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Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death in Shopping Stampede

This gives a new definition to "shopping until you drop." A Long Island Wal-Mart employee is killed after an "out-of-control" mob of thousands of deranged shoppers smashed through a door and trampled him. The Daily News has excellent play-by-play and cellphone camera photos of the riot.

The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.

When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Wal-Mart worker Jimmy Overby, 43. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me.

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!'" says one witness. "They kept shopping."

Peace on earth and goodwill toward men ... unless they're standing between you and a flat screen on sale.

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart [NYDN]

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully everyone is safe and having a great time. I'm taking a day or two off to enjoy the holiday with friends and family. Light posting over the weekend and regular schedule resumes Monday.

Oh and if anyone is in Chicago and would like to meet up for coffee, drop me an email. Ditto for Washington DC later next week.

Will An Openly Gay Black Man Become Obama's AIDS "Czar"?

For the second time in as many weeks, HIV/AIDS advocates are calling on President-elect Barack Obama to develop a comprehensive approach to domestic HIV/AIDS policy. The groups want increased federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research "and a departure from some policies enacted under the Bush administration"—such the ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs and mandates for abstinence-only sex education.

HIV/AIDS advocates are also urging the new administration to resurrect the White House Office on National AIDS Policy and appoint a new "AIDS czar." According to the Bay Area Reporter, one of the leading contenders is Jesse Milan Jr., chairman of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute.

The openly gay Milan, 52, who has been HIV-positive for 26 years, is vice president of the Altarum Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on health research. He also chairs the CDC Business and Labor Responds to AIDS Partners Board.

From 2002 until last year, he co-chaired the CDC's and the Health Resources and Services Administration's Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatments, through which he pushed to see adoption of a national AIDS strategy. Since last spring he has served on the national committee working on developing such a document.

Milan tells the Bay Area Reporter he would be happy to serve in an capacity in the Obama White House and is "hoping to be asked to do something to move the HIV/AIDS agenda forward."

Milan certainly has the credentials to become the nation's next AIDS czar. But his appointment would also crystallize the recent report by the Centers for Disease Controls which found black gay men are the demographic hardest hit by the epidemic. If anyone can tailor programs, policy and common sense to reach this hard-to-reach demographic, that would be Jesse Milan Jr.

Groups Push National AIDS Strategy [BAR]

More HEALTH
More HIV

Some Background ...
1,000+ Rally at WH Urging Obama to Prioritize HIV/AIDS [R20]
CDC: Young Black Gay Men Hit Hardest by New HIV Infections [R20]
HIV Spreading in NYC at Three Times National Rate Black/Latino Gay Men Hit Hardest [R20]
CDC: "Troubling" Rise in HIV Among Black Gay Men [R20]
GMHC's "I Love My Boo" Campaign [R20]
HIV Rates Rising Among Black NYC Gay Men [R20]
CDC Tracking "Serious" Strain of Syphilis [R20]
The HIV Morning After Pill? [R20]
Black Gay Men and "The Pill" [R20]
Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" [R20]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]
Do You Disclose Your HIV Status? [R20]
Primetime Reports Black HIV Epidemic [After Elton]
"Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the Down Low [R20]
HIV Rates Rise Among NYC Black Gay Men [R20]
Phill Wilson: Candidates Must Address HIV/AIDS [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the “Down Low” [R20]
"Urban Rally Against AIDS" [R20]
The ABCs of Black HIV [R20]
Suicide Tuesdays [R20]

Wendell Lissimore Does Gucci in Russian "GQ Style"

If you can score a copy of the phone book-sized fall/winter Russian GQ Style you might be surprised to see model of the moment Wendell Lissimore—recently seen without clothing—has a full page in this killer black and white editorial. The magazine is hard to find so here is a scan. The editorial highlights minimalist monochromatic fashions and Wendell is wearing out this tailored Gucci coat and pant. It's kind of cool, if you click on the image you can see the Cyrillic copy at the bottom of the page.

Courtney Taylor and two other black models are also featured in this issue. Not surprising. With the major exception of the fabulous Flaunt, there are routinely more black male models in the European fashion magazines than their American counterparts.

Wendell Lissimore is represented by RedNYC.
Photography GUZMAN

More FASHION
More WENDELL LISSIMORE

You May Have Missed ...
Wendell Lissimore in "DNA" [R20]
It's All About Wendell Lissimore During Milan Fashion Week [R20]
Wendell Lissimore Featured in Campaign for Basic House Korea [R20]
Wendell Lissimore by Rick Day [R20]
Wendell Lissimore in British "GQ"[R20]
Is Sean John "Geared Towards Bisexual Men"? [R20]
Diddy Hires Only Black Models for Sean John [R20]
Photographer Walter Pfeiffer on Gorgeous Boys [R20]
Wendell Lissimore [R20]

NYT Editorial: Prop 8 "Obliterated the Rights of a Targeted Minority"

An excellent editorial in The New York Times laser-focuses on the central challenge to the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same sex marriage. The editorial questions the initiative process to "obliterate an existing right for a targeted minority."

The case turns on whether Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment, requiring only approval by a bare majority of voters, or a more far-reaching constitutional revision, requiring a two-step process: either a constitutional convention or a two-thirds vote of the State Legislature followed by voter ratification. The court, which has struck down several measures before, should not lightly overturn the will of the people. But it has not confronted a revision this far-reaching in terms of upsetting basic rights and the state’s constitutional structure.

The court has correctly determined that the equal protection clause prohibits governmental discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which extends the right of marriage to same-sex couples. But the issue goes well beyond gay rights. Allowing Proposition 8 to stand would greatly limit the court’s ability to uphold the basic rights of all Californians and preclude the Legislature from performing its constitutional duty to weigh such monumental changes before they go to voters.

Almost anytime the rights of a minority are put to a popular vote, they will lose. Prop 8 is a dangerous precedent that demonstrates this all-too-well. That's probably why the nation's leading civil rights groups—including the California NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund—rejoined the marriage equality fight and are suing Prop 8.

In other Prop 8-related news: The California Fair Political Practices Commission will investigate the role of the Mormon Church, which heavily bankrolled the campaign to ban same sex marriage.

California’s Legal Tangle [NYT]
CA to Investigate Mormon Aid to Prop 8 [P1Q]

Did You Read ...
NAACP Rejoins CA Marriage Fight, Suit Against 8 [R20]
CA Speaker Bass: No on 8 "Bypassed Black LGBT Leadership" [R20]
Dan Savage Pulls Racist Column Before Appearance on "Colbert" [R20]
Not One Black Gay/Lesbian Couple in "No on Prop 8" Ads. Why? [R20]
N-Word Hurled at Blacks During Prop 8 Protest[R20]
OMG The Gays Are Trying To Get Gangsta With It [Cannick]
N-Bomb Is Dropped on Black Passerby [PHB]
Stop Scapegoating Black Folk on Prop 8 [JJP]
WeHo Marriage Rally Attracts "Noah's Arc" Stars [R20]
"Yes We Can" to "YES on 8": Blacks Overwhelmingly Approve Prop 8 [R20]
Anti-Gay, Black Pastors Use Children for Prop 8 [R20]
Blige, Etheridge Raise $3.9M for No on Prop 8 [R20]
"Noah's Arc" Cast Urges "No" on Proposition 8 [R20]
"Noah's Arc" Actor Doug Spearman, Black Ministers Urge "NO" on Prop 8 [R20]
SCLC Leader Criticizes Anti-Gay, Black Pastors [R20]

Family Defends Accused Killer of Transgender Woman, Introduces Victim's Arrest Record

More developments in the horrific murder of Lateisha Green, a young black transgender woman in Syracuse, New York. The victim was in the process of transitioning and reportedly shared this information with the alleged shooter. The family of the accused killer "doesn't believe" Dwight DeLee gunned down the transgender woman and maintains he did "not" have extreme dislike of gay and transgender persons. The family also introduces the murder victim's criminal record ...

Two uncles are quoted as maintaining DeLee's innocence and claim he was "set up" as a fall guy because he was on parole. One uncle, Greg DeLee Sr, is quoted as saying his nephew could have "only" committed the murder if he were "provoked or under the influence."

The family maintains DeLee's innocence despite the presence of two eyewitnesses to the shooting—including Lateisha's 18-year-old gay brother, who was also shot. There is also an alleged accomplice who says Lateisha Green was "lured" to the party.

DeLee is charged with second degree murder and plead not guilty. He is being held without bail. The Onondaga County District could beef up the murder charges with hate crime charges.

The family tries to gain sympathy by portraying the Dwight DeLee as a victim of the criminal justice system and says "at least six members of the DeLee family are in jail." That is a common defense and not surprising. What is disturbing is that the family introduces the victim's criminal record—providing evidence the murder victim was charged in May 2008 with felony assault and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon. In the light of Greg DeLee's comments about his nephew possibly being "provoked" this is no small matter. The claims of provocation and the introduction of the victim's arrest record gives rise to suspicions the suspect may claim self-defense, or, a "gay-" or "trans-panic" defense.

Family Defends Accused Killer [TPS]

Some Background ...
Will Hate Crimes Charges Be Filed in Syracuse Transgender Murder? [R20]
No Bail for Syracuse Suspect, Victim ID'd as Trans [R20]
Black Syracuse Man Killed Simply for "Being Gay" [R20]

Burundi Outlaws Homosexuality

Burundi takes three steps forward but two steps behind.The parliament of the small East African nation overwhelmingly moved to outlaw the death penalty but criminalized homosexuality.

The new legislation criminalizes homosexuality for the first time in the history of the nation. Same-sex acts are punishable by "between three months and two years in prison, along with a substantial fine."

"Unfortunately, this penal law is also a regression because it now makes homosexuality a criminal offense, whereas it had been tolerated until now," says MP Catherine Mabobori, who abstained during the vote.

The sole pro-gay group in the small nation, the Association for the Respect of Homosexuals' Rights (ARDHO), says it is "outraged" and appeals to international community. "We don't understand how educated people can adopt such a law because homosexuality is neither a disease nor a deviance," an official told AFP. The activist "was speaking on condition he not be named" and adds, "How are we going to be able to continue the struggle against AIDS in our community if every homosexual has to go underground?"

Burundi's surprise move comes in the wake of "considerable hostility to homosexuality" in the East African region, reports the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "Two-thirds of African nations maintain criminal penalties for consensual same-sex behavior. In recent years several countries, including Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Uganda, have threatened to strengthen laws against homosexuality." In particular, the government of nearby Uganda has undertaken a major anti-gay offensive. Authorities threaten to prosecute anyone who comes out.

Thanks CARY and IGLHRC

Burundi to Criminalize Homosexuality [Afrol]
Burundi Abolishes Death Penalty, Outlaws Homosexuals [AFP]

Some Background ...
Ugandan Cleric: Exile Gays, Leave Them to Die [R20]
Uganda Ethics Minister Advises Gays to Leave [R20]
Report: "Abstinence Only" Policy Spreads HIV, Death [R20]
Bush Admin Funding Anti-Gay Groups in Uganda [R20]
Ugandan Minister Receives Award for Anti-Gay [R20]
Uganda Launches Major Anti-Gay Offensive [R20]

Beyoncé Confirms She Has Not Reached Out to Jennifer Hudson

Thousands of fans, celebrities, and well-wishers—even President-Elect Barack Obama—have reached out to Jennifer Hudson since the brutal slayings of the Oscar winning singer/actress' mother, brother and nephew.  Everyone that is except her Dreamgirls co-star Beyoncé Knowles.

MediaTakeOut first reported this interesting trivia two weeks ago and Beyoncé confirms the report. "On Friday, radio personality Elvis Duran asked whether she reached out to Jennifer since the tragedy. Beyonce responded, and we quote, 'No, but I’m praying for her.' "

No phone call, no emails, no text message, but, she's "praying for her." Seriously, is anyone surprised. After all this is Beyoncé we're talking about.

Did You Read ...
Child's Body in SUV Linked to Hudson Shooting [R20]
Family Dispute Over Money Led to Hudson Slayings [R20]
Hudson Suspect Told Officers He Was "Babysitting" [R20]
Jennifer Hudson on "Jennifer Hudson" [R20]

Gallup Poll Finds Record Disapproval for Republican Party

The hits keep coming for the increasingly irrelevant and scandal-plagued Republican Party. The latest Gallup Poll finds "only 34% of Americans have a favorable view of the party" and the 61% now holding an unfavorable view of the GOP "is the highest Gallup has recorded for that party since the measure was established in 1992."

In contrast more than half of Americans, some 55%, "currently hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party and only 39% an unfavorable view."

George W. Bush will be remembered as presiding over the worst administration in history and relegating the country's once dominant political party to the wilderness. Good riddance.

Bobby Jindal in Iowa, Courting Anti-Gay Social Conservatives

The president-elect has yet to be inaugurated, but, it's never too early to start thinking about the next presidential campaign. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) traveled to Iowa over the weekend and increased speculation that he is considering a presidential bid in 2012.

Think Progress reports the highlight of Jindal’s weekend visit was delivering the "keynote address at a 'Celebrating the Family' banquet hosted by the Iowa Family Policy Center, a conservative Christian group that promotes issues important to social conservatives such as home-schooling and opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage."

The conservative and anti-gay Louisiana governor expressed concern for the "coarsening" of our culture. "As governor, I can't censor anything or take away anyone's freedom of speech," Jindal said, adding, "There are things we can do as private citizens working together to strengthen our society."

Gay rights could soon take center stage in the Hawkeye State. The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to soon rule on a same sex marriage case that could bring marriage equality to the heartland. Oh and speaking of things to do to "strengthen society": In August the governor dropped an executive orderr prohibiting employment discrimination against gay and lesbian state employees that was put in place in by his Democratic predecessor.

Jindal in Iowa [Think Progress]
Jindal Puts Focus on Culture [DMR]

Some Background ....
Jindal Drops Anti-Gay Discrimination Order [R20]