Judge Rejects Dropping Hate Charge In Araujo Trial
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(Hayward, California) A judge has refused to drop hate crime charges in the trial of three men charged in the killing of trans teen Gwen Araujo.

Michael Thorman, the lawyer for Michael Magidson, asked Judge Harry Sheppard to throw out the charge saying there has been no evidence of bias against people of a different sexual orientation.

Thorman said Araujo's killing wasn't justified, but that it also was "not because of what Eddie Araujo was but what he did."

Sheppard rejected the motion.

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New York City Passes Benefits Bill
by Doug Windsor
365Gay.com Newscenter

(New York City) New York City council overwhelmingly approved legislation Wednesday to require all city contractors to provide equal employment benefits to all employees, whether they are married or in domestic partner relationships.

The legislation requires contractors that do more than $100,000 of business each year with NYC to offer the equal benefits. It is expected to make health coverage available to tens of thousands of additional people in the New York City region and hundreds of thousands across the country.

Council passed the measure on a 43-5 vote.

But despite the big victory, the bill must still overcome the opposition of Mayor Bloomberg before it can become law.

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Second mom wins a second chance
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter
A Seattle woman who was denied the chance to see a child she had helped raise, after breaking up with the child's mother, has been given a second chance to seek parental rights.

A state appeals court ruled Monday that Sue Ellen "Mian" Carvin could seek visitation rights from King County Superior Court under the state's common law regarding de facto parenting.

In an earlier ruling, Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey ruled that because Carvin and the child's mother were not married, and because Carvin was not the child's biological or adoptive parent, she had no legal right to custody or visitation rights.
The three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals court, in a unanimous decision, agreed that Carvin did not have standing under the state's Uniform Parentage Act, but said Carvin could seek status as a "de facto or psychological parent" by presenting evidence of a parent-child relationship

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Town hosts Scotland’s first gay wedding ceremony
ALAN MacDERMID

IT wasn't exactly Elton John and partner, but the small town of Alloa can now boast Scotland's first gay wedding.

The superstar musician and his boyfriend, David Furnish, have yet to take up the town's invitation to pledge their troth at the local registry office. But, in the meantime, two women voiced their commitment to each other at a civil ceremony on Saturday.

It was all bit more low key than Elton John's nuptials are expected to be – wherever they are held – and the unnamed couple, said to live outwith the area, remained anonymous.




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Group files lawsuit to stop petition drive

JOHN McCARTHY
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A legal rights advocacy group on Wednesday asked a judge to stop a petition drive to place a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages in Ohio on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Ohioans for Growth and Equality, a Cleveland-based group that claims 5,000 members, filed the lawsuit on behalf of a gay couple in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, said the group's chairman, Tim Downing. It was assigned to Judge Dan Hogan. The group asked Hogan to stop the petition drive while he decides the case.

"The summary of this amendment is both inaccurate and misleading as well as inflammatory," Downing said. "It would forever bar any legal status for unmarried couples, regardless of sex."

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In the Bag
Religious group slips anti-gay literature into Gender PAC conference bags
By Sean Bugg
Volunteers and staffers at last weekend's Gender PAC conference got a surprise as they were preparing for the weekend. Inside each of the plastic bags that were to be stuffed with materials for the attendees was an anti-gay pamphlet, "Homosexuality: A Queer Turn of Events!"

Because the pamphlets were found early, conference attendees never saw them, according to Gender PAC executive director Riki Wilchins. But it was obvious that whoever pre-stuffed the bags with the pamphlet hoped to slip them by conference organizers

"They skipped the top two bags [in each box] so we wouldn't know," Wilchins said. "They were very clever."

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GLSEN protests Bush's support for divisive National Day of Prayer on May 6

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network expressed outrage Wednesday over President George W. Bush's presidential proclamation in support of a privately organized National Day of Prayer, scheduled for Thursday, May 6. The official Web site for the event, GLSEN said, urges Americans to pray for the "traditional family" and attacks programs that ensure safe and effective schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students, which are described as "homosexual propaganda to kindergartners."