Category: Civil Rights

Texans Fight for Gay Divorce

October 1, 2009
AmericaCivil RightsGLBTLegal
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Now I’ve pretty much heard everything.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A Texas judge has cleared the way for two Dallas men to get a divorce, ruling that Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional guarantee to equal protection under the law.

District Judge Tena Callahan’s ruled Thursday that the court “has jurisdiction to hear a suit for divorce filed by persons legally married in another jurisdiction.”

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has argued that because the state doesn’t recognize gay marriage, its courts can’t dissolve one through divorce. Voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2005.

Abbott says he’ll appeal the ruling.

You gotta love the law.  Now the haters are confounded.

Only in America.

I’m really intrigued by this ruling.  If the case proceeds, Texas will have to allow that these two men were legally married in another jurisdiction.

Ha.  Ha.

As Craig Ferguson says, “It’s a great day for America, everybody!”

Would Senator Schumer Consider Thomas Paine an Unpaid Journalist?

September 28, 2009
AmericaCivil LibertiesCivil RightsCongressConstitutionDemocratic NewsEthicsSupreme Court
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Disturbing news for bloggers out of Washington, D.C. today.

Okay, so why is today any different from any other day?

From Andrew LaVallee at the Wall Street Journal:

A recent amendment to the federal shield bill being considered in the Senate will exclude non-”salaried” journalists and bloggers from the proposed law’s protections.

The law, called the Free Flow of Information Act, is intended to prevent journalists from being forced to divulge confidential sources, except in cases such as witnessing crimes or acts of terrorism. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) last week, limits the definition of a journalist to one who “obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity–

a. that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means; and

b. that—

1. publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;

2. operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;

3. operates a programming service; or

4. operates a news agency or wire service.”

As an unpaid blogger — according to this definition — let me say this: government should not have the right to define what is and is not “the press.”  If a resident of any town wants to sit down with a word processing program and print the news on 8.5″ x 11″ and become the next town crier, how can Washington say this journalistic neophyte is not legit?

The government cannot do this.  The government must not take this step.  Schumer is wrong. If this amendment does pass, the Supremes would be well advised to declare it unconstitutional.

Why?  Consider this…

What would Chuck Schumer have done with Thomas Paine? Would Schumer first have to consider if Paine was paid for Common Sense?  Would he conclude that Paine was just an independent blogger, you know, throwing his opinion around?

Would Chuck Schumer be the guy turning Thomas Paine over to the British?

You gotta wonder.

Cross-Dressers Must Show ID at Elk Grove Gay Bar

September 21, 2009
ChicagolandCivil RightsConstitutionGLBTIllinoisLegal
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Now here’s something you don’t see every day – a gay bar that might be facing a discrimination complaint from the ACLU.

From the Chicago Tribune:

An Elk Grove Village gay bar popular with cross-dressers now requires them to show a valid photo ID that matches their “gender presentation.” Put another way, they now need a photo ID that shows them in drag.

Hunters Nightclub reluctantly imposed its new ID requirement because cross-dressing prostitutes were advertising on Craigslist and mentioning the establishment, said manager Peter Landorf.

“They’re implying they’re coming here,” said Landorf, whose new rule could cut down on his cross-dressing clientele. “If it is prostitution in any form, that could cost me my liquor license.”

So cross-dressers must show a government-issued photo ID that shows them in drag.  Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said this could be discriminatory.

“The fact is, if they are only requiring this of cross-dressers, that would be problematic because it would single out cross-dressers or transsexuals for a special burden,” Yohnka told the Chicago Tribune. “Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, they can’t do that.”

Yet another legal prostitution calamity brought to you by Craigslist.

Remember this?

Craigslist Prostitution Sting by Sheriff’s Police Nets 76 Arrests

Giannoulias Comes Out In Favor of Gay Marriage

September 4, 2009
AmericaBarack ObamaCivil LibertiesCivil RightsCongressConstitutionDemocratic NewsEconomyEthicsGLBTLegalPhilosophical
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Technically, I support Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate.  I also supported Barack Obama for Senate.  Obama is governing as a moderate so far.  Obama has yet to find the courage to be liberal.

Alexi Giannoulias recently took a stand on an issue that Obama danced around: gay marriage.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias said Wednesday he favors legalization of same-sex marriage and, if elected, would seek to repeal a federal law that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.

In an interview, Giannoulias said individual states should be able to decide for themselves whether they allow same-sex couples to marry, but that all states should be required to afford legal recognition to same-sex marriages performed in states where they are sanctioned.

Giannoulias also would require the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages, now prohibited by the Defense of Marriage Act he wants repealed. He says this would have the effect, in part, of allowing gay and lesbian couples to file joint federal income tax returns and receive Social Security survivor benefits.

To top it off, he wants to repeal the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

I give Alexi credit for taking a stand.  I hope he remembers what he says he stands for after he’s elected.

Some are wondering where the change is.  Barack seems to be very taken with the power of the office of president, and that has me worried.  The ability to wage war must be its own aphrodesiac.

Some are wondering aloud.  From NPR:

Vermont on Tuesday joined five other states that have given same-sex couples the right to marry. That situation was almost unimaginable a decade ago, when, after rancorous debate, the state became the first in the union to enact same-sex civil unions.

But despite the historic gains made by the nation’s gay community, this year has largely been one of disappointment for many whose hopes were pinned on President Obama’s promise of change after two terms of an openly hostile Republican administration.

“People were shellshocked from the last eight years,” says Michael Joseph Gross, a New York-based writer whose recent piece about Obama and the gay community, “Hope and History,” appeared in The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian newsmagazine.

Obama supports civil unions, but he has never come out publicly in support of same-sex marriage. Nonetheless, Gross says, the gay community saw in Obama a fierce ally in the White House. And as recently as June, the president pledged to “bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans.”

“This was supposed to be the easy part,” Gross says.

Obama is one hell of a campaigner when running for office.  He just doesn’t seem to like campaigning for things that are really important.  It’s real important that he appear friendly with people who will never vote for or with him on any issue — like the Movement Conservative Republicans who dominate the Republican Party right now.

What have these ideologically driven conservatives who long ago lost the ability to think critically about any issue given us?

Nothing.

So, I’ll support you, Alexi.  You’ve got guts.  I hope you mean what you say.

Open Wide the Gates of Justice: 9/11 Witnesses Can Sue Ashcroft

September 4, 2009
AmericaCivil LibertiesCivil RightsCongressConstitutionEducationEthicsInternationalLegalRepublicans
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From WTAE in Pittsburgh (Always the first with the breaking news. So, kudos to them):

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the U.S. Attorney General may be held liable for people who were wrongfully detained as material witnesses after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In a harshly worded 91-page ruling handed down Friday, the justices found that a man who was detained as a witness in a federal terrorism case can sue former Attorney General John Ashcroft for allegedly violating his Fourth Amendment rights.

The suit was brought forward by Abdullah Al-Kidd, a U.S. citizen and former University of Idaho student, who was detained for two weeks in 2005. Al-Kidd said he lost a scholarship and employment opportunities.

The implications of this decision are staggering.

Open wide the gates of justice, and let all who were harmed come forward.

Park Forest to Add Gender Identity, Parental and Housing Status to Protected Classes

August 16, 2009
Civil LibertiesCivil RightsGLBT
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The Village of Park Forest will consider an item on Monday to add expand the definition of protected classes on its housing ordinance.

From ENEWSPF:

The second item [on the agenda] for action comes from Cook County. The Cook County Department of Planning and Development recently requested that the Village amend its fair housing ordinance to expand the list of protected classes to include parental status, gender identity, and housing status. The Village’s fair housing ordinance also must prohibit any activity that aids and/or abets housing discrimination, or retaliation against any person for the exercise of any rights under the Village’s fair housing ordinance, or the willful interference with the exercise of any rights under the Village’s fair housing ordinance.

Yes, I know Park Forest is making this move because Cook County wants it to happen.  However, keep in mind that Park Forest added “sexual orientation” to its housing ordinance in the 1980s, long before any other suburb in the Chicagoland area, and certainly long before most communities in the United States.  The measure passed publicly, without an bit of protest from the community or board members.  Park Forest has always been ahead of the curve.

It’s worth keeping an eye on Park Forest.

Clarence Page is Spot On with GOP Health Care Scare

August 5, 2009
AmericaAnti-ScienceCivil RightsCongressConstitutionHealth CareRepublicansWhite House
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Stop by the the Chicago Tribune.  Clarence Page wrote a column about the scare tactics the birthers and other GOP servants are spreading regarding any attempts at true health care reform currently before congress.

From Clarence Page:

They have been aided in this mission by a key figure in the killing of Bill and Hillary Clinton‘s proposed health-care reforms in the early 1990s. Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey, a conservative health-care specialist, lit the spark on various op-ed pages and talk shows, including former Sen. Fred Thompson‘s radio talk show.

There she told Thompson that “Congress would make it mandatory, absolutely require, that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner.”

McCaughey added that the bill “expressly says if you get sick somewhere in that five-year period, you have to go through that session again, all to do what is in society’s best interest or your family’s best interest and [basically] cut your life short.”

Nonsense. The provision would require Medicare to pay for advanced-care consultations, but it does not requireindividuals to take advantage of the benefit.

Nor does it require that a government bureaucrat intervene among the patient, the patient’s family or a doctor or nurse practitioner, as McCaughey insists it does.

Look: read Mr. Page’s column.  We have to stay on message.  We must reform health care.  This will not be a repeat of the Clinton-era attempts at health care reform.  We know those who object to reform for who they are: they serve the health insurance industry.

They do not serve the American people.

Bill Clinton Off to North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters

August 3, 2009
AmericaCivil LibertiesCivil RightsInternationalLegal
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From the New York Times:

Former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea on Monday to negotiate the release of two American television journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, a person who was briefed on the mission said.

Mr. Clinton landed in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, early Tuesday morning local time, Central TV, a North Korean station, reported. The White House declined to comment.

The journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, were detained by soldiers on March 17 near the North Korean border with China. In June, they were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean prison camp for “committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry.”

Go for it, Bill.  Godspeed.

Read the entire story.

D.C. Law Recognizing Out-of-Jurisdiction Marriages By Same-Sex Couples Takes Effect

July 7, 2009
AmericaCivil RightsGLBT
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From our friends at the Human Rights Campaign:

D.C. joins other jurisdictions across the nation on the historic road to marriage equality.

Washington, D.C.– The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, issued the following statement after a new D.C. law recognizing marriages by same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions became effective today.

“Today, same-sex couples in D.C. who have married elsewhere, or who choose to marry in one of the growing number of jurisdictions that provide marriage equality, will have their relationships fully recognized,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “This law is an important and historic step towards equal dignity, equal respect and equal rights under D.C. law for same-sex couples. Congratulations to the D.C. Council, Mayor Fenty and the many advocates of equality in our community who have worked hard for, and continue to pursue, marriage equality in D.C.”

On May 5, 2009, the D.C. Council overwhelmingly passed legislation that expressly recognizes marriages by same-sex couples from other jurisdictions, including foreign countries. The bill was signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty the next day and transmitted to Congress for review. Opponents of marriage equality attempted to stop the legislation from taking effect by proposing a referendum. However, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled last month that the proposed referendum would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act and therefore was not a proper subject matter for the referendum process. A D.C. Superior Court judge upheld this ruling and denied opponents’ request for a preliminary injunction to stay the legislation. The law took effect today, at the conclusion of the 30 day Congressional review period.

Under the new law, a same-sex couple living in D.C. who is legally married elsewhere – for example, in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Canada – will be recognized as married in D.C. and will receive the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage under D.C. law. D.C. law continues to provide for domestic partnerships for same-sex and different-sex couples. Same-sex couples cannot legally marry in D.C. itself, although their marriages from other jurisdictions are now recognized.

Six states recognize marriage for same-sex couples: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (effective September 1, 2009), Maine (scheduled to become effective September 2009, pending possible referendum) and New Hampshire (effective January 1, 2010). Outside the United States, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden recognize marriage for same-sex couples.

New York recognizes marriages by same-sex couples legally entered into in another jurisdiction, and the legislature is considering legislation that would permit same-sex couples to marry in New York. California recognized marriage by same-sex couples between June and November of 2008, before voters approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to prohibit marriage equality for same-sex couples. The 18,000 marriages of same-sex couples performed in California before the passage of Proposition 8 remain valid.

Same-sex couples do not receive federal rights and responsibilities anywhere in the United States. To learn more about state by state legislation, visit: www.hrc.org/state_laws.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

India Decriminalizes Homosexuality

July 3, 2009
AmericaCivil RightsGLBTLegal
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From the Chicago Tribune:

The Delhi High Court issued a landmark ruling Thursday decriminalizing homosexuality, a move that could bring more freedom to millions of people in this deeply conservative nation.

The ruling said that treating relations between consenting adult homosexuals as a crime is a violation of basic human rights safeguarded under the Indian Constitution.

The court decision amending an 1860s-era British Empire statute ostensibly applies only to Delhi. But activists said that given the capital territory’s leadership position, they expect the ruling to influence courts across the country.

“I think this is quite fantastic,” said Anjali Gopalan, director of the Naz Foundation, an HIV/AIDS awareness group, one of the parties that submitted the lawsuit eight years ago. “It’s a big step forward, although there are many more steps ahead.”

Turns out it’s only six years ago that the United States did the same thing.