Nov 28, 2008   | COMMENTS     

CHICAGO (AP) — Backers of a proposed high school touted as a haven for gay and bullied youth have pulled their proposal, saying they wanted to spend another year to finalize their plans.

Under mounting pressure from ministers and gay activists alike, Social Justice Solidarity High School planners had already changed the school’s name and focus to create a school that would be one of the nation’s largest to serve any students who have fallen victim to bullying and harassment.

The plan — pulled Nov. 18, hours before a scheduled vote on its creation — also was a less explicitly gay version of a plan first presented to Chicago’s board of education in October by schools chief Arne Duncan. The school’s intended start date remains 2010, planners said.

“The proposal has changed since the Oct. 8 planning hearing, and the design team is taking an additional year to finalize the proposal,” the design team said in a statement released by Chicago Public Schools.

The original plan was for the Social Justice High School: Pride Campus to open in 2010 and eventually serve 600 students, about half of whom were expected to identify as gay. The newer Solidarity plan had the same timeline and enrollment goals, but a different mission.

Dating service agrees to provide same-sex matches

TENTON, N.J. (AP) — Online dating service eHarmony said Nov. 19 it would launch a new web site that caters to gay singles as part of a discrimination settlement with New Jersey’s Civil Rights Division.

The settlement is the result of a complaint New Jersey resident Eric McKinley filed against the online matchmaker in 2005. McKinley, 46, said he was shocked when he tried to sign up for the dating site but couldn’t get past the first screen because there was no option for men seeking men.

“It’s very frustrating and it’s very humiliating to think that other people can do it and I can’t,” he said. “And the only reason I can’t is because I’m a gay man. That’s very hurtful.”

Neither the company nor its founder, Neil Clark Warren, acknowledged any liability. Under the settlement, eHarmony will pay the New Jersey state division $50,000 to cover administrative costs and will pay McKinley $5,000. The company plans to launch its new service, called Compatible Partners, on March 31.

Former Tenn. police officer accused in trans beating

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A former Memphis police officer pleaded not guilty Nov. 19 to civil rights charges in the jailhouse beating of a transgender prostitution suspect that was captured on video.

An indictment unsealed Nov. 19 accuses Bridges McRae, 28, of using unreasonable force by repeatedly striking Duanna Johnson with his fist and handcuffs in the intake area of the Shelby County Jail in February. Johnson, a biological male who lived as a woman, was being booked on a prostitution charge when the incident happened. A video of the beating was broadcast on Memphis television stations, leading to McRae’s firing.

McRae pleaded not guilty at a brief hearing on Wednesday before a federal magistrate and was released without bond. No trial date was set. He is charged with violating Johnson’s civil rights while in a position of authority, an offense that carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Johnson was found murdered earlier this month.

Vt. lawmakers threatened over gay marriage plan

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont Senate Majority Leader John Campbell said he’s been threatened because of his plan to introduce a bill in January to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Windsor County Democrat said he received a call at the Statehouse on Nov. 19 from a woman who threatened to blow up his house. Campbell said the woman didn’t give her name.
Campbell said the call is disturbing and that you can never tell if the call is from someone giving an emotional reaction or it it’s a serious threat. Campbell said police are investigating.