‘LesbianSugarLounge News!’

For your daily  Global News updates go to http://www.LesbianSugarLounge.com

‘First lesbian US marshall confirmed’

PinkNews.co.uk

The first openly gay US marshall has been confirmed.

Minneapolis assistant police chief Sharon Lubinski was confirmed on Monday as the US marshal for the Minnesota district.

She is the first openly gay marshall and the first woman to hold the position in Minnesota.

Lubinski was nominated by President Barack Obama. She has served 20 years as assistant police chief.

In a statement released at the time of her nomination, Obama said: “Assistant Chief Lubinski has dedicated her career to the noble cause of protecting her fellow Americans.

“She has displayed exceptional courage in the pursuit of justice, and I am honoured to nominate her today to continue her selfless work as a US marshal for the District of Minnesota.”

Lubinski told Associated Press: “It’s very exciting. I think it’s an exciting time to be serving in the federal system.”

She added: “Being gay is part of who I am, but I think the even bigger piece here is that it’s essential that law enforcement agencies reflect the communities that they serve, whether it’s the state, local, or federal level.”

‘Former Lesbian Couple Battles Over Child Custody’

Rebecca Terrell/thenewamerican.com

A seven-year-old girl stands in the crosshairs of a bizarre custody battle between former lesbian domestic partners Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins. The Wall Street Journal reports that Miller is the child’s biological mother and conceived her by artificial insemination while living with Jenkins in Vermont, where they were joined in a civil union in 2001. Miller became a Christian in 2003, renounced the homosexual lifestyle, and moved to Virginia with her then-infant daughter, Isabella Miller-Jenkins.

Jenkins sued for unsupervised visitation, which Vermont Judge William Cohen granted after dissolving the civil union, but Miller refused to comply with the court order. She said allowing Isabella to spend time unsupervised with Jenkins would violate her Christian principles. Miller appealed the visitation order to courts in Vermont and Virginia. The VermontTimes Argus reports that Miller’s attorneys argued that Isabella has not lived with Jenkins since she was a baby. A doctor who testified in the case said the change could “induce devastating trauma.” Miller also expressed concern that Jenkins refuses to take Isabella to church. Jenkins’ attorneys denied these claims.

Miller’s appeals in both states were unsuccessful, but she remained in contempt. As a result, in November the court awarded Jenkins sole custody. According to the Wall Street Journal, an attorney for Jenkins claimed, “It is Ms. Jenkins’ intent when she has custody of Isabella to allow as liberal contact as is possible with her other mother.”

Miller tried to delay the transfer, set for January 1, but the court denied that request, too. Now, Miller and Isabella are missing. ABC News reports that no one has seen or heard from either of them since November 20, not even Miller’s attorneys.

Under Vermont law, Jenkins is one of Isabella’s legally recognized parents. She filed a missing person report on Wednesday since she does not know the whereabouts of her daughter. Her attorney Sarah Star said Jenkins is concerned about Isabella’s safety and about Miller’s mental stability. ABC News also quoted a professor of constitutional law at Vermont Law School who explained that if the transfer does not take place January 1, the court will likely issue a warrant for Miller’s arrest.

‘Africa: No more for LGBT people!’

v2.e-llico.com

24 alleged homosexuals arrested by Senegalese police, 2 to Malawi for a symbolic wedding ceremony, Rwanda and Uganda that reinforce the criminalization of homosexuality: “In Africa, nothing goes for LGBT people!” S ‘The alarm Christine Doaré (photo), Chairwoman of the Center LGBT Paris IDF and member of the European office of the ILGA (International Lesbian & Gay Association).

She denounced the “relative international indifference” against underground, violence and discrimination suffered by LGBT African excluding HIV and called for “responsible educational programs and development banks worldwide” in order to take also consider the situation of LGBT people.

While waiting to NGOs and national institutions must be international, she said, “immediately express their concern the situation of LGBT people in Africa”.

“The Joint Declaration of decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide scope by France to the UN in late 2008 and signed by 66 of the 192 member countries of the Assembly must not remain a dead letter and the Yogyakarta Principles be adopted and enforced in the world, “said Christine Le Doaré.

‘Police ask for help finding person of interest in possible gay hate crime in San Jose’

Examiner.com

The circumstances of the death of Norma Leticia Martinez are being further investigated: police are looking for Jennifer Bautista, the ex-girlfriend of the 20-year-old San Jose woman who was recently beaten and may have been dragged by a car before her death.

Currently, police have ruled the young woman’s death as “suspicious” and not a homicide, but they are interested in talking to her 19-year-old ex-girlfriend all the same. They have attempted to reach Bautista at her apartment in Sunnyvale without success and are asking for the public’s help to find her.

Known as “Letty,” Martinez was found dying early yesterday morning in front of the neighborhood Catholic church on Michigan Avenue in the Alviso area. Discovered by a neighbor, her clothes and belongings were scattered over two blocks, just down the street from Bautista’s residence.

Nena Estrada spoke Tuesday. She said: “We had seen my sister’s shoe and her shirt in the middle of the street, and they were saying there was a girl in front of the church with a tattoo ‘Jennifer’ on her.”

Estrada and the rest of Letty’s family are upset that the police did not inform them which hospital Letty was taken to.

Says Estrada: “They could’ve told my mom, you know what I mean? They could’ve told her that her daughter was at this hospital. They could’ve just took her to be there with my sister. My sister died at 10:00 alone with no one there with her.”

Police believe an altercation took place between Martinez and Bautista, and that Martinez was dragged by a moving car to where she was found early Monday morning. They are saying that Martinez and Bautista had a fight outside Martinez’s home early in the morning and they want to know what happened between then and the time of Martinez’s death.

The Estrada family believes it was murder either due to domestic violence or a hate crime perpetrated by Bautista’s family.

Says Estrada of Bautista’s family: “They didn’t like my sister because they said my sister turned their sister gay. Yeah. It had to do with my sister being a lesbian. My sister can’t turn anyone lesbian. If you’re a lesbian you’re a lesbian. We accepted my sister the way she was.”

‘Argentina hosts first gay marriage in Latin America’

canada.com

BUENOS AIRES — Latin America’s first gay couple to become legally married on Tuesday urged other homosexuals to follow their lead to the wedding altar.

“I’m making an appeal to all gay people, all lesbians, all transvestites in Argentina,” said Alex Freyre, 39, accompanied by his new spouse Jose Maria Bello at a press conference, one day after their historic nuptials.

Read full story http://www.LesbianSugarLounge.com

‘Grant funds hotline, more services for LGBT community’

Amanda Persico/yorkregion.com

Family Services York Region is the new face and place for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community.

This month, the agency received a $300,000 grant over four years from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to create and implement a service hub for the region.

For Keswick’s Michael Taggert, that means he can get services and information closer to home.

“We’re a little farther (ahead) as a community to becoming more inclusive,” said Mr. Taggert, 23, who came out as homosexual in Grade 10.

“This is a place to reach out to that’s secure. This is for anyone who is questioning themselves.”

Although the funding will go a long way to develop programs and services, there is still a lot of inclusivity work to be done.

“This will give LGBT people more options,” Mr. Taggert said. “The community didn’t become more open because of this (funding) — not yet. Hopefully, it will help to become more open.”

The service hub will include an information, referral and support hotline, online therapy, focus groups and community panels, family services executive director Elisha Laker said.

“E-Therapy will give access to LGBT services safely,” Mr. Laker said. “It’s hard, especially for youth, to come out for services and feel safe while doing it.”

The online therapy and counselling is geared to engaging LGBT youth in the area. Alongside online therapy, Family Services is also training support workers for face-to-face counselling.

“We want to reduce isolation with a wrap-around support system,” Mr. Laker said.

Funding will also develop marketing and business plans as well as an education program for regional high schools.

“High school, at the best of times, is difficult,” Mr. Laker said. “Not seeing an LGBT sign at school is critical for these students. There are still people who roll their eyes when you say gay or lesbian.”

Family Services seeks to create a centralized information, resources and services hub so LGBT people don’t have to travel to Toronto for services, LGBT community outreach co-ordinator Barbara Urman said.

“In Toronto, it’s very visual,” she said. “There is no one organization for people here to turn to. It’s exciting to see the region stepping out of what it traditionally does to provide services for this marginalized group.”

The first stage of the project is to create community advisory panels and focus groups to organize marketing and education programs, but there are also plans to create a calendar and inventory of places and events for the LGBT community.

“It’s all underground. We need to get word on the street about where to get services,” Ms Urman said. “We want to help people find ways to be out in their community.”

For more information or to become involved in LGBT-sensitive training or the FSYR focus panel, visit http://www.fsyr.ca

‘Court upholds parenting orders for lesbian partner’

Kim Arlington/smh.com.au

Timing is crucial when it comes to artificial insemination – at least as far as family law is concened. The issue was highlighted when an estranged lesbian couple went to the Federal Magistrates court in a dispute over parenting orders relating to a three-year-old-girl. Read the full story http://www.LesbianSugarLounge.com

‘State OK’d domestic partnerships in 2009′

Charles Davis/greenbaypressgazette.com

Same-sex couples in Wisconsin received the right to file for domestic partnership in August.

 

That made the state the first to allow for domestic partnerships while also having a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.

The provision, part of the 2010-2012 state budget signed by Gov. Jim Doyle, included 43 of the more than 200 rights and benefits extended to married couples, including taking family and medical leave to care for a seriously ill partner, making end-of-life decisions and having hospital visitation rights.

This marked a victory for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community after voters in 2006 approved an amendment to the state constitution stating marriage must be between a man and a woman.

The Wisconsin Family Action challenged the law in July, arguing that it violated the referendum passed in 2006. The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear the legal challenge in November.

At least 59 same-sex couples in Brown County have registered for domestic partnership, compared with 62 couples in Outagamie County and 37 in Racine County.

Statewide, 1,285 same-sex couples have filed for registry.

‘Police make crime appeal’

 lep.co.uk

Police have launched a campaign to encourage people from the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) community to report sexual assaults.
Officers from Operation Aquamarine, a team of specially trained officers who deal specifically with rape cases, believe that some victims in the Fylde area are not reporting sexual assaults.
Anyone who wants to report a crime can call police on 0845 1 253545 or Crmestoppers on 0800 555111.