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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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/seattle-judge…
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.
Identities of gay city employees to remain private for now
KING5.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/identities-of…
Phillipsburg resident Dale Rissmiller draws three-year sentence in for gay bashing
A Phillipsburg man convicted in a 2006 gay-bashing case drew a three-year state prison today in state Superior Court.
Dale Rissmiller, 27, apologized to the judge before sentencing.
“I’m sorry for what happened to the victim,” he said.
Rissmiller — who has a history of assault convictions — pleaded guilty in February to bias intimidation and aggravated assault. “I clotheslined him,” Rissmiller told Superior Court Judge John Pursel during the plea hearing.
The term refers to striking someone on the throat with a forearm.
Rissmiller admitted he attacked Bryan Wesselius because the victim is gay. The clotheslining incident occurred after Rissmiller launched a 1:46 a.m. barrage of anti-gay comments at Wesselius and the victim’s two gay companions in the bar, authorities said.
Drunk and angered after a bartender bounced him, Rissmiller attacked Wesselius at the door, followed him outside and punched him, authorities reported.
Phillipsburg resident Dale Rissmiller draws three-year sentence in …
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/phillipsburg-…
Obituary: John Paul Barnich, first out Texas city court judge
John Paul Barnich, a Houston lawyer who was the first out city court judge in Texas and a former chairman of the Houston AIDS Foundation, died Monday. He was 63. Houston Chronicle
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/obituary-john…
