by Peter DelVecchio

Rep. Baldwin challenges State Dept. LGBT policies

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is challenging alleged State Department discrimination against gay employees and requesting immediate changes. In a Feb. 26 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Baldwin and Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) wrote, “Many of these inequities could clearly be remedied through your leadership as Secretary, without legislative changes.”

Among the changes sought are training, healthcare and visa support for employees’ domestic partners. The letter referred to openly gay former ambassador to Romania Michael Guest, who, upon retiring in 2007, told the New York Times, “I’ve felt compelled to choose between obligations to my partner—who is my family—and service to my country. That anyone should have to make that choice is a stain on the Secretary’s leadership and a shame for this institution and our country.”

New Jersey civil unions found inadequate

A commission evaluating New Jersey’s civil union statute issued a report Feb. 26 finding that civil unions create a “second-class status” for gay couples, The Associated Press reports.

The statute was enacted in 2006 pursuant to a New Jersey Supreme Court decision mandating that same-sex couples be afforded the same rights and duties as married couples. The report, however, agrees with LGBT rights advocates that civil unions do not, in practice, provide the legal protections of marriage. For example, the report found that many self-insured New Jersey companies regulated by federal law—which includes no recognition of same-sex relationships—refuse to provide health insurance to employees’ partners. Employers in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal, could do the same, but most do not. Also, many people do not understand the law, creating problems with, for example, gay partners’ hospital visitation rights.

Lilo Stainton, spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, said, “He will sign a [same-sex marriage] bill, but doesn’t want to make it a presidential election year issue.”

“We appreciate his candor,” a Feb. 19 New York Times editorial states. “But to achieve real marital equality, it will take political courage, not more dawdling.”

Florida gay teen murdered

A gay African-American teenager was murdered Feb. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was shot to death by two unidentified men at a corner allegedly frequented by transgender prostitutes. A transgender prostitute still using her birth name, Timothy Broadus, was murdered in 2003 near where Williams was shot; that case remains unsolved. Williams, who was wearing women’s clothing, had been arguing with the men before the shooting, witnesses told police.

“We’re looking into the possibility of a hate crime,” said police spokeswoman Detective Katherine Collins. A hate crime “enhancement” adds extra time to a prison sentence. Williams had signed up Feb. 20 for Job Corps, a federal vocational training program, and planned to get a GED and then enroll in culinary school, according to the teen’s mother, Denise King.

Poll finds military officers overwhelmingly support gay ban

According to a new poll, only 22 percent of military officers believe the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the ban on openly gay servicemembers should be repealed, 365gay.com reported Feb. 25. The poll was conducted by the Center for a New American Security and the journal Foreign Policy during December 2007 and January 2008 and involved 3,000 active duty and retired officers.

In contrast, 28 retired generals and admirals issued a statement in November 2007 that urged Congress to repeal the ban, stating that this “would not harm, and would indeed help, our armed forces.”

A 2006 Zogby International poll found that most enlisted men and women, and three-quarters of troops serving in or recently home from Iraq, have no problem serving with gays. Since the official ban began 10 years ago, more than 11,000 servicemembers have been discharged for being gay. A 2007 Servicemembers Legal Defense Network study estimated that lifting the ban could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits. A bill to repeal the ban, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, is pending in Congress with bipartisan support, but is not expected to make it out of committee this election year.

Lesbian documentary wins Oscar

A documentary about a lesbian police officer’s battle for death benefits won the Academy Award for best documentary short subject Feb. 24. Freeheld: The Laurel Hester Story, directed and produced by Cynthia Wade, chronicles the story of Lt. Laurel Hester of the Ocean County, N.J., Prosecutor’s Office. In 2005, Hester—who had terminal lung cancer—appealed to county freeholders, i.e., supervisors, to approve death benefits that would allow her partner to keep the couple’s home.

New Jersey has civil unions, but leaves such decisions to freeholders. The freeholders first rejected Hester’s appeal, but, under widespread public pressure, allowed a second appeal. The failing Hester appeared by videotape, saying, “All I’m asking for is that you sign the resolution and that you make a change, a change for good, a change for righteousness …” The resolution passed; Hester died a month later. (For information, visit www.gardenstateequality.org.)

Meanwhile, in another instance of a domestic partner fighting for rights, Lamda Legal is preparing to sue a Florida hospital on behalf of the partner and children of a woman who died of a sudden aneurism last year, states a release. The hospital allegedly denied the partner and children access to the dying woman.

Groups encourage gay black politicians

The National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) and the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI) announced Feb. 25 the establishment of the Bayard Rustin Award to honor outstanding contributions in political science regarding LGBT African-American politicians, reports 365gay.com.

The award is named after the openly gay organizer of the 1963 rally where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech. “More than 400 openly gay officials are serving their communities across America, but just a handful of these individuals are African-American,” GLLI president Chuck Wolfe said in a statement. “We hope to change that.”

Microsoft co-founder leaves $65 million to LGBT groups

Ric Weiland, openly gay co-founder of Microsoft Corp., left $65 million in his will to LGBT rights organizations, the Seattle Times reported Feb. 24. Weiland, who suffered from depression, committed suicide last year at 53.

Weiland left $19 million outright to Seattle’s Pride Foundation, which provides grants, scholarships and other programs to the LGBT community, and another $46 million for the foundation to distribute over eight years to 10 national organizations, including the Lambda Legal, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

“It’s a gigantic investment in our equal rights movement,” said Pride Foundation Director of Communications Zan McColloch-Lussier. “It will be here long after our kids’ kids are gone.” Known as a generous philanthropist during his lifetime, Weiland left $160 million, most of his estate, to charity.

Effort launched to recruit gay presidential appointees

The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI), a group that, according to its website (www.glli.org), provides “training and professional development programs” for “LGBT leaders,” launched a “Presidential Appointments Project,” on Feb. 20. The project is “a non-partisan effort designed to help grow the pool of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender professionals who would be qualified and ready to accept politically appointed positions in the next US presidential administration,” the organization said in a statement.

Ambassador James C. Hormel, appointed by President Bill Clinton, and the first openly gay U.S. ambassador, said, “We … need to say to the next president, ‘We’re ready to serve and we’re ready to lead.’ The next administration must know that we are concerned about being included, determined to contribute our talents, skills and insights, and eager to participate in the hard work of governing our country.”

Numbers as of 11:30 a.m., Feb. 28

American Deaths in Iraq: 3,973 • www.icasualties.org

American Wounded in Iraq: 29,203 • www.antiwar.com/casualties

Iraqi Dead since 2003: 81,527-88,994 • www.iraqbodycount.org

Cost of War: $498,270,000,000+ • www.costofwar.com

National Debt: $9,329,697,954,060 • www.brillig.com/debt_clock

U.S. Trade Deficit: $114,208,000,000+
www.americaneconomicalert.org/ticker_home.asp

Quote / Unquote

“We ask people to pay a lot of money to come to our Oscar party, and—thankfully for those affected by HIV and AIDS—the people of Los Angeles do.”
—Elton John on his annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards party, co-created by IN Los Angeles columnist Dana Miller, which raised a record $5.1 million this year.

“I’m f--king Ben Affleck!”
—Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel in a star-studded music video response to a video by his girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, about sleeping with Matt Damon (see www.tinyurl.com/2la8eg).

“Larry was not a second-class citizen; I am not a second-class citizen. It is OK if you’re gay.”
—Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on the murder of 15-year-old Lawrence King of Oxnard, Calif.