Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 48

Breaking: Deportation of partner in same-sex couple halted

Scott blogged earlier about the dilemma of Josh Vandiver and Henry Velandia, a bi-national couple that faced separation over Velandia's deportation order. Some relief to report today. (AP):

A Venezuelan salsa dancer who legally married an American man in a same-sex ceremony last year has had his deportation placed on hold.

The decision comes one day after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder set aside a Board of Immigration Appeals ruling in a similar case.

Henry Velandia, who faces deportation to Venezuela, is petitioning to be allowed to remain in the U.S. as the spouse of U.S. citizen Josh Vandiver.

GetEqual broke the news:

@GetEQUAL: Henry Velandia's deportation hearing - Case adjourned to master calendar in Dec...allowed to stay in country til then.

Must-read on PoliticusUSA: the 'Texas Cheerleader Who Was Assaulted Never Had A Chance'

Scott Rose, friend of the Blend who blogs at PoliticusUSA, does an incredible job of digging deeper into the case in the Lone Star State of H.S., who when she was 16, suffered a sexual assault by three Silsbee High School jocks. A jury indicted two of her assailants for sexual assault of a child. Star player Rahkeem Bolton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, allowing him to not only return to school, but to rejoin the team. But the story of humiliation and debasement only got worse.:

The United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a review of the case brought by the woman, who is known only as HS. Lower courts had ruled that she was speaking for the school, rather than for herself, when serving on a cheerleading squad - meaning that she had no right to stay silent when coaches told her to applaud.

....As a cheerleader, HS served as a mouthpiece through which [the school district] could disseminate speech - namely, support for its athletic teams," the appeals court decision says. "This act constituted substantial interference with the work of the school because, as a cheerleader, HS was at the basketball game for the purpose of cheering, a position she undertook voluntarily."

Scott took a look at the climate in Silsbee that produced this tragedy (including the victim being charged with filing a "frivilous" lawsuit and fined $45K), both at the school and in city government that will curl your hair. From the must-read "Texas Cheerleader Who Was Assaulted Never Had A Chance":

I want the reader to have some idea of how important football is to Silsbee, Texas and then how important Rahkeem Bolton was to Silsbee, Texas high school football. The Silsbee Tigers play in Tiger Stadium. With its latest seating expansion, that stadium fits 10,000 spectators. Tickets, sold onsite or in the school administration building, are $5 for adults, $3 for students ahead of time but $5 at the door. On a good day, the box office could be $35,000, maybe $40K or more.

...The victim was told that preliminary results from the rape kit showed some DNA evidence that could inculpate the defendants. Yet the victim kept hearing that due to case backlogs, the full rape kit analysis results wouldn't be ready for four months, five months, one year - depends which report you read. There is an appearance that the can kept getting kicked down the road for the date the victim was being given for when the rape kit results would be ready. The victim now says she wants to study forensic science, motivated in part by the delay in the processing of her rape kit.

Does it sound right, that a community taking in $35K, $40K per home game football match can't get a rape kit processed any faster than that? I called the public information department of the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory DNA Section. I asked "Is it possible for somebody to get expedited rape kit results from the DNA Section of your Crime Lab?" They told me "Yes. If a prosecutor or investigator says they have a case coming up and need results promptly, we can have the complete rape kit results for them within three weeks."

The treatment of this teen girl by the justice system was beyond heinous. And since this is Texas, you know bible-beating hypocrisy -- and add in conflict of instance -- had to fit into this story at some point.

With persistence, the family by June, 2009 got the criminal justice system to convene a second grand jury. Attorney David Barlow was named special prosecutor. The jury indicted Rakheem Bolton on a charge of sexual assault of a child. A second football player, Christian Rountree was indicted as well. A third football player originally charged in the case was left out on the second go-round. Barlow said that the grand jury didn't have jurisdiction over him.

Reverend Billy Ray Robinson, President of the Jasper, Texas branch of the NAACP, protested the indictment in the NAACP's name. Reverend Robinson is, according to one local source, Rakheem Bolton's great uncle. The video of the Reverend's criticism of the indictment ends with appeals to God and Jesus.

Please click over to PoliticusUSA to read the whole sordid tale. It's hard not to boil over with anger. This story needs wide circulation.

Proposition 8 defenders shouldn't blame the judge because their case was poor

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

By now, you all have heard the latest from the Proposition 8 proponents. They have filed a suit asking the courts to vacate the decision against Proposition 8 because the judge, Vaughn Walker, is gay.

These folks assert that since Walker was gay, he had a interest in the case and should have recused himself.

Let me just say that if that is the case, then I think the case in which the Supreme Court ruled that gays shouldn't be allowed in the Boy Scouts should be overturned because all of the justices ruling were heterosexual. But that is ridiculous.

And that is the point.

While legal experts agree that this gambit is desperate and will not prevail, it has succeeded in obscuring the fact that Proposition 8 proponents lost because their case was poor.

I mean really, really poor.

In the 13 day trial, lawyers fighting Proposition 8 brought out the experts, academics, and same-sex couples who were affected by the law.

In contrast, proponents only brought two witnesses.

Where was Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage or all of those pastors who rallied their congregations against marriage equality, such as Miles McPherson of the Rock Church of San Diego?

All of these "brave defenders of marriage" conveniently didn't not to testify.

It is not known why Gallagher didn't testify but others, like McPherson, claimed that they were fearful of violent reaction by those who supported marriage equality.

Some, like myself, felt that McPherson was worried less about violence and more worried about being questioned on bogus positions he took, such as using discredited research to make a link between pedophilia and homosexuality.

In the words of legal analyst Andrew Cohen, the trial was an "uneven matchup" which led to the foregone conclusion that Walker would rule against Proposition 8:

Judge Walker will so rule, in large part, because he has been left with virtually no other choice as result of the odd tactics and weak case presented to him by opponents of same-sex marriage.

Take, for example, the bizarre courtroom display Wednesday by Charles Cooper, the lead attorney for defenders of Prop 8. His side presented only two witnesses during the long course of the trial, neither of whom was particularly compelling. In fact, one of the defense witnesses, David Blankenhorn, was so hapless during his testimony a while back that Judge Walker on Wednesday questioned his credentials as an expert on marriage. When you have bad facts, you argue the law. When you've presented little evidence, or the evidence you've presented is not so hot, you say that evidence doesn't matter. That's partly why Cooper told Judge Walker during closing arguments, "Your honor, you don't have to have evidence for this."

But you do need evidence. And commercials telling lies about how children will suddenly become gay if  marriage equality becomes law or leaflets featuring phony horror stories about states which did pass gay marriage laws or pastors thundering about morality from the pulpit just ain't going to cut it.

It's easy to persuade voters that way, but in a court, you need logic, you need evidence, and you need witnesses.

Those who defended Proposition 8 had neither of the first two and very little of the last.

And that's why they lost.

Their pathetic maneuver of "gaming the referee" after the fact is just a matter of sour grapes by people who unfortunately have enough money to turn those sour grapes into wine.

But I don't think any court is going to swallow it.

TN: the State Senator pushing the disgusting 'Don't Say Gay' bill

And we wonder why the incidents of LGBT teen suicides areso high. Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville; link is to his contact page), is behind a bill, SB49, that would prohibit teachers from discussing the topic of homosexuality with K-8th grade students. It's known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Opponents contend that the bill would prohibit teachers from counseling students who may be struggling with homosexuality and preventing any type of bullying that is associated with it. They believe it could increase the suicide rate of gay teens.

"The only people who are against it are those who have the goal of pushing that agenda on very young children, so I don't think it's controversial to say, 'We're not going to talk about it. We're going to leave it to the families to decide,'" said Campfield.

On the bill specifics, it calls for the state's Board of Education to

complete a study on whether homosexuality is being discussed in classrooms from kindergarten through 12th grade. After the study is completed, the bill declares, the "Board of Education shall adopt as part of its curriculum frameworks and standards for sex education the following: No public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality."

The Tennesee House can't pass companion legislation until it receives approval by the House Education Subcommittee, which is now closed for the year.

More on Campfield's extremism. He has sponsored legislation to, among other things:

issue death certificates for aborted fetuses, to force women to look at fetal ultrasound images before having an abortion; for the right to carry guns onto college campuses; to eliminate the state's pre-kindergarten programs.

 

Brazilian Supreme Court Approves Civil Unions

Another Roman Catholic country just took a major step towards equality.

Brazil's Supreme Court ruled Thursday night that civil unions between same-sex couples must be allowed in this nation with more Roman Catholics than any other.

In a 10-0 vote, with one abstention, the justices said gay couples deserve the same legal rights as heterosexual pairs when it comes to alimony, retirement benefits of a partner who dies, and inheritances, among other issues.

Among other majority-Roman Catholic polities, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Ireland and Uruguay already recognize gay, lesbian and bisexual relationships as civil unions, whereas Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico City have full marriage equality.

A Reminder About Those In LGBT Community Who Won't Be Able To Serve When DADT Repeal Is Implemented

As we propel forward towards open military service for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, we should remember that intersex and transgender people will continue to be prohibited from joining the military services when the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) is implemented.

The relevant Department Of Defense Instruction (DODINST) is DODINST 6033.03, entitled Medical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction in the Military Services; dated April 10, 2010. Enclosure 4 of this instruction, entitled Medical Standards For Appointment, Enlistment, Or Induction, is the one that indentifies the preclusion of transgender and intersex people from serving in the military.

Below are some relevant paragraphs/subparagraphs from the instruction.

Paragraph 14. (Female Genitalia), subparagraph e.:

History of major abnormalities or defects of the genitalia such as change of sex (P64.5) (CPT 55970, 55980), hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphroditism, or pure gonadal digenesis (752.7).

Paragraph 15. (Male Genitalia), subparagraph l.:

History of major abnormalities or defects of the genitalia such as change of sex (P64.5) (CPT 55970, 55980), hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphroditism, or pure gonadal dysgenesis (752.7).

(The American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes referenced are for intersex surgery.)

Paragraph 28. (Learning, Psychiatric, And Behavioral), subparagraph r.:

Current or history of psychosexual conditions (302), including but not limited to transsexualism, exhibitionism, transvestism, voyeurism, and other paraphilias.

For those who are already in the military that paragraph 28.l. applies to are subject to a "personality disorder" discharge. Below is what the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network's (SLDN's) old Survival Guide stated about currently serving transsexuals (beginning on Page 51; bolded/italicized emphasis added):

[More below the fold.]

Currently Serving Members

Transsexuals, persons who are born with the wrong biological gender, who are thinking about coming out or starting their transition while in the military, should be aware of a strong bias against recognizing the standard of care involving hormone therapy, living in the appropriate gender, and surgery. The military medical system does not support the Harry Benjamin standard of care185 and will not provide the medical support necessary for transitioning service members. Generally, the services apply physical standards that make transsexualism a disqualifying condition which impacts on military fitness and a basis for a non-medical discharge. Transsexual service members also face the possibility of being discharged for having a personality disorder.

Service members who seek psychological or medical treatment through the military should know that conversations with military health-care providers are not confidential and any statement concerning being transgender can, and most likely will, be reported to their commands and separation proceedings begun. For those members who seek treatment from civilian providers, beware that each service has regulations governing military members seeking outside health care and may include reporting requirements. Failure to abide by these regulations could potentially place a member at risk for UCMJ action. Further, crossdressing as part of the transition process, even when prescribed by competent medical providers, may be considered a violation of the UCMJ and can potentially be prosecuted at court-martial.

Because the potential exists for the military to apply the rules of the homosexual conduct policy to transgender members, it is important to not make any statements about sexual conduct, even to military health care providers. For example, the military would view a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, self-described as a heterosexual female, having sexual relations with males to be committing homosexual acts subject to administrative and disciplinary proceedings.

While anecdotal stories of individuals who have transitioned while in the reserves and were allowed to remain in the military have been heard, SLDN has not documented any case where a known transsexual has been allowed to continue in the service.

Any service member considering transitioning while in the military should consult with an attorney knowledgeable about military law and transgender issues first.

A Personality Disorder is defined, for example, in Bureau of Navy Personnel Instruction (BUPERSINST) 1900.8B, this way:

Personality disorder, order, not amounting to a disability, but which potentially interferes with assignment to or performance of duty.

With the Separation Program Designator (SPD) code for Personality Disorder, one receives an RE-3G or an RE-4 reenlistment code on one's DD214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty).

Also, a discharge with an SPD code that indicates a Personality Disorder may come with a General Under Honorable Conditions discharge. The Army Times describes administrative discharges this way (emphasis added):

When you get discharged from the military, you are either administratively discharged or punitively discharged. The overwhelming majority of discharges are administrative and fall into one of three categories: honorable, general under honorable conditions, and other than honorable.

Clearly, an honorable discharge is the most preferable. It means that your period of service was an honorable one - though it may not have been perfect; even a service member with a court-martial conviction or an Article 15 on his record for a petty offense can still receive an honorable discharge.

A general discharge under honorable conditions is meant for those who generally performed honorably but had some problems. The most common reasons for a general discharge that I've seen are alcohol or drug abuse, excessive absences, Article 15 reasons and, occasionally, mental health problems.

If one is discharged for being transgender, then one's discharge my have coding on it that may make it hard for employment after service -- Employers can readily find information on different kinds of discharges and the codes entered on DD214s.

When lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are allowed to serve openly, intersex, genderqueer, and transsexual people -- as well as crossdressers -- won't be allowed to serve openly. And, if one enlists for military service while being closeted as transgender, then if one is later found to be transgender -- or one during one's service comes to the realization one is transgender, one's discharge certificate may be a personal "job killer."

~~

For those who aren't aware of what intersex means, let me give some definitions. From the GLAAD Media Reference Guide:

Describing a person whose biological sex is ambiguous. There are many genetic, hormonal or anatomical variations that make a person's sex ambiguous (e.g., Klinefelter Syndrome). Parents and medical professionals usually assign intersex infants a sex and perform surgical operations to conform the infant's body to that assignment. This practice has become increasingly controversial as intersex adults speak out against the practice. The term intersex is not interchangeable with or a synonym for transgender.

Curtis E. Hinkle of Organisation Intersex International described intersex in this way in his article Am I intersex?:

For those of you who were officially assigned female at birth:

Do you have a clitoris which is much larger than that of others?



Do you have much more body hair than most other "females"?



Do you have a very "male" body shape?



Do you have XY or XO chromosomes?



Do you have androgen levels (male hormones) much higher than most other "females"?

For those of you who were officially assigned male at birth:

Do you have a penis which is very small or with a urinary opening located in a place not typical for other "males"?



Do you have breasts much larger than other "males"?



Do you have undescended testicles?



Do you have very low testosterone levels?



Do you have XX, XXY, XXXY, etc. chromosomes?

If you answered "yes" to any of the questions above, you are intersex. We could make the list much longer. However, this gives you an overall idea of what intersex is - simply being of intermediate sex, somewhere between standard male or female or not having a body that meets the norms for "standard" male or female. You might have the impression that this is unscientific. Quite the contrary. This is actually more scientific than the method used to determine your official sex within the binary. Most likely, your official sex was determined by looking at your genitalia. This is not scientific at all. It reduces all people to a very essentialist definition of what a man or a woman is based on one body part and neglecting all other parts of our sexual/reproductive anatomy and genetic makeup, while ignoring the most important aspect of our identity, which is our gender.

~~~~~

Further reading:

* The Daily Beast: Don't Call Them Hermaphrodites

* OII: Official Positions

* OII: OII: Organisation Intersex International

~~~~~

Related:

* The Scientific Problem With Sex And Gender Dichotomies

* What Would The Repeal Of DADT Mean For Transgender Servicemembers?

* NCTE Warns Transgender Servicemembers Regarding DADT And Coming Out Trans

LGBT Community To Rally Tomorrow To Save Josh & Henry's Marriage

If the Obama administration hoped to get a breather from the pressure of the LGBT community, looks like they're out of luck. 

AmericaBlog is reporting no less than ten groups will coalesce on Newark, NJ to show support for Josh Vandiver and Henry Velandia as Henry faces what may be his final hearing before the immigration authorities. More on their case from The Daily Beast.

The crowd will also be protesting the administration's refusal to hold same-sex couples' cases in abeyance, even as they claim to be only deporting criminals. GetEqual submitted a video of President Obama's statements on the issue of immigration, which stand in stark contrast to the DHS's priortizing Velandia's deportation order.

Video and rally information after the fold.

 

NYC Wedding March September 2010 © Javier Soriano

WHERE: Department of Homeland Security
Newark Immigration Court
Peter Rodino Federal Building
970 Broad Street, Newark, NJ
WHEN:  FRIDAY MAY 6 at 11 a.m.

More information at Stop The Deportations blog.

Update: Metro Weekly reports signs of hope:

 

    Attorney General Eric Holder today filed a very rare decision, vacating a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals related to the application of Paul Wilson Dorman, in which the BIA applied Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act to a pending case.

    Holder writes:

    Pursuant to my authority set forth in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(h)(1)(i), I order that the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“Board”) in this case applying Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), 1 U.S.C. § 7, be vacated, and that this matter be referred to me for review.

Not a blanket decision that would help Josh and Henry or many other couples in similiar situations, but perhaps a sign one may be coming? LGBT immigration advocates say AG Holder “has taken [an] extraordinary step.”

 

 

GLAAD: Blake Shelton apologizes for unbelievably homophobic, gay-bashing Tweet

Country music singer and co-judge on NBC's The Voice, Blake Shelton, stepped into a flaming pile of homophobic sh*t last night with a tweet that left it quite clear that he's worried about an @ss-grab and would beat the crap out of any gay man even thinking of doing it. The problem here is Shelton thought tossing off this as a joke was harmless fun. Anti-gay violence won't be stopped if it's treated as a joke.

GLAAD was right on top of this garbage and chonicled the nastiness all the way through to its conclusion - an apology from Shelton.

Before that sheepish response, Shelton spent the night defending his comments and digging a deeper hole. GLAAD:

It all began with this tweet from Shelton sent late last night:

The response online came fast, with Shelton's own fans being some of the first calling on him to apologize while outraged community members and allies alerted GLAAD to the situation and added their own voices. Not only did he initially laugh off his fans' and GLAAD's requests for an apology, he referred to those tweeting at him with the following:

Needless to say, that response didn't go over well. Shelton continued...

Shelton clearly didn't understand that the "real villain" in this situation is the truth that jokes being sent out to millions of followers and users not only contributes to an often pervasively homophobic atmosphere online, but also may be read by people who will take them seriously.

NC: Congressman Patrick McHenry: GOP redistricting is all about race

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC10, Hickory, Mooresville), well-known as a far-right bigoted closet case in his district, is also no friend of racial minorities, to put it kindly.

Now that North Carolina's legislature is run by Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction, the unquestionably heterosexual patriot McHenry is reaching out from the Hill to declare how state officials will redraw the Congressional districts -- it's all about race, honey, and he's not even trying to hide it. (N&O):

State Republican leaders scrambled Wednesday to distance themselves from comments made by U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, who suggested that his party would use race as a determining factor in redrawing North Carolina's congressional districts to give GOP candidates maximum advantage.

"It's politically probable that there will be a new minority influence district," McHenry said, according to a POLITICO story posted online Wednesday.

"Republicans should pick up three seats under any fair and legal map," he continued. "That is huge. No other states in the nation would gain as many Republican seats. Clearly, Reps. (Larry) Kissell and (Brad) Miller are serving their final term."

By the way, McHenry's office, after this race-aroused blast blew up in the media, is not returning calls.

While Kissell has broken promises he made to progressives when he ran for Congress, losing Brad Miller, one of the most tech-savvy and reliable Dem members of Congres would be a huge blow, and McHenry knows it.

Thankfully, my Congressman, David Price is safe territory. We're too Durham andOrange counties, along with parts of Wake and Chatham.

***

Why is this turd still holding office? There are obviously enough straight party GOPvoters to keep McHenry in his seat so that he can do important things like proposing a bill to redesign the $50 bill with former President Ulysses S. Grant on it to feature the image of former President Ronald Reagan.

Related:

* Patrick McHenry: owned home with another man in DC, took homestead tax deduction, but voted in NC

* Keeping up with the McHenry web of intrigue

* Untangling the latest GOP gay scandal with Mike Signorile

* Audio of interview on the Signorile show

* NC Congressman's aide indicted for voter fraud -- and there's more to the story

* Patrick McHenry is Keith Olbermann's 'Worst'

Hawaii Governor Signs HB 546: Employment Protections On The Basis Of Gender Identity

Hawaii's House Bill 546 was signed into law by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Via Hawaii 24/7's :

Gov. Neil Abercrombie has signed into law House Bill 546, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression as a public policy matter and specifically with regard to employment.

HRC Back Story noted it in their post With Enactment of Hawaii Employment Non-Discrimination Law, One-Quarter of U.S. States Ban Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity:

On Monday, Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie signed into law House Bill 546, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in employment and as a matter of public policy. The bill had received final legislative approval in mid-April.

Hawaii becomes the 13th state to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in employment, housing and public accommodations, marking one-quarter of U.S. states with such laws. More than 125 cities and counties also have such laws on the books.

Hawaii law has prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation since 1991. Hawaii also already prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression in housing and public accommodations.

Good news, for sure.