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Today’s Top Headlines

Army Chief Sees Defacto Moratorium on Gay Discharges
Maryland Republican Threatens AG With Impeachment Over Gay Marriage
Dead Soldier’s Father Must Pay Anti-Gay Protesters
Christian Network TBN Settles Gay Harassment Lawsuit

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A gay former engineer at the Christian broadcast giant Trinity Broadcasting Network has settled a civil lawsuit that alleged his employer harassed him for his sexual orientation. Court papers filed in federal court in Orange County show Brian Dugger settled out of court last month with TBN for an undisclosed amount. The lawsuit alleged that Paul Crouch Jr., the son of founders Jan and Paul Crouch, told Dugger to stop being “gay,” teased Dugger in front of others and told him to take more interest in women.

Read the full story from the Washington Post.

The father of a US Marine killed in Iraq in 2006 has been ordered to pay 16,000 dollars to the preacher who organized an anti-gay protest during his son’s funeral, an attorney has said. On the day of the funeral in Maryland in 2006 for the young soldier killed in combat aged 20, Baptist preacher Fred Phelps and several members of his family organized a busy demonstration just a few meters (feet) away from the private religious ceremony.

Read the full story from AFP.

Don H. Dwyer Jr., a Republican member of the House of Delegates, plans to bring impeachment charges on the House floor on Wednesday against the state’s attorney general, Douglas F. Gansler. Mr. Dwyer said that Mr. Gansler overstepped his authority in issuing a legal opinion last month saying the state would recognize same-sex marriages from other places and ordering state agencies to give gay married couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Read the full story from the New York Times.

The Army secretary said on Wednesday he would not discharge gay personnel who admitted their sexual orientation to him, despite the “don’t ask, don’t tell” stance that remains official military policy. “What the secretary (of defense) has placed a moratorium on is going forward on discharges,” Army Secretary John McHugh told defense reporters. The statement seemed to indicate that some Pentagon leaders had already shifted their stance, at least regarding private admissions by gay troops, although Congress has not yet formally repealed the law banning declared homosexuals.

Read the full story from Reuters.

 

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Today’s Top Headlines

US General Apologizes for Anti-Gay Remarks
Justice Dept Defends DADT with Colin Powell’s Old Views
Pop Star Ricky Martin Comes Out

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Ricky Martin has revealed what a lot of people thought they already knew: he’s gay. The singer has decided to come out while working on his autobiography, and wrote on his blog yesterday that he was finally proud to declare himself “a fortunate homosexual man”. He said: “Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions … Enough is enough. This has to change. This was not supposed to happen five or 10 years ago, it is supposed to happen now. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment.”

Read the full story from the Guardian.

At the same time the Obama administration is taking some initial steps toward dismantling the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the Justice Department is continuing to vigorously defend the policy in federal court, angering gay activists in the process. The latest point of friction with gay advocates is a brief filed Monday night in federal court in California that repeatedly quotes from retired Gen. Colin Powell’s statements nearly two decades ago in favor of the gays-in-the-military ban without noting that Powell has since reversed himself on the issue.

Read the full story from Politico.

An ex-US general has apologised after saying Dutch UN troops failed to prevent the Srebrenica genocide partly because their ranks included openly gay soldiers, the Dutch defence ministry said on Tuesday. John Sheehan, a retired former NATO commander and senior Marine officer, “wrote a letter of apology,” ministry spokeswoman Anne van Pinxteren told AFP. In it, Sheehan said he was “sorry” for remarks made at a Senate hearing earlier this month where he argued against plans by President Barack Obama to end a ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the US military.

Read the full story from AFP.

 

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Today’s Top Headlines

UK Parliament Hosts First Same-Sex Marriage
Half Of Americans Say They’d Support An Openly-Gay President
“Gay Cure” Doctor Accused of Sexually Abusing Male Patients
Gay Student Settles Lawsuit Against NY District

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A gay teenager who claims he was relentlessly bullied by classmates has settled a lawsuit against an upstate New York school district. The student is named Jacob but is identified as “J.L.” in the lawsuit and doesn’t want his full name revealed. He sued the Mohawk Central School District in federal court over the summer with help from the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Read the full story from the Associated Press.

Fifty percent of Americans say they’d support having an openly gay President of the United States, a new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll shows. Forty-four percent would be opposed to having a gay president in office. The poll asked respondents how they’d feel about having openly gay contenders in a variety of positions, including Supreme Court Justice, Secretary of State, Commissioner of baseball and Super Bowl quarterback. Out of these choices, a potential president polled the lowest, with Super Bowl quarterback winning the highest rate of support, 62 percent to 29 percent opposed.

Read the full story from the Huffington Post.

Canadian police investigate dozens of allegations against psychiatrist nicknamed for use of electricity to ‘cure’ gay soldiers. leading Canadian psychiatrist who kept accusations of gross human rights abuses in apartheid-era South Africa hidden has been charged in Calgary with sexually abusing a male patient and is being investigated over dozens of other allegations. Dr Aubrey Levin, who in South Africa was known as Dr Shock for his use of electricity to “cure” gay military conscripts, was arrested after a patient secretly filmed the psychiatrist allegedly making sexual advances. Levin, who worked at the University of Calgary’s medical school, has been suspended from practising and is free on bail of C$50,000 (£32,000) on charges of repeatedly indecently assaulting a 36-year-old man.

Read the full story from the Guardian.

Britain’s Europe Minister Chris Bryant has taken part in Parliament’s first gay marriage, celebrating a civil partnership ceremony at the historic venue. Bryant, a member of the governing Labour Party, won permission to hold his civil partnership ceremony with partner Jared Cranney at the Palace of Westminster – home to the Houses of Parliament.

Read the full story from the Huffington Post.

 

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Today’s Top Headlines

14 Percent of D.C. Gay Men are HIV Positive
Gay Teens Receive Invite to California Prom
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Rejects Gay Rights Move

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