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The following comments were posted to www.washingtonblade.com.
Re: “Prop 8 trial begins Monday”
In bringing Prop. 8 to trial, we should remember the old Chinese proverb, “Be careful what you wish for.”
While I feel as strongly as most readers here about the need for marriage to be available to us, I cannot help but think that it will hurt us if we try to bully the will of the people through legal tricks. Consider the abortion issue as an example. It was getting close to being made legal in some places and situations with general support when the courts intervened and made an edict. Now it remains a chasm in our public thought. If abortion laws had changed in most places through legislative action, and bills to change them failed several times it would be considered a dead issue in the political world. Only the “gadflies” would be pushing it.
Public opinion is evolving in our favor now that more people are out of the closet, and thus more people understand us as just regular harmless folks who care about their loved ones and their country.
Even basic rights for us, such as employment non-discrimination have gone from about 20 percent public support in the 1980s to 80 percent today. Almost every poll shows stronger support for our rights from younger people in both parties and of many religious traditions.
We need to build on this trend and educate people and we need to be examples of solid couples and good citizens so this can all get resolved in our favor democratically. — Sam Brown
Re: “Two more D.C. ballot measures proposed to ban same-sex marriage”
I had my suspicions so I went back in THOMAS and looked it up. Sure enough, there were three House signers on the amicus brief who were in office in 1993 when the D.C. statehood bill was voted on: Roscoe Bartlett (Md.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), and Don Manzullo (Ill.) All voted NO in 1993 on the HR.51.
So much for their commitment to D.C. residents getting the right to vote on important matters. — Don
I find it amusing that there is at least one not-so-closeted gay Republican who signed this amicus brief and that all but one voted against giving D.C. residents a real congressional seat in the voting rights bill. The so-called GOP Big Tent continues to smell of its own elephant dung! — DC John
Re: “D.C. Jail guards accused of beating gay inmate”
Let me see if I understand this. An inmate of the D.C. Jail, injured in an altercation with guards on December 17, is being held in “protective custody” and is not able to have visitors (or one presumes be seen or have his injuries seen or photographed) “until Jan. 27 at the earliest”?
Excuse me? I don’t care if this guy is a hustler, a drug addict, a thief or whatever. We fought to put an end to this sort of thing decades ago. It seems to me that in a lot of ways, things are going backwards rather than forwards in the District. — Michael
No matter what someone’s past is or what they are in jail for this does not give them the right to beat someone. No matter what he did in the jail or to the guards once he was restrained that should have been the end of it. You do not get to break the law just because you are a prison guard. They [allegedly] did this because John is white and gay, this was a hate crime. — Dee
Re: “Arrest warrant sought in lesbian parental custody dispute”
Maggie Gallagher: You are deluded to think that you control the levers of a supernatural universe, as is anyone else who believes a single word from your lying mouth. Then, you meddle with the lives of innocent children like Isabella, forever helping to screw with their secure future and a loving parent.
Then, you put visions of demons and fairy-tales of made-up gay conspiracies in the heads of people who don’t know any better (because they don’t know any gay people). And how is it that you and NOM claim to know more about gay issues and families, than all the gay people who say you’re full of it, like me? Could never figure that one out. — Peter the Saint
Maggie Gallagher talking about unjust laws is a scream! She is one of the preeminent instigators of unjust laws against the LGBTI community. — Mykelb
Re: “Two Senate retirements means two losses for LGBT people”
It will be easier to have someone who is pro-LGBT in the seat without Chris Dodd running, which would have handed the seat to a heterosexist Republican. — libhomo
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Clarifying the record on Mexican homophobia case
Court judgment challenged as accusations of discrimination disputed
(This is a response to a story published Jan. 18 by contributor Armando Ocampo Zambrano)
I brought to the attention of the Washington Blade that no court decision exists in the terms set out by Armando Ocampo Zambrano in the interview published in the Blade on Jan. 18, 2019.
Ocampo untruthfully stated that “he became the first Mexican to win a lawsuit due to homophobia against one of the most powerful law firms in the country”; such statement as the result of a judgment issued on Sept. 5, 2018 by the High Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, which Ocampo falsely brags as a judgement against Chevez Ruiz Zamarripa y Cía., S.C. (“Chevez”) condemning it for acts of discrimination.
The firm represents the interests of Chevez in the lawsuit that resulted from the complaint/legal action filed by Ocampo with the National Council to Prevent Discrimination alleging several facts that Ocampo claims happened on November 2015, in which he and partners of Chevez participated; Ocampo considered them to be discriminatory and therefore filed the complaint.
Council, by decision issued on Jan. 26, 2017, concluded that Chevez was not liable for discriminatory acts affecting Ocampo.
Ocampo filed legal action for the annulment of Council’s decision of Jan. 26, 2017 with the Federal Court of Administrative Justice; this Court annulled Council’s decision ordering it to re-issue same considering certain evidence provided by the parties.
Chevez and Ocampo, both, contested the judgment through Amparo lawsuits, to be decided by the Seventh Collegiate Tribunal for Administrative Matters of the First Circuit, which will decide on the validity and legality of the Judgment, which obviously as of today is not final and conclusive.
The above statement by Ocampo in the interview is totally and absolutely false because of the following two reasons:
1. There is no court decision issued by any Mexican court/authority that concludes that Chevez was found guilty of acts of discrimination against Ocampo.
2. The judgement has been challenged by Ocampo precisely because Chevez was not found liable for acts of discrimination against Ocampo.
Chevez also challenged the judgment considering that Council´s decision issued on Jan. 26, 2017 is correct and impeccable, not being legally correct that the High Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice annuls Council´s decision.
Luis Alfonso Cervantes Muñiz is an attorney licensed in Mexico by the Escuela Libre de Derecho, and founding partner of Cervantes Sainz, S.C.
Chase Brexton not an exemplary provider
Re: “Where is Chase Brexton growing?” (Op-ed by Nate Sweeney, Oct. 28)
I read Nate Sweeney’s op-ed with a mixture of anger and incredulity. Sweeney’s desperate appeal in defense of Chase Brexton conveniently glosses over a recent, well-documented pattern of irresponsible, unethical, and potentially illegal behavior at the beleaguered Baltimore institution that was once a beacon for the LGBTQ community.
“An exemplary LGBTQ provider and resource for our communities” does not fire five beloved staff members with outstanding service records (four of them openly gay, like Sweeney), as Chase Brexton did in August in a blatant attempt to retaliate against staff involved in organizing a labor union.
An exemplary LGBTQ provider does not deprive the community of hardworking, dedicated professionals who specialized in HIV/AIDS and LGBT care and were integral to the programs and services Sweeney boasts about.
An exemplary LGBTQ provider does not censor online commentary and ignore patient and community feedback, as Chase Brexton did when it took great pains to literally block out patients protesting outside the recent Charm Ball Fundraiser.
An exemplary LGBT organization doesn’t stifle employee voices, inform healthcare professionals they are only worth the number of patients they see, and disrespect its staff by hiring union busters to attempt to intimidate them into submission. Tell me Mr. Sweeney, what does your employee survey say now, after the despicable events of August of this year?
An exemplary LGBTQ organization isn’t captained by an arrogant, irresponsible board of directors that validates the status quo despite staff issuing a clear vote of no-confidence in the current CEO — a board that by all accounts demonstrates an astounding lack of basic LGBT literacy and has zero representation from transgender individuals.
No, Mr. Sweeney, these days Chase Brexton Health Care is far from an exemplary LGBTQ organization. Your words fall flat and can’t change the sad reality that an organization with deep roots in the gay community has been commandeered by myopic, vindictive “leadership” that values profit over patient care and has shown a callous indifference towards LGBTQ people, their health, and their history. —Marion Goldstein, Baltimore
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Beyer a longtime LGBT rights supporter
His ‘evolution’ consistent with many leading politicians
The following was submitted as a letter to the editor in response to “Beyer changed position on same-sex marriage” (news, March 19).
I was surprised to see the Blade single out Don Beyer as someone who has changed his position on gay marriage since 1997. Let’s be honest – a vast number of Americans have changed their position on gay marriage since 1997, and that is something that should be applauded, not criticized.
The truth is, like many of our friends and family, coworkers and neighbors, Don has evolved on this issue. In fact, Don evolved long before many of our current Democratic leaders. In 2003, Don endorsed Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in a primary in which Dean and no other candidate was in favor of gay marriage.
In 2006, when several Virginia Democrats joined Republicans in their crusade to ban gay marriage in the Commonwealth, Don personally contributed significantly to the effort opposing the Defense of Marriage Act referendum in Virginia. In doing so, he bucked many in his own party and even the majority of Virginia voters. Don came to the conclusion that it was the right thing to do well before many others, including many in the Democratic Party.
When my partner and I decided to start our own family in 2002, Don and his wife were among the first of our friends, gay or straight, to offer to help us. They have been unwavering advocates in the community for our family, which now includes two children, and we believe Don’s experience and perspective will be critical to addressing the unique issues we face going forward.
President Obama, Vice President Biden, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and nearly every Democratic elected official in Virginia has progressed on this issue, and ultimately, that’s what matters.
From prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment and elsewhere, to supporting the inclusion of sexual orientation-based crimes in hate crime statutes, Don has been a strong advocate for LGBT rights. To try to paint him as anything otherwise is disingenuous and misleading; it also does a disservice to the people of Virginia.
I realize that in a crowded Democratic primary field we look for points of differentiation among the candidates. This isn’t one of them. —Mark C. Lowham