Lambda Legal Sues Florida Hospital for Mistreatment of Deceased Lesbian’s Family

BACKSTORY

‘We only want the hospital to take responsibility for how they treated us

and ensure that it doesn't happen to another family.’

(Miami, Florida, June 25, 2008) — Today Lambda Legal announced a lawsuit against Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for the negligent and outrageous treatment towards the family of Lisa Pond, a lesbian whose partner of 18 years and their three children were not allowed to see her as she slipped into a coma and died.

"The treatment that Janice and her children received was outrageous, unethical and discriminatory," said Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. "Having your worst family nightmare compounded by mistreatment by hospital staff is more than anyone should have to endure."

Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Southern Regional Office in Atlanta is lead counsel on the case for Lambda Legal. She is joined by co-counsel Donald J. Hayden of Baker & McKenzie, LLP.

Court rules against anti-gay activists

LEXINGTON, MA: In a 44-page ruling released today (hat tip to Terry Klein at Decisionism, who got the scoop), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected the claims of the Parker and Wirthlin families that the Eastbrook School violated their First Amendment rights to believe and to teach their children that gays and gay marriage are abhorrent.

The court ruled that the First Amendment does not shield children from potentially objectionable material, but rather from efforts by government officials to coerce them into believing or saying things contrary to the parents' beliefs. And that, the court ruled, simply did not happen in Lexington; the two sets of parents are still free to teach their children whatever they want:

[W]e cannot see how Jacob's free exercise right was burdened at all: two books were made available to him, but he was never required to read them or have them read to him. Further, these books do not endorse gay marriage or homosexuality, or even address these topics explicitly, but merely describe how other children might come from families that look different from one's own. There is no free exercise right to be free from any reference in public elementary schools to the existence of families in which the parents are of different gender combinations.

Joey has a more significant claim, both because he was required to sit through a classroom reading of King and King and because that book affirmatively endorses homosexuality and gay marriage. It is a fair inference that the reading of King and King was precisely intended to influence the listening children toward tolerance of gay marriage. That was the point of why that book was chosen and used. Even assuming there is a continuum along which an intent to influence could become an attempt to indoctrinate, however, this case is firmly on the influence-toward-tolerance end. There is no evidence of systemic indoctrination. There is no allegation that Joey was asked to affirm gay marriage. ... Public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them. ...

FOLLOWUP: Boycott of International Bus Group Stagecoach

Click here for the original story.

MANCHESTER, January 25, 2008 – The Queer Youth Network (QYN) is calling for a boycott of public transport run by the British-based Stagecoach Group, which has operations throughout the UK – and in the USA and Canada.

The move follows what QYN says are “very serious complaints” against the company which show a lack of support and care by the company for both its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender passengers and its LGBT staff.

Two complaints of homophobia made recently in Scotland detail separate cases of open homophobia directed at a young gay couple in Aberdeen. In addition, a Stagecoach bus driver in Manchester has complained of homophobia in the workplace.

Last October, Mark Craig and Steven Black were, the Sunday Mail in Scotland reported, travelling on a late-night bus from Aberdeen to Old Meldrum when the driver took offence because Mark had his arm around Stevens shoulder.

“The driver stopped at the side of the road and told us to get off,” Steven told the Sunday Mail’s Bruce Walker. “He told us he would not move the bus unless we got off or sat apart.”
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Then, earlier this month, the two were making the same journey again.

“The bus arrived at around 11:30,” Mark recalled. “It pulled in to the bus stop as Steven and I were waiting. The bus doors opened slightly and the driver looked at us then looked around him and closed the doors and drove off leaving us standing on the street in the freezing cold.

“It was the same driver that tried to kick us off for hugging in the back of the bus last year,” he claimed.

Josh Minor of the Scottish Queer Youth Network said yesterday that as yet Stagecoach has taken no action in relation to these complaints.

“Queer Youth Network now is now calling upon all young people – and anyone who believes in equality – to completely boycott, where possible, all Stagecoach services until the company has suspended the driver in question, pending a full investigation.”

Scottish Queer Youth Network will be joining protests being planned outside Stagecoach offices by activists, led by the Scottish Socialist Party.

In Manchester, a young gay Stagecoach bus driver has also spoken of a “canteen culture” of bigotry and ignorance that is perpetuated and ignored throughout the transport giant’s workplaces.

“The company is stuck in the dark ages, I want to leave but there’s not many jobs driving for other companies as they have wiped them all out,” the 22 year old Manchester bus driver, who has asked not want to be named as he is in fear of losing his job or further harassment at work, told QYN.

“There’s no training about equal opportunities – it’s really hard to be gay and work here [and] I wouldn't dream of coming out – I’d be crucified.

“There was an ‘out’ lesbian working here for years,” he said. “In the end she just had enough. She had to go on sick leave – that was over a year ago now.”

His complaints to the management about the chauvinistic atmosphere in his depot, and a barrage of daily sexist and homophobic remarks, have fallen on deaf ears.

David Henry, director of Queer Youth Network suggests that Stagecoach’s upper-reaches of management is powerless to act is down to the personal interference of the company’s chairman Brian Souter who is widely known for his evangelical-like ‘anti-gay’ views.

In 2000, Mr. Souter personally bankrolled a campaign in Scotland to retain the notorious anti-gay ‘section 28’ law which prevented and reference to homosexuality in schools run by Local Authorities. Despite putting-in at least a reported £500,000 ($US1 million), Mr. Souter’s campaign failed and the law was repealed.

“Every single day young people from all over Britain make up a sizable portion of Stagecoach’s customer base,” Mr. Henry pointed out. “[They] often have no choice but to use the franchised public transport services.

“Stagecoach’s failure to take action on this matter opens the door wide open for similar incidents in the future. The boycott will continue on all Stagecoach services – mainly buses, coaches, trams and trains.”

He urges passengers to use alternatives where possible until the two young men ho were thrown-off a bus in Scotland receive an apology – and there is an additional commitment from the Stagecoach Group to provide services that are safe and inclusive for all young people.

Mr. Henry said there were similarities with America and the late Rosa Parks who, on December 1 1955, refused to obey the order from a Montgomery, Alabama, bus driver to give up her seat to a white passenger. This led to a bus boycott and the emergence of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr.

“Are we living in 1950’s America, or are we living in a safe and civilised Britain where we can all travel freely without being ridiculed by those supposedly offering a basic public service” Mr. Henry asked?

“The travel giant has displayed a blatant disregard for the recently introduced legal reforms designed to protect the LGBT community from exactly this kind of prejudice.”

In a statement to UK Gay News, a spokesperson for the Stagecoach Group said: “[The QYN] statement is an outrageous slur on the integrity and good name of our company and our 30,000 employees, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff who work for us.

“We have a diverse and committed workforce and our policy is very clear: all employees and customers are treated equally and with dignity and respect.

“Some 2.5 million passengers a day trust in us for their bus and rail travel and the number of people travelling with us is growing. They know we are a respected and high-quality transport operator. Our loyal customers are frankly puzzled as to why they should support such a misguided campaign when they know Stagecoach has such a strong commitment to diversity.”

Groups of young people angry at Stagecoach’s continuing silence have already begun ‘hug-in’ protests and are distributing literature informing Stagecoach passengers on it’s recently acquired Manchester Metrolink tram network – and at bus stops along the Oxford Road route in Manchester, Europe’s busiest and most competitive bus corridor with six companies in competition.

“We have a duty as customers and individuals not to tolerate this kind of behaviour from a company entrusted to provide a public service. We shall not rest on this issue until our demands are met,” Mr. Henry added.

The boycott is called for all bus, coach, tram and train services operated by Stagecoach Group. The company also owns 49 per cent of Virgin Trains.

There is no detail of the Group’s diversity policy on its website. However, the Group’s Annual Report for 2007 states:

“The Group is also committed to providing equality of opportunity to employees. This applies to appropriate training, career development and promotion opportunities for all employees regardless of physical disability, gender, religion, belief, race or ethnic origin. The Group gives full consideration to applications for employment from disabled persons where a disabled person can adequately fulfil the requirements of the job…”

NH Civil Unions a reality

(Concord, New Hampshire) Dozens of gay and lesbian couples entered into civil unions in New Hampshire in the early moments of New Year's Day as a new state law legalized such arrangements after midnight.

Organizers said they checked in 37 couples for an outdoor ceremony on the plaza of the New Hampshire Statehouse - the building where the law was adopted and signed in 2007. Participants bundled up against below-freezing temperatures.

"We've been together 20 years; we've been waiting for this moment for 20 years; finally the state will recognize us as we are," said Julie Bernier, who posed for photos on the Statehouse steps with partner Joan Andresen before the ceremony. Bernier and Andresen, who both work at Plymouth State University, never sought a commitment ceremony or other symbolic recognition of their relationship before Tuesday.

"I didn't believe in doing it until it meant something," Bernier said.

"We really didn't believe that we'd be able to see this accomplished within one year but it has happened," state Rep. Jim Splaine, a sponsor of the civil unions bill, told the cheering crowd of about 200. "One thing we have to keep in mind is that there is much more to do. We have to continue the journey to make sure that we have marriage equality, full marriage equality - with the word marriage - soon."

New Hampshire's civil unions law - enacted by the Democrat-dominated Legislature early last year and signed by Democratic Gov. John Lynch in May, gives same sex couples the same rights, responsibilities and obligations of marriage without calling the union a marriage. New Hampshire is the fourth state in the nation to allow civil unions and the first to do so without a court decision or the threat of one.

New Hampshire follows Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey in allowing civil unions. Massachusetts is the only state that allows marriage. New Hampshire estimates that as many as 3,500 to 4,000 civil unions will be performed this first year.

AUSTRALIA: Sydney police don't have time for hate crime

Part of Craig Gee’s skull was reduced to powder and his leg broken during the late-night attack last month, which his boyfriend Shane Brennen initially thought had killed him.

Police told him they had already spent too much time on his case to check CCTV footage or trace threatening phone calls made from his stolen mobile phone.

Gee and Brennan had been holding hands on Crown St at 1.30am when Brennen said they were attacked by two men who yelled, “Give us your money you fucking faggot.”

Gee, who has undergone facial reconstruction surgery, cannot remember the attack. Brennen remembers it clearly, but said the responding officer rebuffed his attempts to give a statement.

“He told us they get 15-20 cases of this a night and don’t usually get a result. ‘We don’t have the resources’,” Brennen said.

The couple claim they were repeatedly turned away from Surry Hills police station because the reporting officer was not available.

Their trauma was exacerbated when Gee’s mother received a call from his stolen mobile four days after the attack saying, “We killed your faggot son.”

The couple’s friends and colleagues also received homophobic calls and text messages threatening rape and violence.

Police told the couple to cancel the mobile service to prevent additional charges, but could not say if they could be used to locate the assailants. Gee’s credit cards were used to pay for two taxis shortly after the attack.

“We had to push for police to seek the CCTV tapes before they were overwritten. We were told over the phone ‘I’ve already spent too much time on this’.” Brennen said.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has written to NSW Police Minister David Campbell calling for a review of the police handling of the case and questioning why there were no Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers available on the night.

She said the abusive calls and text messages clearly identify “this was partially motivated by homophobia”.

A CCTV image of the suspected assailant was then found, but local stations have not had any success in recognising the man.

“I thought Surry Hills police station was a bit more gay friendly to be honest,” Brennen said after giving a statement.

“The GLLO told us we should just be happy we have each other.

“The injuries aren’t little, it’s not like we were just pushed around. [Craig] could have lost his life on that road. It’s not acceptable without them looking into it.

“We got some bad news, they can’t fix up Craig’s cheek, so he’ll have to put up with having his face looking different.”

Gee, who wasn’t able to speak for some time due to the inserted plates, said he hoped that by letting people know what happened, it could stop it happening to others.

POLITICS: Record number of gay candidates

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund has announced ten new endorsements, increasing the organization’s number of supported candidates to 71 for the 2007 political season. The number sets a new record for an odd-numbered year--years in which there are no scheduled federal elections. Of the 71 candidates endorsed this year, 45 still face a general election on November 6.

“In 2007, dozens of pro-equality laws were passed in cities and states where openly gay elected officials served as powerful examples for their colleagues. Being there makes a difference,” Wolfe said. The Victory Fund expects to endorse more than 100 candidates in 2008.

Family suffers inexcusable bigotry in Florida hospital

Jamie Lee Curtis hugs Janice Langbehn after Janice gave her speech.

Janice gave her speech about her horrible experience in Florida in February 2007 - Family Equality Council (previously Family Pride) - this is the speech I gave on 10/13/07 at the Hollywood Roosevelt when Jamie Lee Curtis received her award along with Growing Generations.

Good evening, I am Janice Langbehn. In trying to prepare for tonight’s speech and express to you how family equality is essential I am saddened to think the only reason I am up here is because my partner died.

Some of you may have heard our story. In February 2007, my partner, Lisa Pond, and I arrived in Miami, Florida with three of our adopted children to realize a family dream – a weeklong vacation on RFamily Cruises.

As we boarded the Norwegian Jewel, Kelli O’Donnell greeted us and had our picture taken. None of us realized it would be one of our last family photographs. We also did not anticipate the unimaginable homophobia and inhumane treatment we would be faced with just a few hours later.

While I unpacked in our cabin, Lisa, my partner of 18 years took our kids Danielle, David and Katie up to the top deck to play basketball. Just a short time later the kids were banging on the stateroom door saying, “Mommy was hurt!” I opened the door, and took one look at Lisa and knew the situation was very serious. As a medical social worker for many years, I have seen people in critical condition. I knew that my life partner was gravely ill.

As the ship was about to leave, we had no choice but to seek medical help in an unfamiliar city. After local medics arrived, we hurried off the ship to the closest hospital in Miami, Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The kids and I, hauling a week’s worth of luggage for five, arrived just before the ambulance carrying Lisa.

I tried to follow the gurney into the trauma bay but was stopped by the trauma team meeting Lisa and told to go to the waiting area. I did as I was told and a short while later a social worker appeared to inform me that I was - and I quote – “in an anti-gay city and state.” He explained that this meant that I would not be allowed to see Lisa or make decisions about her care without a Health Care Proxy.

I asked for his name and fax number and within 20 minutes I had contacted close friends in Olympia, WA who raced to our house, found all our legal documents including our Durable Power of Attorney, Living Wills and Advance Directives and fax them to the hospital.

I never imagined as I paced that tiny waiting room that I would not see Lisa’s bright blue eyes again or hold her warm, loving hands. Feeling helpless as I continued to wait, I attempted to sneak back into the trauma bay but all the doors to the trauma area had key codes, preventing me from entering.

Sitting alone with our luggage, our children and my thoughts, I watched numbly as other families were invited back into the trauma center to visit with their loved ones. I was still waiting to hear what was happening with Lisa, realizing as the time passed that I was not being allowed to see her and if the social worker’s words were any indication it was because we were gay.

Anger, despair and disbelief wracked my brain as I tried to figure out a way to find out what was going on with Lisa. I finally thought to call our family doctor back in Olympia to see if she could find out what was happening. While on the phone with our doctor in Olympia, a surgeon appeared.

The surgeon told me that Lisa, who was just 39 years old, had suffered massive bleeding in her brain from an aneurysm.

The surgeon asked me for consent to place a pressure monitor in her brain. It was only then, hours after the documents had been faxed, that I knew that they had been received by the hospital.

A short while later, two more surgeons appeared and explained the massive bleed in Lisa’s brain gave her little chance to survive and if she did it would be in a persistent vegetative state. Lisa had made me promise to her over and over in our 18 years together to never allow this to happen to her. I let the surgeons know Lisa wishes, which were also spelled out in her Living Wills and Advance Directive.

I was promised by the doctors that I would be brought to see Lisa. Yet I was still waiting when a hospital chaplain appeared. I politely requested a Catholic Priest be brought in to administer Lisa’s Last Rites. The chaplain offered to pray with me, and I remember staring at her wondering – what did she think I had been doing for the last several hours but praying?

The true tragedy really came over the next five hours. With the priest, I recited the ritual of the Last Rites and prayed for Lisa and held her hand for the first time since she arrived at Ryder Trauma Center. Following my few minutes with Lisa, the priest ushered me out to the waiting room again.

After finally seeing Lisa, I knew our children and I needed to be with her and I asked over and over if we could go back again and was repeatedly told by hospital staff, “No”. In those five hours, Lisa lay at Ryder Trauma Center moving toward brain death and yet no one was there to hold her hand and talk to her and tell her how much she was loved.

Jackson Memorial Hospital, in their inability or unwillingness to recognize us as a family with legally adopted children, forced Lisa to be alone in her last moments of life. I used every tactic I could think of to be with her, to bring our children to her yet five hours after they stopped life-saving measures we still sat in that small waiting room.

I showed hospital staff our children’s birth certificates with Lisa’s name on them and was told they were “too young to visit”. I thought to myself “how old do you need to be to say goodbye to your mother”? In those hours of waiting and trying to calm our children, explaining to them that their “other” mom was dying and would go to Heaven, I felt like a failure.

It wasn’t until Lisa was officially declared brain dead on Monday February 19, 2007 at 10:45am and individuals from the Organ Donation Agency became involved did I finally feel validated as a spouse and partner. They talked directly with me and allowed me to choose which organs would be donated and allowed me to sign all the consent forms.

It is only now, eight months after Lisa’s death that I can gain more perspective and with that insight has come anger at how we were treated. Lisa and I were together 18 years, had become foster parents for the State of Washington when we were just 24 and 25 years old. After being guardians to a teenager until she graduated from high school, taking in 22 foster children and then adopting four children, I realized that we were fortunate in our life together.

We had each other; we lived in a community where our adopted children were never harassed for having two moms. Lisa was a “stay-at-home mom” and very involved in our children’s lives from teaching all our children’s first communion classes to volunteering at their schools, sitting on the PTSA for 2 years and serving as our daughters’ Girl Scout leader for the past 8 years.

Her troop was so popular it swelled to 26 girls at one point. Lisa never turned anyone away.

When we did face inequality, we just found other ways to meet our children’s needs. Truly until February 18, 2007, I can only think of a handful of times when I felt out of place as a family.

However, I now believe that a family – however they may define themselves (GLBTQ) – has the human right to be together is at the time of death.

Yet, in our situation not only were we not validated as family we were actually shunned. All because, as the social worker made very clear, I was in an anti-gay state, as if I should just accept that.

Yet I had no choice. He and the hospital held the power to allow or not allow our children and me the basic human right to hold Lisa’s hand while she was still alive. They stole that time from Lisa, our children and me, and that time can never be given back.

So as I move through my grief and help our children through theirs, I speak out for family equality and basic human rights. I believe with all my heart, that at the hour of Lisa’s death, no one should have been able to deny our children and myself the ability to say goodbye to Lisa and let her know – if only be holding her hand – that she was so loved. That should not be a privilege in our country but a basic human right of every family regardless of how they define themselves.

If you remember nothing else from tonight, I hope you have come to understand that even with legal paperwork it is a reality that someone can leave this earth completely alone even though their loved ones are just 20 feet away. No family should have endured what we did that night in Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital. It was wrong, insensitive and a defining moment for my family that can never be replaced or forgiven.

Lisa Pond was a wonderful caring person who gave endlessly to others. She took care of countless children when they were abused or neglected. She nurtured even more through her community service and as a Girl Scout Leader. Through organ donation, four people received another chance at life when they received her kidneys, liver and heart.

As for me, and our wonderful children, we are left with a hole in our hearts that will never be filled.

Thank you

Reparative Therapy is wrong

Most of the world "jumps through hoops" to avoid harm to an individual. In other words, "if we harm one individual we have failed".

The religious groups who support reparative/conversion therapy take a different approach. They feel it is okay to harm someone because "if we help one individual we have succeeded".

This is dangerous and unacceptable. Once again, religion is being used to oppress.

"Ex-Gay" Ministries and “Reparative Therapy”

Ex-gay ministries use out-of-date and scientifically disproved medical theories to justify trying to “cure” gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) peoples' natural sexual orientation or gender identity.

Originally, these ministries were a small group of religious people who were virtually unknown. However, because of high-profile ad campaigns and conferences sponsored by the religious right these ministries have become a political tool in the ongoing fight to deny GLBT civil rights.

Ex-gay ministries believe three main things:
They are called to love GLBT people who are "struggling with sexual orientation and gender identity"

Homosexual orientation and transgender identity are chosen or are the result of bad childhood experiences

They cannot condone this "sinful" behavior and are therefore called on to change the sexual orientation of GLBT people.

Such attempts originate from cultural bias based on myth, misperception and misunderstanding.

We encourage all professional, educational and religious organizations to work towards changing cultural biases rather than embarking on futile and damaging efforts to change sexual orientation.


"Facts Regarding "Reparative Therapy"

The record shows that “reparative therapy” has no support from the major medical and mental health professional organizations.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed the term "homosexuality" from the list of mental and emotional disorders. Sexual orientation is not a disorder; therefore, it does not need to be cured.

In 1990, the American Psychological Association stated that scientific evidence shows that reparative therapy does not work and that it can do more harm than good.

In 1998, the American Psychiatric Association stated it was opposed to reparative therapy, stating "psychiatric literature strongly demonstrates that treatment attempts to change sexual orientation are ineffective. However, the potential risks are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive [suicidal] behavior..."

The American Medical Association, states in its policy number H-160.991, that it “opposes, the use of ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy that is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation”.

In 2001, The U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior asserted that homosexuality is not "a reversible lifestyle choice”.

Richard Cohen, one of the main reparative therapists, is permanently excluded from the American Counseling Association (ACA).

“Reparative therapy” is unethical. It does not work and it is dangerous and destructive. The damage that can be done by this practice is real. It can destroy someone's self esteem and faith and may lead to self-destructive and suicidal behavior.
Resources on Reparative Therapy and the Ex-Gay Movement:
Professional Organization Statements on Reparative Therapy
American Psychological Association Statement
American Psychiatric Association Statement

American Medical Association Resolution

UPDATE: Sandy murder (hate crime)

A man who tried to fend off gay-bashing charges by telling a jury that he is also gay was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime Thursday in an attack at a remote city beach.

Jurors deliberated several days before convicting Anthony Fortunato in the death of Michael Sandy, who was beaten and then chased into the path of a moving car on Oct. 8, 2006.

A second man charged in the attack, John Fox, was convicted of manslaughter and hate crime charges last week by a separate jury. Another attacker, Gary Timmins, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and testified for prosecutors.

A fourth suspect, Ilye Shurov, is awaiting trial.

USC will not tolerate homophobia

When two men marched around the Free Speech Zone on Wednesday carrying signs declaring "Homo sex is sin," students proved we are a campus with a conscience. We demonstrated our abilities as thoughtful citizens beyond the classroom, protesting these men's hateful words.

Students nearby were promoting a different message - one of acceptance and unity as part of National Coming Out Week.

Five-hundred T-shirts with the words, "Gay? Fine by me" sprawled across the front flew off Program Board's table in just 15 minutes.

Students, gay and straight, proudly wore the shirts; some followed with pink signs and marched up to the protestors, questioning and challenging intolerance at its human roots.

We demonstrated that straight people can have gay pride, too. On Wednesday, people of different sexual orientations loudly proclaimed that USC will not tolerate homophobia.

SINGAPORE: Mixed signals on homosexuality

Leaders of economically vibrant Singapore are sending mixed signals on homosexuality in the competition with other Asian countries for more foreign talent. While allowing a small number of gay bars, restaurants and saunas to thrive, homosexual acts are still outlawed and carry a prison term of up to two years. Even such frivolities as gay picnics with participants clad in pink are prohibited.

An onslaught of contradictions emerged during the recent third annual gay pride festival.

Licenses were denied for an exhibition scheduled to show 80 photographs of same-sex people kissing and the reading of a story about a young man's fantasies of sex with older men, including government and military officials. Discussions led by foreigners were also ruled out, along with the picnic and a gay run.

Other Asian countries which were former British colonies with laws regarding homosexual sex as a crime include India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Hong Kong, a strong economic rival, decriminalized gay sex in 1991. The latest constitution in Thailand, another competitor, grants equal rights for homosexuals.

Actor Ian McKellen, in Singapore in July performing in William Shakespeare's King Lear, spoke out far more strongly than local gays dare. "It's about time Singapore grew up, I think, and realized that gay people are here to stay," said the British star, who was in Lord of the Rings.

"Just treat us with respect like we treat everybody else and the world will be a better place."

Disneyland: 10th annual Gay Days Anaheim

10th Annual Gay Days: October 5–7, 2007

Break out your red t-shirt for the (unofficial) Gay Days Weekend at Disneyland! Thousands of gays and lesbians turn the Happiest Place on Earth into the gayest place as well. Enjoy your favorite rides and attractions, along with parties, gatherings and special events throughout the weekend.

NYPD gay cop files discrimination lawsuit

Harrington, who works out of the Manhattan South task force, told the Daily News yesterday he regrets telling colleagues he is gay.

A gay cop charged yesterday he has been persecuted with death threats and homophobic slurs in the NYPD.

Officer Michael Harrington, a five-year veteran, said in a suit filed yesterday the hostility is so pervasive he cannot escape it - despite moving to five different precincts.

One supervisor mockingly told him he was being sent to the West Village "to be with his people," the suit said.

He said an officer at that precinct told him, "All faggots should be shot."

After receiving a death threat in the interdepartmental mail, he complained to his Patrolmen's Benevolent Association delegate, he said. He said the union rep tore up the letter in front of him.

Harrington's is the latest in a long list of complaints of homophobia in the NYPD. In 1997, 800 gay and lesbian cops filed a discrimination suit that was eventually settled out of court.

University of Tennessee LGBT film festival

LGBT Film Series: Before Stonewall

In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. With this outpouring of courage and unity the Gay Liberation Movement had begun.

Before Stonewall pries open the closet door--setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement, from the events that led to the fevered 1969 riots to many other milestones in the brave fight for acceptance.

Quiet couple was called to action

Waymon Hudson and Anthony Niedwiecki used to lead a private life in Oakland Park. Now they're leading the campaign against Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle.

Hudson and Niedwiecki, a couple for nearly six years, say their lives changed May 1 when a skycap broadcast an anti-gay Bible message over an airport loudspeaker.

''We heard over the PA system that a man who lies with a man as he would a woman will be subject to death,'' said Niedwiecki, 40, a Nova Southeastern University associate law professor who was returning with Hudson from a trip to Chicago.

''It frightened me,'' said Hudson, 28, a JetBlue flight attendant and personal trainer. ''When someone says you should be put to death at 1 a.m. in a deserted airport, it perks your ears up.'' A contractor quickly fired the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport skycap.

Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson waffling

On Sept. 7 Thompson "clarified" his position on an anti-gay amendment to the United States Constitution. "I would support a constitutional amendment which says some off-the-wall court decision in one state that recognizes the marriage in one state, like Massachusetts, just to pick a state, cannot go to another state and have it recognized in that state. You are not bound by what another state does," he said according to Salon.com. "The second part of my amendment would also state that judges could not impose this [gay marriage], on the federal or state level, unless a state legislature signed off on it."

This is interesting for several reasons;

- He previously opposed a federal marriage amendment

- maybe he hasn't heard of DOMA which already handles the state to state issue

- Judges can't rule unless the legislature says it's ok (this is irrational)

-

Feel free to post articles yourself.

For any of you who are so inclined, feel free to post articles and/or opinions of your own.

-tom

Kansas Governor Signs Order Prohibiting Discrimination Against the State’s GLBT Employees

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order that will prohibit discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender state employees late last week, according to a release from the Human Rights Campaign.

The order, effective immediately, requires state agencies under Sebelius’ direct control to put in place programs to prevent on-the-job harassment against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered workers.

"I'm sorry it took us so long," Sebelius told the press after signing the order. She also endorsed a bill in the Republican-dominated Legislature that would prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing and private employment.

"We need to make sure in Kansas that all of our employees are treated with dignity and respect and that the doors to state employment are open to all," Sebelius added. "It was just clear we were behind the times."

This is an important and meaningful statement in favor of equal rights," Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said in a press release. "We hope that the Kansas Legislature will follow the governor’s lead by ultimately ensuring that private sector employees in Kansas don’t have to face discrimination simply because of who they are,” he continued. “The momentum keeps building in favor of equality, as more and more states are doing the right thing and rejecting discrimination. However, the fact that Kansas remains one of 31 states without a law protecting private-sector employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and one of 39 states without a law protecting private-sector employees from discrimination based on gender identity highlights the critical need for federal anti-discrimination legislation in these areas."

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