The Prestrud v. Blanco case gives us one example of ways in which the law cannot enter our bedrooms: you cannot sue someone for having a sexual relationship with your spouse. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Cordoba provides us with one example of how the courts *can* have a say in our sexual lives.

In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Cordoba the Superior Court of Pennsylvania rules that Cordoba should be prosecuted for reckless endangerment for having oral sex with a sexual partner before disclosing that he is HIV +.

From “Pennsylvania Appellate Court Says It’s a Crime for HIV+ Man to Have Oral Sex” (also in the Summer 2006 edition of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes, page 29):

Section 2705 of the Pennsylvania criminal statutes provides, “Recklessly endangering another person: A person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree if he recklessly engages in conduct which places or may place another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury.”

Judge John T. Bender’s opinion tells us that Cordoba and his partner had a consensual sexual relationship which included approximately five to six instances of oral sex, during which neither man used a condom. Cordoba’s sexual partner started to suspect that Cordoba had HIV after finding prescription medication bottles with Cordoba’s name on them.

According to testimony Cordoba never ejaculated in his partner’s mouth, and the Superior Court “did note that there was no testimony that either of the participants suffered from open sores or other potential venues of transmission.”

“Approximately four to five days to a week after the last time the defendant and the alleged victim had oral sex with each other, the victim ‘confronted’ the defendant with the suspected HIV-AIDS prescription medication. The victim testified that he threatened to ‘expose’ (Defendant) to the people at the bar where they had met each other. During this verbal confrontation, the defendant admitted that he had ‘HIV or that he had AIDS.’

“The alleged victim became quite upset upon learning that the defendant may be HIV positive and subsequently he reported this to the police because he was very angry that the defendant failed to inform him that he was HIV positive before they engaged in consensual oral sex with each other.

Read more here.

A Washington man who discovered that he was sharing his mistress with his wife filed suit against the bi-sexual paramour, Dr. Vivian Blanco, and her employer, Group Health Cooperative. Blanco was employed by Mr. and Mrs. Prestrud to provide in-home hospice care to Mrs. Prestrud’s dying mother.

Mr. Prestrud’s complaint against Dr. Blanco included claims “for medical malpractice, abuse of a vulnerable adult and negligent supervision.” His negligent supervision claim (you can read more about all of his claims in “Man Sues Bi-Sexual Mistress Also Sleeping With His Wife” on page 16 of the Summer 2006 edition of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes) is my favorite:

Mr. Prestrud’s claim of negligent supervision was based on Group Health supervisors’ knowledge that Blanco was a “practicing lesbian.” Therefore, according to Mr. Prestrud, Dr. Blanco’s lesbianism “is an increased-risk [sic] factor for transgression and personality disorders.”

The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of Mr. Prestrud’s case.

Concluding that Mr. Prestrud’s arguments failed to make out a prima facie case for any of his claims, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s summary judgment order. It should be noted that Mr. Prestrud is an attorney and he represented himself in this matter. This may explain why his complaint was so concentrated on his wife’s infidelity with another woman, which clearly has no bearing on tort claims affecting Mr. Prestrud.

Could there be a better time to say, “a lawyer representing himself has a fool for a client?” (Not that representing himself is the only thing that qualifies Mr. Prestrud as a fool.)

More on Prestrud v. Blanco at FindLaw.

You can find Maria on MySpace here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

Sean Fisher is editing a new volume of _Dorm Porn_, an anthology of “raunchy, irresistible gay erotic stories about college boys.” The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2006. See the call for submissions here.

Barbara Johnson and Therese Szymanski are editing _Fantasy: Untrue Stories of Lesbian Passion_. From the call for submissions over at the Erotica Readers & Writers Association website:

Amidst all the anthologies of “true” and “real” lesbian sex, Barbara Johnson and Therese Szymanski have realized that well-told fantasy is often far hotter than anything reality has to offer­so, always on the playful side of things, they’ve decided they want untrue stories of lesbian love, passion and sex.

The kicker is this: All stories must be written in first-person. They should read like true stories, but we want you to bring your hottest, wettest fantasies to us personally in a very personal way. So pull the readers into the story­make them hot, make them wet, and make them want more. Put your all into it, and keep in mind that we love good stories! Humor and twist endings are fun, but the stories must also be hot and sexy. Give us your very best!

Click here to read the submissions guidelines.

You can find Maria on MySpace here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

I had no idea that women are selling “worn and used panties, dirty thongs and wet lingerie” online until I clicked over to Saucy Used Panties (you know, I didn’t even really look at the name of the blog) to enter to win a signed (by Rachel Kramer Bussel) copy of _Ultimate Undies: Erotic Stories about Underwear and Lingerie_.

Wanna enter the contest? All you need to do it tell Tina over at Saucy Used Panties why you want the book. Do it here.

Paula of Coaching4Lesbians.com is looking for successful lesbian professionals, business women, and creatives to interview.

Here’s an example of what an interview would look like: Interview with the Ladies of Queercents

If you’re interested in doing an interview, leave a comment under this post and I will forward your email address to Paula!

You can find Maria on MySpace here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

Queercents.com is looking for couples who are interested in being interviewed for their weekly series Money & Mates.

You can read previous Money & Mates interviews here, here and here.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Nina at nina@queercents.com.

You can find Maria on MySpace here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

Jeff Mann, whose story “Key West” appears in _Queer Shorts_ (excerpt coming soon), also has a creative nonfiction piece, “Plantation Fantasies,” in the forthcoming anthology _Identity Envy: Wanting to Be Who We’re Not_. I’ve been looking forward to the release (winter 2006/2007) of _Identity Envy_ for a while now. Read all about _Identity Envy_ here.

You can find Maria on MySpace here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

A huge thanks to Paula for a terrific carnival edition, and for getting it up before I leave for Femme 2006!

September’s Carnival of Bent Attractions will be hosted at A Delicate Boy. Get your submissions in by 12:01AM on September 2nd!