Feature Archives

A group of anti-authoritarian activists, affiliated with Anarchist People of Color (APOC) and Gay Shame: A Virus in the System, who are working against a gay "business improvement district" (BID) development/gentrification plan which would raise living costs in a heavily working-class/immigrant community in Oakland, came together to write about their ongoing discussions, and speak to concerns which they say have been silenced by development proponents and anti-gentrification organizers alike. "[What] we have laid out is, in fact, an attempt to make our organizing and the activist work we do, in some ways, like the kinds of worlds we hope to create and inhabit... It is... imperative that the methodology of our resistance is modeled after a non-hierarchical structure that displaces power from the top-down scheme that we are all too accustomed to." Read the article

January 10, 2005: The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a case that challenged Florida's ban on gay adoption. The case challenging the Florida law was filed by the ACLU.

Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau, who are known to their five foster kids as "Dad and Rodge," have provided a happy, stable home for their family. Their kids are Frank, 14, Tracy, 14, Bert, 10, Wayne, 8, and Ernie, 5. When they were infants, Frank, Tracy, and Bert were placed with Steve and Roger by Florida's Department of Children and Families. Wayne and Ernie were placed with the family by the state of Oregon three years ago. Some of the children were placed with Lofton and Croteau when they were infants, and have never known another parent outside of their current family. The family has moved from Miami to Portland, but the Florida foster kids are still subject to Florida adoption laws because of the standard relocation agreement. The parents continued to received excellent marks for taking such good care of the children. However, these men cannot adopt their children because of Florida adoption law. Their son Bert has been deemed suitable for adotion- by heterosexuals. More about Bert

More info: Lambda Legal Overview of State Adoption Laws in the US as of 12/15/2004 | HRC's Legal Overview of Adoption Rights in the US | Too High a Price: The Case Against Restricting Gay Parenting | Let Him Stay | NCLR Statement | Lambda Legal Statement | Human Rights Campaign Statement | Equality Florida | We 2 Have Parental Rights | ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project | An Anti-gay foster care ban in Arkansas was overturned at the end of 2004.

12/29/2004: The City and County of San Francisco and twelve same-sex couples who were married in San Francisco in February of 2004 have taken the State of California to court over the state's anti-gay marriage law. This suit seeks to overturn that that law by showing that the current law of the State of California violates the spirit of the State Constitution, which is the highest authority in California. Read more | Equality California Reports from Court: 12/22/2004 Reports | 12/23/2004

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer had originally stated that he would rule about the legal challenge to California's ban on gay marriage in January, but now it looks like the decision might not come until April. Legal arguments in the case ended last Thursday, but the Judge has requested additional written arguments by January 14th. A case-management conference will be held next week. After he receives the written arguments, the Judge could schedule more oral arguments, and at their conclusion he would have 90 more days in which to issue a ruling. The new evidence Kramer is seeking concerns sociological reports from both sides over the effect of marriage on families.
One Indybay reporter wonders why SF Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer did not invite testimony about same-sex couples, queer families, or other factual matters related to this issue.

12/16/2004: In 2003, Governor Gray Davis signed AB 205, which provides registered domestic partners with nearly all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities granted to spouses under state law, and takes effect after January 1st, 2005. Domestic Partner rights have come a long way since the first domestic partner law was signed in California in 1999, establishing a registry, giving registered domestic partners the right to visit each other in the hospital, and giving domestic partner benefits for certain state employees. Read more In addition to SB 205, the California Insurance Equality Act, Assembly Bill 2208, prohibits insurance providers from issuing policies or plans that treat registered domestic partners and married spouses differently. More from NCLR

The National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality California have released a new handbook that explains who can register as domestic partners, how to register, how to dissolve a partnership, and what rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities will be provided to registered domestic partners in California after January 1, 2005. Next on the agenda for same-sex partners: AB 19.

Marriage Equality San Francisco blog | National Center for Lesbian Rights | Equality California | The Ins and Outs of California Domestic Partnerships from the ACLU | "Shadow Marriage | Marrying Apartheid: The Failure of Domestic Partnership Status

12/6/2004: The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) filed a lawsuit today, Cook v. Rumsfeld, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of twelve lesbian and gay veterans seeking re-instatement in the U.S. Armed Forces. The vets were all discharged under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual military personnel, and they all had served during the "war on terror." SLDN's executive director says, "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' creates an unacceptable and unconstitutional second class citizenship for our men and women in uniform. Forcing gays into a federally imposed closet and firing them for telling the truth is blatantly wrong. This law robs our nation of the talents and skills of thousands at a time when we can ill- afford to lose a single service member in the war on terrorism." Extensive info on SLDN's website.

Meanwhile, eight presumably straight soldiers are suing the US over the stop-loss policy. Six of the soldiers have served out their full contracts, but are being forced to extend their service. Read more from the Center for Constitional Rights. Several American soldiers have left the military and moved to Canada. Monday, December 6th, 2004 was the first Canadian immigration hearing for US Army Deserter Jeremy Hinzman. Democracy Now 10/15 | Democracy Now 7/15

December 2004: A predominately gay and lesbian group of naval academy alumni sought recognition as an official alumni association this month, and was rejected by the governing board of the Naval Academy Alumni Association. The chapter had reorganized itself this year in an effort to win recognition. It had established its base as the Castro district, a predominantly gay neighborhood of San Francisco, after trustees said last year that new chapters have to be "geographic in nature." The group also rewrote its bylaws to clarify that it doesn't exclude heterosexual graduates, and it inducted its first straight member. Castro Chapter Website Gayapolis Article

1/18/2004: The mayor of Jerusalem has reportedly been trying to undermine World Pride, but he has no authority to stop it. Read more
World Pride will take place August 18-28th, 2005 in Jerusalem. Gay Pride celebrations are a relatively new phenomenon in that city. As the World Pride website states, "Love without Borders - Jerusalem Pride has already succeeded not only in attracting thousands of participants, but also in getting the world’s attention. It is 'a protest against hatred' providing 'a spark of love and hope'.... Love without Borders: Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 will bring a new focus to an ancient city through a massive demonstration of LGBT dignity, pride, and boundary-crossing celebration. In these times of intolerance and suspicion, from the home of three of the world’s great religions, we will proclaim that love knows no borders." Jerusalem's impending hosting of World Pride would appear to indicate that Israel is some sort of "Gay Mecca," however, it is not a terribly safe or happy place for Palestinians. Border Wall between "Israeli" and "Palestinian" territory | Read more on Indybay's Palestine News Page

Blue Star PR is a new public relations firm that works to better the image of Israel in the media, perhaps at the expense of stthe Palestinians. The company's website says, "we produce visual media that strengthens existing efforts to gain popular support and interest for Israel and Judaism...Our goal is to shape public opinion through knowledge and understanding." Earlier this year, Blue Star PR had obnoxious advertising in BART stations in cities such as San Francisco- perhaps this was this result of a Sponsor a City donor. Blue Star PR also has an Adopt-A-Campus program to combat "anti-Israel activities" on campuses in the United States. Activities such as protests that advocate struggles of Palestinians for sovereignty? Commentary in response to this feature

InterPride, the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Coordinators | Black Laundry | In These Times Story About Black Laundry | Black Laundry Reports on Indybay: 1 | 2

11/29/2004: The Florida-based Liberty Counsel told the Supreme Court today that the US Constitution should "protect the citizens of Massachusetts from their own state supreme court's usurpation of power." The court was asked to overturn last year's decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that legalized gay marriage. Without stating their reasons, the Justices declined to hear the case. The decision was a victory for states' rights to regulate marriage, rather than involving the federal government. If the federal government were to rule that same-sex marriage is or should be legal, it is likely that they would be legalized in all states.

Lambda Legal says, "The bottom line is that nobody is being harmed by the Massachusetts state law (that legalized same-sex marriage)... For more than six months, same-sex couples in Massachusetts have been getting married, and nobody else's marriage has been affected." The Human Rights Campaign said, "Massachusetts can continue to treat all of its citizens equally." (Anyone who has seen how segregated Greater Boston is might disagree that all "citizens" are treated equally) Out-of-state couples still cannot marry in Massachusetts. It is expected that same-sex marriage will likely come before voters in a referendum of sorts in a 2006 election.
Past Indybay coverage of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.