Two lawsuits in California threaten to remove the landmark Domestic Partner Act (DPA), the law that puts California on par with Vermont when it comes to rights and responsibilities of unmarried partners. AP reports that Campaign for California Families was the second group to file suit last week. The group alleges that the new law violates the state’s Proposition 22 that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriage. Gov. Gray Davis says he supports equal rights like those granted by the DPA but, in fact, does not support gay marriage.
Attorneys for convicted murderer Edward Hartman said their plea for a stay of his execution was denied, reports The News & Observer. Hartman, a gay man, was convicted 10 years ago. Defense attorneys say he was singled out for the death penalty because he is gay. Attorneys pledged to appeal to the state supreme court, but time is short. Hartman’s execution is scheduled for Oct. 3. For Information: Heather Wells, Hartman’s attorney, 910-254-4748; Mark Kleinschmidt, Center for Death Penalty Litigation in North Carolina, 919-956-9545. See www.ncnlg.org.
Actor/model Treve Broudy, 34, wept in court last week as three men were convicted of attacking him with a baseball bat, reports AP. After Broudy and a male friend had embraced outside of Broudy’s West Hollywood home, he was reportedly beaten into a coma by the men. Prosecutors did not charge the attack as a hate crime, but the men received sentences in state prison ranging from 7 to 20 years.
The father of a 12-year-old competitive ballroom dancer filed a claim against the Pacifica School District for failing to protect the pre-teen from anti-gay slurs and physical harassment. Taunts allegedly started at the beginning of the year and ended at the end of the year with a death threat. Another 12-year-old boy’s family filed a similar complaint in 1997.
Two lesbians engaged in a knife-fight at the historic Stonewall Inn last month, according to 365gay.com. The women were allegedly in line to use the restroom when the fight broke out. One woman pulled out a knife and allegedly stabbed the other woman, who was hospitalized.
New York Democrats released a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in that state, ready or not, according to the New York Daily News. Most Republicans in the state and many Democrats oppose introducing such a bill at this time in light of recent polls suggesting just more than one-third of Americans support gay marriage. Political powerhouse Assemblyman Denny Farrell, D-Manhattan, predicts the bill will pass the lower house.
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (Lambda) have launched an historic partnership to fundamentally change the way lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are treated in the nation’s foster care system. The three-year venture, ‘Fostering Transitions: CWLA/Lambda Joint Initiative To Support LGBTQ Youth and Adults Involved with the Child Welfare System,’ is supported by a grant from the Andrus Family Fund. From neglect to sexual assault to brutal beatings and attempts at ‘conversion therapy,’ LGBTQ youth in foster care are often unsupported, unprotected and unsafe. As a result, many become adults and age out of the foster care system badly damaged and unequipped to become healthy, productive members of society. The CWLA/Lambda Joint Initiative will make LGBTQ youth a clear priority for child welfare agencies nationwide.
Saying that one of the nation’s largest HMOs may cost a Denver man his life by refusing to cover a kidney transplant because he has HIV, Lambda Legal filed a formal appeal with Kaiser Permanente and asked the HMO to reverse its denial in light of a range of scientific data and the man’s personal health history and experience.
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