Gang member receives life sentence in murder of gay man
Those legal eagles at Lambda Legal, who fight the good fight for the LGBT community, gathered for a shindig Sept. 27 to toast the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality and raise some cash for their efforts in the process.
The group got a boost of attention locally last April when it filed a federal class action lawsuit against the state of Georgia to drop the 2004 same-sex marriage ban. Lambda Legal also made news last month by, following the federal bust of Rentboy. com, announcing support for the decriminalization of sex work, citing the dangers current laws pose to LGBT youth and transgender women of color.
More recently, Lambda Legal touted victory after a lesbian teen was sent home from school for wearing a shirt that said “Nobody Knows I’m A Lesbian.” The school reversed its decision and allowed the student to wear the shirt following receipt of a letter from Lambda Legal attorneys.
New LGBT newspaper to publish in L.A.
Los Angeles’s thriving LGBT community is set to begin receiving a brand-new LGBT publication. The first issue of “The Pride LA” is scheduled to hit newsstands and go online on October 9.
Troy Masters, founder and associate publisher of New York’s Gay City News, along with Mirror Media Group, helm the new publication. Masters has resigned from his role at Gay City News to spearhead the new L.A. periodical.
The publication will be a biweekly newspaper that will cover West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, downtown Los Angeles and universities in those areas, according to a report by Gay City News.
“Not every publisher has quite as much luck as I have had over 30 years,” Masters said in a statement to Gay City News.
“The progress for my media operations and the trajectory of gay rights have both been a sharp upward curve. I am thrilled to have this opportunity in Los Angeles.”
Darrius Aderhold, 25, a former member of the Bloods street gang was sentenced to life in prison on Sep. 25 for his role in the deadly motel slaying of 46-year-old gay man Robert Ross.
According to a report in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Aderhold and co-defendants Jonathan Ray and Christopher Foreman encountered Ross in Midtown, asking him for a ride back to a motel room they had reserved in Tucker. Once they got there they tied Ross to a chair and beat him with a clothes iron, part of Foreman’s initiation into the Bloods.
Aderhold apologized to the victim’s family during the sentencing. “I’m not asking for their forgiveness because I don’t think they should. I just feel in my heart I should say I’m sorry,” he said.