Mitt Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan: just as antigay; “Matrix” co-director Lana Wachowski (formerly “Larry”) comes out publicly as transgender; unethical off-label medical attempt to and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.

Elections 2012

Paul Ryan as VP Matches Mitt Romney on Homophobia
Advocate, August 11, 2012

Paul Ryan has voted to ban same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples, and he voted against repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays serving openly in the military.

President Obama, Mitt Romney Agree: Gay Boy Scouts OK
ABC News, August 8, 2012

President Obama and Mitt Romney have found some new common ground -surprisingly — on an issue of gay rights.

Obama today joined Romney in publicly disagreeing with a controversial ban on gay members of the Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s largest and most well-known youth development groups.

Transgender

‘Matrix’ Director Comes Out as Transgender
ABC News, August 1, 2012

The director of “The Matrix” and the much-anticipated film “Cloud Atlas” has come out as transgender.

Lana Wachowski, formerly Larry Wachowski, reveals her new name and appearance in a promotional clip for “Cloud Atlas.” Seated between her brother, Andy Wachowski, and director Tom Tykwer, she says, “Hi, I’m Lana.” She wears a gray dress and hot pink dreadlocks.

The photo above is clipped from the video, and shows Lana Wachowski flanked by her two codirectors, Tom Tykwer (at left) and her brother Andy Wachowski (at right).

Olympics

Shot of the Day: Most Out Team at Olympics, the Dutch Field Hockey Team, Takes Gold
London, SheWired, August 10, 2012

Congratulations to the Dutch field hockey team for beating Argentina 2-0 to take the gold medal at the Olympics. One quarter of the women on the winning team in orange are out lesbians, making the them the most out team at the London Games.

Gay Olympian Comes Out as HIV-Positive
HIV Plus Magazine, August 8, 2012

[Australian trampoline gymnast] Ji Wallace told the Star Observer said he was inspired to come out after watching an interview with Greg Louganis, the famed Olympic diver who came out as HIV-positive in 1995, as well as the recent coming out of Anderson Cooper.

Marriage equality

California campaign against gay marriage faces $49,000 in fines
California, LA Times, August 6, 2012

The campaign committee for Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure banning gay marriage in California, faces $49,000 in fines for failing to properly report and handle political contributions it received.

Taiwan couple in same-sex Buddhist wedding
Taoyuan, Taiwan, AFP, August 11, 2012

Two women tied the knot on Saturday in Taiwan’s first same-sex Buddhist wedding, a move rights groups hope will help make the island become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage.

Medicine

Op-ed: California Fixes a Medicaid Injustice, Other States Must Follow
California, Advocate, August 10, 2012

Medicaid long-term coverage matters for elders and people with disabilities. It covers 70% of nursing home residents across the country. But since 1990, Medicaid’s long-term care program has given protections to married straight couples that they’ve refused to extend to same-sex couples. This has had devastating consequences.

Risky prenatal use of steroid to prevent intersex, tomboys and lesbians
U.S., Medical News, August 3, 2012

A new paper just published in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry uses extensive Freedom of Information Act findings to detail an extremely troubling off-label medical intervention employed in the U.S. on pregnant women to intentionally engineer the development of their fetuses for sex normalization purposes.