Kelly McGillis: Coming Out as a Lesbian Not Easy

Kelly McGillis was relaxing in the Florida sunshine and preparing to go on a cruise last February when a simple question caught her off guard: As a single woman, was she looking to date a man or a woman? “It was like a moment of truth,” says the actress, 52, who became a star after appearing with Tom Cruise in Top Gun in 1986. “[A reporter] asked me the question and I thought, Hmm, do I say the truth, or do I just say, It’s none of your business, which is my standard answer?”
Her Truth”I said you know, I’m just going to say the truth,” McGillis told PEOPLE at rehearsals for her new play The Little Foxes, which opens May 29 at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, Calif. McGillis’s “truth” was a long time coming, and the answer was simple: “Definitely a woman.” See Kelly McGillis: Coming Out as a Lesbian Not Easy
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Gay Divorce Still Legal in California

Gay and lesbian couples who took advantage of California’s brief fling with gay marriage last year to tie the knot, but now can’t stand the sight of one another, will be relieved to hear that gay divorce remains an option.
Frederick Hertz, a lawyer in Oakland, Calif., who specializes in same-sex family law, told The Lede that since California’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that same-sex marriages that took place in 2008, before voters approved a ban in November, will remain “both valid and recognized,” that means “all the rules of marriage apply, including divorce.” That said, the state’s new law explicitly outlawing same-sex-marriage does create something of a gray area for couples who live in California, but were married in another state, or nation, and now want to get a divorce. As Mr. Hertz explains, the problem for unhappily married same-sex couples living in a state that bans same-sex marriage, is that “getting a divorce requires a recognition of the marriage.”
In an article explaining how the legal patchwork of state laws makes it nearly impossible for some same-sex couples to get divorced, the Los Angeles Times reported that a lesbian couple from Rhode Island who got married in Massachusetts were later denied a divorce in their home state, since the courts there can not recognize their marriage. See Gay Divorce Still Legal in California
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Lambda Legal Files Federal Lawsuit Against Assisted Living Facility Following Eviction of HIV-Positive Retired Minister

‘They shunned and rejected him, making him feel like a complete outcast.’

(Little Rock, Ark.) — Lambda Legal announced today that it has filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against Fox Ridge of North Little Rock, an assisted living facility.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 75-year-old Reverend Dr. Robert Franke, a retired university provost and Unitarian-Universalist minister, and his daughter, Sara Franke Bowling.

Dr. Franke, who relocated to Little Rock to be closer to his daughter, moved in to Fox Ridge after fulfilling all of its residency requirements — including submission of medical evaluation forms from a local physician. The next day, however — after realizing Dr. Franke is HIV-positive —Fox Ridge officials abruptly ejected Dr. Franke from the facility. A Fox Ridge staffer told Bowling her father’s personal belongings could remain, but that the “body” had to be out by the end of the day.

“I was stunned that my dad was thrown out of his new home,” said Bowling. “The people at Fox Ridge were supposed to make sure that he was comfortable and cared for, and instead they shunned and rejected him, making him feel like a complete outcast.”

Dr. Franke requires no special medical attention beyond daily medication and regular check-ups with a physician, and Fox Ridge is licensed by the state to provide Dr. Franke with the kind of care he and his daughter were seeking for him.

“Federal and state laws exist to protect people from just this sort of unjust treatment,” said Scott Schoettes, HIV Project staff attorney for Lambda Legal. “Unfortunately, this is something we are seeing far too frequently, all across the country. Those tasked with caring for our elderly loved ones need to know that it is illegal to discriminate against someone with HIV based on outdated and misguided beliefs about its transmission.”

Franke and Bowling are seeking damages under the Fair Housing Act, the Arkansas Civil Rights Act and the Arkansas Fair Housing Act, as well as an injunction, under those laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act, preventing Fox Ridge from continuing to engage in this kind of conduct.

“This is about doing the right thing,” said Franke. “I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else — because no one should ever be made to feel the way I did.”

Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Staff Attorney, and Kenneth Upton, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney, are handling the case for Lambda Legal. They are joined by co-counsel Gary L. Sullivan of the Tripcony Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. The case is Robert G. Franke and Sara Franke Bowling v. Parkstone Living Center, Inc., dba Fox Ridge at North Little Rock.

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Alicia Keys asks `Idol’ fans to text for HIV

(Los Angeles)  Alicia Keys wants $5 from every “American Idol” fan.

The Grammy-winning singer appeared on the hit Fox show Wednesday to urge viewers to support the Text ALIVE Challenge, which aims to bring medicine and medical care to children and families with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

Keys asked fans to …

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Economist: Is Outing Of Closeted Political Figures A Useful Tactic?

KIRBY DICK’S documentary “Outrage“, which opened nationally last week, has turned gay activists’ controversial tactic of exposing closeted public figures—in this case, closeted Republicans perceived as advancing anti-gay policies in their public lives—into a feature-length film. The movie targets an array of elected officials and prominent GOP operators, but of particular interest is its focus on Charlie Crist (pictured with wife), the governor of Florida, who has thrown his hat into the 2010 race for the US Senate, with the support of much of the party establishment.

As if to confirm the film’s thesis that the press go out of their way to help preserve this sort of charade, National Public Radio opted to edit their reviewer’s piece on the movie to remove the names of politicos identified as closeted. At this point, as several others note, this seems rather quaint—and indeed, like an endorsement of the notion that there’s something especially awful about being accused of being gay. Nor do the network’s protestations that they simply avoid traffic in gossip and rumour hold up: They are only too happy to pass along unconfirmed reports about the sex lives of entertainers.

Which is odd, when you think about it, since while the public is clearly interested in the romances of musicians and movie stars, it’s hard to claim there’s a genuine public interest served by poking into their private lives. When it comes to public servants, however, we generally accept that it’s perfectly legitimate to scrutinise their private conduct to the extent it’s relevant to assessing the sincerity of their professed beliefs or the veracity of their public personas. Usually the controversy over “outing” has to do not with elected officials, but with high-level staffers, who have not volunteered themselves for scrutiny in the same way as political candidates. In practice legislative directors and analysts too yield significant public power—legislators are important people, and can’t be bothered with writing and reading bills themselves—but “Outrage” limits itself to indisputable public figures. If the claims about them are so poorly sourced as to constitute plain slander, the film shouldn’t be rewarded with any kind of attention; if they’re at least credible, one may as well save the listeners a Google search and say what they are.

 See Economist: Is Outing Of Closeted Political Figures A Useful Tactic?

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Busy First Day For Cleveland’s Gay Partner Registry

Cleveland city leaders offered a warm welcome to gay and lesbian couples arriving at City Hall to take advantage of a new domestic partner registry taking effect Thursday.
Gay advocates celebrated with a rally on the steps of City Hall. Six council members attended the rally, including Council Members Jay Westbrook, Joe Cimperman and Joe Santiago.
Registering with the city is mostly a symbolic act. Registered couples receive no guaranteed benefits or protections; any benefits gained would be strictly voluntary.
The registry’s shortcomings, however, appeared to be lost on the steady stream of couples lining up for it. Sixty-four couples, mostly gay or lesbian, had paid the $55 registration fee by 2PM, openly gay Councilman Santiago told On Top Magazine.
Opposition to the registry appears to have diminished since ministers called for its repeal in January. A group of mostly black ministers lead by Rev. C. Jay Matthews failed in an effort to stop the registry from taking effect. And while the group has vowed to place a referendum on the November ballot, it appears they missed a March deadline. See:

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This is how weak the GOP is today: for some, Virginia Foxx, GOP Hero

Virginia Foxx is decent church-goin’ woman with a mean, pinched, bitter evil face and she is the GOP’s parliamentary superstar, handling the Rules Committee and the familes of hate crimes victims with the same grace.

The Rules Committee is one of the most important committees in Congress. It decides amendments, debate length, and basically determines when and how bills get to the floor. So Virginia Foxx’s role, as a member of the minority party, is to be as big a pain in the ass as possible. Which is why she keeps making other members cry!

In January, Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) was testifying on the stimulus bill but left the committee room and did not return after Foxx drew a comparison between his handling of the bill and his habit of fiddling with a pencil.

Now this is not too terrible, because Dave Obey can be kind of a dick himself.

But:

She has also been an effective attack dog on the House floor. In March, Foxx caused freshman Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) to become so flustered after an exchange about Kilroy’s vote on the American International Group Inc. bailout that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) soon held a parliamentary boot camp for Democratic freshmen to avoid future incidents.

Once again, not too bad. Parliamentary dickery is a time-honored House tradition, and the Dems could probably use a toughening up.

But where is the anecdote that basically proves that this is a small-minded, hateful, simplistic, miserable excuse for an elected official? Oh, here it is:

Foxx’s most public gaffe came last week during debate over the hate crimes bill. One of the pieces of the bill is named for Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old man murdered in 1998 because of his sexual orientation. Foxx said naming the bill for Shepard was a “hoax” because his murder “wasn’t because he was gay.”

It should be noted that Foxx said this while Matthew Shepard’s mother sat a couple feet away from her. It should also be noted that Matthew Shepard was, in fact, tortured and murdered because he was gay.

See Virginia Foxx, GOP Hero Gawker

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2 little 2 late? Rep. Foxx Sends Apology Letter To Matthew Shephard’s Mother

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx has written a letter of apology to the mother of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming man whose name is on a bill adding sexual orientation to federal hate-crimes legislation.

During recent debate on the bill, Foxx, R-5th, called attempts to label Shepard’s 1998 murder a hate crime “a hoax.” She said that he was killed during a robbery and not because he was gay.

Shepard, 21, was robbed, beaten and left to die on a prairie fence near Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. Two men pleaded guilty to killing him and testified that they singled him out because he was gay.

Foxx’s remarks caused an uproar, and she later issued a statement saying that her use of “hoax” was “a poor choice of words.”

 See Virginia Foxx Sends Apology Letter To Matthew Shephard’s Mother

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Clergy gather in DC to lobby for gay rights

 WASHINGTON – Months after giving an invocation at a kickoff event for President Barack Obama’s inauguration, the U.S. Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop returned to Washington on Monday to persuade Congress to pass an expanded hate crimes bill.
 

V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire is among more than 300 clergy members from different faiths who planned to spend Tuesday lobbying on Capitol Hill for support of a bill that broadens the definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. The House passed the legislation 249-175 last week over conservatives’ objections.

See

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Miss California: The anti-gay-marriage martyr extends her 15 minutes

Last night, Miss California Carrie Prejean called into Fox News’ On the Record, hosted by Greta Van Susteren, to talk about her latest venture. You may have heard the news yesterday that Prejean is appearing in an ad for the National Organization for Marriage, the same group that created the much-mocked “Gathering Storm” spot earlier in April. Prejean’s claim to fame is her Q&A session with blogger Perez Hilton during the Miss USA pageant. Hilton asked her whether states should legalize gay marriage, and Prejean responded in the negative, saying she herself believes in “opposite marriage.” As my colleague Jennifer Armstrong pointed out, it was a brief soaring moment of journalistic clarity for Hilton. (Whereupon he immediately crashed back to earth by calling Prejean a “dumb b—-” on his video blog. Was the air too thin up on the high road, Perez?)

Prejean became an instant martyr to the anti-gay-marriage cause, claiming that she lost the Miss USA crown because of her views. Now, I’m all for freedom of speech (even for pageant contestants) and Miss Prejean should be able to announce any opinion on marriage, gay or “opposite,” that she wants. But after rereading the transcript of Prejean’s interview with Van Susteren again, I have to say: If you’re going to make her into an anti-gay-marriage Joan of Arc, shouldn’t she be better informed? When asked about her thoughts on civil unions or gay adoption or general rights for gay couples, it was obvious Prejean didn’t have any, even saying at one point “I will get back to you on that one.” The most she could offer beyond the “promoting marriage” boilerplate was “I think that people that are homosexual should have some rights, you know, hospital rights, and things like that.” (Gee, thanks.)

See videos & more of Miss California: The anti-gay-marriage martyr extends her 15 minutes Entertainment Weekly

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