BY ANDREW DAVIS
In the case of a woman infected with AIDS by her husband, the California Supreme Court ruled that people who do not reveal their sexual histories to their partners could be held legally liable for negligently transmitting sexually communicable diseases, the Los Angeles Times reported. The decision means that people could be held responsible even if they are not aware that they carry a disease.
In Florida, Care Resource, an AIDS organization, plans to sue former pop star Boy George for allegedly not returning an $8,400 deposit after canceling a DJ gig for the 2005 White Party.
Denice Dee Denton, the lesbian chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, committed suicide by apparently jumping from the roof of a 43-story apartment building in San Francisco where her parner lives, Advocate.com reported. Denton, who was found by a guest at a nearby hotel, was thought to be the first openly gay chancellor in the University of California system.
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the country’s largest gay and lesbian political action committee, announced that it’s endorsing eight more candidates, bringing the total number to 59 this year, 247Gay.com reported. Among the new batch is Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, who is running for his 14th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Maryland Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich has appointed Christopher Panos, a gay judge, to the Baltimore District Court, according to the Washington Blade. Panos, a special master in the city’s Circuit Court family division, lives in Baltimore with his partner of 17 years, Dennis Cashen, and Cate, their 16-month-old daughter.
A Washington, D.C., Superior Court jury found Raymond Jenkins, a Virginia man, guilty of first-degree murder for the 1999 slaying of gay activist Dennis Dolinger, The Washington Blade reported. However, Judge Rhonda Reid blocked evidence of possible gay bashing. A sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 15; Jenkins faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
A gang of transvestites has been terrorizing businesses in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. According to New Orleans City Business, the gang first appeared in March and have hit such stores as high-end Turncoats, from which they took $2,000 in merchandise.
The New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) issued a release confirming the death of Alim Mongoche, 30, who was one of the 11 Cameroonian men who spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial under Article 347 of the Cameroonian penal code, which punishes sex between men. ‘His last days after his release were spent in the loving embrace of recently released fellow detainees, their lawyer, and members of the Cameroonian gay and lesbian community,’ the release read.
In New Mexico, a Santa Fe man says patrons were bullied when officials raided Pride Gym, an Albuquerque gay bathhouse, to arrest manager Ron Cordova on suspicion of selling alcohol without a liquor license, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. Brian Eckert said that officers with semiautomatic weapons forced customers—some naked—to lie face-down and handcuffed them with plastic ties.
The California Supreme Court ruled that two 16-year-old girls expelled from a Lutheran high school because of a supposed lesbian relationship can sue the school, The Santa Barbara News-Press reported. The suit seeks, among other things, an injunction barring the school from excluding gays and lesbians.
In New York, the The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) will join the Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization and other LGBT- and human-rights organizations around the globe in holding a July 19 vigil against the death penalty. The demonstrations are to protest the hanging of men in Iran last year for allegedly violating sodomy and (same-sex) rape laws.
American mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson died at her home in Santa Fe, N.M., on July 3 at the age of 52, according to the Los Angeles Times. Her last professional events involved touring with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in March and singing music by her husband, composer Peter Lieberson.
Ric Weiland, an openly gay man who was one of the first five employees hired by Microsoft, and a well-known philanthropist, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Seattle, 365Gay.com reported. The 53-year-old Weiland leaves behind his partner, Mike Schaefer, as well as several close relatives.
Lynn Staley, a woman who led the ballot effort to prohibit gay marriage in Arizona, was killed in a rollover crash on July 3, the Associated Press reported. Staley, 58, headed the Protect Marriage Arizona Coalition.
In New Jersey, former Gov. Jim McGreevey and his partner have started moving into their new home last week in Plainfield, a growing gay community, The Star-Ledger reported. McGreevey abruptly left office almost two years ago after disclosing he was ‘a gay American’ who had an extramarital affair with another man.
HRC has announced its support of Dirty Laundry, a film by Maurice Jamal that is being called ‘historically significant’ for its honesty in depicting an African-American son who returns home to deal with being out to his family and his church. HRC is a national sponsor of sneak preview screenings around the country, including during the Gay Games. See www.hrc.org or www.gaygameschicago.org.
In Hawaii, a jury acquitted Jack Law, 60, who was accused of spiking the drink of an acquaintance with a date rape drug and sexually assaulting him, according to the Associated Press. Had he been found guilty, Law would have faced up to 10 years in prison for each of three second-degree sex assault charges.