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February 10, 2012

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 3

Eight Ohio mayors have joined pro-marriage group

by Anthony Glassman

East Cleveland-Last July, when East Cleveland passed a broad civil rights ordinance, attorney Leslye Huff noted, "This should put another crack in the presumption that black people are more homophobic than white people. It just isn't true. We have a different style when we fuss about stuff."

Huff, who drafted the legislation, went on to note, "The Cleveland Stonewall Democrats spent a couple years nurturing a relationship with the city and letting

everyone get to know us.

Those years have paid another dividend, as East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton is now a Mayor for Marriage Equality, an initiative of the national group Freedom to Marry. At the winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors on January 20, the group announced their first batch of mayors signing on to the effort, which included Edward Kelley of Cleveland Heights and David Berger of Lima.

Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus

was accidentally included on that list. He is not currently signed on to the initiative, but Equality Ohio is lobbying him to join.

In the second batch of mayors signing up, other Ohio cities were represented as well. Along with Norton, Lakewood's Mike Summers, Don Plusquellic of Akron, Mark Mallory of Cincinnati, Cleveland's Frank Jackson and Sara Drew of Stow all added their names to the list, leaving Columbus the largest city in the

state whose mayor has not signed on.

"Noticeably absent is Columbus' own Mayor Michael B. Coleman," an Equality Ohio e-mail noted. "The large, diverse, and ever-growing LGBT community in Columbus deserves full support from its elected officials."

The e-mail then gives contact information for Coleman's office, as well as carrying a link to an online petition urging him to sign on to the effort.

Jackson

Drew

Mallory

Norton

Plusquellic

Summers

Appeals court rules Proposition 8 unconstitutional

by Anthony Glassman

San Francisco-Repeatedly citing a 1996 Supreme Court decision striking an anti-gay amendment to Colorado's state constitution, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

Two of the three judges agreed on the February 7 ruling, which upheld U.S. Judge

Vaughn Walker's August 2010 decision, and dismissed claims that he should recused himself from the case because he is gay, in a long-term relationship and not married.

Walker's successor as the chief judge for the federal district had already ruled against the claim that he should have recused himself.

newsbriefs

The court did, however, rule that the original proponents of Prop. 8, which barred the same-sex marriages mandated by the California Supreme Court in 2008, could defend the amendment in court, since thenGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Attorney General Jerry Brown, now governor, refused to do so.

The 1996 Evans v. Romer decision found that constitutional rights could not be taken

away from a narrow group simply because the majority felt animus towards them. Instead, there must be a compelling reason for it.

The anti-marriage side argued both that children fare better in households with opposite-sex parents, and also that heterosexual couples can conceive children without intending to, and therefore should be allowed to marry. Since same-sex couples Continued on page 10

Obama may extend job bias rules to federal contractors

Washington, D.C.-The capital's Metro Weekly LGBT newspaper reported on January 31 that President Barack Obama is readying an executive order barring discrimination on sexual orientation and gender identity for federal contractors.

The story said that the measure has been given the go-ahead by both the Labor and Justice Departments. Issuing an executive order circumvents the need to have it passed by Congress, but also limits the scope of the

measure.

The order affects contractors doing more than $10,000 in government contracts a year.

The administration's press secretary could not confirm the report on January 30, but Center for American Progress executive vice president Winnie Stachelberg told Metro Weekly, "There have been conversations among a number of people in the administration, both the agencies and the White House, about this issue. I'm not going to guess about timing, but I am extremely optimistic that it is going to happen, sooner or later."

Civil rights group challenges DOMA

Los Angeles-Another challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act was filed in federal court on February 1.

The suit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights powerhouse, on behalf of veteran Tracey Cooper-Harris and her wife Maggie. Tracey tried to have Maggie added to her Veteran's Administration benefits as a spouse, but was denied because statutes—as mandated by DOMA— define spouse as opposite sex.

Charging that DOMA discriminates on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, the suit also takes aim at the VA definition

of spouse.

Tracey suffers from multiple sclerosis, and sought to have Maggie added to her benefits to ensure her financial stability.

The couple were legally married in California during the five-month window before the passage of Proposition 8, which was struck down but is still in effect pending appeal.

"We've never given up the fight for equal rights, and we never will," said SPLC founder Morris Dees. "Four decades ago, we went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure that women serving in the U.S. military receive the same benefits as men. Our landmark victory paved the way for servicewomen and all other women-to be treated equally under the law."

About ten other challenges to DOMA are in the federal courts. The only ones to reach the appellate level, so far, are a pair of Massachusetts cases where a judge has ruled the law unconstitutional.

Bistro owner ejects anti-gay senator

Knoxville, Tenn.-An anti-gay state senator found himself on the wrong side of a political debate when he entered Bistro at the Bijou, only to have owner Martha Boggs tell him he was not welcome in her restaurant.

State Sen. Stacey Campfield went into the restaurant on January 29, only to leave as quickly as he went in. The sponsor of legislation barring any mention of homosexuality in Tennessee schools, his efforts to have brunch were quickly rebuffed by Boggs.

"I didn't want his hate in my restaurant," said Boggs, according to Knoxville's Metro Pulse. "I told him he wasn't welcome here. I feel like he's gone from being stupid to being dangerous, and I wanted to stand up to him."

Nominee to recuse from marriage case

Trenton, N.J.-New Jersey Supreme Court nominee Bruce Harris, the black, gay Republican put forward by Gov. Chris Christie, will likely recuse himself if a same-

sex marriage case makes it to the court, because he sent legislators representing his town of Chatham an e-mail in 2009 urging them to vote in favor of same-sex marriage.

He directed legislators to Garden State Equality's website, and noted the highest court in the state had already ruled in favor of equal protection for same-sex couples.

The move to nominate Harris, the mayor and former borough councilor of Chatham, was viewed as an attempt by Christie to straddle a line, showing his support to the LGBT community who are incensed by his decision to veto marriage legislation if it makes it to his desk, and to conservatives, since despite being black and gay, Harris is a Republican.

Oral HIV test is as good as blood test

Montréal-McGill University researchers released a study on January 24 concluding that OraQuick HIV testing, which returns results in 20 minutes, is nearly as accurate as a blood sample test.

OraQuick uses a swab of the inside of the mouth, and detects HIV antibodies in saliva.

According to the study, which was published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the oral test is 99 percent accurate in high-risk populations, and 97 percent accurate in other populations.

In countries where the stigma against people with HIV causes people to be less likely to be tested at clinics, these results Continued on page 10

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