Gov. Bob McDonnell (right) issued a directive protecting gays from discrimination yesterday. (Courtesy of the Associated Press via the Washington Post)

A directive issued yesterday by Virginia’s governor suggests state bodies not discriminate based on sexual orientation and reword bylaws to reflect such policies, according to Towleroad.com.

Governor Bob McDonnell issued the directive days after Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II suggested public universities remove gay non-discrimination policies.

The statement, according to the Washington Post via Towleroad.com, suggests a change in position by the governor who issued an executive order recently altering the state’s anti-bias discrimination policy to exclude gays and lesbians.

While an executive order becomes law after the governor signs it, an executive directive is just a suggestion with no legal backing.

For the original Towleroad.com article, click here..

GOP Rep. Chris Hagenow tried to define "spouse" as a male-female relationship in direct violation of Iowa's congress. (Courtesy of Iowa House Republicans)

Iowa House persons yesterday voted to keep abuse protections open to gay people despite the lobbying efforts of one representative, the Des Moines Register reported.

Rep. Chris Hagenow (R-Windsor Heights, Iowa) tried to amend the state’s domestic abuse protection law by defining marriage as between one man and one woman, the Register stated, even though Iowa’s congress deemed such language unconstitutional.

In the end, the proposal failed after a vote concluded mostly along party lines, the article continued.

The bill extends greater protections to people in cases of domestic violence, which is a more heinous crime than regular abuse charges under Iowa law, including those who are married and in domestic partnerships.

For the original Des Moines Register article, click here.

HIV/AIDS solidarity ribbons. Circumsion is said to play less of a role in HIV prevention than originally thought. (Courtesy of Reuters)

New research suggests circumcision does little in preventing the spread of HIV, an article on the Advocate.com Web site states.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found cut and uncut men in the Western world have equal opportunities to contract the virus, the article reports.

Former studies in Africa suggested circumcised men are at a lower risk do to foreskin tissue being a susceptible breeding ground for the virus.

Researchers suggest this is due more to the strong HIV medication potential distributors of the virus are on as opposed to any lack of foreskin.

For the original Advocate.com article, click here.

Promotional materials for the Cologne, Germany, Gay Games. (Courtesty of the Advocate.com)

The two largest LGBT-centered sporting organizations plan to hold a joint event in 2018, according to Outsports.com.

Gay Games and Outgames co-presidents all announced the plan at a gay sporting federation event in Copenhagen last weekend.

According to the Advocate.com, the third Outgames takes place in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2013, while the eighth and ninth Gay Games will take place in Cologne, Germany, and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively.

The type of sports featured at the event was not yet revealed.

For more information, read the original Outsports.com article here.

Havana, Cuba, where recently the government reinstated its state-funded sex change program. (Courtesy of Theodora)

Cuba resumed its program of state-funded sex changes recently amidst growing health care cuts, the Advocate.com reports.

President Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, leading gay rights activist in the country and head of the National Sexual Education Center, worked to reinstate the program, which ended nearly two decades ago because of its questioned cost effectiveness, the article states.

Cuba and other South American countries experience widespread homophobia, the report suggests, but this program illustrates the steps these nations are taking to transition into the modern world.

Under the communist government, doctors earn salaries worth about $20, according to the Advocate.com. Reinstating the sexual reassignment surgeries would help alleviate some of the health care cuts the nation made due to the recession.

For the original Advocate.com article, click here.

Reichen Lehmkuhl is set to play an engaged gay man in the 2010 premiere of My Big Gay Italian Wedding. (courtesy of broadwayworld.com)

 “Amazing Race” winner Reichen Lehmkuhl is set to premiere in the production My Big Gay Italian Wedding.

 The original production, showed in 2003, was written by Anthony Wilkinson. He has since revised the comedy’s script, bringing it up to date for same-sex marriages.

 “Reichen takes great interest in studying basic human rights and speaks to thousands of people each year at colleges, universities, and corporations on the subject of equal rights for all citizens,” reports Broadway World.

 He even created the jewelry line called “Fly Naked,” donating ten percent of the proceeds to Service Members Legal Defense Network, the organization working to combat the ban on the open service of LGBT people in the US Armed Forces.

 Reichen and the other cast members of My Big Gay Italian Wedding will premiere at St. Luke’s Theatre in New York, May 22.

 To read more on this story, visit Broadwayworld.com.

Andrew Grande, a gay porn star, is now dead after, according to police, choking on a bag of marijuana. (courtesy of nydailynews.com)

A gay porn star died after a struggle with police trying to arrest him.

Andrew Grande was the cause of a disturbance call to police, reports the New York Daily News. He and a female had been fighting.

As police began to arrest Grande, he resisted. Police then shot him with a Taser gun. Pulling the wires from his chest, Grande began to choke on what was reportedly a bag of marijuana he had swallowed.

While police attempted to resuscitate Grande, paramedics later pronounced him dead.

“It’s a tragic situation for our officers and a tragic situation for this young man and his family,” said Sheriff Frank McKeithen to the New York Daily News. “If he’d … allowed them to handcuff him, it would have been over,” the sheriff said. “This would not have happened.”

To read more on this story, visit the New York Daily News.

This San Francisco LGBT Community Center may face foreclosure if the city does not approve funds to help it. (courtesy of sfgate.com)

A San Francisco LGBT Community Center seeks a city bailout of $1 million.

After eight years of business, the LGBT center may face foreclosure if the city does not grand public funds to afford mortgages on the building.

“Clearly, it’s unprecedented,” said Community Center Supervisor David Campos said of the bailout proposal. “But I do believe there is something unique about the role the LGBT Center plays – not only in the life of the community, but the entire city.”
Along with renting out rooms for other community groups, the LGBT Center offers counseling, job training, HIV prevention programs and art programs.

If this bailout is approved, it will be the first time the city ensured a nonprofit organization’s mortgage payment with general funds, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

To read more on this story, visit the San Francisco Chronicle.

Taken by The Washingto Post, this photograph displays the day same-sex couples could apply for D.C. marriage licenses. (courtesy of advocate.com)

After publishing a front page photo of two gay men kissing, The Washington Post lost a number of subscribers.

This photograph took place outside the D.C. Superior Court, right after a ruling granted same-sex couples marriage rights in Washington D.C.

“A few of the readers have engaged in rants, often with anti-gay slurs,” wrote Alexander Andrew in The Washington Post. “One called me to complain about ‘promoting a faggot lifestyle.’ Another complained about the photo in an e-mail to the two Post reporters who wrote Thursday’s story about the licenses: ‘That kind of stuff makes normal people want to throw up. People have kids who are being exposed to this crap. I will be glad when your rag goes out of business. Real men marry women.’”

The National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association applauds The Washington Post for their bravery, though, reports Advocate.

To read more on this story, visit Adovcate.com.

Photo credit 365gay.com

As Florida lawmakers provide a new tax package as incentive for films to be made within the state,  film companies are required to follow a strict list of “family friendly” guidelines, particularly involving the exclusion of gay characters.

The state’s goal is to invest money in film companies to continue producing successful films while ensuring “classic family values”. However, according to gay rights groups, not only are such values not necessarily the norm today, but this plan will only hurt Florida’s economy.

“Instituting 1950s-style movie censorship does nothing to support real-life families or help Florida’s struggling economy,” Ted Howard, executive director for Organizations United Together, a Florida LGBT community group, told the Palm Beach Post.

Florida Republicans, such as state Rep. Stephen Precourt, are still pushing the incentives and the anti-gay guidelines forward, saying providing the tax to movies with gay characters would not be something  the state would want to invest in.

For more on this story visit 365gay.com.

Olivia Stephens