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Supreme Court Refuses To Put Gay Marriage On Hold In Oregon

The Supreme Court is refusing to halt a federal judge’s order declaring Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.

The court issued an order Wednesday declining to block any new same-sex unions in the state while a federal appeals court considers whether an anti-gay marriage group can intervene in the case.

The order follows an emergency appeal by the National Organization for Marriage that seeks to overturn the May 19 ruling of U.S. District Judge Michael McShane. The group had unsuccessfully tried to intervene in the lower court proceeding after Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declined to defend the same-sex ban.

Hundreds of same-sex Oregon couples have obtained marriage licenses since McShane’s order.

The group filed its request with Justice Anthony Kennedy and he referred it to the full court.

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President Barack Obama Releases Proclamation Declaring June LGBT Pride Month

 

President Barack Obama has released a proclamation declaring June as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. Check out the statement in full below.

As progress spreads from State to State, as justice is delivered in the courtroom, and as more of our fellow Americans are treated with dignity and respect — our Nation becomes not only more accepting, but more equal as well. During Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, we celebrate victories that have affirmed freedom and fairness, and we recommit ourselves to completing the work that remains.

Last year, supporters of equality celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, a ruling which, at long last, gave loving, committed families the respect and legal protections they deserve. In keeping with this decision, my Administration is extending family and spousal benefits — from immigration benefits to military family benefits — to legally married same-sex couples.

My Administration proudly stands alongside all those who fight for LGBT rights. Here at home, we have strengthened laws against violence toward LGBT Americans, taken action to prevent bullying and harassment, and prohibited discrimination in housing and hospitals. Despite this progress, LGBT workers in too many States can be fired just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; I continue to call on the Congress to correct this injustice by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. And in the years ahead, we will remain dedicated to addressing health disparities within the LGBT community by implementing the Affordable Care Act and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy — which focuses on improving care while decreasing HIV transmission rates among communities most at risk.

Our commitment to advancing equality for the LGBT community extends far beyond our borders. In many places around the globe, LGBT people face persecution, arrest, or even state-sponsored execution. This is unacceptable. The United States calls on every nation to join us in defending the universal human rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters.

This month, as we mark 45 years since the patrons of the Stonewall Inn defied an unjust policy and awakened a nascent movement, let us honor every brave leader who stood up, sat in, and came out, as well as the allies who supported them along the way. Following their example, let each of us speak for tolerance, justice, and dignity — because if hearts and minds continue to change over time, laws will too.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2014 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

BARACK OBAMA

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U.S. Health Officials Encourage Use Of HIV Pill For At-Risk Individuals

U.S. health officials on Wednesday issued new recommendations urging healthcare workers to consider offering an HIV prevention pill to healthy individuals who are at substantial risk for HIV infection.

The guidelines, issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Public Health Service, involve the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, a strategy in which at-risk individuals take a daily dose of an antiretroviral drug to reduce their risk of HIV infection.

The strategy builds on a landmark 2010 study that found Gilead Sciences Inc’s Truvada – a pill already widely used to treat the human immunodeficiency virus – was more than 90 percent effective at preventing HIV infections among test subjects who took the drug as prescribed.

According to the new guidelines, healthcare providers should consider PrEP for anyone who meets specific risk criteria, such as being in a relationship with an HIV-infected partner or having sex without condoms with partners known to be at risk for HIV, such as injecting drug users.

The guidelines offer the first comprehensive guidance from the CDC, replacing interim guidance that emerged after studies showed PrEP to be effective in different patient populations.

The CDC now estimates as many as 275,000 uninfected gay men and 140,000 heterosexual couples, in which one partner is HIV-infected, could benefit from PrEP.

Some 1.2 million people in the United States live with HIV, and new infections are estimated at 50,000 each year.

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Couples To Challenge Alaska Gay Marriage Ban As Unconstitutional

Five gay couples filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional.

The Alaska lawsuit, filed in federal court in Anchorage, lists as plaintiffs four couples who were married outside Alaska and one unmarried couple. It alleges that Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage violates their rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit seeks to bar enforcement of Alaska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It also calls for barring enforcement of any state laws that refuse to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states or countries or that prevent unmarried gay couples from marrying.

Alaska voters in 1998 approved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. But in the past year, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prevented legally married same-sex couples from receiving a range of federal benefits. Federal courts also have struck down state constitutional bans in a number of states, though appeals were pending in a number of cases. States such as Illinois and Hawaii legalized same-sex marriage.

An attorney for the couples, Caitlin Shortell, said lawsuits have been filed in almost every state with bans on same-sex marriage. A lawsuit in Alaska was seen by those involved as “necessary and important,” Shortell said.

Another attorney, Heather Gardner, said in a statement that under current state law, “a couple who marries in Seattle and returns home to Alaska are married in the eyes of the law when their plane lifts off from SeaTac (airport) but are legal strangers when the flight touches down in Alaska. No Alaskan is a second-class citizen.”

The plaintiffs are Matthew Hamby and Christopher Shelden; Christina LaBorde and Susan Tow; Sean Egan and David Robinson; Tracey Wiese and Katrina Cortez; and Courtney Lamb and Stephanie Pearson. Lamb and Pearson are unmarried.
Hamby, in a statement, said he and his husband — who, according to the lawsuit were married in Canada in 2008 and renewed their vows in Utah last year — are taking a stand “because marriage should be available to all loving couples. It’s important to us that our family is recognized by the State of Alaska and that we have the same rights and privileges as others.”

Defendants include Gov. Sean Parnell and Attorney General Michael Geraghty, who earlier this year told The Associated Press he would continue to defend the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, even as federal courts around the country strike down similar bans.

The Alaska lawsuit was filed three days after a county circuit judge in Arkansas late Friday tossed out the 2004 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, along with a 1997 state law. That state’s attorney general filed paperwork Monday to at least temporarily preserve the ban.

Geraghty said he would not make his decisions based on federal district court decisions that still must be reviewed by appellate courts and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, which he expects will ultimately weigh in on the issue.

“Would everybody vote the same way today? Who knows? But it’s on the books,” Geraghty told the AP in February. He added: “Eventually, as I said, one day there will be guidance. I’m sure one day there will be a decision one way or the other. And when that happens, obviously we will comply with the decision.”

A Parnell spokeswoman said by email late Friday afternoon that the governor’s office had not been served with the lawsuit and the Department of Law would need time to review any it.

A proposal to strike the same-sex marriage ban from Alaska’s constitution, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Hollis French, D-Anchorage, during the last legislative session, went nowhere. Republicans control both the Alaska House and Senate.

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Transgender Teen’s Imprisonment Under Scrutiny

 

 

Is it a violation of a 16-year-old’s rights to place her in a prison with adult inmates even though she has not been charged with any crime?

Her treatment is appropriate and legal because she has “an extensive history of violence” against staffers and other residents of psychiatric facilities, according to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.

The youth is a female transgender child who was born male but identifies as a female. In court documents she is identified as Jane Doe in order to protect her identity.

She has been in DCF custody since age 5. A legal complaint filed in federal court by attorney Aaron J. Romano and the girl’s affidavit describe a series of hellishly violent homes in which she has lived off-and-on since that age.

“I was placed in DCF custody because my father was incarcerated and my mother was using heroin, crack, alcohol and possibly other drugs,” the girl wrote.

“While in DCF custody, I have suffered immensely,” she added. “I feel that DCF has failed to protect me from harm and I am now thrown into prison because they have refused to help me.”

The federal court complaint was filed against DCF and its commissioner, Joette Katz, as well as against the state Department of Correction and its commissioner, James Dzurenda.

Romano charged: “While under the supervision and care of DCF, from ages eight through 16, Jane Doe was repeatedly drugged, beaten, raped, homeless and was being commercially sexually exploited.”

DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt issued a statement noting a Superior Court judge April 8 ordered the girl transferred from DCF and the state’s juvenile justice system to DOC custody and thus to York Correctional Institution in East Lyme, a women’s prison, because of her alleged violent attacks on others.

The DCF said, “We are sensitive to the traumatic and difficult experiences the youth has encountered over her life.”

But the agency’s statement added: “The judge who issued the transfer order heard evidence over a six-day period in which there was ample evidence provided by numerous witnesses stating under oath that the youth has a propensity for violence.”

“The youth has an extensive history of violence, including targeting female staff at several programs as well as other girls in the programs,” DCF said.

According to DCF, this included: stabbing a female peer with a fork; four assaults or threats on female staffers as well as an assault on a female peer resident at the Bridgeport Detention Center; and 10 assaults and several attempted assaults on staffers at the Solnit Psychiatric Center.

The most recent violent episode, DCF stated, came at a Massachusetts residential program where the youth assaulted a female staffer, “breaking her jaw and temporarily blinding her in one eye.”

DCF described her as “uniquely dangerous, in that no other youth at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School has exhibited such a long-established pattern of assaults.”

But Romano said, “Victims of violent sexual abuse frequently will exhibit aggression because they misinterpret signals.” Commenting on the Massachusetts episode, he said, “She was walking away (from an encounter), calming herself down, when a staff member came from behind and put her in a bear hug. She interpreted this as an attack.”

Romano said the youth is “in lockdown” at York’s mental health unit for 22-23 hours daily in order to keep her separated from others. “Her condition is deteriorating. She is receiving no counseling, nothing,” he said, as of last Wednesday.

The DCF statement said the youth will be allowed to participate in group activities, including education and treatment programs.

DOC spokesman Andrius Banevicius said, “We’re not going to comment on conditions or anything generally surrounding this situation. Since this would be in an article about Jane Doe, I’m not at liberty to say anything.”

Romano said the girl should be in a treatment center with a peer group and adult mentors rather than a prison. “She’s in a setting where aggression is the norm. Why would you put a child you want to reform in an aggressive setting where that’s encouraged?”

In her affidavit, the girl described her conditions: “During the day and night, I can hear the adult inmates screaming, banging and crying. I find it difficult to fall asleep.”

“I can feel myself growing more and more isolated, frustrated and feeling alone in my current isolation,” she wrote. “I need to be given treatment and services specific to my needs. I need to deal with the trauma I’ve experienced in my life. This prison cannot do that for me.”

The only positive comment in her nine-page affidavit was her saying: “I have been provided with hormone treatments through DCF to further develop physical characteristics, including breasts.”

Romano said only once before in Connecticut has a judge granted DCF permission to transfer custody to DOC.

In his legal complaint, Romano charged the state law used to transfer the girl is illegal because it violates two federal laws: the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

Romano is seeking to have a federal judge overturn the youth’s “unconstitutional transfer” by DCF to DOC. The complaint also seeks an order requiring DCF “to institute programming specific to the treatment and rehabilitation of transgender youth and children, which Doe would be permitted to attend.”

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Court Rules Against Ohio Ban on Same-sex Marriage Recognition

A federal judge has ordered Ohio to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages.

A federal judge in Ohio on Monday ruled against the state law barring recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages, although the order is temporarily stayed until state officials take further action.

In a 45-page decision, U.S. District Judge Timothy Black determined the Ohio law barring recognition of out-of-state same-sex weddings violates protections under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“The record before the court, which includes the judicially-noticed record in Obergefell, is staggeringly devoid of any legitimate justification for the state’s ongoing arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and, therefore, Ohio’s marriage recognition bans are facially unconstitutional and unenforceable under any circumstances,” Black writes.

Black’s ruling against the state’s ban on recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages was expected because the court announced at the end of arguments on April 4 that a ruling against the ban would likely happen. However, the ruling doesn’t allow same-sex couples to wed in Ohio.

The case, Henry v. Hines, was filed by private attorneys on behalf of four same-sex couples in Ohio who adopted children or are awaiting children and are seeking to have both parents’ names appear on their children’s birth certificates.

The Ohio marriage amendment, which was ratified by state voters in 2004 by a 62 percent vote, bars that action from plaintiffs because it not only bans same-sex marriages, but recognition of same-sex unions performed elsewhere.

In his decision, Black invokes language in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, saying the court’s responsibility to provide protections under the U.S. Constitution “is never more pressing than when the fundamental rights of some minority of citizens are impacted by the legislative power of the majority.”

“When a state effectively terminates the marriage of a same-sex couple married in another jurisdiction by refusing to recognize the marriage, that state unlawfully intrudes into the realm of private marital, family, and intimate relations specifically protected by the Supreme Court,” Black writes.

The ruling was handed down by the same judge who determined in the case of Obergefell v. Wymyslo that Ohio must recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages for the purposes of death certificates.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, praised the decision as another step forward in achieving nationwide marriage equality.

“Couples who are married should be treated as married no matter where they are in the country, including Ohio,” Wolfson said. “Couples should not have to play ‘now you’re married, now you’re not’ as they travel, work, move or return home. This is a good day for families and businesses in Ohio, and a good day for the Constitution and America.”

Now that Black has handed down the decision, state officials in Ohio — Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine — are expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Rob Nichols, a Kasich spokesperson, said the governor is behind efforts of the attorney general to appeal the decision.

“The governor believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, he supports Ohio’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and we’re glad the Attorney General is appealing the ruling,” Nichols said.

Despite the order, Black has stayed his ruling until officials have announced whether they’ll independently seek a stay of the decision. The deadline for them to file a request for a stay is 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Further, Black writes he’s inclined to grant a stay for the order on the entire state, but not for the same-sex couples involved in the lawsuit.

“The Court is inclined to stay its finding of facial unconstitutionality but not to stay the Orders as to the as-applied claims of the four couples who are Plaintiffs because they have demonstrated that a stay will harm them individually due to the imminent births of their children and other time-sensitive concerns,” Black writes. “The Court inclines toward a finding that the issuance of correct birth certificates for Plaintiffs’ children, due in June or earlier, should not be stayed.”

The Sixth Circuit already had the distinction of being the only federal appeals court where each of the four states within the circuit — Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky — has a marriage equality case on appeal.

 

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Barebacking Study Reveals Disturbing Connection With Hook-Up Apps

A new study by England’s University of Westminster found what appears to be a disturbing uptick in the number of young gay men who find unprotected sex with a stranger “exciting.”

The study, first published in Pink News, found that a staggering 70 percent of young gay men surveyed in London said they believed sex without condoms is more pleasurable. Meanwhile, 94 percent of respondents said they were more likely to have unprotected sex with a stranger if he was good-looking.

One HIV-positive participant, identified simply as 25-year-old Jason from London, described his “addiction” to the gay networking app Grindr in an interview with Pink News.

“I was constantly checking it meeting guys to have sex with,” he said. “It became a habit and I spent all my free time and days off meeting and having sex, then going to group sex parties where I tried drugs and had long sessions of unprotected sex with guys often not aware of what was happening.”

Read more about the survey here.

The results are in line with a January survey similarly focused on gay and bisexual men who use apps such as Grindr, Scruff and Manhunt to meet sexual partners, which found that nearly half had engaged in unprotected sex.

Conducted by New York’s Community Healthcare Network (CHN), “Zero Feet Away: Perpective on HIV/AIDS and Unprotected Sex in Men Who Have Sex With Men Utilizing Location-based Mobile Apps” found that although 80 percent of respondents said they were knowledgable in how the HIV virus was transmitted, 46.4 percent admitted to having bareback sex always, often or sometimes.

Meanwhile, barebacking is also the subject of “Chaser,” a new short film by director Sal Bardo.

“I had encountered young men…who were seeking to have unprotected sex with the objective of being infected with HIV,” Bardo, who also co-produced the movie, told HuffPost Live earlier this month. “So it was something I was simultaneously intrigued by and a little disturbed by.”

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LGBT Folks in Homophobic Regions Die Younger Study Finds

 

 

Researchers of what’s been deemed as “the first study to look at the consequences of anti-gay prejudice for mortality” have discovered that lesbian, gay and bisexual people living in less open-minded communities have a shorter life expectancy.

The Columbia University study, which was published online in the Social Science & Medicine journal, found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice lived an average of 12 years less than their counterparts in more accepting environments.

“Our findings indicate that sexual minorities living in communities with higher levels of prejudice die sooner than sexual minorities living in low-prejudice communities, and that these effects are independent of established risk factors for mortality, including household income, education, gender, ethnicity, and age, as well as the average income and education level of residents in the communities where the respondents lived,” the study’s lead author, Mark Hatzenbuehler, an assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, is quoted in a press release as saying.

He added, “In fact, our results for prejudice were comparable to life expectancy differences that have been observed between individuals with and without a high school education.”

The survey examined data over a decade-long period, from 1988 to 2008.

As The Advocate and other publications have pointed out, many of the deaths in the survey were attributed to suicide and cardiovascular diseases in the high-prejudice communities. Meanwhile, LGBT people were also more prone to commit suicide at a younger average age (37.5) than those in more welcoming communities (55.7), while violent deaths were nearly three times more likely in more homophobic areas.

Head here for more information on the study.

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National Report Shows High Tobacco Use By LGBTs

LGBTs have long been known to smoke more than their straight counterparts and a new national report issued by the U.S. surgeon general backs that up: community members light up at a rate 65 percent higher than heterosexuals.

The 32nd tobacco-related surgeon general’s report was released last week, on the anniversary of the office’s first study 50 years ago linking tobacco use with cancer.

The report details the implications of tobacco use on the American populace since 1964. This year’s report, titled “Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress,” makes specific reference to health disparities within the LGBT community. It marks only the third time LGBT subgroups have been mentioned and the first time the LGBT community in its entirety has been cited as a disparity group.

“It’s taken so long for the LGBT community to be considered a health disparity population,” said Daniella Mathews-Trigg, program administrator of the Network for LGBT Health Equity at CenterLink. “With every federal document that includes LGBT comes more funding for data collection and, hopefully, we can close those disparity gaps.”

Recently, Mathews-Trigg continued, enough data around LGBT smoking has emerged to serve as the impetus behind making specific reference to the subject on a federal level. The report stated that the LGBT community spends $7.9 billion on cigarettes each year which, according to Mathews-Trigg, is 65 times more than government agencies, nonprofits, and all other health-focused entities combined spend on LGBT health annually.

Other updated data outlined by the report include a figure for overall LGBT community smoking prevalence. The LGBT population smokes at a rate 65 percent higher than the general population – 20 percent of the general population smokes compared to 33 percent of the LGBT population. Additionally, HIV-positive smokers live 7.2 years less than HIV-negative smokers.

Acting Surgeon General Dr. Boris D. Lushniak released a statement with the report emphasizing the importance of highlighting LGBT smoking.

“From the surgeon general’s perspective we look at the data. People ask where are the disparities now, and we use LGBT as an example of one of those disparities,” he said. “I’m a man in uniform and this is a war. LGBT smoking is important to us, because the numbers aren’t good. What we need to decide is what is the best strategic and tactical approach to bring those numbers down?”

Mathews-Trigg said using this moment as a call to action is the next step. While HIV among LGBTs has largely and appropriately been the community’s focus for so long, she said, tobacco use has been neglected.

“Many people don’t realize the connection between tobacco and the general health of the community,” Mathews-Trigg said. “We have this moment where everyone is paying attention and we want to highlight this issue as an even bigger killer than HIV.”

In Santa Clara County, where officials released results of the first-ever LGBT health survey, data show smokers mirror the national statistics; South Bay LGBT smokers are three times more likely to light up.

The health survey, “Status of LGBTQ Health: Santa Clara County, California 2013,” was released January 10.

The county’s bisexual and gay men, who made up 33 percent and 22 percent of smokers, respectively, represent nearly a quarter of the South Bay’s LGBT residents. Bisexual women and lesbians made up 23 percent and 19 percent of smokers, respectively. Transgender individuals made up 19 percent of the population that lights up.

The South Bay findings alarmed Brian Davis, a 54-year-old gay man who is the California Tobacco Control Program coordinator at the Tri-City Health Center in Fremont.

“This represents a serious problem in the LGBT community – that we are smoking three times as much in comparison to the general population in Santa Clara County,” said Davis. “We need to look at taking action to address that problem.”

Davis, who has been working in LGBT tobacco control for six years, is also project director of the Just for Us LGBT Tobacco Prevention Project as a part of his responsibilities at the center.

While a comprehensive approach to combating LGBT tobacco use on a national level has yet to be devised, the Network for LGBT Health Equity is currently drafting an LGBTQ Wellness Needs Assessment survey to collect more information around health issues experienced by the LGBT community. To be released to all major LGBT community and health organizations around the country this summer, the network intends for the survey to shed even more light on LGBT smoking prevalence.

“Understanding this as a big issue and having more federal data will create an excitement for change,” Mathews-Trigg said. “We want the heads of LGBT organizations as well as individuals to be more aware. On the federal data collection level, we want the continued inclusion of the LGBT community on health surveys.”

 

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