Former gay-porn actor guilty of Denver murder

A male escort was convicted this afternoon of the premeditated murder of his boss and former sexual partner, and now will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Timothy Boham, 28, was found guilty by a nine-woman, three-man jury in Denver District Court of first-degree murder after deliberation, felony murder and aggravated assault.

Colorado law mandates that someone found guilty of first-degree murder must spend the rest of their life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Judge Will Hood Jr. will hand down the sentence Tuesday.

The jury took less than five hours to convict Boham, whose lawyers — Amber St. Clair and Kristan Wheeler — claimed that his victim, wealthy Denver businessman J.P. Kelso, committed suicide. They tried to persuade the jury that the murder scene was merely a coverup for a suicide so that Kelso’s life-insurance policy would pay out.

According to four days of testimony, Boham had a paid sexual encounter in late 2005 with Kelso, who owned Professional Recovery Systems, a debt-collection agency where Boham briefly worked twice.

Boham, a former gay-porn actor, said he and Kelso hung out together numerous times in the 11 months they knew each other.

See Former gay-porn actor guilty of Denver murder Denver Post -

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Miami hospital kept woman from dying partner’s bedside

The gay marriage debate has earned a lot of headlines in the last year, but here’s a story in our own backyard that shows the kind of struggles people face when they have no legal claim to their partner.

The New York Times reports Janice Langbehn of Washington was unable to be by the bedside of her dying partner of 18 years, Lisa Pond. During a Florida vacation, Pond collapsed with an aneurysm and was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital trauma center, where doctors refused to let Langbehn visit her. Pond died without seeing Langbehn or the couple’s three adopted children.

Gay rights groups, who say same-sex partners often are barred from hospital rooms because they aren’t “real family,” are watching the federal lawsuit in Florida, according to the New York Times.

See Miami hospital kept woman from dying partner’s bedside Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription)

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VISTA: Proposal for ‘Carrie Prejean Day’ fails

VISTA —- A proposal to make June 1 “Carrie Prejean Day” in the Vista Unified School District failed late Thursday night, after the school board member who suggested it couldn’t get his colleagues to sign on.Prejean, a 2005 graduate of Vista High School, made headlines last month when she competed as Miss California in the nationally televised Miss USA Pageant and answered a question about same-sex marriage posed by a pageant judge.Prejean’s answer —- that marriage should be between a man and a woman —- may have cost her the crown and created a firestorm of controversy.Since the pageant, she has appeared on several news shows defending her beliefs. Meanwhile, semi-nude photos of her surfaced on the Internet.On Thursday night, hundreds of people packed the multipurpose room at Foothill Oak Elementary School for the Vista school board meeting, many waiting late into the evening to speak for or against the idea.”Carrie Prejean is not a spokesperson for traditional marriage,” said one of the first speakers on the issue, Jill Parvin, a parent in the district who has frequently sided with Gibson. “She is a former student with the courage to speak her mind.”An opposing view was presented by Evelyn Thomas, director of education and youth services for the North County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and transgender Coalition in Oceanside.”It is wrong to teach bigotry and discrimination,” Thomas told the board. “The reality is, students —- your students —- are part of nontraditional families.” See VISTA: Proposal for ‘Carrie Prejean Day’ fails
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We’re Deer. We’re Queer. Get Used to It.

Homosexuality in humans is a hot-button issue that gets plenty of coverage, but same-gender sex in animals rarely makes headlines. The organizers of a new Norwegian exhibition on homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom hope to call attention to the often ignored subject.

“People always come up with the argument that homosexuality is somehow against nature. And that’s not true,” said Petter Bøckman, the academic advisor for the “Against Nature?” exhibition at the Norwegian Natural History Museum of the University of Oslo.

Through models, photos, texts, and specimens ranging in size from tiny insects to enormous sperm whales, visitors can learn about a small selection of gay animals.

Scientists have observed homosexual behavior in 1,500 animal species, said Bøckman. Take, for instance, bonobos, one of our closest relatives and perhaps the most well-known homosexual animals. “They’re known to be rampantly bisexual,” he said. Killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, West Indian manatees, and giraffes have all-male orgies. Among black-headed gulls, scientists estimate that one in ten pairs is comprised of two females. Same-sex penguin couples have been known to have long relationships and raise chicks.

Homosexuality is most widespread among animals with a complex herd life. It functions as a kind of social glue for bonobos, who use sex to diffuse conflict—a marked difference from other primates that solve conflicts with violence. Homosexuality also plays a social role among other male animals, such as big horn sheep and lions.

But researchers have no idea what the advantage is, if any, of homosexual behavior among dragonflies, scarab beetles, or, as observed at least once, two male octopuses of different species. See We’re Deer. We’re Queer. Get Used to It.
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“It’s not easy being gay,” says director of the Ohio Department of Insurance

“It’s not easy being gay,” said Mary Jo Hudson, director of the Ohio Department of Insurance. She wasn’t referring to political opposition and other obstacles, but the plight of same-sex couples who are trying to get and keep health insurance.

“You’ve got to go through a lot of hoops,” said Ms. Hudson, who is openly gay and has lived with her partner for eight years.

Same-sex couples have been making headlines; Maine followed the lead of Iowa and Vermont this week in legalizing same-sex marriage, and several other state legislatures are now considering it. But Ms. Hudson says that fairer and more comprehensive health care coverage for partners — whether they are legally married or not — is not necessarily part of the package.

“For the vast majority of gay couples,” she said, “getting health insurance for a domestic partner is still a challenge.”

Currently about one-third of companies with more than 500 employees offer domestic partner benefits. That’s up from about 12 percent in 2000, according to a study from Mercer, an employee benefits consulting firm. But the percentage drops off sharply when smaller employers are counted, Ms. Hudson said.

And there is no provision for domestic partner benefits for federal employees, although there are some legislative efforts to change that. Some states and municipalities offer their employees domestic partner coverage, depending on the state laws.

Even if the relationship is formalized with the state in a marriage or union, that does not always obligate the employer to cover a same-sex spouse. For one thing, self-insured employers are not regulated by the states. See Patient Money For Gay Couples, Obstacles to Health Insurance

New York Times

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SENEGAL SCARE: Gay Witch Hunts & Lynchings Queerty

In Uganda, anti-gay hatred is manifested by newspapers printing of the names and faces of “gay suspects” and activists “storming Parliament” with their message to rid the nation of gays. But across the continent in Senegal, things aren’t any better for the gays. They’re being hunted down Jim Crow-style, with threats of lynchings.

Even though nine AIDS activists were just released from prison after their attorneys successfully argued the evidence for “unnatural acts” charges was insufficient, the climate is anything but tolerant. Rather, you have youth leaders calling for the lynching of gay men: “The homosexuals will not escape lynching. They will be fish food,” one told Dakar newspaper L’Observeur, according to GlobalPost.

See SENEGAL SCARE: Gay Witch Hunts & Lynchings

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`Anti-Gay’ Adoption Bill Advances in KY

Don’t you just love it when “Christian lawmakers” like those in Kentucky move to ban “gay adoption” and “gay foster care” but never get around to opening their own homes up to the kids who need to be adopted? Their hypocrisy is stunning.

A bill seeking to prohibit gay and lesbian couples from adopting children has won approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The measure would also bar unmarried heterosexual couples from adoption or foster care.

See `Anti-Gay‘ Adoption Bill Advances WBKO

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Leno kicks off another try at Harvey Milk Day

With Academy Award-winner Sean Penn on hand to provide Hollywood star power, state Sen. Mark Leno launched a new effort Tuesday to recognize May 22 in California as Harvey Milk Day in honor of the slain San Francisco supervisor and gay rights leader.

In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill, which would have made Milk’s birthday a “a day of special significance” in the state’s public schools. The governor argued that Milk’s contributions should be “recognized at the local level.”

But Milk’s cause took a huge leap in visibility when Penn received an Oscar last month for his portrayal of Milk, one of the nation’s first openly gay elected officials, in the movie of the same name.

With the Castro district camera shop owner’s name back in the headlines 30 years after his death, Leno, a San Francisco Democrat, is trying again with a new bill, SB572.