Big Gay News
National News
Opponents of Gay Marriage Lose Battle in DC
According to the Associated Press, Superior Court Judge Judith Macaluso in Washington, DC, has thrown out another lawsuit by opponents of the district’s new same-sex marriage legislation. Plaintiffs sued the city’s Board of Elections and Ethics after it refused to put on the ballot an initiative banning same-sex marriage. The board claimed it would have violated the city’s Human Rights Ordinance.
Pentagon Lawyers Urge Further Delay in Repeal of Military Gay Ban
In a recent memo obtained by the Associated Press, lawyers for Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended delaying the process of repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the ban on openly gay service members: “Now is not the time. The importance of winning the wars we are in, along with the stress on the force, our body of knowledge, and the number of unknowns, demand that we act with deliberation.” According to two US officials, other advisers at the Pentagon, however, have argued that lifting the ban would not cause unmanageable problems. A spokesman for Mullen told the Associated Press the Joint Chiefs have made no decision yet about what to do or when.
Two Charged with Hate Crimes in NY Gay Man’s Beating
CNN reports that two men accused of a brutal attack on a gay man in New York have been indicted on hate-crimes charges. The two, 26-year-old Daniel Aleman and 21-year-old Daniel Rodriguez of Queens, are charged with 14 counts of assault and robbery as a hate crime. The men are alleged to have yelled antigay slurs while they brutally beat 49-year-old Jack Price in October. He suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs, two collapsed lungs, and a lacerated spleen. If convicted, the two men could face up to 25 years in prison.
Gay Man Escapes Bloody Beating Claiming He Was HIV-Positive
According to the Chicago Tribune, 33-year-old Daniel Hauff was beaten on a public train by three passengers who yelled gay slurs and taunts at him before and during the attack. He told reporters he got away by wiping some of his blood on the attackers, and telling them he was HIV-positive, which is not true. Police say the three men later were arrested for misdemeanor battery and “making disparaging comments,” although the report stated nothing specifically about the antigay comments. The suspects since have been released on bail. Hauf later was released from a local hospital with no major complications from the attack.
World News
Portugal Parliament Approves Gay Marriage
As expected, the Portugal Parliament passed legislation legalizing gay marriage in the predominantly Catholic country. According to the Associated Press, conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva is expected to sign the legislation into law, making Portugal the sixth country in Europe to have legalized same-sex weddings. Prime Minister Jose Socrates told lawmakers that “this law rights a wrong,” and “ends pointless suffering.”
Police Force Mr. Gay China Pageant To Close
Chinese police canceled the country’s first gay pageant just one hour before it was scheduled to start, the Associated Press reports. The Mr. Gay China Pageant was to feature a fashion show at a nightclub in Beijing. Police told organizers they didn’t object to the content of the show, but proper procedures hadn’t been followed to allow the pageant to take place. Organizers and participants stated they were not surprised the show was canceled. If it had taken place, the winner would have gone on to compete in the worldwide Mr. Gay Pageant, held in Oslo, Norway.
