One week into the murder trial of Newark, Calif., teen Gwen Araujo, defense attorneys are trying to blame the victim by focusing the jury on Ms. Araujo’s conduct. Defense attorneys raised questions about what Araujo was wearing on the night of the murder, whether she ‘deceived’ her attackers, and whether revelation of her transgender status caused at least one defendant to become upset ‘beyond reason.’ ‘The defense attorneys are so desperate in this case that they are presenting 1974 arguments in 2004,’ said Julie Dorf, Director of Philanthropic Services at San Francisco’s Horizons Foundation. Dorf, who helped start the Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund at the Foundation added, ‘We reject the use of an updated ‘gay panic’ defense in the form of some kind of ‘trans panic’ defense.’
A study by the Human Rights Campaign illustrates a big increase in the number of anti-gay bills introduced in state legislatures, reports The Advocate. In the 2003-2004 legislative season, more than 230 gay-related bills were introduced at the state level. In the previous season, 140 bills were introduced. Most of the bills in 2004 are specifically related to recognition (or lack thereof) of gay relationships. Sixteen states introduced resolutions asking Congress to introduce a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage. One jurisdiction—the District of Columbia—introduced a resolution asking Congress to defeat such a measure.
A federal district court ruled against the Boy Scouts of America in the last of a series of issues in California where the Boy Scouts argued they should be entitled to nearly free land and water use in San Diego, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The city and the ACLU reached an agreement with the city of San Diego in which the city agreed to terminate a nearly free lease of public park space to the Boy Scouts. The federal court ruled that the lease was an unconstitutional mixture of church and state.
Randall Terry, the founder of the conservative pro-life Operation Rescue, fought back against allegations that he’s a cold father to his adopted gay son. In a letter in the Washington Times, Terry wrote that Out Magazine ‘seduced’ his son into telling untruths about the family. Jamiel Terry outed himself in an issue of Out Magazine in which the young Terry said he had sex with friends in his parents’ New York home. Randall acknowledges that his son is no longer welcome in his house. But Randall says it‚s because his son lies, not because he’s gay.