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Vol. 44 • No. 27 • July 3-9, 2014 Balloon Magic’s colorful contingent delighted the crowds at this year’s Pride parade.
by Matthew S. Bajko
O
ver Pride weekend Governor Jerry Brown nominated one of the key litigators in the state’s marriage equality lawsuits to a seat on the California Court Rick Gerharter of Appeal. His appointment Therese M. Stewart of Therese M. Stewart to Division Two of the First District Court of Appeal marks the first time an out lesbian has been named to the appellate bench. She would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice James R. Lambden. If confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments sometime this summer, Stewart would become the second out judge on the First District Court of Appeal. The first See page 18 >>
A year later, marriage rulings elicit pride by Khaled Sayed and David-Elijah Nahmod
O
n the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the legalization of samesex marriage in the Golden State, hundreds of thousands of people descended on San Francisco to show off their pride during the city’s 44th annual LGBT celebration.
Jane Philomen Cleland
There were more than 200 contingents in the parade, which took a record six hours to complete its procession along Main Street. Some of the notable names marching in the parade this year included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who last participated in 2001; Apple CEO Tim Cook; and lesbian state Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who was sworn
in to the powerful post in May. “It’s all perfectly lovely,” Pelosi told the Bay Area Reporter as she walked along the parade route. “It’s freedom to love.” For many wedding bells were in the air at this year’s Pride celebrations, as couples old and new marked the first anniversary of two See page 7 >>
Oakland LGBTs push to extend Civil Rights Act awards $1.3M for T LGBT youth programs by Chuck Colbert
by Matthew S. Bajko
E
nding a yearlong funding fight, Oakland officials recently finalized the awarding of $1.3 million to fund LGBT youth programs in the East Bay city. As the Bay Area Reporter detailed in several stories last year, LGBT youth leaders were outraged last spring to learn that out of $10.5 million overseen by the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth only $48,187 had been allocated to an LGBT-specific program. Critics of the decision had charged that homophobia and personal vendettas were behind the paltry funding amount, while OFCY officials rejected the charges and insisted the process was based on an oversight committee’s deliberations and the agency’s evaluation process for proposals. Last June, at the urging of LGBT advocates and youth service providers, City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, an out lesbian elected to the at-large seat, worked with her See page 6 >>
his week marks the 50th anniversary of historic legislation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law on July 2 of that year. The landmark legislation banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The law also ended racial segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination. The importance of the groundbreaking civil-rights legislation - and the promise it holds out for LGBT equality - cannot, perhaps, be overstated. “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is responsible for eradicating much of the discrimination that minorities have faced in almost every walk of life including employment, public education, and public accommodations like restaurants and theaters,” among others, said Franita Tolson, a law professor at Florida State University. “Its 50th anniversary invites us to revisit not only its success, but also the continued need for the act to ensure that the most vulnerable members of society continue to have access to the American dream.” Tolson is the Betty T. Ferguson Professor of Voting Rights at FSU’s law school. Her research, writing, and teaching focus on election law, constitutional law and employment discrimination. That protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity are not included
FSU law professor Franita Tolson
in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not lost on Tolson. Nor is the omission lost on a group of LGBT activists and faith leaders, who marked the 50th anniversary of the historic legislation this past Monday, June 30, with a candlelit event at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, located in Washington, D.C. In fact, the LGBT Civil Rights Vigil, as organizers of the event dubbed it, served as the official launch of a nationwide initiative for what a coalition of grassroots activists are naming a “new campaign for full LGBT equality.” The theme of the candlelit vigil was “Add 4
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Words,” which is a call for adding the language of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the federal legislation. Already, the effort has garnered support from more than 245 organizations in 44 states, including any number of statewide LGBT equality groups and individuals. The overarching goal for the organizing effort is to get the LGBT caucus in Congress to file a bill that would add sexual orientation and identity protections to existing civil-rights laws, all at once. The all-in-one approach differs from the Human Rights Campaign’s push for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would only offer protections in employment and not more broadly to include public accommodations and facilities, credit, education, federally funded programs or activities, marriage equality, and employment in the armed forces, among others. “Seeking full equality is not just a legislative agenda, but is the antidote to the vast harm LGBT Americans endure under discrimination, which causes children to commit suicide, and keeps 53 percent of LGBT workers in the closet, living in daily fear,” said Todd Fernandez, campaign manager for The Equality Pledge Network, which is spearheading the campaign effort. A lawyer and human rights activist, Fernandez is based in New York City. He also serves as executive director and board chairman of See page 6 >>
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