Gay incident reopens Salt Lake City’s Main Street plaza wounds
It’s the wound that won’t heal. The rift that won’t close. And earlier this month, two gay lovers’ purportedly innocuous late-night kiss — though LDS Church officials insist it was far more amorous than that — ripped it wide open. Utah’s simmering religious divide boiled over — once again — at the geographical and philosophical intersection of church and state: the Main Street Plaza in downtown Salt Lake City. “It is a scab that will continue to be peeled away — and may never heal,” says Dani Eyer, the former ACLU director who fought to preserve First Amendment rights on the plaza. Matt Aune and Derek Jones say they held hands, kissed and then squabbled with security guards on the LDS Church-owned square. Salt Lake City police issued a ticket for trespassing. In protest, supporters of the couple staged a “kiss-in” last Sunday outside the plaza and plan another such demonstration today. The LDS Church — a faith to which 60 percent of Utahns belong — defended its right to regulate “inappropriate behavior” on the plaza. “What we’re seeing now is a manifestation of what should have been obvious from the very beginning,” says former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. “This block of Main Street never should have been conveyed to the LDS Church. It was a recipe for ongoing resentments between the LDS Church and those who are not members.” The church bought the strip of Main — from North Temple to South Temple — in 1999 after then-Mayor Deedee Corradini and the City Council, with the only two non-LDS members dissenting, signed off on the $8.1 million deal. But the controversy burned for five more years as federal courts were asked to settle the prickly issue of whether the church could govern expression on the plaza and whether the city could retain a public right of way (as outlined in the original deal). “It was meant to be for everybody,” Eyer says. “Where people come and go their constitutional rights go with them.” After a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2002, First Amendment activities returned to the plaza. But demonstrations by anti-Mormon protesters — including cries of “whore” and “harlot” hurled at newlywed brides — “sustained divisions” that “reached to the point of hatred” between Mormons and non-Mormons, Anderson says. In the end, he agreed to trade the public easement for cash and LDS land to build a west-side community center.
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India: Legal gay sex ruling challenged
A landmark ruling that legalized gay sex between consenting partners in India was challenged Thursday in the country’s high court, lawyers said.
The supreme court issued a notice to the nonprofit Naz Foundation that had won a lower-court verdict after a seven-year legal fight to decriminalize gay sex.
Notices also were issued to the federal government and the New Delhi high court, which ruled last week that consensual sex between partners of the same gender was legal.
An astrologer filed a petition challenging the ruling. The petitioner argued that no constitutional right is violated by the Indian penal code’s Section 377, which had outlawed gay sex, said his lawyer Praveen Agrawal.
The petition also cited Indian culture and health as grounds for seeking a stay on last week’s ruling, he said.
The supreme court posted the next hearing for July 20.
Last week’s ruling meant the law — Indian penal code section 377, which had previously criminalized consensual homosexual acts between adults — was partly struck down but remains in place as far as forced homosexual acts are concerned.
The verdict affects law enforcement all around India because it deals with a law enacted by the federal parliament.
See India: Legal gay sex ruling challenged
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India Decriminalizes Gay Sex
n what many are calling “India’s Stonewall”, the New Delhi High Court on Thursday decriminalized homosexual intercourse between consenting adults, by striking down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This law labels gay sex to be an “unnatural offense”, punishable with up to ten years in prison.
Drafted in 1860, this Colonial-era law was brought into effect by the British, and was in line with similar anti-homosexuality legislation passed in England at the time. In the past decade, gay rights activists and lawyers have strived hard to abrogate Section 377, calling it “inhuman”, and as the Naz Foundation, which filed the petition to abolition 377 in 2001 argued, a violation of constitutional rights to privacy and equality.
No Rain on Their Parade
In its ruling today, the Delhi High Court affirmed that claim, saying that Section 377 violated basic human rights. The same court, however, had dismissed a similar petition in 2001. It is clear that this latest ruling is a reflection of increased activism by gay rights groups and high profiled supporters like Bollywood actress and Former Miss World Celina Jaitley, along with a more progressive government.
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India Decriminalizes Gay Sex
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S.F. asks federal judge to toss Prop. 8
San Francisco has asked a federal judge to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, allying the city with a lawsuit that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
In papers filed Thursday night in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office argued that Proposition 8 was motivated by hatred of gays and lesbians and violates their constitutional right to be free of discrimination.
Although sponsors of the November ballot measure said they were trying to promote traditional marriage and protect children, “excluding same-sex couples from marriage does nothing to advance those goals,” Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart said in the 49-page brief.
Prop. 8’s “real aim (was) harming gays and lesbians and expressing moral disapproval of them,” Stewart said.
In arguing to throw out Prop. 8, Stewart cited the Supreme Court’s 1996 ruling that struck down Colorado’s ban on state and local gay-rights measures and said a law motivated by hostility toward gays and lesbians is unconstitutional.
See S.F. asks federal judge to toss Prop. 8
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Superemes say judges must avoid appearance of bias - why is this a pslit decision?
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that elected judges must step aside from cases when large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias.
By a 5-4 vote in a case from West Virginia, the court said that a judge who remained involved in a lawsuit filed against the company of the most generous supporter of his election deprived the other side of the constitutional right to a fair trial.
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Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom Win in Key Statehouse Vote In New Hampshire
Committee of Conference votes to advance HB73
CONCORD Today the house and senate committee of conference in the New Hampshire legislature voted in favor of a compromise bill that will advance the freedom to marry while ensuring religious liberties.
HB73 is a bill that will uphold the Constitutional right to freedom of religion, while complimenting previously passed bills that grant marriage equality to same-sex couples. Today’s committee of conference decision treats gay and lesbian people as well as people of faith with dignity and respect. The conference committee report on HB73 is expected to be voted on by the full legislature on June 3rd.
“We remain confident that marriage equality will become law this year, and HB 73 is an important final step in that effort,” said Mo Baxley the Executive Director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry. “Individual equality and religious freedom are New Hampshire values. We expect the House and Senate to now vote for HB 73 as reported out by the committee of conference. This is a very positive step and we remain optimistic that we will see legal protections for thousands of gay and lesbian couples signed into law by the Governor.”
The freedom to marry for gay couples, partnered with religious protections in HB73 is supported by Governor Lynch, the State Senate, the committee of conference, and the majority of New Hampshire residents.
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The New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition was founded in January 2001 and is New Hampshire’s Statewide LGBT education and advocacy organization. http://nhftm.org/
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/marriage-equa…
Gay Students at a Kentucky High School Report Not Being Able to Use the Restroom because of their Sexual Orientation
Kentucky Equality Federation received reports that a Franklin County High School official allegedly sent an email to teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to leave class to use the restroom.
Frankfort, KY — Kentucky Equality Federation received reports that a Franklin County High School official allegedly sent an email to teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to leave class to use the restroom.
The email was allegedly sent after two female classmates were caught kissing in the public restroom.
In response, 15 students protested outside the school yesterday.
“My daughter was involved in a protest at Franklin County High School yesterday for their right to use the restroom,” stated Michelle Sexton.
“I have been in contact with one of the parents of the children involved in the protest and we support their constitutional right to assemble peacefully,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. “We call on the media to investigate this issue further and shed light on the discrimination gays and lesbians face throughout the Commonwealth. Kentucky Equality Federation will also be contacting the other parents of the children involved in today’s protest.”
Though Superintendent Harrie Buecker stated steps are being taken to address the students’ concerns, Kentucky Equality Federation is concerned they will not be addressed properly. Though not directly connected, Kentucky Equality Federation has received similar complaints in Casey, Pulaski, and Powell counties about unfair treatment of gay and lesbian students and teachers.
“I’d like to know what level this mentality, that gay and lesbian students should not be treated equally is coming from. An incident in one county could be called an isolated incident, but we now have similar reports in three other Kentucky Counties,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation Managing Director Laura Reed.
Kentucky Equality Federation will continue its own investigation and assist parents or students in filing any necessary complaints with Kentucky officials.
Palmer added that assembling together in a peaceful manner is the most basic right granted by the Kentucky Constitution, and that Kentucky Equality Federation had contacted the Office of Helen W. Mountjoy, Kentucky’s Secretary of Education for assistance in resolving the issues.
Kentucky Equality Federation offers an online complaint system for people around the Commonwealth to report discrimination or harassment. The online complaint system can be located at www.kyLGBT.org, or www.kyequality.org.
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Kentucky Equality Federation is Kentucky’s largest statewide, grassroots LGBTI civil rights organization.
Kentucky Equality Federation is the sponsor of Marriage Equality Kentucky. For additional information, visit http://www.marriageequalityky.org/.
Kentucky Equality Federation is a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (”ILGA”). Composed of over 600 member organizations around the world, ILGA is to this day the only international non-profit and non-governmental community-based federation dedicated to achieving equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people at the United Nations.
Kentucky Equality Federation is a member of Marriage Equality USA.
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Arizona School Agrees To Lift Rainbow Ban Following ACLU Demands; Gay Student Now Allowed To Wear Wristband
Quintanilla contacted the ACLU in February after her son Chris’s principal told her he wouldn’t allow her son to wear his cloth wristband with words “Rainbows are gay” to school anymore. Last week, the school finally gave assurances to the ACLU that it would not censor Quintanilla’s wristband in the future.
“Students have a constitutional right to free speech at school, and school officials should be aware of their responsibility for upholding this cornerstone of our freedom,” said Elizabeth Gill, staff attorney for the ACLU national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. “This district was right to come to its senses and back down from violating the First Amendment, because students have 40 years of Supreme Court precedent on their side when schools do this kind of thing.”
In its letter, the ACLU reminded PUSD officials about the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines in which the Court wrote, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights… at the schoolhouse gate.” The letter also pointed to Gillman v. Holmes County School District, a Florida case in which a high school principal had attempted to ban symbols in support of LGBT rights, including rainbows, at school. In that case, a federal judge ruled last May that the school had violated students’ First Amendment rights. Both cases were handled by the ACLU, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Tinker decision in February.
“The schools we entrust to teach our children about society and their freedoms should know better than to violate one of our most fundamental freedoms,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. “We’re glad that PUSD has seen the light about this, but we’re going to be keeping an eye on this district and hold them to their word that they’ll respect the First Amendment from now on.”
The letter the ACLU sent to the district last month is available here:
http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/schoolsyouth/az_armb_letter.pdf.
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Gay Marriage Issue Steering Clear of the Supreme Court
And now there are four. In the space of a week, the number of states allowing same-sex marriage has doubled, with Iowa and then Vermont joining Massachusetts and Connecticut. In California, gay and lesbian couples were exchanging vows for five months before voters put a stop to the practice in November. Californians are still talking it over, though, and loudly. New York and New Jersey may be next to debate the question.
In other contexts, this sort of turmoil might amount to an invitation for the United States Supreme Court to step in. But there are all sorts of reasons the court is likely to keep its distance, and a central one is the endlessly debated 1973 decision that identified a constitutional right to abortion.
“The concern about creating another Roe v. Wade looms large,” said Nathaniel Persily, who teaches law and political science at Columbia. “At least five members of this court, if not more, would probably be reluctant to weigh in on this controversy, especially given the progress that is being made in state legislatures, state courts and public opinion.”
Court decisions on issues like school desegregation, abortion and same-sex marriage can raise questions about the judicial branch usurping the democratic process. But there are strategic issues as well. The Supreme Court not only decides cases but also decides which cases to decide. In jurisprudence as in life, timing is everything.
Even some strong supporters of abortion rights believe, for instance, that Roe went too far too fast and may have been counterproductive. One of them is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
See Gay Marriage Issue Steering Clear of the Supreme Court
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Transgender woman wins birth certificate ruling
A 67-year-old Los Angeles native, now living in Kansas, won a state appeals court ruling in San Francisco on Friday that makes it easier for California-born transgender people to change their birth certificate, a document that can be critical in a security-conscious age.
Gigi Marie Somers was born male but has lived most of her life as a woman, and underwent sex-change surgery in 2005. She got a driver’s license with her new name and gender and sought a new birth certificate, but learned that Kansas was one of the few states that will not change a resident’s sex designation on a birth certificate.
Somers then turned to a California court, only to discover that a 1977 state law requires an application for a sex change on a new birth certificate to be filed in the county where the applicant now lives.
But Friday, the First District Court of Appeal said the law violates the rights of someone like Somers to be treated the same as a transgender person who still lives in California.
Any law that penalizes someone for moving to another state restricts the constitutional right to travel and can be justified only if it meets an urgent government need, which doesn’t exist in this case, Justice James Marchiano said in the 3-0 ruling.
For anyone in a similar situation, the case is important because of “the emphasis placed on identity documents in our post-9/11 world,” said attorney Matt Wood of the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco, which represented Somers.
He said the federal government and employers are increasingly requiring birth certificates or passports to establish the identity of applicants for various programs and jobs.
Legislation that would have the same effect as the court ruling, AB1185 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), was introduced in February but hasn’t passed yet, Wood said.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/transgender-w…
