A straight sister to LGBTs, an argument for a bisexual hairstyle, the Straight Spouse Network for spouses of gays/lesbians who come out, and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.

1) Straight Sister of the LGBT Movement
Washington, D.C., Metro Weekly, November 23, 2011

Sharon Lettman-Hicks is executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), a civil rights organization which aims to empower black LGBT people by fighting racism and homophobia.

”I hate the word ‘ally,’ because I don’t consider myself an ally,” she says. ”I consider myself a sister in a movement, because to me it is a family affair and black LGBT people are my brothers and sisters.”

2) What Does a Bisexual Look Like? The Argument for a Bi Haircut
Huffington Post, December 8, 2011

[W]hat does a bisexual look like? Or, more specifically, how can someone wear their bisexuality on their sleeve, if people’s assumptions about our sexuality are based on things like haircuts? Especially if those haircuts are also assumed to only belong to monosexuals (in this case, lesbians)?

3) Now Daddy’s Out of the Closet, Do You Tell the Kids?
Good Morning America, December 12, 2011

Today, an estimated 25,000 heterosexual husbands and wives and 3.5 million children are too often the neglected parties when a gay spouse comes out of the closet, according to the Devote Campaign, which works for marriage equality for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Buxton turned her experience into advocacy when there were no resources available to those left behind, in pain and often victims of homophobia. The Straight Spouse Network just celebrated its 25th year.

4) Ghana’s education ministry “optimistic” it can stop homosexuality
Ghana, Africa, Pink News, December 14, 2011

A spokesman for Ghana’s Education Ministry has told the Accra Mail he is confident a programme in which teachers warn students of the “adverse consequences” of being gay will make it “a thing of the past”.

5) Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King Respond to Margaret Court’s Antigay Rhetoric
SheWired, December 12, 2011

Tennis greats and out lesbians Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King have responded publicly Australian tennis legend Margaret Court’s antigay rhetoric, according to Tennis Channel.com.

6) Doctor is fighting for transgender community
Ontario, Canada, Hamilton Spectator, Nov 17 20117

A doctor who says she is the first transgender to be president of a major hospital medical staff in the world believes the transgender community has to work on its own to have its community accepted.

7) Va. OKs same-sex adoption hurdle
Virginia, Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 15, 2011

Virginia’s Board of Social Services on Wednesday approved final regulations on adoption that, starting in the spring, will effectively allow state-licensed private agencies to deny the adoption of a child by same-sex couples.

The regulations also will allow the adoption agencies to deny services to prospective parents on the basis of age, gender, disability, religion, political belief and family status.

The regulations, however, will prohibit discrimination based on race, color or national origin.

8) Senate GOP filibusters nominee over pro-gay editorial
Washington, Washington Blade, December 13, 2011

Senate Republicans successfully filibustered on Monday the confirmation of an ambassadorial nominee, citing a pro-LGBT editorial she wrote as one reason to vote against her.

The cloture vote to advance the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte for the position of U.S. ambassador to El Salvador failed by 49-37 on a mostly party-line basis.

9) Transgender People: The Next Frontier in Civil Rights
Time, December 12, 2011

When Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn was fired from a state job in Georgia, she filed a lawsuit saying that she had been discriminated against for being transgender. Georgia civil rights laws do not cover transgender people, but a powerful federal court ruled last week that Glenn’s firing violated the U.S. Constitution. There was also a second major piece of transgender news last week: a new study shows that a growing number of major American companies are paying for their employees’ gender reassignment surgery. Taken together, the ruling and the study are strong indications that transgender rights are starting to enter the mainstream.

10) AfterElton.com’s Top 50 Gay Characters of All Time!
AfterElton.com, March 15, 2010

This year’s field of gay/bisexual male characters is led by Torchwood‘s Captain Jack Harkness at #1, Brian Kinney of Queer as Folk at #2, and Ianto Jones — Captain Jack’s lover in Torchwood — at #3.  AfterElton has some interesting stats about who readers picked.

(The most recent list from AfterEllen of the top 50 female/lesbian characters is from 2010.)

11) Twin Boys, One Transgender, Become Brother and Sister
Good Morning America, December 13, 2011

Born identical twins, the siblings share the same DNA, but their gender identification took divergent paths. Now, at age 14, they are brother and sister, as Wyatt’s transition to Nicole is well under way.

See also the in-depth story upon which this was based, which has been shared widely on Facebook (including Bent Alaska’s wall): “Led by the child who simply knew” by Bella English (Boston Globe, 11 Dec 2011).

12) Legalized Same-Sex Marriage May Boost Gay Men’s Health
HealthDay, Yahoo News, December 15, 2011

Gay men who live in states where same-sex marriage is legal are healthier, have less stress, make fewer doctor visits and have lower health-care costs, a new study finds.

13) Venus v Mars
Sydney Morning Herald, December 8, 2011

[M]en and women do not compete against each other in track and field athletics events. But a recent essay in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that perhaps it is time they did.

The article, headed ”Time to re-evaluate gender segregation in athletics”, by Dr Bennett Foddy, argues that dividing athletes into male and female competitors may be redundant. This is because gender isn’t the clear-cut either/or notion that people suppose it is, argues Foddy, who is a deputy director and research fellow for the program on ethics and the new biosciences at Oxford. He says gender is multi-faceted. Scientists don’t even talk about gender abnormalities any more, they talk about gender diversity.