Compiled by Dawn Wolfe
Family Rights:
Woman challenges order against 'homophobic' comments
DENVER, Co. – A court order barring a woman from exposing her adoptive daughter to anything homophobic after the woman left a lesbian relationship should be overturned because it is so vague it could require her to black out portions of the Bible, her lawyer argued in court Tuesday. The order unfairly limits Cheryl Clark's parental right to raise her 9-year-old daughter as a Christian, attorney James Rouse told a three-judge panel of the state appeals court. The judges did not immediately issue a ruling. Clark, a psychiatrist, raised her daughter with her former partner Elsey McLeod, a psychologist, until converting to Christianity and leaving the relationship 2 1/2 years later. After the couple split up, a Denver District ordered Clark to share custody with McLeod because the girl saw both women as parents. He gave Clark sole responsibility for the girl's upbringing, including religious instruction, but told her not to expose her to anything "homophobic." McLeod's lawyer said the order was designed only to protect McLeod's relationship with the child, and said divorcing husbands and wives are told not to disparage each other in front of their children. But Rouse said the order can be interpreted as anything from not saying anything bad about homosexuals – something Clark insists she won't do – to teaching against homosexuality. Clark has gotten the backing of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group which challenged San Francisco's decision to allow equal marriage rights. The judge's order led to an unsuccessful attempt to impeach him in the Legislature, but lawmakers said the judge apparently ruled in the best interests of the girl in an unusual case.
Colorodo State University staff fight for equal benefits
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For the fourth time in a decade, CSU faculty and staff are urging the school to offer benefits to employees' domestic partners, including same-sex partners. Faculty and staff at CSU have passed a resolution seeking benefits for partners who share an exclusive, committed relationship with a university employee. Faculty at CSU-Pueblo have passed a similar resolution. The University of Colorado already offers similar benefits. At CSU, the Benefits Committee asked the administration to adopt domestic-partner benefits in 1995, 2000 and 2001, but the proposals never made it to the CSU Board of Governors.
Randy McCrillis, director of GLBT Student Services at CSU, said 14 CSU employees have said they would use domestic-partner benefits. Employees would pay the full cost of premiums to cover their partners. Two previous faculty and administrative staff surveys have shown most support domestic-partner benefits.
Law:
Kansas Supreme Court to hear ACLU appeal
TOPEKA, KS – The state supreme court has agreed to consider the ACLU's appeal on behalf of a gay teenager who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for consensual oral sex. Matthew Limon has already been in prison for four years and three months – three and a half times longer than the maximum sentence he would have received if he were heterosexual.
In February of 2000, Limon and another male teenager were both students at the same school for developmentally disabled youth. A week after Limon turned 18, he performed consensual oral sex on the other teenager, who was nearly 15. Limon was convicted under Kansas' "Romeo and Juliet" law, which gives much lighter sentences to heterosexual teenagers who have sex with younger teens, but specifically excludes gay teenagers.
This is the second time that his case has been sent to the Kansas Supreme Court for review. The first time, in July of 2002, the court refused to consider Limon's case and the ACLU asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear it. The High Court sent the case back to a Kansas appeals court, ordering it to reconsider in light of its decision last summer in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down same-sex-only sodomy laws. In Jan. the appeals court again upheld Limon's conviction. The earliest that the state Supreme Court is likely to hear arguments in the case will be in Aug.
Under the Kansas law, consensual oral sex between two teens is a lesser crime if the younger teenager is 14 to 16 years old, if the older teenager is under 19, if the age difference is less than four years, if the sex is consensual, if there are no third parties involved, and if the two teenagers "are members of the opposite sex."
Suits filed against jailers in jailhouse rapes of transgenders
SACRAMENTO, CA – When Kelly McAllister was arrested and convicted of assaulting a neighbor during an argument, she knew she would be spending some time in jail. What she didn't know was that she would be subject to humiliation, rape, and concern for her physical safety perpetrated and facilitated by her jailers.
At the beginning of April, her attorney filed four separate civil suits against the Sacramento County Sheriff's Dept. and County Sheriff Lou Blanas. The suits allege the four transgendered plaintiffs, McAllister, Jackie Tates, Raymond Sanders and America Tejada, were used as sex partners for prisoners in the jail in exchange for good behavior.
The charges allege that deputies were complicit in allowing access to inmates to rape the transgendered prisoners, with the knowledge that the men intended to brutalize and rape them.
In addition, these pre-operative male-to-female transsexual women were subject to frequent verbal and psychological assaults from guard and inmates, denial or improper administration of prescribed hormone medications, as well as being denied the issuance of bras and made to walk bare-chested in front of other inmates and guards. While assigned to total separation from other inmates because of their transgender statuses, guards in charge routinely ignored the classification as well as the mandated regulations that forbid housing such prisoners with the general population of male inmates.
This same jail has been scrutinized before, prompting a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner, who admonished the County Sheriff's Dept. not to mistreat or to deny transgenders the benefits available to other inmates. The case that prompted the decision made no mention or allegations of sexual assault.
NGLTF and Woodhull Freedom Foundation to study U.S. sex laws
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation Federation announced May 28 the launch of a joint project to analyze sex laws throughout the U.S. The project will serve a dual purpose – to educate Americans about the prevalence and abuse of antiquated and unjust sex laws in the nation, and to give grassroots activists policy and organizing tools to work to change these laws.
The laws which the project will address range from the archaic – like Michigan's law prohibiting unmarried people from having sex and living together – to the grossly unjust – like Kansas' differing age of consent laws based on the gender of the persons involved – as well as those addressing valid public policy concerns – like laws against public lewdness, that are routinely misused to persecute and prosecute people who participate in non-traditional forms of sexual expression.
Federal court ruling asserts protection for transsexual employees
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal court ruling June 1 asserted that transsexual employees are protected against workplace discrimination under existing law. In Smith v. City of Salem, Ohio, et al, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – which covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee – ruled that Title VII protects transsexuals and that the sex-stereotyping doctrine covers people who change their sex, marking the first such ruling by a federal appeals court.
Historically, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has not been interpreted to cover transgender people. However, most of those cases were decided before 1989's Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins – the first Supreme Court case to conclude that Title VII prohibited sex stereotyping.
Jurors begin deliberating transgender killing case
A prosecutor wrapped up his case against three men accused of killing a transgender teen with a withering assessment of the defendants, saying their "pathetic" self images, not sexual fraud, led to the death.
Defense attorneys for two of the three men charged in the killing have argued it was manslaughter, not murder. They say the attack was not premeditated and occurred in an emotional explosion touched off by sexual fraud.
But the prosecutor rejected that theory as he made his final summation before the jury got the case June 3. Jurors retired without reaching a verdict and were expected to continue deliberations June 7.
HRC criticizes Office of Special Counsel's failure to fully protect federal employees from discrimination
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Human Rights Campaign criticized the Office of Special Counsel for its failure to fully reinstate protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Following pressure from HRC, Federal GLOBE and several members of Congress, the agency issued a press release in April asserting that "[i]t is the policy of this Administration that discrimination in the federal workforce on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited." However, the non-discrimination directives have not yet been restored on the agency's website and several OSC actions since April have sparked concern among federal employees.
The OSC – the federal agency responsible for investigating workplace discrimination – has reportedly ordered all discrimination complaints to be assigned to political appointees, instead of career employees. The agency has also issued a "gag" order preventing OSC staff from discussing its non-discrimination policy.
Several members of Congress sent a letter to OSC Special Counsel Scott Bloch on June 1 about the lack of evidence that the OSC has genuinely reversed its policy of ignoring the rights of gay, lesbian and bisexual federal employees. The Congresspersons requested a response from Mr. Bloch by June 8, 2004.
Politics:
Religious groups oppose federal marriage amendment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A diverse array of national religious groups representing millions of Americans has joined forces to oppose the drive to add a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In a letter sent to Congress June 3, more than two dozen denominations and other religious groups called for the defeat of the proposed "Federal Marriage Amendment" (FMA). The amendment, ardently sought by Religious Right organizations, limits marriage to "the union of a man and woman," thus outlawing marriages between same-sex couples. Religious groups signing the opposition letter argue that the amendment would jeopardize religious liberty by taking the view of marriage favored by some denominations and writing that into law.
"It is not the task of our government and elected representatives to enshrine in our laws the religious point of view of any one faith," the letter reads. "Rather, our government should dedicate itself to protecting the rights of all citizens and all faiths."
The letter, signed by 26 groups, concludes, "We strongly believe that Congress must continue to protect the nation's fundamental religious freedoms and continue to protect our nation's bedrock principle of respecting religious pluralism. Congress should soundly reject any attempt to enshrine into the Constitution a particular religious viewpoint on a matter of such fundamental religious importance."
Religion:
Canadian church affirms same-sex unions
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario – The Anglican Church of Canada approved a measure June 3 to "affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships." The move stops short of authorizing dioceses to hold same-sex blessing ceremonies but is still likely to complicate efforts aimed at unifying the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. The worldwide Anglican body is deeply divided over homosexuality. Delegates to a national church meeting handed the victory to supporters of gays and lesbians as a consolation prize the morning after they voted to delay any national go-ahead on church blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples till 2007 and possibly 2010.
Episcopal Church holding together a year after gay bishop elected
A year after the election of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, the church remains intact – splintered but not split. Most Episcopalians have stuck with their church and a dissident network of conservatives is growing more slowly than its founders hoped. But the fallout and tension continues, particularly overseas, with worldwide Anglican unity in doubt.
The rift over homosexuality exploded last June 7, when the Diocese of New Hampshire elected V. Gene Robinson as bishop. Robinson, who lives openly with his longtime male partner, endured a tumultuous national confirmation process two months later and is now installed in his post.
Conservatives warned of schism as protests poured in from evangelical leaders in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a global association of churches that includes America's Episcopal Church.
But the U.S. denomination, with 2.3 million members, is far from breaking apart. Just seven of the 107 Episcopal dioceses, and less than 70 of the 6,800 congregations in other dioceses, have joined the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, which conservatives formed six months ago as a "church within a church" opposing denominational leaders. At least two more dioceses are expected to vote on affiliating this year, but several evangelical bishops are reluctant to join while their parishioners are divided on the issue, conservative leaders say.
Robinson's elevation strained Episcopal ties with Roman Catholics and the Russian Orthodox, but relations have improved since then, said the Rev. Robert Wright, the top Episcopal consultant on ecumenical outreach.
Income overall to the national church will likely drop by a few million dollars, but some dioceses and parishes planned to give slightly more than expected to the denomination – easing the damage from those that withheld money in protest, church spokesman Dan England said. The financial outlook is worse in a dozen or so dioceses where opponents of ordaining gays held back substantial donations.
Still, the crisis is nowhere near resolved, as the international Anglican situation indicates. Leaders from 22 of the 38 Anglican provinces have denounced Episcopalians for consecrating Robinson, saying the Bible bans gay sex. The intensity of their complaints prompted the Anglican spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, to call an emergency summit and form a commission on how the communion can remain unified.
In April, some Anglican leaders from African provinces were so infuriated they opted to refuse donations from the U.S. church. So far, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria have declined their annual stipend from Episcopal national headquarters, England said. However, American money continues to flow to these provinces from other sources, such as dioceses. Support from overseas primates has also lent stature to the U.S. network, even as it struggles to build support at home. When the emergency commission holds a private meeting in the United States next week, both the network's leader and the head of the church will address the panel. Conservatives hope that the commission report, due this fall, will recommend some action that will boost the network's standing.
