The Anchorage Daily News reports on Caleb Pritt, Wal-Mart adds transgender protections, and more in this edition of Bent News.

(Based on @bentalaska 9/28 tweets and Facebook shares, with supplementation.)

Andrew Caleb Pritt

• More on Andrew “Drew” Caleb Pritt from @adndotcom: “Proceeds from show benefiting wounded soldier disappear.” http://t.co/ODXpKQsD #
• Bent Alaska wrote last week about Andrew Caleb Pritt http://t.co/VRNJn2aw. Bent will have more on this story in next few days. #
• In brief: Andrew Caleb Pritt known in AR as Drew in AK as Caleb has prior history of alleged theft in AR & TN. Stay tuned. #

Andrew Caleb Pritt, a former member of Anchorage’s LGBT community, fled back to his home state of Arkansas early last week after it was learned that he had apparently defrauded participants, contributors, and the intended recipients of a fundraiser he organized at Mad Myrna’s in Anchorage on August 13.  Pritt was known in Anchorage as Caleb Pritt, but he’s better known in Arkansas and neighboring states, where he several times campaigned for political office, as Drew Pritt.  He is also known as a drag performer under variations of his drag name Diedra (e.g., Diedra Windsor Walker and, more recently, Diedra Richards Ho Jenkins).

The fundraiser was for the charity Homes for Our Troops, which is building a fully accessible home for Sgt. Latseen Benson, who lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005.  Sgt. Benson is the son of Diane Benson, whose 2010 campaign for Alaska lieutenant governor Pritt managed.  The fundraiser involved numerous LGBT performers and contributors and was held at Mad Myrna’s in Anchorage. See Bent Alaska’s September 19 story about him for details and links to other stories about his alleged fraud.

Yesterday’s Anchorage Daily News story on Pritt’s fraud, by reporter Casey Grove, includes information from Diane Benson, Jennifer Fiorentino of Homes for Our Troops, and Troy Pritt (Andrew Caleb Pritt’s father). The story confirms that Pritt has returned to Arkansas, and is apparently in Little Rock.  While reader comments at the ADN website are often difficult reading, they’re worth the time for people interested in this story — as some of them detail other allegations of theft and fraud, including Pritt’s alleged theft of rent monies from his roommates.

As the tweet said, Bent Alaska will be following up on this story in the next few days.  Stay tuned.

Walmart adds transgender protections

• Wal-Mart adds #transgender protections. http://t.co/lH0eqrjR #lgbt #

According to the story we tweeted, from the Windy City Times, company spokesperson Phillip Keene said the change in Walmart’s policy was made “several weeks ago” and was “precipitated by a standard review of the policy and not by complaints.”  Sexual orientation protections were already part of Walmart’s “Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy.”  Keene asserted that “”We’ve had a strong anti-discrimination policy for a long time.”

The news was greeted with some skepticism.  The Huffington Post reports that,

the company has a history of butting heads with LGBT workers and equality organizations. In 2010 an employee claimed he was stripped of many of his responsibilities and forced to wear a yellow vest while in the store after he admitted he was gay to a supervisor.

Both Windy City Times and Huffpo noted that Walmart scored only a 40 in the Human Rights Campaign’s 2011 Corporate Equality Index, which rates major companies on LGBT policies.  In comparison, a perfect score of 100 was earned by AT&T, Ford, Procter & Gamble, and 334 other major U.S. businesses.

Other tweets

• Obama Says Courts Will Decide Fate Of DOMA ‘Fairly Soon’, But Doesn’t Know ‘What The Ruling Will Be’ http://t.co/mpR2YvGU via @thinkprogress #
• Rep. Don Young (R-AK) wants to repeal all federal regulations passed in last 20 years. http://t.co/fM0jix8Y #
• Fox News parent News Corp. tries to play both sides re: LGBT community. Full report from Equality Matters. http://t.co/m3CuNl4T #
• Happy New Year to our Jewish friends. L’shana tova! #
• Want free stuff for your GSA? Take the 2011 GLSEN GSA Census to get free posters, stickers & more: http://t.co/bKiRlhPy #
• Antigay groups try to trick voters into signing petition to repeal California’s gay history bill. http://t.co/gFgCRKd4 #
• GOP Rep & religious leaders support Ohio’s LGBT Job Non-Discrimination Bill http://t.co/X4JbR8Kl // Good luck, Ohio!#