Joe.My.God. LGBT News

Former Democratic New York Sen Hiram Monserrate has been sentenced to two years in prison for campaign finance fraud. The ex-Queens politician was also ordered to cough up $79,000 in restitution, following his guilty plea in May to mail fraud. Monserrate is expected to report to prison in March. “Hiram Monserrate was undone by his greed and now will pay …

One day after the conviction of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader on 59 counts of child molestation, a Brooklyn advocate for the victims of Hasidic sex abuse was sprayed in the face with bleach. Nathan (Nuchem) Rosenberg, 62, said the vicious attack was linked the the bombshell sex abuse conviction Monday of prominent Satmar sect counselor Nechemya Weberman. Rosenberg attended every …

“The Supreme Court is split with four reliable liberals, four generally conservative justices and one moderate, swing vote — Justice Anthony Kennedy. While Justice Kennedy sided with conservatives in the Obamacare decision, he has a long history of siding with the court’s liberals when it comes to abortion and homosexual rights. “For example, Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in …

From the New York Times gay advice column Civil Behavior: Dear Civil Behavior: My niece has been dating a young man for about a year and I expect I’ll soon be receiving a wedding invitation. Lately I have been thinking that I will politely decline to attend, even though I’m fond of my niece and very close to my sister …

The board of directors of San Diego Pride has voted to keep their name and not change to “America’s Pride,” which was under consideration. Over the weekend I reported that a petition drive to keep the original name had been launched. (Tipped by JMG reader Eric) RELATED: New York City Pride has announced that their theme for 2013 will be …

Movie description: Tragoidia Moving Pictures presents our first narrative feature film. Set during the exuberance between Stonewall and AIDS, Southern Knights is the story of one man’s struggle to reclaim his world after losing the love of his life in the tragic fire at the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans. Wikipedia has an entry about the Upstairs Lounge fire, one …

Legendary sitar player and Beatles collaborator Ravi Shankar has died at the age of 92. Labeled “the godfather of world music” by George Harrison, Shankar helped millions of classical, jazz and rock lovers discover the centuries-old traditions of Indian music. He also pioneered the concept of the rock benefit with the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh. To later generations, he was …

Yesterday Eastern Michigan University settled the lawsuit of a counseling graduate student who was expelled in 2008 after refusing to treat gay clients. The suit was brought in 2009 by the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund, who represented the student pro bono. The former graduate student Julea Ward will be given a $75,000 settlement from the university. Ward was kicked out of …

Democratic Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed yesterday endorsed marriage equality after a very long wait for him to say so. Via Georgia Voice: Reed made the announcement via a lengthy press release about his decision to sign a marriage equality resolution passed Dec. 3 by the Atlanta City Council. The resolution, approved by the council by a vote of 11-2, was …