Michael Verdugo (left) In 'Rope Rituals'

HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA – Ex-Hollywood officer Michael Verdugo has filed a lawsuit to keep his police certification after losing his job over a porn film.
Former Hollywood cop Mike Verdugo, fired after word spread on the Internet that he was in a gay porn film, is now fighting to keep his Florida police certification.
On Tuesday, Verdugo’s lawyers held a news conference and rally in Wilton Manor seeking support for him.
Hollywood Police Department fired him for not disclosing previous employment — the porn film — on his job application, Verdugo’s lawyers said.
Verdugo, who also was a former Design Star contestant on HGTV, has sued to get his job back. The suit is scheduled to be heard in November in Broward Circuit Court.
Hollywood police spokesman Lt. Manny Marino said Tuesday his department would not comment on the Verdugo case.
Verdugo, 36, is appealing to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to allow him to remain a certified officer.
The FDLE tentatively agreed, but the city of Hollywood is fighting his request and wants him stripped of his certification, his lawyers said.
An FDLE hearing is scheduled Thursday in Tampa.
Hollywood has offered to drop its case against Verdugo if he “drops his case against them,” said Norm Kent, an attorney and longtime gay civil-rights activist.
Verdugo says he won’t: “I want my case to be an example of what happens in Florida.”
“I still want to be a cop,” he said. “My goal — not a practical one — is to go back to Hollywood.”
Regardless of how the FDLE hearing turns out, Verdugo says, he will continue to lobby for passage of a federal gay rights measure — the Employment Nondiscrimination Act — that would prevent gay and transgender people from being fired on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Hollywood police fired Verdugo after a 1996 video turned up online showing the future cop in a 15-minute bondage scene from a gay porn flick called Rope Rituals. HGTV’s Design Star also dumped Verdugo, who was known as Mikey V.
Verdugo, who grew up in Hialeah, says he made the film for $700 at age 22 as a way of exploring his sexuality. He performed nude in a bondage scene, but didn’t engage in hard-core sex, he said.
Three years later, he decided to become a police officer.
Verdugo said it never occurred to him to put the movie on his résumé when he first became a Lauderhill cop in 1999, or when he applied to the Hollywood department two years later.
Wilton Manors attorney George Castrataro said he and Kent are representing Verdugo for free and that if any money is won in the case it will be donated to a gay charity.
“The power of the masses is in front of me,” Castrataro told the crowd of about 100 people Tuesday. “We have to rely on you.”
from The Miami Herald

Gay College Presidents

CHICAGO – Nine college and university presidents gathered in Chicago over the weekend and decided to form a new organization that will promote the professional development of gay academics as well as work on education and advocacy issues.
The meeting was the first attempt to gather the growing number of out college presidents (25 were invited) — and participants said in interviews after the event that they wanted to encourage more gay academics to aspire to leadership positions and wanted to push higher education to include issues of sexual orientation when talking about diversity. The partners of some of the presidents also attended and held their own discussions, and the new group plans to be a place to talk about issues related to the partners and other family members of gay presidents.
“I think it was great that we met. We all kind of felt we were making history, and we had a really good time talking about issues that were relevant to us as presidents and as LGBT people,” said Theodora J. Kalikow, president of the University of Maine at Farmington.
The new organization has been named the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education, said Charles Middleton, president of Roosevelt University and co-host of the meeting. The group plans to reconvene first in a few months, and then perhaps at next year’s meeting of the American Council on Education.
“As university presidents, we talked first and foremost about what is our presidential responsibility as leaders in higher education,” Middleton said. To that end, the group will focus on leadership development for those who are gay presidents or who aspire to be, professional development for gay people at all levels of academe, and on education and advocacy to promote equity and diversity.
“As the world evolves, we are going to have things to say on specific issues,” he said.
Middleton said that it’s time for an organization like this to exist. College leaders nationally are talking about the need for new leaders in all kinds of educational fields, and the country cannot afford to write off any one group, he said. Gay academics “need to be taken off the exclusion list,” he said.
Several of the presidents noted that they came together at a time when issues of gay rights are very much in the news — both for society as a whole and higher education in particular. The presidents met the same week that a federal judge rejected California’s ban on gay marriage and the same year that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of public colleges to require all recognized student groups to abide by anti-bias policies — including policies that some religious groups object to because they cover sexual orientation.
Raymond Crossman, president of the Adler School of Professional Psychology and the meeting’s other co-host, said that “I think it’s no accident that there’s an appetite to do this right now. It’s a particular moment in the culture right now, and I think we have something to offer about educating the academy.”
Crossman said he views such advocacy as a traditional role of a college president, even if the issues being raised may not be same ones on which other presidents have focused. “I think that as presidents of colleges and universities there’s always been a role to take positions, to be part of a continuing dialogue in our culture,” he said.
Kalikow said that she hoped the group would send a clear message to gay academics that, if they aspire to leadership positions at their institutions, “it is doable.” As president at Farmington since 1994, when it was much more unusual to name an out president, Kalikow said she was well aware that attitudes have changed and also that there are still institutions where a gay or lesbian leader might not be welcome. It’s important, she said, for an aspiring gay academic “to listen to the little voice in your head that says, ‘Don’t do that,’ ” about going to a particular institution that might be hostile.
But she said that gay academics need to know they can aim high. “My advice is to be out since you are a baby or as soon as possible. But then, the reason we get these positions is by being really excellent at what we do. That’s the most important thing. You have to believe in yourself, not set lower expectations, and find the place that’s the right match.”
One of the topics of discussion at the meeting was how to view the extent of progress in presidencies being open to gay candidates. While the numbers today would have been shocking a generation ago, most of the presidents said that there are many colleges that because of their location, religious ties or other factors are highly unlikely to be open to gay presidential candidates, at least in the near future. Many of the colleges that have named gay presidents are places with “strong social justice missions,” Crossman said.
“There are sectors in higher education where this is a very difficult issue,” said Ralph Hexter, who is the president of Hampshire College (and who celebrated with his campus when, in 2007, after gay marriage became recognized in Massachusetts, he married his partner).
“We talked about the fact that there are certain regions” where it would be more difficult to be an out president, said Hexter, who recently announced that he would be leaving his presidency. “One of the hallmarks of our group is that we are out LGBT, and we all know there are many, many others who for whatever reasons — their regions, their personal situations, their institutions — are not out. This is not an organization that will push anyone out of the closet, but maybe more people will look at us and say, ‘Hey, these people are OK.’ ” Likewise, he said that search committees may look at the organization and realize that they can consider the candidacies of gay people to be president.
He said that the current gay presidents “are pioneers in a way” and “I think you are going to see a lot more in the next five years.”
“It’s important for gay and lesbian leaders in higher education see a path,” he said. Hexter added that he didn’t know of any such group in any other country and he also hoped it would send a message abroad — including in countries where people might not think it possible to be a gay university president.
from Inside Higher Ed
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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — The head of Target Corp. apologized Thursday over a political donation to a business group backing a conservative Republican for Minnesota governor, which angered some employees and sparked talk of a customer boycott.
Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel wrote employees to say the discount retailer was “genuinely sorry” over the way a $150,000 contribution to MN Forward donation played out. Steinhafel said Target would set up a review process for future political donations.
MN Forward is running TV ads supporting Republican Tom Emmer, an outspoken conservative opposed to same-sex marriage and other gay-rights initiatives that have come before Minnesota’s Legislature.
Steinhafel said the contribution from the corporate treasury to a political effort, which until this year wasn’t allowed, was designed to support Emmer’s stance on economic issues. Ads run by the group were focused on budget policy, not social issues.
“While I firmly believe that a business climate conducive to growth is critical to our future, I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry,” Steinhafel wrote.
He added, “The diversity of our team is an important aspect of our unique culture and our success as a company, and we did not mean to disappoint you, our team or our valued guests.”
A phone message left with a Target spokeswoman for more details on the company’s new policy was not immediately returned.
OutFront Minnesota, a gay-rights advocacy group, posted an open letter urging Target to take back its money from MN Forward. And “Boycott Target” Facebook groups began to appear.
“We appreciate they are taking this really seriously,” said Monica Meyer, OutFront’s executive director. “People will feel good about being heard. Some still will probably be holding back to wait and see what the next statement and the next move is.”
Target is known in Minnesota for helping sponsor the annual Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival.
The reaction to Target’s donation highlights the potential risks for businesses that seek to take advantage of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that threw out parts of a 63-year-old law that prohibited campaign donations from company funds. The ruling changed regulations in about half the states, but the Target donation in Minnesota was among the first major new corporate moves to come to light.
Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based Davidowitz & Associates Inc., a retail consulting and investment banking firm, said he thought any consumer backlash against Target would have been small and only a small group of customers would have been angry enough to stop shopping there.
“They don’t want this to go further,” Davidowitz said. “What Target did today is called damage control. And I think damage control is perfectly appropriate.”
The liberal group MoveOn.org said it has gathered thousands of signatures on a petition by people pledging to avoid shopping at Target over the donation. MoveOn said it would hold a nationwide protest at Target stores Friday.
MN Forward has attracted at least $60,000 in donations since the Target backlash erupted and more than $1 million in total since it was formed. The group has also broadened its political profile. On Thursday, it sent out mail pieces on behalf of six legislative candidates — three Democrats, three Republicans.
Brian McClung, the group’s director, said MN Forward planned to push a bipartisan slate of candidates “from day one.”
“This group of candidates has varied backgrounds and positions on many issues, but they all have been focused on making Minnesota a better place to grow jobs,” he said.
According to public campaign reports, other contributors to MN Forward include Red Wing Shoe Company Inc., Best Buy Co., Pentair Inc., Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., Davisco Foods International Inc. and Polaris Industries Inc.
from The Associated Press
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GUERNEVILLE, CALIFORNIA — Sonoma County has agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit by an elderly gay man who said social workers kept him from seeing his dying partner in the hospital.
Clay Greene, 78, of Guerneville filed a lawsuit earlier this year, claiming the county’s Public Guardian program discriminated against him because of his sexual orientation.
Greene accused social workers of denying him hospital visitation rights to see his partner, Harold Scull, despite signed wills, medical declarations and powers of attorney naming each other as spouses. The couple was not married nor registered as domestic partners.
The lawsuit also alleged that after Scull’s death, social workers forced Greene into a nursing home and sold the couple’s property, including art and heirlooms.
The county’s lawyer, Gregory Spaulding, denied the discrimination claims but admitted mistakes in selling the couple’s property.
Greene was kept away from Scull because of previous domestic violence allegations, according to the county. According to a sheriff’s report, Scull went to authorities with a black eye and said Greene threatened to kill him, though Scull was later unwilling to lodge a formal complaint.
“The county remains confident in its position that there was no discrimination in this case,” Spaulding said, noting that the plaintiff removed the discrimination allegations from the lawsuit three weeks ago.
Under the law, officials can sell property worth $5,000 or less to cover medical expenses, but the couple’s property sale brought in more than $25,000 at auction, Spaulding said. Errors in that case have led to revised policies at the Public Guardian’s office, he said.
Spaulding said the county settled the case Thursday to avoid further expense.
“It just made economic sense to stop the bleeding,” Spaulding said. “To end the case and avoid all expenses and costs.”
Calls to Greene’s attorney, Anne Dennis, were not immediately returned Friday.
from The Mercury News

The Middleton Grange School

NEW ZEALAND – A Christian school in New Zealand was ordered to compensate a former coach who was fired because he is gay.
The Middleton Grange School in Christchurch booted the coach based on Christian beliefs that homosexuality is a sin.
The school offered to rehire the 28-year-old man, who declined to be named, but he rejected the offer. The amount of money the school is forced to pay the ex-coach was also undisclosed.
“At first I was shocked. I’ve never felt so small in my life,” the man told the New Zealand media. “I started to kind of blame myself,” he said.
School board members will also have to undergo human rights awareness training as part of the settlement.
“We care for him and respect him,” the school’s principal, Richard Vanderpyl, said of the former girls’ netball coach.
Vanderpyl said he offered the man his old job, but was told he “secured another position” elsewhere.
The man was hired in February, but the school board fired him after finding out he is gay.
“It’s hard enough to go through finding yourself, and accepting yourself and being ‘out’ in the first place,” the man said. “Having to go through discrimination doesn’t help.”
He said he is pleased with the school’s settlement and is happy the boardmembers will undergo sensitivity training.
“I am glad it won’t happen to anyone again at that school,” he said. “It was definitely a hard thing to go through.”
from The New York Daily News
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Constance McMillen

A school district in Mississippi has agreed to pay a recent high school graduate $35,000 in damages and adopt a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to a statement released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The settlement comes after the ACLU sued the school district in Fulton, Mississippi, on behalf of Constance McMillen, a lesbian teen who was told by Itawamba Agricultural High School officials she and her girlfriend would be ejected if they attended the school-sponsored prom.
The agreement, which was filed Tuesday, ends the lawsuit.
“I’m so glad this is all over. I won’t ever get my prom back, but it’s worth it if it changes things at my school,” McMillen said in a statement released Tuesday.
McMillen, who according to the ACLU statement, “suffered humiliation and harassment after parents, students and school officials executed a cruel plan to put on a decoy prom for her while the rest of her classmates were at a private prom 30 miles away.”
“We hope this judgment sends a message to schools that they cannot get away with discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students,” said Bear Atwood, interim legal director at the ACLU of Mississippi.
Officials at McMillen’s former high school are not commenting at this time and a call to the north Mississippi school district seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.
from CNN
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Palm Springs has been a welcoming oasis for gays and lesbians ever since the days of Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter.
But new frictions have arisen between the city’s Police Department and its sizable gay population – estimated to be as high as 30 to 40 percent – over a police sting of gay public sex.
Last summer, Palm Springs police used undercover officers to arrest 24 men in a gay neighborhood for allegedly trying to engage the officers in sex. While few in the gay community defend anyone having public sex – whether gay or straight – the anger is over the unusual charges in the case: The men are charged under Section 290(c) of the California Penal Code, making those who are convicted register as sex offenders for life, their names added to a police database.
That charge is essentially a life sentence, defense lawyers say, and has never been used against straight couples arrested for similar activity in Palm Springs.
Adding fuel to the community anger is surveillance tape shot inside a patrol car during the sting. One officer can be heard using an anti-gay slur, while another officer laughs. All of this flies in the face of city’s reputation as a welcoming place for gays, says longtime gay rights pioneer Cleve Jones, who relocated to Palm Springs from San Francisco 10 years ago.
“They’re really shooting themselves in the foot,” Jones says. “Gay dollars are keeping this city afloat. Let’s get real. The gay events are the largest events in the valley. The gay tourist dollar is crucial to the economic survival of Palm Springs. And this story has spread far and wide across the world, and it will have an impact because people are angry. It’s ridiculous.”
The new scrutiny of the Palm Springs Police Department also reveals that there isn’t a single openly gay male police officer among the 99 officers on the force (there is only one open lesbian), despite the city’s reputation as a gay mecca. Reacting to anger in the gay community, the Palm Springs police chief now finds himself in the position of damage control. Last week, he met with gay leaders, and he brought in an openly gay Los Angeles sheriff’s sergeant to help conduct sensitivity training on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in the Palm Springs force.
The training comes as welcome news to Andy Linsky, a prominent gay rights activist and a member of the LGBT Police Outreach Committee. “It’s definitely necessary because if they’ve done it before, then it hasn’t necessarily taken root. So it’s good they’re doing it again,” Linsky says, noting that he speaks for himself, not the board.
But another member of the police advisory board, Thomas Van Etten, is calling for the chief’s ouster.
“I’ve called for his resignation because the police chief is using tactics that we have not seen since Stonewall. For the Palm Springs police to pull something like this is incomprehensible,” he said.
The chief is also reaching out to several LGBT publications to stress that the police do not discriminate against gays.
Discrimination, however, is the basis of the defense’s case, because straight couples arrested in similar cases have never been charged as lifelong sex offenders, says attorney Roger Tansey, who is representing several of the men arrested.
He maintains that it was the police who instigated any encounters in the sting.
“A typical scenario,” Tansey says, “would be a couple of cops, who were dressed in tank tops, would walk around grabbing their crotches and staring at the defendants’ crotches saying, ‘Show me what you got. Show me what you got.’ In no case did they come upon any man already having sex.” Tansey adds that “in many cases the defendants were reluctant to participate and wanted to go back to a room or someplace more private and were coaxed to stay and allegedly expose themselves by the officers.”
The economic fallout on the city is not lost on City Manager David Ready, who says, “Palm Springs is very concerned and spends a significant amount of resources on tourism as our driving economic factor. So anything that affects tourism is of great concern to the city. That being said, the chief is doing his internal review of this sting operation, and he will be making recommendations on our policy going forward.”
The chief will make those recommendations this month to the City Council, three members of which are openly gay, as repercussions from the sting make this desert summer even hotter.
from The San Francisco Chronicle

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA – Joining a fledgling group of companies trying to address the disparity in how workplace health benefits for same-sex and heterosexual married couples are taxed, Google said Thursday it would compensate its gay and lesbian employees for the extra money they currently must pay the federal government each year.
While a few organizations, such as Cisco Systems and the Kimpton Hotel chain, have already begun to “gross up” their employees’ pay, as the practice is known, Google’s powerhouse status could fuel the trend, putting pressure on other employers to follow suit and on policymakers to restructure how domestic-partner health benefits are taxed.
In a blog posting on its website, Google said “we have another reason to celebrate” as it announced the policy, which will be retroactive to Jan. 1. A Google spokesman said the change came in response to a 700-member group of gay and lesbian employees and their supporters called Gayglers who had approached management asking that the discrepancy be addressed. The management team replied, “We agree,” said the spokesman. “It wasn’t a long process or debate at all.”
Google would not discuss how much money the change would cost the company or how many employees might be impacted.
But gay rights activists applauded the search engine giant for taking what they said was an innovative and bold stand.
“Google is really taking a leadership role here,” said Daryl Herrschaft, director of the Workplace Project for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C. “This is a really important step for gay and lesbian employees because it eliminates a tax burden they’re subject to because their families aren’t recognized under federal law.”
That law mandates that employer-provided benefits for domestic partners be counted as taxable income, assuming the partner is not considered a dependent. A study by the Williams Institute, which does research on sexual orientation policy issues, showed that on average employees with domestic partners will pay about $1,069 more a year in taxes than a married employee with the same coverage.
“With a company as large as Google taking this step, this could possibly spread,” said Lee Badgett, the research director who wrote the 2007 report. “If other employers are competing with Google for workers, they can’t ignore it. What’ll likely happen is that as more and more companies realize what a bite this tax is for their gay and lesbian employees, they may advocate for changes in the law.”
However, Badgett said that while legislation has been introduced to change the tax structure, “it hasn’t gone anywhere.”
from Mercury News

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Obama extended Wednesday a wider range of benefits to the same-sex partners of eligible federal workers, including access to medical treatment, relocation assistance, credit unions and fitness centers.
The move goes beyond a memo Obama signed last June, which permitted same-sex partners to use the government’s long-term-care insurance and other fringe benefits. The Office of Personnel Management said Tuesday that same-sex partners will become eligible for such insurance next month.
Obama also ordered federal agencies last year to identify other benefits that could be offered to same-sex partners. A review by the Office of Personnel Management and Justice Department determined that at least some agencies could also permit credit union and gym memberships and access to counseling services, adoption counseling, and agency events or outings.
A limited number of intelligence and financial regulatory agencies, Obama’s memo said, will be able to provide reimbursements for health-insurance premiums, dental and vision insurance, business travel accident insurance and tax reimbursements for gym memberships, physical exams and homeowners’ insurance.
These benefits do not cover uniformed members of the military. Last week, the House voted to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bans gays and lesbians from openly serving in uniform, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on a repeal in the coming weeks. If a repeal is included in the final version of the annual defense spending bill, the Pentagon would take steps next year to address the treatment of gay and lesbian service members.
Though Obama has extended a greater number of benefits to gay federal workers than any of his predecessors, he is prevented by federal law from providing full benefits to same-sex partners. To that end, he reiterated support for House and Senate legislation that would grant all federal benefits to same-sex partners.
from The Washington Post

Today, NCLR launched a national media campaign to bring visibility to a tragic new case where Sonoma County, California officials separated an elderly gay couple and sold their worldly possessions despite the measures the men had taken to protect their relationship.
“In the 33 years of our organization’s history, this case is perhaps among the most tragic NCLR has ever been involved in,” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. “Clay and Harold had taken all of the necessary precautions, including living wills and powers of attorneys, to protect them in a time of crisis. Not only were their relationship and legal documents ignored, Clay and Harold literally lost everything. These appalling events demonstrate how urgently same-sex couples need full equality rather than a patchwork of rights that can be dismissed and ignored in a culture that still treats LGBT people as second-class citizens. This never should have happened to Clay and Harold.”
Clay Greene and his partner of 20 years, Harold Scull, lived in Sebastopol, California. As long-time partners, they had named each other beneficiaries of their respective estates and agents for medical decisions. As 2008 began, Scull was 88 years old and in deteriorating health. Greene, 11 years younger, was physically strong, but beginning to show signs of cognitive impairment. As Scull’s health declined, it became apparent that they would need assistance, but the men resisted outside help.
In April of 2008, Scull fell down the front steps of their home. Greene immediately called an ambulance and Scull was taken to the hospital. There, the men’s nightmare began. While Scull was hospitalized, Deputy Public Guardians went to the men’s home, took photographs, and commented on the desirability and quality of the furnishings, artwork, and collectibles that the men had collected over their lifetimes.
Ignoring Greene entirely, the County petitioned the Court for conservatorship of Scull’s estate. Outrageously referring to Greene only as a “roommate” and failing to disclose their true relationship, the County continued to treat Scull as if he had no family. The County sought immediate temporary authority to revoke Scull’s powers of attorney, to act without further notice, and to liquidate an investment account to pay for Scull’s care. Then, despite being granted only limited powers, and with undue haste, the County arranged for the sale of the men’s personal property, cleaned out their home, terminated their lease, confiscated their truck, and eventually disposed of all of the men’s worldly possessions, including family heirlooms, at a fraction of their value and without any proper inventory or determination of whose property was being sold.
Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Greene from their home and confined him to a nursing home against his will—a different placement from his partner. Greene was kept from seeing Scull during this time, and his telephone calls were limited. Three months after Scull was hospitalized, he died, without being able to see Greene again.
“Because of the county’s actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years,” said Greene’s trial attorney Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa. “Compounding this horrific tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property or his beloved cats—who are feared dead. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.”
Greene is represented by Dennis along with Stephen O’Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O’Neill, Barrack & Chong in a lawsuit against the County, the auction company, and the nursing home. NCLR is assisting Greene’s attorneys with the lawsuit. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma.
from The NCLR

Across the country today teens will be making a bold statement in their schools without saying a word at all- that is because today marks the 15th annual “Day of Silence” which is being organized by GLSEN — the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
For the day students are being encouraged to remain silent in school in an effort to raise awareness and speak out against verbal and physical bullying of gay and lesbian teens- and if the Facebook Page for the cause is any indicator- there could be more than 45,000 teens participating across the country.
In 2008, a GLSEN group in New Jersey reported great success with this initiative in their High School. The students participating made up t-shirts and ribbons that were worn not only by students who were gay, lesbian and bi-sexual, but also by students and teachers who both supported and talked openly about the cause and its importance.
Still, even with the positive feedback the organization receives and its many success stories there are socially conservative groups across the country that are against this day of silence, some even rallying for parents to keep their children home and calling it a waste of tax payer dollars.
Discrimination and bullying issues against students who are, or are suspected-to-be gay has been an issue teens have faced for years. When I was in High School, I had a friend who was a target of such verbal abuse. When it started he denied the accusations and tried to let them roll off his back- but around junior year he announced that he was bi-sexual. I think he thought this would have curbed some of the verbal attacks he was subjected to every day. Sadly, it did not. It only got worse.
I can remember vividly, another male classmate of ours would crack joke after joke about my friend’s sexuality. It was not funny. It was obnoxious. My friend pretended it did not bother him. He focused his mind else where and began obsessing over his weight, at points passing out in class from not eating and by the time we graduated High School he was a shell of the teen he once was not only physically but emotionally.
It wasn’t until college that he officially came out. He was not bi-sexual. He was gay. He had known it for quite sometime but until then he was not comfortable in his own skin to say it out loud.
The teenage years play such a crucial part of who we become as adults. My children are still young but I believe it is important to teach our children not only that it is a ok to be who you are but to also teach our children to respect their peers rights as well and not to pass judgment. Sexuality is only a small piece of what makes a person and does not define.
Ironically, years later my friend came face to face again with that classmate who once bullied him daily- at a gay bar.
If there were thousands of teens rallying around the message today’s Day of Silence is sending, possibly this classmate of ours might not have felt pressure to hide his sexuality by directing statements of hate at another teen who wanted nothing more than he wanted himself- to be accepted
from The Star-Ledger

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – State and local officials joined hundreds of people outside the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood on Sunday morning to kick off a national grass-roots campaign demanding equal Social Security benefits for same-sex couples.
The rally and march — dubbed Rock for Equality — was put together by the center and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in conjunction with the Aids Community Action Foundation, said Jim Key, a spokesman for the center.
At the rally, Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Lakewood), who is a member of the House Subcommittee on Social Security, announced that she would sponsor legislation to provide equal Social Security benefits for same-sex couples.
“I don’t think it’s right that Americans should be treated differently by the country they love because of who they love,” she said, triggering thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd.
“Right now, same-sex marriage couples pay equally into a system that they don’t receive equal benefits from in return,” Sanchez told the crowd. “Shame on this country for allowing that to happen.”
As of now, people in same-sex relationships are denied Social Security survivor benefits from their deceased partners because the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships as valid relationships.
Sanchez’s bill calls for the Social Security Administration to recognize those civil unions or domestic partnerships as valid relationships for the purpose of disbursing survivor benefits that heterosexual couples with a marriage certificate now receive.
“I’m saying to the Social Security Administration, this must stop,” Sanchez said.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-El Monte), who also attended the event, offered to coauthor the bill.
“In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act as a law to protect the elderly from poverty. It was a great moment, but the act wasn’t perfect,” Chu told the crowd.
“In 1966, members of the armed services were added. In 1983, federal employees were added. And, in the year 2010, that will be the year people from the LGBT community will be added,” she said.
About 700 people — young, middle age and old — attended the rally, including Maria Garcia, 44, of North Hollywood, who had arrived an hour early with her 23-year-old son, Philip Garrelts, who is gay.
“Every mother should do this for her children,” she said. “There should be equal rights for everyone.”
Holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a dog leash in the other, Diem Tran, 29, of West Hollywood brought her dog, Mochi, to the rally.
“Same-sex couples should get Social Security benefits,” Tran said. “It’s different from the marriage argument — this is more about a need for economic equality.”
Shortly after the rally, supporters holding up signs and rainbow and American flags marched down Hollywood Boulevard, past tattoo and souvenir shops, and then down Vine Street to the Social Security Administration office chanting, “Equal rights, now.”
from The Los Angeles Times

TURKEY – As Hassan walked — well, more like sashayed — through the market in this southern Turkish city, the population on the sidewalk — elderly women in dark veils, men behind stalls selling Turkish pears five to a bag, children in woolly striped sweaters — all gawked.
“Yes, look! Look all you want,” Hassan said with a flourish, opening his arms in a benevolent gesture, as if their stares were rooted in adulation and not curiosity bordering on disgust. A portly, middle-aged woman narrowed her eyes and curled her lip at him.
“What?” said the 34-year-old Iranian refugee. “Is this the first time she’s seen a man wearing makeup? Maybe she should take notes. She could use a few beauty tips.”
Behind him, Farzan giggled. The slight 25-year-old sporting a shoulder sack that would be labeled a purse even in the male-bag capitals of Tokyo and Paris offered up a quick tale in his feminine lilt. “The other day I was buying some eggs, and the man would not even take the money from my hand,” he recounted. “He looked at me and said, ‘Put the money on the table,’ and spat on the floor. He gave me no change.”
“You should have thrown the eggs in his face,” lectured Hassan, anger flashing in his eyes, their color hazel by the grace of contact lenses. “We’re out of Iran now, and you will not take that kind of treatment anymore. Not in Turkey, not anywhere. You stand up for yourself. One life being less than human was enough.”
Freedom is relative. But for Hassan, mother hen to a gaggle of gay Iranians fleeing a nation where their sexuality is punishable by death, relatively secular Turkey is one step closer to a life less shackled.
He is one of more than 300 gays who have fled Iran since the rise of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who infamously proclaimed in 2007, to guffaws from his audience at Columbia University, that there were no gays in Iran. Most have crossed the border into Turkey, joining 2,000 Iranian refugees — largely political dissidents and religious outcasts — facing waits of two to three years as the United Nations processes their applications for asylum. Those who agreed to be interviewed asked that their last names be withheld for fear of reprisals against their families.
Turkey grants the refugees sanctuary just until the United Nations can find them homes in the United States, Canada, Western Europe or Australia. To avoid a critical mass in any one Turkish city, the refugees are dispersed to two dozen locations. The list does not include more progressive Istanbul, gem of the Bosporus, but rather, smaller metropolises such as Isparta that remain influenced by Islam in the same way Christianity influences the Bible Belt.
In Turkey, where the party that won the national elections in 2002 has sought to foster better ties with Tehranthe movements of the refugees are strictly limited. They can engage in no political activity, cannot work and must check in at police stations at least twice a week.
(more…)

Derrick Martin

COCHRAN, GEORGIA — Derrick Martin worried that he could be responsible for getting this year’s prom at Bleckley County High School canceled.
That’s because the 18-year-old senior is gay, and he plans to take his boyfriend to the year’s most anticipated dance.
That’s something that’s never happened in this small Middle Georgia town. A similar plan by two female students in Mississippi this month prompted school officials there to cancel the prom, making national news.
After asking Bleckley County school officials permission in January to take another boy to the prom, Martin got word last week that his high school will allow it. Bleckley’s prom is April 17 in the high school cafeteria.
“I didn’t expect them to say yes,” he said. “It’s who I am. I have the same rights.
“It’s my senior prom, and I wanted to be able to prove not everyone would cancel prom.”
Martin, an honor student who tutors at-risk elementary and middle school students after school, knew the move would be controversial for the town of about 5,200 residents.
At his high school, prom dates from outside counties must be approved in advance, so Martin went to his principal and asked.
“At first she said no, Cochran wasn’t ready for it,” he said.
Then last week, school officials said they have no policy in place against it.
“You don’t have the right to say no,” principal Michelle Masters said. “As a principal, I don’t judge him. I’m taught not to judge. I have to push my own beliefs to the background.”
She’s just hoping it won’t become an issue in the community and distract from juniors and seniors who have looked forward to the event all school year.
As fellow senior Errin Lucas put it, “Have you seen Cochran? There is nothing else to live for.”
Charlotte Pipkin, the superintendent of schools, said the school board didn’t take any votes on Martin’s request, but the board did discuss the matter during a board meeting.
“Students are allowed to bring their date to prom,” Pipkin said. “There’s nothing that says who the date is.
“I want this to be an enjoyable event, and I don’t want anything to take away from that,” she added.
Martin came out as gay during his sophomore year in high school, but even now he said not all his classmates are tolerant.
He expects he may get attention during the prom “lead out,” in which the school announces each senior’s name and the date’s name.
“I’ll take out insurance on my tux,” he said.
It’s a big step for the high school — and the community, many townsfolk said.
“With our town being so small and country, it’s a very big thing,” Lucas said. “It’s unexpected, but I’m glad. We have to move forward.”
A sampling of residents Monday drew plenty of objections to Martin’s plan, but few people were willing to give their name.
Miranda Taylor, who was working behind the counter at a Wendy’s restaurant, said “a lot of people will stare,” but she thinks the move shows Bleckley County is more open.
The high school prom will have security.
Even if there is a backlash, both educators said they won’t cancel or change their plans for the prom. It would not be fair to the students, Pipkin said.
Martin said he could have settled for what he did last year and simply attend the prom with a female friend, but he didn’t want to do that this year. “It’s standing up for the rights thing, especially after the Mississippi canceled prom,” he said. “It’s senior prom. It’s pretty big.”
from The Macon Telegraph

Michael Black & John Morgan

UNITED KINGDOM – Michael Black, 62, and John Morgan, 56, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, had booked a double room at the Swiss B&B in Cookham, Berks for Friday night.
But when they arrived, owner Susanne Wilkinson turned away the gay couple, insisting it was “against her convictions to let them stay.”
Mr Black said: “[When we arrived] she could see through the windscreen that we were two men.
“And when we got out of the car she was immediately distant and unfriendly and then she said, ’It’s a double room’, and we said ’Yes’.
“She said, ’It’s a large double bed in a double room’ and we said, ’yes’, and then she said it was against her convictions to let us stay.”
He went on: “We said it was illegal to discriminate against people who stay in hotels because that’s all we knew at the time and she said it was her private home and it was against her convictions.
“She said she was sorry and she was polite in a cold way and she was not abusive, so we asked our money back and she gave it to us.”
After the incident, Susanne Wilkinson, owner of the guest house, admitted: “They gave me no prior warning and I couldn’t offer them another room as I was fully booked.
“I don’t see why I should change my mind and my beliefs I’ve held for years just because the Government should force it on me,” she said.
“I am not a hotel, I am a guest house and this is a private house.”
Police are today investigating the alleged “homophobic incident” at Susanne Wilkinson’s Swiss Bed & Breakfast in the Cookham, near Maidenhead in Berkshire.
Mr Black said the couple were “very angry” after the incident on Friday.
After being refused the room, the pair met friends nearby and went to the theatre but decided to drive the 80 miles back to their home with their “adrenaline pumping”.
“We were very shocked, and of course angry, that it happened. Neither of us has ever experienced homophobia before and I have been out since 1974,” he said.
“We felt we were treated like lepers and not fit to be under the same roof as her.”
Mr Black said Mrs Wilkinson has said the men should have warned her, but the self-employed trainer said: “It would be like saying to someone who runs a guest house, ’I’m black or Muslim or blue-eyed’ just in case they have a problem with it.
“There is no reason why we had to make it clear we were two men in this day and age. We have stayed in plenty of guest houses in Britain and abroad and have never had a problem.”
Mr Black said the couple had been interviewed by Cambridgeshire police after they first complained to Thames Valley Police online.
He said they had been advised the offence would be treated as a civil matter and they should take Mrs Wilkinson to county court.
But Mr Black said he understood that under the Equality Act 2006 it is illegal to discriminate against people on the grounds of sexual orientation, even in a guest house.
A spokesman for Stonewall, the gay rights campaign group, said turning a couple away because of their sexual orientation was illegal.
Derek Munn, director of public affairs, said: “Stonewall was delighted when the law changed in 2007 so that lesbian and gay couples could go on their holidays like anyone else.
“In open-and-shut cases of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation the law’s quite clear – it’s illegal for businesses to turn away gay customers or discriminate against them when providing goods or services, and this can’t be overridden by personal prejudice.”
Mrs Wilkinson was not answering her phone at the guest house last night.
from The Daily Express