NEWS FLASH

Ex-Gay Researcher Apologizes To The Gay Community | Dr. Robert Spitzer — whose influential 2001 study found that some gay people could change their sexual orientation and significantly bolstered the ex-gay movement — has now officially apologized to the gay community for the flawed science. “I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy,” Spitzer writes in a letter obtained by Truth Wins Out. “I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some ‘highly motivated’ individuals.”

NEWS FLASH

Colorado Senate Advances Civil Unions Bill | Today, the Colorado Senate passed the Civil Unions Act at its second reading. During the discussion, the bill’s sponsors, Sens. Pat Steadman (D) and Lucía Guzmán (D) emphasized how civil unions will provide legal protections for same-sex couples without negatively impacting the “nuclear family” or society’s values. Sen. Shawn Mitchell (R) attempted to add an amendment that would have allowed individuals to deny services to couples in civil unions (similar to the measure that was added to Rhode Island’s civil unions bill last year) but the amendment failed. The bill’s third and final reading will be held later this week. (Gabe Manion contributed to this post.)

NEWS FLASH

Most Top Federal Contractors Protect Against LGBT Discrimination | The White House has been roundly criticized for opting not to sign an executive order that would require federal contractors protect LGBT employees from discrimination, but those contractors continue to improve their policies anyway. The Williams Institute reports that of the top 50 companies contracted by the U.S. government, 86 percent prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and 55 percent prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. These are increases from 81 and 44 percent (respectively) just two years ago, and they account for 46.9 percent of all contracting dollars awarded by the federal government — over $249 billion. These companies already understand that non-discrimination protections are good for business — hopefully the Obama administration realizes that soon as well.

NEWS FLASH

SURVEY: Gay Men More Likely To Attempt Suicide In Scotland | A new survey finds that gay men in Scotland “are nearly eight times more likely to have attempted suicide in the last year and four times more likely to have taken drugs. Three percent of gay men and 7 percent of bisexual men have attempted to take their own life in last year — compared to 0.4 percent of the general population — while 44 percent gay men had taken drugs in the last year, compared to 11 percent of the general population. Gays and lesbians can serve openly in the armed forces in Scotland, adopt children, and enter into civil partnerships, although same-sex marriages are not recognized.

NEWS FLASH

British Catholic Schools Direct Students To Sign Anti-Equality Pledge | The British Catholic Education Service is encouraging all 359 of its Catholic state secondary schools in the UK to draw attention to a letter by senior archbishops opposing the government’s proposal for marriage equality. In at least one south London school, students age 11-18 were encouraged to sign the Coalition for Marriage’s petition against the change, even though the petition is only open to those who are at least 16 years old. One student recounted that she and her classmates were told that same-sex marriage and civil partnerships are “unnatural,” which motivated some of them to protest. A recently implemented Public Sector Equality Act requires schools not to promote discrimination based on sexual orientation.

NEWS FLASH

Senator Hagan Speaks Out Against Discriminatory Amendment | With voting only two weeks away, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) is now speaking out against North Carolina’s Amendment One, which would ban same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships. In a new video released today, Hagan points out that if the discriminatory measure passes, businesses will be less inclined to bring new jobs to the state and thousands of families will be negatively impacted. She added, “In North Carolina, we say our state is where the weak grow strong, and the strong grow great. Amendment One harms our state’s resolve to make all people and all families great.” Watch it:

NEWS FLASH

Missouri Groups Launch ‘Ok To Say Gay’ Site Challenging Discriminatory Bill | Students in Missouri are speaking out against a proposed “Don’t Say Gay” bill to ban discussions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in public schools and a coalition of progressive groups — Progress Missouri and PROMO — has formed OKtoSayGay.org “to tell the extreme politicians why this proposal is so, so, so wrongheaded.” Some of those students spoke with a local affiliate earlier this week and argued that the measure could prohibit teachers from interfering in instances of anti-LGBT bullying and further discrimination. “That’s what we will be teaching them is discrimination,” one student said. Another gay student added, “It makes me feel horrible- less than human– that I’m not as good as my peers.” Watch it:

NEWS FLASH

Maryland Catholic Churches Organize To Repeal Marriage Equality Law | The Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland is asking Catholic churches to read a letter asking members to take part in an effort to repeal the state’s marriage-equality law and add their names to a petition to place the referendum on the November ballot. The union of one man and one woman “has been recognized by government and religion alike because of its unique capactiy to engender life, and to establish our society’s most basic family unit of mother, father and child,” the letter says. “When Marylanders are asked to decided this issue in November, we fully expect that they they, too, will vote to uphold this unchanging truth about marriage.”