JANUARY
Missing gay man found dead. 2005 began with the possible discovery of the body of Simeon Jayne, a Houston gay man who had been missing since 2001, at the county morgue. The body had been at the morgue for three years.

Statue stolen from AIDS group. A 350-pound statue of St. Francis is stolen from outside the Kolbe Project, an organization founded in 1989 to work with people with HIV/AIDS and gay men and lesbians who feel alienated. The statue was given in memory of a former board member who died of AIDS.

Gay Houston resident beaten. Charles McKenzie, a gay man living in the Houston Heights neighborhood, is brutally beaten and robbed by undocumented workers he hired to paint his house, according to police.

Free HIV testing suspended. Funding cuts, translating to $138,000 out of a proposed $345,000, by the city of Houston’s Health & Human Services Department results in the Montrose Clinic suspending free HIV testing to all clients. Clinic officials say they can now only offer free testing to the highest risk patients.

Ex-gays launch billboard campaign. Billboards pop up around Houston and Galveston counties telling passers-by “Change is Possible.” They advertise an upcoming “Love Won Out” conference sponsored by Focus on the Family for so-called former homosexuals.

Gay teen told to change. A Houston teenager who is questioning his sexual orientation is referred to Exodus, a program that claims it can turn people away from homosexuality, when he calls the National Youth Crisis Hotline.

High court rejects lesbian custody case. The Texas Supreme Court declines to hear the case of a biological mother of a 6-year-old girl who sought to void the adoption of the child by her former female partner.

FEBRUARY
New name for familiar festival. Officials with the Houston Pride Committee change its name to Pride Houston and unveil a new emblem and slogan with a more political theme.

Hotline rejected. In response to a Houston Voice article that exposed gay bias of the National Youth Crisis Hotline, four gay and lesbian websites delete links to the hotline.

Identity confirmed. The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office and an independent firm positively identify the remains of Simeon Jaynes.

MARCH
HIV funding increased for city. Houston is among the cities that saw an increase in funding to agencies that provide services to people with HIV/AIDS from federal grants through the Ryan White CARE Act. The city’s allocation rose by 4.1 percent over last year.

Marriage bills draw protest. More than 1,000 gay activists rallied at the state capital to denounce two bills introduced in the Texas Legislature to ban same-sex marriage.

APRIL
Lesbian coach wins settlement. Lesbian coach Merry Stephens settles with the Bloomberg Independent School District in Bloomberg, Texas, collecting the two-year’s salary that was left on her contract when she was let go. Stephens claimed she was terminated because of her sexual orientation.

Victory for non-biological lesbian mom. A Galveston County jury awards lesbian Kathleen Van Stavern joint custody of the biological daughter of her former lesbian lover. The trial, which lasted five days, had already been heard in many courtrooms as the child’s mother tried to get the case dismissed on the grounds that the adoption would have been void under the Texas Family Code as it existed during the time it was granted.

House votes to ban gay foster parents. The Texas House votes 81-58 to approve an amendment to overhaul the state’s foster care system that would also ban gay, lesbian and bisexual adults from becoming foster parents.

Houston men react to Catholic sex scandal. Three Houston-area men, who say they are victims of the Catholic church’s sex scandal, come forward with a letter written by Pope Benedict XVI when he was a cardinal they say is proof of the church’s cover up of the sexual abuse of children at the hands of pedophile priests.

Representatives back same-sex marriage amendment. The Texas House of Representatives approves a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions by a vote of 101-29.

MAY
Jail abuse alleged. Michael Green, a transgendered man, claims he was raped by a jailer while incarcerated in the Brazoria County Jail south of Houston.

Airline offers benefits. Houston-based Continental Airlines decides to extend flight benefits to all former employees with same-sex spouses.

Clinic gets chain pharmacy. Walgreen’s announces plans to open a pharmacy inside the Montrose Clinic, which will make it the third facility nationwide with the drugstore chain in house.

Ally killed in crash. Gay-friendly legislator Joe Moreno (D-Houston) is killed in a May 6 car crash on his way to Austin.

Schools accused of promoting homosexuality. Rev. Voddie Baucham Jr. of Spring co-authors a proposed resolution calling on churches to investigate whether public schools in their cities are promoting homosexuality. The resolution is set to be presented at the South Baptist Convention in Nashville, which will be held in June.

JUNE
Gay foster ban thwarted. The passage of Senate Bill 6 in the Texas House of Representatives leaves gay men and lesbians free to continue being foster parents.

Governor touts gay marriage ban. Using an evangelical Christian school in Fort Worth as a backdrop, Gov. Rick Perry signs a bill that will ask Texas voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions.

Gay rights coalition launched. The Houston Equal Rights Alliance is launched with a mission to create an alliance of individuals and organizations committed to promoting equality and respect for all people. Partners include Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, Houston GLBT Political Caucus, Houston GLBT Community Center and Foundation for Marriage Equality.

Gay leader steps down. Randall Ellis resigns as executive director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas after two and a half years, saying he needs a break and is planning to take time off before accepting another position.

JULY
Judges get additional terms. Gay municipal court judges Steven Kirkland and John Paul Barnich are appointed to another two-year term by Houston Mayor Bill White and approved by City Council.

Maxey tapped to lead fight against amendment. Glen Maxey, who was the first openly gay elected official in the state when he joined the Texas House in 1991, is picked to lead the fight against a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions.

Gay seminary student fined. James Matthew Bass, the Baylor University seminary student who had his scholarship revoked for being gay, is ordered to pay the Baptist school $77,000 in damages and fees for allegedly sending more than 1,000 pornographic and racist e-mails to staff.

Gay bar burns. In Brownsville, fire investigators believe arson was the cause of a fire at a gay bar that was only opened for two months.

AUGUST
No benefits for dead man’s partner. A Harris County jury ruled that Mark Swaim, who shot and killed his gay lover, should not collect $500,000 in life insurance benefits. Swaim claimed he shot Keith Hodgson in self-dense on Feb. 7, 2003, because he found the victim beating the couple’s 18-year-old houseguest for refusing to have sex with him.

Hodgson’s parents claim Swaim and the 18-year-old had plotted to kill their son. Swaim was acquitted of murder charges. He and Hodgson’s parents had both made claim to the money.

Probation in child indecency case. James Michael Broomas, known as “Spanky” on the streets of Montrose by young men, is given four-years probation after pleading guilty to a charge of indecency with a child. The Montrose accountant was first arrested July 6, 2004, and accused of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy in 1999.

SEPTEMBER
Trans Katrina evacuee arrested. Sharli’e Hicks, a preoperative transsexual displaced by Hurricane Katrina, was arrested for criminal trespass after using the women’s shower at Reed Arena at Texas A&M University. Hicks’ 16-year-old cousin, who is also a preoperative transsexual, was detained and later released to the care of an older sister for using the women’s shower.

OCTOBER
Lesbian minister defrocked by Methodists. Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud’s long fight to remain an ordained Methodist minister ends in Houston when the church’s Judicial Council, the highest legal body of the nation’s third-largest denomination ruled 6-2 to defrock her. Stroud, who had announced she was a lesbian and in a committed relationship, was charged with engaging in “practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings.”

NOVEMBER
Voters approve ban on gay marriage. A state constitutional amendment defining marriage as only the union between a man and woman is approved by more than 76 percent of Texans who voted in the Nov. 8 election.

Gay Baylor alum removed from board. Gay Baylor University alumnus Tim Smith is removed from the Waco school’s Hankamer School of Business Advisory Board when it’s revealed he’s gay. Terry Maness, business school dean, said in a prepared statement that school officials “must be sensitive to the position of our affiliate denomination, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which has, on previous occasions, stated that a homosexual lifestyle is incompatible with most Baptist interpretations of scripture.”

Gay lobbyist’s death still unsolved. The two-year anniversary of gay Houston lobbyist Ross Allyn’s killing is marked with no arrest. Allyn was found shot to death Nov. 21, 2003, in his burning home in the Heights area of the city.

DECEMBER
Lesbian wins seat on Houston City Council. Sue Lovell is elected to the Houston City Council At-Large Position 2 seat by a slim margin of 579 votes over community college trustee Jay Aiyer.

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