South Dakota Bans Sexual Discrimination

Source: http://gay-rights-law.suite101.com

The North Dakota Senate passes a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, public accommodations, housing, state and local government services, insurance and credit transactions. This legal acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community comes in the wake of the state government's attacks on a woman's right to choose.

On February 19, 2009, the Senate voted 27-19 to pass Bill 2278, which adds sexual orientation, defined as "actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression," to the list of classes protected under existing North Dakota anti-discrimination laws. Current classes include race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, and status of public assistance. The bill will now move to the House of Representatives for review.

Most states do not include sexual orientation or gender identity in the classes protected from discrimination. According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, by July 2008 there were seven states that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

But while discrimination is illegal, North Dakota still does not have a law classifying crimes committed based on sexual orientation or gender identity as hate crimes. As of July 2008, Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia lacked hate crime laws to include sexual orientation or sexual identity. Five other states lack hate crimes based on any characteristics. But the majority of states - 31 states and the District of Columbia - do have hate crime laws to include sexual orientation although only eleven and the District of Columbia include gender identity. So while North Dakota is moving ahead of the nation in anti-discrimination laws, it still falls behind in protecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community from violence and crime.

Saying No to Bans on Gay-Straight Alliances

Source: www.lezgetreal.com

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has filed a federal lawsuit against the Nassau County (Fla.) School Board on Feb. 10, after school administrators denied students permission to form Gay-Straight Alliances at Yulee High School and Yulee Middle School.

In a letter denying access to the group, the board’s superintendent said that groups with names referencing a sexual orientation would not be recognized and that even if the group changed its name to one not communicating a gay-specific mission, approval was uncertain.

The ACLU lawsuit is alleging violations of the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act, and seeks a preliminary injunction to force school officials to allow the GSA to meet at Yulee High School while the litigation makes its way to trial.
The ACLU of Florida recently won an analogous federal case after Okeechobee High School refused to allow a GSA group to meet. The Okeechobee County School Board ended up paying $326,000 in attorneys’ fees.

“Gay and lesbian students deserve schools that heed the rule of law,” said Robert Rosenwald, director of the ACLU of Florida’s LGBT Advocacy Project. “These students are trying to bring a message of equality and openness, and the lesson they are being taught is that Yulee High School administrators believe discrimination against LGBT students is an acceptable policy.”

The federal Equal Access Act requires schools to grant access and recognition to a GSA — and most other student groups — if the school allows any extracurricular groups to meet on campus, which both Yulee schools do. There are more than 4,000 GSAs in the U.S.

My comment: Besides the question of flouting the rule of the law, which this article clearly points out, the issue of clamping down on open debate is also at stake. As a teacher, I have seen this happen far too often, even in colleges. Administrators fear for their lives when teachers try to engage their students in frank discussions of thorny or touchy subjects, sexuality included. Schools sometimes seem to prefer that their students live under coconut shells, and never embrace the world as their oyster. It's all so archaic, so backward looking. Without open debate, modernity is stymied, and progress dies. So come on--give your youngsters the power of knowledge.

The Misgivings of Reading Sexy Books

Source: Associated Press, February 19, 2009

TOPEKA | The Topeka Shawnee County Library Board of Trustees has voted to restrict access to four books about sex.

The 5-3 vote came Thursday after the board heard more than two hours of testimony and discussion. The board had moved its regular meeting to a bigger room for the public hearing because of the interest in the issue.

The board took up the issue after Kim Borchers and her group "Kansans for Common Sense" requested that the books should be taken off the public shelves and available only by request from an adult.

The books are The Joy of Sex, The Joy of Gay Sex, Sex for Busy People, and the Lesbian Kama Sutra.

The board left the decision on how to restrict access to the books to the library staff.

The above news does not surprise me. Having lived in the Land of Dorothy, I know that public libraries are site of conservatism. I recall some years ago teaching "Sex in America," a course on heterosexuality and homosexuality and everything else in between. The course was offered by a public university but taught at a local public library, as part of a larger outreach program of the said university. A firestorm broke out. The library administration balked at me teaching such a course even though the enrollment was restricted to enrolled college students. Dare I say more here?

ACLU Sues FLorida School District Over Gay-Straight Alliance

Illustration courtesy of www.raider.muc.edu

"The ACLU of Florida has sued the Nassau County school district today, contending that administrators illegally barred students from establishing a Gay-Straight Alliance at Yulee High and Yulee Middle.

The group claims that Nassau superintendent John Ruis sent a letter stating that groups mentioning a specific sexual orientation would not be approved.

"We just want the club so that straight and gay kids can get together to talk about harassment and discrimination against gay kids in an open environment. The school is discriminating against us and that's exactly the kind of thing we want to talk about and prevent," student plaintiff Hannah Page said in a press release. "Other clubs and groups are allowed to meet on campus and we have that right too."

The ACLU recently fought and won a similar case in Okeechobee County. It also has been involved in gay rights issues in Holmes County. The issue is hot enough to keep the ACLU so busy that it set up a Tampa branch of its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advocacy Project over the summer to fight the battle statewide."

Source: tampabay.com, February 10, 2009

We often preach openness, tolerance, and most of all, freedom of speech. And yet we cannot allow gay adolescents discuss their sexual orientation or in the case of straight students, their thoughts on the subject matter. How can we achieve the goal of a harmonious, pluralistic society if we continue to sweep such a subject matter back into the closet? What kind of message are we sending to gay (and straight) kids? Will the cycle of hatred continue in the absence of mutual understanding? If nothing else, the rising rate of teen suicide (Click here for a related blog entry) should be pause for reflection.

When Rules Trump Decency Because Gay Love is Illegal

Photo courtesy of Miami Herald

"As her partner of 17 years slipped into a coma, Janice Langbehn pleaded with doctors and anyone who would listen to let her into the woman's hospital room.

Eight anguishing hours passed before Langbehn would be allowed into Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. By then, she could only say her final farewell as a priest performed the last rites on 39-year-old Lisa Marie Pond.

Jackson staffers advised Langbehn that she could not see Pond earlier because the hospital's visitation policy in cases of emergency was limited to immediate family and spouses -- not partners. In Florida, same-sex marriages or partnerships are not recognized. On Friday, two years after her partner's death, Langbehn and her attorneys were in federal court, claiming emotional distress and negligence in a suit they filed last June.

Jackson attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case on grounds that the hospital has no obligation to allow patients' visitors.

Following a hearing lasting more than an hour Friday, U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan said he would try to decide soon whether the case could proceed to trial. He gave no specific date."

Source: Miami Herald, Friday, February 6, 2009 (Click here for the entire article).

Such is the sad tale of a woman who only desired to be at the bedside of her partner. All this trauma was preventable. Only if this Sunshine State recognized at least domestic partnerships.

For me, love is a "beautiful thing," to borrow a cliche. So if this love is true and tried, then why not accord it the dignity it deserves? Why not offer it the recognition society claims bonds the relationship? And hasn't this woman--and countless of other gay couples in committed relationships--demonstrated that they do meet the obligations of such sanctified unions? Are we a better society if we allow such tragedies to play out?

Florida Bar Association Supports Overturning Gay Adoption Ban

In November, 2008 a Miami Circuit Court judge ruled that Florida’s decades-old ban on gays and lesbians adopting children is unconstitutional. Read here the Time magazine's coverage of this landmark decision.

Now, as attorneys prepare for the state’s appeal, the Florida Bar Association has decided to advocate for the pro-equality position. Nearly 80 percent of the association’s 52 board members took part in a vote last Friday to authorize an amicus brief in favor of the Miami court’s decision overturning the ban. Read here for full report on this vote.

Perhaps my gay friends in Florida, who have been dying to change diapers, and tolerate screams at ungodly hours, will finally get this wish come true in this auspicious, "bullish" year (Year of the Ox). All of us, regardless of our sexual orientation, should have the right to give up our freedoms and raise children. If they are willing to make sacrifices, who am I to say, or you to say, they should be denied that right, a right that can in turn bestow the blessings of love upon unwanted children?

My Storied Past, Part 1: From "Mak Nyah" in Asia to Gay in America

"In July 2006, one evening I was sitting in a car with another man in a public park, in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur. We were just talking, there was nothing sexual going on. This park is known among gay people as a place to hang out. We call it “lost world.” Around 10pm, a police patrol car with two police officers pulled up. I still remember that moment. I thought I was going to die. The officers were both Malay Muslims. They quickly approached the car and grabbed us. ONE officer dragged my companion about six to eight meters away. They pushed us each to opposite sides and quickly grabbed our IDs. They tried to force us to admit that we were doing something wrong so that they would have a reason to bring us back to the police station. I only had one thing in my mind there. I was so frightened. I thought that I am not going to see the morning tomorrow.
The police officers made us stand with our backs to them facing the car and put our hands on the car. We said we did nothing wrong. They said two men inside a car in a public park was already wrong. I said again to them, “We did nothing wrong.” One officer said, “Don’t lie to me. We all know what people are doing in the park at this hour.” I said, “Officer, I don’t know what you had the occasion to catch people doing in the park at this hour but I am telling you the truth.” I was afraid because I knew that if I admitted I was gay I would be in serious trouble. I tried to act regretful, hoping they would have some pity and soften up. I was praying that the officers would believe me."

This anecdotal account is excerpted from a long, unpublished essay written by Dr. Walter Williams, a leading scholar in gay studies. In this extended essay, Williams overviews the insidious influence of Islamic fundamentalism in Malaysia, the country of my birth.

Like the Chinese Malaysian gay man of the above story, I too am of Chinese descent. And like that man, I have always lived in fear. I have lived in fear of my identity--but only for few years, unlike this young man.

Coming out to myself in my late teens, I was at that time hundreds of miles away from home. Then in college, my new home was a touristy island and a place of trade exposed for centuries to cosmopolitan ideas. At times, that island of pristine beaches and stupendous vistas embodied my aspirations, as I fell in love over and over again.

Even later when I was banished to a rural area of obvious Islamic fundamentalism to teach high school, I feared nothing. Respected and beloved by my students of all faiths and creed, iI found solace in my vocation. And I found someone to care for--a father figure, a man of little formal schooling, but of much wisdom.

So how is it that this "Mak Nyah" (Malay derogatory term for transvestites, but also used broadly to apply to homosexuals) ended up in America? When did my fears begin?

That moment of epiphany seemed so distant, so hazy. And yet, Williams's essay prickled my subconscious. It vexed me.

For me, perhaps that moment was seeded by the prim and proper English instructor--a woman who had attended Oxford, a woman whose skirt was always of the polite length--of my undergraduate years. Somehow, I received the assignment of making a speech on the sodomy laws of Malaysia as part of the coursework in the Speech class. I resisted, she insisted. Such is the irony of life.

I do not remember the exact parameters of my fifteen-minute talk, but surely I must have covered some highlights of the said laws, and here I quote from Williams's essay again:

"In Malaysia’s Penal Code, Section 377, the sentence for conviction of sodomy is flogging, plus up to twenty years in prison. Victims are flogged with a section of bamboo that is split into several strips. When bamboo is split it has extremely sharp edges, which slice the skin like knives. Flogging is quite bloody, and leaves permanent scars. In addition to Section 337, just to prevent any homosexual from escaping conviction, Section 337A provides for a male to receive up to two years in prison for any act of “gross indecency with another male person.” This vague wording allows prosecution for any kind of erotic interaction between two males. This law is explicitly applied only to homosexual behavior among males, but lesbians also suffer discrimination."

I thought little of these laws--a young man caught up in the frenzy of tests, quizzes, and paper writing could scarcely have time to mull over such heady stuff. But such thoughts must have remain in my subconscious, and like what Thomas Jefferson said, they came back like "a fire bell in the night," filling "me with terror." They came back one unexpected day.

We Are Dumb, We Need Another Study on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Illustration courtesy of www.dannymiller.typepad.com

Apparently the Obama administration, according to one newspaper article , will be impaneling a commission to conduct a study of this longstanding policy on gays in the armed services. No doubt, there will be much more hand wringing before we get any kind of resolution to this dilemma. Not to mention more of the taxpayers' money going down the drain in a time of economic recession. Just what we need--more talk and less action.

Another article in the Huffington Post commenting on this proposed commission offers the following cogent comments:

"What we don't welcome -- what we strongly oppose -- is yet another "study," which is Washington-speak for saying "let's just kick this down the road a ways." Out of sight, out of mind. You see, we're for repeal but don't really want to take a public stand right now (or we're bigots but don't have the guts to say so, outright bigotry being pretty unfashionable these days). So let's appropriate money for a commission or a study, maybe both. We'll have to appoint some members. That alone could take months. Of course the commission will need a staff. And offices. It could easily take a year before they get down to actually studying the issue (that's already been studied to death). Eventually -- and it could be a very long "eventually" -- we may see a report, the most recent in a long line of reports that began in 1988. That's 21 years ago!

Let's be clear: a commission or a study group is not about change. That's business as usual. We do not need another report to tell us what we already know and what earlier reports have long since concluded: the sexual orientation of a service member is irrelevant. What is relevant is how well he or she does the job."

Until the administration lays down a new law and forces all military personnel to abide by a policy of integration, some quarters in the military will continue to protest. That is as certain as the sun rising in the east each day. For sure, attitudes sometimes are hard to change, but a good leader must lead, not follow.

Either this president has to have the guts to make a move that is in line with all of the major allies' policy of integration of GLBT people into the services, or he has none. Stop pussy footing. Stop dishonoring the services of gay personnel. Give them the respect they deserve. They are, after all, citizens of the US.

Dying Young: Nearly a Fifth Gays Tried Suicide

A recent study released by Ireland's Ministry for Health concluded that nearly a fifth of the respondents of this large-scale study (though the exact number of respondents was not reported) have attempted suicide. This inclination stems from their sexual identity and the "experiences of being abused and feeling isolated."

The study goes on make this startling revelation: 80 percent of the respondents reported as having been verbally abused due to their sexual identity and more than half had been bullied whilst in school. Some forty percent of them reported of having been threatened with physical violence. Click here for full article.

I find these findings quite alarming. One of the most recent studies for United States--sampling more than 2,800 interviewees--support the overall conclusions of that Irish study. More than one in five men have at least contemplated suicide. Twelve percent of the sample reported actual suicide attempts, and of this group, about 70 percent reported having tried to do so before age 25. Also, 45 percent of those who had attempted suicide had done so more than once.

The US study concluded that "gay and bisexual males—particularly younger gay and bisexual males—constitute a high-risk group for attempted suicide." And the risk factor for gays and bisexuals is much higher than that for the general population, and that risk is higher at a younger age since coming out among adolescents and youth exposes them to greater social stigmatization and hostility than at a later age. Click here here for full article.

Gays & Christ: "Save Me" (Film Review)

Like many other gay men, I have had a troubled relationship with organized religion. I grew up in a Buddhist family, attended Jesuit schools, and considered entering the seminary. Then for many years, I consciously divorced myself from religion of any kind. I chose the path of atheism. It is only in recent years that I returned to Christianity, and found a comfortable "place" in a gay-friendly local Episcopal church.

So when I saw this film on the shelves of a Blockbuster store, I hesitated. I hesitated not because I fear the subject matter per se, but because I feared the evocations of the past. I feared the haunting specter of guilt. It is a guilt born out of deception, deceit, and disparagement.

Like some gay men, I used religion to mask my insecurities, to hide my identity. Subconsciously, I rationalized Christ (or Buddha at other times in my life) loved me in spite of who I am, rather than for who I am. I found solace in religion, but in a deceptive, misleading way. It is only in recent years that I finally realized that God has always been within myself, and that his Grace is within my reach. And my gayness is a blessing, hardly a curse. My gayness is His Hand upon me.

This film, "Save Me" (2007, 96 mins.), reminds me of my personal journey of finding God and His meaning in my life. Filmed in New Mexico, which lends itself to sweeping vistas of open spaces and skies--evoking thus God's omnipresence and omnipotence--"Save Me" pivots around the life of Mark (played admirably by Chad Allen, who is an openly gay actor), a sex and drug addict. His brother, at the end of his wits, checks Mark into a low-key Christian retreat run by Gayle (Judith Light) and Ted (Steven Lang). The retreat's sole mission is to use spiritual guidance to cure its residents of their "gay disease." Brainwashing is far from its means, and in that respect, its mission is no different from other similar Christian centers devoted to the same mission.

Mark, predictably, struggles to fit into the retreat's modus operandi. Along the way, he befriends Scott (Robert Gant of Queer as Folk series fame) and soon, their relationship blossoms, that in turn, threatens the mission and its residents. And soon enough, they both have to confront their true identities. And interestingly enough, so does Gayle.

What this movie does well is its balanced, even handed treatment of both the residents and their guardians. It takes a sympathetic look at both sides of the divide. It never seeks to demonize any one side. Instead, it seeks to find a possible reconciliation between homosexuality and Christianity.

For a low-budget, art house type of movie, this production, filmed entirely within just two weeks, is a winner. Anchored by subtle acting on the part of all the major characters, the movie is moving, without being mushy or sentimental. I highly recommend it, regardless of your orientation or background.

THe Long Road to Gay Equality in Florida and Elsewhere

Just a few days ago, University of Tampa, a private university in Tampa, Florida, finally after a long, hard fought fifteen-year struggle by faculty and students alike, granted same-sex partner benefits to its employees. Read here for the full report.

The piece cited the following statistics:
"Other private universities, including Lynn, Nova Southeastern and the University of Miami, offer domestic partner benefits, as do approximately 80 percent of U.S. News & World Report’s top 50 colleges and more than half of Fortune 500 companies, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education." Many schools, both private and public, in Florida, however, still have their doors slammed shut to the idea of domestic partnership benefits.

For me, someone who lives in the Greater Tampa Bay area, it is no surprise that the struggle has been long and hard. And sometimes the struggle has been as simple, and yet as arduous, as convincing my young wards to listen to the other voices of our world.

Colleagues who teach in surrounding colleges often tell me that homophobia is still strong on campuses. I remember as a college teacher myself in this area, facing resistance from students who protested against a short story written by William Faulkner just because the author in passing mentioned that one of his character "liked men." Or take the time my students several years found a Walt Whitman poem, "Calvary Crossing the Ford," supposedly unacceptable because the poet paid homage to the bravado or masculinity of the men. The students' opposition in this case lies, I suspect, Whitman being a homosexual, rather than his elegy to these men's courage. I can also tell you the time when some students complained to the Dean about a poem by a lesbian writer who wrote passionately of the intersections, and triple oppressions, of race, gender, and sexuality. This was a poem that had to rely on profanity to make its pointed argument. And I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Today, after all what I deem to be unnecessary drama, I still am teaching that short story and poems, and many other so-called controversial writings. I still have the dream, that one day, our fears of the unknown, of the "Other," can somehow be put to rest, and that we will rise to greet the world.

"Gay" Advertisements from the 1930s

I received these images of advertisements from a friend of mine. No doubt, they would not grace our periodicals today. In these ads, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and sexual language screams at us. All these rhetorical devices are manipulated in the name of making a few more bucks. But whilst such blatant images and language may not appear anymore in our magazines and newspapers, yet more subtle ones still exist. Perhaps certain things never change. That said, have a few laughs!

End "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and You Get Gay Marriage, So Says Gay Marine Cum Porn Star

Image courtesy of http://diocuore.blogtownhall.com/2008/08/08/openly_homosexual_marines.thtml

Recently Religious Right organizations and other right-wing groups are making noise that President Obama will not only repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the armed services, but also, that any such repeal will be a "back door" to gay marriages. Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me.

For one thing, as one conservative gay journalist (yes, they do exist!) cum former marine cum former porn star (ok, your head might spin at this point) argues that the rank and file do not care about the "gay issue." It has no bearings on the morale or discipline within the services. Click here to read his arguments, which unfortunately, were forwarded to argue against repealing the existing policy. At least, he and I agree on the supporting premises, if not the conclusion!

Now consider the logic of repealing such a policy leading to the sanctioning and legalizing of gay marriages. Repealing such a policy requires an executive order that the president issues. But legalizing gay marriages requires at least the assent of the jurisprudence, as we have seen in recent years in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California. And it probably will demand a nationwide law in place such as those in countries as diverse as Spain, Mexico, and Canada that have embraced gay marriage or variations of it. Such a law has to pass in the US Congress.

So how can repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" lead to gay marriages? Perhaps the only impact such a repeal can have on the second hot button issue is in galvanizing support for gay marriages. But even then, trends in polling show that Americans are more and more against this military policy but still fairly stable in their opposition to gay marriages. So it is unlikely that Americans will be persuaded to see the ending of this policy as endorsement for gay marriages. I think Americans on the whole can see this military policy as unwise, irrational, and even downright silly but still balk at endorsing gay marriages. For one thing, the current policy undermines our readiness and sends the wrong signal to many of our allies that already accepted gays into the military whereas gay marriage is seen by many Americans as far more muddled since it has been demonized as the antithesis of the Judeo-Christian paradigm of the nuclear family.

When Bigotry Trumps Rationalism

By now, I am sure many of you who live in the Greater Tampa Bay area know of the controversy surrounding Kevin Beckner, the first term Hillsborough County Commissioner, and an openly gay man. Perhaps naively, he suggested that the county commission a study of the possibility of expanding health insurance to LGBT partners of county employees, provided it did not cost more. Before you know it, a firestorm had broken out. To read all the specifics of this controversy, click HERE

I believe that common sense had failed to prevail here. If for some reason the proposed idea will cost the county more money, then obviously the whole proposal is moot. But if it does not, then there is a possibility that the overall cost per employee could actually drop if more people are being insured.

Unfortunately hysteria, homophobia, and hyperbole prevailed in this case. And the end result is predictable: A good idea fell to the wayside because of overreaction on the part of the Religious Right and their followers.

Logic and common sense have no place in local governance, or so it seems.

Hate Crimes in Tampa

The article below reminds me once again how life in Tampa at times can be such a challenge. Though there are plenty of pockets of progressivism, hate is never too far away. I saw that a lot of times in my own classrooms, though in a less virulent manner.

Tampa logs 13 hate crimes for '07, most in state

Tampa leads the state in the number of reported hate crimes, according to an annual report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said that while Tampa's number may seem high compared with other agencies, it is more indicative of the agency's sensitivity to the issue of hate-motivated crime. "We have a very aggressive policy that we report all possible and borderline hate crimes," she said. In 2007, Tampa police investigated 13 crimes they thought fit the description of having "evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity," in accordance with the 1990 Hate Crimes Statistic Act that requires such annual reporting.

Click here for full article.

Adoption & Marriage: Gay Demonization Continues

The excerpt from a US News & World Report article reminds me why living in Florida, notwithstanding its sandy beaches and year-round pleasant weather (minus the hurricanes of course!), can be such a torment for motherly or fatherly inclined gays. Never mind the thousands of kids anxiously awaiting to be adopted by loving gays. And never mind that these children would be shuttled from one foster parent to another if they don't get adopted. And who cares about the psychological trauma inflicted on these formative minds as they struggle to comprehend the never-ending rupture of family bonds. After all, saving "family values" is more important than what happens to these innocent, unwanted children.

Emerging Gay Adoption Fight Shares Battle Lines of Same-Sex Marriage Debate
By Amanda Ruggeri
Posted October 31, 2008
In less than a month, two little boys in Miami will learn if their foster father can become their adopted dad—or if they'll continue to be wards of the state. Frank Martin Gill has fostered the two since 2004, but his petition to adopt them has turned into an emotional court battle. In a worst-case scenario, they could be removed from his home. The hitch? His homosexuality, which, according to a 1977 state law, prohibits him from adopting children.

While Florida allows gay individuals to become foster parents, it is the only state to explicitly ban them from adopting. Even so, it's hardly alone in attempting to restrict placements to more "traditional" families. Mississippi bars same-sex couples from adopting. Utah prohibits both adoption and fostering by unmarried partners who live together, a de facto ban for gay couples. And in Arkansas, conservatives got the 61,794 signatures needed for a ballot initiative in November on a law like Utah's.

Gay adoption hasn't sparked a full-blown culture war—yet. The private nature of the process and piecemeal adoption laws have allowed it to be overshadowed by its hot-button cousin, same-sex marriage. But across the country, the issue is bubbling up. From courtrooms in Florida to the Arkansas ballot to the Tennessee legislature, gay rights advocates and conservative family values groups are fighting it out.

Click here to read the full article.

Amendment 2 Can Challenge Domestic Partnerships

This article appeared on the website of the local PBS station, WUSF, which is affiliated with University of South Florida. It clearly reminds all of us why this amendment must be defeated--it simply not only cut offs any possibility of gay marriage coming into being, but also will challenge existing domestic partnerships in Florida.


TAMPA (2008-10-30) Amendment 2's backers say it's about two things: defining marriage and prohibiting gay-marriage.

However, the amendment's critics say it's about one thing: dismantling domestic partnerships.

Currently, gay marriage is legal in two states, California and Massachusetts. On October 28th, Connecticut is set to become the third. That leaves 47 states where it is illegal. However, in many of those states, like Florida, there exist alternative legal relationships called domestic partnerships. They provide legal rights and benefits to those who cannot or choose not to marry.

Amendment 2 reads as follows: "This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

It's that second clause... "no other legal union treated as marriage" or its "substantial equivalent," that some see as a veiled reference to domestic partnerships.

Click herefor full article.

Police & "Fag-Bashing"

The brutality and homophobia displayed by the police in America since its founding is well known. The GLBT community is a "thorn" on the side of enforcement officials. It is an easy target. See the article below which, first, explains what happened recently in Johnson City, Tennessee following a sex sting operation and second, contextualizes the unfair treatment within the past history of LGBT-police relationships, including that in Tampa Bay.


From Lambda Legal
‘In America, the police do not get to add an extra punishment to people they don’t like.’
(Johnson City, Tennessee, September 30, 2008) — Today Lambda Legal is filing a federal lawsuit in Tennessee on behalf of Kenneth Giles against Johnson City and its police chief. The lawsuit centers on the fact that the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD), in a highly unusual action for that Department, released photos of Giles and 39 other men who were arrested in a public sex sting operation.
“In America, the police do not get to add an extra punishment to people they don’t like,” said Greg Nevins, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. “They also do not get to ignore the principle of innocent until proven guilty. The JCPD went out of its way to humiliate Mr. Giles and caused irreparable damage.”
On October 1, 2007 the JCPD issued a press release, personally approved by the police chief, that included photos that were taken at the scene where 40 men, including Mr. Giles, were arrested in a public sex sting. The local news ran the story prominently along with the pictures and addresses of the men involved. Lambda Legal reviewed the police department’s press releases for over a period of a year and found that out of approximately 600 other releases, none pertaining to arrests was accompanied by photos or personally approved by the chief. Of the 40 arrested, one man has committed suicide, and several others have lost their jobs, including Kenneth Giles, who was fired from his job as a nurse at the VA hospital.
“I don’t understand how the police department can release photos of one group and not any others,” said Kenneth Giles. “I lost my livelihood because my arrest was treated differently.” ...

Police in Miami Beach admitted to a similar practice, with the Miami Beach police chief that his force would “harass” gay men “and let them know in no uncertain terms that they are unwelcome on Miami Beach.” One, Vol. II, No. 1 (Jan. 1954), p. 19.
The Vice Squad director in Tampa confessed in almost verbatim words that this also was true in his jurisdiction; One, Vol. IX, No. 12, p. 9 (Dec. 1961) (the “harassment routine . . . will continue until we’re sure these people know without a doubt they are not wanted in Tampa.”). One incident reflected the Tampa police department’s hostility toward lesbians, in addition to gay men. There, the police held twelve women without charge on “general investigation,’ to be fingerprinted, questioned, and subjected to mug shots. If their records are clean, said the vice chief, ‘We’ll have to let them go for now, but we’re going to keep after them until we run them out of town.’” One, Vol. V, No. 8 (Oct.-Nov. 1957), p. 19.


Click here for full article.

The Hate Legacy of Anita Bryant

Below is an excerpt from an article by United Press International. It reminds me of how draconian and mean-spirited the Florida law is toward not only gay parents, but also the children they hope to adopt. Thousands of foster children await adoption, many of them of a racial background that white heterosexuals sometimes do not care to adopt for cultural (and possibly racist) reasons. Gay men and women are willing and able to adopt many of these unwanted children and give them a loving home. So why deny them of a life-affirming upbringing? Of course, all this began in the 1970s when that infamous Anita Bryant, the singer, led a Religious Right movement to overturn anti-discrimination laws in this state that were designed to protect the civil rights of gays. This same fanatical movement unwittingly reignited the gay liberation movement across this country, a phenomena that is depicted in the new film, Milk starring Sean Pean. The film is set for worldwide release on December 5, though it has already began running on the west coast.

MIAMI, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Supporters of gay adoptions are awaiting the decision of a Miami court that might provide a means of overturning a state law preventing gays from adopting. Under Florida law, gays and lesbians can be state-appointed foster parents or permanent guardians but cannot be adoptive parents.

Some states like Mississippi and Utah prevent unmarried couples from adopting but Florida statute 63.042 states: "No person eligible under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual."

The Florida case awaiting a court ruling involves Frank Martin Gill who seeks court approval to adopt his two foster sons.

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Down Low: "Cover" (Film Review)

Cover by director Bill Dukes (who made A Rage in Harlem), a movie about lies, betrayal, and infidelity, promises a lot in its promotional material, but falls a little short on delivery. That said, the flick is not unworthy of your viewing time. The second half, after a plodding first half, captured my attention, and kept me watching to the very end.

The plot is somewhat predictable. Valerie Haas, a black woman, is a devout churchgoer married to a psychiatrist, Dutch. Predictably, Dutch is ambivalent about churchgoing, which feeds into the stereotype of gay men who have an "issue" with religion. Dutch also has a former female fling who refuses to give up on him, or so it seems. Valerie gets jealous, as you might expect. She herself has more than one challenge on her hands. A well-known singer with a "gangster" persona and oversexed drive is hot on her heels.

All those disparate parts get tied in at Valerie's weekly women's meetings (one of the women is played by R&B singer and gay icon, Patti LaBelle) at the church. A lone black gay man joins the group, and soon the movie moves in the direction of dissecting the well-known, but secretive, phenomena, the "down-low" culture of black men. The movie is at its best when it raises tough questions on down-low men. The movie acknowledges that the black community's ostracization of gay men has shaped this underground subculture, but it also places some of the burden on personal responsibility.

Then Valerie is charged by an overly ambitious district attorney with the murder of that male singer--a turning point event that seems irrelevant to the marital problems that Dutch and Valerie face. But through flashbacks, we learned of how the small pieces of this puzzle fit together. And the final twist will surprise most viewers.

The acting in this film is uneven. Often, the actors engage in hsyterogenic reactions. Nuanced acting is inconsistent in this film. Raz Adoti, as Dutch, however, turns in a fairly engaging performance. So does vetaran actor Lou Gossett Jr. as the sympathetic detective who interrogates Valerie. Aunjanue Ellis as Valerie, however, could have toned down her hyperbole.

The movie is PG-13 (which means there there is very little skin!) and runs for about 90 minutes. Watch this film after you have watched the DL Chronicles series from HereTV, the gay cable channel. DL Chronicles is far more thoughtful and provocative than Cover. And yes, it has more skin! You can find both the film and series at your local Blockbuster and Hollywood Videos stores.