GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

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Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community • www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

These men will stay

As the rest of North Coast Men's Chorus watches; Marc Copfer sings "The Man That Got Away, popularized by Judy Garland in 1954's A Star is Born The song has become part of the American Songbook, which was the subject of the chorus April 10 concert. The show featured many familiar numbers by master songwriters of the mid-20th century, plus a 1930s-style dance contest that benefited several organizations.

The chorus is now rehearsing on Sunday evenings for their next performance, Divalicious on June 19 and 20. Contact them, if you wish to join, at 216$56-0590 or www.nemchorus.org.

Inside This Issue

WHAT KIND OF MAN ARE YOU?

hos

Volume 25, Issue 22 April 23, 2010

Bowling Green rights law headed to ballot

by Eric Resnick

Bowling Green-A pair of equal rights ordinances passed last year will be put to a public vote this fall after anti-gay groups filed enough signatures to seek their repeal.

The Wood County Board of Elections confirmed last month that petitions filed in September contain enough signatures. Each petition needed 805 valid signatures. Procedural delays kept them from certification in time to make next month's primary election.

The two ordinances were passed by the Bowling Green City Council last August 17 following heated debate where more than 50 citizens spoke.

The petition filing halted both new measures from taking effect, pending the outcome of the election.

The new ordinances expand existing measures to prohibit discrimination by sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, military status, veteran status, genetic information, HIV status and physical characteristics.

The original laws included race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, creed, ancestry,. disability, and family status.

The new measures also created

a complaint and penalty process that emphasizes mediated settlements over court action.

One of them covers housing. It passed unanimously. The second covers public accommodations, education and employment. It passed 6-1.

Political ideology was also considered as a protected class, but rejected on the night of the vote.

The ordinances were proposed by Equality BG and sponsored by Ward 2 councilor John Zanfardino.

A group is organizing to defend them. Called the Bowling Green Coalition for Justice, it will include representatives of all the groups being challenged, though organizer Jane Rosser acknowledges that the measures' opponents object mostly to LGBT people being covered.

"We will be running an affirmative and positive campaign and are busy strategizing about how to build support among the business community who are an important constituency," said Rosser.

Rosser said the petition drive had been relatively low-key. Circulators were seen at places like golf courses and churches.

"People would report that they Continued on page 10

County separates elderly couple, sells all their possessions

Sebastopol, Calif.-Although they took many of the legal steps that gays and lesbians must do to protect their relationships, a trip to the hospital turned into a nightmare for an elderly couple, with one man dying alone and the other stripped of their home and all their possessions.

Sonoma County is facing a lawsuit over allegations that county workers ignored legal documents and the wishes of Clay Greene and Harold Scull, kept them separated, and sold off their property.

Greene, 78, and Scull, 88, had been together for 25 years when Scull fell down the stairs at their home in April of 2008.

Scull and Greene had powers of attorney for each other in case of incapacitation, but, according to the complaint, county workers ignored the documents.

County workers applied for conservatorship for Scull, then forced Greene into a nursing home, pointing to his mental state.

Over the next two months, the county seized and sold off the

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Harold Scull and Clay Greene

couple's property, including memorabilia collected while Scull worked in Hollywood and Greene worked with television personalities, artwork that the men bought together, and their two cats. Their leased home, now empty, was returned to the landlord.

In the first phase of auctioning off the men's property, the county seized nearly half a million dollars' worth of possessions.

Greene was kept against his will at Agua Caliente Village nursing Continued on page 10