www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com
January 15, 2010
GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
CHRONICLE 3
Zaller to run center during search for new director
by Anthony Glassman
Cleveland-The new year saw the departure of the Cleveland LGBT Center's executive director Sue Doerfer, but the ship is far from rudderless.
The board of directors named Mary Zaller, the director of sponsorships and major donors, as interim' executive director while it completes its search for Doerfer's permanent successor.
In doing so, they selected perhaps the one person at the center with the longest institutional memory.
Zaller celebrates her seventh anniversary at the center on January 31. She was hired as director of development during the nine-month stewardship of former executive director David Smith.
When Smith stepped down due to health concerns, Zaller and Jack Hart, then director of programming, became interim co-directors.
Those were stressful times at the center. After having engaged in an exhaustive national search for the replacement for former director Linda Malicki, the board found itself in the unenviable position of having to go through the entire process again, less than a year later.
This time, however, Zaller believes
they are in a better position to find someone to fill the post on a permanent basis. In addition to Zaller's intimate knowl-
Mary Zaller
edge of the non-profit organization's workings, she also points out that they have a couple other major advantages this time around.
She pointed to board member Mark Fiala, a straight ally who is the president
of a human resources consulting firm. A director search is firmly within his realm of expertise.
"He put together a job description, and knows the process and timelines to do an executive director search correctly," she noted.
They also have feedback from Doerfer on her own experiences being vetted for her new position as executive director of Equality Ohio.
"Sue went through a thorough but concise two-month process for the Equality Ohio job, so we now have the benefit of her having just gone through that process and relaying it to our search committee," Zaller noted.
With their feet more firmly on the ground than when Smith departed, the board is now focused on a quick, efficient search.
The most important thing, though, it that while the search is underway, ithe center has an experienced hand guiding it.
"The staff and board know me and feel comfortable with me and vice versa," Zaller said, “and the community will feel comfortable knowing I'm there."
She is sure that whoever takes the reins
from her will guide the center ably through its next years.
1
"Whatever experience and connections the new executive director has, he or she can take the center in that direction," she noted. "Sue had experience with social services, so the center moved more in that direction."
Given her institutional memory, Zaller's selection as the interim head of the center gives the board the "breathing room to select the right person to move the center forward," she said.
Zaller has not put her name in as a possibility for the permanent position. She feels that she can serve the center most ably by using her expertise with sponsors and major donors to help, rather than by leading the organization, although her experiences following Smith's departure ensure a continuity in the center's leadership.
"The LGBT Center in Cleveland is so many different things to so many different people," she mused. "We've been around for 35 years, and so many people have varying expectations of the center. I don't think people realize how big a job it is."
Virginia mom flees with child to keep ex-partner away
by Anthony Glassman
Fairfax, Va.-An "ex-lesbian". who was ordered repeatedly by courts to allow her former partner visitations with their daughter has absconded with the child, failing to meet on January 1 to hand over the girl.
Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller entered into a civil union in Vermont in 2000, and Miller gave birth to Isabella in 2002. After the women's relationship ended in 2003, Miller moved to Virginia and began identifying as a born-again Christian, saying she was no longer a lesbian.
Miller asked a family court in Rutland, Vermont to dissolve the civil union and grant her custody of the child, which it did.
The court also ruled, though, that Jenkins be granted visitation rights.
Miller tried to have the ruling vacated in courts in Virginia, arguing that since that state does not recognize same-sex
relationships, a custody agreement stemming from one could not be held as valid.
The case eventually made it to the high courts of both states, which each upheld the Rutland court's ruling. Miller appealed to the United States Supreme. Court, which refused to hear the case.
Another appeal, filed on Miller's behalf by the religious-right legal group Liberty Counsel, argues that the state would violate its own public policy by enforcing the order from Vermont.
After being warned that a continued refusal to allow Jenkins visitation would endanger Miller's custody of the girl, Judge William Cohen in Rutland granted Jenkins sole custody.
A court in Bedford, Virginia ordered on January 4 that the custody transfer go ahead, but Miller had disappeared.
Miller has not been in touch with her attorneys for over a month, and they do not know where she or the child are.
newsbriefs
Janet Jenkins, left, and Lisa Miller with their daughter in happier days.
Jenkins' attorneys filed an emergency motion for contempt of court against Miller, and sought a warrant for her arrest.
The case pitted Virginia state law against the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution, which requires states to honor legal decisions from other states. The most readily visible example of the clause is the recognition of driver's licenses issued in other states.
Portugal to be eighth nation with marriage
Lisbon, Portugal-LGBT citizens
in the country are batting .500 after the parliament passed a same-sex marriage law but defeated another measure that would allow adoptions by same-sex couples.
If the law is ratified, it will make Portugal the sixth European nation to allow same-sex marriage. The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain Norway and Sweden already allow for full same-sex marriage, and other nations, like the United Kingdom, have civil unions or similar constructs.
South Africa and Canada also allow full same-sex marriage, as do five U.S. states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. The District of Columbia passed a marriage law last month.
The Portuguese measure's opponents sought a referendum, but it was turned down and the bill passed by 125 to 90. It would take effect in April.
The bill is now before President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who must either sign it or veto it.
If he vetoes it, the measure goes back to parliament, which can override the veto. But he is thought to be unlikely
to veto.
"We have to cross our fingers for the ratification, and certainly not forget that there still is a fight for full equal-
ity and that is also including entitlement to adoption," said International Lesbian and Gay Association-Europe board co-chair Linda Freimane.
Bond set in Toledo bar slaying
Toledo A judge has set bond at $150,000 for the man charged in the death of Marland Woods.
Judge Lynn Schaefer ordered Terrance Osley held on bond pending his next court date, which was to be on January 4. The bond was set on December 31.
Osley was charged with involuntary manslaughter. A grand jury was expected to be called within a week.
Osley, 20, was among a group of people kicked out of Caesar's Showbar in Toledo when a fight broke out on the dance floor. The group was thrown out for causing trouble with a staff member's parents, the bar's new owner, Jeff Gesler, told the Toledo Blade.
After leaving the bar later that evening, Woods, 33, and a friend of his were in front of the Greyhound station across the street when the fight restarted. Trying to protect his female friend, Woods was knocked to the ground and kicked and stomped.
Woods lived in Findlay with his partner, Brian Hunker.
N.H. couples 'ring' in the new year
Concord, N.H.-As the ball dropped and the clock tolled midnight, cheering crowds on the steps of the state capitol shouted, "I do!"
New Hampshire's same-sex marriage law took effect on January 1, and some couples got a quick jump on nuptial bliss, wedding under a full moon at 12:01 am on New Year's Day.
"We were thrilled and proud of New Hampshire," Linda Murphy told CNN. Murphy married her partner of 19 years, Donna Swartwout, immediately after midnight.
"It was such a terrific moment," she continued.
Swartwout pointed out the linguistic change that puts them on more equal footing now.
"When my nephew asks, 'Who's Linda?' I get to say, 'She's my wife,' she noted.
Ohio tied for last in LGBT equality
Columbus Ohio is still tied for dead last in LGBT equality, matching Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Equality Giving issued their "States of Equality and Gay Rights" scorecard
Continued on page 4
"Isabella is my daughter," reads a statement from Jenkins released by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a pro-gay legal group. "I was there with Lisa when she gave birth to Isabella. We gave her both our last names, since we were both her parents. After Isabella was born, Lisa and I cared for her together. We both fed her, played with her, changed her diapers, and loved her."
"My goal has never been to separate Isabella from Lisa," Jenkins' statement continues. “I just want Isabella to know and love both of her parents. I just want to be with her, like any parent. Please help me find my child."
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