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Archive for the ‘Arizona’ Category

Prop 8 proponents to get to keep internal campaign documents private?

Nude Brangelina immortalized.

Witness immunity sought for gay service members at "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hearings. Alcee Hastings: "How can there be anything more important than a gay member of the
service having the right to testify before the Armed Services Committee
of the Congress that he is under the aegis of. But if they come and testify, that testimony could
be used against them under 'don't ask, don't tell.' In my judgment,
it's just a question of fairness."

On the New Jersey marriage vote: the letter.

David Huebner, the openly gay ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, is being sworn in this afternoon.

Mugshot: James Franco busted.

Franco pens WSJ op-ed about General Hospital "performance art."

Black gay New Yorkers take out full page ad against Reverend Donnie McClurkin.

Irish lawmakers open debate on gay rights bill: "Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said the bill would give gay couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples on questions of property ownership, inheritance, medical care and access to state benefits — and also the same right to go to court seeking financial support from higher-earning partners when relationships fail."

Rick Warren tweets he's prohibited from hurting anyone or hurting back.

Is the NRCC using anti-gay innuendo against Tennessee state senate candidate Roy Herron?

SMU rejects adding sexual orientation and gender identity seat to the student government body.

Elf with dynamite threat terrorizes mall in Atlanta: "When Caldwell, who was wearing an elf suit, reached the front of the line, 'he told Santa Claus that he had dynamite in his bag,' Morrow police Capt. James Callaway said. 'He said that two times to Santa Claus.'

Santa notified mall security and Morrow police quickly arrested the 5 feet tall, 108 pound Caldwell. The mall was evacuated and the bomb squad was called in to examine the packages."

Daily Beast: What's hot at Art Basel Miami.

Two openly gay candidates in pool for assistant bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Cory Monteith and Mark Salling play reindeer games.

Rich at FourFour takes a look at the Guidos of the new MTV show Jersey Shore.

First images from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The Southern Voice is now the Georgia Voice.

Pittsburgh gay bar Pegasus to shut down.

She's starting to remind me of Carol Channing.

Michigan bus driver accused of anti-gay harassment: "When I got off the bus, I stood up and was about to get off the bus, she was like, now you can get your gay self off my bus. Well, she said get your gay tail off my bus."

Bus driver who refused to respond to requests for help from  gay beating victim Jayron Martin has been fired: "Langham Creek High School officials acknowledged that the day of the beating, Martin asked school leaders and his bus driver for help and protection.

A Cy Fair ISD spokeswoman said an assistant principal at Langham Creek is still under review.

At question — did the assistant principal respond appropriately when an openly gay student asked for help before he was beaten by another student.

The district said the school bus driver has been fired. As for the assistant principal, a district spokeswoman said more details have come to light on how he responded, but those details are not being released now."

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In September I posted about a bill signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer eliminating state domestic partner benefits a year after they were implemented.

The Arizona Daily Star reported at the time: "A bill signed by Gov. Jan Brewer redefined a 'dependent,'
canceling the rule change made by Gov. Janet Napolitano that allowed
domestic partners to receive benefits. Also eliminated are children of domestic partners, full-time
students ages 23-24 and disabled adult dependents. The legislation is
in legal review. About 800 state employees are affected, according to the state's administration department."

Brewer, as you may also remember, takes direction from God when deciding how to solve the state's problems.

Lambda Legal has now filed a case attempting to block the move: "The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix claims the move amounts to a violation of constitutional protections that guarantee equal treatment of all individuals. Specifically, attorney Tara Borelli of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said denying benefits to gay workers that are available to others amounts to paying them less for the same work.
'These gay and lesbian state workers just want the same thing that workers at the next desk, in the next patrol car, get,' she said. That argument was echoed by Tracy Collins, a senior patrol officer with the Department of Public Safety, one of the 10 plaintiffs in the lawsuit. If the change takes effect as scheduled next Oct. 1, she will lose the benefits that now go to her partner and the children they share."

The suit's plaintiffs come from the Arizona Highway Patrol, the State Department of Game and Fish and state universities, according to Lambda Legal.

Said Staff Attorney Tara Borelli: "This is an issue of equal pay for equal work.By stripping away these vital
benefits from loyal state employees, the state isn't just paying them
less for the same work than their heterosexual colleagues — it's
pulling away a vital lifeline that all workers need. This is simply
cruel and saves the state next to nothing."

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AZ Central reports that Equality Arizona has laid off its staff of two:

"The group, which is Arizona's only statewide advocacy organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, laid off executive director Barbara McCullough-Jones (pictured)  and field coordinator Meta Goforth-Zinn on Friday. McCullough-Jones, who became the first openly lesbian woman to seek political office in Arizona when she ran for Tempe City Council in 1994, had led Equality Arizona since 2005.

"We're being careful in what we say right now," said Annie Groth, co-chairwoman of the Equality Arizona board, when we spoke with her on the phone this afternoon.

Groth confirmed the layoffs but would not address the motivation behind them, saying she first wanted to speak with a lawyer. McCullough-Jones did not immediately return a call to her cell phone."

Groth said that the group will be "re-characterized" and a statement may come today.

A message on the group's website cites the economic downturn and falling revenues.

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