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Activism & Politics

Lawyers To Cross Examine Police In Egyptian Gay Trial

Police officers will be cross examined by lawyers representing 50 gay men arrested at a gay club in Cairo last year. Judge Hassan Al-Sayef ruled that the defense can call on the officers to testify and issued summons for them to appear in court on October 12. The trial will be the second time in court for 50 men arrested for "debauchery" last year at a riverboat gay club. The first trial resulted in convictions of two men for "contempt of religion" and sentences of hard larbor. Twenty-one other men were convicted of "debauchery". Twenty-nine men were found not guilty and released. Now all the men except those convicted of "contempt of religion" must face a re-trial; including those previously found innocent.

OTHER GayActivism News

New York Mayor Signs Civil Union Legislation

This week, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed legislation recognizing civil unions and gay marriage performed in other places. Though the legislation does not legalize civil unions in New York, those who are legally unioned in places such as Vermont or Holland will be granted union status in the city. Those who have entered into a legal civil union outside of New York will be "entitled to all the rights and benefits currently available," according to the Mayor.

Couples recognized under the new legislation will be given such benefits as spousal visitation rights in hospitals.

American Red Cross Extends Equal Relief To Gay Families

The American Red Cross has made permanent the guidelines it used to provide gay domestic partners disaster relief after the September 11th terrorist bombings. Last week, the organization sent out an information bulletin to all US chapters stating that immediate family includes "regularly financially supported significant others, fiances, housemates and/or other family members." Documentation that can be used to verify these relationships include joint leases, joint bank accounts or other financial accounts, utility bills with both names and joint insurance.

Gay Survivors Of September 11th Receive Worker's Compensation

Under a new state law that took effect last week, about 20 gay and lesbian survivors whose partners died in the September 11th terrorist attacks will receive worker's compensation benefits. The new las amends existing state workers' compensation rules to include domestic partners of those killed on September 11th. Gay and lesbian survivors will now receive the same benefits straight survivors receive - up to $400 a week for the remainder of the spouse's life or until the spouse remarries. Because the law is retroactive, all domestic partners will receive backpayments starting from September 11th forward. Anyone who believes they are eligible for the benefits must undergo an application process. However, gay rights activists say the process is not excessive.

GLAAD Announces Equality Project Campaign

Following this week's historic decision by "The New York Times" to include same-sex union announcements in its Weddings/Celebrations section, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today launched its Announcing Equality Project, a year-long campaign designed to double the number of local and regional newspapers that list same-sex commitment ceremonies, unions and weddings. The Announcing Equality Project is designed to build on precedents set by the approximately 70 U.S. newspapers papers that currently include such listings in paid or unpaid weddings and celebrations sections. GLAAD's regional media team will collaborate with local community leaders to advocate for equal inclusion of lesbian and gay unions in local, regional and metropolitan newspapers in the nation's top 100 media markets.

"Same-sex unions, commitment ceremonies and weddings are a growing and visible trend in this country," said Joan M. Garry, GLAAD's executive director. "We are taking the same appeal we made to 'The New York Times' for equal coverage to newspapers in the nation's top 100 media markets. It's simply a matter of fairness and accurate representation of important events occurring in the communities these papers serve."

When Howell Raines, executive editor of "The New York Times," announced the decision to consider same-sex celebrations equally, he said, "In making this change, we acknowledge the newsworthiness of a growing and visible trend in society toward public celebrations of commitment by gay and lesbian couples -- celebrations important to many of our readers, their families and their friends." Until today, the "Times" was the only major newspaper in the country with a written policy prohibiting publication of same-sex unions. Although they do not have written policies, major newspapers across the country like the "Boston Globe," the "Los Angeles Times" and the "Dallas Morning News" still do not print same-sex union announcements, although each city has a large and visible gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

However, gay and lesbian couples are currently able to publish union announcements in large- market papers such as the "Chicago Tribune," the "San Francisco Chronicle," the "Salt Lake Tribune" and the "Orange County [Calif.] Register"; as well as in local and regional papers such as the "Salina [Kan.] Journal," the "Fayetteville [N.C.] Observer" and the "Montgomery [Ala.] Advertiser." A list of the papers that have indicated to GLAAD that they print same-sex union announcements is available at www.glaad.org.

"It's surprising that papers like the 'Los Angeles Times' and the 'Boston Globe' will accept personal ads from gays and lesbians and advocate in favor of legal recognition of our relationships, but currently draw the line at celebrating when those same people enter into lifelong commitments," said John Sonego, GLAAD's director of communications. "Some editors have told us that implementing an equal announcements policy would amount to taking a stand. They're right -- it would. But the alternative is to take another stand: a discriminatory one that further divides communities."

"In our research, we've found that community papers are taking the lead on printing announcements," Sonego said. "In many ways, this makes sense. Local newspapers recognize that gay and lesbian couples are integral to the fabric of their communities. More and more editors understand a refusal to acknowledge their public declarations of commitment is fundamentally unfair and discriminatory, and does not serve the community at-large."

One such editor and publisher is Charles Broadwell of the "Fayetteville Observer." Prompted by a rabbi's request to announce the civil union of a local couple, Broadwell's paper last month became the first in North Carolina to implement an inclusive announcements policy. "There were various issues to consider," Broadwell wrote in a July 21 editorial. "We knew that running it would stir controversy and offend some readers. We also knew that, if we refused to run it, we could face criticism and more controversy."

The "Observer's" new policy offers same-sex couples joined in a state-sanctioned ceremony the right to inclusion in the "Celebrations" section. "We try to be sensitive to community standards," Broadwell wrote. "We also try to promote tolerance, though that doesn't mean we endorse the legal recognition of same-sex unions. I eventually decided that to refuse such an announcement -- which we print for free, along with most of the more standard announcements -- would be hypocritical or even discriminatory."

"We believe the time is right for newspapers across the country to embrace fair and accurate inclusion of same-sex union announcements," Garry said. "Even in places where there may be less support for equality-oriented legislation, people understand that treating us equally and welcoming our families are simply matters of common decency. These are true community standards, and they should be reflected in newspapers across the country."

For more information on the Announcing Equality Project, visit www.glaad.org

Washington Appeals Court Says Anti-Gay Job Discrimination Violates U.S. Constitution

A Washington state appeals court this week unanimously ruled that firing public employees because they are gay violates the U.S. Constitution, which the American Civil Liberties Union said is the first ruling of its kind from any appeals court in the country. The ACLU initially filed its state lawsuit against Pullman Memorial Hospital in 1996 on behalf of Mary Jo Davis, a sonographer who was subjected to severe and ongoing anti-gay harassment, then fired. A lower court dismissed the case, effectively saying that the U.S. Constitution offers no refuge for lesbians and gay men who face discrimination by government agencies. Today, the Washington Court of Appeals disagreed in an 11-page decision.

"[A] state actor violates a homosexual employee's right of equal protection when it treats that person differently than it treats heterosexual employees, based solely upon the employee's sexual orientation," the court ruled.

"This is a historic ruling," said Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project. "For the first time, an appeals court is saying that it's just plain unconstitutional for a government agency to fire someone for being gay."

Today's ruling sets a "powerful precedent," Coles said, and will now send Davis' case back to trial. She will be able to sue both the hospital and Dr. Charles Guess, the chief radiologist, who harassed her routinely. Guess constantly referred to Davis as a "f-king dyke" and "f-king faggot," and told another doctor, "I don't think that f-king faggot should be doing vaginal exams, and I'm not working with her." When Davis complained, Guess told hospital administrators that he didn't "agree with Mary Jo Davis' lesbian lifestyle." Rather than discipline Guess, the hospital punished Davis - reducing her work hours to three-quarters time so Guess wouldn't have to work with her. Finally, in 1994, Davis was fired.

At the appeals court, Guess claimed that even if it were unconstitutional to fire to Davis for being a lesbian, he couldn't be expected to know that and therefore should be immune from legal responsibility. The court disagreed strongly: "The law is well established that intentional and invidious discrimination against an individual because he or she is a member of an identifiable class, violates that person's right to equal protection. That proposition was as evident in 1994 as it is today."

According to the ACLU, today's ruling will help lesbians and gay men nationwide. "Mary Jo Davis was a good employee. She was subjected to a hellish work environment, then finally fired, because she is a lesbian," said Ken Choe, the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project attorney handling the case. "All over this country, people face discrimination because of their sexual orientation. It's particularly wrong when it's the government that does it -- and this decision is now one of our most powerful weapons in fighting it."

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