From the Desert Sun, a report that an Indio, California judge refused Wednesday to dismiss charges against 14 men arrested in a Palm Springs police sting targeting gay public sex in the city’s Warm Springs neighbourhood. Attorneys for the men had argued that the Palm Springs police unfairly targeted gay men and used discriminatory language during the June, 2009 procedure. Judge David B. Downing said that prior to the hearings, he had been inclined to dismiss the charges, but the testimony of two Palm Springs police officials, outgoing Chief David Dominguez and Sergeant Bryan Anderson, convinced him otherwise. Downing said that Palm Springs showed no discriminatory intent. Earlier, closing arguments ended, the defence taking nearly two hours to make its case, contending that the men should have the charges dismissed because the Palm Springs Police Department employed “selective enforcement” during the undercover operation. Defence attorney Roger Tansey said “It is most certainly not about homophobia. What we’re talking about is the difference treatment of similarly situated groups,” adding “I think evidence shows that the Palm Springs Police Department is obsessed with getting the gay guy.” Deputy District Attorney Earl Lee Roberts told the Desert Sun that although some actions by the police during the sting may have been unprofessional, it does not mean that the police were discriminating against gay men. A pre-trial hearing for the defendants is scheduled for March 14th.
The Salt Lake Tribune on the filing of House Bill 270 Wednesday by Representative LaVar Christensen (Republican-Draper) that would reiterate the state’s police that marriage is that only existing between a man and women and would require that publicly funded programs, laws, and regulations that are designed to support families be “carefully scrutinized to ensure that they promote the family.” The bill states that a married father, mother, and their children are the “fundamental unit of society,” language that mimics that found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” The bill adds that “Marriage and family predate all governments and are supported by and consistent with the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God, the creator and Supreme Judge of the World, affirmed in the nation’s founding Declaration of Independence.” Christensen also filed House Bill 182, a one sentence bill that reads “An arrangement, agreement or transaction that is unlawful or violates public policy is void and unenforceable.” Brandie Balken, the executive director of Equality Utah, the state’s largest gay rights advocacy group, says she is “deeply concerned” about the proposed law, and that the two bills together could be interpreted as stating that same sex relationships are against public policy and so, such as medical directives and wills, between gay and lesbian couples are void and unenforceable, and that such a policy could impact anyone who depends on relationships besides those with a spouse or child.
The Washington Post profiles Republican presumptive presidential candidate Fred Karger, the former strategist, who would be, if elected, the first openly gay man to hold the office of the president. The Post writes that Karger “is doing this as an openly gay Republican who's never held elective office, using money he amassed as a conservative consultant who helped torpedo Michael Dukakis with the Willie Horton ads in 1988 and worked for the tobacco industry to stave off smoking bans in California in the '90s. Fred Karger, 61, is a nice guy. He wants his country to see that. He wants young gay people to see him run for president. He'd be the first-ever openly gay presidential candidate for a major party if he formally declares. He can see himself as the moderate voice in a debate crowded with hard-liners.”
On a shopping foray with younger brother Dylan to Urban Outfitters Tuesday, Zac Efron offered a reminder of what makes him so sexy.
Darren Criss graces the cover of the February/March edition of Da Man magazine.
Bruce Weber photographs super sexy soccer star Bobby Llewellyn for the upcoming 21st issue of VMAN magazine.
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