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June 3, 2011 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 3

Athens passes partner registry and hate crime law

by Anthony Glassman

Athens, Ohio-Southeast Ohio is making major moves in LGBT equality, with the Athens City Council passing a domestic partner registry and adding LGBT people to their hate crime ordinance in June.

With the help of Equality Ohio and TransOhio, LGBT advocates in Athens got city council to move relatively quickly on the issues, although there is little information so far on the fate of attempts to provide domestic partner benefits for city employ-

ees.

Involved on the local level were the Committee to Move Athens Forward, Athens P-FLAG and the Ohio University students and staff, including Mickey Hart, director of the O.U. LGBT Center, and the Graduate Student Senate president Tracy Kelly.

The city council agreed in late March to examine the proposals after they were brought forward by Hart, Kelly, Linda Nippert and LGBT Center affairs vice commissioner Amelia Shaw.

"Really, it's about the values that we have as community members and what we want to see our community as," council member Elahu Gosney said at the time, according to the Athens News. "I think it's clear that in Athens, we want to be as inclusive as we can and embrace all members of our community in an equal manner."

The creation of the domestic partner registry adds Athens to the Ohio club of Cleveland Heights, Toledo, Cleveland and Yellow Springs, which already have registries. To register as domestic partners in Ath-

newsbriefs

ens will cost $25, and the requirements are similar to those in other cities: shared responsibilities, over the age of 18, and not married or in a domestic partnership with someone else.

Ohio's "ethnic intimidation" laws do not include LGBT people, but ordinances in various cities do, like Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. Because of the lack of inclusion at the state level, higher-level crimes cannot have a hate crime enhancement to their punishments.

Athens has had a sexual orientation nondiscrimination law on the books since 1998, when council enacted an ordinance to replace one passed but repealed by voters nine years earlier.

Columbus considers contractor measure

In addition to the three ordinances proposed or passed in Athens, Columbus is in the process of examining an addition to its contractor ordinance that would prohibit those entering into contracts with the city from discriminating by sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

That measure is being championed by councilor Zach M. Klein, the chair of the development committee.

"It is important that we demonstrate to all Columbus' residents and visitors that we will do anything possible to treat all people in an equal, fair and welcoming manner," he said. "Our commitment to equality and diversity is a significant reason why Columbus is a special place to work, live and raise a family.'

For the first time, active military to march at Pride

San Diego For perhaps the first time in United States history, active-duty military personnel will march in a gay pride parade, alongside police officers and firefighters.

Organizer Sean Sala, an active-duty sailor, told KGTV, "I thought it was weird because San Diego has the biggest military installation in the United States, and military are public servants as well."

According to Sala, 200 military personnel have registered to march at the front of the parade, which will take place on July 16. They will not be in uniforms, which would be a violation of Pentagon rules against wearing them in demonstrations, but will have T-shirts reflecting their branch.

Sala said that many of the personnel who have registered are heterosexual, and Sala's parents, both veterans, will be marching with them.

U.N. passes resolution for LGBT rights

New York City-With the first-time support of the United States, the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 17 passed a declaration against anti-LGBT discrimination.

The resolution calls for a study, to be completed by 2011, to document "discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, in all regions of the world, and how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

The resolution immediately brought condemnation from Islamic and African nations, where laws against homosexuality are the most restrictive. However, the resolution was put forward by South Africa, which has the continent's most liberal constitution.

The resolution was opposed by Angola, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uganda. Burkina Faso, China and Zambia abstained.

In addition to the European and North and South American members of the Council, the measure was approved by the African island Mauritius, the former Soviet republic Ukraine, and Asian nations Thailand, Japan and South Korea.

Parade car kills Pride marcher

Anchorage, Alaska-The city's Gay Pridefest's Celebrate Diversity Parade ended in tragedy on June 25, as the car carrying the grand marshal struck a 50-year-old man marching in front of it, killing him.

James L. Crump was carrying a banner when, behind him, driver Edith Bailey was told to slow down the car carrying the grand marshal.

"Apparently she was told to slow down and instead of hitting the brakes," witness Nick Pestrikoff Jr. told KTVA News' Kirsten

Swann, "her foot went on the accelerator and the rest was a blur."

Bailey had never driven the 1971 Triumph Stag convertible before the parade. Crump, who was dragged briefly by the car, was declared dead at the scene after CPR failed to resuscitate him.

GLAAD head resigns in AT&T scandal

Los Angeles-The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is down a president and six to eight board members following allegations that the organization lobbied the Federal Communications Commission in support of a sponsor.

AT&T, which is a strong supporter of GLAAD and a number of other LGBT organizations, is attempting a takeover of rival wireless provider T-Mobile. GLAAD is one of several LGBT organizations that sent letters to the FCC in favor of the mergerwhich has little to do with their missions— drawing accusations that the support is an attempt to curry favor with the corporation or a quid pro quo for existing financial support.

It was the second time GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios was accused of playing favorites with AT&T. Last year, the organization was criticized after it sent a letter supporting AT&T's opposition to FCC net neutrality rules. First, Barrios claimed the letter was a forgery, then said that he misunderstood which letter his assistant brought to him when he told her to sign it and send it to the FCC.

Pride at Work has also supported the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, citing AT&T's protections for LGBT workers. AT&T earned a 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's 2011 Corporate Equality Index, while T-Mobile earned a 50 per-

cent.

Chicago Pride float tires are slashed

Chicago-The Pride parade got off to a rocky start on June 26 as 51 floats had their tires slashed before the event.

The staff of Associated Attractions, who have provided floats for years, arrived at 5 am to find two tires on each of over 30 floats flattened. No other damage was done to the floats, nothing was stolen, and no notes were left, although owner Chuck Huser postulates that the vandalism was biasmotivated.

Another float provider's 20 floats were untouched, although theirs are stored indoors. An employee of the second company, identified only as Anna, told the Windy City Times, “We keep our floats indoors, so no one has access to them except our employees. My heart goes out to [Huser]; he's such a nice guy."

Hours later, more troubles emerged for the parade, as crowds of spectators grew out of control and the parade was diverted after fights broke out on Belmont Ave.

Officers from nearby police districts were called in to assist with crowd control and onlookers were removed from some rooftops, as they were exceeding capacity.

Census shows record number of couples

Washington, D.C.—Of the hundreds of counties in the seven states whose full Census 2010 results have so far been released, same-sex couples were found in every single

one.

Organizations have been poring over the information as the Census Bureau releases state-by-state results throughout the year. Data for Hawaii and Alabama were released on June 16, followed by California, Delaware, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

The data from the five states has shown the highest numbers of same-sex couples in Census history, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA and other LGBT think tanks that are studying the figures.

Same-sex couples in California have increased six times faster between 2000 and 2010 than opposite-sex couples. The gay data counts cohabiting couples, while the heterosexual data is married couples.

In addition, larger and larger numbers of same-sex couples are being counted by the Census outside of "gayborhoods," and increasing numbers of couples are raising children. In Wyoming, 28 percent of samesex couples are raising children.

same-sex

One warning noted by researchers is that the Census Bureau's language couples has changed since the 2000 and 1990 counts, so identification may be problematic, but the increases still seem statistically significant.

Five more states were set to be released at the end of June: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Nebraska and North Carolina.

AMA backs marriage equality

New York City-The American MediIcal Association adopted a position calling for full marital equality on June 20.

"Denying civil marriage based on sexual orientation is discriminatory and imposes harmful stigma on gay and lesbian individuals and couples and their families,” the resolution reads.

It reaffirms the organization's existing positions, which, in part, recognize "that exclusion from civil marriage contributes to health care disparities affecting same-sex households" and says that the group "will work to reduce health care disparities among members of same-sex households including minor children... and will support measure providing same-sex households with the same rights and privileges to health care, health insurance, and survivor benefits, as afforded opposite-sex households."

The executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, Hector Vargas, was pleased with the decision.

"GLMA applauds the AMA for recognizing the discrimination, bias and stigma gay and lesbian couples and their families face because they are unable to marry in almost all parts of the country," he said. "Through GLMA's work to address health disparities, we know that bias and stigma contribute significantly to the health disparities LGBT people encounter, which is why it's so important that the AMA adopted this policy and reaffirmed its commitment to work to reduce health disparities affecting lesbian and gay couples and their families." Brazil judge approves full marriage

São Paulo, Brazil-Less than a week after the country's first government-approved, mass civil union ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, a judge in the nation's largest city approved a full same-sex marriage, basing it on the Supreme Court decision in Continued on page 10

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