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2005 Year in Review
Q-NOTES • DECEMBER 31. 2005
AIDS money refused over gays
KASESE, Uganda — The fallout over
the appointment of an openly gay U.S.
bishop moves from causing discord within
the worldwide Anglican Communion to
potentially causing AIDS deaths here.
Anglican Bishop Jackson Nzerebende
Tembo, head of the diocese of South
Rwenzori, rejects a gift of more than
$350,000 to fight AIDS because he says
the money is “tainted.” The donation was
given by the Episcopal diocese of Central
Pennsylvania. In 2004 Bishop Michael
Creighton voted to make openly gay Gene
Robinson the Bishop of New Hampshire.
May
Mayor embroiled in sex scandal
SPOKANE, Wash. — Mayor Jim West
announces he is taking a leave of absence
to defend himself against claims that he
offered city jobs and other perks to men he
met in a gay chat room.
In a series beginning the first week of
May, The Spokesman-Review reveals that an
investigator posing as a young man had
lured West into chats on gay.com with the
mayor offering the “18-year-old school
boy” a City Hall internship, professional
sports tickets and other gifts in exchange
for a relationship. West says he is the vic
tim of persecution and hysteria, although
he admits to the chats and gay sexual
encounters. In a special Dec. 7 recall elec
tion, he is ousted from office.
U.S. gay newspaper editor beaten
AMSTERDAM, Holland — Chris Crain
(pictured), editorial director of Window
Connie J. Vetter
Attorney and Counsellor at Law
CJVLaw.com
704'567'5530
Varnadore Building
Charlotte
Media, the gay-owned company that pub
lishes several LGBT newspapers including
Atlanta’s Southern Voice, is beaten by seven
men in the early morning of April 30. Crain
and his bo>4riend were
walking hand-in-hand to
their hotel when the
attack occurred. Some of
the men beat Crain while
the others restrained his
companion. “It seemed
like every direction 1
turned, I got another punch to the face,
and when they kicked me to the ground,
time seemed to stop,” Crain said.
June
Heche mom headlines ex-goy rally
SEATTLE, Wash. — Nancy Heche,
mother of actress Anne Heche (who had a
high-profile, short-lived romance with
Ellen DeGeoeres that ended in 2000), deliv
ers the keynote address at an anti-gay rally
June 25. Heche was participating in the ex
gay “Love Won Out” conference sponsored
by Focus on the Family. .The conference
was timed to coincide with Seattle’s Gay
Pride weekend. In 1983 Heche’s 50-year-
old Baptist minister husband died of AIDS
complications after leading a closeted life.
Anne Heche publicly condemned her
mother’s support of the ex-gay movement.
July
Cop gets life for killing student
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Steven Rios (pic
tured), 28, a former Columbia police officer,
is sentenced July 5 to life in prison without
parole for the throat-slashing death of Jesse
Valencia, 23, a gay University of Missouri-
Columbia student with
whom he had been hav
ing a secret affair. Rios
met the victim on April
18, 2004, when he
arrested Valencia for a
minor infraction. Accord
ing to testimony, the
married officer turned up at Valencia’s
apartment the following night for sex.
Valencia later told family and friends that
Rios was becoming rough with him and
wouldn’t stop following him. Valencia’s
body was discovered June 5, 2004 about a
block from his apartment.
Lincoln Memorial vid moves right
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Documents
secured under the Freedom of Information
Act reveal that The National Park Service
purchased footage of “conservative —
right-wing demonstrations” to edit into the
eight-minute video that plays at the
Lincoln Memorial in response to com
plaints that the clip pushes a liberal ideol
ogy. The original video, funded and creat
ed by high school students, is altered to
include footage of President George W.
Bush and his dad walking down the
Memorial steps together, a demonstration
by gun rights proponents and a rally in
support of the Iraq war.
August
Mayor comes out at Pride rally
CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Confirming what
many had known and even more had
guessed. Mayor Steve Padilla (pictured)
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