Florida Agenda

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – Even as company executives distance themselves from recent remarks by its president concerning same-sex marriage, Chick-fil-A finds itself deeper-than-ever in the fryer with LGBT rights activists, and those who oppose the fast food chain’s opposition to gay rights. U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) added her voice to a chorus that already includes Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, in opposing the chain’s political support for traditional marriage. “For the record, I love KFC,” Pelosi tweeted last week.

Last month, Menino vowed to block the chain from opening a store in Bean Town, and the mayor of Pelosi’s home town of San Francisco, made similar comments.

The brouhaha began on July 16, when company CEO Dan Cathy was asked in an interview with Baptist Press to state his position on gay marriage. “We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit,” Cathy, 59, said. “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,” adding, “We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families.”

Through the non-profit WinShape Foundation, founded in 1984, Cathy and his father, Truett, the 91-year-old founder of Chick-fil-A, have donated millions of dollars to various Christian organizations and causes, including those dedicated to preserving traditional, straight marriage.

The Cathy family and Chickfil- A were joined by their own political choir, including former GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, who praised the Cathy family. Last Wednesday, former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum added his own support for the chain. “With two of my boys, enjoying chick-in-strips and an awesome peach shake at Chickfil- A. See you here next Wednesday!” he tweeted. On Friday, former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin tweeted a picture of her and husband Todd giving a thumbs-up in one of the chain’s franchise locations.

ATLANTA, GA – Former teen idol Kirk Cameron is at the center of controversy over remarks he made last week during an interview on CNN in which he called homosexuality “unnatural” and detrimental.”

The former teen star of “Growing Pains” was a guest last Friday on the cable network’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” discussing his views on marriage equality and consensual homosexual behavior. “I think that it’s unnatural,” said Cameron, 41. “I think that it’s detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.”

Cameron, a Christian evangelist and promoter of The Way of the Master ministry, was equally disapproving of marriage equality, citing Biblical sources. “Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve. One man, one woman for life till death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage. And I don’t think anyone else should either. So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don’t.”

Officials of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) condemned Cameron’s remarks, as out of step. “In this interview, Kirk Cameron sounds even more dated than his 1980s TV character,” GLAAD spokesperson Herndon Graddick wrote. “Cameron is out of step with a growing majority of Americans, particularly people of faith who believe that their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be loved and accepted based on their character and not condemned because of their sexual orientation.”

Graddick also took issue with the actor’s inaccurate portrayal of marriage equality and his assertions about the definition of marriage: “With an increasing number of states recognizing marriage equality, Americans are seeing that marriage is about committed couples who want to make a lifelong promise to take care of and be responsible for each other and that gay
and lesbian couples need equal security and legal protections. That’s not ‘redefining’ anything.”

ATLANTA, GA – US health officials at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that only 28% of the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV have the infection under control increasing the risk that they will spread the disease to others.

The CDC went on to say that a big part of the problem is that one in five US adults infected with HIV do not know it.

People can be infected with the AIDS virus for years without developing symptoms. Of those who are aware, only half receive ongoing medical care and treatment.

To reach groups at the greatest risk, the CDC is launching a new campaign urging regular testing for black gay and bisexual men, a population in which both HIV and syphilis infections continue to rise.

ATLANTA, GA – A 29-year-old man was arrested last week in the locker room of LA Fitness in Atlanta’s Ansley Mall for allegedly masturbating and humping a gym-goer in the bathroom. This particular LA Fitness is very popular with Atlanta’s gay community.
Q Project Atlanta reported that Edwin Troy Causey was arrested in the locker room and charged with public indecency and simple battery. He was taken to the Fulton County Jail and is being held on a $1,500 bond.

Charlie Stadtlander , an LGBT activist and former candidate for the Atlanta City Council and Board of Education, said he spotted Causey in the restroom of the gym when he entered. He noticed some movement by Causey in his peripheral vision and turned to find Causey allegedly masturbating.

Stadtlander contends that he looked around and saw Causey jerking off while watching himself in a mirror. Stadtlander said he decided to leave the restroom when Causey walked up to him and grabbed Stadtlander’s leg and started thrusting himself, rubbing his penis on Stadtlander’s leg. Stadtlander said he then pushed Causey off and tried to lock himself in one of the restroom stalls.

Stadtlander said he then waited until he thought Causey left the restroom before he entered to grab his workout bag and cell phone to call police. Instead, Stadtlander saw Causey laying naked on the floor rolling around.

Stadtlander said that Atlanta police officers arrived within minutes of his call, and one from gym management, to 911.

Stadtlander, concerned with how officers might react to the incident given the Atlanta Police Department’s troubled relationship with the LGBT community, asked an officer to notify one of the agency’s LGBT liaisons. The officer did so and a detective who arrived detailed the case to Officer Brian Sharp, one of two LGBT liaisons with Atlanta police.

Stadtlander said he didn’t know how the Atlanta police were going to handle his situation, but said the police were very polite and comforting and extremely professional and was pleased how the police handled the incident.

ATLANTA, GA – In a conference call with supporters of Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition last week, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said she would reinstate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, agreeing with a caller who said that allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military would “destroy the armed forces.”

Bachmann said that as a follower of Lord Jesus Christ since aged 16, she is also committed to the pro-life cause. Bachmann also spoke of her work opposing same-sex marriage in which an amendment that will appear on the Minnesota Constitution ballot in 2012.

Bachmann also stated that of all the candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination, she has been the most outspoken and steadfast against equality for gays.

ATLANTA, GA – Sharp rise in head and neck cancers questions the use of a vaccine usually used for women. Human Papillomavirus (HPV), normally associated with women, is credited with the rise in the number of head and neck cancer in men.

Between 1988 and 2004, head, neck and throat cancers that tested positive for the human papilloma virus rose an astounding 225 percent, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

According to the study, within the next decade the incidence of such cancers, which are almost always contracted as a result of oral sex, will surpass that of cervical cancer, and the majority of those cases are going to be in men. However, there is a vaccine that can prevent it.

In the recent controversy over comments made by presidential candidate Michele Bachmann about the HPV vaccine, the focus was squarely on young women and cervical cancer.

But HPV, mainly a strain called HPV-16, also causes oropharyngeal and anal cancer, a fact not often publicized because medical organizations, the government, and academics would rather not step into any debates about sex practices.

ATLANTA – New information has emerged in Atlanta regard ing

the fateful raid at the Eagle bar in 2009. Two undercover Atlanta police officers assigned to an investigation at the Atlanta Eagle downed shot after shot of the potent liqueur Jagermeister even as their colleagues were preparing to raid the Midtown gay bar, according to information obtained in a lawsuit against the city. According to information gathered in the now-settled lawsuit, officer Bennie Bridges spent $60 of APD funds on May 21, 2009, and another $50 the night of the raid on Sept. 10, 2009. A second officer working undercover that evening, Jared Watkins, claimed $60 for drinks the night of the raid. The third officer inside the Eagle bar before the raid claimed he spent $10. APD spokesman Carlos Campos has claimed APD “employees are prohibited from consuming intoxicants or illegal substances while on duty. However, exceptions are made for employees working undercover on specific law enforcement operations. Those exceptions must be approved ahead of time in writing by an employee’s supervisor, and must be limited to prevent the impairment of the employee.” Cristina Beamud, executive director of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, which fields complaints against officers, said sometimes it is necessary “on some occasions, to drink in small quantities. It’s never a good idea for officers to consume alcohol, especially if they’re planning to take enforcement action.” In the wake of the raid, Atlanta Police department still struggle to rebuild their weakened relationships with the gay community. Mayor Kasim Reed tried to mend hurt feelings by apologizing for the raid. Robby Kelly, a co-owner who was tending bar on Sept. 10, 2009, said that the bartender Bridges and another officer bantered with also bought the two undercover officers a couple of Jagermeister shots in addition to the ones Bridges and Watkins bought for themselves. During the raid, patrons and employees were ordered to the floor and handcuffed. Some officers used profanity and anti-gay slurs as they conducted the searches, witnesses said. APD initially said the officers went to the bar based on reports that men were engaging in sex acts while others watched. Eight people were charged with violating city ordinances involving licensing however a municipal judge and prosecutors dropped all charges. Attorney Dan Grossman, who filed the lawsuit in federal court, questioned why some of the undercover officers drank so much. “That’s a lot of booze,” Grossman said. “That goes beyond fitting in. Now it’s having a good time. … they should have left the location once the raid started and left it to those who were sober.”

ATLANTA, GA: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” supporters faced a big set back last week when Judge Ronald Leighton has ruled that the military violated Air Force Major Margaret Wills’ constitutional right s di

scharging her under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The judge said that after serving 17 years in the Air Force, she would not adversely affect unit moral or cohesion. He also added that “good flight nurses are hard to find.” The resultant lawsuit led the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule in Witt’s favor in 2008, though this latest ruling impacts only Witt’s discharge, it has already resonated among gay groups throughout the country.

ATLANTA, GA: A new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study showed that 1- in-5 gay and bisexual men in 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV and nearly half of them don’t know it. Young men, especially young black men, are least likely to know if they are infected with HIV, according to the study. Researchers studied 8,153 gay and bisexual men.

The men were taking part in the 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Study which looked at prevalence and awareness of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Overall, they found that 19 percent of gay men are infected with HIV.