By Ramy Eletreby

Top General Calls Homosexuality “Immoral”

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune on March 12, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called homosexuality “immoral” when discussing his support for the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy that bans gays from openly serving in the military.

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way." He likened homosexuality to adultery—“immoral behavior,” he said, the military prosecutes.

C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, called Pace’s comments “outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces. It is inappropriate for the Chairman to condemn those who serve our country because of his own personal bias. He should immediately apologize for his remarks.”

A senior aide to Pace told the Associated Press the general would not apologize. Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass), who has introduced legislation to repeal DADT, which he told the AP is a “a costly policy of discrimination." --Karen Ocamb

Right-Wing Military Darling Is a Former Gay Porn Star

Blogger Joe on joemygod.blogspot.com revealed March 6 that Marine Cpl. Matt Sanchez, who recently appeared on right-wing talk shows The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes condemning Columbia University students for mocking his service, is actually a former gay porn star. Sanchez, aka Rod Majors and Pierre LaBranche, became well-known for his 11-inch penis.

“Porn—gay or straight—has no ideology. Porn stars and porn consumers are Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, atheists and evangelicals,” said NGLTF President Matt Foreman, in a statement condemning those calling Sanchez a hypocrite.

Utah Governor OKs Bill that Would Curb Gay Clubs on Campus

On March 9, Utah Gov. John Huntsman, Jr. signed a bill making it more difficult for gay-straight alliance clubs in high schools to exist. The bill requires students to receive parental consent before joining any club and allows school administrators to reject groups they find objectionable.

“This gives 40 school districts the same rules and the ability to weigh in the balance a club they feel will not fit with their school,” GOP state Sen. Chris Buttars told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Log Cabin’s Sammon Cautious About Presidential Hopefuls

Though socially moderate former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads the pack of Republicans seeking the GOP presidential nomination, Patrick Sammon, President of Log Cabin Republicans, says Log Cabin may not endorse him in the primaries.

“We will be learning more about what the candidates’ positions are on a variety of gay and lesbian issues,” Sammon told IN during a March 11 trip to Los Angeles. “We will be following the campaigns closely.”

A March 13 New York Times/CBS News poll revealed a divided GOP, with many of those surveyed dissatisfied with the present candidates. The poll found that Giuliani scored a 50 percent favorable rating among registered Republicans, while Arizona Sen. John McCain came in at 32 percent. Of Republican primary voters, 43 percent prefer Giuliani as the nominee to 34 percent for McCain.

Giuliani, Sammon said, “certainly has an inclusive record as mayor” and he’s “supportive of basic fairness.” But it “remains to be seen what he’ll be saying about the important issues that impact our community today.”

Sammon said he saw Giuliani’s recent appearance on Larry King Live in which Giuliani said he might consider a federal amendment prohibiting marriage for same-sex couples if more states grant marriage equality. Sammon said he will try to find out “exactly what he intended” by the comments.

None of the candidates who tried to use anti-gay politics in 2006 won their races, Sammon said. Political consultants know that being anti-gay didn’t work, which portends well for the campaign season.

One thing LGBT voters should remember, Sammon said, is that there are 6,000 offices up for election in 2008, including local elections, which can have a “big impact” on LGBT people. “It’s a long process of moving forward for the fight of equality.” --K.O.

Former American Idol Finalist Accused of Sexual Harassment

Mario Vazquez, a finalist in the 2005 season of American Idol, is being sued for sexual harassment by a former employee of Fremantle Media, the company that produces the popular Fox reality TV show. Magdaleno Olmos, an assistant accountant for Fremantle Media, claims that Vazquez masturbated in front of him in a bathroom on the set of the show in February 2005, reports TMZ.com.

According to the lawsuit filed on March 9 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Vazquez followed Olmos into a bathroom and knocked on the door of his stall and “made eye contact through the space in the stall door.” Then, Vazquez allegedly “started to rub his genitals over his pants. Attempting to leave the bathroom, Olmos opened the door of the stall and saw Vasquez standing in front of him with his pants down.”

The lawsuit further states that Vazquez pushed him into the stall and “continued masturbating with one hand and trying to pull down Olmos’ pants with another hand.” Then, according to Olmos, Vazquez touched him over parts of his body, including his genitals, before trying to unzip his pants and offering him oral sex, reports TMZ.com.

Newspapers Drop Coulter After “Faggot” Remark

On March 2, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter told the Conservative Political Action Conference that she couldn’t talk about Democratic presidential contender and former Sen. John Edwards because "you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot.'”

Since then, at least nine newspapers have dropped Coulter’s column, according to Media Matters for America (www.mediamatters.org), a liberal watchdog Web site run by openly gay former conservative David Brock.

Coulter said the remark was a “schoolyard taunt.” She told the New York Times, “C'mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean."--K.O.

Gay Ex-NBA Player Lands Endorsement Deal

John Amaechi, who made headlines last month as the first NBA player to come out as gay, has been named a new spokesperson for HeadBlade, a company that sells grooming products for bald men.

“He’s African-American, a basketball player and gay, and those are all huge demographics for us,” said Todd Greene, CEO of HeadBlade, to the New York Times.

Amaechi’s deal comes as former NBA star Tim Hardaway was fired from his endorsement deal with BaldGuyz, another men’s grooming product line, after his high-profile “I hate gay people” comment in response to Amaechi’s coming out.

Cyndi Lauper Headlines “True Colors” Gay Rights Tour

Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry, Erasure and Margaret Cho will headline the new “True Colors” tour to promote LGBT rights in 15 major cities. Sponsored by Logo, the tour kicks off June 8 in Las Vegas and ends in Los Angeles on June 30. One dollar of every ticket goes to the Human Rights Campaign, and ticket buyers will also receive a purple wristband from the Matthew Shepard Foundation with the slogan, “Erase Hate.”

Video Tribute to Pioneer Barbara Gittings

Barbara Gittings, who courageously advocated for gay rights since the 1950s, died Feb. 18 in her Pennsylvania home of breast cancer, according to her partner of 46 years, Kay Tobin Lahusen. Gittings was 74.

John Scagliotti, creator of In the Life on PBS and director of the new GLBT & Independent Filmmakers Consortium, has produced a short video tribute which can be viewed at www.gogaydvd.com.

The video features outtakes from the Stonewall Archives of Gittings and others filmed at the Los Angeles Garden Party organized for the documentary Before Stonewall in 1983. --K.O.

Numbers As of 3 p.m., March 15, 2007:

U.S. Deaths in Iraq: 3,203—8 pending DoD confirmation (icasualties.org)
Iraqi Dead since 2003: Between 58,862-64,682 (www.iraqbodycount.org)
Cost of War: $408, 525, 000,000+ (www.nationalpriorities.org)
National Debt: $8,835,020,504,016.46 (www.brillig.com/debt_clock)
U.S. Trade Deficit: $153,052,000,000.00+
(www.americaneconomicalert.org/ticker_home.asp)