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National News |
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| National News | |
| New Gay-friendly laws
take effect in CalifORNIA New laws that took effect in California January 1 protect GLBT seniors and foster youth, and insert "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" language into several civil rights laws that lacked comprehensive lists of protected groups. Assembly Bill 3015 requires that existing mandatory training programs for foster-care administrators, foster parents and other caregivers include training on the right of foster youth to a safe, unbiased and harassment-free school environment. Senate Bill 1729 requires that licensed health professionals in senior care facilities and nursing homes be trained about the unique needs of GLBT seniors. Assembly Bill 2654 amended 13 statutes that prohibit discrimination against members of protected classes. Nine of the amendments apply to insurance and four relate to a government benefit, service or requirement. "The list of protected classes varies from statute to statute - and many did not include sexual orientation and/or gender identity prior to AB 2654," said Equality California's government affairs director, Alice Kessler. "[With this bill and others,] we've essentially overhauled all major civil rights laws in California to include sexual orientation and gender identity. California is the only state we know of to have undergone such a process to systematically include sexual orientation and gender identity throughout all state law." Since its founding in December 1998, Equality California has sponsored 50 bills that have passed the California Legislature, "taking California from a state with little to no legal protections for LGBT people to one with some of the most comprehensive protections in the nation," the organization said. Forty-two of the 50 bills were signed into law by a governor. Meanwhile, Gay and Lesbian members of the Legislature assumed key positions in important committees in December, EQCA reported. Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, is now chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, heads the Senate Public Safety Committee; and Assemblymember John A. Perez, D-Los Angeles, chairs the Assembly Democratic Caucus. The Legislature's fourth openly Gay member is Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who was elected to the post November 4 after serving 14 years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Campbell Soup stands by Advocate ads Despite criticism from the American Family Association over "openly ... helping homosexual activists push their agenda," the Campbell Soup Company plans to continue advertising in the Advocate. The company ran two pages of ads in the December issue and two pages in the January issue. One ad shows a Lesbian couple, owners of a New York restaurant, and their young son with a box of the company's Swanson Broth and a bowl of the restaurant's butternut squash bisque. Text identifies them as a couple, mentions their son, and gives the recipe for the bisque. The other ads feature New York City chefs. In late December, company spokesman Anthony Sanzio told Advertising Age that Swanson will run additional ads in the Advocate. "Inclusion and diversity play an important role in our business," he said. "For more than a century, people from all walks of life have enjoyed Campbell's products, and we will continue to try to communicate in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them." The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is urging supporters of the ads to contact Campbell and its Swanson division because, "unfortunately, they will be hearing from the AFA and their supporters, who want to make our families and our lives invisible." For additional information, see tinyurl.com/Gaysoup. Winning same-sex marriage lawyer honored Shannon Price Minter, the lead lawyer for the Gay side in the California Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage, has been selected as one of six Lawyers of the Year for 2008 by Lawyers USA magazine. Barack Obama is one of the other five honorees. According to the National Center for Lesbian Rights, where Minter is legal director, "Everyone who works with Shannon knows him to be tirelessly committed to full equality and justice for every LGBT person in this country." Minter, who is Transgender, also has received the Ford Foundation's Leadership for a Changing World award, the Anderson Prize Foundation's Creating Change Award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Distinguished National Service Award from GayLAW, Cornell Law School's Exemplary Public Service Award, the Unity Award from Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, the Advocacy Award from the San Francisco Bar Association, and the Justice Award from Equality California. He also was awarded an honorary degree from the City University of New York School of Law for his advocacy on behalf of same-sex couples. Same-sex marriage became legal in California on June 16, 2008. Voters then re-banned it on November 4 by amending the state constitution. Gay-rights lawyers have sued in the state Supreme Court to invalidate the amendment, with support from state Attorney General Jerry Brown. A ruling is expected in June. ACLU sues over new Arkansas adoption ban The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit December 30 seeking to strike down a new voter-passed law that bans any unmarried person who lives with a partner from serving as an adoptive or foster parent in Arkansas. The suit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, argues that the ban violates federal and state constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. Twenty-nine people from a dozen families are participating in the case as plaintiffs, including a grandmother who lives with her same-sex partner and is the only relative willing to adopt her grandchild, who is in Arkansas state care. Several married heterosexual couples also are plaintiffs. They previously had chosen friends or relatives who are coupled but not married to adopt their children in the event of the parents' deaths. "We've been hearing from all corners of the state from dozens of families who are panicking about how Act 1 impacts them," said Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas. "This law ... takes away parents' right to decide for themselves who will adopt their children if they die, it denies the many children in Arkansas state care a chance at the largest possible pool of potential foster and adoptive homes, and [it] denies couples who are living together but unmarried the chance to provide loving homes to children who desperately need them." With assistance from Bill Kelley |
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| picture top: Christine Kehoe below: Campbell Soup ad |
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