One of the couples, Susan Barton and Gay Phillips, were married in California in Nov., British Columbia in May 2005 and a civil union in Vermont in August 2001. The second couple, Sharon Baldwin and Mary Bishop, have been in a committed relationship for 12 years.

The Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee passed the bill by a vote of 6-3. It now moves to Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“No person should be taxed out of their home because of a discriminatory law,” said Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors.

“This bill will help ensure that people do not risk losing their home when their partner dies. To add the loss of one’s home to the devastation suffered from the loss of a loved one is unconscionable.”

Under current law, spouses and Registered Domestic Partners avoid paying property tax increases on their home following the death of one partner.

However, a number of senior LGBT couples who have faced decades of discrimination and even violence, have been reluctant to register for domestic partnerships, as their records then become readily available through the Secretary of State — making their sexual orientation a matter of public record.

By contrast, straight couples are offered the option of a confidential marriage, allowing their records to remain confidential. As a result, senior LGBT couples are at greater risk for unequal treatment under the law, said Kors.

“This bill will help protect LGBT seniors from facing further discrimination and injustice,” said Assemblymember Kevin de Leon (D).

“Because marriage is not currently an option for all committed, loving couples, we must pass this important law that helps bridge the gulf of discrimination.”

©365Gay.com 2009

The group introduced a bill in the House on Thursday, hoping to thwart a city council vote this month recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. Five states — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont — allow gay marriage.

Congress, which has final say over laws in the nation’s capital, has until July to act against the district measure. Otherwise, it automatically becomes law. Some council members have said the legislation is the first step toward eventually allowing gay marriage in Washington.

More than 30 lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors of the House bill, said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. However, all but two are Republicans, and it will be a fight to get the bill approved in a Democratic-controlled Congress and signed by President Barack Obama.

Obama publicly supports civil unions and believes states should be allowed to make their own decisions about marriage.

©365Gay.com 2009

Ryan Marlatt, Teddy Eggers, and three other friends had stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s restaurant on East Market Street on July 26, 2008 while visiting Louisville for the weekend.  

The men say that while they waited for their food to be prepared, an employee behind the counter referred to them as “faggots” to another employee. 

Marlatt and Eggers then approached the cashier, said they didn’t come to the restaurant to be insulted, and asked to speak with a manager.  

As they waited for the supervisor on duty to appear, the employee who had called them “faggots” started arguing with them, repeatedly calling them “faggots” in front of other customers and calling one of them a “cocksucker” and “bitch” according to the American Civil Liberties Union which is representing the two men.

Last September, Eggers and Marlatt filed an official complaint with the city of Louisville’s Human Relations Commission.

Under the agreement reached between McDonald’s and the ACLU of Kentucky, the company will provide diversity training for management at 30 of its Louisville-area restaurants and pay Eggers and Marlatt $2000 each.

“The reason we made such a big deal out of this to begin with was because we didn’t want it happening to anyone else, so I’m very glad McDonald’s management is going to be having these trainings,” said Eggers of Indianapolis, Indiana.  

“We were hurt and upset, but at least we’re adults and can handle being called names.  We hated thinking that this kind of harassment might also happen to someone young and vulnerable who would really take it to heart.”

Marlatt and Eggers say that the supervisor on duty refused to refund the group’s purchase, claiming that only the restaurant’s general manager could authorize a refund. 

Marlatt said he attempted several times in the following weeks to contact both the general manager of the McDonald’s and the corporate offices.  Though he filed reports with a corporate customer service number for McDonald’s, Marlatt said, he never received any sort of response, and every time he called the McDonald’s where the incident took place, the staff hung up on him.

“While we’re fortunate to have a law banning sexual orientation discrimination in Louisville, this goes to show that it’s still important to speak out and do something about it when your rights are violated,” said Michael Aldridge, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kentucky.

A jury found Johnson Aziga, 52, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for infecting two women to whom he did not disclose his HIV status.

Aziga was also found guilty on 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault in regards to 11 other sexual partners.

He is believed to be the first person in Canada convicted of murder for lethally infecting partners with the virus that causes AIDS.

Munyonzwe Hamalengwa, one of Aziga’s lawyers, said the verdict was based on a bad law, which will “wreak havoc”  in the criminal justice system.

“It’s a very bad precedent,” Hamalengwa said in an interview.

“People will not be disclosing their HIV status to their partners for fear of being charged. People are going to not be tested even if they suspect they may have the HIV virus in order to protect the knowledge that they don’t have it.”

The judge instructed the jury on nine essential elements for finding Aziga guilty of first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt. They concluded that Aziga knew he was HIV positive and knew he was required by law to inform sexual partners but did not, and that Aziga caused the women’s deaths by infecting them with HIV during sex.

Aziga’s defense team is considering an appeal.

“Of course we will have to get instructions from our client, but if he asked us what our recommendation would be, we would recommend an appeal because there was significant reasonable doubt,” Hamalengwa said.

Sentencing is set for May 7. Aziga’s lawyers – Hamalengwa and Davies Bagambiire – will have 30 days after he is sentenced to file an appeal, they said.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Hamalengwa said he believes the defense raised reasonable doubt as to the source of the women’s HIV infections. In closing submissions the defense said police had “tunnel vision” in focusing on Aziga as a suspect and didn’t look closely enough at other HIV-positive men in the area.

Hamalengwa was disappointed with the verdict, but not entirely surprised, he said.

“There was an absolute media blitz and when there is so much media blitz in a small community like Hamilton and there has been prior tunnel visioning of the client for conviction you really don’t expect much,” he said.

The nine men and three women on the Superior Court jury sat for about 25 hours before arriving at their verdict.

Aziga was calm when he was pronounced guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, Hamalengwa said, though he suspects he is just in shock.

Aziga, a former research analyst with Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General and father of three, was diagnosed with HIV nearly 13 years ago.

He has been in custody since his arrest on Aug. 30, 2003. Aziga has been receiving antiretroviral therapy for several years and is in stable health.

The LA Times reported yesterday that it’s possible the court will indicate their opinions at some point today, but I wanted to know a little more. Which of the justices are likely to uphold Prop 8? Who leans toward our side? The folks at Queerty anticipated my questions, and pulled together a look at the backgrounds, voting history, and likely behavior of the California Supremes. I definitely recommend you check it out!

Golding made the comment during debate on a new sexual offences law primarily aimed at combating rape and child abuse. Jamaican LGBT rights groups and international human rights organizations had urged the government to include a repeal of the sodomy law in the new act.

Gay sex is punishable by up to 7 years in prison under a law which dates back to British colonial rule. Britain has long since abolished the law and has urged its former colonies to do the same.

“We are not going to yield to the pressure, whether that pressure comes from individual organizations, individuals, whether that pressure comes from foreign governments or groups of countries, to liberalize the laws as it relates to buggery,” Golding told Parliament .

“Every society is shaped and defined by certain moral standards and the laws that evolve in that society are informed by a framework that the society recognizes. If we start to yield; if we start to liberalize in the direction that strong organized lobby would insist that we should, then where do you draw the line?” the Prime Minister said.

But Golding also distanced himself from another member of Parliament who called for stiffer sentences.

 MP Ernest Smith last month suggested life sentences for homosexuality. He also called for the prosecution of LGBT rights groups Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, and J-FLAG under the country’s law against conspiring to corrupt public morals. 

“I disagree with the comments he made about the rights of persons who advocate for liberation of laws relating to sexual offences, to facilitate, to allow persons the right of choice in their sexual practices,” Golding said.

Jamaica has been described by human rights groups as having the worst record of any country in the New World in its treatment of gays and lesbians.

In January 2008 a group of men approached a house where four males lived in the central Jamaican town of Mandeville, and demanded that they leave the community because they were gay, according to Jamaican human rights activists who spoke with the victims. 

Later that evening, a mob returned and surrounded the house. The four men inside called the police when they saw the crowd gathering. The mob started to attack the house, shouting and throwing bottles. 

Those in the house called police again and were told that the police were on the way. Approximately half an hour later, 15-20 men broke down the door and began beating and slashing the inhabitants.

Human Rights Watch, quoting local activists said that police did not arrive until a half hour after the mob had broken into the house – 90 minutes after the men first called for help. 

One of the victims managed to flee with the mob pursuing. A Jamaican newspaper reported that blood was found at the mouth of a nearby pit, suggesting he had fallen inside or may have been killed nearby. 

The police escorted the three other victims away from the scene; two of them were taken to the hospital. One of the men had his left ear severed, his arm broken in two places, and his spine reportedly damaged.

There have been no arrests. 

The attack echoes another incident in the same town on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007 when approximately 100 men gathered outside a church where 150 people were attending the funeral of a gay man. 

According to mourners, the crowd broke the windows with bottles and shouted, “We want no battyman [gay] funeral here. Leave or else we’re going to kill you. We don’t want no battyman buried here in Mandeville.” 

Several mourners inside the church called the police to request protection. After half an hour, three police officers arrived. 

Human Rights Watch said that instead of protecting the mourners, police socialized with the mob, laughing along at the situation. 

A highway patrol car subsequently arrived, and one of the highway patrol officers reportedly told the churchgoers, “It’s full time this needs to happen. Enough of you guys.” 

The highway patrol officers then drove off. The remaining officers at the scene refused to intervene when the mob threatened the mourners with sticks, stones, and batons as they tried to leave the service. Only when several gay men among the mourners took knives from their cars for self-defense did police reportedly take action by firing their guns into the air. Officers stopped gay men from leaving and searched their vehicles, but did not restrain or detain members of the mob, Human Rights Watch said.

More than 30 gay men are believed to have been murdered since 1997 , J-FLAG says. In most of the cases the killers have never been brought to trial.

Arrests, however have been made in several cases which received international attention.

In 2004 Brian Williamson, Jamaica’s leading LGBT civil rights advocate, was brutally murdered. He had been stabbed at least 70 times in the neck. A 25-year-old man is currently serving a life sentence for the murder.

In December 2005, Lenford “Steve” Harvey, who ran Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, was killed.

Harvey was shot to death on the eve of World AIDS Day. His organization provided support to gay men and sex workers. Four men were arrested almost a year later.

In 2006, the bodies of two women believed to have been in a lesbian relationship were found dumped in a septic pit behind a home they shared. The killers of Candice Williams and Phoebe Myrie have not been caught.

Students at University of the West Indies in Kingston rioted last year as police attempted to protect a gay student and escort him from the campus. The incident began when the student was chased across the campus by another student who claimed the gay man had attempted to proposition him in a washroom.

The same year, a young man plunged to his death off a pier in Kingston after reportedly being chased through the streets by a mob yelling homophobic epithets.

In February 2007, three men in “tight jeans” and wearing what some witnesses described as makeup were cornered by a mob of 2000 in a drugstore. There were yells of “kill them” along with gay slurs and demands the three be sent out “to face justice”. Police had to fire teargas into the crowd to rescue the three. 

Reggae, or Jamaican dancehall music, is blamed for fueling homophobia. Reggae star BujuBanton’s hit song Boom Boom Bye Bye  threatens gay men with a “gunshot in ah head.”

The bill would reject any unmarried couple from adopting, but opponents say it is aimed squarely at gays.

On Wednesday, close to 200 people demonstrated against the measure at the Capitol, calling the legislation “a hate bill.”

The LGBT civil rights group The Fairness Campaign organized the rally.

Among those who took part were Anthony Harland-Bennett, his partner and their 7-year old daughter. Harland-Bennett told The Associated Press that they adopted their little girl when they lived in Wisconsin, but now that they have moved to Goshen, Kentucky they may have to leave the state out of fear their daughter could be taken from them.

“Here in Kentucky, it is that hate that ought to be banned and not our family,” he told the AP. “You cannot legislate compassion. However, we can and must leave hatred and bigotry out of our laws.”

Children’s advocates also denounced the bill, saying it would deny hundreds of children in state care from living in loving homes. About 1,878 Kentucky children are eligible for adoption.

Protestors buttonholed lawmakers lobbying them to oppose the bill.  But its sponsor, state Sen. Gary Tapp (R) defended the measure denying it is aimed at gays and saying it is meant to provide children with homes that have a mother and a father.

“The bill is necessary for the welfare of our children,” he told the Courrier-Journal. “It’s a proven fact that children are better off raised in a safe, loving environment.”

The conservative Family Foundation supports the bill.

“Gay rights activists have decided this is a political issue when it is really an issue about the welfare of children,” David Edmunds, a policy analyst for The Family Foundation told the AP. “I believe that most Kentuckians understand just through common sense that children who are wards of the state deserve the most stable environment that we can find.”

Tapp’s bill is modeled after similar ban that was approved by voters in Arkansas last November.

The survey, by Monmouth University for Gannett newspapers, found 50 percent of voters support marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, while 40 percent said they were opposed.

In addition, the poll found a similar result when it came to amending the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage – 50 percent opposing an amendment and 41 percent in favor.

The release of the poll comes two months after a state mandated review of the New Jersey’s two year old civil union law recommended the legislation be amended to allow for same-sex marriage.

A bill is expected to be taken up by the legislature this year.

In 2006, the state Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples must have all the rights of marriage. 

The Court gave the New Jersey State Legislature 180 days to act on the decision to grant same-sex couples the rights and benefits enjoyed by different-sex married couples, but left it up to the legislators to decide whether to call it marriage or civil unions. 

The legislature opted for civil unions. But that, said civil rights groups, amounted to separate but equal.

A commission established by the state to study same-sex civil unions in New Jersey agreed with that argument.

The commission held three public hearings last year at which the majority of the testimony came from people who were in civil unions and said they were still not being treated the way married couples are by government agencies, employers and others.

For instance, the commission found that many companies in the state that are self-insured – and therefore are regulated by federal, rather than state, law – refuse to provide health insurance to the partners of their employees.

A bill to allow for same-sex marriage was filed in the last session of the New Jersey legislature, but gained little support in an election year from either House or Senate leaders. Garden State Equality believes this year it could have a strong chance of passage.

Gov. Jon Corzine has said he would sign a marriage bill if it were passed.

Cuadra’s co-defendant, Joseph Kerekes, pleaded guilty in December to the lesser charge of second degree murder for the 2006 slaying of Bryan Kocis, the owner of Cobra Video.  Kerekes was sentenced to life behind bars.

Both Kerkes and Cuadra originally were charged with first degree murder and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. Kerekes then made a plea deal with the District Attorney but he has refused to testify against Cuadra, his onetime lover.

Cuadra refused a plea agreement.

At a preliminary hearing in 2007, two medical examiners testified that Kocis died of massive blood loss after his head was nearly sliced off.

Luzerne County Coroner Dr. John Consalvo testified that Kocis suffered between 28 and 29 post mortem stab wounds before his home was torched in an attempt to cover up the killing last January.

When Kocis’ body was discovered by firefighters, more than 80 percent of the body was covered by third-degree burns.

Homicide detectives were able to find Kocis’ computer in the charred remains of the rural home and forensics scientists salvaged and reconstructed part of the hard drive.

On the hard drive they found a photograph of a man who was to have had an appointment with a man later identified as Kocis the night he was killed.

The picture came with the name “Drake” and police at the time said it could be a nickname or his last name.

Several days after the picture was released, the Times Leader newspaper found a Virginia beach escort who said he was the subject of photograph that that it was a head shot that he uses for publicity purposes, that he had never heard of a “Drake” and that he was working in Virginia the night Kocis was killed.

He declined at the time to give his last name but said his first name was Harlow.

It was then that police began collecting evidence on Cuadra. Another adult video producer, Grant Roy, was fitted with a recording device when he met with the pair and Lockhart at a California restaurant.

Court filings by the prosecution allege that both Cuadra and Kerekes made incriminating statements on the tape.