Withers: NYC cop accused of using anti-gay slur

[1]
For the past two months New York City police have been trying to close down Chi Chiz [2], a bar and restaurant on Christopher Street. Between July 2009 and January 2010 police officers allegedly have seen four sales of uncontrolled substances in the bar—it caters to black and brown gay men. The club’s owners have charged the police have been over zealous in their administration of the law.

The place was raided on March 5 by a dozen police officers. They shut it down, but the owners went to a judge and they reopened the next night. As the place was minding its business by doing business, some white guy was in front yelling this: “This fag establishment should be closed.” When he was confronted by two activists, Allen Roskoff and Corey Johnson, he called them faggots. 911 was called, the police arrived, and they know him. Why? Because he’s a brother in blue. An undercover cop.

A lawyer for Chi Chiz says a police department representative confirmed the officer is undercover, and has been reassigned to a desk. His identity? No one is talking.

Looking forward to how some of our readers respond. Most will be bothered, but a few will defend the police. As they lovingly did in the case of Henry L. Gates [3]. Probably will argue the club forced the over worked cop to use the word.

[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-police-badge-top.jpg
[2] http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2010/04/01/gay_city_news/news/doc4bb4f62652b10229325684.txt
[3] http://www.365gay.com/blog/072109-harvard-african-american-prof-arrested-in-his-own-home/

Prop 8 forum: Olson & Boies speak

Last night, the New York Times’ gay and lesbian affinity employee group hosted a Q&A session with Prop 8 superlawyers David Boies and Ted Olson.

I saw Joe Sudbay from Joe.My.God and Paul Schindler from Gay City News there – also Andy Towle and Corey Jonson from Towleroad (go there for …

Men face execution for sodomy

Gay City News is reporting that 12 gay men are facing execution for sodomy in Iran.

Men face execution for sodomy

Gay City News is reporting that 12 gay men are facing execution for sodomy in Iran.

The Albany gay marriage back room

Gay City News reports that a high-stakes meeting that included the governor, senior Democratic lawmakers and top gay advocates offered “the best sign yet that marriage equality may become a reality by New Year’s Day.”

Says Gay City News:
Shortly after 8 p.m., Paterson, four senior Senate Democrats — Jeffrey Klein of …

The New York Blade Suspends Publication

The New York Blade, one of the two major gay and lesbian newspapers in New York City, has laid off its editor in chief and suspended publication, the chief executive of its publishing company said on Wednesday.

“Everyone was let go, but the people on The Blade know that they may come back if The Blade is coming back,” said the executive, Matthew Bank, of HX Media, which was formed in 2005 by the merger of The Blade and HX Magazine.

The moves came on Tuesday after HX was sold to undisclosed buyers. The Blade, a biweekly paper with a free circulation of 22,000, was left with an uncertain future.

“It doesn’t have an issue scheduled until a week from Friday.” Mr. Bank said. “There are a lot of things that can happen between now and then.”

The decision to suspend publication comes at a particularly active period for journalism concerned with gay issues: the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and the gay pride parade on Sunday, the proposed same-sex marriage bill in the State Senate and discontent over the Obama administration’s performance on gay-rights issues.

“It is an incredibly exciting time for gay journalism,” said Kat Long, who had been editor in chief of The Blade since February. “It’s important that gay papers are around to document it.”

Paul Schindler, editor in chief of Gay City News, the rival New York City gay newspaper, said The Blade had “made good contributions over the years.”

See New York Gay Newspaper Suspends Publication

New York Times -

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Seattle Judge: Gay city workers names don’t have to be released, for now

A King County judge has temporarily barred the release of the names of Seattle city employees involved in a city-sponsored group for gay and lesbian workers to an anti-gay rights activist.

Superior Court Judge John Erlick ordered that some requested documents be released Monday, with the names of meeting attendees redacted. The identities of city employees who received a “public benefit” through the group — likely wages on other compensation — may be released following a hearing later this year.

At issue Thursday was a request made by Seattle City Light employee and self-described “civil rights leader” Philip Irvin, who had filed a public-disclosure request for the membership list and meeting minutes for the department’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning and Friends Club. Irvin, who says he wants to start a similar group for formerly gay employees, asserts that the club has discriminated against him for his opposition to gay rights.

In issuing his order, Erlick acknowledged that releasing the employees’ identities could discourage others from joining the LGBTQF group. But, he said there remains a clear public interest in knowing who is receiving state benefits, and payment for meeting attendance or other compensation to group members, Erlick said, “is a public benfit.”

See Judge: Gay city workers names don’t have to be released, for now

Seattle Post Intelligencer

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How long has Seattle supported gay rights?

Seattle: 1st in gay rights

Seattle has been at the vanguard of gay rights for at least three decades. Remember Anita Bryant? While she was getting cities across the county to repeal gay rights ordinances in the 1970s, Seattle voters held the line — the first city in America to vote in favor of gay rights. The City of Seattle adopted a fair employment ordinance in 1973 which specifically prohibited discrimination against gay people in the workplace, followed by a fair housing ordinance in 1975. But in 1978, Initiative 13 attempted to repeal the ordinances. It went down in defeat, and Seattle voters successful stopped the national movement to turn back the clock of gay rights. Since then, the cities of Tacoma, Spokane, and others followed suit; Seattle has elected openly gay city council members for decades and is considered to have one of the largest gay populations in the nation.

– Leonard Garfield

Sunday’s gay pride parade marks the event’s 32nd year. See photos from the event here.

Learn more about Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry at seattlehistory.org.

See How long has Seattle supported gay rights?

Seattle Post Intelligencer

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Identities of gay city employees to remain private for now

SEATTLE – Should the names of members of a city gay and lesbian group be released to the public?

A King County Judge has blocked the release of names of Seattle City Gay and Lesbian employees for at least a week.

Judge John Erlick continued a Temporary Restraining Order to block the names from release, until further hearings are held on a Public Disclosure request for the information.

Longtime City Light employee Philip Irvin, a self-described Christian and activist, has requested the list of names.

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Identities of gay city employees to remain private for now

KING5.com

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Bush State Department Ignored Iraqi Gay Murders Gay City News

As concern over the killings of gay Iraqis grew in 2006 and 2007, the US Department of State appears to have done little more than develop media talking points and squabble over who at that agency should handle press interviews.

“[I]t is outrageous to see that by walking away from their responsibility to further investigate, document, and then ultimately discuss the human rights abuses with the Iraqi government, the US government missed a great opportunity to prevent the mass-scale attacks against LGBT community, which happened earlier this year in Iraq,” wrote Hossein Alizadeh, regional coordinator for Middle East and North Africa at the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), in an email.

Writing in Gay City News, Doug Ireland first broke the story in March of 2006 that Iraqi gays were being killed by death squads. Ireland and other gay press outlets continued covering the story in 2006 and into 2007, with the mainstream press offering occasional stories. The killings and the gay press reports on them have continued into 2009.

In September 2007 –– nearly two years ago –– Gay City News sent a Freedom of Information request to the State Department that sought all records “that relate to or identify homicides, assaults, or other violent acts committed against homosexual persons in Iraq.”

On May 26 of this year, the department responded, releasing two documents, totaling nine pages, that represent all the records that agency compiled from March 1, 2003, roughly the start of the Iraq War, through the date of the records request. No documents were withheld and only a small portion of the released documents was blacked out. See Bush State Department Ignored Iraqi Gay Murders

Gay City News

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