Todd Heywood
Kuipers: Bullying legislation stalled by lack of definition
LANSING – The chair of the Senate Education Committee says efforts to pass anti-bullying legislation in the state are stalled because lawmakers can't define what bullying is – yet he expects local school districts to do a better job than state [...]
Straight pride' shirts at Tea Party rally draw fire
LANSING – State and national organizations who represent the LGBT community are expressing outrage over T-shirts bearing the slogan "Straight Pride" offered for sale at a April 10 rally of the Tea Party Express. The person selling the shirts said [...]
Sec. of State candidate targets transgenders
Originally printed on http://www.michiganmessenger.com State Rep. Paul Scott, (R-Grand Blanc), announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination for Secretary of State on Jan. 15, but he's already caused a shock wave. Scott, who just completed the [...]
Lack of state policy puts those exposed to HIV at greater risk
It was a mistake, Trevor Hoppe admits. He made a poor choice in a sexual encounter which may have exposed him to HIV. But being a candidate for a masters degree in public health and for a Ph.D in women's studies at the University of Michigan, Hoppe [...]
Lawmakers question charges for HIV-positive man
An HIV-positive Macomb County man is facing charges created under Michigan's 2004 terrorism laws for biting another man in a neighborhood scuffle. That, HIV advocates, state lawmakers and legal experts say is "cowardly" and "nonsense" and increases [...]
Lansing Police arrest two, seek a third in sex sting operation
LANSING – Undercover officers from the Lansing Police Department conducted an undercover sting operation in Lansing's Fenner Aboretum and Nature Center on May 22. The operation resulted in the arrest of two men on charges of indecent exposure and [...]
Anti-bias crimes legislation OK'd by state House lawmakers
LANSING – In a near party-line vote, the Democratic-controlled Michigan House earlier on Wednesday approved two measures to address bias crimes – commonly referred to as hate crimes. The vote for both bills was 66 votes in favor, with 43 [...]
Hate crimes on hold
LANSING – Democratic leaders in the state House on May 14 put off action on bias crime legislation which was passed on for action by the House Judiciary Committee the day prior. The bill passed out of committee to the full floor on a party line [...]
A deadline to end DOMA?
DETROIT – Congressman John Conyers (D-Detroit) said May 16 that the votes are in place in the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Gay rights advocates have been working to get the law repealed as [...]
Backlash for Bash Back
Members of the radical anarchist group Bash Back! Lansing have been served with court orders in a federal lawsuit brought against them for their participation in a Nov. 9 protest in the evangelical Lansing Church Mount Hope Church. According to Bash [...]
Conyers on Obama
DETROIT – U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, says it is time to repeal the 16-year-old ban on openly gay service members in the U.S. military. The controversial policy has become an issue for the [...]
Michigan Bias crime legislation vote put off by state House
filed 5/15/09 LANSING — Democratic leaders in the state House Thursday, put off any action on bias crime legislation which was passed onto them for action by the House Judiciary Committee the day before. The bill passed out of committee to the [...]