By Ramy Eletreby

Schwarzenegger Vetoes Gay Marriage Bill

Hundreds of LGBT people and their allies protested in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the same-sex marriage bill on Sept. 29. They vowed to defeat his ballot initatives in the Nov. 8 special election in response.

Schwarzenegger claimed the bill by San Francisco Assemblymember Mark Leno contradicted Prop. 22, an initiative passed in 2000 that said only a marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in California. "This bill simply adds confusion to a constitutional issue," Schwarzenegger said in his veto message, adding that the decision should be left up to the voters or the courts.

Schwarzenegger also said, "I believe that lesbian and gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against based upon their relationships. I support current domestic partnership rights and will continue to vigorously defend and enforce these rights and as such will not support any rollback."

Conservative blogger Matt Szabo (mattszabo.com) found it "very encouraging" that Schwarzenegger signed five important LGBT bills (including a bill by West Hollywood Assemblymember Paul Koretz banning discrimination based on gender identity in health insurance) and "issued a strong, unequivocal message to the far right" that he opposed efforts to eliminate domestic partnership rights. "Yes," Szabo wrote, "we should be disappointed that full equality is yet again delayed, but we should also recognize that the governor is poised to be our greatest ally in the fight to achieve the full equality we deserve."

The majority of gays and progressives, however, saw the veto as a sign that Schwarzenegger flinched in the face of an historic civil rights opportunity.

"He cannot claim to support fair and equal treatment of gay people and veto the very bill that would have provided it to them," Leno said in a statement. "This action puts the governor on the wrong side of history, in the company of others who have opposed equal protection for all citizens."

In Los Angeles, about 250 people showed up for a protest organized by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and Equality California that featured leaders from a number of LGBT/AIDS organizations and showcased a large paper mache likeness of Schwarzenegger with puppet strings controlled by the right wing. "He denied us the same protections that he and Maria and his children enjoy. Why would a man who believes in equality do that to us?," asked Lorri Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. "We must show the governor in November that he made a big mistake."

The protesters stopped Friday night traffic on Hollywood Boulevard as they marched to Schwarzenegger's star on the Walk of Fame under the Guinness Museum. There were more rousing speeches, watched over by about seven LAPD officers under the direction of openly gay Lt. Tina Nieto.

"If a gay soldier can die in the Middle East, then he should be allowed to be married to his same-sex partner in his so-called free country. Supporting the troops ain't just a bumper sticker," said former Air Force Sgt. Johnny Pujols, holding a rainbow flag in uniform.

"With one stroke of his veto pen, this governor has shown his true colorsÑhe is a man without vision, courage or compassion. Now, this community must rally and hand him a major defeat in return...this November and next," state Sen. Sheila James Kuehl told IN.

"I am extremely disappointed," L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told IN, confirming that he called several legislators to vote for the bill. "This is a significant, but I believe temporary, setback in the cause of human rights and pro-family policies. In his veto message the governor reiterated his support for the rights of all people, but his action tells another story."

"I think he's going to have to figure out whether he's for civil rights or not," Assemblymember Mark Ridley-Thomas told IN.

West Hollywood City Councilmember and Equality California President John Duran was more philosophical. "Governors and legislators come and go," Duran told IN. "The battle for equality spans centuries. We press forward." -- Karen Ocamb

Dalton Lee Robertson Found Dead

West Hollywood interior designer Dalton Lee Robertson, a longtime volunteer for AID for AIDS and in the LGBT alcohol and drugs recovery community, was found dead Sept. 24 in a Long Beach hotel, the victim of an apparent suicide from an overdose of prescription medications. He was 42.

The news came the day more than 100 people held a vigil outside the Pacific Design Center on Sept. 26 publicizing his disappearance. According to entertainment executive and close friend Brad Bessey, friends became concerned when Robertson, who had recently been diagnosed with depression, did not appear as planned at the annual clean and sober Hot & Dry event in Palm Springs, where he also has a home.

"If Dalton could have somehow had a Wonderful Life moment with the people who were expressing their love for him, maybe he would have reconsidered taking his life," Bessey told IN

Robertson leaves behind his life-partner, photographer John Paschal, his family, and many friends. A memorial service was held on Oct. 1 at the MCC Church in West Hollywood.

L.A.P.D. Launches Large GLBT Recruitment Campaign

On Sept. 19, the Los Angeles Police Academy held its quarterly LGBT community forum to discuss key issues relating to the Los Angeles Police Department and the recent changes that are starting to be implemented in the force. The bulk of the three-hour meeting was spent discussing major recruitment efforts being made specifically in the LGBT community.

Police Chief William Bratton opened the forum with remarks on how recruitment is of vital importance to the L.A.P.D. right now, as more officers have been retiring in recent years than there are new officers joining the force. Newly appointed, openly gay Police Commissioner Shelley Freeman explained that the LGBT community is one that needs to be embraced and included in serving the larger community. "Our work is important," Freeman said. "One of the most important things we could do is to have more gay and lesbian officers on the police force. I'm thrilled to work on recruitment matters."

Openly gay police officer Mike Jolicouer, who is featured on the L.A.P.D. recruitment ads along with his partner, discussed the recruitment process. Candidates must complete a short 50-question test with three essays to provide a comprehensive understanding of the applicant's background, history, personality, and ability to fit within the ideology of the force. Paul Waters, the chairperson of L.A. Valley Pride, announced that this year's pride festival (Oct. 9 in the CBS Studios back lot in Studio City) will have specialized police onsite to help with recruitment efforts.

Openly lesbian Medal of Valor honoree Sgt. Lisa Phillips discussed segments of a documentary entitled Gay Cops: Behind the Badge. The film featured several out officers, highlighting Phillips' story of coming out while on duty during the L.A. riots in 1992. When Phillips came out, there were only six other out officers in the entire L.A.P.D. and, according to Phillips, there are too many to count today.

The evening also showcased the new "L.A.P.D. Smart Car," a highly technologically advanced patrol car set to improve efficiency. With new features such as license and facial recognition scanning, the upgrades are expected to increase efficiency in such a way that fewer officers will need to be on the streets. The cost of these upgrades could be between $10-15,000, compared to the $125,000 it costs to train and equip new officers.

For more info, go to www.lapdonline.org.

Student With Lesbian Parents Expelled

Shay Clark, a 14-year-old student who attended Ontario Christian School, was expelled on Thursday, Sept. 22, because her parents are lesbians. According to the biological mother, Tina Clark, school officials became aware and bothered about the sexual orientation of the girl's parents after Shay had been disciplined for talking to the onlookers during a football game.

After teachers discovered that her mother and partner were in a relationship the school did not consider "Christian," Superintendent Leonard Stob wrote: "Your family does not meet the policies of admission." The statement also said the parents did not disclose their status at the time of admission, which would have prevented their daughter from enrolling.

But Clark said that her relationship with Mitzi Gray was never a secret and that their daughter's school application listed both women as her parents.

Stob wrote that school policy requires that at least one parent may not engage in practices "immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style, such as cohabitating without marriage or in a homosexual relationship," the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 23.

Clark and Gray, who have been together 22 years and have two other daughters, ages 9 and 19, protested in front of the campus Sept. 26. Two of their daughters, along with approximately two dozen family members and friends, carried signs challenging the school's expulsion of Shay Clark. After school, several students joined the protesters along the sidewalk.

Shay's 19-year-old sister Jayme, who had attended Ontario Christian School, said that when she was there, the school was openly aware of her parents' sexuality. She stated that her friends and the staff knew and it was never an issue. The family is considering a civil suit against the school. -- Denise Penn

Lambda Legal Honors Griffin, SBC, Huerta

The Egyptian Theater audience at the Sept. 28 Lambda Legal Awards 2005 shrugged off the absence of honoree Dolores Huerta, presenter Eva Longoria, and speaker Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and instead delighted in the needling jokes of comedian Bruce Vilanch. "The Jew is here," he said.

In fact, Villaraigosa was on wildfire watch and Huerta, her "out and proud bisexual" daughter Juanita Chavez told the crowd, was being inducted into a Latino hall of fame, for which she received sustained applause in absentia. In addition to a lifetime of civil rights work that always included gay rights, Chavez said, Huerta persuaded Assemblymember Simon Salinas to cast the crucial 41st vote for passage of the same-sex marriage bill.

Jenny Pizer, Lambda Legal's highly regarded senior attorney in the Western Regional office, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary, honored SBC for its one million dollars in contributions to the LGBT community. Comedienne and reality TV star Kathy Griffin was acknowledged as a "trusted friend" and for her commitment to raising money for HIV/AIDS. Perhaps the most moving moment was when five long-term couples, including top L.A. city attorney staffer Rich Llewellyn and his partner Christopher Caldwell, took the stage representing the people behind the issue over the right to marry.

John Perez Named to Community Redevelopment Agency

Another downtown dude makes good. Not that John Perez, a long-time openly gay union and political organizer, needs any more accolades or political posts. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and California Gov. Gray Davis appointed him to several task forces, as well as the California Voting Modernization board where he still sits under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Add to that now his Sept. 20 appointment by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to the Community Redevelopment Agency with its $400 million budget.

Born Sept 28, 1969, in Culver City, Perez's immersion in progressive politics moved inexorably from childhood family discussions (including with cousin Villaraigosa) to volunteering during Vice President Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, fighting against federal cuts to social programs (his mother worked at a community-based clinic), and working on a series of special elections on the East Side where Latinos were competitive for the first time in 30 years. By the summer of his first year at the University of California at Berkeley, Perez was involved with the important Southwest Voter Registration Project.

Though he knew he was gay by age 15, Perez officially came out in college in Oct. 1990 when he fell in love. "I actually came out in the middle of a political argument," Perez told IN. "I was chair of MECHA, the big Chicano student group, which met at the same time as the gay and lesbian student group. I couldn't go to both meetings so I put together a meeting of both. A friend of mine gave me a hard time-'What have these folks done to fight for our rights?' And right in front of about 200 people, I came out. Overall the response was very positive, except for that friend."

Perez became directly involved with labor issues in 1992 when he got involved with the Painters' Union, where he stayed until 1995. He then moved to the United Food and Commercial Workers union from 1995-2000, when he became the political director for the California AFL/CIO. In 2001 he moved back to be political director for UFCW, Local 324.

Meanwhile, Perez serves on the boards of the California League of Conservation Voters, AIDS Project Los Angeles, and he chairs a coalition of Latino AIDS groups. He has also been a mainstay and held several positions with Stonewall Democratic Club. He hopes that his labor, business, gay and environmental backgrounds will serve him at CRA.

"Having come from a working class neighborhood that was heavily blighted, I get the need for economic development," Perez told IN. "And it's okay to have a value system [regarding] corporations we do business with. We want to make Los Angeles a city that's responsive to all our residents." -- Karen Ocamb