after serving just over a year of a five-year sentence for possession of GHB. The prison stint was due to a parole violation following a 2002… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/gay_porn_star_mark_dalton_released_from_prison.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

Malaysia: The fear of being caught by the police, unemployment and harassment are just some of the problems faced by transsexuals in Malaysia. Sulastree Ariffin wants to get married one day and have a family. Suraya Shakila yearns to buy a house and save some money. They never stop praying for it to happen and for society to show a… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/malaysian_transsexuals_face_a_tough_life.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

Bill and Melinda Gates are in India, apparently doing what they can to address global health inequity. They\\\’ve paid close attention to the trans community too. "They\\\’ve met with the transvestites and transsexuals, sat with them on bright drapes and cushions, and heard about sex work. They\\\’ve inspected the lifesaving beauty salon, where the transvestites get reminders about condoms… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/bill_and_melinda_gates_meet_transfolk_in_india.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

India: If gay marriage ever comes to India, Mumbai will most certainly lead the pack. It has been the first to shed hypocrisy because of its liberal and free-thinking citizens, says media expert Pritish Nandy. "Its even fashionable to be bisexual among this crowd…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/mumbai_will_lead_india_in_gay_marriages.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

Adrian Taylor, pictured, has been sentenced to life in prison for the October 2004 murder of his friend. The jury didn\\\’t accept the nineteen-year-old\\\’s insanity defense for murdering Joshua Cook, 23, after Cook propositioned him for oral sex by pulling down his boxer shorts and demanding that Taylor suck my dick. The two were friends since they were young… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/adrian_taylor_gets_life_for_murder_of_joshua_cook.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

Here\\\’s an odd little story in the Indian Express about Zeena Divani and Fayyaz Bijli, Pakistani drag queens, who don campy avatars of Rekha and Parveen Babi at New York City\\\’s Desilicious parties, Bollywood underground events that are suddenly becoming a cult hot spot after five years. "As Zeena enters and thrusts herself to the centre of the throbbing… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/zeenie_baby_and_the_office_of_homeland_security.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

The Australian version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is under fire. Frank Gabriel, who was madeover on the show, is "filled with primordial male rage" after the producers refused to return $8000 worth of designer goods that appeared on the Channel 10 show and which were promised to him in his contract. A queen-sized bed, media unit… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/queer_eye_australia_accused_of_breaking_promises.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

UK: A new free-to-air gay television channel plans to launch towards the end of next year. The Queer Channel is the brainchild of ex-ITN creative director Colin Fallesen who is already "in discussions" with Sky and VOD operator HomeChoice…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/queer_channel_to_launch_in_the_uk_late_2006.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

Vanessa Facen, a transgender woman, died four days after a melee with sheriff\\\’s deputies at the downtown jail in San Diego, California. Sgt. Rick Empson says, "There is nothing to indicate that the use of force caused this death," although the source of information is certainly questionable. Facen, 35, allegedly fought with deputies and medical personnel numerous times since… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/12/vanessa_facen_dies_in_jail_following_melee_with_deputies.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 12-Dec-05 ]

An appellate court has reversed a lower court ruling that would have permitted same-sex marriage in New York City. By a 4-1 majority, the panel not only rejected the lower court\\\’s ruling that the state law forbidding same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but said that the state had a legitimate and rational interest in promoting heterosexual marriage. "Marriage promotes sharing… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/09/appellates_void_new_york_city_gay_marriage_ruling.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 09-Dec-05 ]

It\\\’s an age old story, a pair of closeted gay lovers decide to look for a lesbian couple to marry them so they can shut their parents up. Being the modern age this one takes place via an advertisement online. What\\\’s different about it though isn\\\’t that it\\\’s taking place in Beijing, China. What\\\’s different is that it\\\’s turned… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/09/gay_couple_seeks_to_marry_lesbian_couple_to_quiet_parents.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 09-Dec-05 ]

Georgia: Lesbian teenager Jessica Bradley was expelled last April from Covenant Christian Academy in Loganville, Georgia, for kissing another girl. Now Bradley and her father have filed a million dollar lawsuit against the private school to ensure other students never have to experience what she went through…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/09/lesbian_teen_jessica_bradley_files_million_dollar_lawsuit.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 09-Dec-05 ]

New Zealand: Lesbian couple Kristina Oliver and Lynette Stewart were sentenced to six years and two years in jail respectively for sexually violating another woman in their home. The pair were found guilty last month of the December 2003 attack. Oliver sobbed visibly as the judge passed sentence…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/09/lesbian_rape_gives_kristina_oliver_and_lynette_stewart_jail_time.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 09-Dec-05 ]

Remember all the nonsense over "Dykes on Bikes" not being able to trademark the name? Well lesbian motorcycle enthusiasts rejoice! The San Francisco women finally won their fight with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They\\\’d previously argued that the phrase would be perceived as disparaging to lesbians. But the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Brooke Oliver… <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/09/dykes_on_bikes_finally_win_trademark.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 09-Dec-05 ]

Latvia: The Parliament in Riga passed a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in its second reading. The vote, 73-3 in favor, wasn\\\’t the final deciding one. For the amendment to be added to the Constitution, it must pass three readings and receive at least 67 votes each time…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/08/gay_marriage_receives_second_blow_in_latvia.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 08-Dec-05 ]

UK: A gay police officer who claimed he was the victim of homophobic bullying and discrimination has accepted 30,000 in an out-of-court settlement. Inspector Neil Ferguson was due to take the Norfolk Police Authority and Norfolk Police to an employment tribunal this week, but a settlement was reached and the case dismissed…. <a href="http://www.queerday.com/2005/dec/08/norfolk_gay_police_officer_settles_suit_out_of_court.html">Read complete entry at Queer Day Magazine</a>
View more…. [Date: 08-Dec-05 ]