GLAA Forum

Oklahoma senate votes to nullify federal hate crimes law

Pam Spaulding shares a report from The Oklahoman:

A state law enforcement agency would not be required to share investigative files with federal agencies under changes proposed to the state’s hate crime bill.

In an amendment presented on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, gutted a bill that had been filed to create a task force to study the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, and inserted language to make changes to the state’s hate crime statutes.

Under the new provisions of Senate Bill 1965, reports that were collected during investigations of possible hate crime that did not end in a conviction would be destroyed or kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Russell said the bill is meant to prevent the federal law enforcement officials from taking over a case and applying different standards when local law enforcement has already investigated a case.

Only a few senators questioned Russell about the contents of his proposed amendment.

The measure passed 39-6 and now heads to the House for consideration.

The Oklahoma Daily reported in November, “'The law is very vague to begin with,' Russell said. 'Sexual orientation is a very vague word that could be extended to extremes like necrophilia.'” If that were a serious concern, the simple solution would be to define sexual orientation as "male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality, by preference or practice," as we do in D.C. But Russell is trying to confuse, not clarify.

Oklahoma's The Equality Network responds:

The Equality Network (TEN) is outraged by the Oklahoma State Senate's 39-6 vote in support of SB 1965, a bill that forces state law enforcement officials to obstruct the provisions of the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Protection Act that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Using an amendment to gut the language of a bill that had been filed to create a task force to study the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, Senator Steve Russell (R-Oklahoma City) inserted the original text of SB 2165, a bill that the Senate Judiciary Committee had declined to pass on to the floor.

The new SB 1965 leaves LGBT Oklahomans no legal recourse if they are victims of hate crimes. Not only does the state hate crimes law exclude sexual orientation or gender identity, but SB 1965 also prevents law enforcement officials from asking for federal assistance in enforcing the LGBT-inclusive federal hate crimes law. The bill does not seek to repeal federal or state hate crimes protections accorded on the basis of race, national origin, religion, or disability. Instead, it intentionally excludes only hate crimes perpetrated on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, two categories added to federal hate crimes law by the U.S. Congress in October 2009.

"Senator Russell's bill is truly terrifying in its implications." warns Kathy L. Williams, Ph.D., president of The Equality Network. "This legislation sends the message that violence against LGBT Oklahomans is acceptable. It also sets a chilling precedent that Oklahoma will only enforce certain federal laws and cooperate only with selected federal agencies. We believe this unconstitutional and blatantly discriminatory bill will harm all Oklahomans, regardless of their identity and regardless of whether they are victims of hate crimes."

This is not likely to hold up in court, but in the meantime it looks like open season for anti-gay hate crimes in Oklahoma.

(Hat tip: Pam Spaulding)

Bias Crimes Report Updated with Gender Identity/Expression

The Committee of Public Safety and the Judiciary, chaired by Phil Mendelson, held a hearing in November 2009 on  "Hate Crimes in the District of Columbia and the Police Response to Reports of Hate Crimes".  GLAA was among the organization that testified at that hearing.  One item discussed at the hearing was that the MPD was not tracking hate crimes in accordance with DC law, but using FBI reporting standards.  As promised, the Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Affairs working with the MPD has released the Bias Crime Report Updated Feb 2010 that contains data broken down by gender identity and expression.

As the report explains:

Under FBI reporting, a hate crime, also known as a bias crime, is a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin. Crimes categorized as “gender identity/expression” under the DC Code would be reported to the FBI under sexual orientation.

Revised data from the report shows

Type of Bias	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Ethnicity/national origin	1	3	2	2	3
Race	6	8	4	5	2
Religion	7	5	6	0	0
Sexual orientation	29	36	19	26	30
Gender identity / expression	--	--	7	4	5
Disability	0	1	0	0	0
Political affiliation	1	1	1	1	1
Total	44	54	39	38	41

Liz Cheney calls DOJ attorneys 'The Al Qaeda 7'

HuffPo reports:

The backlash is growing against Liz Cheney after she demonized Department of Justice attorneys as terrorist sympathizers for their past legal work defending Gitmo detainees -- and now it's coming from within deeply conservative legal circles.

On Friday, the conservative blog Power Line put up a post titled, "An Attack That Goes Too Far." Author Paul Mirengoff, called Cheney's effort to brand DoJ officials the "Al Qaeda 7," "vicious" and "unfounded" even if it was right to criticize defense lawyers for voluntarily doing work on behalf of Gitmo detainees.

Reached on the phone, Mirengoff offered an even sharper rebuke, declaring that what Cheney was doing was comparable if not potentially worse than the notorious anti-communist crusades launched by Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

I'm glad there are some real conservatives left to offer criticism, because there is nothing the least bit conservative in what Liz Cheney and her war-criminal father are doing. They will say anything. They will do anything.

Gay gun owner sues D.C.

WaPo reports:

It was 1982, dusk on a summer night near San Jose, when a band of thugs yelled homophobic slurs at Palmer and a colleague.

"We were what they perceived as a couple of faggots, which was the term they used, walking through their neighborhood," he said. "And it would have been one of those modestly ironic moments if my colleague might have been murdered in a gay bashing, when he was straight."

The threats were vivid and believable: "We're going to kill you. They'll never find your body."

Palmer told his colleague to run. The thugs chased Palmer, who stopped under a streetlight and pulled out his gun.

"I did not say anything witty or clever," he recalls. "In the movies, they say something very clever. I just said, 'If you come closer, I will kill you.' Very blunt. And they stopped."

He is convinced that if he hadn't had a gun he would be dead. Even though the legal weapon was not fired, "it did the job it was intended to do. It evened up the odds from a gang of young men who thought it would be really fun to beat to death two guys walking down the street."

MUST WATCH video on Uganda anti-gay Bill

International human rights activist Peter Tatchell writes:

Death penalty for straights and for non-sex offences too

London - 18 February 2010

Peter Tatchell writes:

I am very grateful to Rob Tisinai for making a masterclass YouTube video that explains the full horrors of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill. It shows that this Bill is far more lethal and wide-reaching than most people realise.

Ugandans don't have to be gay or to have gay sex to be sentenced to death.

Read this summary of these little known aspects of the Bill, then watch the video (the link is below).

Under the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the crime of "serial offender" is punishable by execution.

A serial offender is a person who has "previous convictions" for "homosexuality OR RELATED OFFENCES."

In other words, if a Ugandan person has previous convictions for offences in the Bill and then has a subsequent conviction he or she will be classified as a serial offender and face execution.

"Related offences" in the Bill, which can result in a death sentence for serial offenders, include non-sexual acts such as:

• aiding and abetting homosexuality
• advocating same-sex relationships or LGBT rights
• having a same-sex marriage
• publicising or funding pro-LGBT organisations
• using the internet or a mobile phone for the purpose of homosexuality or its promotion
• being a person in authority who fails to report an offender to the police within 24 hours

These related offences are crimes that could be also committed by a heterosexual person. It is not just LGBT Ugandans who are threatened by this legislation.

Under the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, all convicted serial offenders are liable to execution, regardless of their sexuality.

Rob's brilliant short video explains the FULL and DEADLY clauses of the Bill. Please take a look and send it to your friends. We need to get the word out far and wide....

See the full text of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill here:

http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/09/Nov/Bill-No-18-Anti-Homosexuality-Bill-2009_Uganda.pdf

Huge thanks to Rob Tisinai for taking the time to make this superb video. It is the clearest, most detailed exposition of the true severity of the proposed new law.

Solidarity! Peter Tatchell

If you would like to contact Peter Tatchell, please email peter@petertatchell.net.

You can follow Peter on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PeterTatchell or join the Peter Tatchell Human Rights Campaign Facebook group at http://tinyurl.com/cj9y6s.

Roeder convicted of murdering Kan. abortion provider

AP reports swift and sure justice for a cold-blooded, unrepentant murderer:

A man who said he killed prominent Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in order to save the lives of unborn children was convicted Friday of murder.

The jury deliberated for just 37 minutes before finding Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., guilty of premeditated, first-degree murder in the May 31 shooting death.

He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years when he is sentenced March 9. Prosecutor Nola Foulston said she would pursue a so-called "Hard 50" sentence, which would require Roeder to serve at least 50 years before he can be considered for parole.

37 minutes is about the time it takes to read the judge's instructions. Not only was there no reasonable doubt, there was no doubt whatever.

Never can say goodbye

WaPo yesterday reported a strange case involving a local judge:

Days after D.C. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Janet Albert broke up with her girlfriend, the judge found her former companion unconscious in her attic, above her bedroom, with some food and an ice bucket fashioned into a makeshift toilet, authorities say.

Investigators said Taylar Nuevelle had climbed into the attic through a door in Albert's bedroom closet and had been there for almost 24 hours, listening to Albert's telephone pleas to friends for help.

Now, Nuevelle is on trial on charges of burglary, unlawful entry and stalking. Prosecutors allege that she began stalking Albert and harassing with her with hundreds of phone calls, threatening e-mails and text messages after the two ended their year-long relationship in 2008. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

I sometimes joke about people renting out their crawlspace, but that would actually be a step up from this scenario. Fortunately this case did not get to the boiled-rabbit stage. But I am sure this is not the sort of coverage Judge Albert was looking for.

DeBonis: Why Michelle Rhee Needs to Explain Her ‘Sex With Children’ Claim

Mike DeBonis at City Paper discusses why D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee needs to explain her remark, reported last week, "I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school." Debonis:

Among those with mandatory reporting responsibility are "school officials." According to a D.C. government guide on the subject [PDF], you are required to blow the whistle immediately "when, in your professional capacity or within the scope of your employment, you know or reasonably suspect that an infant, child, or teen has been abused or is in immediate danger of being abused."

Now it's highly unlikely that Rhee herself encountered the child (or children) who had sex with this teacher (or teachers) whom she refers to in the quote. And there's quite a good chance that the incident in question happened before Rhee's tenure at DCPS. But certainly, if Rhee is repeating these allegations, other school officials would have had knowledge of the situation and would also have been legally bound to "immediately notify the person in charge of the institution or his or her designated agent who shall then be required to make the report" to the authorities. That makes a who-knew-and-when-did-they-know-it type of response crucial in this case.

Incidentally, failure by a mandatory reporter to alert authorities to child abuse is a misdemeanor punished by up to a $300 fine and 90 days in jail.

No way they're getting away with stonewalling on this one.

Murder of Houston Transgender Woman Raises Media Coverage Concerns

Meghan Stabler reports at HRC Back Story:

One week ago today the half-naked body of Myra Ical, a 51-year-old transgender woman was found in a vacant lot in the Montrose area of Houston. Initial media reports referred to Myra by her male name and used male pronouns along with placing emphasis that her body was found in an area known for drugs and prostitution. The Houston Chronicle reported that Ruben Dario Ical “also went by the name of Myra Chanel Ical” and that “he had numerous bruises and defensive wounds, as if he had struggled against his attacker.” Myra’s attacker remains at large and this represents the 7th Houston transgender murder case in the last few years that has still to be resolved.

The brutal attack on her is devastating to the community. Yet much like the ‘shot heard around the world,’ initial media reporting that was lazy and irresponsible then propagated bad journalism as it was reused across media outlets. The majority of the reports showed the amount of ignorance about transgender issues that is rampant among far too many reporters despite the existence of resources to help them report accurately.

Seattle lesbian couple helps rescue woman from D.C. Metro tracks

The Washington Post reports:

"Help!" the disabled woman cried, her motorized wheelchair overturned a few feet away as she lay sprawled on the Metro tracks at Union Station just before midnight one day last week.

Michelle Kleisath, a 29-year-old anthropology doctoral student from Seattle, was among a crowd gathered on the platform, watching aghast. She pulled her phone from her pocket to call 911 but realized there was not enough time.

"She's going to die," Kleisath, who was in the District attending a conference on race relations, recalled thinking. "Someone has to get her off."

But thanks mainly to Kleisath and her partner, Chilan T. Ta, 26, a transportation engineering student from Seattle, disaster was averted. The couple, with help from other bystanders, rescued the woman....

Kleisath, a bicyclist, said that when she reached the woman, she realized she would be unable to lift her alone. She looked up to the platform, spotted a tall man in a dark jacket, and realized he was the panhandler she had just given a dollar to after he had complained about rising Metro fares.

"Please, come down and help me," she called. The man immediately jumped down. Another man followed, and a third. Together, they lifted the injured woman onto the platform.

(Photo by Chilan T. Ta shows Ta, left, and Michelle Kleisath in a photo from a New York trip.)