National
National news in brief
Civil unions bill in Colo., amendment push in N.C. and more
Colo. senator introduces civil unions bill
DENVER — A Colorado state senator introduced a civil unions bill on Feb. 14. “Civil unions will allow committed couples to share in the responsibilities and protections in Colorado law that most families take for granted,” Sen. Pat Steadman said in a press release. He said he considered the less-than-equal argument many gays make against civil unions but said everyday matters like medical care and inheritance are too vital to ignore, according to reports from the Colorado Independent. Coloradans voted in 2006 to ban same-sex marriage but polls show deep support in the state for civil unions.
San Francisco mural draws controversy
SAN FRANCISCO — A proposed mural on San Francisco’s Polk Street in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood has drawn controversy, a California NBC affiliate reported. Artists who unveiled a sketch of the mural were met with backlash at a community meeting last month. Attendees didn’t like the quality of the art and content that alluded to the neighborhood’s gay history. The artists said the Lower Polk Neighborhood Association hired them to paint a gay history mural. Before the ’70s, when the Castro emerged as the city’s gay area, Polk Street was the center of gay life. Some who objected say the era is too rife with well-documented incidents of police harassment and brutality to warrant a nostalgic mural.
Anti-gay marriage amendment filed in N.C.
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina state senator this week filed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The text of the proposed amendment, which has not yet been filed in the House, would ban any recognition of any “domestic legal union” other than a marriage between an opposite-sex couple, Q Notes, a Charlotte-based LGBT newspaper reported. If approved by the legislature, the amendment would appear on the November 2012 ballot. Three-fifths of both the House and Senate must approve the amendment before it can appear on the ballot; the governor has no veto authority on amendments. Republican state Sen. James Forrester of Gaston County filed the amendment. The state has laws against same-sex marriage but not a constitutional amendment.
Alaska regents vote to ban anti-gay bias
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted last week to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, with its president saying the state may have been the only one in the nation not to have sexual orientation specifically listed as a protection in a public university policy, the Associated Press reported this week. The proposal, approved 8-2, adds sexual orientation to university policy that bans discrimination.
Gays barred from Creation Museum ‘date night’
PETERSBURG, Ky. — A “date night” event at the Kentucky-based Creation Museum was disrupted earlier this month when a male couple was denied admission, the Associated Press reported. A friend of one of the men who was barred entry, told the AP no one in their group was gay but Joe Sonka, the man who was not allowed in, had blogged in January that a “flamboyantly” gay couple should attend the tour and told security guards he was waiting for his “date” who was male. Mark Looy, chief communications officer for the Creation Museum, said it was clear from promotional material that the event was for straight couples only and said it presented the “biblical view of marriage.”
Facebook adds two relationship status options
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook recently began offering users new ways to describe their romantic situation by adding “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership” to its official list of relationship statuses, according to reports from many news outlets this week. In the past, Facebook’s 600 million users were offered choices including “single,” “in a relationship” and “it’s complicated.” The decision to include the options came after Facebook negotiated with users and rights advocacy groups, a company rep told the San Francisco Chronicle. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is openly gay. The option is available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and France.
Kansas student op-ed draws controversy
WICHITA, Kan. — Gay rights advocates in Kansas are calling for Wichita school leaders to “undo the damage and hurt” caused by a student newspaper column that they say promotes violence against gays, according to a report from the Wichita Eagle, a regional paper. The opinion column, published Feb. 11 in the editorial section of the Messenger, East High School’s student newspaper, says same-sex relationships “just are not normal” and “should be frowned upon.” Its author, an East High student, also cited a Bible verse that says men who lie with other men have “committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death.” District officials, the newspaper’s faculty adviser and student editors say the column constitutes free speech and is protected by the First Amendment and the Kansas Student Publications Act. Jessica Thomas, a senior at East High and one of the newspaper’s three editors, said she and her colleagues “knew the column could possibly be controversial.” “We don’t necessarily agree or disagree. It’s one person’s personal opinion,” she said. Kansas law “very tightly restricts” teachers’ or school administrators’ ability to interfere with what students want to publish, Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, told the Eagle. The Kansas Student Publications Act says “material shall not be suppressed solely because it involves political or controversial subject matter.” A journalism teacher said it met the criteria for free speech. But Michael Jones, an editor for the national website Change.org, wrote in a blog post last week that the East High column “suggested it would be moral to execute an entire population of students.”
Florida
Gay Fla. Democrat Elijah Manley sees opportunity in Trump’s second term
State’s 20th Congressional District’s includes Broward, Palm Beach Counties
Just over two and a half miles from President Donald Trump’s primary residence lies one of Florida’s most reliably Democratic congressional districts. There, a 27-year-old progressive is mounting a campaign centered on resisting what he calls the Trump-Vance administration’s attacks on civil rights, immigrants, and LGBTQ Americans.
Elijah Manley, an openly gay Democrat, sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss why he is running for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, why he believes this moment calls for a new generation of leadership, and what he hopes to accomplish if elected to Congress.
Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale’s historic Sistrunk neighborhood — the city’s oldest African American community — Manley was raised by a single mother who struggled to make ends meet. His family experienced housing insecurity and, at one point, homelessness, experiences he says continue to shape both his politics and his policy priorities.
For Manley, those experiences are precisely what he believes Congress is missing.
“I think now the country is in need of somebody like me, with my story, my lived experience, the struggles I’ve been through in my life. We’re going through a really dark time in the country with the Trump administration coming for our civil rights and an economy that is not working for everybody. In a time where we have MAGA fascism, we need progressive leadership, and we need people who are really going to do the work of fighting back and resisting and obstructing Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ agenda in Congress.”
Manley said his campaign is also about ensuring people from marginalized communities — those without wealth, political connections, or institutional backing — have a voice in Congress.
“I think my story sets me aside from everyone else. I’m the only one in this race who has a story to tell voters that lines up with their lived experiences and their struggles. Growing up in poverty and experiencing homelessness was instrumental in developing my worldview and how I fight for people, and I think that’s something that’s absent on Capitol Hill.”
He argues that lived experience offers a perspective often missing on Capitol Hill.
“There are too many lawyers and people coming from professional and political backgrounds. Then you have somebody like me who is rooted in the story of this district. That’s what sets me apart from everyone else in this race.”
According to his campaign website, Manley’s interest in public service dates back to childhood. He cites the election of President Barack Obama as a defining moment that inspired him to pursue politics.
“He was inspired by Barack Obama’s historic election, igniting his passion for public service. He began writing to elected officials, speaking at school board and city council meetings, and advocating for issues affecting his community,” the website states. It goes on to describe his involvement in criminal justice and law magnet programs, Navy JROTC, and hundreds of hours of volunteer service while in high school.
As an openly gay candidate running during Trump’s second administration, Manley said Congress must take a far more aggressive approach to protecting LGBTQ Americans, particularly as Republican-led states continue passing restrictions targeting transgender people.
“I think we need to bring the hammer down on some of these states. I’m not one of these states’ rights people — Congress has the power to preempt laws that states pass through the Supremacy Clause. There’s never been a more important time in our history when we’re seeing fascism, we’re seeing an administration out of control, and we need Congress to act.”
His campaign has also drawn criticism from both Republicans and establishment Democrats for his positions on Gaza, immigration, and his call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Manley said abolishing ICE does not mean eliminating immigration enforcement altogether.
“I’m not saying there should be no immigration laws. We want laws around immigration, but we want dignity. We don’t need a hypermilitarized, paramilitary group chasing people through the streets, terrorizing communities, churches, schools, and families.”
His personal experiences also inform his healthcare agenda.
“When we talk about healthcare, my experience growing up on Medicaid is seeing the failure of the government to expand Medicaid here in Florida, and now we’re seeing cuts from the Trump administration. I’m not just looking at statistics or numbers on paper — this is based on lived experience. I know how the people in this district are going to be hurt by these policies because I’ve lived it.”
California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who has generated early buzz as a potential 2028 presidential contender for his “progressive capitalist” approach to governing, has endorsed Manley’s campaign, giving the first-time congressional candidate one of his highest-profile endorsements.
Manley faces six other Democrats in the primary, including U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, along with four Republican candidates in the general election field. Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from Congress ahead of a potential expulsion and is running again while facing federal criminal charges.
Despite running as the youngest candidate in the field, Manley said he hopes voters leave the race remembering one thing above all else.
“I want people to remember bold and authentic leadership. I want them to know I’m running because I’ve been through what people are going through right now — and it’s not that I’ve been through it, I’m actually still going through it. We need bold people who are going to fight for everybody and stand up for what’s right, and that’s what I hope voters see when they go to the polls.”
Florida
Former Fla. gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum arrested on drug charges
Democrat narrowly lost to DeSantis in 2018, later came out as bisexual
Andrew Gillum, the former Democratic nominee for governor of Florida and former mayor of Tallahassee, was arrested on drug possession charges in Alabama last week.
Police in Daphne, Ala., said they pulled Gillum over for erratic driving and found marijuana and methamphetamine in his vehicle. He was charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, according to the Daphne Police Department. Jail records show he was arrested on July 2 and released on July 3, the Associated Press reports.
Gillum, the first Black nominee of a major political party for governor in Florida, lost the 2018 election to current Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in a highly contentious race.
Once considered a rising star in national politics, Gillum served in Tallahassee’s local government, first as a city commissioner and then as mayor of Florida’s capital from 2014- 2018.
The Daphne Police Department said officers stopped Gillum’s vehicle around 10:45 p.m. and initiated a probable cause search after one officer noticed a glass pipe on the center console.
During the search, officers found several rolled marijuana cigarettes and three packages containing a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, police said.
The day after his arrest he was charged with possession of dangerous drugs, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana.
In 2020, Gillum was involved in a similar incident when he was found in a Miami Beach, Fla., hotel room with a man identified as an escort who had apparently overdosed on drugs. Police also found three bags of suspected crystal methamphetamine in the room. The man survived, and no one was ever charged with a crime.
Later that year, Gillum came out as bisexual during an appearance on “The Tamron Hall Show,” where he discussed his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction and his decision to seek treatment following the 2020 incident.
In the same interview he shed light onto this, saying his substance use was a byproduct of the emotional struggles he experienced after losing the 2018 gubernatorial race to DeSantis.
This is not the first time Gillum has faced legal scrutiny.
During his 2014 mayoral campaign, he faced allegations of misconduct after hiring private equity investor Adam Corey as his campaign treasurer, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest. However, the FBI ultimately concluded there was no conflict of interest.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia murder suspect remains at large
Two killed, one injured in attacks motivated by victims’ sexual orientation
Police seek the public’s support in finding a suspect wanted in connection with three Philadelphia shootings, including two murders, who may have targeted his victims because they were gay. All three shootings took place near Hunting Park Recreation Center between May 29 and June 26.
The suspect is 21-year-old Jahylin Melchur, who has not been located by police and is not in police custody as of July 7. Police seek the public’s support in tracking down the suspect, whose image was captured on surveillance cameras. Previous reporting underlined that Melchur should be considered armed and dangerous.
Each of the victims was found partially clothed between 10 and 11 p.m.
On May 29, a 55-year-old in Juniata Park was found two miles from the rec center. The victim, who survived the encounter with critical injuries, said a man approached him and announced his intention to rob him, before shooting him in the elbow and torso.
Martin Higgins, 45, was pronounced dead on the bleachers of the rec center’s baseball field on June 20, suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Sharef Holman, 29, was found near the basketball courts on June 26, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Temple University Hospital but died shortly thereafter.
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore declined to answer the Philadelphia Inquirer’s question regarding whether the victims may have met Melchur on a dating app, citing the ongoing investigation. Sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer that investigators are exploring this possibility
Although robbery may be at least part of the motive in the first shooting, other movies are unclear.
NBC10 reported that law enforcement sources told the station all three victims were targeted because they were gay, but the Philadelphia Police Department did not confirm this.
The Philadelphia Police Department replied to PGN’s questions with an email stating, “This remains a very active investigation, and investigators are looking at all aspects of the case, including underlying motivations for committing these crimes.
“At this point, we can confirm that Melchur is wanted for two homicides by shooting and one non-fatal shooting, all of which occurred in the Hunting Park area.
“The investigation has not established that the victims were specifically targeted because of their sexual orientation.”
The Philadelphia Police Department is urging anyone with information to contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip by calling the PPD Tip Line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
(This story is republished with permission of the Philadelphia Gay News.)
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