by Peter DelVecchio

Lambda pushes for Boy Scouts opinion; lesbian sues LAPD

In a forceful, detailed letter to Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, dated Feb. 26, Lambda Legal Senior Staff Attorney Brian Chase outlined why the continued association between the Los Angeles Police and Fire departments and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) through its Learning for Life (LFL) Explorer programs violates the city code prohibiting contracts with any group that discriminates in its employment practices based on sexual orientation or religion.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the BSA is a private, religious organization and therefore has the right to discriminate against gays. “The only remaining question is whether or not the BSA and LFL are, in fact, the same entity for legal purposes,” Chase wrote, proceeding to then prove they are linked through management personnel, board members, high-ranking employees, addresses and revenue, among other points of evidence attached to the letter.

Chase urged Delgadillo to “issue an opinion directing the city to immediately disaffiliate with LFL so that the youth programs of the LAPD and the LAFD can develop in a way that clearly rejects discrimination and that is fully consistent with Los Angeles Municipal Code sect. 10.8.2.”

For several years, openly gay Police Commissioners Dean Hansell (appointed by Mayor Jim Hahn) and Shelley Freeman (appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) pushed for the severing of ties between the LAPD and LFL/BSA, but apparently neither mayor officially urged their appointees to follow through.

Kristi Nielson, an openly lesbian LAPD community liaison, told IN Los Angeles magazine that the issue continues to hamper efforts to recruit more LGBT people into the LAPD.

Meanwhile, L.A. Superior Court Judge Edward Ferns recently gave open lesbian Shelby Feldmeier, a former probationary employee at the Wilshire Station, permission to go ahead with her discrimination lawsuit against the LAPD.

Feldmeier alleged in her lawsuit that male officers made offensive remarks about homosexuality and asked if she was gay and when she complained that Deputy Chief Berkow “said that sexual orientation discrimination isn't an issue in today's LAPD.” She also said that Berkow promised to investigate but never did.

Feldmeier filed the lawsuit in 2006, saying that after she complained, she was wrongfully fired because of her sexual orientation.

Lawyers for both sides are seeking a settlement agreement, but if none is reached, the case goes to trial on May 12. —Karen Ocamb

Fallout over Oxnard gay teen slaying continues

Shockwaves continue to spread from the Feb. 12 murder of gay Oxnard teen Lawrence King. The openly gay King, 15, who sometimes wore high-heeled boots and makeup, was shot in a classroom at E.O. Green Junior High School, allegedly by classmate Brandon McInerney, 14, according to the Los Angeles Times. King died three days later. McInerney has been charged with premeditated murder, with a hate crime enhancement, and will be tried as an adult; he faces up to 50 years in prison.

More than 1,000 people participated in a peace march in Oxnard on Feb. 23 to pay tribute to King. The turnout surprised police, school administrators and event organizers. The mostly adolescent crowd chanted, “Larry! Larry! Larry!” and sang John Lennon’s “Imagine” and “Give Peace A Chance.” There were no speeches.

Vigils were also held the week of Feb. 18 in cities across California, including West Hollywood, San Francisco, Ukiah, Willits and Sacramento, in addition to LGBT-organized tributes to King across the country, reports the Ventura County Star.

In response to King’s slaying, California Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes, announced plans Feb. 18 to introduce a bill that would, among other things, establish diversity and sensitivity curricula in certain school districts.

“My bill is focusing on prevention,” Eng said. “We already have bills on the books about proper punishment; mine will focus on dealing with hatred in a school setting.”

Family and friends remember King as a boy who loved to sing folk songs, liked studying bugs, and helped out at his little brother’s baseball games. “I’d rather not have him known as the gay kid,” said Phil Cohen, a family friend. “I’d rather have him known as Larry, a good kid who tried his best.”

Guilty verdict in death of 2-year-old Sarah Chavez

On Feb. 28, Armando Abundis Sr. was found guilty of killing his 2-year-old grandniece, Sarah Chavez, two and a half years ago, the Pasadena Star News reported. Abundis faces a sentence of 25 years to life. As IN reported extensively, Chavez was inexplicably removed from loving same-sex foster parents and returned to relatives, where she was abused, ignored by the county child welfare system and subsequently killed. — K.O.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation sues L.A., chastises Congress on PEPFAR

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles’ largest nonprofit HIV/AIDS service agency, has sued the City of Los Angeles to prevent foreclosure on a 1995 loan, the Los Angeles Times reported Feb. 24. The city loaned AHF $1.1 million for construction of an AIDS hospice, Linn House, on donated land near West Hollywood. AHF converted Linn House into offices and meeting rooms in 1999 because antiretroviral drugs had reduced the need for hospice services. The city seeks to foreclose, saying that the money could only be used for housing. AHF argues that the city has waived any right to enforce the loan contract because it has known about the new use since 2000.

The city says AHF could use Linn House as a nursing or transitional living facility. A study directed by UCLA Law School professor Brad Sears released in December found that 46 percent of Los Angeles County nursing homes refuse to accept HIV-positive patients.

On another front, AHF criticized Congress for reauthorizing a version of the global President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief without the prior requirement that at least 55 percent be spent on treatment, according to a Feb. 27 release.

Ryan White Program funding cuts causing SoCal problems

Changes in Ryan White Program funding are causing money shortages for HIV/AIDS service organizations in Southern California, the Riverside Free Press reported Feb. 13. The federal program, named after an Indiana teen who succumbed to AIDS, was enacted in 1990.

The problems result from spending cuts in Congress’ renewal last year of the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (CARE Act), which funds nonprofit groups’ HIV/AIDS services. Inland AIDS Project, for example, received about $1 million under the program in 2006, but just over $700,000 last year; funding for the group’s food vouchers fell from about $100,000 to under $40,000. The cuts are “the most drastic” change to the program since its enactment, according to Daniel Perez, a program manager in the San Bernardino County Department of Health. An estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS nationwide, with an estimated 40,00-60,000 new infections annually.

L.A. Supervisors approve $1.75 million in anti-meth funding

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $1.75 million in funding, Feb. 12, to combat the meth epidemic, according to the Act Now Against Meth Coalition, a grassroots group of service providers and business leaders. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavksy allocated $1 million of his district funds for treatment in his district; the remaining $750,000 will support countywide prevention programs.

“Meth is one of the great ... public health issues of our day,” said Yaroslavsky. “The county’s modest investment in addressing the meth epidemic is hopefully a down payment on a greater engagement by all of us, at all levels of government, towards reversing the corrosive impact this health issue is having on our society.”

According to Los Angeles County treatment center data, meth overtook heroin in 2005 as the number one substance of abuse at treatment admission.

Antioch University receives LGBT scholarship donation for transgender “teach-in”

The LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles announced, on Feb. 12, its receipt of a $25,000 donation from the Ladd Family Foundation “to strengthen the transgender component of the LGBT specialization,” according to a statement from the school. “These funds will be aimed at developing the trans-affirmative curriculum; reaching out to trans students; developing a trans-affirmative psychotherapy ‘teach-in” on Sunday, July 20, and providing at least two scholarships for 2008 enrollment,” the statement said. Antioch’s LGBT specialization is the first master’s training program in LGBT clinical psychology of its kind in the United States.

For more information on the LGBT program and available scholarships, contact Douglas_Sadownick@AntiochLA.edu.