Posted 10 months, 2 weeks ago at 8:39 pm. 0 comments
Harvey Levin, the gay founder of celebrity tracking website TMZ.com, has told a meeting of industry executives that he intends to pursue legal actions against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) for “abuse.” It was recently reported in the Los Angeles Times that LASD had obtained a transcript of Levin’s home phone records, in pursuit of an investigation of leaks from the police to the media following the arrest of actor Mel Gibson for DUI in 2006. “We are going to stand up not just for us but because it is right thing to do,” Mr Levin said. “It is outrageous what law enforcement has done here. I can only imagine the Pandora’s Box this is going to open up to find out what else has happened.”
Authorities were embarrassed when TMZ reported that, following his arrest, Gibson launched into a profane and anti-semitic rant. Initially, the police report had been suppressed by high-ranking officers, who reported the arrest had occurred “without incident.” Shortly later, the details were leaked to TMZ revealing Gibson had been unruly, attempted escape, and repeatedly threatened the arresting officers. LASD then tried to find out which of their officers had been talking to the press. They found a judge willing to sign off on their secret warrant to spy on Levin.
Legal experts point out that California’s constitution protects reporters from revealing their sources, and that any search of Levin’s phone records would have been illegal.
“We are going to stand up not just for us but because it is right thing to do,” Mr Levin declared in a speech to industry executives this week. “It is outrageous what law enforcement has done here. I can only
imagine the Pandora’s Box this is going to open up to find out what else has happened.”
Posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago at 8:12 am. 0 comments
Gary Stewart, 37, has been charged with attempting to poison his lesbian neighbors in Denton, Manchester, England. They allege he stole their three-legged cat and dumped her in another village. The cat has been rescued after a successful poster campaign. Investigators are examining the death of Stewart’s partner, Paul Kleiser, 43, last summer after he became “seriously ill.” Read more.
Posted 11 months ago at 8:21 am. 0 comments
Prominent LGBT activist Phyllis Stevens was arrested last week in Las Vegas, and charged with embezzling nearly 6 million dollars from her employer, insurance compay Aviva USA. The chairperson of the Iowa chapter of Marriage Equality USA, Stevens allegedly used a portion of the stolen proceeds to make contributions to liberal and gay rights causes and candidates. Stevens has denied any wrongdoing.
The scheme allegedly involved diverting payments for commissions on policies issued by Aviva. Stevens’s wife Marla has been named as the defendant in a civil suit file by Aviva to recover money “as a result of the conversion of funds.”
The arrest of Stevens is having political repercussions in Iowa, one of only four states where same-sex marriage is legal. The Iowa Republican newspaper headlined an article attempting to tie the case to Iowa’s leading same-sex marriage advocacy group, “Is an Iowa Gay Marriage Group in the Middle of $5.9 Million Embezzlement Case?“
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 10:44 am. 0 comments
Legal documents and salacious allegations criss-crossed last week as hearings proceeded in the death of model/actress/TV personality Anna Nicole Smith. Her lawyer/lover, Howard K. Stern has been charged along with two of her doctors with felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Smith and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict (Smith.) Eleven prescriptions were found in her hotel room following her death in February 2007, all apparently signed by her psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich.
Also found at that time were a number of photos showing Dr. Eroshevich sharing a bathtub and “various intimate embraces” with Smith. Clearly this was not a conventional doctor/patient relationship. Eroshevich claims she was a friend/neighbor of Smith’s before their friendship evolved into a medical relationship. No comment was forthcoming in regard to the lesbian photographs, which were found on a computer in Smith’s hotel room.
The other doctor charged, Sandeep Kapoor was also accused of having a physical relationship with his buxomy patient. This would be a true testament to the sex appeal of the woman who was the widow of 90-year-old John Howard Marshall III, as Dr. Kapoor claims to be gay.
These are in addition to earlier allegations that Stern was involved in a homosexual relationship with one of Smith’s other boyfriends, Larry Birkhead. DNA tests established that Birkhead fathered a child with Smith that had once been claimed by Stern as his daughter.
Stern and the doctors have all pleaded “not guilty” and face a hearing October 5.
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago at 8:27 am. 0 comments
Keyontyli and Taleon Goffney, twin brothers who have starred in gay porn films such as Marc and the Twins, have been sentenced following conviction on charges of burglarizing Philadelphia businesses. They were arrested in February 2008 after police spotted them breaking into a beauty shop during a sting operation. They were suspected of more than 45 rooftop breakins.
Their mother Towana had also been charged, allegedly for driving a getaway car, but those charges were dropped.
Keyontyli was sentenced to time served, but Taleon is facing 3-8 years due to his prior record. Assistant District Attorney Caroline Keating said Keyontyli “had previously been a working member of society up until this point. But his brother is a true career criminal.”
Following a prior arrest, Taleon escaped by using his head to butt the window of a police squad car out, then swimming across a lake while handcuffed.
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago at 8:28 am. 0 comments
Possession of marijuana has been decriminalized in Massachusetts, but that did not prevent a National Park Service Ranger from charging prominent journalist Andrew M. Sullivan with “possession of a controlled substance” on July 13, 2009 in the Cape Cod National Seashore. The charge carries a penalty of fines up to $5000 and six months in federal prison. As he is a British citizen, Sullivan’s immigration status in the US might be adversely affected by such a charge.
Federal prosecutors at first decided to drop the charges, but the district court judge wasn’t buying it — he had several apparently similar cases on his docket that were not receiving such favorable treatment. Judge Robert B. Collings called Sullivan, his lawyer, and the assistant US Attorney in for a hearing September 2. In the end, the judge reluctantly agreed to allow the charge to be dropped.
In 1991, Sullivan became the openly gay editor of one of the most important journals of conservative politics in the US, The New Republic. It turned out that, at age 28, his relative youth was more controversial than his sexual orientation. Since then he has created more than his share of controversy on issues ranging from gay marriage, to Catholicism, to Mel Gibson, to the Iraq War.
Sullivan’s weblog The Daily Dish is one of the most popular political blogs.
Andrew Sullivan
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago at 3:14 am. 0 comments
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has issued a formal apology for the “apalling” treatment of gay mathematician Alan Turing, who was arrested and convicted of having a homosexual relationship in 1952. Forced to choose between imprisonment and chemical castration, Turing chose the latter with disastrous results. He committed suicide in 1954.
Turing was the first scientist to conceive of the modern computer. He is best remembered for his invention, in 1936, of the theoretical “Turing Machine”: a device with input, switches and output that formed the basis for digital computers. His work continues to bear fruit in the fields of artificial intelligence and the application of computer techniques to the understanding of biological forms and systems.
As a 16-year-old student at Sherborne School, Turing fell in love with a brilliant older boy named Christopher Morcom. Morcom drew the shy Turing out of his shell and, according to biographer Andrew Hodges, provided him with “the stimulus for effective communication and competition.” Grief-stricken after Morcom died at age 19, Turing spent years investigating the question of how the human mind, Morcom’s in particular, might survive death. His research led him to study quantum-mechanical theory and eventually the concept of “thinking machines.”
During World War II, Turing masterminded the cracking of “Enigma,” the German secret code, a feat that helped hasten the end of the war. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946. After the war, he was a professor at Cambridge and fell in love with a student named Neville Johnson.
In England, in the 1950s, it was still illegal for two men to love each other. Although he had been always open about his sexuality, Turing was inspired to become even more outspoken by the burgeoning gay rights movement in Scandinavia, where Axel Axgil had founded the gay society F-48 in 1948.
Early in 1952, Turing felt compelled to go to the police to report an attempted blackmail by a young Manchester man. Instead of prosecuting the extortionist, they arrested Turing. On March 31, 1952, Turing was put on trial for twelve counts of “gross indecency.” His security clearances were withdrawn, putting an end to his work. Turing did not deny the charges, and took the position that he had done nothing wrong. The judge disagreed.
The classified nature of Turing’s contributions to the war effort precluded their mention on his behalf, and the court showed little mercy. In lieu of prison, Turing agreed to be subjected to hormone treatments meant to curb his homosexual desires. The estrogen caused him to grow breasts, made him chemically depressed, ruined his life and resulted in his tragic suicide in 1954, at the age of 41. Turing ended his life by eating a cyanide-soaked apple.
Earlier this year, computer programmer John Graham-Cumming began a campaign calling for an apology from the British government for their treatment of Turing, which attracted worldwide attention.
In a statement on his official website today, Prime Minister Gordon Brown acknowledged Turing’s “outstanding” contribution during World War II.
“He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war,” he wrote, adding, “The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely.”
Posted 1 year ago at 4:47 pm. 0 comments
Maurice Schwenkler, better known as Ariel Attack, the transgender anarchist, is one of two persons arrested in connection with a spate of broken windows at Colorado Democratic Party headquarters in Denver. The pair tried to escape by bicycles after they were caught in the act by police, who nabbed Attack after a short pursuit. Attack faces charges of felony criminal mischief.
Attack’s listed address matches that of the Derailer Bicycle Collective, a radical pro-bike group which was the target of FBI raids prior to the Republican convention last year. The group has since been cited for operating a “non-profit bicycle shop” and a “non-profit boardinghouse”, neither of which appears to be allowable under city code. Attack has also been associated with Bash Back!, a radical queer activist group.
Schwenkler/Attack has been “an occasional blogger” at Queers Against Obama and Gender Mutiny, two sites that take a decidedly negative view of politics as usual, particularly as practiced by the current supposedly progressive administration.
After being bailed out earlier today, Attack will face a hearing September 9.
Ariel Attack
Posted 1 year ago at 7:27 am. 0 comments
A 51-year-old school custodian has been arrested for two burglaries that occurred in Abington Township outside of Philadelphia. Michael Victor is allegedly the man seen by a witness and photographed by surveillance cameras as he fled the scene clutching stolen women’s clothing but otherwise completely naked. Officials say he has a fetish for female dress and is a transvestite.
As he turned himself in, Victor was silent, but his lawyer Michael Dunn noted, “Obviously he has some issues to deal with, and he’s in the process of dealing with those now. He’s going to, upon release, enter a facility so he can deal the issues.”
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 8:53 am. 1 comment
The sailor accused of murdering gay seaman August Provost has been found dead in his cell at Camp Pendleton in California. Petty Officer Jonathan Campos had been charged with murder in the June 30 shooting of Provost, who was killed while on sentry duty at the base. Provost’s body was set on fire at his guard post after he was killed.
Campos apparently committed suicide and authorities have reported his death was due to asphyxiation.
Military investigators have said Provost’s sexuality was not a factor in his slaying, but his family has been pressing for answers. Provost had been harassed by fellow sailors for being gay. Provost’s aunt Rose Roy believes Provost may have been killed to keep him from outing Campos. “This guy went the extra mile to make sure that my nephew would never be able to speak about his [the killer’s] sexuality. … My nephew died for reasons other than what the military is saying.”
Seaman August Provost
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