GLEH Housing for Gay and Lesbian Seniors

The City of Chicago, which hosts the only known government-backed Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in the world, held its 19th annual induction ceremony Nov. 12 at the Cultural Center. Mayor Richard Daley, who has attended almost every induction event, was in good spirits as he spoke to the crowd about the importance of the LGBT community to the overall city of Chicago, as well as the need for LGBT civil rights and marriage. Commission on Human Relations Chairman Dana Starks spoke primarily against the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, with the Hall of Fame coming the day after Veteran's Day.

Will Phillips isn't like other boys his age. For one thing, he's smart. Scary smart. A student in the West Fork School District in Washington County, he skipped a grade this year, going directly from the third to the fifth. When his family goes for a drive, discussions are much more apt to be about Teddy Roosevelt and terraforming Mars than they are about Spongebob Squarepants and what's playing on Radio Disney.

Same-sex marriage bill, as written, called a threat to social service contracts. The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

The health care bill passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend eliminates a tax penalty for same-sex couples who receive health benefits from employers, but whether the final legislation will include the provision is another story.

Legalization could avert doomed relationships, straight ex-spouses say. If anyone could have talked himself out of being gay, Kimberly Brooks said, it was her husband. He wanted to be straight; she wanted him to be straight. She once followed his gaze across the beach to another man but quickly dismissed the thought. No, he couldn't be. Then he started spending more time with one particular friend, and an unease pushed Brooks to ask the question that ultimately confirmed her fears: Was that friend gay?

Lower taxes for gay couples who receive health benefits from employers. Nutrition labeling requirements for snack food sold in vending machines and many restaurants. A new program to teach parents how to interact with their children.

Gay-marriage advocates are vowing to press on after a defeat in Maine on Tuesday. Voters passed a measure blocking gay marriage in that state, dealing a major setback for the cause around the nation.

To know lesbian life in Chicago is to know Vernita Gray. She helped found Chicago’s first lesbian newspaper, Lavender Woman, helped organize the city’s very first Pride Parade, and set up one of Chicago’s first gay information hotlines—which she operated out of her apartment. “My phone was always ringing, and there was always someone in my little apartment because my place was also a crash pad for my eers who had no place to go,” says Gray. “Today we call them homeless.”

Obama administration officials are acting to address the needs of LGBT seniors and curtail housing discrimination against LGBT people, including same-sex couples that apply for public housing programs designated for low-income families.

The founder of San Francisco's LGBT housing and services agency Openhouse will be honored by Civic Ventures with the Purpose Prize for her entrepreneurial spirit and work improving housing and social services for LGBT seniors. Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., said she was pleased to have been selected.