Last month, District Judge Ron Clark added an additional ten years to the sentence of an HIV + federal prisoner who bit a correctional officer on the arm. Clark stated that “[t]here was a very real risk that the victim could have contracted a disease for which there is no cure, and which resulted in death.”

In U.S. v. Studnicka, 2006 WL 2959528 (E.D. Texas, Oct. 12, 2006), District Judge Ron Clark ordered that an additional ten years be added to the sentence of Sean Allen Studnicka, an HIV+ federal prisoner in Beaumont who “rushed out of his cell and bit Lieutenant Rayburn on the arm.”

Studnicka pled guilty to forcibly assaulting a correctional officer, and under the plea agreement stipulated to a level 15 offense under the old guidelines. But Judge Clark opined that the base level should be raised by nine points on the grounds of “use of a dangerous weapon” and “the degree of injury to the victim.” Officer Rayburn has not tested HIV+.

Read more about this case in “Federal Judge Adds Ten Years To Sentence of HIV+ Prisoner Who Bit Guard” on page 16 of November’s Lesbian/Gay Law Notes.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

I recently posted about trans//face, an exhibition by An Xiao. An Xiao took some time to share a little more about her exhibition with me:

How long did you shoot for this show, and were you able to take photos of everyone who wanted to be a part of the project?

I only had one day for the shoot, as the idea came to me when I heard about Jenn Dolari’s Webcomics Project, roughly three weeks before the Transgender Day of Remembrance (Trans DoR). I sent out a few calls for participation, scheduled the folks you see in the show, photographed them and sent out promotional materials. Thankfully, the exhibition came out strongly, despite a number of challenges. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was not able to photograph everyone interested in participating, but I’m hoping to continue the project in the spring for Trans DoR 2007.

I saw some of the exhibition photos at your website That Was Zen, This Is Tao. I found myself drawn to the photo titled “Mylo.” Do you have a favorite photo from the group?

It is so challenging for me to decide which photo I like best, but I must say that all of them resonate with me in different ways. For each individual and/or couple, I took dozens of photos and had to decide on only one or two for the exhibition. I chose the photos I did because of how they fit the stories these individuals told me.

What do you hope people will take with them from the exhibition?

I hope visitors will leave the exhibition with a deeper understanding of the indignities that many transgender individuals face on a daily basis.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

Not at the moment. I need to take a break and spend time with my friends and family. I’ll just be working on my usual street photography for now. If any transgender individuals and/or allies in the New York City and Los Angeles areas are interested in participating in trans//face 2007, please contact me via my website.

You can find a short bio for An Xiao at Hun Gallery. See some of her street photography on Flickr here.

Click here to read more about the Transgender Day of Remembrance Webcomics Project.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

U.S. District Judge Karen K. Campbell ruled in McQueary v. Stumbo, 2006 WL 2792291 (Sept. 26, 2006), a suit brought by the ACLU of Kentucky, that a recently enacted law intended to insulate funerals from political protests violates the First Amendment on grounds of overbreadth. Judge Campbell granted a preliminary injunction, ordering the state not to enforce the law pending further proceedings.

I previously posted about protests held at funerals by the Westboro Baptist Church and Rev. Fred Phelps here, here and here. This statute was created in response to the actions of Phelps and Westboro.

Analyzing the claim that the statute would chill constitutionally protected speech, Judge Campbell first found that the statute was content-neutral, because it banned all demonstrations regardless of their purpose, and that there was a legitimate state interest in “protecting funeral attendees from unwanted communications that are so obtrusive that they are impractical to avoid.”

However, Judge Campbell also stated that “the statute is not narrowly tailored to the extent required to survive judicial review, because it established a physical zone much larger than necessary to protect funeral attendants from being bothered by obtrusive demonstrators, and because it would extend to all demonstrations, even those that would not be regarded as unwanted or disruptive by funeral attendants.”

You can find this news under “Federal Civil Litigation Notes” in the November edition of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

The Times reports that All My Children character Zarf, played by Jeffrey Carlson, will discover he is transgender after bonding with and kissing Bianca, a lesbian character. “[The experience] triggers something within Zarf about why it made such sense to be falling in love with a lesbian.”

In a story unusual even for a soap opera and believed to be a television first, ABC’s ”All My Children” this week will introduce a transgender character who is beginning to make the transition from a man into a woman.

The character, a flamboyant rock star known as Zarf, kisses the lesbian character Bianca and much drama ensues. The storyline begins with Thursday’s episode of the daytime drama.

…snip…

GLAAD and some transgenders were brought in as consultants in shaping the character, teaching the producers when it is appropriate to call a character ‘’she” even before surgery, she said.

Damon Romine, a spokesman for GLAAD, said he hasn’t seen the show yet but feels people involved were genuinely interested in telling the story with dignity. Emotions are so close to the surface in soap operas, and this story can serve a purpose by showing what transgenders go through, he said.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

The Human Rights Campaign, FSIX, National Stonewall Democrats and Log Cabin Republicans are presenting the 2006 Post-Election Analysis Forum on Wednesday, November 29, 2006, 7:00PM - 8:30PM, at The New School. The is a free event and no reservation is necessary to attend.

Panelists include:
Joe Solmonese — President, Human Rights Campaign
Patrick Sammon — Executive Vice President, Log Cabin Republicans
Jo Wyrick — Executive Director, National Stonewall Democrats
Emily Giske — Member, Democratic National Committee

Moderated by Fred P. Hochberg, Dean of Milano, the New School for Management & Urban Policy and former Clinton Administration official

Co-Sponsors (in formation): Lambda Independent Democrats, Log Cabin Republicans of New York City, Out Professionals, People For the American Way, Stonewall Democrats of New York.

Reception to follow - Free & No Reservation Necessary

The New School is located at 66 W. 12th Street in Manhattan.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

Wayne Besen (WayneBesen.com) is the author of Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth and the founder of Truth Wins Out (TWO). Yesterday, he announced TWO’s condemnation of Ignite Student Outreach, which “utilizes camps, conferences, and retreats to act as a catalyst in spurring on students to a deeper walk with Christ.”

Ignite Student Outreach’s affiliate organization, Exodus Youth, “affirms that reorientation of same sex attraction is possible.”

Ex-Gay Watch, with assistance from Peterson Toscano, recently created “Does Exodus Sanction Forcing People Into ‘Ex-gay’ Programs?”:

Matt Hill Comer got an invite to attend Ignite Student Outreach’s camp and posted it here.

ETA: Exodus’ Randy Thomas responds to the above YouTube video here.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

The Carnival of Bent Attractions, the only queer blog carnival on the Web, is a year old on December 10th! The anniversary edition will be hosted at Spectrum Bloggers. Submissions are due by 12:01am on December 2nd.

Don’t forget to get your submissions in!

And, remember, I’m always in need of more bloggers to help spread the word about the carnival, people who can create graphics for it (I’ll credit you or your URL), more submissions, and future carnival hosts.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

To: lonestarverve@sbcglobal.net

Subject: Weblog Awards

Best GLBT News Blog:

429 News
X Daily Dose of Queer
PageOneQ
Queerty
Towleroad

Previous post: “Make Daily Dose of Queer the Winner of the 2006 Verve Best GLBT News Blog Award!”

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

This is a hard one. I can see why it’s taking the Roman Catholic Church so long to figure out if condoms really are “the lesser of two evils.”

For some reason (I don’t know, the whole death thing?) Kevin De Cock of the World Health Organization seems to be rushing the Vatican to make a decision.

Kevin De Cock welcomed the news that condoms could be sanctioned for married Catholic couples where one partner has HIV. “We’re very pleased to hear this,” he said. “But our concern is that these deep theological decisions take account of the biological consequences of infection. Could we please have this debate in a hurry. Lives are at risk and time is short.”

Dr De Cock has met Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, who heads the papal department responsible for health issues. Cardinal Barragán has compiled a report on opinion within the church, which has been sent to the Pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s theology ministry. Both must approve any change. The review is thought to urge that condoms be permitted for married couples with one partner infected, in countries where Aids is rife.

If you’re Catholic and not part of a married straight couple, I don’t know what to tell you. You can’t expect the Roman Catholic Church to care about *everyone’s* lives.

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, tells Larry King that he (Dobson) just doesn’t have the time to help “restore [Ted Haggard] from being gay to not gay.”

You can find Maria on MySpace here and read her current call for essays on femme identity here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.