Officer Matthew Perry (left) and Sgt. Kip Malcolm of the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Team of Arlington County Police. (Blade photo by Henry Linser)
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Daniel Teitjen Schellhorn, 62
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Friday, April 11, 2008
Visibility remains an ongoing challenge for the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Team (GLLT) of the Arlington County Police Department two years into the unit’s existence.
Sgt. Kip Malcolm, the GLLT’s gay leader, said he continues to work at “getting into the community and letting [people] know that we actually exist.”
From gay Arlington residents who may not be aware of the GLLT to officers within the department who don’t always think to solicit the gay officers’ input, visibility is an ongoing goal.
“We’re there to help should somebody within the community want to deal with another officer who may be able to understand or sympathize or assist them a little bit better,” Malcolm said.
The team’s seven members — who also handle other calls — plan to participate in Pride and other events to make their existence better known. But straight Arlington officers don’t always think to solicit GLLT’s help on cases with gay angles.
Members are regularly consulted on same-sex domestic violence cases, Malcolm said, but less obvious gay-themed calls sometimes occur outside the team’s realm, like post-hookup thefts.
“If we can at least get out the description of people that are perpetuating these types of crimes, we can maybe prevent somebody else from becoming a victim,” he said.
Tracking such cases is part of the problem. Malcolm is hoping to get non-GLLT Arlington officers in the habit of tagging gay-themed calls.
Most GLLT officers are gay or lesbian, but not all gay officers in the department are on the GLLT. Malcolm hopes to recruit a few more in the coming months so current GLLT members, who participate voluntarily, don’t get burned out.
“The more people that want to be involved, the more we’ll bring on board,” he said.
CHRIS JOHNSON
A retired Virginia Republican state lawmaker received a standing ovation when accepting a public service award Saturday at Equality Virginia’s annual dinner, despite some criticism that he didn’t deserve the award.
Del. Vince Callahan was honored April 5 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
The decision to commend Callahan for his legislative work sparked criticism from the Virginia Partisans, a gay Democratic group. Charley Conrad, president of the group, and Tom Osborne, its treasurer, said Callahan’s record on gay issues made him undeserving of the award. They criticized Callahan for a series of anti-gay votes, including his vote for the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which prohibits same-sex marriage in Virginia.
Dyana Mason, Equality Virginia’s director, responded by arguing that the organization needs to work on both sides of the aisle to get its legislative goals accomplished.
In his acceptance speech, Callahan said the Republican Party would not get ahead in Virginia by bashing gays and immigrants.
About 1,100 attended, including Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), who gave a brief speech.
Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria), gay Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and Jay Fisette, a gay member of the Arlington County Board, also attended.
CHRIS JOHNSON
Organizers of a proposed gay community center in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia plan to survey gay residents there to determine what services are most needed.
A June launch is planned for a web site that will give residents a chance to provide direction and feedback. Fall focus groups will continue the input efforts.
“[We’re] just trying to find out what the community is looking for — what would service the most people with a reasonable budget,” said Pat Mulligan, a lesbian real estate agent and member of the center steering committee.
Organizers want community input about location, facilities and programming.
Mulligan said organizers are interested in setting up the center to bring together a “somewhat fractured” gay community in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and more.
Gay sports teams, gay-friendly churches and a gay chamber of commerce exist in the region. Mulligan hopes the center will link the groups to each other and to gay residents.
Funding is a major challenge — grants, donors and patron institutions are all being considered. Space may also be leased to businesses. Two locations are planned — possibly one in South Hampton and another on the Virginia Peninsula.
CHRIS JOHNSON
Measures granting gay Marylanders tax breaks and hospital visitation rights passed this week.
The Health Care Facility Visitation & Medical Decisions bill and a measure granting domestic partners an exemption on recordation and transfer taxes were approved before the session ended April 7 and now go to Gov. Martin O’Malley.
If signed into law, as expected, the bills would take effect July 1.
The health care bill grants gay Marylanders the right to visit a partner in the hospital and make certain medical decisions for them. It passed the Senate 30-17 and the House 88-46.
“The bill is about peace of mind,” said Dan Furmansky of Equality Maryland, “and it will help achieve a measure of that for many Maryland couples who worry about being there for their partners during sickness.”
A bill that adds domestic partners to a list of blood and legal relatives that are exempted from recordation and transfer taxes passed the Senate 26-21 and the House 86-47.
“The importance of the bill is it assures greater home ownership protections for unmarried couples,” Furmansky said.
Several other legislative proposals, including marriage rights for same-sex couples and efforts to bar job and housing discrimination against transgender people, died when the General Assembly adjourned.
Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County) said she and her spouse, Deborah, were saddened by the legislature’s failure to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples.
“Though the General Assembly did not pass marriage equality this year, we take some comfort in the steps we have taken toward equality,” she said. “But rest assured: We will not stop until we have achieved full equality under the law.”
JOSHUA LYNSEN
A lesbian legislator from Maryland has won national recognition for her efforts toward expanding access to health care.
The Democratic Leadership Council last week honored Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County) for spearheading the Kids First Act, which extends health care coverage to Maryland children who would otherwise go uncovered.
The Council commended Mizeur for “confronting this crisis head-on” and named her its New Democrat of the Week.
Mizeur said she was proud that the act passed the House 132-7 and the Senate 39-8.
“We are the wealthiest state in the nation, and there is no excuse for 10 percent of our children to go without quality health care,” she said. “The Kids First Act will change that.”
JOSHUA LYNSEN
A gay Baltimore man is struggling to amicably end a legal battle to keep his late partner’s remains buried in the grave the two men chose.
Kevin-Douglas Olive ended a two-year legal battle in August when he reached a settlement with the parents of his late partner, Russell Groff, who had sought to move their son’s body to a family plot.
But Olive said the settlement, which cannot be finalized until some lingering issues are resolved, inadvertently spurred new problems with Groff’s mother.
Olive said a large gravestone intended to also accommodate his name was replaced with separate headstones, per the settlement, but not immediately removed because he had trouble finding workers to do the job.
He said when the original tombstone was not promptly removed, Carolyn Groff took that “as an insult.”
Olive said she also has written him to contest the authenticity and condition of some of Russell’s items that were returned to her.
“It is harassing and it is insulting to constantly hear from his mother,” Olive said, “who he chose not to have a relationship with after conversation after conversation and letter after letter that was disapproving of him being gay.”
Groff’s parents had argued in court that their 26-year-old son didn’t know what he was doing when he completed his will and burial instructions shortly before his death on Nov. 23, 2004.
Russell, who was HIV-positive, died from a staph infection that spread throughout his body.
Olive said Russell was estranged from his parents at the time of his death and completed the will and burial instructions in anticipation of the legal battle.
In a letter last month to Groff’s parents, Olive’s attorney told them to “cease and desist” further communications and noted the “continued harassment is not productive.”
Mark Hardcastle, an attorney who represented Groff’s parents, did not respond to a request for comment.
JOSHUA LYNSEN
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