Jan 19, 2007   | COMMENTS     

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Tom Vilsack said last week he is stepping down as chair of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, with former Rep. Harold Ford Jr., in line to replace him, a proposal that has some gay Democrats upset. In a statement, Vilsack said he was following a precedent set by former President Clinton by leaving his post to focus on the White House bid. Vilsack has served 18 months as chair of the council. Ford, 36, was a five-term congressman from Memphis who sought to replace Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and become the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction. The National Stonewall Democrats, a gay partisan group, announced last week grave concerns about Ford because of what a statement it issued called, “his willingness to lightly amend the U.S. Constitution and to exploit gay families for political gain,” that should “alarm Democrats across the country.”

Anti-gay slurs found
on dead pledge’s body

HOUSTON (AP) — As Phanta “Jack” Phoummarath lay dying of alcohol poisoning, members of the fraternity he was pledging defaced his body with numerous anti-gay epithets and obscene drawings, according to a medical examiner’s report and an attorney representing Phoummarath’s family. The information has come to light as a grand jury has indicted three members of Lambda Phi Epsilon last month on hazing charges following a year-long investigation. He died on Dec. 10, 2005. An attorney for the family said Phoummarath was not gay. The 18-year-old freshman from Houston pledging Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Texas at Austin died after ingesting large amounts of alcohol at a pledge party at the fraternity house. The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office reported his blood-alcohol content was .41, more than five times higher than the level needed to prove intoxication in Texas. Phoumarrath was found dead the day after the party, his body still in the fraternity bedroom in which he passed out the night before. Party-goers had used green and black markers to write “FAG,” “I’m gay” and “I AM FAT” on Phoummarath’s head, face, torso, legs and feet.

Proposal to change locale of
Houston parade brings controversy

HOUSTON — Gays in Houston are in conflict about whether to change the location of this year’s Pride Houston Parade, held in June, the Houston Chronicle reported this week. The parade, now in its 29th year, has always run through the city’s Montrose neighborhood. The parade’s directors will vote on changing the location later this month, the Chronicle said. The change is being considered for practical reasons but some believe the old location should be maintained for the parade route because of its historical significance. Gay activist Ray Hill said at a meeting about the proposed change that Montrose was only “a run-down old neighborhood” when gays began moving to the inner city 50 years ago. “I mean, there’s queer blood on most of these streets,” Hill said. According to Geoffrey Cuellar, Pride Houston’s director of operations, some parade patrons have complained about the length of time and congestion caused by the parade. A proposal is being considered to have the festival on the grounds of City Hall and adjacent parks.

N.J. clergy not required to perform
civil unions: attorney general

MOUNT LAUREL, New Jersey (AP) — Clergy in New Jersey cannot be required to unite gay couples in civil unions, the state attorney general said in a decision that quieted the fears of some religious groups opposed to same-sex ceremonies. Attorney General Stuart Rabner’s legal opinion, sent last week to the state registrar of vital statistics, came less than a month after the state became the third to approve civil unions for gay couples. The unions offer the legal benefits of marriage, but not the title. Couples may begin applying for licenses in New Jersey Feb. 19 and can be united 72 hours later. Under the law, all the same people who perform marriages — among them clergy, judges, mayors and other local officials — can preside over civil union ceremonies. Some opponents worried that gay rights might sue to force clergy to perform the ceremonies.

Ariz. could see new attempt
at gay marriage ban

PHOENIX — Arizona, the only state in November to reject a state marriage amendment banning gay unions, could vote again on the issue in 2008 bringing up a bounty of concerns to the state’s business community, the Business Journal of Phoenix reported last week. The new proposed ban would only define marriage as a heterosexual union and would not address domestic partner or unmarried couple benefits, the paper said.