National Gaze

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network recently secured another major partner for its No Name-Calling Week, which is taking place later this month.

Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest bookseller, become an official partner in the eighth annual campaign, which will take place in thousands of schools across the country Jan. 24-28.

On Dec. 15, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 250-175 to lift the ban against gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

The vote paved the way for a U.S. Senate vote Dec. 18, which was 65-31 for repeal. Both chambers voted on stand-alone bills for repeal. The president signed the repeal legislation into law Dec. 22.

The Forrest County, Miss., Sheriff’s Department has denied allegations of wrongdoing made by a former employee who says he was fired because he is gay.

In documents filed in U.S. District Court, the law enforcement agency said no federal or state law exists concerning firings over sexual orientation.

The future of rainbow gay Pride flags that have flown for years along the main stretch of San Francisco’s Castro District has come under threat as they bump against another city icon: lampposts with early 20th-century origins.

A neighborhood association near the heart of the city’s gay and lesbian community contends the flags were illegally hung on the metal lampposts. City law only allows temporary banners on the posts, which were designated city landmarks in 1991, out of concerns the fasteners used to attach them could rust and mar their beauty.

The mother of a 13-year-old boy who committed suicide after being bullied for being gay has spoken out publicly for the first time, calling on schools to stop anti-gay bullying.

In a YouTube video released by the American Civil Liberties Union, Wendy Walsh read her son Seth’s suicide note and said his school didn’t care about the teasing and physical threats he faced.

Gene Robinson, the first openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop, has announced that he will retire in 2013 due to death threats and constant harassment.

In 2003, Robinson became the first openly gay priest of any Christian denomination to be elevated to bishop when he was elected to lead the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. His election sent shock waves throughout Christendom, and the anti-gay backlash among Christians was so intense that Robinson had to wear a bulletproof vest to his consecration.

The prohibition against gays in the U.S. military did not begin with the implementation of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The first known ouster for homosexual conduct in the U.S. Armed Forces was in 1776, when Gen. George Washington approved the dishonorable discharge of Lt. Frederick Gotthold Enslin for sodomy and perjury.

And then in …

New York’s most influential advocates for gay rights say the chances are better than ever to legalize same-sex marriage, even in a Republican-controlled Senate.

The Empire State Pride Agenda said its count after the November elections showed a net gain of at least two votes for same-sex marriage. The group also said Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos has promised to bring the issue to the floor again.

A New York City man who pleaded guilty to robbery as a hate crime in a violent attack on a gay man has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Daniel Aleman also faces five years of post-release supervision in the October 2009 assault.