News
pSource: a href="http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2010/01/14/news/news02-01-14-10.txt"Logan Herald Journal/a, a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/23/AR2010012301385.html"Associated Press/a, a href="http://qsaltlake.com/index.php?option=com_contentamp;view=articleamp;id=1288:8-the-mormon-proposition-an-interview-with-director-reed-cowanamp;catid=43:featureamp;Itemid=4"QSaltLake/a, a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wirestory?id=9650413amp;page=2"Associated Press/a, a href="http://www.mormonproposition.com/"8:The Mormon Proposition/a emfilm website,/em a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14260222"Salt Lake Tribune/a/p div style="width: 244px" class="image-on-right caption-text"a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/d19245be74b9_11831/image.png"img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/d19245be74b9_11831/image_thumb.png" width="244" height="198" //a In a still released by em8:TMP/em producers, a gay couple kiss during a Prop 8 protest at Temple Square in Salt Lake City/div pA film that has generated the most buzz from Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah is one that has a unique local focus in that ski resort. And it's a documentary rather than a feature film. em[See a trailer for the film at the a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/film-on-mormon-campaign-for-prop-8-opens-with-sellout-in-park-city-utah.aspx#filmtrailer"end of this post/a]/em/p pem8: The Mormon Proposition/em (aka em8:TMP/em) premiered today at the festival. It’s been included in several Sundance must-see lists including one from a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2010/01/20/sundance.five.films.cnn"CNN entertainment reporter/a JD Cargill. It’s sold out for five screenings at the festival, the Logan, Utah a href="http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2010/01/14/news/news02-01-14-10.txt"emHerald Journal/em reports/a. That makes the documentary film even more popular than some of the much-hyped feature films at the festival. /p pDespite rumors of protests against the film by anti-gay protesters, it opened quietly today before what a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9650413"Associated Press reporter Jennifer Dobner describes/a as “a friendly audience”./p pThe only visible protests came from a couple of dozen pro-marriage-equality demonstrators who shouted “Separate church from 8” outside the theater where the film was shown, Dobner reports./p pThe film argues that the Mormon church’s dominant efforts in the campaign to pass Prop 8 in California is just part of a decades-long political campaign by the church to deny basic rights to LGBT people./p pa href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14260222"emSalt Lake Tribune/em reports/a that the 600 people in the audience for the initial screening gave the film’s creator Reed Cowan “two sustained standing ovations”. /p pIn a December press release 8:TMP’s promoters said of their film, “It is to Mormons and their anti-gay allies what emFahrenheit 9-11/em was to the Bush Administration.”/p pThe film was made by Utah native and one-time Mormon missionary Reed Cowan and by Steven Greenstreet—also a former Mormon. It has garnered significant pre-opening press coverage for the documentary film, including an Associated Press feature, that’s been published by a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/23/AR2010012301385.html"emWashington Post/em/a, a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;ct2=us%2F1_0_s_0_0_tamp;usg=AFQjCNHV1fuDactDQlNlb-dMLeJ2R5FsuQamp;sig2=hs96pJ9bhFWGj-xlG1heXgamp;cid=8797490564059amp;ei=duRbS-j6LZT6lQTk0qSeAQamp;rt=MORE_COVERAGEamp;vm=STANDARDamp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sltrib.com%2Fnews%2Fci_14254844"emSalt Lake Tribune/em/a, a href="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_0_tamp;usg=AFQjCNFad-umt48c6Xgl5yB7_e0ljDs7qQamp;sig2=9te5TVhnn8sDQVhWS54HmAamp;cid=8797490564059amp;ei=Q-RbS-DQLobOlQT1kbaeAQamp;rt=SEARCHamp;vm=STANDARDamp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FEntertainment%2FwireStory%3Fid%3D9643209"ABCNews.com/a and other AP subscribers./p pa href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/film-on-mormon-campaign-for-prop-8-opens-with-sellout-in-park-city-utah.aspx#continue"More.../a/pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lgbtQnews/~4/RuMMXGB1IjA" height="1" width="1"/
A small group of pro-equality demonstrators rallied outside the premiere of 8: The Mormon Proposition
at Sundance today. The documentary details the involvement of the Church of Latter Day
Saints' involvement in the passage of Proposition 8 in California. It's
written, and directed by Reed Cowan, produced by Cowan, Chris Volz, and
Steven Greenstreet, executive produced by Bruce Bastian, and narrated by
Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Watch the film's trailer, AFTER
THE JUMP...
The Salt Lake Tribune reports: "Shot over 19 months for less
than $250,000, the film uses statements of past church leaders and
personal accounts of gay Mormons and their families in an attempt to
explain what Cowan contends is a culture of obedience and an entrenched
anti-gay sentiment that permeates Mormonism. Those attitudes, he says,
contribute to a myriad of social problems including suicide and
homelessness among young gay Mormons."
According to the AP, the anti-gays failed to show at the premiere:
"Before the screening, festival director John Cooper had said he expected a small, but loud, group of 'haters' might picket the film, but doubted that Mormon church members would be among them. 'It's not really the Mormon style," said Cooper, who is gay and married his partner of 20 years last year during the window between the court ruling and election day.
A Utah-based anti-gay equality group, America Forever, sent out 80,000 faxes on Friday denouncing the movie, its makers and the festival on Friday. Internet chatter among other anti-gay groups had also hinted they might come to Sundance, activist Eric Ethington said."
Watch the film's trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...
At a press conference for the Allen Ginsberg biopic Howl at Sundance, E!'s Ted Casablanca and Taryn Rider asked actors Jon Hamm and James Franco about the trial in that film in relation to the courtroom proceedings playing out in California against Proposition 8.
Said Hamm: "There's a line in the movie [that says] 'I think that publicity engendered by this trial is going to bring this poem to a much wider audience than it ever would have had.' I think that argument can certainly be made for the Prop 8 situation, where publicity engendered by all this brings to light the absurdity of ascribing second-class status to an entire group of people. The more people that see that...I just think in a lot of ways the publicity and press surrounding these issues will only serve to help."
Said Franco: "Like I said before when Milk was coming out, I hope we'll get to a time soon where we'll look back and say, 'I can't believe that we were discriminating against this whole group of people and saying, 'You don't have the same rights as everybody else.'' I hope that the time comes very, very soon, when we can all look back and say that was ridiculous."
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Plaintiffs in the federal challenge to Proposition 8 will rest their case on Monday. Attorney David Boies told the Wall Street Journal, "We're pleased with the way it has gone." According to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, "Before resting their case, the plaintiffs will present documents and videos that reinforce points made during the first two weeks of trial." Then the second half begins: "Defense lawyer Andrew Pugno said his side would present evidence from experts that traditional definitions of marriage between heterosexual couples have special benefit for children and for society.
The defense's portion of the trial could be short. Only two of the defense's original set of expert witnesses remain, after four withdrew from the trial. Early in the trial, the court proposed broadcasting proceedings online and at other courthouses, leading some witnesses to say they feared retribution. The broadcast proposal was overturned by higher courts.
Kenneth Miller, an associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, is expected to be the first defense witness, offering an initial picture of how the second half of the trial will develop. Mr. Miller is an expert in the voter-initiative process."
Those of you who watched Real World: Brooklyn may remember the bromance between Ryan Conklin and "not gay" Mormon Chet Cannon. The two recently reunited after Ryan returned from a six-month tour in Iraq and it appears he's missed Chet dearly.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), a supervisor in Loudoun County, near Washington D.C., was "chastised" this week by fellow supervisors for remarks against an anti-discrimination ordinance passed by the county protecting citizens on the basis of sexual orientation: At a Jan. 6 meeting, supervisors voted to expand Loudoun's
nondiscrimination policy to prohibit bias on the basis of sexual
orientation in hiring by the county. Delgaudio fought the change in the
meeting, saying he was especially offended by language in the measure
that sought protection for transgendered people. In the debate, he
called the board's attempt to protect transgendered people "freaky" and
"bizarre." In a subsequent newsletter to supporters, Delgaudio wrote
that "if a man dressed as a woman wants a job, you have to treat 'it'
the same as a normal person." Delgaudio's non-apology was nearly as offensive: Delgaudio responded, reading a revised statement with the word "it"
taken out. He continued: "With apologies to real-life Tootsies" and "to
all their defenders who are calling me all sorts of names and, like Mr.
Burton, are saying I should apologize." Delgaudio's statements inspired apologies from fellow board members. Said Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac): "I think that the actions and words of Mr. Delgaudio prove why we needed
to institute the policy that we did the other day. There's clearly some
people who need those kinds of policies in place."
Andy Dick has been arrested and charged with two counts of sexual abuse for groping and kissing patrons and a bouncer without their consent in a Huntington, West Virginia nightclub.
"Huntington Police arrested Dick about 4 a.m. Saturday at Rum Runners. Dick was inside the club at 819 Third Ave., speaking with a man identified as Justin Hayes 'when the defendant (unexpectedly and without invitation) grabbed the victim's crotch, repeatedly groping then kissing him,' according to a Huntington Police Department criminal complaint.
The second felony charge said a Rum Runners security guard approached Dick and asked 'to place an armband on his hand to comply with the rules of the establishment.' According to the guard's account in the report, 'the defendant grabbed the victim's crotch and began laughing.'
Dick spent several hours at the Western Regional Jail before he was arraigned via video by Cabell County Magistrate Patty Verbage-Spence. Dick sounded polite at his arraignment and said he would hire an attorney for a court date set for the first week of next month."
Dick was released on bail and planned to perform a 7 pm show Sunday night. He apparently made a few impressions with his Friday night show as well:
"Friday's show apparently had its own fireworks. Bryant Somerville, who attended Dick's performance, said it ended with 'a lot of shock and awe,' as the performer, dressed in a wig and red skirt as his character, Daphne Aguillera, let the skirt drop to the stage for five minutes. 'He was bare from the waist down,' Somerville said. 'It was obviously part of the act. He dropped it and there he stood in all his glory. I think I heard more deep breaths in that five minutes than in all my 24 years. It was a 21-and-up show. I guess if that's their cup of tea, they got their money's worth.'" TMZ has been posting photos of Dick at the bar where he was arrested.
pa href="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/fb17f547824a_B643/image.png"img style="border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 4px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" align="right" src="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/fb17f547824a_B643/image_thumb.png" width="240" height="172" //a It’s taken the producers a bit longer than indicated last week, but, according to a report from NPR, the first episode of the Prop 8 trial reenactment will be available Monday em[Hear the report by KQED’s Rob Schmitz at the a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/video-prop-8-trial-reenactment-video-released_BYV.aspx#nprreport"end of this post/a]/em. All of the first day—seven hours—will be made available at a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/MarriageTrial"this YouTube channel/a, Schmitz reports. (Expect to see selected highlight clips offered by other YouTube users.)/p pProducers John Ireland and John Ainsworth have released this trailer to show the format they’re using for the video. The reenactment copies the four-frame style that Chief Judge Vaughn Walker had approved for use with video of the actual trial:/p pa href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=RQRi2Tp8OjA" title="Youtube video"Watch video at YouTube/a/p pThe reenactment is using professional actors. Where possible, roles are being cast with actors who look much like the real people portrayed. Ireland and Ainsworth hint in Schmitz’s report that there might even be some famous-name actors taking part in the project before it’s done./p pa href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/video-prop-8-trial-reenactment-video-released_BYV.aspx#continue"More.../a/pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lgbtQnews/~4/vDmIep3QbUw" height="1" width="1"/
Justin Waller, wanted in the murder of NYC resident John Lea, has been arrested in Vermont and has confessed to the murder, the Rutland Herald reports:
"New York City Police detectives arrived in Manchester early Friday morning requesting assistance in locating Justin Waller.
Manchester Police said Waller was a person of interest in the slaying of his partner Jonathan Lea at their apartment located in the Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan.
Police said they tracked Waller’s activities around the Manchester area for most of the day, eventually locating him at an apartment on Cass Terrace.
Police said Waller has confessed to the killing as well as using Lea’s credit cards for purchases and transportation to the area.
Waller was lodged at the Marble Valley Correctional Center in Rutland as a fugitive from justice. His bail was set at $500,000.
Upon extradition back to New York Waller faces the charge of second-degree murder, according to police."
Police found Lea's body on Thursday amid a gruesome crime scene. Waller had recently been Lea's lover, according to the NYDN, and was living with him: "A co-worker of Lea's, Michael Herz, said the lover - identified by
friends of the victim as Justin Waller - was 'down on his luck' and was
supposed to stay with Lea only briefly. 'A few days turned into a few
weeks. A few weeks turned into a month. A month turned into two,' Herz
said. 'This weekend is when John was going to tell him he had to leave.'
Herz added of his slain co-worker: 'He was an extremely giving person
and, apparently, that's what ultimately did him in.'"
Recently...
Gay Man Murdered in NYC Hell's Kitchen; Police Search for Lover [tr]
The Soup's Joel McHale talks to The Advocate's Brandon Voss about the show's homoerotic humor. McHale gives Towleroad a shout-out when asked, "When did you first realize that gay men enjoyed you?" We did some bit for The Soup where I was in the shower, and it ended up on a number of gay websites. I thought, Well, I guess we’re reaching everybody. There’s also a guy on our staff named Matt Carney who plays the intern that we shoot all the time. When we had him half-naked and covered in oil, [Towleroad.com] called him a "greasy treat." His dad just said, "Hey, at least you have fans." Said post is here. P.S. - Mankini's a hot piece too!
A woman has been charged in the anti-gay New Year's Day attack in Buffalo, New York that left lesbian Angie Harmon blind in one eye. 21-year-old Suzanne-Deanna Grover confessed to the attack but claimed she acted in self-defense: "Buffalo police have charged Grover, who gave a City of Tonawanda
address, with second-
degree assault and a bias-motivated crime, according to police reports. In her detailed statement, Grover claimed that Harmon's group had
attacked her verbally and
physically, sources said." Conflicting versions of the attack led to a three-week delay in the arrest: "The arrest papers filed against Grover say that 'the defendant
intentionally selected
Lindsay Harmon because of a belief or perception regarding Lindsay
Harmon's sexual
orientation.' [Attorney Frank A.] Sedita wouldn't comment on any statement given by
Grover, although he did take issue with
an earlier broadcast report that she had "confessed" to the crime. The district attorney promised an in-depth grand jury investigation.
div style="width: 244px" class="image-on-right caption-text"a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/dd54cb26592a_626B/image.png"img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/dd54cb26592a_626B/image_thumb.png" width="244" height="184" //a Hawaii state capitol, Honolulu/div pHawaii’s state Senate on Friday decisively passed a civil unions bill on a 18-7 vote. /p pDozens of marriage equality advocates in the Senate gallery, wearing rainbow-colored lei, exploded with joy and relief after the vote, while religious conservatives who oppose the measure, wearing white shirts, filed silently out of the chamber, a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100123/NEWS01/1230329/Hawaii+Senate+passes+civil-unions+bill++18-7"emHonolulu Advertiser/em reports/a./p p“We’re very pleased that the Hawaii State Senate took action and passed the civil unions bill today,” a title="link: Equality Hawaii website" href="http://equalityhawaii.org/"Equality Hawaii/a co-chairwoman Tambry Young said in a written statement. “The Senate acted with great courage, conviction and integrity. They did the right thing for all of Hawaii's families.”/p pThe bill would allow both same-sex and heterosexual couples to enter into civil unions which would offer the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage under state law./p pPrior the vote, the measure drew heated debate by senators on both sides of the issue, a href="http://www.kitv.com/news/22316840/detail.html"KITV reports/a. Several supporters of the bill described civil unions as part of the same long path toward equality as voting rights were for women and civil rights were for blacks./p pState Sen. Rosalyn Baker, D-5th (W. Maui, S. Maui), spoke of the separation of church and state and said many of the same arguments used in the past to deny the vote to women and civil rights to blacks are now being used against civil unions, the emAdvertiser/em reports./p p“I see nothing in this measure that denies, hurts or harms traditional marriage,” Baker said. “I see nothing that takes away from those values or tells other people you can’t do them.”/p pBut a state senator who helped lead Hawaii’s campaign against marriage equality in the 90s claimed that what he called “immutable characteristics” such as sex or skin color should not be compared to sexual orientation./p pSen. Mike Gabbard, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele) said he’s opposed to civil unions because they would be “functionally” the same as marriage under state law./p p“Marriage is not just a word, it is the foundation, it is the bedrock of our society. It is the cornerstone of civilization and it impacts every one of our lives,” he said, adding that gay and lesbian people should be blocked from that edifice, or anything similar to it./p pa href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/hawaii-senate-passes-civil-unions-bill_BYN.aspx#continue"More.../a/pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lgbtQnews/~4/ipoU6iBI8CM" height="1" width="1"/
div style="width: 164px" class="image-on-right caption-text"a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/54af06afbdb9_4BB4/image.png"img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/54af06afbdb9_4BB4/image_thumb.png" width="164" height="166" //a Lindsay Harmon says she may never get full vision back in her right eye after she was stabbed outside a Buffalo gay bar/div pPolice in Buffalo, NY have charged Suzanne-Deanna Grover, 21, with second-degree assault and a bias-motivated crime in connection with a New Year’s Day fight outside a Main Street nightclub, a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/932324.html"emBuffalo News/em reports/a./p pThe emNews/em and other media quote police sources who say Grover admitted to stabbing Lindsay C. Harmon, 29. But Grover claimed she acted in self-defense after Harmon’s group had attacked her verbally and physically./p pHarmon's right eyelid and eyeball were severely cut in the attack. Harmon underwent surgery and is now recovering at home. She told WIVB TV that doctors have said she may never have full vision in her right eye. em[see clip at end of post]/em/p pAbout 200 people packed a meeting hall Wednesday to raise money for Harmon and to call for improvements in public safety, a href="http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=73778amp;catid=37"WGRZ reports/a. At a smaller Friday night meeting, members of Buffalo’s LGBT community expressed relief that an arrest had finally been made in the case, a href="http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=73824amp;provider=gnews"WGRZ reports/a./p pKitty Lambert, president of a href="http://www.outspokenforequality.org/"strongOutspoken For Equality/strong/a said she was particularly pleased that a hate crimes enhancement had been added to the charges./p p“It’s extremely important,” Lambert said of the hate-crimes charge, “because as long as these kinds of assaults continue without being prosecuted as hate crimes it makes us easy targets. They (perpetrators) don't have any fear of any hate crime enhancement.”/p pLaw enforcement said Friday that it took them three weeks to make an arrest in the case because witnesses have given police conflicting versions of events preceding the stabbing, the emNews/em reports./p pThe case will be presented to a grand jury which will decide whether to sustain the current charges, file more serious or less serious charges, or even dismiss the case, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said Friday. /p p“This is the kind of case where every piece of evidence we have is going to go to the grand jury,” Sedita said. “This is going to be a full-fledged investigation.”/p pem[See WIVB-TV report after the break]/em/p pa href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/woman-charged-with-hate-crime-assault-in-buffalo-attack_BYN.aspx#continue"More.../a/pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lgbtQnews/~4/jql_F_VFfZA" height="1" width="1"/
Good news from Hawaii!
The Honolulu Advertiser reports:
"The Senate voted 18 to 7 to pass a civil-unions bill. The bill now moves
to the House for consideration with a veto-proof majority. The bill would give same-sex and heterosexual couples the ability to enter into civil unions and receive the same state rights as marriage.
The Senate gallery was overflowing with people as the Senate prepared to vote.
Sen. Kidani offered a floor amendment to change the effective date of the civil-unions bill from Jan. 1, 2010 to Jan. 1, 2011.
Kidani said the amendment is to correct a technical flaw and would give the Department of Health more time to implement civil unions. A retroactive date would not make the bill legally invalid, but could invite a veto by Gov. Lingle on technical grounds.
Amending the bill could also delay its passage and allow opponents to put more pressure on Democrat senators who appeared ready to pass the bill today.
Sen. Ihara, who supports civil unions, said he felt compelled to correct the technical flaw to remove a reason for a veto."
What's next: "The vote puts pressure on the House, which will decide as soon as next week whether it will take up measure. The House passed a similar bill last year.
Lingle has urged the Legislature to drop the issue but hasn't said whether she would sign the measure."
A "pseudo-documentary" directed by graffiti artist/prankster Banksy is set to make its debut this Sunday at the Sundance film festival, and as a prelude, artworks by the artist have sprung up around Park City (a small selection of them here). Writes Movieline: "...for once, festival organizers said in a release sent out this
morning, you’ll see the artist at work along with Shepard Fairey,
Invader and other renowned graffiti kingpins. Not that the movie
doesn’t have a story, we’re told: 'Exit Through the Gift Shop is
the story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur filmmaker
attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn
the camera back on its owner with spectacular results,' the festival
announced." More details on the content of the film here. Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...
Bruce Weber produced a short film that played before the YSL show in Paris today, called "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing" (aka "Ode to Twinks"). Watch (warning briefly nsfw), AFTER THE JUMP...
div style="width: 164px" class="image-on-right caption-text"a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/3ae7e276580b_B751/image.png"img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/3ae7e276580b_B751/image_thumb.png" width="164" height="133" //a Blake Hayes emvia /ema href="http://blakehayes.com/"emBlakeHayes.com/em/a/div p#160;#160; emstrong:::/strong/em A decorated strongAir Force/strong expert in bomb defusing is the prime suspect in a September gay-bashing incident outside a bar in strongNew York City/strong’s strongHell’s Kitchen/strong neighborhood. NYPD’s strongHate Crimes Task Force/strong identified Air Force Staff Sgt. strongBenjamin Ford/strong as the suspect in the Sept. 26 attack. Surveillance video shows Ford attacking three men, a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/01/22/2010-01-22_hero_air_force_bomb_expert_benjamin_ford_accused_in_west_side_gay_bashing_tracke.html#ixzz0dNSsOyW7"emNew York Daily News/em reports/a. Ford, who is stationed at a base outside of London, was in New York with a unit charged with protecting President#160; Obama and other world leaders who were speaking at the UN. When questioned in London, Ford admitted to NYPD investigators that he’d been in a fight, but claimed the other men started it. Entertainment reporter and strongWPLJ-FM/strong radio personality a title="link: Blake Hayes website and blog" href="http://blakehayes.com/"strongBlake Hayes/strong/a was one of the men. Hayes told the emDaily News/em that Ford flicked a cigarette at him and two friends as they walked by the bar. The group exchanged insults with Ford, Hayes said, but Ford exploded and pushed Hayes and punched one of his friends in the face. “Die of AIDS, you f------ queers,” Ford allegedly yelled at the trio before going back into the bar. “On paper, he’s a hero,” Hayes said of Ford. “But when it comes to what happened ... he deserves to be punished.” NYC prosecutors will allow the military to try Ford, according to the emDaily News/em./pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lgbtQnews/~4/iouLwxRzaCA" height="1" width="1"/
div style="width: 164px" class="image-on-right caption-text"a href="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/4875229542bf_A134/image.png"img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lgbtqnews.com/qpics/gaynews-images/4875229542bf_A134/image_thumb.png" width="164" height="228" //a Indiana state capitol, Indianapolis emFlickr /ema href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/david-hilgart/4149715096/in/photostream/"emphoto by D.Hilgart/em/a/div pLegislators in both Indiana and New Hampshire this week heard testimony on proposed measures that would constitutionally ban marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. /p pAfter a two-hour hearing in Indianapolis, a senate panel on Wednesday approved a resolution that could eventually place on the ballot a proposed amendment to ban marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples./p pThe Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-4 along party lines to recommend the amendment to the full Senate, which could vote on it next week, a href="http://www.wibc.com/news/Story.aspx?id=1186869"WIBC FM reports/a. /p pA resolution calling for a vote on the proposed amendment would have to pass in this year’s session of the legislature and pass again next year before the proposal would be put on the ballot./p pIn New Hampshire, a house committee heard testimony from opponents of the marriage equality law that passed last year and took effect Jan. 1. They asked the committee to repeal the law and put a proposed amendment banning marriage equality on the ballot./p pNeither the New Hampshire nor the Indiana measure is considered likely to pass. In New Hampshire, Democrats are now firmly in control of both houses of the legislature and “appear eager to dispose of controversial measures early in the session to avoid lingering debate in an election year”, a href="http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100121/NEWS01/1210343/1037/NEWS04"according to Associated Press reporter Norma Love/a. In Indiana, House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) has repeatedly said amending the state's constitution is unnecessary because Indiana law already prohibits same-sex marriage./p pa href="http://lgbtqnews.com/gaynews/indiana-and-nh-legislators-hear-testimony-on-marriage-equality-bans_BYN.aspx#continue"More.../a/pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lgbtQnews/~4/T63coKONFAo" height="1" width="1"/
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