By Ramy Eletreby

Hate-Attacker Dies After Police Shootout

Jacob D. Robida, suspected in the Feb. 2 attack on patrons of a New Bedford, Mass., gay bar, died Feb. 5 of wounds suffered in a shootout with police in Norfolk, Ark., that killed one officer and a female passenger in Robida's car.

Robida, 18, allegedly assaulted two gay men playing pool, shoving one to the ground and swinging a hatchet at this head. Tackled by other bar patrons and losing the hatchet, Robida shot two men with a handgun, and then fled, according to the Associated Press and the Boston Globe.

Police issued a nationwide alert. A search of Robida's room at his mother's house turned up "homemade posters slurring gays, African-Americans, and Jews; neo-Nazi literature and skinhead paraphernalia; a makeshift coffin; and an empty knife sheath," the Globe reported. Police treated the attack as a hate crime. One of the three attack victims remains in critical condition.

"Violence against the LGBT community has increased," Clarence Patton of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs told the Globe, "as our community has come under increased political and rhetorical fire." -- Karen Ocamb

SAG, Sundance, and Oscars Love Gay-Themed Films

Post Golden Globe Awards, gay-related films are continuing historically strong showings in mainstream film festivals and award galas. On Jan. 31, Brokeback Mountain garnered eight Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture and for director Ang Lee, who recently won Best Director from the Director's Guild of America. Brokeback stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michelle Williams also earned Oscar nods. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, fresh from his Best Actor SAG Award, won a nomination for his performance in Capote, which also earned a nod for Best Picture. Felicity Huffman's portrayal of a male-to-female transgender in Transamerica also earned her an acting nomination.

Also at the SAG awards, Sean Hayes won his third consecutive award for his portrayal of Jack McFarland on Will & Grace. During his acceptance speech, Hayes said, "I'd like to thank Ang Lee for taking a chance on me. Clearly, I did not fail him, because I'm here."

At the Sundance Film Festival, which had featured over 20 features and 10 shorts with gay themes, top honors went to Quinceanera, a film by openly gay writer/directors Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer.

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Releases Progressive Faith Groups Report

On Jan. 31, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) released David v. Goliath, a report that outlines the progressive faith movement's attempts to reach out to religious leaders and organizations to reframe the way religion, faith, and values are discussed. The report analyzes how the conservative religious community has dominated American values through politics, which makes the need for public progressives crucial.

The report surveys 29 organizations and creates three categories of religious groups working with LGBT issues. The first focuses on large congregations that have committed to full inclusion of LGBT people, such as the United Church of Christ. The second looks at LGBT denominational affinity networks that have not made a commitment to full inclusion, such as the Catholic LGBT organization DignityUSA. The third group focuses on bridge building organizations that work with intersections of religious, ethnic minority, and LGBT identities, such as the Muslim LGBT organization, Al-Fatiha. "There's a need to reach out to people of faith to address LGBT issues," NGLTF's Richard Lindsey, report co-author, said in a teleconference. "What we realized by speaking to our progressive partners is many of our secular organizations are not aware that these progressive faith groups exist. The denominations surveyed represent 800,000 congregations and over two million people. Many of these denominations have grown up concurrently with the gay rights movement. They started back in the '60s."

To read the full report, go to NGLTF's Web site: www.thetaskforce.org.

"New" Trend: Smearing Gays

Controversy and several unrelated incidents of gays being smeared in the entertainment and news media have outraged gay rights groups.

Many evangelical Christians sparked a controversy over the casting of openly gay actor and activist Chad Allen in the redemption film End of the Spear, based on the true 1956 story of five Christian missionaries who were killed by indigenous tribesmen in Ecuador. Allen plays missionary pilot Nate Saint and his son Steve Saint, who befriended and forgave the tribesmen. Protesters worry that young people will consider Allen a role model and "get exposed to his views on homosexuality," the director of the BPNews.net told The New York Times. The evangelical filmmakers are defending Allen.

The Human Rights Campaign expressed outrage over remarks Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) made in a Rolling Stone Magazine interview in which the sponsor of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage referred to gays as "fruits." HRC President Joe Solmonese wrote, "Senator, your use of the term 'fruits' to describe gays sank far below the level of dignified discourse Americans rightfully expect of their elected officials." Brownback replied that he was merely quoting Matthew 7:16. "While this biblical passage was pertinent to our overall conversation about faith and deeds, it apparently led the writer to believe I was making a joke. I was not and would never do so with such a personal and sensitive issue."

Meanwhile Brokeback Mountain's popularity has made the film the brunt of several on-air jokes, including one involving MSNBC's Chris Matthews. When Matthews appeared Don Imus' radio show, Imus in the Morning, he and Imus laughingly derided the film's title with names like "Bareback Mounting" and "Fudgepack Mountain." The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) demanded an apology from MSNBC. Also, in San Antonio, KENS news anchor Chris Marrou's comment, "Why didn't they just give one of those guys from Brokeback Mountain best actress?" sparked complaints to KENS Executive Director Kurt Davis calling for Marrou's resignation.

On American Idol, judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson's remarks toward two separate male contestants also caused GLAAD to complain. Cowell told one contestant to "wear a dress," and Jackson asked another, "Are you a girl?" In a statement, GLAAD wrote, "We've spoken with Fox and have entered into what we hope will be a productive, ongoing conversation about the show's representation and discussion of sexual orientation and gender expression."

Hopefully stemming the trend, the California Assembly recently passed a bill, AB 1207, to end gay-baiting in political campaigns.

Lawsuit Filed Against Subway for Firing Man with HIV

On Feb. 2 Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit in Nevada on behalf of a man who claims he was fired because he has HIV.

Donna Curry, owner of several Subway restaurants and a franchise developer, hired Robert Hickman in November 2004 as a store manager. Shortly thereafter Hickman earned a salary increase and when he took over the store in Las Vegas, sales reached record levels, according to a Lambda Legal press release.

Despite that record, Curry fired Hickman on Feb. 4, 2005, the day after she learned that he has HIV. "My HIV status in no way interfered with my ability to perform my job," Hickman said in the statement. "The one thing that should have mattered at all to my employer -- my job performance -- didn't even seem to enter into their minds when they fired me because all they cared about was that I have HIV."

"Terminating Bob Hickman because he has HIV flies in the face of established law and basic science that shows that HIV did not affect our client's ability to do his job," said Lambda Legal attorney Jen Sinton.

Reality show Survivor winner Richard Hatch will be facing a new challenge after his conviction for tax evasion on Jan. 25. Hatch, who was openly gay on the show, faces 13 years in prison, but is expected to be sentenced to less than four years in a hearing scheduled for April 28.