The head of the Civil Rights Department of the Justice Department announced today that he is making the pursuit of claims by LGBT Americans a priority for his office. Specifically, Tom Perez said,

“We must fight for fairness and basic equality for our LGBT brothers and sisters who so frequently are being left in the shadows,” and to “ensure that there’s a level playing field in which our LGBT brothers and sisters are judged by the content of their character.”

As a lawyer, too often the fight is not to change the law, but change the application of the law. It’s one thing to have procedural protections when dealing with the police, but it doesn’t mean they won’t call you a dyke when they approach you, take you less seriously as you explain your side of the story, use their discretion to arrest those who are different or threatening.

The same is true with the treatment in the courts. Are openly LGBT complainants taken seriously by juries? Addressed respectfully by judges?

Many of us have experiences in our own lives that reinforce the assumption that the laws protecting the public don’t protect us as much.

One speech by a representative of the Civil Rights Department is not the be all and end all of the LGBT struggle. It is merely a blip on the radar. However, if the actual rate of LGBT related investigations increases, this will be an important mile stone on the road to equality.

Changing the law on the books is important. But it’s much harder to change the hearts and minds of those enforcing the law. Thank goodness we are seeing some progress in that direction.

Last week, Paris Foot Gay said its members were victims of homophobia when Creteil Bebel, a team of Muslim players, refused to play them this month.

The French amateur league said it excluded Creteil for “refusing the match on discriminatory grounds.”

“It’s a permanent exclusion, they will never be reinstated,” league president Jacques Stouvenel said.

Senator Edward Kennedy: A Record of Leadership on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV Issues

Senator Kennedy has been a champion for civil rights since his first term in the United States Senate in 1962.

Over the years, Ted Kennedy has supported legislation that promotes equal rights and has fought closed-minded and discriminatory measures. Senator Kennedy has been an unwavering supporter of the LGBT community, leading the charge on important legislation like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act and forcefully opposing discriminatory proposals, including the Defense of Marriage Act and the Federal Marriage Amendment. Senator Kennedy has received a perfect 100% on all of HRC’s congressional scorecards (101st Congress-110th Congress).

Senator Kennedy’s Support for Equality

HIV/AIDS

* Long-standing co-sponsor of the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA), which would provide states the option of expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income people living with HIV.
* Co-sponsored the Ryan White CARE Act. Passed in 1990 and reauthorized in 2006, the CARE Act is the largest federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS.
* Co-sponsored a 1996 bill to reverse the discharge of HIV-positive members of the Armed Forces.
* Opposed a 1995 amendment to the CARE Act to cut off funding to local gay community health centers that provide care to individuals with HIV/AIDS.
* In 1994, took the lead defeating a proposed amendment requiring written parental consent before unemancipated minors could receive condoms or other contraceptives through any program that receives federal funds.
* Opposed a 1991 amendment to allow health care professionals to test patients for HIV without their consent before invasive medical procedures.
* Opposed a 1991 amendment providing for criminal penalties for health care providers who know they have HIV and perform invasive medical procedures without notifying patients.
* Opposed a 1990 amendment to criminalize blood donation by HIV-positive individuals.
* Opposed a 1990 amendment prohibiting needle exchange programs.
* Opposed a 1990 amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which would have allowed HIV-infected people to be removed from food-handling positions.
* Supported passage of a bill to modify the 1990 Budget Agreement to shift funds from defense to domestic spending, including HIV/AIDS research.
* Supported the Americans with Disabilities Act which bars discrimination on the basis of disability, including HIV status.

Hate Crimes

* Had been a co-sponsor of every piece of hate crimes legislation covering sexual orientation or gender identity considered by the Senate, including the 2009 Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
* Co-sponsored the 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act, which requires the Department of Justice to acquire data on crimes that show evidence of prejudice based on a number of characteristics, including sexual orientation.
* Opposed an amendment to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act that would have stated that “the homosexual movement threatens the strength and survival of the American family” and “state sodomy laws should be enforced.”

Immigration

* Long-standing co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would eliminate discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents.

Benefits

* Co-sponsor of the Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act, which would end the unequal taxation of benefits provided for domestic partners and other non-spouse beneficiaries under employers’ health plans.
* Opposed attempts in 1992 to restrict funding for the implementation of the District of Columbia’s Health Care Benefits Expansion Act. The Act provides District government employees the opportunity to purchase health coverage for their domestic partners.

Military

* Supported repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute.
* Supported an amendment in 1993 to prevent codification of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

Marriage

* Supported marriage equality.
* Opposed the 2004 Federal Marriage Amendment and the 2006 Marriage Protection Amendment.
* Opposed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Discrimination

* Had been the lead sponsor of each Employment Non-Discrimination Act introduced in the Senate.
* Voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when it was considered by the Senate in 1996.
* Co-sponsored a 2003 resolution adding sexual orientation to the nondiscrimination provisions of the Senate Rules (S. Res. 294).
* Voluntarily adopted a written policy for his Senate office in 1995 indicating that sexual orientation is not a factor in employment decisions, and added gender identity to that policy in 2004.
* Opposed a 1990 amendment to allow organizations that work with children in the District of Columbia to lawfully discriminate against individuals based on sexual orientation.

Education

* Opposed a 1994 amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to prohibit any federal money from going to a school with “any program or activity, which directly or indirectly, has the purpose or effect of encouraging or supporting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative.”
* Opposed a 1989 amendment which sought to restrict schools from using materials that “promote homosexuality” or state that homosexuality is “normal, natural, or healthy.”

In the Words of Senator Ted Kennedy:

“No member of the LGBT community should be terrified to walk down the street for fear of hateful violence. Hate crimes perpetrators must not be allowed to place our communities in fear.” (Statement on Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 2009)

“Hate crimes are a form of domestic terrorism. They send the poisonous message that some Americans deserve to be victimized solely because of who they are” (Statement on hate crimes, 2007)

“America stands for justice for all. Congress must make clear that when we say “all” we mean all. America will never be America until we do.”(Statement on ENDA, 2007)

“It is wrong for our civil laws to deny any American the basic right to be part of a family, to have loved ones with whom to build a secure future and share life’s joys and tears, and to be free from the stain of bigotry and discrimination.” (Statement on the Federal Marriage Amendment, 2006)

“While we have come a long way, we still face major challenges in responding to this devastating disease in communities across the country… [N]o state by itself can provide the significant resources to help persons living with HIV disease obtain the medical and support services they need. The Ryan White CARE Act is indispensible…We know that the CARE Act has made a difference not only in the lives of persons with HIV/AIDS, but also in the lives of countless loved ones who have seen despair turn to hope through the support of CARE Act services.” (Statement on the Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization, 2000)

“We all know what this issue is about. It’s not about how to protect the sanctity of marriage, or how to deal with activist judges. It’s about politics and an attempt to drive a wedge between one group of citizens and the rest of the country, solely for partisan advantage. We’ve rejected that tactic before, and I’m hopeful that we will do so again. I’m also hopeful that many of our Republican colleagues – those with whom we’ve worked over the years on a bipartisan basis to expand and defend the civil rights of gay and straight Americans alike – will join us in rejecting this divisive effort.” (Statement on the Federal Marriage Amendment, 2004)

The women were attending last Sunday morning’s service to meet the Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr., a mayoral candidate in Memphis.

But when Whalum told the congregation to bow to the ground and blow kisses to God, Stephens and her partner, both agnostics, didn’t move.

Stephens said that Whalum and church members then called them “devil worshippers” and “gay” and security guards pushed them out of the sanctuary. Stephen’s classes were broken. No arrests were made.
Whalum told the Commercial Appeal that the women were “being disruptive, boisterous and speaking loud. They had to have some kind of agenda to come in church like that.”

He said that the women were kicked out because of interrupting the service, not because they were lesbians. “If I put every lesbian out of church, we’d be putting people out of church all day long,” said Whalum.

Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The administration’s response to the case has angered gay activists who see it as backtracking on campaign promises made by Barack Obama last year.

In court papers, the administration said it supports repeal of the law.

Yet the same filing says the Justice Department will defend the statute in this case because a reasonable argument can be made that the law is constitutional.

The government’s previous filing in the case angered gay rights activists who supported Obama’s candidacy in part because of his pledge to move forward on repealing the law and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military.

“The administration believes the Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and should be repealed,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler, because it prevents equal rights and benefits.

The department is obligated “to defend federal statutes when they are challenged in court. The Justice Department cannot pick and choose which federal laws it will defend based on any one administration’s policy preferences,” Schmaler added.

The law, often called DOMA, denies federal recognition of gay marriage and gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

“DOMA reflects a cautiously limited response to society’s still-evolving understanding of the institution of marriage,” according to the filing by Assistant Attorney General Tony West.

The administration also disavowed past arguments made by conservatives that DOMA protects children by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

“The United States does not believe that DOMA is rationally related to any legitimate government interests in procreation and child-rearing and is therefore not relying upon any such interests to defend DOMA’s constitutionality,” lawyers argued in the filing.

Obama has pledged to work to repeal the law.

Monday’s court filing was in response to a lawsuit by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, who are challenging the federal law, which prevents couples in states that recognize same-sex unions from securing Social Security spousal benefits, filing joint taxes and benefiting from other federal rights connected to marriage.

Justice lawyers have argued that the act is constitutional and contend that awarding federal marriage benefits to gays would infringe on the rights of taxpayers in the 30 states that specifically prohibit same-sex marriages.

Earlier this year, Massachusetts became the first state to challenge the law in court.

The Spectrum in St. George initially accepted a paid wedding announcement for Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones last week, but then changed course, Jones said. The San Francisco couple were legally married June 17, 2008. They wanted the announcement printed in Jones’ hometown paper ahead of a family party next week.

Jones, 30, said he initially agreed to the paper’s request that the announcement run without a photo, after a clerk told him the publisher feared the picture might make readers uncomfortable. Then Jones changed his mind and appealed to publisher Donnie Welch, asking him to reconsider.

“After all, our marriage is just as real and legal and entitled to celebration as any of the others that are announced each week in the pages of The Spectrum,” Jones wrote in an e-mail to Welch.

“This simply is not true,” Welch replied in an Aug. 10 e-mail, a copy of which the couple provided to The Associated Press. “While that may be the case in some states it is not the case in the state of Utah. As our policy is to run marriage announcements recognized by Utah law, I have made the decision not to run the announcement.”

A telephone message seeking comment from Welch was not immediately returned Thursday. The Spectrum is owned by Gannett Co. A message left at Gannett’s corporate offices in McLean, Va., was not immediately returned.

Jones said The Spectrum clerk who took his announcement information and credit card number never disclosed such a policy and later told him it was a new policy she had not known.

The policy also contradicts information published about The Spectrum last year by the national advocacy group GLAAD – Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation – which for six years has worked to open newspapers’ wedding and celebration pages to same-sex couples.

GLAAD conducts telephone surveys every two years, and says more than 1,000 papers have policies allowing the announcements. In 2008, The Spectrum was included on GLAAD’s list of “inclusive newspapers.”

A GLAAD representative contacted Welch on Wednesday, but wasn’t able to change the publisher’s mind, said Rashad Robinson, the organization’s senior director of media programs. Robinson said GLAAD has also contacted Gannett Co. to express its concern.

“At the end of the day, this is not about their editorial pages or the opinions of their columnists,” Robinson said. “This is about the celebration pages reflecting the community, and a community is going to have people from many very different walks of life. We are diminished if our stories are put aside.”

On Thursday, GLAAD posted a message on its Web site asking supporters to contact the paper to express concerns. Robinson also said GLAAD plans to contact Spectrum advertisers, many of whom have long-standing nondiscrimination policies.

“The paper said the decision was in the best business interests of the paper,” Robinson said. “So the question is, do these advertisers, who have a long track record of diversity, want to be lumped in with a business decision that falls down on the side of inequality?”

The California Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal in the state in June 2008, not long before Barrick and Jones wed. Less than five months later, California voters approved Proposition 8, a ballot initiative to ban gay marriage in California. In May, the court upheld the ban, but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the ban took effect would remain legally married.

Gay marriage is banned in Utah.

Jones said that although he and Barrick, 28, actively fought Proposition 8, when their announcement was rejected Barrick “didn’t want to be the poster couple for gay marriage,” so they decided to let it go.

“But I’m an attorney and I couldn’t sleep that night,” said Jones, a Utah native, who like Barrick was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “My instinct is to make it right.”

The Salt Lake City-based Mormon church is opposed to gay marriage and called on its members last year to give time and money to the campaign to pass California’s Proposition 8.

Jones reached out to GLAAD and other gay rights organizations for advice.

“I’ve thought a lot about the gay and lesbian kids who are surely all over the place in southern Utah, and maybe it’s gratuitous on my part, but they need to see this announcement in the paper,” he said. “When I was a kid … I would have loved to have seen a picture of two guys having their life together celebrated in the paper.”

In a follow-up e-mail to Welch, Jones, once a paperboy for The Spectrum, called the publisher’s decision “intolerance, plain and simple,” and said the paper has a duty not to shield readers from discomfort or disparate opinions.

“Your duty, as I see it, is exactly the opposite – to provide a neutral and fair forum for all of your readers to announce and celebrate their unions,” Jones wrote.

Meanwhile, Jones and Barrick have had their announcement accepted by The Salt Lake Tribune, owned by MediaNews Group Inc.

The vote falls one short of the eight-vote supermajority needed to override a mayoral veto. Mayor Dan Sullivan has seven days to decide. He has said he has not yet made a decision.

The bill passed after two months of discussion and a compromise that included exemptions for religious institutions, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Opponents of the bill, who wore red, had argued that gay people are not discriminated against; they also said that they worried that MTF transgendered people would then be able to use women’s restrooms.

The Assembly members who voted yes brought up gays and lesbians who they are close to. One mentioned that the Assembly voted to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in Anchorage in 1976 – that bill was vetoed by then-mayor George Sullivan, the current mayor’s father.

The news station claims his allegations are “false and outrageous” and they had “no real choice” but to let him go.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “Perez filed a discrimination complaint July 31 with Miami-Dade County’s Equal Opportunity Board, claiming the station demoted him after publicity over a bitter breakup with his male partner.”

A personal email of Perez’s that had been sent to his therapist  in which he talked about his gender identity issues was forwarded to everyone in his address book the Advocate reports. After claiming he was told he was “lacking a masculine on-camera persona,” Perez said was demoted.

Station Vice President and News Director Bill Pohovey, who is also openly gay, has said that Perez’s complaint is unfounded.

“As a gay man myself, I can safely say the station does not discriminate against gay people,” said Pohovey.

Perez’s attorney has announced that he plans to add a retaliation charge to his complaint.

Matt Aune, 28, and his partner Derek Jones, 25, were walking across the Main Street Plaza, an easement that connects the Mormon Temple to other church sites that belong to the church. The men say they were told to leave after they hugged and kissed. Mormon Church officials claim that the men were given a warning for their behavior and then detained for trespassing after refusing to leave.

The report does not mention a warning, saying only that the guard told the pair that “they need to leave [church] property for the behavior and that [it] is unwanted.” The report says that the “unwanted” behavior was kissing and hugging, and that police were called when Jones refused to leave.

Jones claimed during a television interview that as he was being cuffed, one of the guards said, “It’s just gross, it’s just wrong.”

Alcohol was involved in the incident as well. “I could smell alcohol on Matt’s [Aune] breath and he [sic] speech was slightly slurred when he spoke to me,” police officer Eric Moutsos said.

A kiss in occurred the Sunday after the incident in which participants, both gay and straight, wore paper hearts while kissing to show support for Aune and Jones.

Read the full On Top Magazine article here.

Vice Mayor Larry Small has issued a personal letter of support for PrideFest, which will include a parade and interfaith religious service Sunday.

Mayor Lionel Rivera often issues proclamations for city events, but has withheld his support for PrideFest because the event hosts same-sex commitment ceremonies and he opposes gay marriage.

Small, a self-described conservative Republican, says gays and lesbians are members of the community who pay taxes, own businesses.

Colorado Springs is the home of Wil Perkins, author of a 1992 ballot issue that barred Colorado cities from passing laws to protect gays from discrimination. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law.