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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed openly lesbian Alison Nathan as the newest U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.

The vote was 48-44 in favor of Nathan’s nomination to the Court — among the 44 nay votes were five Democrats and all Republicans.

Alison Nathan (left), with her spouse Meg Sattethwaite and twin sons greeting President Barack Obama at the White House in 2010.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

In an e-mail this afternoon following the Senate’s confirmation, White House Director of Specialty Media Shin Inouye said, “The President welcomes the confirmation of Alison Nathan. She will serve the American people well from the District Court bench.”

The Washington Blade reported that GOP Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who’s known for opposing pro-LGBT initiatives in Congress, both expressed concerns on the floor about Nathan’s legal experience.

“Ms. Nathan and Judge Hickey [Another nominee being voted upon for confirmation.] both have had limited experience in the courtroom,” Grassley said. “They have failed to meet even the minimum qualifications that the ABA uses in rating process.”

“It’s very hard for me to believe that I should vote to confirm a judge who’s not committed to following our law, who believes they have a right to scrutinize the world, find some law in some other country, bring it home, and use that law to make it achieve a result in the case they wanted,” Sessions said.

Nathan has previously served as a Special Assistant to President Obama and as Associate White House Counsel. At the time of her nomination in March, Nathan was serving in the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York as Special Counsel to the Solicitor General.

Prior to joining government service, Nathan spent a number of years as an academic, first as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Fordham University Law School from 2006 to 2008 and later as a Fritz Alexander Fellow at New York University School of Law from 2008 to 2009.

Nathan has also served as a law clerk for the Honorable John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States from 2001 to 2002 and as a law clerk to the Honorable Betty B. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2001. Nathan received her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2000 from Cornell Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell Law Review. She received her B.A. in 1994 from Cornell University.

Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said, in a statement, that Nathan’s “demonstrated intellect and dedication to public service is a model of achievement.”

“She will join Judges Deborah Batts and Paul Oetken in the Southern District of New York as the only openly lesbian or gay federal judges. We look forward to the day when the makeup of the entire federal bench truly represents the diverse American public,” Solmonese said.

Nathan lives in New York with her partner, Meg Satterthwaite, and their twin sons Oliver and Nathan,

Dan Kloeffler, an ABC News correspondent and occasional anchor on the overnight “World News Now” — inspired by actor Zachary Quinto’s announcement this weekend that he is gay — has publicly acknowledged that he too is gay.

During the early morning broadcast on Monday, Kloeffler, 35, joked that he might drop his rule about dating actions after delivering the news of Quito’s coming out.

Later, on his ABC News blog, Kloeffler wrote:

I’ve never shared that I’m gay on-air, even though I’ve been out to my family, friends and co-workers for years. In fact, an old boyfriend – now best friend – has always given me a hard time about not doing so. But for the same reason that Zach decided to come out, I too, no longer wanted to hide this part of my life.

There have been too many tragic endings and too many cases of bullying because of intolerance. As a kid I wanted someone to look up to, someone that could relate to the feelings I was having. Most of all, I wanted to know that it would get better.

And it did.

As a journalist, I don’t want to be the story, but as a gay man I don’t want to stand silent if I can offer some inspiration or encouragement to kids that might be struggling with who they are.

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. — John Smid, the former Executive Director of Exodus International’s oldest ministry “Love in Action,” has publicly admitted that he is gay, and now says that being LGBTQ is an intrinsic part of a person’s being, not a “behavior” that one can repent from.

Writing on the website of his new ministry, Grace Rivers, Smid said, “One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable.”

Smid, who resigned as Executive Director of Love in Action in 2008 — an ex-gay Christian ministry that purports to “restore those trapped” in homosexuality — is now disavowing the message he preached for years that promised gays they could change.

In acknowledging that he is gay, Smid wrote:

“I also want to reiterate here that the transformation for the vast majority of homosexuals will not include a change of sexual orientation. Actually I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual.”

[…]

“I used to define homosexuality or heterosexuality in terms describing one’s behavior. I thought it made sense and through the years often wrote articles and talked from that perspective.

“Today, I understand why the gay community had such an issue with my writings. My perspective denied so many facets of the homosexual experience. I minimized a person’s life to just their sexuality but homosexuality is much more than sex.”

Smid also writes that, “I am homosexual, my wife is heterosexual,” and that this creates a “unique marriage experience that many do not understand.”

“For many years I tried to fit into the box of heterosexuality. I tried my hardest to create heterosexuality in my life but this also created a lot of shame, a sense of failure, and discouragement. Nothing I did seemed to change me into a heterosexual even though I was in a marriage that included heterosexual behavior.

“Today, I understand why the gay community had such an issue with my writings. My perspective denied so many facets of the homosexual experience. I minimized a person’s life to just their sexuality but homosexuality is much more than sex.”

Smid concludes by saying that honestly accepting your sexual orientation can open the door to a faith and life that makes sense.

“Far too many homosexuals who are seeking Christ perceive that they cannot come close to Him if they remain a homosexual. In this mindset they search feverishly for change that will not come to them,” he wrote.

A lesbian couple in California who say their 11-year-old son Tommy who wants to be a girl named Tammy are giving their child hormone blockers that delay the onset of puberty – so that he can have more time that he can have more time to decide if he wants to change his gender.

The couple’s supporters say the Hormone Blocking Therapy has only minor side effects and is appropriate for a child who is unsure of his gender. "This is definitely a changing landscape for transgender youth," said Joel Baum, director of education and training for Gender Spectrum, a California-based non-profit group. "This is about giving kids and their families the opportunity to make the right decision."

But critics of the treatment say 11-year-olds are not old enough to make life-altering decisions about changing their gender, and parents should not be encouraging them. They say it’s too soon to tell what the side effects of the treatments may be, and they say Tommy’s parents, Pauline Moreno and Debra Lobel, are irresponsible for seeking them and allowing them to be administered.

"This is child abuse. It's like performing liposuction on an anorexic child," said Dr. Paul McHugh, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.

"It is a disorder of the mind. Not a disorder of the body. Dealing with it in this way is not dealing with the problem that truly exists.

“We shouldn't be mucking around with nature. We can’t assume what the outcome will be," McHugh said.

Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, said the hormone blockers also may pose a medical risk. "I think that it’s highly inappropriate to be interfering with natural hormonal growth patterns,” Alvarez said. “There are significant potential problems necessary for growth and development.

"Potential long-term effects can include other abnormalities of hormones, vascular complications and even potential cancer. I think that if this child – as he finishes his puberty and teenage years – decides to undergo a transgender procedure – then there are proper channels to do so.

“But to do it at the age of 11 -- to me -- could be potentially dangerous to the health of this child," he said.

Tommy's parents, Moreno and Lobel, say they support their child and feel this is the best way for him to find an answer to a question he’s been asking all his life. They say Tommy – whom they now call Tammy – began taking GnRH inhibitors over the summer so that he will remain a prepubescent boy until he turns 14 or 15. They say they want to give him more time to explore the female gender identity that he associates with.

Thomas began saying he was a girl when he was 3 years old, his parents said in an interview with the Daily Mail. He was learning sign language due to a speech impediment, and one of the first things he told his mothers was, “I am a girl.” They say they thought he was confused or mistaken, and signed back, 'No. No. Thomas is a boy."

But Thomas insisted, they said. He shook his head “no” and repeated what he had signed.
They said Thomas threatened to mutilate his genitals when he was 7, and psychiatrists diagnosed a gender identity disorder.

One year later, he began transitioning to Tammy.

After much deliberation with family and therapists, the child began taking hormone blockers a few months ago. The medication, which must be changed once a year, was implanted in the boy’s upper left arm.

Tommy will continue this treatment until he turns 14 or 15, at which point he will be taken off the blockers and pursue the gender he feels is the right one. He will then either start his puberty cycle as a boy – or begin making the full transition to a girl.

"There's an increase of children who are telling their parents that they are a different gender. We're trying to understand why there's an increase," said Diane Ehrensaft, a developmental and clinical psychologist and author of the book, "Gender-Born. Gender-Made," who says the trend may be due to a more open society.

But while chemicals are giving children like Tommy more time to decide which side of the fence they belong on, some critics say that some children who question their identity at a very young age might change their mind when they start adolescence.

"Most transgender patients will say that they knew at 6 years old. But what we don't know is how many others had those thoughts and feelings that went away once they hit puberty," said Dr. Jeffrey Spiegel, a professor at Boston University and a plastic surgeon who specializes in facial feminization operations for transgender men.

"While it may be a good therapy for those who've committed to transgender, it may not be good for those who might have changed their mind once they hit puberty and beyond."

Walt Heyer, whose book "Paper Genders" details his own experience transitioning from a man to a woman and back again, agreed. "The blockers should NOT be introduced to a child," Heyer said. "If they are going to make a transition, they should wait to do so when they reach 18 to 20 years old. When you start the therapy at that age you are not dealing with the fact that the mind is not fully developed."

Heyer also cited a Dutch study that said 61 percent of individuals who desire a gender change are found to have secondary psychiatric disorders, such as depression or dissociative disorder, which he suffered from.

Other critics asked whether Tommy’s same-sex parents may be unknowingly influencing his questions about his gender.

“Undue influence on the child simply has to be ruled out,” said psychiatrist Keith Ablow, a Fox News contributor. “It's the psychologically correct thing to do, the ethical thing to do and the moral thing to do."

"Obviously, when two females adopt a male child, then assert that the child is not actually male, but is, instead, actually a female -- like both of them. Everyone in the family should be psychologically evaluated in a comprehensive way before a step like gender reassignment is considered,” said Ablow.

LAS VEGAS – The gay advocacy group that successfully lobbied to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy plans to file a lawsuit in federal court by the end of October that would challenge the constitutionality of federal laws that make married same-sex couples ineligible for the same benefits as their straight counterparts.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network will argue that the federal Defense of Marriage Act violates the Fifth Amendment right to due process, in what the group says will be the first case of its kind. "That has never been done before," Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN, told The Huffington Post.

Sarvis, who spoke about his group's plans at the OutServe Armed Forces Leadership summit here over the weekend, said the case would be brought by several currently serving members of the military who were married in the seven jurisdictions where same-sex marriages are legal. He declined to identify the plaintiffs.

"We're looking at all the legal remedies available," Sarvis said, noting that the group also is working to change Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which governs the armed forces and defines marriage as between two individuals of the opposite sex.

The SLDN lawsuit would follow a similar case filed last week by a disabled Navy veteran from Connecticut who was denied spousal benefits because she is married to a woman. That case, however, was filed in a court that handles veterans benefits and does not touch upon the compensation of active-duty service members.

While gay military couples are now eligible for "member-designated" benefits such as group life insurance, missing member notification and hospital visitation rights, DOMA keeps health care coverage and housing allowances off limits. Base housing or housing allowances and health insurance can account for as much as 40 percent of a service member's compensation, Sarvis noted, yet those benefits are not available to same-sex married service personnel.

"There is a huge disparity between gay and straight service members who are providing equal service, taking equal risks, making equal sacrifices," Sarvis said. "This inequity should not and cannot stand."

SLDN's impending lawsuit comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to vote next month on the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA.

House Argues Gays And Lesbians Not Entitled To Same Protections As Minorities

SAN FRANCISCO – Gays and lesbians are not entitled to the same heightened legal protection and scrutiny against discrimination as racial minorities and women in part because they are far from politically powerless and have ample ability to influence lawmakers, lawyers for a U.S. House of Representatives group said in a federal court filing.

The filing Friday in San Francisco's U.S. District Court comes in a lesbian federal employee's lawsuit that claims the government wrongly denied health insurance coverage to her same-sex spouse. Karen Golinski says the law under which her spouse was denied benefits – the Defense of Marriage Act – violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

But attorneys representing the House's Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group counter that DOMA is subject to a lower level of court scrutiny because gays and lesbians don't meet the legal criteria for groups who receive heightened protection from discrimination. Under that lower standard, DOMA is constitutional, they argue.

"A spate of recent news stories only confirms the conclusion that homosexuals are far from politically powerless," the filing says, arguing that the court should deny Golinski's motion for summary judgment in her favor. "Accordingly, gays and lesbians cannot be labeled `politically powerless' without draining that phrase of all meaning."

The filing cites a poll of Americans showing support for gay candidates, New York's decision to legalize gay marriage, and the lifting of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces.

Golinski's attorney, Tara Borelli, said in a phone interview Saturday, "We don't think that DOMA can survive a court review under any level."

A recent ruling by a District Court judge in Massachusetts supported that view, Borelli said.

Golinski's case has received support from the Obama administration. In a brief filed in July that urged the court to find DOMA unconstitutional, the administration argued that it reflected Congressional hostility to gays and targeted an immutable characteristic – sexual orientation – that has nothing to do with someone's ability to contribute to society.

The administration also characterized gays and lesbians as minorities with limited political power. It had previously said it would not defend the marriage act.

The House's Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group stepped in to defend it.

Ricky Martin

Although he's aware that some people "are uncomfortable by his nature," Puerto Rican Ricky Martin defended his sexual orientation and said that he'll continue singing, detracting some level of importance from several acts of censorship of which he's been a target of.

According to information obtained by Mexican news agency Notimex, it was upon his arrival to Nicaragua, where he was scheduled to perform Friday as part of his 'Musica+Alma+Sexo' tour, that the singer declared he is a gay man ready to defend his right.

"Yes, I am a gay man, and I'm looking for my rights," he told the government-run Radio Ya and other national media.

Although, "there are two or three people who are uncomfortable by my nature, I have no control over how they feel. I simply want to live in peace and continue singing," Martin said.

With respect to his work as an ambassador for the United Nations Fund for Children, or UNICEF, he said that he would continue fighting to eradicate child prostitution and mistreatment of people throughout the world, through the foundation that bears his name.

"Unfortunately, there are children who are forced to enter the world of prostitution and pornography, and this happens everywhere around the world. And I've been working against that for eight or nine years," he said.

After assuring that he is a happy man who enjoys his success, his children and his partner, Carlos Gonzalez, the singer promised to deliver an event tonight "that you will really enjoy. I'm going to make sure that everyone has a good time. It's going to be a big party. Viva Nicaragua!"

OutServe Summit Ends With High Hopes And Many Challenges Ahead

LAS VEGAS -– In many ways, the centerpiece dinner of the first OutServe Armed Services Leadership Summit here was a standard military affair.

There was the pledge of allegiance and "The Star-Spangled Banner." There was the ceremonial playing of the five armed forces' anthems, with members and veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard standing at attention as their service song was played. And there were toasts to the commander-in-chief and a moment of silence for fallen comrades.

But as the first gathering of openly gay and lesbian service members drew to a close, there were also tributes to the military personnel whose earlier battles made this moment possible, starting with Leonard Matlovich, the Vietnam veteran who a generation ago took his fight against the Pentagon's ban on gays to his grave.

Now, looking out at the 200 active-duty service members, veterans and families in the room, the keynote speaker put into words what many were thinking.

"This is freaking amazing," said Douglas Wilson, assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the highest-ranking openly gay official in Pentagon history. "After 17 years of the fear of what would happen to the military if gays and lesbians were allowed to serve openly, the thunderous answer is: nothing."

Or, as OutServe founder Josh Seefried put it, the massive buildup to last month's repeal of the ban on open service by gays fizzled like the Y2K scare in 2000. "More of us knew Sept. 20 as the season premiere of 'Glee' than the end of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" he joked.

Not everyone is as blasé as Seefried.

Ed Luna, a recently commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps who began nine years ago as an enlisted man, said the demise of DADT means he can finally have a personal life. Unwilling to lie about his private life, he refused to date other men so that he could do his duty as a Marine with a clear conscience. "That part of my life didn't exist," he said. Now he has been liberated.

"I don't ever have to spend another day pretending to be someone other than my real self," said Luna, who has been to Iraq twice and is now preparing for a career in military intelligence. While he has heard fellow Marines say "hurtful, terrible things" about gays over the years, he hopes that once they get to know real gay people in their units, the stereotypes will fall away.

"When people start to put reality to it," he said, "it's going to be somebody they went to war with, somebody who saved their life."

Despite high hopes and a celebratory atmosphere, most here agreed there is still much work to do before gay and lesbian military personnel are treated on par with their straight counterparts.

For Lt. Cmdr. Zac Mathews, a Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter pilot based in Atlantic City, N.J., he realizes that his fiance will not be eligible to collect survivor benefits should anything happen to him after they marry next June.

"It's frustrating and not fair," said Mathews, 34, as his voice cracks and eyes well up, discussing how his family will still not be officially recognized, despite his having been with the Coast Guard for 12 years. "It's almost a slap in the face. The Coast Guard and all the services preach that everyone will be taken care of, but that's untrue when it comes to gays and lesbians."

Until recently, there was no military support group for gays. But after being invited to speak to the Pentagon's Comprehensive Working Group, whose report paved the way for the repeal of DADT, Ariana Bostian-Kentes helped to start the Military Partners and Family Coalition, the first organization of its kind to provide support, resources and advocacy for LGBT families.

“It has not been easy” since her partner, an Army logistics officer, was deployed to Afghanistan last month, Bostian-Kente said. A civilian who works at a gay resource center in Ann Arbor, Mich., she wears a blue star pin that signifies she has a loved one in a war zone. Her partner Nicole –- she preferred to use only her first name –- was stationed at Fort Bliss, Tex., before leaving for her tour. In the five years they have been together, they have lived apart for half that time because Bostian-Kentes couldn't afford to give up her job in Michigan because she would lose her health insurance. They plan to marry after Nicole returns, but even then Bostian-Kente would not be eligible for Army health care coverage or help with relocation.

Despite her 10 years in the Army, Nicole plans to get out after her deployment. Unless, her partner said, the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed and same-sex unions are treated the same as straight ones. "Countless famiiles didn't re-up or join because of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' but we still have to choose between having a relationship and serving in the military, and that's a choice straight people don't have to make," Bostian-Kente said.

Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan chafes at the fact that her domestic partner and soon-to-be wife, Karen Morgan, doesn't have privileges at the Army commissary despite her nearly 20 years on active and guard duty. Karen, a civilian and stay-at-home mom to the couple's four-year-old daughter, has no health insurance and can't afford the $1,200 a month it would cost to buy the equivalent of what the Army offers to straight military spouses. And when Charlie's unit holds a welcome home ceremony next week after nine months in Kuwait, Karen won't be allowed to attend but their daughter will.

"It divides our family," Karen said. "It's hurtful."

Charlie, who is battling breast cancer, said Karen is as integral to her professional mission as any other military spouse. "I can't do this without her. I can't deploy in a combat zone without knowing my family is taken care of," she said. "Because she can't be part of my second family, my deployed family, it does set you apart as second class."

UPDATE: Zachary Quinto commented on coming out over at his own website. "When I found out that Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself – I felt deeply troubled. But when I found out that Jamey Rodemeyer had made an It Gets Better video only months before taking his own life -- I felt indescribable despair. I also made an It Gets Better video last year -- in the wake of the senseless and tragic gay teen suicides that were sweeping the nation at the time. but in light of Jamey's death -- it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality." Read his full statement over at ZacharyQuinto.com.

EARLIER: Zachary Quinto has long dodged rumors about his sexuality. "The fact that [same-sex marriage and gay bullying] are such hot-button issues right now, socially and politically, I would much rather talk about that than talk about who I sleep with," Quinto told the New York Times last year while promoting his stage work in the seminal play 'Angels in America.' "I would love to be a voice in this maelstrom of chaos and obsessive celebrity infatuation that says, 'Let's talk about something that matters.'" Apparently, the 'Margin Call' star came to the realization that the issues were related to some degree: he's come out as a gay in the newest issue of New York.

Quinto says that playing Louis Ironson in 'Angels in America,' a man who abandons his AIDS-stricken boyfriend, was a breakthrough. "[It was] the most challenging thing I've ever done as an actor and the most rewarding. And at the same time, as a gay man, it made me feel like there's still so much work to be done, and there's still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed."

Those things include a society where gay marriage can get legalized in New York, the same year that 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself after incidents of gay bullying.

"As a gay man I look at that and say there's a hopelessness that surrounds it, but as a human being I look at it and say 'Why? Where's this disparity coming from, and why can't we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that?" Quinto said. "We're terrified of facing ourselves."

Before his breakout role on 'Heroes,' Quinto starred in numerous television shows – including as Tori Spelling's homosexual friend in 'So NoTORIous.' He shot to superstardom after playing Spock in the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot of 'Star Trek' in 2009, and is star and producer of 'Margin Call,' out Friday.

Quinto has championed equal rights and empowerment in the past, including filming an "It Gets Better" video for The Trevor Project last year.

By Brody Levesque

LAS VEGAS — OutServe, nation’s only professional association for actively serving gay an lesbian military personnel, is holding its first annual “OutServe Armed Forces Leadership Summit” in Las Vegas this weekend, aimed at enhancing “military readiness through encouraging an environment of respect with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity”

According to OutServe, the conference will also offer the LGBT military community “a means of building professional networks, sharing best practices and formulating strategies that help build a stronger military community.”

The sold-out conference kicked off Thursday at the New York, New York Hotel and Casino, and is being attended by 215 attendees from all branches of the U.S. military along with veterans and civilian supporters. A spokesperson for the organization said that the registration was capped to make the event manageable.

“Part of the goal of the conference is to recognize the past, and also as an organization plan for the future,” said Ty Walrod, a civilian who co-founded OutServe, and served as its spokesman when his friend and co-founder, Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, used an alias to avoid being discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Nathaniel Frank, a historian whose 2009 book, “Unfriendly Fire,” argued that banning gays from serving freely hurt U.S. military readiness, said that gay men and lesbians have formed secret social networks going as far back as World War I. Aided by technology, research and the public’s increasing indifference to sexual orientation, OutServe is the first such group to be able to take its activities from anonymous to above ground, he said.

“‘Don’t ask, Don’t Tell’ obviously required people who in many cases needed support, the support of each other and mutual assistance, to remain in the shadows even to one another,” Frank said. “So to have a conference like this, where people can step out of the shadows and come together to discuss the things that are important to being the best soldiers they can be, is historic and is essential and is one of the reasons so many people have been advocating for an end to a policy that requires you to hide.”
    Associated Press, via The New York Times

In addition to several workshops, one of which was entitled “Scriptures and Homosexuality,” there were private meetings scheduled for the heads of the organization’s 48 chapters.

“There are issues of leadership and faith and family that are specific to our community and that by addressing, our folks can be better soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and better leaders,” said Sue Fulton, an OutServe founding board member, and the first openly gay West Point graduate who was appointed to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Military Academy by President Barack Obama in July.

OutServe also announced Thursday that Douglas Wilson, the Defense Department’s openly gay Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, will be the keynote speaker at the gathering’s Saturday night dinner.

Also slated to appear Saturday evening will be Jeff and Lori Wilfahrt of Rosemont, Minn., whose son Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt, lost his life to an IED in Kandahar, Afghanistan in February of this year. Wilfahrt was openly gay, and serving in an Army unit whose other members were aware that he was gay.

The Wilfahrts will be honored for paying tribute to their son’s memory by their campaign of speaking out against the ballot referendum to place an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment on the 2012 Minnesota ballot.

The conference sponsors included the Central Intelligence Agency, Log Cabin Republicans, Stonewall Democrats of Nevada, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and LGBT advocacy groups Human Rights Campaign, and the Courage Campaign.

A gay high school student in Alice, Texas, says he was kicked off the cheerleading squad and suspended after kissing another male student.

The cheerleader, who wishes to remain anonymous, was caught on a surveillance camera, reports 6 News, which leads him and his family to believe that he was being monitored and targeted because he's gay.

"They never check cameras for anything unless something is stolen," he said. "We would be the ones getting caught because I'm sure we were the only ones, sexual orientation wise, being caught like that."

The cheerleader also stated that public affection is not uncommon among the students at Alice High School, which he claims is further proof of the discrimination he's facing.

"In this school [kissing] is everywhere, if that were the case, suspending everyone for that, half the school would be suspended," he said.

The student's parents told 6 News that when they met with a school administrator they learned that the school is reviewing the principal's decision to suspended their son and they could expect news next week. The family added that they are prepared to start a fight if their son isn't reinstated on the squad.

VIDEO: hXXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/14/male-cheerleader-kiss_n_1011412.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk1%7C104586

hXXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/12/police-nm-woman-put-ad-on_n_1008233.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl17%7Csec3_lnk2%7C103969

ROSWELL, N.M. – A New Mexico woman faces charges after police say she put an ad on Craigslist looking to buy drugs.

Roswell police arrested Anamicka Dave, 29, this week after officers posing as sellers arranged to meet her through text messages.

Roswell Police Sgt. Ty Sharpe said the ad was so blatant, he had to make sure it wasn't posted by another undercover officer.

"I was really surprised that someone would actually put on there they were looking for weed – an actually illegal product – to the fact that I called my boss to make sure it wasn't one of our guys trying to do a reverse sting," Sharpe told the station.

Police met the Albuquerque woman in a parking lot and then arrested her.

It was unclear if Dave had an attorney, and a message left at a phone listing for her wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

:hehe: :haha: :funny2: :rotfl: :lolp:

I wonder what she was "on" to make her place at all. She had to be fucked up out of her mind to place an ad for  :bananadope:

A New Jersey teacher is under investigation for anti-gay remarks she allegedly posted on her Facebook that criticize a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history month display at her school.

Viki Knox, a 49-year-old special education teacher at Union High School and adviser to the school's student prayer group, reportedly posted on Facebook that homosexuality is "a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation," and a "sin" that "breeds like cancer," the Star-Ledger reports.

"Union is not South Orange/Maplewood where one out of four families consist of two Mommies or daddies… Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?" Knox wrote. "I/we do not have to accept anything, anyone, any behavior or any choices! I do not have to tolerate anything others wish to do."

The Facebook thread has since been removed from the site, but New Jersey LGBT rights group Garden State Equality has obtained a PDF copy of the Facebook exchange, as well as an image of the school display, from John paragon, a lawyer and former Union Township councilman and municipal judge, according to a statement GSE issued Thursday on its Facebook page.

Paragano came across Knox's comments on Facebook over the weekend and wrote to Union Township Schools Superintendent Patrick Martin, requesting action.

"Hateful public comments from a teacher cannot be tolerated," Paragano wrote, according to the Star-Ledger. "She has a right to say it. But she does not have a right to keep her job after saying it."

Knox was escorted from school property, but Martin declined to confirm whether the teacher was suspended, 1010 WINS reports. Knox also had no defending comments.

New Jersey's newly implemented anti-bullying law protects free speech where it does not interfere with educating students, GSE Chair Steven Goldstein notes in a statement, adding that this incident isn't a question of legality.

"But this situation also calls for the school to look at the big picture as to the appropriateness of having Ms. Knox –- if she did write these posts –- teach our youth," Goldstein said. "The posts even say, ‘…That’s what I teach and preach.’ It is one thing to hold anti-gay views –- that’s protected in America –- but it would be another thing to vow to teach them in the classroom in a public school."

Expressing personal opinions on Facebook has proved a delicate issue among teachers, students, parents and school administrators. In August, Florida high school "Teacher of the Year" Jerry Buell was suspended for an anti-gay post he wrote on his Facebook page denouncing New York's decision to allow same-sex marriage. He was reinstated shortly following school investigations.

HOPKINTON, N.H. – At his second town hall event during a swing through New Hampshire on Monday, Mitt Romney was peppered with questions about same-sex marriage and funding for AIDS research and prevention efforts. The topics aren't exactly typical of the Granite State, and as the former Massachusetts Governor was challenged, again and again, as to whether he would continue current funding levels or support marriage equality, it became all too clear that he wanted to move on to something else.

At one point, a student in the crowd chimed in to note that she was raised by her mother and grandmother and found the arrangement quite fine, even if it wasn't Romney's preferred setting for raising a child -- a two-parent household made up of a mother and a father.

"I can say look, there are a lot of folks who are raised by one parent, through divorce through death or through having a child out of wedlock," Romney replied. "But my view is a society recognizes that the ideal setting for raising a child is when you have the benefit of two people working together and where one is male and one is female. I happen to believe that and that's the reason that I think as a society we say, 'You know what? We are going to call marriage what it has been called for 6,000 years.'"

So why not support civil unions? "What I would support is letting people who are of the same gender form, if you will, partnership agreements," he replied. "If they want to have a partnership with someone else and have, as a result of that, such things as hospital visitation rights and similar benefits of that nature."

The distinction between "partnership agreements" and civil unions is vague, in part because they resemble one another, in some ways, on the surface. But there are legal differences -- and certainly rhetorical ones. When Romney was governor of Massachusetts he used terms like "partnership agreements" to appear as sympathetic and sensitive to gay couples, even as he pushed back against efforts to legalize civil unions in the state.

Much of the country may have grown more accepting of same-sex marriage since then, but many conservatives haven't. And as Romney kept beating back attempts to pin him down, there were audible groans from the audience at the Hopkinton Town Hall. After the event was over the Huffington Post talked to the student who had asked Romney about his definition of an ideal household.

"I was seething," Caitlynn Field said of Romney's answer. "I didn't want my disdain to be apparent on my face."

"His answer was a little odd because I grew up with two women as parents," she continued. "I didn't grow up with gay parents. But it was still two women."

Field is not from New Hampshire. She was bussed in, along with roughly 50 to 60 other students, from neighboring St. Michael's College in Vermont, where she is a freshman.