Parents of webcam spying victim Tyler Clementi say they learned from trial

BY GEOFF MULVIHILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- The parents of Tyler Clementi were ready to accept a plea deal calling for no jail time for their son's Rutgers University roommate, who used a webcam to see their son and another man kissing.

But what they learned at trial made them more convinced that the roommate, Dharun Ravi, deserved to be sent to prison.

Tyler's mother, Jane Clementi, said it was only during the trial in March that she learned her son had viewed Ravi's Twitter posts about the webcam dozens of times in the hours before Tyler killed himself in September 2010.

"I did not realize he was in on the joke," Jane Clementi said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press and two other news outlets.

She said that detail made her understand her son's pain more.

The case drew worldwide attention after Clementi's suicide in September 2010, just days after the spying, and made her late son into a symbol of the perils of mistreating young gays.

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Mourners hold Miami Beach vigil for young lesbian couple shot last week in Texas

A group of mourners held a vigil Friday evening for a young lesbian couple shot last Friday in Texas. From Associated Press:

The shooting at a Portland park last week killed 19-year-old Mollie Olgin and wounded 18-year-old Mary Kristene Chapa. Police in Portland, a town of about 15,000 people about seven miles north of Corpus Christi, have not identified any suspects or announced any arrests.

Enrique Santos: Evolution of Latin shock jock, who came out as 'proud member of LGBT community'

BY JORDAN LEVIN, jlevin @miamiherald.com

When Enrique Santos was attending Jose Marti Middle School in Hialeah, or registering to vote Republican like the rest of his Cuban émigré family, or becoming an exile hero for prank calling Fidel Castro on his hit radio show El Vacilon de la Manana, he never would have imagined he’d end up where he was Tuesday night.

But there he was, onstage at the Fillmore Miami Beach, emceeing a fundraiser for Democratic President Obama, speaking (mostly) seriously about healthcare and immigration policy, and announcing to the world that he was a “proud member of the LGBT community.”

“What happened is I’ve evolved, the same way all of us do,” Santos said Wednesday morning at a Design District café. He was red-eyed after celebrating his debut in the political big-time into the night, then rising to host his 6 a.m. show on Miami station Mix 98.3 FM.

“We live, we learn, we’re not the same person today we were yesterday.”

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Gay GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger ends campaign; posts 'Stop the Hate' video aimed at Mormon Church

Statement by gay GOP Presidential candidate Fred Karger:

LAGUNA BEACH, CA - “After 2 ½ years of campaigning as a candidate for President of the United States I am officially ending my historic campaign today June 29, 2012. It’s been one hell of a ride, and I want to thank the thousands of people across this country who volunteered, contributed, opened their homes, came to our events and cheered me on. Special thanks to the thousands more who shared their stories with me in person, via email, facebook, twitter, etc. Every one of you kept me going.

It’s been the experience of a lifetime. I’ve made many new friends and undoubtedly picked up a few more detractors. I hope and trust that my discussion of the key issues helped to open dialog on fixing the economy, balancing the federal budget, creating jobs, education reform, the environment, immigration reform, ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and fighting for full equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. We must move forward on these issues and many more.

A big thank you goes out to our incredible campaign team, most of whom have been around for nearly the entire 2 ½ years. Your dedication, spirit and great ideas made all the difference.

I plan to rest up for awhile and then I will be back at it to help in the fight for LGBT equality. We will let you know as soon as our exact course is determined.

We closed our Utah Primary campaign with a big bang by airing the hard-hitting commercial “STOP THE HATE!!!” aimed at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). It was produced and directed by Melanie Marden of MM Films, LLC.

Contract up? Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to divorce, People reports

BY MADELEINE MARR, MMARR@MIAMIHERALD.COM

This may not come as much of a shock to Hollywood watchers, but People is reporting that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting a divorce.

The power couple was married almost six years.

“This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family,” Holmes’s attorney Jonathan Wolfe told the magazine. “Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.” Suri is 6.

The Rock of Ages star, 49, wed the former Dawson’s Creek star, 33, in an Italian castle in November 2006. ...

For years the rumor mill has churned out stories that the marriage was not authentic and that Holmes had signed a “contract” with the superstar to get ahead in her career. How long it was to last is not known. Five years with one child? Ten years with two? Hard to say because no one has ever seen a copy of this thing, if it even exists. ...

Cruise acknowledged to Playboy that stories written about him used to be a bother (oh, you remember the one about him being gay, right?).

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Gay activists in Cuba demand that parliament respect their rights

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO, JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

Cuban gay activists held a kiss-in demonstration and presented a demand for respect to the country’s parliament on Thursday, as they prepared for the upcoming island’s second annual Gay Pride parade.

Fifty people — mostly gay rights activists but also a handful of dissidents such as Guillermo Fariñas and Martha Beatriz Roque — signed a petition calling for civil rights and handed it to the National Assembly of People’s Power, said Ignacio Estrada, a gay activist and dissident.

“Our document calls on the Cuban government to fully comply with international agreements it has signed on human rights, especially those that apply to LGBT rights,” Estrada said after delivering the petition.

The petition also calls on lawmakers to launch an investigation of the Military Units to Aid Production, or UMAPs — hard-labor camps created by Fidel Castro during the 1960s to detain homosexuals and government critics — and requests trials for government officials responsible for the camps.

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Gay rights groups condemn Texas shooting of young lesbian couple

BY CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

McALLEN, Texas -- Investigators on Wednesday were still trying to determine a motive for the killing of a teenage woman and the wounding of her girlfriend in a shooting at a South Texas park that has caught the attention of gay rights groups.

The shooting at a Portland park Friday night killed 19-year-old Mollie Olgin and wounded 18-year-old Mary Kristene Chapa. Police in Portland, a town of about 15,000 people about seven miles north of Corpus Christi, have not identified any suspects or announced any arrests.

Vigils for the women are scheduled for Wednesday evening in San Francisco and Friday in Washington, D.C., and Portland, Texas, among other cities.

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Movie review | Channing Tatum as 'Magic Mike' *** (with official trailer)

Miami Herald / Miami.com review:

MAGIC MIKE ***

This likeable comedy about male strippers, starring Channing Tatum and directed by Steven Soderbergh, is nothing but a good time.

BY CONNIE OGLE, cogle@miamiherald.com

If you can look past all the flesh and the thongs and the thrusting — and I admit that is an almost impossible task and probably not one you’d want to undertake anyway — what’s most distinctive about Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike is its sense of fun. This film about male strippers in Tampa, inspired by actor Channing Tatum’s real-life experiences, is as similar to Showgirls as stripping is to investment banking. Soderbergh and screenwriter Reid Carolin purposely pay only scant attention to the dirty side of the business (the drugs, the fluffers, the general seediness) in order to put forth an entirely original yet unsurprising idea: Sometimes, hot young guys take off their clothes on stage to reap the rewards of women, money and the never-ending party.

Click here to read the complete review.

MOVA owner supports Obama healthcare ruling; says South Beach, D.C. bar offers insurance to employees

It's not often that a gay-bar owner chimes in on a U.S. Supreme Court decision, but here's a news release from Babak Movahedi, owner of MOVA Lounge in South Beach and Washington, D.C. (He's also an attorney, board president of Miami Beach Gay Pride and a national board member of Stonewall Democrats.)

MOVA LOUNGE CELEBRATES SUPREME COURT DECISION TO UPHOLD OBAMA HEALTHCARE REFORM LAW

MOVA Lounge, “Healthcare is an American Right and Not a Privilege”

(Washington, D.C.) June 28, 2012 – Today the Supreme Court upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama’s Healthcare Reform Law, providing millions of Americans, who would otherwise be without affordable healthcare, the American right to health insurance. For years, MOVA Lounge has veered away from the industry standard by providing health insurance for its bartenders and employees, allowing them the right to affordable healthcare – a very uncommon practice in the service industry.

“I am more than pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Obama’s Healthcare Reform Law,” says Babak Movahedi, the owner and founder of MOVA Lounge, Miami and MOVA Lounge, D.C. “I have always believed that affordable healthcare and insurance is an American right and
not a privilege to be enjoyed by a select few. For years we have provided our employees with the ability to have health insurance, which is really unheard of in the bar industry. It has and will always be a priority to put the health of our employees at the forefront of our business model.

“I applaud President Obama for his efforts to provide universal healthcare to all Americans and the Supreme Court for making his dream – our dream – a reality.”

Lawmaker backs spousal benefits for military gays

BY DONNA CASSATA, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- A Democratic congressman wants same-sex benefits for spouses of veterans and service members.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington is top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Smith is introducing legislation to make the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments recognize any marriage that has been recognized by a state, the District of Columbia, commonwealths or territories.

His bill would change the definition of spouse in the U.S. code to include same-sex marriages.

Gay marriage is now legal in the District of Columbia and six states - Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

Smith says spouses of service members should not be barred from receiving benefits because they are in same-sex marriages.

Gays now serve openly in the military.

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