November 16, 2007

Gay News Watch Thursday Top 5

Posted by: Chris

Here are the five most popular stories yesterday on Gay News Watch, along with an Editor's Pick from me at the end:

1. Dorm loophole lets Univ. of Miami gay couples live together:  QUICK LOOK: Although Jack and Jill can't live together on campus, Jack and John can - even if they are a couple. "We assign housing based on sex, not sexual preference," said Gilbert Arias, assistant vice president... (MORE)
2. No NBA fine for Lakers coach over 'Brokeback' quip: QUICK LOOK: Coach Phil Jackson was reprimanded by the NBA, but not fined, and criticized by a national gay group because of an off-color remark he made Tuesday night after the Lakers... (MORE)
3. Seattle AIDS org bans drag queens from Gay Bingo:  QUICK LOOK: For the past seven years Thom Hubert, a.ka. Glamazonia, has served as the drag hostess of Gay Bingo, a fundraiser for Lifelong AIDS Alliance. Seattle’s Gay Bingo—the... (MORE)
4. Nicaragua sodomy law removed as part of statutory overhaul: QUICK LOOK: In a surprising and historic development when it comes to LGBT rights in the region, gay Nicaraguans woke up yesterday to the news that consensual sex with their partners will no longer be a crime... (MORE)
5. Chewing gum leads to arrest in two gay murders: QUICK LOOK: A fingerprint and DNA on two wads of chewing gum helped capture a man suspected of murdering two gay men shot dead in 1998, six days and six blocks apart, Miami police... (MORE)

EDITOR'S PICK

• Iraq war dispute ties up gay, trans hate crime bill: QUICK LOOK: The fate of a gay- and transgender-inclusive hate crimes bill was called into question this week when gay-supportive members of the House of Representatives threatened... (MORE)

The Human Rights Campaign's Back Story blog indicated a few days ago that House and Senate conferees had been appointed to reconcile the Defense Department authorization legislation that on the Senate side included the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Act as an amendment. The same measure, which includes both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as protected categories, earlier passed the House as a free-standing bill.

Now it appears (yet again) that choosing the DOD bill as the best vehicle to thwart a threatened Bush veto carries its own risks, as some 20 House liberals are set to vote against the broader bill over opposition to the war. Another 180 House Republicans say they'll vote against it because of the hate crime measure, though that could be simply to pressure conferees not to include it in the reconciled legislation.

Missing from GLBT dynamic are bold public predictions that the hate crime measure is dead simply because President Bush has threatened to veto it.  Trans activists and their allies are saving that strategy for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, for the sole reason that the latter does not include transgender protections.

I'm also curious whether the 20 House Democrats ready to vote against the DOD bill based on the war include the same seven purists who voted against ENDA because it wasn't trans-inclusive. Both positions are based on good principles -- I support trans workplace rights and have opposed the war since before the invasion -- but idealistic and counterproductive politics.