Maryland Likely To Vote On Gay Marriage Measure In 2011, California Department Of Public Health Rejects Certification Of Adult Film Health Clinic, New Zealand Brewing Company Anti-Gay Marketing Fails Spectacularly, Mississippi School District Submits Photograph Of Lesbian In Bikini Seeking To Dismiss Suit Brought By Ceara Sturgis

Maryland is poised to legalise gay marriage, the Baltimore Sun reporting that “A couple of Republican state senators were replaced by Democrats, giving the majority party an extra seat in a key committee. One socially conservative Democrat asked to be reassigned, and suddenly a 6-5 split against same-sex marriage in the Judicial Proceedings Committee looks like it could turn into a 6-5 vote in favor of it. A Senate president remembers a traumatic debate over abortion nearly 20 years ago and vows that, although he personally opposes gay marriage, he will work to end any filibuster on the issue. The House of Delegates, more liberal than the Senate, has probably had the votes to legalize gay marriage for a long time, but no one wanted to press the issue if it would just die in a Senate committee. And a governor who had long seen civil unions as the way forward now says he will sign a marriage equality bill if it reaches his desk.”

The California Department of Public Health notified the San Fernando-based Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, a health clinic that specifically serves the porn industry, that its application to operate as a community clinic has been denied, the Los Angeles Times reporting that it is unclear whether that denial will affect AIM’s involvement with the porn industry, producers relying on AIM to test performers for sexually transmitted diseases prior to filming. Clinic officials applied for a license in June after authorities informed them they needed one to continue operations. The news arrives a day after 24 year old Derrick Burts announced that he was HIV-positive, Burts formally known as “Patient Zeta” after his positive testing in October. Burts criticised AIM, officials claiming that Burts was infected in his personal life, instead of his professional life as a cross-over porn performer, starring in both gay and straight adult films, where condom use in not mandatory.

A New Zealand brewing company has withdrawn an ill-conceived marketing campaign that suggested low-carbohydrate beer is “queer,” GayNZ.com reporting that the Marlborough-based Moa Brewing campaign shows a man wearing a tee shirt that reads “Low carb B(Q)ueers: Moa Beer – full strength” while hold a fake crocodile and a bottle of Moa ale. GayNZ.com reports that when it asked the Moa marketing manager if the campaign meant to state that anyone who drinking low carbohydrate beer is queer, they replied “yes” but also replied “yes” when asked if Moa was concerned it offended some gays and lesbians. The tee shirts have since disappeared.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Copiah County School District in Mississippi filed documents in the United States District Court containing photographs of Ceara Sturgis in a bikini, yet another attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Sturgis who claims her civil rights were violated after her high school deliberately edited a yearbook photograph of the openly gay young women wearing a tuxedo instead of a traditional gown. Sturgis, who says she prefers to wear masculine clothes, says her gender identity was violated when the Wesson Attendance Center censured her senior yearbook picture; however the district claims that the picture of her donning a bikini proves otherwise and it is asking that the court dismiss the case.