Poll showing most Michiganders oppose partner benefits comes under scrutiny

A poll released last week showed significant voter opposition among Michiganders to giving health benefits to unmarried partners of public employees. But poll experts and LGBT activists in the state are accusing the pollsters of forcing out the finding with leading questions and unrepresentative demographics. Meanwhile, those who funded the poll are More…

First U.S. Senate campaign ad ignites political firestorm

Former Congressman Pete Hoekstra unveiled the first television commercial in the 2012 U.S. Senate race during the Super Bowl, and while he may have been aiming for positive spin, the backlash has been quite pronounced. More …

Michigan county handling of HIV criminal case suggests state law was broken

A Michigan man faces up to eight years in prison in a criminal case marked by confusion, hearsay, and a local health department that might have potentially violated state law. Holes in this ongoing case of a man alleged to have exposed hundreds of people to HIV suggest that either More…

Michigan AG asked not to sign on to foreclosure fraud deal with feds

Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel, Jr., sent a letter to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Tuesday asking him not to sign on to a rumored foreclosure fraud deal brokered by the U.S. Department of Justice with all 50 states and two of the nation’s largest banks. More…

Gay GOP presidential candidate to file discrimination complaint against CPAC

Little-known openly gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger is accusing the American Conservative Union, which produces the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), of discrimination based on his sexual orientation. During a campaign swing in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Karger said he intends to file a complaint with Washington, D.C., officials charging he was denied a booth at CPAC because he is gay. More …

Michigan GOP candidates for U.S. Senate agree on most issues in debate

The seven Republican candidates vying for a Michigan U.S. Senate seat, currently occupied by Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, met in a mostly cordial forum Saturday at the University of Michigan – Dearborn campus. More…

Michigan receives millions for HIV prevention, has not invested in treatments for those exposed to virus

The Michigan Department of Community Health has received More… more than $6 million for HIV prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and still has a pending request for $1.2 million in additional funding. And while the money will be used to increase testing and assist those who test

Michigan schools asked to cancel appearance of alleged ex-terrorist

Michigan state rep. to appear with ‘former terrorist’

Controversial Michigan state Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville) is due to appear Wednesday night at a Grand Rapids church with a self-proclaimed “former terrorist.” More …

Gay families matter, ralliers tells lawmakers

More than 100 people from across Michigan had a message for Gov. Rick Snyder and the state legislature Wednesday: “Gay families matter.” The was the message they hoped their state lawmakers would hear and act on after a year that saw the most anti-gay legislative action in Michigan history. More…

Michigan governor comes under fire for refusing to address LGBT issues

Michigan’s Republican governor is coming under fire by leaders in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for his office’s refusal to grant multiple requests for a one-on-one interview about LGBT issues. More…

Bryan Fischer says his AIDS denialism makes him ‘the best friend the gay community has’

The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer posted a blog More… last week in which he defends his support for the AIDS denialism movement and Dr. Peter Duesberg’s claims that HIV does not cause AIDS.

Grand Rapids HIV criminal case produces rare statewide notification

Kent County announced in late December More… that it had issued a statewide notice to other health departments in Michigan regarding the 51-year-old Comstock Park man who allegedly attempted to infect “hundreds” of people with HIV. But just how that notice was issued, where, and what the guidelines for such a

Advocates praise FBI expansion of rape definition

The FBI’s decision last week to revise the definition of rape for its annual Uniform Crime Reporting Program is being praised by sexual assault advocates and the LGBT community. More…

Local Michigan county wants to force meds on HIV criminal suspect

Sangeeta Ghosh, assistant corporate counsel for Kent County, Mich., says should the 51-year-old man charged in two cases of failing to disclose his HIV-positive status More… to sexual partners make bail, the county is prepared to ask a court to force him to take antiretroviral medications.

Michigan Rep. Hoogendyk preparing to challenge Upton in 6th Congressional District?

Former Michigan state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk is likely to announce next week that he will challenge Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) in the GOP primary in August. More…