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March 13, 2009 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 5
newsbrief's
Officer cleared in Pride boat dancer's death
San Diego A San Diego Harbor police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a male cruise ship dancer during last year's gay pride festivities.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced February 26 that the officer was justified in the shooting of Steven Hirschfield. Police say Hirschfield was shot in the back after Hirschfield reached for another officer's pistol during a scuffle.
Hirschfield was hired to dance on a ship chartered for a mostly male party as part of the city's gay pride festivities last July.
Prosecutors say police officers were sent to rescue him after he jumped off the ship.
W.Va. equal rights bill proposed
Charleston, W. Va.-A bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity will once again face the full state senate, after emerging from the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 9.
A similar bill passed the West Virginia Senate on a 32-0 vote last year, but died in the House of Delegates when it was pulled off the active calendar by the rules committee.
Some conservative senators argued that the measure would be hard to enforce, since one cannot judge a person's sexual orientation as easily as one might their race, age, or
sex.
However, Sen. Evan Jenkins rebutted by saying that the Human Rights Commission would have to investigate and establish evidence, just as they would for any other discrimination case.
Religious institutions are exempted from the legislation, which drew the support of the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
Sen. Mike Oliverio pointed out that arguments that it is a gay-rights measure ig-
nore the fact that heterosexuals are also protected from discrimination under the bill. If a landlord refuses to rent to someone because they are heterosexual, that is a violation of the law.
The bill applies to housing and employment. The legislative session ends on April 11.
Presently, 20 states have laws barring sexual orientation discrimination, and 13 of these include gender identity. No Ohio or federal law covers either one.
Hate killer gets life in prison
Bartow, Fla.-The killer of a gay man was sentenced to life in prison on February 27.
Ryan Skipper, 25, was stabbed to death in 2007. He was robbed, and his body was left on a dark road miles away from where his month-old car was found.
Joseph Bearden, 23, was convicted of second-degree murder, and authorities have labeled it a hate crime because of the severity of the attack. He was sentenced to life for the murder and 40 years for other charges related to the robbery and murder.
Bearden's co-defendant, William Brown Jr., will face trial on first-degree murder charges later this year.
Bearden has gone online accusing Brown and Brown's cousin of having committed the crime, but investigators decided that the cousin was not involved.
Bearden's defense attorneys declared a minor victory-their client, having been convicted of second-degree murder, will not face the death penalty.
Compiled from wire reports by Brian DeWitt, Anthony Glassman and Patti Harris.
Eight good men
Incoming board members Julio Aponte, left, and Rollie Santos discuss GLSEN Northeast Ohio's work with Jane Daroff of the Human Rights Campaign's northeast Ohio steering committee at a reception last month.
Eight new board members were announced at the February 28 event, which drew about 30 people to Bounce nightclub, a third of them students.
The new members of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's board come from a broad range of fields, and represent one of the most racially diverse boards in an LGBT organization in the state.
Aponte is the chief of rheumatology at Fairview Hospital, who was born in Colombia. Santos, a professor of economics at Lakeland Community College, is a Filipino immigrant. They are joined on the board by Modesto Acosta, a sophomore on a full scholarship at Oberlin College.
Also on the new board is Anthony Adkisson, the director of education for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland; People of All Colors Together-Cleveland co-chair and A é in Our Hands Coalition co-founder Kevin Calhoun; and Keith Mathews, a board member of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, PreTerm and the Freedom of Choice Cleveland Coalition.
Joining them are TransFamily executive director Jake Nash and Jack Skelton, the educational programs director and LGBTQQ community coordinator of the Multicultural Resource Center at Oberlin College.
While there are two African Americans on the new board, as well as two Latinos, one Asian-Pacific Islander, one trans-man and another member who is genderqueer, there are no women. So, the organization is holding four board seats open for female members.
For more information about the work GLSEN does in ensuring safe schools for all students, or about the openings on the board of directors, go to www.glsenneo.org.
-Anthony Glassman
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