News
Federal Marriage Amendment Dies
LGBT Health Summit Considers Current Concerns
The Rest of Our World
The
Rest of Our World
Gov't
Wins When Queers Marry
New York – A Congressional Budget Office analysis of same-sex marriage
requested by conservatives has found that the federal government would
actually save about $400-$700 million per year for the next 10 years.
Federal income tax revenues would increase
because of the so-called "marriage penalty." Expenditures would
be much lower, since spending on Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) would fall. The net impact would be a federal budget savings of
nearly $1 billion per year.
The report was based on the assumption that
there are 600,000 gay and lesbian couples in the United States (or 0.6
percent of the population, based on the number of households in the 2000
census who identified themselves as "partners"), all of whom
would marry in legal ceremonies accepted by all 50 states.
NC Refuses Amendment
Washington, DC – An attempt to amend the North Carolina Constitution
to prohibit marriage between same-sex couples – as well as civil
unions and domestic partnerships – failed when the Legislature adjourned
July 18.
"No Constitution should be used to
discriminate," said HRC President Cheryl Jacques. "Every North
Carolinian deserves to have the same rights and freedoms under their Constitution."
Ian Palmquist, Equality North Carolina's
executive director of programs said, "This victory sends a message
that our community can effectively mobilize to stop discriminatory state
constitutional amendments."
Family Ties
Cincinnati, OH – Lambda Legal asked an Ohio appeals court last month
to allow a lesbian couple to legally protect their relationship with the
child they are raising together.
Cheryl and Jennifer McKetrick were denied
a shared custody agreement for their child, "Baby J," by a Warren
County court last year. Breaking from legal precedent, the lower court
found that because they might provide some security for "Baby J"
through other documents like powers of attorney, the court didn't need
to approve a formal custody agreement.
"The judge made a mistake. Ohio law
clearly favors custody agreements like this one, and we're going to ask
the appeals court to correct the judge's error and let this family protect
their child," Heather Sawyer, supervising attorney in Lambda Legal's
Midwest Regional Office who is litigating the case said.
Trans Not in Platforms
Houston, TX – The transgender community's efforts to be included
in the Democratic Party's platform fell short last month.
A proposal to amend a plank supporting workplace
non-discrimination for sexual orientation to extend the support to include
gender identity was withdrawn in the face of likely defeat.
"We could've forced the issue onto
the floor, lost the vote, and left the first-impression that we are self-interested
– elections be damned," reported NTAC Chair Vanessa Edwards
Foster, who was one of the two delegates from Texas. "After weighing
the options," Foster added, "the platform inclusion was not
a critical priority."
Rights Monitored
New York – Human Rights Watch has launched a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
and Transgender Rights Project. The group said in a press release that
the program "can now give permanent institutional form to our commitment
to combating violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Human Rights Watch investigates abuses,
offers policy recommendations, and generates pressure to confront human
rights abusers and defend basic freedoms. Human Rights Watch monitors
human rights protections in over ninety countries for twenty-five years.
The HRW LGBT Rights Project released a report
in March on Egypt's persecution of men suspected of having sex with men.
In A Time of Torture: The Assault on Justice in Egypt's Crackdown on Homosexual
Conduct detailed the "full scope and sweep of a massive campaign
of repression." A copy of the report is available at: hrw.org/reports/2004/egypt0304/
NJ Couples Get 5 Rights
Trenton, NJ – According to news reports from New Jersey, same-sex
couples who began registering their domestic partnerships last month gained
5 rights out of nearly 900 granted to sex-discordant marriage partners.
Among those rights are the rights to make critical health-care decisions
for one another, visit each other in the hospital, file for state income
tax deductions for dependents and for state inheritance tax-exemptions.
The law also allows registered couples to
receive benefits if they are employed by the state. Domestic partners
also are eligible for benefits from private employers, and municipal and
county employees also may receive benefits if the employer chooses to
provide them. The law also allows heterosexual couples ages 62 and older
to become domestic partners.
Some couples did not register, pinning their
hopes on a marriage lawsuit working its way through the state's courts.
Sodomy Appeals
Virginia Beach, VA – Lambda Legal is appealing the conviction of
a man who was charged with solicitation of sodomy despite the U.S. Supreme
Court's Lawrence V. Texas ruling.
"This sodomy law is dead, and
that means you can't convict someone for attempting to violate it or talking
about violating it; there's no law left to violate," said Greg Nevins,
Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Southern Regional Office.
Earlier this year, Joel Singson was convicted
of solicitation to commit sodomy. The incident began after a discussion
with an undercover police officer in the men's room of a store. Singson
was taken by two officers to the back of the store, questioned and released.
He was charged several months later and spent 8 days in jail. If Singson
loses at the end of the appeal process, he faces a three-year jail sentence.
Dem Con Had Queer Vice Chair
Washington, DC – Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was named by the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) as Convention Vice Chair. Baldwin
was the first openly gay Vice Chair of a national political convention.
Representing the 2nd District of Wisconsin,
Baldwin is the only openly lesbian member of Congress. In her third term
in the House, she serves on the House Budget and Judiciary Committees.
Joining Baldwin was Convention Chair New
Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said, "We
are proud to be the only political Party that welcomes all Americans,
regardless of their sexual orientation."
Ono Sings Pro-Gay Song
New York – Yoko Ono has joined the chorus in support of gay marriage
by recording "Every Man Has a Man Who Loves Him," a gay-friendly
version of a song she wrote nearly a quarter-century ago, according to
an AP report.
The song "Every Man Has a Woman
Who Loves Him," included on her last album with John Lennon before
he was killed in 1980, was also retooled into a lesbian version, "Every
Woman Has a Woman Who Loves Her."
Ono, age 71, recently performed "Every
Man Has a Man Who Loves Him" at a gay pride rally in New York and
the song is moving up Billboard magazine's dance club charts.
Richard Gere Fights Aids In India
Mumbai – Richard Gere and Parmeshwar Godrej launched the "Heroes
Project" to mobilize societal leaders and the media industry to fight
HIV/AIDS in India. Healing the Divide has received a grant of up to $2.4
million over three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's
India AIDS initiative, and will implement the Heroes Project through the
Gere Foundation India Trust and several other partners.
Gere said, "India urgently needs heroes
to come forward at this crucial moment to contain this epidemic which
will help create a significant understanding and compassion as we concentrate
on removing the stigma attached to the disease and are able to bring a
message of urgency and promise to the people of India."
Good News from My Insurance Co.
New York – The three largest car insurance companies in New York
– Allstate, State Farm, and Geico – will respect the marriages
of same-sex couples, providing them with the same rates and coverage as
married heterosexual couples, according to Lambda Legal.
"New York law requires respect for
marriages that were validly performed elsewhere. As more same-sex couples
get married, it's critical that they receive rights and protections –
from the government as well as the private sector," said Alphonso
David, Lambda Legal Staff Attorney.
Jail for Sexist Insults
Paris – The French cabinet yesterday gave its backing to a bill
authorizing penalties of up to a year in jail and hefty fines for anyone
found guilty of making an anti-gay or sexist remark.
"This law puts the fight against homophobia
and sexism on the same footing, legally speaking, as the fight against
racism and anti-semitism," said the Justice Minister, Dominique Perben,
quoted in a report in the British Guardian Weekly online.
Penalities range from a fine of €45,000
(Euros) and up to 12 months in prison for "defamation or incitement
to discrimination, hatred or violence on the grounds of a person's sex
or sexual orientation" to €22,500 and six months in jail for
any remark "of a more general nature tending to denigrate homosexuals
as a whole."
N. Mexico Rights Law Saved
Santa Fe, NM – Opponents of a 2003 New Mexico law protecting lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals from discrimination announced
they had given up trying to place a referendum on the November ballot
to overturn that law. The group was required to get 50,000 signatures
on a petition for the vote. A well-organized statewide campaign by New
Mexico LGBT activists is credited with defeating the anti-gay attack.
"This is a great day not only for LGBT
people in New Mexico, but for all of the people of the state," said
Linda Siegle, Campaign Committee Member for Basic Rights New Mexico. "It's
wonderful to live in a state where people simply refused to support taking
away basic protections from a minority."
Foot Locker Sued
Columbia, SC – Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit against Foot Locker,
Inc., last month on behalf of a former employee who was subjected to antigay
harassment by coworkers and supervisors, and ultimately fired.
Lambda Legal Senior Staff Attorney Greg
Nevins said, "Foot Locker could have addressed this problem, as it
clearly promises employees in its policies."
When Kevin Dunbar, 26, formally complained
about the harassment, he was transferred to another store, where his manager
said, "I don't want your faggot ass in my store."
Three customers who witnessed the antigay
harassment have sworn affidavits on Dunbar's behalf. One customer gave
Dunbar her name and phone number "because as a Christian woman I
felt this was wrong, and the Lord told me to help and heal."
Lambda Legal has also launched the "Blow
the Whistle on Foot Locker" campaign to use consumer outrage to let
the company know that it has committed a personal foul.
Compiled this month by Editor Euan Bear.