The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) of Massachusetts was expected to decide the fate of gay marriage in that state last week. No ruling came down from the court on the marriage issue. The SJC, according to the Boston Globe, sets an internal ‘deadline’ of 130 days from oral arguments to decide a case. The deadline is more of a guideline and the court misses the guide in about 10 percent of their cases.
Ian Bishop, 15, was convicted last week of the murder of his older brother, Adam, reports AP. According to prosecutors, the younger sibling thought his older brother was gay. They say Ian Bishop beat Adam to death with a hammer and a club in the boy’s Hempfield, Penn., home. One teenager testified that Ian Bishop threatened to kill his whole family. Ian Bishop, convicted of third-degree murder, could spend 40 years in prison. Another teen present at the killing, Robert Laskowski, is being held awaiting his trial for first-degree murder.
The anchor church of the gay-affirming Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) may break off from the denomination, leaving the national organization short of 3,000 members, reports the Dallas Morning News. The MCC began an investigation in April after a former Cathedral of Hope board member filed a complaint against the Rev. Michael Piazza, the pastor and co-dean of the Dallas church. Though the complaint was not made public, sources told the Dallas Morning News that the allegations concerned management of finances including the pastor’s expense account, capital expenses and health insurance. The Cathedral of Hope decided to not comply with the MCC’s requests for documents that the Dallas church says will be too difficult to produce. The church will decide July 27 whether to break from the national group and take $500,000 in annual contributions with them.
The Shawnee County (Kansas) Commissioners discussed the possibility of adding employment protections for gays and lesbians to the county’s charter, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. The resolution would make it illegal for the county to discriminate in hiring, promotion and other employment decisions based on sexual orientation.
While many of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls appear to be courting the gay vote, one columnist, Dick Polman from the Kansas City Star, says many Democrats are avoiding the marriage issue altogether. ‘The bad news is that any candidate with a chance of winning the nomination and the election is playing it safe on the marriage issue,’ he wrote.
A Jacksonville, Ark., teenager won a settlement last week after being disciplined for talking about being gay, reports Fox News. Thomas McLaughlin, 14, will receive $25,000 in cash, an apology from the school district, and his disciplinary record expunged in settlement for the case. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case for McLaughlin after hearing that teachers preached to the student from the Bible and told the child’s parents he was gay.
Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a hit. GFN reports that the program on the NBC-owned network had more than 1.5 million viewers. That feat brought Bravo into the No. 2 spot among ad-supported cable channels in that time slot.
The Mayor of Fort Bragg, Calif., apologized this month for not proclaiming a Gay Pride Awareness Week, reports the Fort Bragg Advocate-News. Mayor Jere Melo apologized to City Council members and the public for any embarrassment or hurt they may have felt. Melo said the Brown Act prevents him from polling council members about potential proclamations before he signs them.
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