Calif. Assembly modifies law seeking to cure gays

(Sacramento) California lawmakers have voted to modify a decades-old law that classifies gays as sexual deviants and calls for research on the causes of homosexuality.

Supporters say a change was long overdue in the law, which was written in 1950 in reaction to a series of sex crimes, including the molestation and murder of a 6-year-old girl in Los Angeles.

The law classifies gays as sexual deviants and requires the state to conduct research to find the causes of sex crimes against children. It also singles out gays as a group that should be studied, and calls for research into a cure for homosexuality.

The bill, approved 62-0 Monday by the state Assembly, changes that law by removing all references to homosexuals in the provision that calls for research.

The measure now goes to the state Senate.

Lambda Legal files suit to prevent Ariz. from stripping domestic partner benefits

From Lambda Legal:

(Tuscon, Ariz.) Lambda Legal has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tucson to block a move to strip domestic partner benefits from gay and lesbian state employees. Arizona lawmakers included a provision stripping domestic partner health benefits from state employees as part of a last-minute …

Hate Crimes Bill, Long Overdue

The Jewish Week Writes:

“There’s a good reason the Anti-Defamation League and a number of other major Jewish groups have made passage of a new hate crimes bill a top priority: there are still too many places in America where violent crimes against unpopular minorities are not investigated or prosecuted with any vigor.
Different versions of the measure have again passed both houses of Congress, and once again conservative lawmakers are trying to attach “poison pill” amendments and marshaling their forces to strip the hate crimes provisions when the measures go to a House-Senate conference committee. And once again, Jewish groups face a tough fight in protecting legislation that may be even more critical as the recession fuels the growth of assorted hate groups.”

See Hate Crimes Bill, Long Overdue

The Jewish Week

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Ancient India didn’t think homosexuality was against nature

NEW DELHI: Was Indian society tolerant of homosexuality before the colonial administration proscribed it in 1860? The government has taken conflicting positions on this within the country and outside.

On a petition pending before the Delhi high court seeking to decriminalize homosexuality, the government said in its counter affidavit that that there were â€œno convincing reports to indicate that homosexuality or other offences against the order of nature mentioned in Section 377 IPC were acceptable in the Indian society prior to colonial rule.â€�

But when it was being reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council last year for the first time ever, India distanced itself from that provision when Sweden, arguably the most gay-friendly country in the world, questioned its record in ensuring equality irrespective of a personâ€™s sexual orientation.

This is how Goolam Vahanvati, who was then solicitor-general and is now attorney-general, tried to save Indiaâ€™s face before the council as part of its official delegation. â€œAround the early 19th Century, you probably know that in England they frowned on homosexuality, and therefore there are historical reports that various people came to India to take advantage of its more liberal atmosphere with regard to different kinds of sexual conduct.

â€œAs a result, in 1860 when we got the Indian Penal Code, which was drafted by Lord Macaulay, they inserted Section 377 which brought in the concept of â€˜sexual offences against the order of natureâ€™.

Now in India we didnâ€™t have this concept of something being â€˜against the order of natureâ€™. It was essentially a Western concept, which has remained over the years. Now homosexuality as such is not defined in the IPC, and it will be a matter of great argument whether it is â€˜against the order of nature.”

Vahanvatiâ€™s admission on the international forum that the ban on homosexuality was a western import and its relevance was debatable flies in the face of the governmentâ€™s unabashed efforts before the Delhi high court to retain Section 377, complete with its colonial baggage and archaic notion of unnatural offences.

Whatever the politics behind this glaring contradiction, there is ample evidence placed before the high court by petitioner Naz Foundation substantiating in effect Vahanvatiâ€™s view that in the centuries prior to the enactment of section 377, India was rather accommodating of homosexuals. See Ancient India didn’t think homosexuality was against nature

Times of India

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Religious groups in India have warned they will…

Religious groups in India have warned they will oppose any move to legalize homosexuality as the federal government prepares to hold talks on a law that classifies same-sex acts as crimes.

India’s Hindu nationalist main opposition has in the meantime called for a national debate on the legislation that law minister M. Veerappa Moily last week said would come up for a discussion within the government.

“This is a sensitive issue and warrants a debate within the Indian society at large before arriving at any decision,” said Sidharth Nath Singh, spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

An Indian court is due to give its judgment on a petition filed by a nonprofit group that has challenged the anti-gay provision of the penal code.

In a news conference last week, Moily refused to spell out his government’s stand on it because it awaits judicial determination. But his comments that the federal home minister was “contemplating” a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues on the law drew widespread coverage in the largely conservative country.

“Hope floats at rainbow parades,” read a caption on a front-page picture from a gay parade in New Delhi in Monday’s Times of India newspaper.

Participants in that march demanded repeal of Section 377 of the penal code, which criminalizes private consensual sex between adults of the same gender in the country. Watch a New Delhi march in support of gay rights »

Religious leaders, however, oppose any suggestion to scrap 377, describing homosexuality as “unnatural.”

“We are against calling homosexuality a criminal activity, but we are certainly in principle against legalizing it, because that would mean the state endorsing same-sex relationships,” said Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

Homosexuality “violates fundamental norms of a family,” he said.

See India faith leaders: Anti-gay law must stay CNN International

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Judge Declines to Stay Law on Gay Marriage

A Superior Court judge decided yesterday not to delay enactment of a law stipulating that the D.C. government will recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

Judge Judith E. Retchin ruled that she would not a grant a stay preventing the law from taking effect Monday, as requested by opponents. However, the effective date is likely to be delayed by the need for congressional approval. Attorneys for the group said they needed more time to research and argue their position before the law takes effect.

Opponents, led by Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, and seven other D.C. voters want a referendum on the issue, but the D.C. elections board said that would be illegal under the District’s Human Rights Act.

Although Retchin decided against delaying the law’s enactment, she said opponents could seek to amend the law after the marriage provision takes effect.

See Judge Declines to Stay Law on Gay Marriage

Washington Post

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Activists welcome Delhi hc’s gay verdict

Gay support groups of Vadodara have welcomed the Delhi High Court’s verdict that decriminalised homosexual relations.

They said the judgment will help solve health issues

such as HIV/AIDS, adding that the abolition of

Section 377 for adults shall also solve several ailments among the weaker segments of society.

Maya Sharma, Parma’s Founder trustee, said: “This judgment is indicative of the changing values of society and will enable further change. Generally, this movement has been seen as western, but in reality, this change would not have been possible without support and participation of people cutting across the religion, caste and age lines.”

Pointing out what kind of legal challenges women have faced recently in the state, Sharma said: “While marriage is almost compulsory for all, when it comes to women, there was a complete lack of choice. Recently in Ahmedabad, a same-sex couple went to the police for help only to be turned away because there was no provision for protection of a woman having a woman partner.”

See Activists welcome Delhi hc’s gay verdict

Indian Express

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Delhi HC verdict on panel provision of gay sex likely Toda

See

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court is likely to pronounce its verdict tomorrow on the controversial penal provision on homosexuality even as the government is grappling with the option to scrap it from the statute.

A bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar had reserved its order on November 7 last year after marathon proceedings in which the government had vociferously opposed scrapping of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which prescribes punishment upto life imprisonment for indulging in unnatural sexual acts.

Before the judgement was reserved, the Ministries concerned with the issue in the previous UPA government had unanimously described homosexuality as “the most indecent behaviour” in society.

The Centre had submitted that gay sex is immoral and reflection of a perverse mind and its decriminalisation would lead to moral degradation of society.

“Every citizen has the right to lead a decent and moral life in society and the right would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised in the country,” the government had contended adding allowing gay sex would pose a health hazard to society.

The Centre had said that homosexuals comprise only 0.3 per cent of the population and the right of rest 99.7 per cent of the population to lead a decent and moral life in society would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised. See Delhi HC verdict on panel provision of gay sex likely tomorrow

SamayLive

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Gates Plan May Be Beginning of the End of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Pentagon Studies Ways to Relax Enforcement as First Step; Impact on Troops Would be Minimal

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In the wake of yesterday’s unexpected Pentagon announcement about gays in the military, experts say the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy may be on the brink of irreversible change that would speed up its demise. After speaking with President Obama last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked military lawyers to explore how to modify enforcement of the policy in ways that are “more flexible until the law is changed.” The President Monday reiterated his intention to end discrimination against gay troops, saying he is working with Congress and the military to do so.

Christopher Neff, political director of the Palm Center, said the remarks by Secretary Gates marked the first time the Defense Secretary has made clear that the Pentagon is onboard with the President’s determination to lift the ban. “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is a package — both a law and a policy — that hasn’t been penetrated for fifteen years,” Neff said. “This is a crack in humpty dumpty, and it gets the ball rolling for a political solution since it gives cover to lawmakers who have been waiting for a nod from the Pentagon.”

Neff said that even a small change in how “don’t ask, don’t tell” is enforced could represent a seismic political shift, even if it does not have a substantial operational impact on most gay troops, who would still be subject to discharge. If the military stops applying certain provisions of the policy, as Gates says it is considering, it would send a signal to Congress about the inevitability of change. “That’s why executive action is the key to unlocking the political stalemate,” said Neff. “Even the statements themselves, although they do await follow-up action, have changed the political landscape.”

Last month, the Palm Center published a report which outlined several legal and political rationales for executive branch discretion in regulating, and even halting, discharges provided for by federal statute. One of those rationales is closely linked to the new review announced by Secretary Gates. According to the Palm Center study, “the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy itself, as codified by Congress, also grants authority to the Department of Defense to determine the procedures under which investigations, separation proceedings, and other personnel actions under the authority of 10 U.S.C. Section 654 will be carried out … The Secretary of Defense has discretion to determine the specific manner in which ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will be implemented.” Prior to the release of the Palm Center’s report, most observers had assumed that only Congress or the federal courts end the firings of gay troops.

Amidst mounting public pressure, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said this week that he thought “don’t ask, don’t tell” would be repealed by the end of the President’s first term. Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center, said this week’s developments were politically significant. “Serious discussions have been launched by the President himself,” said Frank. “Obama has said this is a failed policy that harms national security, so these measures are not just fixes, but may be the beginning of the end.” Frank added that any regulatory changes that fall short of halting all discharges will be “window-dressing,” but he focused on the implications for further political change. “This means the hot potato party may finally be over, as the President understands where the buck stops.”

In the wake of this week’s developments, the Palm Center announced that it is preparing a more extensive legal analysis of administrative options for relaxing the application of certain provisions of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Neff said that the Defense Department should invite public input as the rules are re-drafted, which would be consistent with past processes when military regulations have been

changed. “This review should be no different,” he said.

Organizations and individuals who have endorsed or endorsed consideration of the use of executive action based on the legal theories outlined in the Palm Center’s study include Secretary Gates, 77 members of Congress, the New York Times editorial page, Center for American Progress, Human Rights Campaign, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker, the political consultant Robert Shrum, and former White House aide Richard Socarides.

The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.

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Public Outcry Kills Anchorage Gay Protections

An Anchorage, Alaska gay protections bill is likely doomed as public sentiment turns sour, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Hundreds of opponents appeared to testify against the bill at a Wednesday Anchorage Assembly hearing on the issue.

The bill would protect gay men and lesbians from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and credit. An original draft included transgendered persons, but lawmakers cut out the provision amid loud protest.

Opponents’ demands have resulted in three drafts of the ordinance, including one that turns the protections on their head. That version would allow discrimination based on sexual orientation, while protecting other classes.

“The added language in the third version guts the intent and the integrity of the ordinance,” said Jackie Buckley, spokeswoman for EqualityWorks, the group that lobbied for the gay protections.

But time is ticking as a new, unsympathetic mayor is about to be installed on July 1, Republican Mayor-elect Dan Sullivan. Sullivan, however, gains veto power over all ordinances seven days prior, on Wednesday.

As people continued to pile in to testify against the bill – nearly 600 people have signed up and only 300 have been heard – Anchorage Assembly Chairwoman Debbie Ossiander said Friday she will continue to allow testimony. The extension is likely to make it impossible to approve the bill before Sullivan gains veto control. Acting Mayor Matt Claman, a Democrat, supports the measure.

See Public Outcry Kills Anchorage Gay Protections On Top Magazine

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