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National News

Louisiana Legislature Rejects Gay Adoption Expansion

The Louisiana State Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-1 to reject a proposal that would have allowed unmarried and same-sex couples the right to adopt children jointly in the state. Louisiana currently allows only married couples or single individuals to adopt. Senate Republicans on the committee opposed the bill, which also was opposed by Republican Governor Bobby Jindal.

Puerto Rico Police Search for Transgender Woman’s Killer

The Washington Post reports that police in Puerto Rico are searching for the person responsible for killing 31-year-old Ashley Santiago Ocasio, a transgender woman and beauty-salon owner. She was found dead in her home in April with a gunshot to the head. The case has renewed complaints that Puerto Rico has yet to invoke its 2002 hate-crime law, which covers gender identity. Pedro Julio Serrano, a spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, says the statute could have been used in at least five cases since the beginning of the year.

Bisexual Men Claim Gay Softball World Series Discriminated

According to the Associated Press, three bisexual men from San Francisco are suing the organizer of the Gay Softball World Series, claiming they were discriminated against. The Seattle Times reports that the men filed the federal complaint against the softball tournament’s organizer, the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). The suit alleges that after another team complained, the alliance ruled the three men were “nongay,” and took away the team’s second-place finish. An attorney for NAGAAA asserts the three plaintiffs were not discriminated against illegally because it is a private organization that can determine its membership.

World News

UK Teen Girl “Kicked and Stomped” Gay Men in Fatal Beating

The UK Press Association reports that the trial of 18-year-old Ruby Brown, accused of taking part in the brutal beating death of 62-year-old openly gay Ian Baynham last year, is under way in London. Brown and two other teens allegedly kicked and stomped him to death last September in Trafalgar Square, yelling antigay slurs at him as he lay unconscious on the ground. Baynham died 18 days later.

Britain Apologizes to Pope Over Gay-Marriage Memo

According to AOL, the British government has apologized to the Vatican over a leaked internal memo that comically suggested the Pope bless a gay marriage or open an abortion ward during an upcoming visit. Written by a junior official as part of a brainstorming session about the Pope’s stay, it was sent to the Prime Minister’s office and three other departments, with a warning that the contents “should not be shared externally.” The British Foreign Office issued an apology, saying the ideas and the document were “ill-judged, naive, and disrespectful.”

Bolivian President lays an Egg

AFP reports Bolivian President Evo Morales suggested at a global summit on climate change that eating hormone-injected chicken could lead to male “deviance.” “When men eat those chickens, they experience deviances in being men,” he stated. He also posited that the European diet made men go bald. Right-wing Bolivian Deputy Andres Ortega criticized Morales for recounting “urban legends” at the conference, which sought to draft new proposals for the next UN climate talks in Mexico at the end of the year. “I thought it was a place to talk about science, and real and positive things about preserving the environment,” Ortega said.