Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyNovember 3rd, 2011
TODAY’S AGENDA:
Senate Judiciary Committee to Debate DOMA Repeal: Washington, D.C. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an Executive Business Meeting this morning to go over a number of items on the agenda, including Senate Bill 598, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The committee, chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will meet at 10:00 a.m. in Dirkson Senate Office Building, room 226, and will be webcast here. The House version of the Respect for Marriage Act has 128 co-sponsors, but because the House is under Republican control, it is extremely unlikely the House will take action on the bill.
Frank Kameny (Washington Blade/Michael Key)
Frank Kameny Memorial: Washington, D.C. Pioneering gay rights advocate Frank Kameny may have died in financial poverty, but he had no poverty of friends. Those friends and others in the community will gather for a “Lying-In-State” for Dr. Kameny in the first floor atrium of the Carnegie Library, located between 7th and 9th Streets NW at Mount Vernon Square, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. It’s not a memorial service — those plans are still underway — which means that there is no formal program, although local civic leaders are expected to make remarks and local choral groups may sing.
AIDS Walks This Weekend: San Luis Obispo, CA.
Pride Celebrations This Weekend: Buenos Aries, Argentina and Palm Springs, CA.
Also This Weekend: REELING LGBT Film Festival, Chicago, IL; Invincible Truth, Hong Kong, China.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Aaron McKinney Found Guilty of Matthew Shepard’s Murder: 1999. After ten hours of deliberation, a jury in Laramie, Wyoming found Aaron McKinney guilty of first-degree murder of Matthew Shepard, after having been acquitted of the high charge of premeditated first-degree murder. Testimony would begin the next day for the penalty phase to determine McKinney’s eligibility for the death penalty. The jury would ultimately reject that option and McKinney instead drew two consecutive life terms.
McKinney confessed to his role in beating Matthew Shepard with a .357 magnum and tying him to a fence outside of Laramie. After Shepard died from severe brain damage, McKinney’s attorneys spent the trial fighting for a reduced conviction to escape the death penalty. Co-defendant Russell Henderson plea bargained two life sentences without possibility of parole earlier in the year.
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And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?
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