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March 12, 2010 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Bill to repeal 'don't ask' is introduced in Senate

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.-A group of senators introduced legislation on March 3 to repeal the military policy against openly gay service personnel.

The 13 senators included main sponsor Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, along with a dozen Democrats from across the nation, like Carl Levin of Michigan, Dianne Feinstein of California, Al Franken of Minnesota and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Nine more senators joined on March 9, including Ohio's Sherrod Brown.

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 has the stated purpose "to institute in the Armed Forces a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation."

It has three main parts: Repeal "don't ask, don't tell," actively prohibit discrimination by sexual orientation against current and prospective service members, and promote the restora-

tion of ROTC at universities that now bar it, largely because of the policy.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was passed into law by Congress in 1993. Technically, gay and lesbian personnel can serve, but cannot be open about their sexual orientation. Conversely, the military is not supposed to inquire as to its service members' orientation, although cases of third parties outing servicemembers are com-

mon.

Lieberman's act specifies that the Pentagon would not be required to provide benefits to partners and spouses of gay and lesbian personnel, which would be a violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prohibits the government recognizing same-sex marriage.

If the bill becomes law, it would give Defense Secretary Robert Gates 60 days to enact its provisions.

"The bottom line is that we have a volunteer military," Lieberman said. "If Americans want to serve, they ought to have the right to be consid-

ered for that service regardless of characteristics such as race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation."

"Repealing the current policy will allow more patriotic Americans to defend our national security and live up to our nation's founding values of freedom and opportunity," he concluded.

Gates has ordered a department-wide study on repealing the policy, which was one of President Barack Obama's priorities during his campaign.

The report will include an anonymous survey of troops for their attitudes on homosexuality and an updated version of a 1993 National Defense Research Institute report that concluded that the majority of people in the United States were uncomfortable with homosexuality and did not approve of gays serving openly in the military.

The report is due to Gates on December 1, and will then be given to the president.

A letter cited by Sen. John McCain in opposing the repeal of DADT, meanwhile, has proven to have issues across the board. One of the supposed signatories to the letter, which claims 1,001 former military personnel, died before the letter was written. His widow signed it using his power of attorney.

One signer said he never agreed to sign the letter, and others said that they did not wish to take a position on the matter on either side.

Many of the signatories, whose average age is 74, did not serve during the DADT era at all, and a number of others were involved in incidents that cast doubt on their leadership abilities, including one admiral whose career ended over the "Tailhook" scandal in 1991 for failing to take action on allegations of sexual misconduct.

One general told 60 Minutes that minority officers failed to perform as well as white officers, while another was sued for discriminating against a black employee in handing out annual bonuses, and is alleged to have fired her in retaliation.

Maryland may recognize vows from other states, says AG

Whether or not it will do so is up to state agencies and courts

by Anthony Glassman

Annapolis, Md.--The state's attorney general on February 24 issued an opinion that samesex marriages from other states could be recognized in Maryland.

Attorney General Douglas F. Ganser was asked last May if such nuptials could be recognized. In the 53-page document, he answers the question succinctly before going into great depth explaining why, and how such recognition could be implemented.

"You have asked whether those marriages may be recognized under state law," he wrote in the report, which is addressed to State Sen. Richard S. Madaleno, Jr. "The answer to that question is clearly ‘yes.'"

The document does not carry the weight of law, but can be used as a reference for state courts and agencies. It puts Maryland on the same road taken by New York, which does not allow samesex marriages in its jurisdiction, but does recognize those performed in other jurisdictions where they are valid.

"Such marriages may be recognized in several ways. First, legislation enacted by the General Assembly could provide for recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages generally, or for particular purposes," Gansler opined. "Second, in the absence of legislation, the Court of Appeals, applying common law choice-of-law principles, could decide that such marriages will be recognized in Maryland, either generally or in particular circumstances."

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"Finally, a state agency may also address the recognition of out-of-state marriages on particular matters within that agency's jurisdiction, so long as the agency's action is consistent with any relevant statutes and court decisions, including federal laws that may govern the agency's activities."

Maryland law does not allow same-sex marriages, but an effort to bar recognition of such nuptials was defeated in the House of Delegates earlier this year.

A bill that would allow same-sex marriage is currently before the House Judiciary Commit-

tee.

Gansler's opinion specifically notes that attorney general opinion papers are not legislative

in themselves, but rather are meant to be interpretations of the law as it currently stands.

He puts forward the argument that the Court of Appeals would likely decide a case by first examining the idea of comity, one state recognizing the legal acts of another. That is the principle behind an Ohio driver's license being valid in Michigan, for instance.

Comity may be superseded if state policy strongly opposes the matter, which is an argument that might be made in such a case. However, Gansler notes that Maryland courts have recognized common-law marriages from other states and a marriage between an uncle and niece from Rhode Island, despite the fact that Maryland state law itself does not allow either.

Anti-gay senator comes out after DUI leaving gay bar

Sacramento, Calif.-"I am gay. Those

are the words that have been difficult for me for so long, but I am gay," a state senator with an anti-gay voting record told a California radio host on March 8.

Roy Ashburn, who represents the Bakersfield area, was arrested for DUI on March 3. He had a male passenger in the car, and had just come from a gay bar.

The divorced father of four has organized anti-marriage rallies for the Traditional Values Coalition and has a 100 percent rating from the anti-gay Capitol Resource Family Impact.

Ashburn explained the hypocrisy of his votes by saying that they reflected the views of those who had put him in office.

"I believe firmly that my responsibility is to my constituents," he told Inga Berks of KERN radio.

Surprisingly, he was quite sanguine about his sexual orientation coming to light. "I've always believed that I could keep my personal life personal and my public life public, but through my own actions, I have made my personal life public," he said.

Drop LGBT anti-bias rules, says AG

Richmond, Va.-University LGBT antidiscrimination rules are illegal and should be dropped, said Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in a letter sent to the state's public universities on March 4.

"It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression' or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly," wrote the Republican attorney general, according to the Washington Post.

Cuccinelli's predecessor had expressed similar ideas before becoming governor, that the General Assembly was the only body that could add protected classes, but had not issued edicts to universities.

Vincent F. Callahan, Jr., a member of the

board of George Mason University and a former Republican legislator in the state, told the Post that he disagreed with Cuccinelli.

"What he's saying is reprehensible. I don't know what he's doing, opening up this can of worms," he said.

Meanwhile, the ACLU sent its own letter to universities, recommending that they leave their policies intact.

"The ACLU is prepared to provide legal representation to any public university employee or student who is a victim of discrimination based on sexual orientation," said Kent Willis, executive director of the organization's Virginia branch. "Regardless of state law or policy, not only should universities prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but they are required to do so under the U.S. Constitution."

Louisiana fights two-dads ruling

New Orleans-Louisiana state attorneys petitioned the full Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear a case involving a gay male couple who adopted a child born in the

state.

A three-judge panel of the court ruled in February that Louisiana must issue a birth certificate for the boy with both of his adoptive fathers' names on it.

The child was born in 2005, and was adopted by the couple in New York, where same-sex couples may adopt. The family now lives in California.

The March 4 petition claims that the ruling interpreted the law contrary to the Louisiana Constitution, which restricts marriage to one man and one woman.

State law limits adoptions to either individuals or legally married couples.

Mexico City gets full marriage

México D.F.-As of March 4, same-sex marriage is legal in the Mexican capital.

Conservative groups and the Catholic church both oppose the legislation, but the

liberal ruling party of the city pushed it through.

Weddings were expected as early as this week.

The couples will join two in Argentina who have been wed. The first was in December, when the governor of the Tierra del Fuego province allowed two men to marry in the capital, Ushuaia.

On March 3, a second male couple married in a civil registry office in Buenos Aires, the nation's capital.

Uruguay has passed national civil union legislation and allows the adoption of children by same-sex couples. Cities in Ecuador and Colombia also have recognition of samesex couples.

Vatican official got rent boys from choir

Vatican City-Another sex scandal has rocked the Catholic Church, this time not involving children at all.

A papal gentlemana lay attendant to The pope has been accused of using a member of the elite Cappella Giulia choir to procure male prostitutes for him.

Angelo Balducci, who had been chair of Vatican's Public Works Department, is alleged to have used Chinedu Ehiem Thomas, a Nigerian chorister, as an intermediary in his pursuit of young men, including semi-

narians.

According to police, Ehiem and Lorenzo Renzi procured rent boys for Balducci every few days, including seminarians, choir members and foreigners trying to stay in the country.

According to Gay News Watch, police wiretaps caught Ehiem giving directions to one of the young men.

"You'll get up to 2,000 euros. Do not touch his balls. You need the money. Put on some music, take out the [inaudible], swallow the Viagra, and adelante! [onward]" Ehiem told him.

Balducci's tastes were eclectic. Ehiem allegedly procured Italian seminarians, dancers, Germans, Cubans, Africans and a soccer player for Balducci, 63.

Nurse's license yanked for 1976 contest

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-A nurse who has been in the profession for 40 years had his license canceled for hosting a wet jockey shorts contest over three decades ago.

Ray Fetcho, 61, was performing in his drag persona “Tiny Tina" in 1976 at the Copa bar in Dania Beach was he was arrested for promoting lewd and lascivious behavior Continued on page 9

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