GLBT

Two Anoka-Hennepin School District teachers accused of harassing a student denied the allegations, the Pioneer Press reported Monday, saying they were fabricated by the student, Alex Merritt. Jodi Merritt, Alex’s mother, says the claim by Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson — that her son falsified the harassment in retaliation against the teachers — is a [...]

James Dobson’s Focus on the Family announced Wednesday that it’s cutting 75 jobs due to a decrease in profits and donations, according to the Denver Post. The organization, which works to prevent expanded rights for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, has cut more than 40 percent of its workforce over the last year. [...]

Two teachers accusing of coordinated harassment of a student have been put on leave by the Anoka-Hennepin School District. The school district has come under heavy criticism for what community members see as lax disciplinary action against Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson, who are accused of repeatedly harassing one of their students because they thought he was gay.

In the five months since the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples could legally marry in that state, 676 same-sex couples have married there as of July 27, according to a report by the Des Moines Register. Of those, 36 couples were from Minnesota.
On Sunday, that number jumped by nine as a [...]

The How to Take Back America conference, to be held in St. Louis Sept. 26, will tackle topics like “How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists” and “How to counter the homosexual movement.” And one of its featured speakers will be Minnesota’s own Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Students, teachers and concerned residents of the Anoka-Hennepin School District crowded into the district’s board meeting on Monday evening to vent their concerns after learning that the district paid out $25,000 to a student who says he was continually harassed by two district teachers because they thought he was gay.

Concerned residents say they will demonstrate at the board meeting of the Anoka-Hennepin School District on Monday evening following news reports that two teachers in the district conspired to harass a student they thought was gay. The district agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a human rights complaint filed by the student’s parent.

An Afton, Minn., home was vandalized last weekend when someone painted the words “HIV,” “AIDS,” “gay” and “Help,” in large green letters. Ross Sveback says he was leaving for work last Sunday and noticed the graffiti.
“I was disgusted that this person felt the need to go out of their way to do this,” he said.
Police [...]

Focus on the Family, James Dobson’s anti-LGBT empire and the largest organization in the religious right, announced earlier this week that it would be selling off its ex-gay therapy program called “Love Won Out.” The organization says it’s part of an effort to downsize in the wake of record profit losses of nearly $6 million. [...]

The world’s largest professional association for psychologists released a report last week criticizing attempts to turn gay people straight. The American Psychological Association (APA) reports that such efforts — variously called reparative therapies, sexual orientation change plans or “ex-gay” movements — are ineffective and, at times, dangerous. Minnesota has several organizations that engage in ex-gay therapy, but even their leaders acknowledge that it doesn’t often work.