Immigration officials free gay Ethiopian man pending asylum request

STAFF REPORTS | BOSTON -- A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security Immigration & Customs Enforcement, (ICE) confirmed Monday  that ICE officials have released a gay 19-year-old Ethiopian man without bail.

The unidentified youth whose identity has been concealed had been jailed since January after he lost his student visa, allegedly because of low grades reported the Boston Globe.

An official with  Amnesty International told LGBTQ Nation that LGBT people in Ethiopia face criminal sanctions and prison time for offenses related to same-sex relations and also face abuse.

It is unclear if the immigration judge was aware that the youth had publicly come out and posted to a public forum that he is gay. But, according to the Globe, he also told at least two people who confirmed it saying they fear for his safety if he is deported.

“This is a very serious deal,” said the student’s uncle, who spoke on condition of anonymity from Canada. “Back in his country, it will be like death.”

Todd Williams, an openly gay Republican candidate for Massachusetts state senator, said the Ethiopian man’s case reflected the risks in the US immigration system, which does not assign public defenders to people facing deportation. He also said the young man had told that he is gay. “Now we're the process of getting him asylum,” Williams added.

During his initial hearings, the man did not have a lawyer and did not seek asylum in immigration court. Twice last month, a Boston immigration judge offered to send the man back to Ethiopia. “Do you want to voluntarily depart the United States?” Judge Paul Gagnon had asked him at a Feb. 20 hearing. Judge Gagnon  also ordered a mental-health review for the man, because he struggled to communicate with the court.

Williams said he and nonprofits will help the man seek counseling, housing, and asylum so that he can stay in America. Williams noted that ICE is requiring the man to wear an electronic tracking device on his ankle while he is free from custody.

Transgender Day of Visibility

WASHINGTON --  March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility. The producers of TransMilitary are excited to share this new preview of their project, set for release later this year, which will share the lives of transgender service members here in the US and in the UK, where serving openly is allowed.

WATCH:

World News

Georgian anti-gay activists threaten harsh protests

STAFF REPORTS | TBILISI, Georgia -- Radical Orthodox Christians and clerics warned Wednesday that if the LGBT community in Georgia demonstrates again for their rights on May 17, they can expect a harsher retaliatory mood than the violent attacks organised by the same clerics and Orthodox priests a year ago.

On May 17, 2013, a small group of LGBT supporters organized a silent demonstration dedicated to the international day against homophobia, but several thousand anti-gay activists including radical Orthodox Christians and clerics, attacked them.

28 persons, including journalists and policemen were injured.

Basil Akhvlediani, an archpriest at Akaurta Sioni Church acting as a spokesperson for the clerics warned;

“If the May 17 [2013] events were not enough, the situation can get worse this year.”

The U.S. State Department criticised Georgian law enforcement authorities for not protecting the Georgian LGBT demonstrators in 2013, which caused the then Georgian Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, to claim that the police rescued people from physical abuse, but he added;

"[...] these people [LGBT] have always been beaten in Georgia."

A Georgian human rights activist, Uchi Nanuashvili told LGBTQ Nation that Georgia’s pending treaty with the EU, the Association Agreement, has become entangled in the debate over LGBT equality, as Orthodox activists see it as promoting "a homosexula agenda that endangers children."

The treaty, which is expected to be signed by June this year, will include criteria for guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities including sexual minorities.

Akhvlediani decried the treaty,

"In order to implement their aggressive propaganda, they [LGBT advocates] try to summon the international society,” he said. “EU and NATO membership can be considered suicide.”

The principal group which advocates LGBT equality rights in Georgia, Identoba, told LGBTQ Nation Friday that the group hasn't made concrete plans.

“We don’t know what the organization will do for May 17 this year," Natia Kharatishvili said, " but maybe it’s possible we don’t commemorate it at all." 

Human Rights group urge Kyrgyzstan’s national parliament to withdraw anti-gay bill

STAFF REPORTS | NEW YORK -- A draft bill to designed to curtail lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights should be withdrawn from Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, (Zhogorku Kenesh), Human Rights Watch, (HRW) a New York based human rights advocacy group said in a statement Thursday.

The law, which was published online Wednesday for public discussion, has not been officially registered for consideration by parliament. The bill would amend the nation's Criminal Code, the Code of Administrative Responsibility, the Law on Peaceful Assembly, and the Law on Mass Media, and would introduce a range of criminal and administrative sanctions on those who speak or act in a way that creates “a positive attitude toward nontraditional sexual orientation.”

"Those provisions in the bill would violate Kyrgyzstan’s constitution as well as international human rights law on nondiscrimination, freedom of expression, association, and assembly," Hugh Williamson, a spokesman for HRW said. “This draconian bill is blatantly discriminatory against LGBT people and would deny citizens across Kyrgyzstan their fundamental rights,” he said and added,

“The sponsors of this homophobic bill should withdraw it immediately, and the government and political parties should speak out against such legislation, making clear it has no place in Kyrgyzstan.”

Under the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code, people who are found responsible for “creating a positive attitude toward non-traditional sexual relations, using the media or information and telecommunications networks,” would face up to six months in prison and a fine of from 2,000 to 5,000 som (US$36 to $91).

If the person is found to “create a positive attitude toward non-traditional sexual relations” among minors, or is a repeat offender, the prison term could be as long as a year and the fine would be 3,000 to 6,000 som ($55 to $110).

Fines also could be imposed under the administrative code for similar activities that do not amount to criminal acts under the proposed amendments.

In their explanatory note to the draft bill, the sponsors define “non-traditional sexual relations” as “sodomy, lesbianism and other forms of non-traditional sexual behavior.” They claim that the amendments are necessary “to safeguard and protect the traditional family, human, moral, and historical values of Kyrgyz society.”

“The government of Kyrgyzstan should protect its LGBT citizens from violence and discrimination, not limit their right to speak about their lives and the violations they experience,” Williamson said. “Attempting to exclude LGBT people as ‘nontraditional’ is cynical and dangerous, and tries to make them less than human.”

Tyler Clementi Anti-Harassment & Bullying Act Reintroduced in Senate

Kris Sharp with U. S. Senator Patty Murray
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Robertson

By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON --  U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) reintroduced legislation Thursday that is aimed at curbing harassment and bullying at colleges at universities across the nation.

The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2014 requires colleges and universities to prohibit harassment and establishes within the Department of Education a grant program to support campus anti-harassment programs.

The legislation was first introduced by the late Senator Frank Lautenberg after Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, took his own life after his roommate and another student invaded his privacy and harassed him over the Internet in September of 2010 .

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the measure while speaking on the Senate floor Thursday morning and shared the intensely personal story of her intern, Kristopher Sharp. Sharp had been the target of extensive bullying and harassment because of his status as an HIV-positive gay man while running for a student government office at the University of Houston-Downtown a year ago.

“Despite statistics telling us LGBT students are nearly twice as likely to be harassed, there is no federal requirement that colleges and universities have policies in place to protect their students,” said Senator Murray. “Kris told me, ‘For most young people, when things like that happen we have got to have people who are going to be proactive in helping them. And not someone telling them there’s nothing we can do to help you."

James Clementi, whose brother Tyler the measure is named for, told LGBTQ Nation Thursday,

"I'm very grateful for Senator Murray and her office for pushing this important legislation in the Senate. I think that this will ensure a safe place for learning for college students across the United States in the name of diversity and inclusion. I'd also like to thank Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, (D-NY) for her leadership in co-sponsoring this bill along with her fellow Senators for seeing how important this issue really is."

According to a 2004 study by Rowan University, 27.5 percent of college students indicated they had seen students being bullied by other students.  LGBT students are nearly twice as likely as their peers to experience harassment, and are far more likely to indicate the harassment was based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Sharp told LGBTQ Nation that he is deeply honoured by Murray's commitment to making sure that colleges and universities are safe for all students by especially LGBTQ students like himself. 

The legislation:

• Requires colleges and universities receiving federal aid to establish an anti-harassment policy prohibiting the harassment of enrolled students based on their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion.
• Requires colleges to distribute their anti-harassment policy to all students and employees, including prospective students and employees, upon request.
• Recognizes “cyberbullying,” which includes harassment undertaken through electronic messaging services, commercial mobile services, and other electronic communications. 
• Authorizes a competitive grant program for institutions of higher education to initiate, expand, or improve programs to: (a) prevent the harassment of students; (b) provide counseling or redress services to students who have been harassed or accused of subjecting other students to harassment; and (c) train students, faculty, or staff to prevent harassment or address harassment if it occurs.

The bill is also cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Al Franken (D-MN), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Obama lectures Russia on LGBT equal rights on the eve of his meeting with Pope Francis

President Barack Obama * file photo

By Brody Levesque | BRUSSELS, Belgium -- In his address on Wednesday following talks with European Union and NATO leaders on Russia's military backed annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, U. S. President Barack Obama took aim again at the anti-gay Russian laws.

"We believe in human dignity - that every person is created equal, no matter who you are, or what you look like, or who you love, or where you come from," Obama said speaking before a gathering of European leaders which included Belgium's King Philippe, and Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.

Making a case against what he characterized as Russian aggression, the president reiterated criticism of what he sees as Russian intolerance spawned by the law passed last summer that outlawed promoting LGBT equality to children.

"Instead of targeting our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, we can use our laws to protect their rights," he said. "Instead of defining ourselves in opposition to others, we can affirm the aspirations that we hold in common. That's what will make America strong. That's what will make Europe strong. That's what makes us who we are."

The president's speech and his argument that Western ideals and values of openness and tolerance would endure long past repression comes a day before he's scheduled to meet with Pope Francis in Vatican City. The White House said that president hopes that the visit will focus on the shared commitment of both the Vatican and the U.S. to helping the poor and disadvantaged persons across the globe.

The Pope has made it clear in interviews given over the past year since taking the papal office that he is more inclined in relaxing Church policies that are in opposition to gay rights.

Last June, the Pope made statements that he refused to judge gay priests and also said that the church should not "interfere" in the spiritual lives of gays and lesbians. 

Earlier this month in a wide-ranging interview with the major Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Serathe,  the Pope- while reaffirming the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage- suggested that the Church could support some types of civil unions. He noted that state-sanctioned unions can result from the need to ensure rights such as access to health care. 

"The church's longstanding teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman," Francis said,  [but] "we have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety."

Tennessee Religious Viewpoints Anti-discrimination Act sent to Governor

STAFF REPORTS | NASHVILLE -- The Tennessee Senate passed a bill on a 32-0 vote, Monday that seeks to expand religious liberty protections for students in public schools. The language of the “Religious Viewpoints Anti-discrimination Act” states that “a student may express beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. A student would not be penalized or rewarded on account of the religious content of the student’s work.”

The legislation’s primary sponsors, state Rep. Courtney Rogers (R) and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R), introduced the measure after a teacher asked a 10-year-old student to choose a subject other than God to write about as the person she admired most, according to the Associated Press. The state House passed the bill earlier this month by a vote of 90-2.

Haile, speaking to the local paper, the Tennessean, characterized the legislation as a pre-preemptive safeguard against potential lawsuits challenging school officials for permitting religious expression.

The ACLU told the Associated Press that the final version of the bill, SB 1793/HB 1547, “crosses the line from protecting religious freedom into creating systematic imposition of some students’ personal religious viewpoints on other students.” 

The ACLU added “Conversely, if a student of a minority religious faith (e.g., a Buddhist, a Wiccan, etc.) or a non-believer were to obtain a ‘position of honor,’ as defined under this bill, that student would be permitted to subject all classmates to prayer and proselytizing specific to his or her faith tradition in connection with school events. In both cases, parents would have no recourse to ensure that their children were not coerced into such religious exercise.”

The measure is expected to go to Tennessee's Republican Governor Bill Haslam for his signature. Should the Governor veto the measure, political analysts say that any veto Haslam considers likely will be overridden given the overwhelming support by the legislature.

LGBT activist and blogger David Badash took aim at the measure Tuesday noting,

"An evangelical student, or example, could preach the gospel during a science class, or “witness” during English. Attacks on LGBT people and same-sex marriage are automatically protected under this bill, offering anti-gay students a state-sponsored license to bully. And of course, a student could claim they worship Satan and subject their classmates to that “religious viewpoint” as well." 

He added, "The bill, of course, likely violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, but that rarely stops conservative lawmakers on a religious mission."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trending Today at LGBTQ Nation Magazine

BREAKING: Federal judge strikes down Michigan ban on same-sex marriage

Gay student says Baptist school denied readmission after he came out

A requiem on the death of Fred Phelps

‘One Million Moms’ outraged over ‘sexual perversion’ of Honey Maid campaign

Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps dead at 84

North Carolina boy bullied for liking My Little Pony making progress after suicide attempt

By Brody Levesque | CHARLOTTE -- The 11-year-old North Carolina boy who attempted suicide after family members said was repeatedly bullied at school and called gay because he was a fan of the children’s television cartoon “My Little Pony,” is making good progress.

Michael Morones who was tragically left in a coma last month when he tried to take his own life, is in a Charlotte hospital and according to family members, his brain is still very slowly starting to function again. The family was left wondering if he might wake up, and even if he did, whether he would retain his sight and movement.

His parents said this week via the website set-up to help the family defray the ongoing medical expenses and support that he no longer needs IV medications or sedation, and while he is currently restricted to a specialised mechanical wheelchair, he continues to make great progress. 

“We won’t know for months how much is going to heal,” his mother said last month in an interview. “It could even be years before we find out what potential for healing he has.”

The online My Little Pony fan community gathered together and donated money to help pay his medical bills via a “Michael Morones Recovery Fund” on gofundme.com, while Facebook users changed their profile pictures to show the pony Pinkie in solidarity. A campaign called Art for Michael also saw people sending in art in support of the Morones family, and the voice actors from the show sent him recorded messages of support.

Recently the parents shared a small video of them working on his recovery:

WATCH:

Trending Today at LGBTQ Nation Magazine

Gay student says Baptist school denied readmission after he came out

A requiem on the death of Fred Phelps

‘One Million Moms’ outraged over ‘sexual perversion’ of Honey Maid campaign

Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps dead at 84

W.Va. high school teacher suspended for Facebook post mocking gay group

U.S. Congress hopeful who said God punishes gay marriage with bad weather, wins primary

Ark. school district defends censoring gay student’s coming out story

Trending Today at LGBTQ Nation Magazine

Vernita Gray, gay rights activist and among the first to marry in Ill., has died

Westboro ‘elders’ ex-communicated Fred Phelps in church power struggle

‘New York Times’ illustrated op-ed says Barilla ‘boycott has ended’

Wyo. lawmaker defends book on AIDS that describes gays as promiscuous

Guinness cancels sponsorship of NYC St. Patrick’s Day parade over gay ban

Arkansas high school censors yearbook profile of gay student’s coming out

Fred Phelps may be dying, but the LGBT community should let him go quietly

World News

Romanian parliamentary committee rejects same-sex civil partnerships bill

Romanian parliament building

STAFF REPORTS | BUCHAREST -- A bill which would have legalised same-sex civil partnerships was unanimously rejected earlier this month by a parliamentary committee in Romania. The measure would have allowed both same and opposite-sex couples to register their partnerships, allowing them to “enjoy rights like the right to inheritance, the right to become a co-beneficiary on the other’s health insurance, the right to apply for [housing] loans as joint debtors”. 

Authored by a member of the Greens Party, MP Remus Cernea, the bill received tremendous opposition from lawmakers in all parties in the Senate losing in a vote of 2 votes in favour and 105 against.

The unanimous rejection by the juridical Commission of Romania’s Chamber of Deputies occurred after the Senate vote  with one lawmaker, Diana Tusha from the Christian Democratic National Peasants’ Party, labeling the bill ‘cultural marxism’ reported Stiripentruviata.ro.

“Trying to legislate for civil partnership is trying to prove that it suffices to adopt a set of laws in order to make people think and feel differently and that one can always redesign the ideals and values of humanity according to our own will," Tusha said adding, 

“There is no need to traumatize further generations in the name of some illusory progress made through alien recipes. Such a recipe is cultural Marxism."

Cernea is hoping to re-introduce the bill at a later date, but given the resounding rejections, it is unlikely to fare much better.

Openly Lesbian judge takes oath in Michigan

STAFF REPORTS | DETROIT --  The first openly lesbian federal judge in the U.S. 6th Circuit was sworn in Tuesday by Chief Judge Gerald Rosen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Judith Levy 55, was flanked by family, friends, colleagues and other well-wishers as she was installed as a federal judge.

Levy was an assistant U.S. attorney before she was nominated to the federal bench last year by President Barack Obama.

A former civil rights attorney, Levy also was the head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights division.

She thanked her family and her colleagues for their support during her installation ceremony, reported The Detroit News.

“My thanks runs as deeply as appreciation goes,” Levy said. “At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, I found a professional and personal home that was welcoming, demanding of the highest standards. ... We are asked to achieve justice for our client, the United States, and we are given the resources and the encouragement to do that.”

Speaking about her experience when she came out as a lesbian in 1977 Levy remarked,

[...] "When I opened that closet door, other doors closed,” said Levy. “But our country is changing and the fact that this door has opened for me means that it is open for many others. I am so grateful.”

Levy received both her undergraduate and law school degrees from the University of Michigan, where she is also a professor at the university's Law School.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals comprises federal courts in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Congressional Black Caucus to Secretary of State Kerry: Review U.S. Aid To Countries With Anti-LGBT Laws

By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Black Caucus called on the Obama administration Tuesday to review all aid to countries with laws criminalizing homosexuality.

“Such laws not only violate human rights, they endanger lives and undermine public health efforts,” forty-one members of the caucus wrote in a letter addressed to U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The letter, while praising the administration's efforts in response to a draconian law passed in December by the Ugandan parliament and just recently signed by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, also urges that the United States reassess its relationships with all countries with anti-gay laws. Lawmakers pointed out Nigerian legislation similar to Uganda’s was recently enacted and that lawmakers from other African nations are considering similar measures. 

“Such laws not only violate human rights, they endanger lives and undermine public health efforts, most notably programs to address HIV/AIDS, which must be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner in order to be effective,” the letter states.

A senior source at the State Department acknowledged to LGBTQ Nation Tuesday that administration officials are “reviewing” partnerships in Uganda, however the official declined to provide any details.

Congressional sources told LGBTQ Nation that the administration has left key questions about the review process and ongoing actions unanswered for both Houses of Congress as well.

In Tuesday's letter the CBC members asked Kerry to have U.S. embassies be given the power to protect and assist “individuals endangered by anti-LGBT laws.”  The lawmakers expressed that they'd like to see the administration divert aid dollars away from any governments and non-governmental organizations that “support discriminatory laws.”

Congressional lawmakers put pressure on Obama to sign ENDA Executive Order

By Brody Levesque | Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (D), sent a letter signed by nearly 200 Senators and Representatives to President Obama Tuesday calling on him to issue an executive order banning contractors from receiving federal government contracts unless they have a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“All Americans deserve fairness in the workplace,” Merkley said in a statement Tuesday. 

“There is no reason to wait any longer to extend non-discrimination policies to federal contractors and protect millions of Americans from being fired for who they are or who they love.”

Included in Tuesday's letter for the first time was senior Democratic House leaders, the House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Assistant Minority Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has publicly supported an executive order, however she didn't sign the letter. Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told LGBTQ Nation that the Minority leader would send a private communique to the White House urging Obama to consider an executive order.

Last year lawmakers had also sent a letter to Obama signed by 110 House members and by 37 senators.

Executive orders banning various types of discrimination by federal contractors have been on the books since 1941, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the first such order. Federal contractors have been banned since 1965 from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Although the current Employment Non-Discrimination Act, sponsored by Merkley, passed the Senate last year, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere in the House as Speaker John Boehner has steadfastly refused to bring the ENDA measure forward for consideration citing the possibility that it would put a financial burden on businesses.

"The Speaker believes this legislation will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said.

The president has the ability to ban discrimination among government contractors only, whereas legislation passed by Congress would apply to all employers.

Anti-gay Russian lawmaker sanctioned over Ukraine

Yelena Mizulina

By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Monday froze the U.S. assets of seven Russian officials, including the Russian Duma Deputy (Member of Parliament) who authored the controversial anti-gay propaganda law last year, for their support of Crimea's vote to secede from Ukraine.
Administration officials say those Obama targeted also are key political players in Russia and who are also responsible for the country's tightening of human rights and civil liberties in Russia.

The financial assets of Deputy Yelena Mizulina and the others were ordered frozen in an executive order issued Monday the White House said in a statement.

The White House declined comment initially on whether her authorship of the anti-gay law contributed to the decision to freeze her assets, however a source at the Treasury Department told LGBTQ Nation late Monday that the president's decision was based on her status as a senior Russian parliament member and not her sponsorship of the bill.

Obama said he was moving to "increase the cost" to Russia, and he warned that more people could face financial punishment.

"We are imposing sanctions on specific individuals responsible for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of Ukraine. We're making it clear that there are consequences for their actions," the president said. 

"If Russia continues to interfere in Ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions," Obama said.

The president added that he still believes there could be a diplomatic resolution to the crisis and that the sanctions can be based on whether Russia escalates or pulls back in its involvement.

The U.S. announcement came shortly after the European Union announced travel bans and asset freezes on 21 people they have linked to the unrest in Crimea. Obama administration officials say there is some overlap between the U.S. and European list, which wasn't immediately made public.

The McLean, Virginia based Spectrum Human Rights group along with András Simonyi, the former Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S. and current managing director of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Transatlantic Relations, had sent an open letter to the president in January, urging Obama to expand an April 2013 list to include officials- including Mizulina- covered under the terms of the Magnitsky Act for human rights violations in Russia, particularly against the Russian LGBTQ community.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

Fred Phelps may be dying- but the LGBTQ community needs to let him go quietly

By Brody Levesque  WASHINGTON | A few years ago I asked Judy Shepard how she felt about Fred Phelps, the founder of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church which had picketed the funeral of her son Matthew, that was to become the seminal event that put Westboro into the national spotlight.

Her answer surprised me. “Oh we love Freddy,” she replied, “If it wasn't for him there would be no Matthew Shepard.”

Judy's answer to my question illustrates the truth about Fred Phelps- just as much as Matthew Shepard has become the iconic symbol of the LGBTQ community's fight for full inclusion and equal rights- Fred is the iconic symbol of exactly that vitriolic anti-gay speech and deeds which the greater LGBTQ community has been fighting against for so long. 

We need to actually be thankful for, not for Fred and his family's hateful messaging and narrative, but for his creating such an awareness in the public's mind so as to be the absolute metaphorical example of anti-gay rhetoric just as say comparisons to Adolf Hitler when one is speaking of reprehensible acts by another person of public note. 

Jim Osborn, a friend of mine who attended school with Matt Shepard, participated in the Rainbow Resource Center meetings at the University of Wyoming with him, and was the co-creator of Angel Action- the counter-protest against Fred and his church during the course of the trial of the the two men responsible for the murder of his friend- pointed out to me in a phone call earlier today that Matt himself would likely not be very pleased with the hateful reactions by the LGBTQ community towards Fred and his family to the news.

Jim said, “Matt saw everyone as a human being- some with flaws, but none that needed to be condemned.”  He then went on to point out that (the) “GLBT community needs to be better than that, we need to let him [Fred] go and quietly.”  I agree.

This isn't about forgiveness nor is it really about condemnation either.  As a journalist, I have covered Fred and his family and their bizarre little world that creeps into the rest of our world since that day 15 years ago in Casper, Wyoming when I first encountered them at Matthew's funeral.

Trust me- the “Fags plus Aids equals Death” and the stick figures engaged in anal sex on garish neon coloured poster signs at the funeral of a kid so brutally murdered was a definite “oh wow who the fuck are they” moment.  

Years later as their hateful anti-gay messaging was directed against fallen American soldiers, airman, sailors killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the globe, the church turned into a parody- albeit not amusing- of the anti-gay hate crowd from the so-called religious right who rallied against the LGBTQ community.

The picketing was disgusting and yes, in my opinion was unconscionable, yet it reflected the values of free speech and right to self expression that American's cherish.

However, like Judy, I think that the protests by Westboro awoke a sense of awareness among the “Mom, Pop, Apple Pie-Chevrolet and the Wal-Mart customers” as to what is right and what is wrong in this nation's values. It became a public debate about humanity, dignity, and the fact that all of us including the LGBTQ community are people.

I feel empathy as a human being for Fred’s family- their anti-gay messaging aside, struggling with the death of a father, husband, and grandfather.

We need to remind ourselves that Fred used our being LGBTQ community's humanity as an abstract, creating scenarios of hurt and feelings of indignity, but at the end of the day- Fred's example illustrates the worst not the best of the very essence of what it truly means to be human.

Let him fade away and instead let's press forward.  I can't speak for Matthew or his family- but I tend to think they'd agree with me.

Maryland 'gay conversion therapy' bill withdrawn

Maryland State House, Annapolis   * File Photo

By Brody Levesque | ANNAPOLIS -- A bill that would have banned mental health professionals from engaging in efforts to change a youth's sexual orientation or gender identity in Maryland has been withdrawn.

Baltimore County Delegate John Cardin,(D) the bill's sponsor, withdrew the bill Friday noting that LGBT advocacy groups and others will instead pursue regulatory oversight of the controversial practice.

"If we can do this without legislation, I am all about it," said Cardin, in a statement Friday. "I am not interested in the glory. I'm interested in solving problems."

Cardin's bill had targeted the state's professional counselors that fall under regulatory oversight but had excluded unlicensed church clergy or therapists, from engaging in efforts to change a youth's sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Cardin and Equality Maryland, Maryland's largest LGBT equality rights advocacy group, both labeled the practice of conversion therapy also known as reparative therapy dangerous, citing multiple professional medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association as opposing the practice.

In a joint statement Friday, Cardin and Carrie Evans, Equality Maryland's executive director, said that in research for the bill, and in talking to "several organizations with expertise in regulatory protections for patients," they concluded that patients who feel they have been harmed by "conversion" or "reparative" therapy already have avenues to complain to state health occupation boards.

"Minors or anyone advocating on their behalf can file a complaint with a board, triggering a vigorous investigation," the statement said. "If the investigation uncovers proof that a licensed health care professional violated the standard of care, then the board has an array of regulatory tools to keep this from happening again."

"Delegate Cardin and Equality Maryland are confident that the existing regulatory framework provides a precise tool to protect minors from this harmful therapy, and we will work together and with other advocates to ensure that the process for filing complaints against anyone who engages in these practices is transparent and widely disseminated."

Equality Maryland's Evans noted that her organization will "work to ensure LGBT youth and their parents have the information they need to file complaints."

’Homosexual Propaganda’ Bill fails to progress in Lithuanian parliament

STAFF REPORTS | VILNIUS -- A bill that would ban LGBT pride parades, public speeches on LGBT support, LGBT materials and audio-visual media to promote LGBT rights in this Baltic nation failed to pass parliament Thursday.

The measure mirrors Russia’s highly controversial "homosexual propaganda" law charging those who break the proposed law with a 2,500 lita fine. [$1008. USD] For the same acts committed repeatedly the fine increases three to six thousand litas. [$1,200 to $2,420.USD]

In an angry denouncement of those members of parliament opposed to the measure, Petras Grazulis the bill's author told the media after the vote;

"We propose to penalize the family values ​​enshrined in the Constitution. Conservatives, Christian Democrats family values ​​and the family appears to be void, they change their political and sexual orientation together."

Although the vote was 39 in favour to remove it from the parliament's calendar to 34 opposed with 20 voting to abstain, the measure failed to reach a required plurality to move forward under parliamentary procedures and rules.

Today's Trending Top Stories from LGBTQ Nation Magazine

Judge upholds Mo. law limiting time, distance of funeral protests

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Autopsies reveal causes of death in murders of Texas lesbian couple

‘Game of Thrones’ actor Kristian Nairn comes out as gay

‘Marry Me’

Russian law enforcement drops hate crime investigation

Courtesy of Dmitry Chyzhevsky

By Brody Levesque | SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia -- It has been four months since a group of masked thugs using baseball bats and air-pellet guns forced their way into a meeting of LGBT equality rights activists yelling anti-gay epithets and firing rounds at the people gathered including 27-year-old Dmitry Chyzhevsky. Unfortunately for Chizhevsky, one of those shots entered his left eye and despite enduring three surgical procedures since the attack, he has lost all vision in that eye.

Last week Chizhevsky and the others learned that investigation into the November 4 shooting attack has been officially suspended and that the court dismissed their petition to have the attack classified as a hate crime.

An police official assigned to the case acknowledged to LGBTQ Nation Tuesday that despite the collected evidence, including bullets and fingerprints, investigators are not any closer to arresting the assailants than they were last November. 

Chizhevsky's attorney, Maria Kozlovskaya, took exception to the police explanation noting that video from a local surveillance system, which might have tracked the attackers, was not collected by police investigators and also pointed out that police investigators were unwilling to put forth more than a token effort to produce results and arrests.

"There is video surveillance camera from a nearby hotel, which can be seen as running away, two young men in masks - the alleged perpetrators" she said.  

Chizhevsky said of the lead investigator;

“Her main goal was to fill out all the forms rather than find the criminals”. He added that she claimed to him that "she did all she could do, but will not be searching for the attackers, unless new evidence comes up. She was completely indifferent to us and to the case,"  he said. 

Viacheslav Revin, a Russian LGBTQ activist had told LGBTQ Nation last November that the adoption of the local anti-gay law in St. Petersburg has sparked “a street war against the LGBT community in the city.”

“As always, the police did not want to do anything to stop the violence or prevent it. I am sure that the authorities either ignore this planned attack on the office of the organization, or make empty statements,” he said. 

“Anti-gay hysteria in Russia is gaining momentum and is convenient to the authorities of gay people’s enemies,” added Revin. “Gay people are now scapegoats for problems.”

Chizhevsky's attorney was more blunt in her assessment.

"Failure to provide a proper investigation of crime qualification indicates an intention to conceal the fact that homophobic attacks, the number of which in the last year in St. Petersburg has increased significantly."

Politico Magazine: A gay father, a dead son—and the bigoted church that judged them both wrong.

By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON -- Sometimes a story within a story is more fascinating and compelling than what the public ends up reading as there are oft times circumstances which prevent the whole story from being told. Nearly nine  years ago a bereaved father took on the infamous Westboro Baptist Church in a lawsuit that reached the highest court in the land that stemmed from Westboro's protest at his Marine son's funeral.

The Topeka, Kansas-based church led by pastor Fred Phelps is notorious for its angry, anti-gay protests, “God hates fags” signs, and picketing at funerals of deceased U.S. military personnel.

The case began when Albert Snyder, the father of U. S. Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2006, sued Westboro, saying those protests amounted to targeted harassment and an intentional infliction of emotional distress on the families of deceased service members. Albert Snyder won $11 million during that first trial, later reduced by a judge to $5 million which the church appealed. 

The case wound its way through the federal courts and in 2011, The Westboro Baptist Church won a significant victory when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of its right to promote what its church members call a “broad-based message” on public matters such as wars.

At least that was the story that the media told and the public read and watched.

But there was another story, hidden, unknown save for a select few, that paints an even more compelling backstory to the tragedy of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder's death and the circumstances surrounding his father's fight to protect the memory of his son and to save other families from the trauma of the experience of a protest by the Westboro church.

CNN host and journalist Michael Smerconish reveals in a Politico cover story Friday that Albert Snyder was gay and tragically lost the love of his partner of 14 years to cancer not long after the Supreme Court ruled against him:

Walt Fisher’s obituary, after he lost his battle with lung cancer, was notable for what it didn’t reveal. 

When the 57-year-old from York, Pa., died in the spring of 2011, the local Daily Record reported his place of birth (Hershey); the names of his parents (Harold and Mary, née Spangler); his employer (JoS. A. Bank Clothiers); and even his hobbies (music, reading and spending time at the beach). 

Reference was also made to those who survived him: “a brother, Patrick E. Kling, and his wife, Wendy of Hummelstown; a step-brother, David Kling, and his wife, Susan of Harrisburg; a nephew, Noah Kling; and an aunt, Doris Eby of Hershey.” 

Despite listing some of those Fisher held dear, the obituary was silent about the most important person in his life for his final 14 years: Nothing was said of Albert Snyder....... ( Read more here. )

Michael Smerconish is host of the new CNN program “Smerconish,” which debuts Saturday, March 8, at 9 a.m. EST and will feature more on this story, including an exclusive interview with Albert Snyder.

British Monarch honours LGBT charity group

LONDON -- In what royal watchers say is a first, Queen Elizabeth II congratulated one of Britain’s oldest LGBT charity and advocacy groups, the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Thursday evening. During her 62-year reign on the throne, the 87-year-old Queen has never once visited or become a patron of an LGBT charity LGBT and Human Rights activist Peter Tatchell said last year.

Buckingham Palace released a transcript of her message in which the Queen said,

“Best wishes and congratulations to all concerned on this most special anniversary.”

The London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Established as a voluntary organisation on March 4th 1974, its  mission is to provide an information, support and referral service for LGBT people and anyone who needs to consider issues around their sexuality with a trained staff of around 160 volunteer phone operators who are LGBT themselves.

The group estimates that it has provided support and information to more than 3 million people since 1974, and that its volunteer staff answers approximately 15,000 calls every year with an additional 100,000 people assisted who seek information from its online LGBT community resources website.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also congratulated the group along with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, London's Mayor Johnson and the head of the Labour party in Parliament, Ed Miliband.

The Queen last year had signed a royal assent for legislation that legalised same-sex marriage in Britain as well as officially pardoned under the little-known Royal Prerogative of Mercy, famed British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, who was criminally prosecuted and convicted under Britain’s 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act that criminalized homosexual activity and led to the convictions of over 49,000 British men, including Oscar Wilde. 

Virginia Legislature Unanimously Repeals Sodomy Ban

RICHMOND -- A bill passed by the Virginia House of Delegates Thursday will repeal the state's law that made oral and anal sex — even between consenting married couples — a felony. The measure which passed the state's Senate unanimously last month passed through the House of Delegates unanimously in a 100 to 0 vote. The bill now goes to Governor Terry McAuliffe, (D) for his signature.

The changes passed by the legislature Thursday will include sodomy in code used to prosecute rape, prostitution, sex acts involving children and other uncontested crimes, while limiting “crimes against nature” to bestiality and incest. 

This measure comes more than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas [2003] that states may not ban private non-commercial sex between consenting adults.

In the intervening years attempts were made to overhaul Virginia’s Crimes Against Nature statute including removal of the statute’s consensual sodomy provisions but were killed by the state's anti-LGBT lawmakers supported by the leading opponent of such changes, the Richmond-based anti-LGBT group Family Foundation of Virginia.  

One of those lawmakers- later elected Virginia Attorney General- Ken Cuccinelli II, was forced to defend the statue after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond in 2013 ruled that the law and the conviction were unconstitutional in a case brought by a man convicted under the law of soliciting a 17-year-old female for oral sex.

The appellate court found that because that law — first enacted in 1950 to prohibit oral and anal sex, as well as bestiality — had not been updated, it was unenforceable under Lawrence v. Texas. The court's ruling however caused a problem whereby the convictions of other sexual offenders and child predators at risk.

A bill filed in the General Assembly in December to effect a change to prevent sexual offenders and child predators from winning release on appeal of that law by Senator Thomas A. Garrett (R) would have eliminated the ban on adult consensual sodomy, but would have made oral sex between 17-year-olds a felony, even if they were legally married.

That oversight caused an uproar over whether the real goal of the legislation was a blatant attempt to recriminalize homosexuality.

That issue was later resolved in committee.

More than a decade after the Lawrence decision, several other states still have sodomy bans on the books, including Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. A lawmaker in Louisiana is pushing to undo that state’s ban but faces opposition from social conservative groups.