Category Archives: news

Puerto Rico Senate committee holds adoption bill hearing

Pedro Julio Serrano, NGLTF, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Puerto Rico, San Juan, LGBT equality, adoption, gay news, Washington Blade

Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force testifies in support of a Puerto Rico adoption bill on Friday, May 17 (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A Puerto Rican Senate committee on Friday held a hearing on a bill that would extend second parent adoption rights to gays and lesbians in the U.S. territory.

“This Assembly must recognize the rights of minorities, even if this recognition is unpopular,” Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said during the Puerto Rico Senate Judiciary, Security and Veterans Committee hearing on Senate Bill 437 that Sen. Mari Tere González López of Mayaguëz introduced in March. “Our democracy is based on the protection of those minority groups from the possible abuse of the majority.”

The hearing took place nearly three months after the territory’s Supreme Court narrowly upheld a ban on gay second parent adoptions in response to the case of Dr. Ángeles Acosta Rodríguez who sought to adopt the child her partner of 25 years, Dr. Carmen Milagros Vélez Vega, conceived through in vitro fertilization.

The dozens of SB 437 hearing supporters who attended the hearing gave Vélez a standing ovation at the end of her testimony.

“Us three are a Puerto Rican family, one among many,” Vélez said as Acosta and their 12-year-old daughter, Juliana María Acosta Vélez Vega, sat next to her. “We are here, not for the sake of receiving special treatment, nor to seek a privilege, but to present ourselves as citizens and daughters of this country and to ask for that which is granted to Puerto Rican families and children, the right to a family and the protections that that includes.”

Representatives of the Psychological Association of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Mental Health and Addiction Administration and the Puerto Rico Department of Justice are among those who also support of SB 437. The Archdiocese of San Juan and other groups remain opposed to the measure.

Carmen Milagros Vélez Vega, right, her partner, Ángeles Acosta Rodríguez and their daughter, Juliana María Acosta Vélez Vega testify in support of a Puerto Rican adoption bill on May 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

The SB 437 hearing took place a day after the Puerto Rican Senate approved a sweeping bill that would ban anti-LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and government services.

Gov. Alejandro García Padilla supports both SB 437 and the non-discrimination measure that Sen. Ramón Nieves Pérez of San Juan introduced in January.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Monday signed two executive orders that ban anti-LGBT discrimination against the Puerto Rican capital’s municipal employees and mandate the city’s police department to equally enforce the island’s domestic laws regardless of the alleged victim’s sexual orientation.

GLAAD leaderless again with Graddick resignation

Herndon Graddick, gay news, gay politics dc

GLAAD is back on the search for a new leader after the resignation, today, of Herndon Graddick. (Courtesy photo)

A month-and-a-half after a GLAAD Media Awards event that saw Madonna present an award to Anderson Cooper dressed as a Boy Scout, the group is once again in search of a leader after the resignation of Herndon Graddick — who filled the position for only one year.

On Friday afternoon, GLAAD released a statement saying Graddick had resigned after a brief tenure at the helm of one of the gay community’s most visible and vocal organizations.

A spokesperson from GLAAD — known best as the media watchdog of the LGBT community — prior to this announcement had told the Blade that Graddick had taken a personal leave of absence, but gave no further details.

During Graddick’s tenure, GLAAD increased public awareness of anti-gay policies at the Boy Scouts of America, and made notable hires including television actor Wilson Cruz, veteran gay journalist Rex Wockner, and former Gill Foundation Program Officer Dave Montez — who serves as the organization’s chief of staff.

The group was leaderless for eight months prior to Graddick, after Jarret Barrios resigned under pressure following questions about letters he had sent through his official capacity as leader of GLAAD to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the now-failed AT&T and T-Mobile merger. Several board members also resigned at that time.

In a statement today announcing Graddick’s departure, GLAAD did not give a reason for the sudden transition, but indicated Montez will take on leadership of the organization in the mean time.

The full statement follows:

New York, NY, May 17, 2013 – GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today announced the resignation of President Herndon Graddick.

Under Herndon’s tenure, GLAAD began campaigns including a national call for the Boy Scouts of America to end their ban on gay scouts and scout leaders. The organization also announced a continuation of its commitment to incorporate bisexual and transgender people as well as allies from diverse backgrounds in GLAAD’s work to shape the media narrative and build public support for LGBT people.

“GLAAD is very grateful for Herndon’s work championing LGBT rights, especially his work on behalf of the trans community,” said GLAAD Board of Directors Chair Thom Reilly. “On behalf of the entire organization, I want to wish him the best.”

“I’m proud to leave GLAAD with a stronger, more efficient organization and an incredibly talented and experienced Board and staff. I’m happy the role I was able to play in advancing the need for our community to fully support the rights of our transgender brothers and sisters. Our movement is benefited by the leadership not only of heroes like Evan Wolfson, Chad Griffin, Mara Keisling, and Kate Kendell, but of the necessary and vital blogger and grassroots communities. I look forward to returning to a private life and supporting the fight from behind the scenes,” said Graddick.

GLAAD’s Chief of Staff Dave Montez is serving as Acting President. In addition to continuing to lead GLAAD’s development team, he will over GLAAD’s staff on the ground in Dallas next week throughout the Boy Scouts of America’s vote on whether to end their ban on gay scouts and leaders as part of GLAAD’s Boy Scouts campaign. GLAAD staff members are continuing work to share stories in the media of marriage equality in advance of next month’s Supreme Court decision as well as pushing for comprehensive immigration reform, increased trans visibility in the media, LGBT acceptance in professional sports, and building acceptance of LGBT people.

“GLAAD makes a great impact and the Board has complete confidence that Dave’s proven leadership in building coalitions across diverse communities, advocating for lasting change, as well as fundraising for social justice causes will continue to forward the work of GLAAD in his role as Acting President,” said Reilly.

The GLAAD Board of Directors is scheduled to meet later this month in New York City to determine next steps.

The Washington Blade will continue to monitor this story and provide updates.

HUD secretary speaks to gay Realtors

‘HUD and this administration have taken historic steps in the area of housing to ensure that we fulfill our nation’s commitment to equality,’ said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan told members of a gay Realtors group on May 15 that HUD will release next month a first-of-its-kind study of housing discrimination against same-sex couples.

In remarks before a meeting in Washington of the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals, Donovan said the upcoming release of the study comes after HUD has adopted during the Obama administration a series of policies and rules that seek to ban housing-related discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal housing programs.

“HUD and this administration have taken historic steps in the area of housing to ensure that we fulfill our nation’s commitment to equality,” Donovan said.

He praised the NAGLREP for its successful effort to persuade the National Association of Realtors, the nation’s largest trade association, to amend its code of ethics in 2010 to oppose discrimination in the real estate profession based on sexual orientation.

Boca Raton, Fla., gay Realtor Jeff Berger, founder and chair of NAGLREP, said that at the group’s request, the NAR’s Professional Standards Committee and board of directors last year approved a proposal to further amend its code of ethics by adding gender identity as a protected class. The NAR’s membership is expected to vote on the gender identity proposal at the NAR’s national meeting later this year in San Francisco.

Donovan said the HUD study of housing discrimination against same-sex couples is based on 6,833 email responses from participants of a survey conducted in 50 metropolitan markets across the country from June through October 2011.

“I know it will be an important study both for what it tells us and for the increase in light that it shines on this problem,” he said.

Earlier this year HUD reached what Donovan called an historic legal settlement with Bank of America over an allegation that the bank’s lending division refused to approve a mortgage for a lesbian couple based on the couple’s sexual orientation and marital status.

According to Donovan, the couple provided all of the necessary loan application documents. He said Bank of America initially had no problem with the applicant listing her partner’s mother as a co-applicant on the loan.

“Then one business day prior to closing B&A denied the mortgage because it did not consider the loan applicant and the co-applicant directly related because the state didn’t recognize same-sex marriage,” Donovan said.

He said after HUD opened an investigation into loan denial, Bank of America agreed to a settlement in which it would pay the maximum possible penalty. It also agreed to “notify its residential mortgage loan originators, processors and underwriters of this agreement with HUD,” said Donovan.

“The agreement is the first enforcement action taken against a lender under this new rule and sends a strong signal to the lending industry that we will not tolerate discrimination in HUD programs on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status,” he said.

Berger said NAGLREP provides a national referral service for helping members of the LGBT community and others find LGBT or LGBT-friendly real estate agents. He said the organization has real estate agents and professionals in the real estate industry throughout the country, including in the D.C. area. Information about the referral service is available at naglrep.com.

Puerto Rico mayor signs LGBT orders

San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, Gay News, Washington Blade

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz. (Photo by Melvin Alfredo via Wikimedia Commons)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—The mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital on Monday signed two executive orders designed to end discrimination against her city’s LGBT residents.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz ordered her city’s police department to apply the island’s current domestic violence laws with what the Primera Hora newspaper described as “the highest degree of respect” regardless of the reported victim’s sexual orientation. She also banned discrimination against San Juan municipal employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

Primera Hora reported gay boxer Orlando “Fenómeno” Cruz was among those who attended the press conference during which Yulín signed the orders.

Nevada lawmakers approve trans bill

Nevada, Legislature, Gay News, Washington Blade

Nevada Legislative building. (Photo by Dave Parker via Wikimedia Commons)

CARSON CITY, Nev.—The Nevada Assembly on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would add gender identity and expression to the state’s hate crimes law.

“This does not afford victims special rights,” said gay Assemblyman Andrew Martin (D-Las Vegas) before the measure passed by a 30-11 vote, according to the Associated Press. “This is a statement of what our society is, and that we will not tolerate the systematic targeting of individuals who are historically disadvantaged groups.”

The state Senate has already approved the bill. A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval told the Associated Press the governor supports the measure.

Poll shows Arizonans support marriage

Arizona, rainbow flag, gay news, Washington Blade

(Wikimedia Commons image of Arizona by Huebi modified)

PHOENIX—A Behavior Research Center poll released on Tuesday indicates a majority of Arizona residents support same-sex marriage.

Fifty-five percent of 700 people who responded to the survey between April 3-16 said they back nuptials for gays and lesbians. This support jumps to 70 percent among Democrats, while only 36 percent of Republican respondents support same-sex marriage.

Arizona voters in 2008 approved a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Anti-gay attacks spark concern in NYC

Gay News, Washington Blade, Christine Quinn, Gay New York

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (Photo by Thomas Good / NLN via Wikimedia Commons)

NEW YORK—A series of attacks against LGBT New Yorkers in Manhattan over the last two weeks has sparked concern among local advocates.

The Anti-Violence Project said four men shouted anti-gay slurs as they attacked Nick Porto and Kevin Atkins near Madison Square Garden on May 5. The agency said the New York Police Department has arrested a suspect in connection with a second anti-gay attack that took place in Union Square on May 7.

Two men reportedly shouted anti-gay slurs as they attacked a man who was leaving a West Village bar on May 8. The NYPD arrested two men who allegedly attacked two gay men near a PATH station in Herald Square around 5 a.m. on May 9.

“I am outraged by this string of assaults,” New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a lesbian, said in a statement issued May 10. “These vicious assaults are not reflective of the diversity that defines New York City.”

Gay API leaders meet with Obama

Gregory Cendana, gay news, gay politics dc

Gregory Cendana (Courtesy photo)

Two gay men and a lesbian were among 15 leaders of Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations that met with President Obama at the White House on May 8 to discuss immigration reform legislation pending in Congress.

The groups headed by the gay male and lesbian participants at the White House meeting support including language in the legislation that would provide equal immigration rights to foreign born same-sex partners of American citizens.

“I was proud to share with President Obama that I was gay and one of many LGBT Americans who supported him,” said Gregory Cendana, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance of the AFL-CIO.

“APALA members and coalition partners…will continue to mobilize so Congress passes a comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a fair, just and affordable roadmap to citizenship, reunites families, including siblings and same-sex partners, as well as provides worker protections for all regardless of status,” Cendana said in a statement.

But Cendana and Tom Hayashi, executive director of the Asian American group OCA National Center, were cautious about disclosing whether their respective groups would agree to drop the bi-national same-sex couple provision if they thought it would prevent the bill from passing.

Miriam Yeung, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, who also participated in the meeting with Obama, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

All three are identified as gay or lesbian on their respective organizations’ websites. Yeung is identified in her staff biography has having worked for 10 years in various positions at the New York City Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

“I share President Obama’s commitment of keeping commonsense immigration reform a legislative priority, and he reaffirmed this during our meeting,” Cendana told the Blade in an email.

“We must remind ourselves that we are at the beginning of a longer legislative process where we have opportunities to fight for improvements that reflect the values and principles of family unity, inclusion and fairness,” he said.

Hayashi told the Blade in a separate email that while he and the organization he heads support a gay-inclusive immigration bill he understands that a “significant political challenge” may be involved in the effort to pass such a bill.

“The personal and organizational view on immigration and other social justice issues is that we must be ready for a fight in the long haul and to leverage from the incremental gains by building momentum to achieve change,” he said.

Chances for passage of a gay-inclusive immigration bill came under question earlier this week when Republican senators threatened to drop their support for a compromise immigration measure if Democrats added two proposed amendments that allow gay Americans to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency in the U.S.

Obama has expressed support for including a same-sex couple provision in the immigration bill but has hinted that it may not be possible to obtain the provision in the current legislation.

“[A]s is true with every bill, if there are things that end up being left out in this bill, or things that I want to take out of a bill, but I if it’s meeting those core criteria around a comprehensive immigration bill that I’m looking for, then we go back at it and we fix what’s not there and we continually improve what’s been presented,” he said at a news conference during his May 3 trip to Costa Rica.

Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for the LGBT advocacy group Immigration Equality, said a vote on the bill in the full Senate was not expected to take place until the end of June.

New AIDS group debuts as NAPWA successor

Frank Oldham, NAPWA, National Association of People With AIDS, National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, gay news, Washington Blade

Frank Oldham, Jr. is the former CEO of NAPWA, which closed in bankruptcy earlier this year. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

A newly created national coalition called Pozitively Healthy will advocate for people with HIV and AIDS following the closing in February of the 30-year-old National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA), according to the coalition’s organizers.

In a May 10 statement, organizers said the new coalition will be an arm of the Washington, D.C.-based national AIDS group HealthHIV, which will manage the coalition’s finances and infrastructure.

“Pozitively Healthy’s mission is to ensure the strong independent voice of the 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States,” the statement says.

It says the coalition will advocate for “access to quality health care and the most impactful prevention, care and treatment services in this era of health reform implementation.”

The statement says organizations, including the Names Project Foundation associated with the national AIDS Quilt, and AIDS-related publications will be a part of the coalition in addition to individuals.

“Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Pozitively Healthy coalition will develop and drive an advocacy and education agenda to address issues impacting People Living With HIV/AIDS, with special attention to African-American MSM [men who have sex with men], women, and transgender populations,” the statement says.

Brian Hujdich, executive director of HealthHIV, said HealthHIV and organizers of Pozitively Healthy are inviting AIDS activists and their supporters from throughout the country to apply for membership on a national steering committee created to set the coalition’s agenda and mission.

He said organizers are also inviting activists and others supportive of the coalition’s efforts to become members of the coalition. He said membership is free. Information about Pozitively Healthy and a sign-up form to become a member is available at HealthHIV.org.

Five members of the steering committee, which had 16 members as of early this week, are former officials at NAPWA, including NAPWA’s former executive director and CEO Frank Oldham.

Veteran Washington State AIDS activist Judi Billings, a former NAPWA board chair, has been named co-chair of the Pozitively Healthy steering committee.

David Waggoner, founder and publisher of the Albany, N.Y.-based national AIDS magazine A&U, has been named as the other co-chair.

The prominent role being played by former NAPWA officials and staffers prompted AIDS activists and bloggers Michael Petrelis of San Francisco and Greg Milward of Wisconsin to raise concern, saying events leading up to NAPWA’s financial collapse and bankruptcy took place under their watch.

With creditors owed more than $750,000, NAPWA filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy at the time it announced it was shutting its doors permanently in February.

Oldham announced his resignation from his post as NAPWA’s executive director and CEO in October and left the organization in November before news of the impending bankruptcy surfaced. A document filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland lists Oldham as owing NAPWA more than $80,000 in “accounts payable.”

Oldham and all other former officials at NAPWA have declined to comment on any of the details that surfaced in the public records associated with the bankruptcy filing.

Stephen Bailous, NAPWA’s former deputy executive director and a current member of Pozitively Healthy’s steering committee, told the Blade shortly after the bankruptcy filing that NAPWA’s financial problems stemmed from the organization’s difficulty in raising funds during the downturn in the economy, which he said led to a mounting debt.

Hujdich of HealthHIV told the Blade that Oldham, Billings and the other former NAPWA officials were named to the Pozitively Healthy steering committee because of their years of experience in AIDS-related matters and their distinguished record of advocacy for people with AIDS.

He said that similar to all members of the steering committee, the former NAPWA officials’ role in the coalition would be limited to policy and advocacy matters.

“We’re handling the management of it so that we’ll handle everything financial and any infrastructure with regards to how to help support it,” Hujdich said.

“As it relates to the way NAPWA was managed, none of the former NAPWA board or staff members that are part of the coalition are connected in any way to the running of the coalition financially,” he said. “And so they have no role in anything fiscal.”

According to Hujdich, Pozitively Healthy will operate as an all-volunteer entity, with a membership and most steering committee members located throughout the country.

Added Hujdich, “There shouldn’t be an issue about their involvement. And all the more reason — not just those who were involved with NAPWA but others who are long committed to HIV advocacy — why wouldn’t we want to include their voice and give them an opportunity to do this?”

Just three days after the announcement of the creation of Pozitively Healthy, Oldham testified on behalf of the new coalition at a D.C. City Council hearing on Tuesday.

The hearing, before the Council’s Committee on Health, reviewed the city’s implementation of President Obama’s healthcare reform program related to insurance exchanges created to enable consumers to select affordable health insurance policies.

Gay couples wanting babies flock to Portland

Portland (photo by Fcb981 via Wikimedia Commons)

PORTLAND — Lesbian and gay couples who want babies are going to Portland from as far away as France, Israel and more to try to conceive using donor eggs, sperm and surrogates not allowed in their own countries, USA Today reported last weekend.

A non-profit support network called Men Having Babies says at least 40 percent of the 1,000 couples in the group are European.

The article said the solid reputation of Oregon Reproductive Medicine (known for its high success rates on egg and sperm donation), Portland’s overall gay friendly vibe and the slightly more reasonable rates for such services (about $90,000 vs. up to $170,000 in larger cities like New York and Los Angeles) contribute to its destination status.

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