By Ramy Eletreby

New Jersey Court OKs Equality, Not Marriage

On Oct. 25, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unanimously that denying same-sex couples the rights and benefits enjoyed by married heterosexuals is unconstitutional. But in a 4-3 opinion, the court ordered the state legislature to fix the inequality and decide whether to grant full marriage rights or create a civil unions remedy.

The Court held that under the equal protection guarantee of the state constitution, “committed same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes,” wrote Justice Barry T. Albin. “The name to be given to the statutory scheme that provides full rights and benefits to same-sex couples, whether marriage or some other term, is a matter left to the democratic process.”

"The bottom line here is that the entire court said that there must be a remedy for the inequality that bars same-sex couples from marriage," said Lambda Legal Marriage Project Director David Buckel, who argued the case before the high court. "The question for the legislature is an easy one: whether to follow through on the support of the majority of voters in this state to allow their gay friends and neighbors to marry, including over 20,000 committed same-sex couples raising more than 12,000 children."

Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit against the State of New Jersey (Lewis v. Harris) in June 2002 on behalf of seven same-sex couples who have been together from 14-35 years and were denied marriage licenses.

The Democratic-controlled legislature has 180 days to comply with the ruling. According to The New York Times, three Democratic assemblymen, working with the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said they would introduce a bill demanding marriage, though the Assembly speaker and Senate president apparently balked. - Karen Ocamb

Foleygate Hits Top Congressional Leaders

What did they know and when did they know it? They are House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.), head of the Republican campaign effort, who testified for several hours before the House Ethics Committee Oct. 25 about when they learned that former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) was pursuing relationships with young male congressional pages.

Reynolds told the committee that he told Hastert about suspicious Foley e-mails last spring, according to the Washington Post. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) testified earlier that he told Hastert about “over-friendly” e-mails in the spring. Hastert has previously said he only learned of Foley’s sexual advances when Foley resigned in September.

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) said he heard about Foley’s e-mails in 2000 and told then-House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, who told the speaker's office and Foley’s chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, who sought intervention from Hastert’s chief of staff.

Since Kolbe, Trandahl and Fordham are gay, some Republicans believe there is a gay “cover-up” of Foley’s behavior. “We don't know that, but it certainly is one possibility, among others,'' said Tony Perkins, president of the anti-gay Family Research Council, according to the St. Petersburg Times. - KO

Use Accurate Condom Information, GAO Says

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) issued a reminder to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department that literature distributed by federally funded programs addressing sexually transmitted diseases is legally required to “contain medically accurate information on condom effectiveness.”

“[A]bstinence-only until-marriage programs have been permitted to use taxpayer dollars to lie about the effectiveness of condoms and the current administration has, time and again, failed to hold these programs accountable for much of anything except cashing their grant checks,” said William Smith of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.

Catholic Bishops Propose New Guidelines on Gays

U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops are drafting new guidelines on how parishes should minister to LGBT churchgoers. While the guidelines encourage parishes to welcome gays in their congregations and provide them with pastoral support, the document asserts that Catholic leaders have the right to “deny roles of service” to those who violate the church’s teachings on sexuality, reports The Advocate.

“It is not sufficient for those involved in this ministry to adopt a position of distant neutrality with regard to church teaching,” reads the draft document. “Love and truth go together.”

Last year, the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education instructed that men with “deep-seated” homosexual attraction should not be ordained. The proposal also explains the Catholic view of same-sex attraction as “disordered” and “violates the true purpose of sexuality.”

“[The authors of the proposal] speak in willful ignorance about people in same-gender families. They speak in willful ignorance about homosexuality—sexuality in general,” said Sam Sinnett, president of DignityUSA, a group that represents gay and lesbian Catholics. “They are continuing to discriminate against us.”

The proposed guidelines will be voted on at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Baltimore Nov. 13–16.

LGBT Hate Crimes Third Largest Bias Crimes in 2005

A new FBI report reveals that hate crimes against LGBT people accounted for the third largest number of bias crimes in the country last year. While the overall number of reported hate crimes were down by 6 percent, 14.2 percent of the reported attacks were LGBT-based. However, LGBT hate crimes are not tracked in all areas and closeted victims fear coming forward.

“It is critical that all jurisdictions treat these crimes seriously and report hate crimes statistics to the FBI and the public,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

K-Y Brand Donates $200,000 to LGBT National Help Center

Johnson & Johnson’s K-Y Brand lubricant announced it will donate $200,000 over the next three years to the GLBT National Help Center, a nonprofit organization that administers the Gay and Lesbian National Hotline. The Hotline provides two national phone line systems where people can receive peer counseling and advice in order to make healthy life choices.

“This gift along with the continuing support from individual donors will enable us to better meet the increasing demands for our services,” said GLBT National Help Center Executive Director Brad Becker. For more information, go to www.GLBTNationalHelpCenter.org.

Grey’s Anatomy Actor Comes Out

Grey’s Anatomy cast member T.R. Knight revealed to People magazine on Oct. 19 that he is gay, following an on-set scuffle between actors Patrick Dempsey and Isaiah Washington in which Washington used a homophobic slur (“faggot”) in reference to Knight. Washington has since issued a public apology.

“I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there. While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me,” Knight told People.

FDA Approves New 300 mg Single-Dose Capsule HIV/AIDS Drug

OnOct. 20, the FDA approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s new 300 mg single capsule of Reyataz for the treatment of adults with HIV. The new capsule can replace two 150 mg Reyataz capsules. The drug blocks the action of the HIV protease enzyme, which is necessary for the virus to multiply.

The FDA approved the new capsule after 48-week trials in patients who have previously taken and have never taken anti-HIV medication. The 150 mg Reyataz capsules were approved by the FDA in 2003.

Reichen Lehmkuhl Says He Was Raped While in the Air Force

In an interview with ABC News, Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl revealed that he was raped by male cadets while he was in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1990s. Reichen said he was forced to be closeted under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) but a friend outed him, which led to the sexual assault.

“A bag was put over my head. I was stripped of my clothes. I was forced to do things sexually with two other male cadets,” Reichen told Good Morning America.

Reichen decided not to report the incident for fear of being discharged under DADT.

Numbers As of 9 a.m., October 26, 2006:

U.S. Deaths in Iraq: 2,809-pending DoD confirmation (http://icasualties.org)

Iraqi Dead since 2003: Between 44,736-49,692 (www.iraqbodycount.org)

Cost of War: $337,265,000,000+ (www.nationalpriorities.org)

National Debt: $8,557,835,614,421.28 (www.brillig.com/debt_clock)

U.S. Trade Deficit: $642,625,000,000+

(www.americaneconomicalert.org/ticker_home.asp)