New York appeals court to broadcast
gay marriage hearing on Internet
The New York State Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments for appeals in four cases dealing with same-sex marriage on Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST.
Due to vast public interest in the hearing and limited space available in the Court of Appeals Hall, the hearing will be broadcast live on the Internet, officials announced this week.
An archived version of the proceedings will remain on the website for several months, according to a statement released by the court on Monday.
The website is at www.courts.state.ny.us /ctapps.
Lauper set to perform at closing
ceremonies of Gay Games in July
Chicago organizers of the Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival announced Wednesday that singer Cyndi Lauper will perform at the Games’ closing ceremonies on July 22 at Wrigley Field.
Lauper will join a slate of more than 60 music, television, arts, culture and sports celebrities from around the world slated to perform in either opening or closing ceremonies for the Gay Games, organizers said.
“I feel like this is becoming sort of a tradition for me since I performed last time the Gay Games were in the United States, in New York City in 1994,” Lauper said. “I am thrilled to be a part of the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago.”
Tickets range from $50 to $90 and are available at
tickets.GayGamesChicago.org.
Equality California PAC endorses 4
candidates for state’s Assembly
Officials for Equality California’s Political Action Committee has announced that the organization is endorsing four candidates for California State Assembly.
The candidates are Julia Brownley in the 41st District, Abbe Land in the 42nd Assembly District, Anthony Portantino in the 44th District and Warren Furutani in the 55th District. The four join 50 other candidates, including gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly, endorsed by the PAC.
Seth Kilbourn, political director for Equality California said the four candidates are “rock solid in their support for LGBT equality and will be leaders for the community in Sacramento.”
Kilbourn said electing LGBT-supportive candidates is a top priority for his organization.
“The outcome of the June 6 primary could determine if we can pass a marriage bill and other critical legislation in 2007,” he said. “We need the LGBT community and our allies to get involved in these campaigns and turn out to vote in record numbers in order to win.”
Lambda Legal enters discrimination
lawsuit against Qwest Communications
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund has entered a lawsuit filed against Qwest Communications by The Center’s Legal Initiative Project in the District Court of Denver County in Colorado, on behalf of a former employee who said he had to leave his job because of severe anti-gay harassment by his former coworkers.
Donald Moreau, 46, began working for Qwest in 1999 as a customer service representative. The harassment began in 2001 after Moreau was transferred to another department. Even though Moreau reported the harassment to his supervisors, company managers did nothing to address the situation, a violation of the company’s own policies.
Moreau eventually filed a complaint with the Denver Anti-Discrimination Office, which determined that Moreau’s workplace was hostile and that his work group should undergo training on sexual orientation harassment. When Qwest had failed to act on the anti-discrimination office’s recommendation within a year, Moreau was forced to leave his job, the lawsuit claims.
John C. Hummel, legal director for the Legal Initiative Project, said that Moreau filed his lawsuit only after “working with Qwest over a number of years, hoping that they would do the right thing and walk the walk they put forward in their harassment-free workplace policies.”
Lang to emcee June 12 event
benefiting Point Foundation
Singer K.D. Lang will emcee an event on June 12 at The Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles featuring a live reading of “Save Me” by Judith Light, Chad Allen and Robert Gant to benefit the Point Foundation, an organization providing financial support and mentoring for GLBT students.
“Save Me” is the story of a young gay man who checks into a Christian-run ex-gay ministry hoping to be “cured” of his homosexuality. He winds up confronting the truth of his orientation after he falls in love with another man.
Lesbian judge advances to general
election for Oregon Supreme Court
Judge Virginia Linder, a lesbian candidate for Oregon’s Supreme Court, has advanced to the November general election after getting 39 percent of the vote in the primary election held May 16, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.
Linder now faces Jack Roberts in the general election. Roberts, who received 42 percent of the primary vote, is a conservative who received $150,000 – about half of his total campaign contributions – from the American Justice Partnership, a national group working for limits on civil lawsuits, according to a Victory Fund spokesperson. Roberts received nearly $30,000 from Oregon Right to Life and anti-gay groups, the spokesperson said.
Out in America announces partnership with national gay radio program
The Out in America Cities Network this week announced a new partnership with the This Way Out gay and lesbian radio program, according to a statement released Monday by Gregg McConnell, CFO for Out in America.
The partnership grants Out in America exclusive GLBT online distribution of weekly This Way Out radio broadcasts. The agreement provides stability for the radio program, which found itself faced with increasing financial uncertainty when PlanetOut Network canceled its contract the program after broadcasting This Way Out online for 11 years, McConnell said.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition, May 26, 2006.