By Ruth Schneider, 365gay.com
01.29.2010

Colorado Democrat and openly gay Congressman Jared Polis introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2010 in the House of Representatives on Thursday. The bill would protect public school students from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Hatred has no place in the classroom,” Polis said in a news release posted on his Web site. “Every student has the right to an education free from harassment and violence. This bill will protect the individual freedoms of our students and enshrine the values of equality and opportunity in our classrooms.”

Polis, co-chairman of the House LGBT Equality Caucus, is a strong proponent of equality in education.

SNDA would provide protections for LGBT students and ensure that all students are free from discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence in schools.

“Every day innocent students fall victim to relentless harassment and discrimination from teachers, staff, and fellow students based on their sexual orientation,” said Polis.

“These actions not only hurt our students and our schools but, left unchecked, can also lead to life-threatening violence. Like Title VI for minorities in the 60s and Title IX for women in the 70s, my legislation puts LGBT students on an equal footing with their peers, so they can attend school and get a quality education, free from fear.”

Similar to Title IX, the legislation would endanger federal funding for those who violate it. There are currently 60 co-sponsors of the legislation.

By Ruth Schneider, 365gay.com
01.29.2010

Want to get married on top of the world? Not a problem, says a travel agency promoting gay marriage in Nepal.

In May, the country is set to ratify a new constitution that legalizes same-sex marriages, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Sunil Babu Pant, a Communist legislator and leader of the country’s gay rights movement, launched Pink Mountain, a travel agency offering wedding ceremonies on Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak.

Pant’s company will offer regal, elephant-back processions and wedding ceremonies at the mountain’s base camp.

“Most Asian countries don’t welcome gay visitors, so we can have the maximum benefit for the Nepal economy which is fragile after years of war,” Pant told the Telegraph. “The government is hoping to increase the number of tourists from 400,000 to one million next year and has taken a positive attitude to welcoming gay and lesbian visitors to help meet their ambitious target.”

- Jessica Marx, Staff Writer | Fri, 01/29/2010, www.sdgln.com

(SAN FRANCISCO) Within days of the creation of the American Red Cross LGBT Haiti Relief Fund, a Red Cross representative stated the fund has already raised more money than many of the huge corporate donors. This was accomplished by significant outreach efforts to the LGBT community via donors and activists along with a massive email campaign to the members of three LGBT cruise companies, Olivia, Atlantis and RSVP. Within a week, the community has raised over $150,000 for the fund.

Donations of cruises, an upgrade auction and matching funds all were contributed by the cruise companies as pledges came pouring in with record dollars in a matter of a few hours.

“We are reaching out to all LGBT organizations and individuals to become part of this relief fund effort and get the word out everywhere,” said Judy Dlugacz, President and founder of Olivia Companies, a lesbian-oriented vacation company. “If we all work together we can provide enormous support to the Haiti relief efforts.”

“Over the last week we have seen a wonderful broadening of this initiative within our community,” stated Claire Lucas, an international development expert and a well known community activist and political fundraiser who worked with the American Red Cross to set up the fund. This effort began with the LGBT cruise companies and has quickly expanded to include other organizations and individuals. “On Thursday, three very diverse LGBT groups approached us to join the initiative; The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission based in New York, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center/Pride Center representing Southern Florida and a donor-directed community fund at the Alaska Community Foundation.”

“We are inspired to see so many groups coming together to help earthquake survivors in Haiti,” says Nan Buzard, Sr. Director of International Response and Programs for the American Red Cross. “The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community has done an outstanding job of raising funds to support the American Red Cross’s relief work in Haiti.”

“The LGBT community has a long tradition of mobilizing quickly to respond to crisis,” said Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. “ We are proud that so many business leaders in our community have come forward to assist the people of Haiti in this time of great need.”

“While we have received over 1,300 donations totaling over $150,000 as of today,” adds Lucas, “the actual donations have only just begun and we predict there will be a colossal response to this historic endeavor.”

“We are urging all members of the LGBT community and their friends to donate to the American Red Cross LGBT Haiti Relief Fund to help the people of Haiti,” said Mark Bromley, of The Council for Global Equality, a non-profit organization that encourages a stronger voice on LGBT human rights concerns. “Our community sends its deepest compassion and support to the people of Haiti and we will speak as one voice to show that support.”

- By John Wright | News Editor wri...@dallasvoice.com
Jan 28, 2010

Despite 100% rating from HRC, company won’t allow gay man time off to care for ailing spouse

RICHARDSON — Bryan Dickenson and Bill Sugg have been together for 30 years.
For the last 12 of those years, Dickenson has worked as a communications technician for Dallas-based AT&T.

After Sugg suffered a debilitating stroke in September, Dickinson requested time off under the federal Family Medical Leave Act to care for his partner.

But AT&T is refusing to grant Dickenson the 12 weeks of leave that would be afforded to a heterosexual spouse under the act.

As a result, Dickenson is using vacation time so he can spend one afternoon a week at Sugg’s bedside at a rehabilitation facility in Richardson. But Dickenson fears that when his vacation runs out, he’ll end up being fired for requesting additional time off to care for Sugg. Dickenson’s attorney, Rob Wiley of Dallas, said he initially thought AT&T’s refusal to grant his client leave under FMLA was just a mistake on the part of the company. Wiley said he expected AT&T to quickly rectify the situation after he sent the company a friendly letter.

After all, AT&T maintains the highest score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which ranks companies according to their treatment of LGBT employees. And just this week, HRC listed AT&T as one of its “Best Places to Work.”

But AT&T has stood its ground, confirming in a statement to Dallas Voice this week that the company isn’t granting Dickenson leave under FMLA because neither federal nor state law recognizes Sugg as his domestic partner.

“I really couldn’t be more disappointed with AT&T’s response,” Wiley said. “When you scratch the surface, they clearly don’t value diversity. I just think it’s an outright lie for AT&T to claim they’re a good place for gays and lesbians to work.”

Wiley added that he’s disappointed in HRC for giving AT&T its highest score. Eric Bloem, deputy director of HRC’s workplace project, said Thursday, Jan. 28 that he was looking into the matter. Bloem said a survey for the Corporate Equality Index asks companies whether they grant FMLA leave to same-sex couples, and AT&T replied affirmatively.

“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, so I don’t really want to make an official comment on it,” Bloem said.

Walt Sharp, a spokesman for AT&T, said the company has “a long history of inclusiveness in the workplace.”

“There are circumstances under which our administration of our benefits plans must conform with state law, and this is one of those circumstances,” Sharp said in a written statement. “In this case, neither federal nor state law recognizes Mr. Dickenson’s domestic partner with legal status as a qualifying family member for a federal benefit program. There is no basis for this lawsuit or the allegations contained in it and we will seek its dismissal.”

Sharp didn’t respond to a request for further comment.

Wiley said Sharp’s statement doesn’t make sense. No law prohibits the company from granting Dickenson an unpaid leave of absence, which is what he’s requesting. Wiley also noted that no lawsuit has been filed, because there isn’t grounds for one.

The federal FMLA applies only to heterosexual married couples, Wiley said. Some states have enacted their own versions of the FMLA, requiring companies to grant leave to gay and lesbian couples, but Texas isn’t one of them.

Wiley said the couple’s only hope is to somehow convince the company to do the right thing, which is why he contacted the media.

“At some point in time this just becomes really hateful that they wouldn’t have any compassion,” Wiley said of the company. “I think the recourse is to tell their story and let people know how AT&T really treats their employees.”

Through thick and thin
This isn’t the first time Dickenson and Sugg have endured a medical crisis.
Sugg, who’s 69 and suffers from congenital heart problems, nearly died from cardiac arrest shortly after the couple met in 1980.

At the time, Dickenson was a full-time student and didn’t have car. So he rode his bicycle from Garland to Parkland Hospital in Dallas every day to visit Sugg in the intensive care unit.

In an interview this week at the rehab facility, Sugg’s eyes welled up with tears as he recalled what a Parkland nurse said at the time — “If that isn’t love, then I don’t know what the hell love is.”

“And sure enough, it was,” Sugg said over the whirr of his oxygen machine, turning to Dickenson. “As long as I have you, I can get through anything.”

Dickenson said in addition to visiting Sugg each Wednesday afternoon, he wakes up at 7:30 on Saturday and Sunday mornings so he can spend the day with Sugg at the rehab facility.

This past Christmas, Dickenson spent the night on the floor of Sugg’s room.
“That would have been our first Christmas separated, and I just couldn’t bear that, him being alone on Christmas,” Dickenson said.

The worst part of the whole ordeal was when he had to return to work after taking 13 days off following Sugg’s stroke, Dickenson said. Sugg didn’t understand and thought his partner had abandoned him for good.

“He called me over and over every night, begging me to please come see him,” Dickenson said. “And I said, ‘Honey, you don’t understand, I had to go back to work to save my job.’

“That’s what really hurts about what they’ve put me through, not my pain and anguish, but his,” Dickenson said.

Dickenson said it was 3 a.m. on Sept. 22 when he rushed Sugg to the hospital. Doctors initially said it was “the worst sinus infection they’d ever seen,” but within 48 hours Sugg had suffered a stroke affecting his cerebellum.

Sugg lost the ability to swallow and his sense of balance. He’s still unable to walk and suffers from double vision.

Because he wasn’t out as gay at work, Dickenson initially told supervisors that his father was sick.

When he returned to work after 13 days at the hospital, Dickenson explained that his domestic partner was ill and he needed more time off. His supervisor managed to get him an additional 30 days of unpaid leave.

In the meantime, Dickenson phoned the company’s human resources department and asked whether he’d be eligible for leave under FMLA, which allows 12 weeks (or about 90 days) per year. Dickenson said he was told that since he lives in Texas, he wouldn’t be eligible.

Dickenson filled out the FMLA forms anyway and sent them to the company, but he never got any response.

When Dickenson returned to work, he asked to be reclassified as part-time employee, so he could spend more time with Sugg. His supervisor refused and told him his best bet was FMLA leave, even though he’d already been denied.
That’s when Dickenson contacted Wiley.

Sugg is scheduled return to the couple’s Garland home from rehab in about a week, but he’s still on a feeding tube and will require nursing care. With any luck, he’ll someday be able to walk again.

Sugg bragged that he was able to drink his first cup of coffee last week, and he’s looking forward to getting back to his hobby of raising African violets.

Dickenson said he knows of at least seven medical appointments he’ll have to arrange for Sugg once he returns home. He said his vacation time likely will run out by April, and he fears that if he loses his job, the medical expenses will eventually cause him to go broke.

But Dickenson, who’s 51, said he’s committed to taking care of Sugg, even if it means living on the street someday.

“When it runs out, I’ll be fired, and it really hurts to be in a situation like that, because I’ve worked very hard for AT&T,” Dickenson said. “We suffer now, but maybe other people in our shoes in the future, if they work for AT&T, they won’t suffer like we do.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 29, 2010.

© Copyright by DallasVoice.com

- www.purpleunions.com 1/28/10

In spite of their recent set-back, LGBT activists in New Jersey continue to push forward with their efforts to extend marriage to same-sex couples The New Jersey State Senate voted 20-14 earlier this month against a bill that would have allowed gays and lesbians to marry in the Garden State. While many supporters left Trenton devastated, Steven Goldstein, chair and chief executive director of Garden State Equality, reiterated his vow to move forward.

“In no way is this back to the drawing board,” he told EDGE. “The community has moved seamlessly and so rapidly towards the next phase, which is winning marriage equality in court. In order to win in a court of law, we have to win in the court of public opinion.”

Goldstein’s organization continues to work alongside Lambda Legal to mount a legal challenge. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2006 it was unconstitutional to treat same-sex couples differently than their straight couples. Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal, hopes to have similar success in light of the state Senate’s vote.
You can also email us at i...@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

By The Associated Press
01.28.2010

(Tampa, Fla.) President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to pass a law extending benefits to same-sex partners, a day after he renewed his support for repealing the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

Obama was responding to a question during a town hall meeting Thursday in Tampa, Fla.. He noted a bill is pending that would extend to domestic partners benefits such as granting Social Security survivor payments and allowing hospital visitation.

Obama said: “My hope is we can get it done.”

Obama has acted administratively to extend some benefits to federal employees with same-sex partners. He has called for a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of gay unions and the granting of benefits.

By Eric Berman
1/27/2010 www.wibc.com

Supporters of gay rights are moving to head off the latest attempt to put a gay-marriage ban in the Indiana Constitution.

The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a constitutional amendment. Opponents of the proposal concede it’s almost certain to pass, and likely to die in the House.

Attorney Don Sherfick with Indiana Equality Action says the group is taking no chances. He says the IEA is lobbying for neither gay marriage nor civil unions at the moment, but argues a constitutional amendment would short-circuit public dialogue.

The National Association of Social Workers is joining in opposing the ban. Indianapolis social worker Josephine Hughes says the group considers it discriminatory.

The House has not granted a hearing to a gay-marriage amendment since 2007, when a committee deadlocked on sending it to the full House. Some opponents of the amendment argue supporters are trying to build political pressure now in hopes of gaining momentum to pass the amendment in 2011, especially if Republicans regain a majority in the House.

Constitutional amendments must pass two consecutive and separately elected General Assemblies, then go to the voters for final approval. If the House and Senate were to approve the amendment this year, the earliest it could reach the voters is 2012. Waiting till next year to start the process would push back the end date to 2014.

- www.gaylife.about.com, Jan 27th, 2010

Online dating site eHarmony has settled a class action lawsuit over discriminatory policies that prohibited lgbt singles from being matched with same-sex partners.

The settlement includes a promise to make the site more gay-friendly and awards more than $500,000 to class members, approximately $4,000 for each of the 130 class members and up to $1.3 million in attorneys’ fees.

Back in April 2009, eHarmony launched “alternative” site Compatible Partners to quell growing concern over non-inclusive matching formulas

CommunityWire | Wed, 01/27/2010 – 12:00pm, www.sdlgn.com

(SAN DIEGO) This morning a group of demonstrators stood tall outside the Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa to greet attendees of a training session sponsored by Exodus International. The demonstrators, who did not represent any particular organization, were brought together to protest the intended purpose of the training session: to teach pastors, ministers, educators and counselors how to deal with “unwanted homosexuality.”

Exodus International is an interdenominational Christian, non-profit organization, whose sole purpose is to spread the message that “freedom from homosexuality [exists] through the power of Jesus Christ.” Since their inception in 1976, they have grown to include over 230 local ministries in the U.S. and Canada and have also created a global alliance with other regions outside of North America.

Although the organization has condemned the now-infamous bill before Uganda’s Parliament that aims to criminalize homosexuality (in some cases by inflicting death by hanging), Exodus International board member Don Schmierer was among one of the three Americans who visited the country in March 2009.

Schmierer, along with his colleagues, traveled to Uganda to preach at an anti-gay stadium rally and advocated the so-called “ex-gay” conversion therapy, which is seen by many as the motivating factor behind the proposed Uganda law.

Conversion or reparative therapy in most cases inflicts more harm than good. In August of 2009, the American Psychological Association (APA), the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the U.S. and the world’s largest association of psychologists, released a report stating there is “insufficient evidence” that such therapy works.

Their report resulted in a resolution which “advises that parents, guardians, young people and their families avoid sexual orientation treatments that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and instead seek psychotherapy, social support and educational services that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth.”

Regardless, organizations like Exodus International persist that homosexuality can be cured, in this case through discovering Jesus Christ.

Attendees of today’s conference, which was scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., will listen to three key-note speakers, one of whom, Melissa Fryrear – a representative of Focus on the Family – claims to have been cured from her previous homosexual lifestyle.

Today’s event is by all means a small gathering that attracted no media coverage. However, Exodus International will be visiting Southern California again in June for their International Freedom Conference.

The Freedom Conference is the organization’s largest annual gathering and over 900 individuals are expected to attend. Unlike their training sessions, this conference last for four days and its purpose is to provide training and prayer for those “who personally struggle with homosexuality, and ministry support for those who have a loved one who struggles with or embraces homosexuality.”

Individuals and/or pro-LGBT groups who missed this morning’s demonstration will have the opportunity to join other concerned citizens who oppose the organization’s message in Irvine, when Exodus International visits from June 23 – 26.

By Susan Ferriss | The Sacramento Bee
Jan 27th, 2010

The star witness for backers of Proposition 8 testified Tuesday that he’s confident — but has no evidence — that same-sex marriage would increase divorce rates and lower the rate of heterosexual marriage.

David Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, said in federal court in San Francisco that he opposes gay marriage partly because of studies contending that children have better “outcomes” if raised by a biological mother and biological father.

While a “positive” outcome for a child is not guaranteed by this arrangement, Blankenhorn said heterosexual marriages serve as “seed beds from which come good citizens” who are more likely to make contributions to society.

Gay couples contend in their federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 that its gay marriage ban amounts to unconstitutional discrimination.

But the measure’s defenders counter that voters had a fundamental social interest in limiting marriage to a man and a woman for child-rearing purposes.

David Boies, an attorney for the plaintiffs, questioned Blankenhorn’s credentials and conclusions and noted that Blankenhorn had written in a book that “we would be more American” if gays were permitted to wed and their children would be better off.

Austin Nimocks, an attorney for Proposition 8 defenders, told reporters during a break in the proceedings that Blankenhorn’s remark was based on a hypothetical presumption that same-sex marriage and heterosexual marriage were equal.

“He made it clear it was not,” Nimocks said.

Nimocks called Blankenhorn a “renowned expert” in marriage. Blankenhorn has written books and articles, many of them arguing that fatherless families are harmful to children.

To read the complete article, visit www.sacbee.com