Came across this strange story on Towleroad this morning: A gay boat party thrown to coincide with this past weekend's gay pride celebration in San Diego turned deadly when police shot and killed a go-go dancer who had fallen overboard and who attacked them upon rescue.

Yes. Strange. More:  

When Hirschfield [the performer] boarded the Harbor Police boat, he scuffled with the two officers on board, Harbor Police said. Hirschfield knocked one officer to the deck, took the officer's Taser gun and began beating him in the face with it, Harbor Police said.

Hirschfield then tried to get the injured officer's firearm. As he struggled to get control of the gun, the second officer shot Hirschfield once, Harbor Police said.

Talk about a party foul! Apparently the magnitude of what had happened was not immediately apparent to those on board; according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the party continued on the dock.

Queerty posted about this today—and it seems as though several witnesses have left comments on the post verifying it happened:

Not sure exactly what started it, but last night at The Abbey in West Hollywood, last season Project Runway runner-up Rami Kashou was on the receiving end of a martini glass to the face.

After a brief scuffle, the guy who threw the glass was dragged out by security and Rami, drenched from head to toe in blood, left by ambulance.

Poor Rami! We hope he's OK. He really is a sweet guy; I worked with him on a photo shoot before his Runway fame, and he was an angel. I can't imagine why anyone would want to attack him. A glass in the face is pretty sinister.

Get well soon Rami!

I took my first HIV test before I was even out—I was applying for a 6-month visa to study in Ecuador during college and the Ecuadorian consulate required evidence of an HIV test of all applicants in order to proceed.

I thought that was really strange, and I wondered what they would have done had it turned out positive. Would they have denied my visa? Or curb my travel somehow? I chalked it up (foolishly) to the idea that this small South American country just wasn't progressive enough to realize that it's pretty damn discriminatory to limit someone's action and mobility based on HIV status.

It wasn't until a few years later that I heard that the good ol' USA has its own HIV-positive travel ban. Which still exists today.

But that may not be for long. The Senate just voted to approve a huge AIDS relief package, PEPFAR, which contains a provision to—finally—lift the travel travel restrictions on HIV-positive individuals. More:

The travel and immigration ban prohibits HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the U.S. unless they obtain a special waiver, which can only allow for short-term travel.  Current policy also prevents the vast majority of foreign nationals with HIV from obtaining legal permanent residency in the United States.

The ban originated in 1987, and explicitly codified by Congress in 1993, despite efforts in the public health community to remove the ban when Congress reformed U.S. immigration law in the early 1990s.  

[via 365gay.com]

Apparently, it is difficult for those in same-sex relationships to get a waiver, since most of those rules are crafted around opposite-sex couples. Figures. 

The approved package now travels back to committee—where this provision could very well be removed—before being passed on to the President.