By Ramy Eletreby

Three Die on South Carolina’s ADAP Waiting List

Three people living with HIV/AIDS died while on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting list in South Carolina, the Title II Community AIDS National Network reported Nov. 4. There are more than 200 people on the state’s ADAP waiting list, according to Columbia, S.C., station WLTX-TV 19, with about 1,800 HIV-positive people enrolled in the program, 67 percent of who are black and poor. South Carolina has the longest ADAP waiting list in the nation. Indiana is second with 33 people waiting for life-saving HIV medications.

A bipartisan bill reauthorizing the $2 billion Ryan White Care Act cleared the House of Representatives in September but stalled in the Senate before Congress left for the mid-term elections on Sept. 30.

"It's very telling that we didn't have a waiting list at this time last year,” Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services Director Carmen Julious told WLTX-TV 19. "Because of cuts in funding and because of budget decisions we had to make, we, all of a sudden, have one of the largest waiting lists in the country… This is a crisis. People are dying. We have medications available, but these folks who need this medication have no access"

“We urge the Senate to make preventing needless AIDS deaths a priority by increasing funding for the CARE Act by an additional $100 million and passing this crucial bipartisan legislation immediately,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The tragedy of what happened in South Carolina not only demonstrates the urgent need for reauthorization, but also illustrates the need to pass the bill in its current form which increases funding for core medical services, reduces bureaucracy and promotes a more equitable distribution of funds across the nation.”– Karen Ocamb

Gay Man’s Dead Body Found

A gay man was found bound, gagged and brutally beaten to death in the basement of his home in Queens, N.Y., according to police sources. The man, who had been dead at least two weeks, was identified as John Canora, 57. Police visited Canora’s two-story house around 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 4 after a female relative reported him missing. They found newspapers dating back to Oct. 19 on the front lawn. When the police tried the door, there was no answer. Later that day, the relative went inside Canora’s home and discovered signs of a violent struggle and a blood trail leading from the first floor to the basement. She then found Canora’s battered body at the bottom of the stairs, wrapped in a blanket and stuffed into a corner. Canora’s car was also missing.

Police report that Canora suffered blunt trauma to the head by a baseball bat or hammer upstairs before being dragged to the basement. Police suspect that more than one person was involved in the murder before ransacking the house and stealing Canora’s car. Police suspect the brutal death might have resulted from a sexual encounter gone awry.

S. D. State Senator Under Investigation for “Groping” Page

South Dakota Democratic Sen. Dan Sutton is under investigation for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with an 18-year-old page during this year’s legislative session. According to Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, president pro tem of the Senate, the former page reported the incident to the attorney general’s office within two days of the misconduct. On Oct. 11, the page’s father filed a formal complaint claiming that Sutton invited the young man to his motel room and then “sexually groped” him.

The Senate will also convene a special session on Nov. 27 to address the allegations. “The Senate’s interest is finding out what, if anything, happened to one of the students who were entrusted to us and how to ensure it’s not going to happen in the future with the next group of kids coming in January,” said Schoenbeck.

Navratilova Condemns Research to Alter Sheep’s Sexual Orientation

Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova blasted researchers at Oregon State University and Oregon Health and Science University for their hormone-altering scientific experiments to manipulate the sexual orientation of sheep with same-sex attractions.

“For the sake of the animals who will die unnecessarily in these experiments and for the many gays and lesbians who stand to be deeply offended by the social implications of these tests, I ask that you please end these studies at once,” wrote Navratilova in a stern letter, which was publicized by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Woman Becomes Head of Episcopal Church

Before 3,200 people at the Washington National Cathedral on Nov. 4, the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori became the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the first woman leader of a national church in the Anglican Communion's roughly 500-year history.

"If some in this church feel wounded by recent decisions, then our salvation, our health as a body, is at some hazard, and it becomes the duty of all of us to seek healing and wholeness," Jefferts Schori said during her sermon. She supported the 2003 consecration of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson and believes the church should bless same-sex couples. However, she said she would not impose her views on others as the worldwide Communion faces a possible schism.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Presbyterian minister Rev. Janet Edwards has invited the world to attend her Nov. 15 church trial for officiating at the wedding of two women.

New York City May Allow Changes to Birth Certificates

New York City’s Board of Health adopted a rule that people born in the city could change the documented gender on their birth certificates without having a sex change. The petitioner must have affidavits from medical and mental health professionals explaining why the change would be beneficial.

“In reality the diversity of nature is such that there are more than just two [sexes], and people who seem to belong to one of the designated sexes may really belong to the other,” said Joann Prinzivalli, a lawyer for the New York Transgender Rights Organization.

Neil Patrick Harris Comes Out

Actor Neil Patrick Harris, 33, revealed that he is gay on Nov. 3 to quell Internet rumors. “I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love,” Harris, star of CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, told People.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Reichen Lehmkuhl, singer Lance Bass’ boyfriend, coined the term for celebrities being forced out of the closet as being “Lanced.”

Houston Landscaping Co. Denies Service to Gay Couple

The owners of a landscaping company in Houston, Texas, reportedly tuned down a job because the prospective clients were gay. “I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work with homosexuals,” Garden Guy co-owner Sabrina Farber wrote in an e-mail to Michael Lord and his partner, Gary Lackey.

Houston has two lesbian elected officials: City Controller Annise Parker and Councilwoman Sue Lovell. In 2005, 49 percent of respondents surveyed in Houston believed that homosexuality was “morally wrong,” which was down from 59 percent in 1997.

Geffen May Buy L.A. Times from Tribune Co.

Openly gay entertainment mogul and art collector David Geffen may be in the running to buy the Los Angeles Times from its parent, the Tribune Company, the Times and the L.A. Weekly report. Geffen, 63, whose personal worth is ranked by Forbes as $4.5 billion, recently sold a Jackson Pollock painting for a record $140 million, and two other paintings for $143.5 million, presumably to go toward the roughly $2 billion for the Times. However, two other billionaires, Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, have apparently teamed up to buy the whole Tribune Company. - Karen Ocamb

Numbers As of 2:00 p.m., November 10, 2006:

U.S. Deaths in Iraq: 2,838-pending DoD confirmation (icasualties.org)

Iraqi Dead since 2003: Between 46,915-52,021 (www.iraqbodycount.org)

Cost of War: $341,256,041,000+ (www.nationalpriorities.org)

National Debt: $8,593,132,504,367.25 (www.brillig.com/debt_clock)

U.S. Trade Deficit: $674,333,900,000+

(www.americaneconomicalert.org/ticker_home.asp)