Teacher in paper flap can still teach

Associated Press

A high school teacher who faced losing her job after a student newspaper published an editorial advocating tolerance of gays can continue teaching at another school.

Amy Sorrell, 30, reached an agreement that allows her to be transferred to another high school to teach English, said her attorney, Patrick Proctor.

"The school administration has said in no uncertain terms that she's not going to be given a journalism position," Proctor said.

Sorrell, who had been an English and journalism instructor at Woodlan Junior-Senior High School, was placed on paid leave March 19, two months after an editorial advocating tolerance of homosexuals ran in Woodlan's student newspaper, The Tomahawk. Sorrell had been the newspaper's adviser.

School officials in the conservative northern Indiana community about 10 miles east of Fort Wayne said Sorrell did not comply with an agreement to alert the principal about controversial articles.

The agreement she signed includes a written reprimand that says she neglected her duties as a teacher and was insubordinate in refusing to obey school officials' orders.

Sorrell said she is "very proud" of Megan Chase, the student who wrote the editorial calling for tolerance and acceptance of gays, and the Tomahawk's other writers and editors. But she said she could not financially afford to fight the school district over her discipline.

Group sues officer they say tried to stop petition drive

Associated Press

A group petitioning to ban gay marriage filed a lawsuit Thursday against Broward County and a Sunrise police officer claiming the sergeant violated volunteers' civil rights during a petition drive.

Members of Florida Family Policy Council were harassed by Sgt. Stephen Allen while they circulated a petition outside a conference at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise in June 2006, according to the complaint.

"I felt more like we were in a junior high school gym (rather) than dealing with professional law enforcement officers," John Stemberger, the organization's president and general counsel, said of the encounter.

Stemberger said Allen mocked the volunteers and told them to remove their petitions from the booth they had paid for. Allen told the group that petitioning was not allowed at the BankAtlantic Center.

Andrew Meyers, Broward County's chief appellate counsel, said he could not comment on the allegations until they were served with the lawsuit.

"Once we receive the lawsuit we will review it and file an appropriate response," Meyers said.

A telephone number for Allen was not listed. The Sunrise Police Department, which is not named in the complaint, did not return messages Thursday afternoon.

9th Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Opens Friday

From the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival:

The 10-day festival will kick-off on Friday, April 27th with the Opening Night Gala presentation and North American Premiere The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami. Banish all notions of Merchant Ivory from your heads, as the 10-day event commences with a new vision of Oscar Wilde’s classic fable of the quest for eternal youth directed by Duncan Roy (genius director of the smash-hit “AKA”). Continue to the fabulous Opening Gala after party at the Bank of America Tower Sky Terrace. Flooded in decisively luscious orange light, the building will light up the Miami skyline announcing the anticipated arrival of the 2007 MGLFF season. Watch as this Miami monument comes to life with an ultra sensory experience of sound, vision, entertainment, food, drink and camaraderie. This is the evening of the year when South Florida and the GLBT film industry come out in force to mix, mingle, twist, twirl and celebrate the vast diversity and human experience comprising the rich fabric of our community - woven onto the silver screen. (Director Duncan Roy will attend the screening to discuss the film with the audience).

For a complete schedule of films, click here.

Read the Gay South Florida blog for festival updates!

N.H. lawmakers approve civil unions

By BEVERLEY WANG,Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. -- New Hampshire lawmakers voted Thursday to authorize civil unions and sent the measure to Gov. John Lynch, who announced last week that he would sign it.

"This legislation is a matter of conscience, fairness and of preventing discrimination," said Colin Manning, a spokesman for the Democratic governor. "It is in keeping with New Hampshire's proud tradition of preventing discrimination."

Three other states already offer civil unions for gay couples: New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. Neighboring Massachusetts in 2004 became the only state to allow gay marriage.

Unlike other states, there was no active court challenge to push New Hampshire to act on the issue.

In fact, the success of civil unions was an about-face from two years earlier, when a study panel recommended New Hampshire giving no meaningful consideration to extending legal recognition to gay couples.

That panel had concluded that homosexuality was a choice, and it endorsed a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to unions between a man and a woman. State lawmakers have defeated proposed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage two years in a row.

Sponsors of the civil unions bill called it a door to marriage in all aspects but name. Opponents argued it would lead to the collapse of traditional values.

"Let's just call it what it really is, no sugarcoating," said Republican Sen. Robert Letourneau, of Derry. "This creates same-sex marriage. There is no right to marriage in either the New Hampshire Constitution or the federal Constitution."

"We don't let blind people drive or felons vote, all for good and obvious reasons," he said.

Thursday's legislation, passed 14-10 along party lines in the Senate - Democrats in favor, Republicans opposed - will allow civil unions in New Hampshire starting Jan. 1.

Washington, Maine, California, New York and Washington D.C., recognize domestic partnerships. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer this week pledged to introduce gay marriage legislation in the next few weeks.

Aqua Girl VIP Reception and Awards - Saturday May 5

News release:

The night begins with the East Coast Premiere of the critically acclaimed film, Itty, Bitty, Titty Committee, at the Colony Theater. Festivities move over to the Wynwood Arts District for a spectacular VIP celebration honoring our Community Leaders.

Sip delectable libations and savor culinary delights prepared by top women chefs. Dance, mingle and enjoy as we present an evening of eclectic entertainment, awards and a silent auction.

Community Leadership
Award Recipients
ELIZABETH SCHWARTZ, ESQ.
BISHOP S.F. MA-HEE

Community Volunteer Award

(Itty Bitty Titty Committee, Last Days)
- famed director JAMIE BABBIT
(L Word, Ugly Betty, But I’m A Cheerleader)
- producer ANDREA SPERLING
(D.E.B.S., But I’m A Cheerleader)
- founder & executive director of power up
STACY CODIKOW
- president of film production & distribution at power up LISA THRASHERKAREN BROWN

Celebrity Hosts
- actress NICOLE VICIUS,

Ticket Price includes
film screening and VIP reception
$ 75 | in advance
$ 85 | evening of

RSVP (800) 494.TIXS or online at www.boxofficetickets.com
For more information, please call 305.576.AQUA or visit www.aquagirl.org

Host Committee: Alicia Apfel, Esq., Nelida Barrios, Cindy Brown, Carol Coombes, Crispy, Saundra Grace, Elizabeth Katzen, Vivian Marthell, Lisa Niven, Francesca Roderick, Richard Millstein and
Eric Hankin, Carol Moran and Nancy Godwin, Dr. Karen Raben and Andrea Pernick, Merle and Dan Weiss

Ex-British Prime Minister Heath 'gay warning' denied

From BBC News:

Ex-PM Heath 'gay warning' denied

Sir Edward was prime minister in the early 1970s Claims former prime minister Sir Edward Heath was gay but was told to keep his sexuality secret for the sake of his career have been dismissed. Tory London Assembly member Brian Coleman said Sir Edward was told in the 1950s "cottaging" - seeking gay sexual partners - could harm his career. Writing on the New Statesman website, Mr Coleman said the warning had been "common knowledge" in the party. But Tory MP Derek Conway said there was no evidence for the claims. 'Advised' Sir Edward, who was prime minister from 1970 to 1974, never married and his sexuality has long been a subject of speculation. Mr Coleman writes: "The late Ted Heath managed to obtain the highest office of state after he was supposedly advised to cease his cottaging activities in the fifties when he became a privy councillor." Mr Coleman claimed that it was "common knowledge" among Tories that Sir Edward had received the warning. But Mr Conway, who succeeded Sir Edward as Tory MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup in 2001, rejected the suggestion. He said: "If there was some secret I'm sure it would have come out by now. "Ted was absolutely wedded to politics. He didn't have a great deal of personal companionship in his life but there are people who are capable of getting on without companionship." Sir Edward died, aged 89, in 2005.

West Palm Beach backs protection for transgender employees

In today's Palm Beach Post:

By Thomas R. Collins, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

WEST PALM BEACH — If an ordinance being considered by city commissioners becomes law, a top administrator or any other employee's job would be protected if the worker came to work yesterday as a man but arrived today as a woman.

The ordinance, given initial approval unanimously this week, prohibits discrimination on the basis of "gender identity or expression."

Commissioners are scheduled to consider it again on May 7. If approved then, it will become law.

The ordinance, considered at the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, comes in reaction to the firing of Largo City Manager Steve Stanton in Pinellas County. The firing came after it was disclosed that Stanton was preparing for a sex-change operation, after which his name will be Susan.

In 2003, Largo city commissioners rejected a law similar to the one being considered by West Palm Beach.

"Gender identity or expression" is defined in the West Palm Beach ordinance as "a person's individual attributes, actual or perceived" or "a person's self-identity, self-image, appearance or expression as a man or woman, whether or not different from those traditionally associated with the person's sex at birth."

The law protects not only those who might have a full sex change, but those who cross-dress or otherwise buck traditional gender roles, Assistant City Attorney Nancy Urchek said.

Rand Hoch, the president and founder of the Human Rights Council, praised West Palm Beach for consideration of the ordinance.

"West Palm Beach has always been on the forefront," he said. In 1991, the city became the first in Florida to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in public employment. The next year, it became the first to extend domestic partnership benefits to city employees.

Mayor Lois Frankel, who helped get the ordinance on the agenda, said it would help the city avoid potential "legal challenges and problems" by spelling out a policy now.

"The community is very diverse in many ways in being accepting of various lifestyles," she said.

Hoch said he hopes the law results in education on transgender issues and hopes the county will eventually approve such an ordinance.

"What should have happened in Largo is Steve Stanton should have had the opportunity to work with city staff and express to people what was going on and help them understand the transition," Hoch said.

City commissioners appear poised to put the law on the books.

"It's something that may or may never occur, but in the city, we have always prided ourselves in being a leader in anti-discrimination," Commissioner Bill Moss said.

Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell voted for the law but said she'd like to discuss a law that says "we are a city that just doesn't discriminate, period."

"Every time we add somebody to the list, what it says to me is, who are we leaving off the list?" she said.

Assistant City Attorney Josh Koehler said naming groups is crucial to protecting them legally.

"Specificity is always the key if you're going to create a cause of action of a basis for a complaint."

Old Mike, new Christine

This column appears today in The Los Angeles Times:

FIRST PERSON

Old Mike, new Christine

By Mike Penner, Times Staff Writer
April 26, 2007

During my 23 years with The Times' sports department, I have held a wide variety of roles and titles. Tennis writer. Angels beat reporter. Olympics writer. Essayist. Sports media critic. NFL columnist. Recent keeper of the Morning Briefing flame.

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

That's OK. I understand that I am not the only one in transition as I move from Mike to Christine. Everyone who knows me and my work will be transitioning as well. That will take time. And that's all right. To borrow a piece of well-worn sports parlance, we will take it one day at a time.

Transsexualism is a complicated and widely misunderstood medical condition. It is a natural occurrence — unusual, no question, but natural.

Recent studies have shown that such physiological factors as genetics and hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy can significantly affect how our brains are "wired" at birth.

As extensive therapy and testing have confirmed, my brain was wired female.

A transgender friend provided the best and simplest explanation I have heard: We are born with this, we fight it as long as we can, and in the end it wins.

I gave it as good a fight as I possibly could. I went more than 40 hard rounds with it. Eventually, though, you realize you are only fighting yourself and your happiness and your mental health — a no-win situation any way you look at it.

When you reach the point when one gender causes heartache and unbearable discomfort, and the other brings more joy and fulfillment than you ever imagined possible, it shouldn't take two tons of bricks to fall in order to know what to do.

It didn't with me.

With me, all it took was 1.99 tons.

For more years than I care to count, I was scared to death over the prospect of writing a story such as this one. It was the most frightening of all the towering mountains of fear I somehow had to confront and struggle to scale.

How do you go about sharing your most important truth, one you spent a lifetime trying to keep deeply buried, to a world that has grown familiar and comfortable with your façade?

To a world whose knowledge of transsexuals usually begins and ends with Jerry Springer's exploitation circus?

Painfully and reluctantly, I began the coming-out process a few months ago. To my everlasting amazement, friends and colleagues almost universally have been supportive and encouraging, often breaking the tension with good-natured doses of humor.

When I told my boss Randy Harvey, he leaned back in his chair, looked through his office window to scan the newsroom and mused, "Well, no one can ever say we don't have diversity on this staff."

When I told Robert, the soccer-loving lad from Wales who cuts my hair, why I wanted to start growing my hair out, he had to take a seat, blink hard a few times and ask, "Does this mean you don't like football anymore, Mike?"

No, I had to assure him, I still love soccer. I will continue to watch it. I hope to continue to coach it.

My days of playing in men's over-30 rec leagues, however, could be numbered.

When I told Eric, who has played sweeper behind my plodding stopper for more than a decade, he brightly suggested, "Well, you're still good for co-ed!"

I broke the news to Tim by beginning, "Are you familiar with the movie 'Transamerica'?" Tim nodded. "Well, welcome to my life," I said.

Tim seemed more perplexed than most as I nervously launched into my story.

Finally, he had to explain, "I thought you said 'Trainspotting.' I thought you were going to tell me you're a heroin addict."

People have asked if transitioning will affect my writing. And if so, how?

All I can say at this point is that I am now happier, more focused and more energized when I sit behind a keyboard. The wicked writer's block that used to reach up and torture me at some of the worst possible times imaginable has disappeared.

My therapist says this is what happens when a transsexual finally "integrates" and the ever-present white noise in the background dissipates.

That should come as good news to my editors: far fewer blown deadlines.

So now we all will take a short break between bylines. "Mike Penner" is out, "Christine Daniels" soon will be taking its place.

From here, it feels like a big improvement. I hope with time you will agree.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Iowa Legislature Passes Nondiscrimination Bill Protecting LGBT People

HRC news release:

Update: Late tonight, only hours after the legislation was approved in a bipartisan vote by the Iowa State House of Representatives, the Iowa State Senate gave final legislative approval to a state-wide nondiscrimination bill.  The nondiscrimination bill overwhelmingly passed the Iowa State Senate by a 34 to 16 vote.

The bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk for signing into law.

DES MOINES, IA - Today, members of the Iowa House of Representatives voted 59 to 37 to approve a bill outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, public accommodations, housing, education, and credit practices.  The bill passed with bipartisan support, with nine Republicans voting in favor of the bill. This legislation, which passed the Iowa Senate on March 26, 2007 by a 32-17 vote, must be sent back to the Iowa Senate for concurrence with the House version. 

When the bill is signed into law, Iowa will become the nineteenth U.S. state to ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and the tenth to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

"Legislators in Iowa have taken historic action to advance the cause of equality for all Iowans. Once this bill is signed, Iowa will be a freer and fairer place for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.  "We applaud the many legislators who voted for fairness and equality, Governor Culver, who has pledged to sign this bill, our friends at One Iowa, the Interfaith Alliance Action Fund, the Iowa Safe Schools Task Force, and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, as well as all the HRC members in Iowa who worked hard to pass this important legislation."

The Human Rights Campaign is proud to have partnered with One Iowa in 2006 to elect a fair-minded majority to the Iowa House of Representatives and to have partnered with One Iowa, the Interfaith Alliance Action Fund, the Iowa Safe Schools Task Force, and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission this year to pass this important pro-equality legislation.  HRC has invested in this partnership through direct financial and technical assistance.  In addition, HRC has consistently worked to mobilize its members in Iowa to support the strategic goals of these groups and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iowans.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Gay PETA Vice President Dan Mathews to hold book reading in Coral Gables

PETA Vice President Dan Mathews will be at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave. in Coral Gables, 8 p.m. May 2. Here's a news release about him:

As the world’s most visible champion of animal rights, Dan Mathews has been as admonished for his strong beliefs and irreverent style as he is admired for his guts and passion. His colorful crusades often land the PETA VP behind bars—or enlisting stars. For two decades he has made animal rights the “it” cause, with campaigns such as “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur,” which have made activism relevant for today’s escapist society. “Mathews’ greatest insight is his seemingly intuitive understanding that causes are as much about trendiness as they are about conscience,” wrote New York magazine. In 2006, PETA, with over a million members, was named in a Label Networks poll as “the #1 charity that 13-24-year-olds would volunteer for,” beating out even the Red Cross.

In COMMITTED: A Rabble Rouser’s Memoir (Atria Books; April 17, 2007; $24.00; Hardcover, ISBN: 0-7432-9187-5), Mathews presents a remarkably candid and wildly entertaining account of his unconventional life and incredible tenure as one of the world’s most famous firebrands. Filled with stories ranging from the hilarious to the horrific, Mathews reveals how his devotion to fighting cruelty stems from the gay-bashing he endured as an adolescent, and how he managed to pull off some of his most outrageous, controversial, and effective campaigns. Mathews stopped GM’s crash tests on animals after taking over the company’s float in the Rose Parade dressed as a rabbit; he halted Gillette’s animal tests after impersonating a janitor and wheeling a television into the executive cafeteria to show videos of the gruesome experiments; he impersonated a priest to gain entry into a fur designer’s fashion show in Milan, taking over the runway with a banner reading, “Thou Shalt Not Kill;” and he was pelted with luncheon meats by pig farmers while promoting vegetarianism in cattle country—dressed as a carrot.

Among Mathews' topics of discussion:

·    How getting beaten up as a youth sensitized him to the plight of animals, and how it helped him develop a thick skin for the lifelong adversity he faces as a controversial activist 
·    How he conceived his most provocative protests; he’s been jailed around the world in odd costumes and sometimes nude. After inciting a riot at a KFC in Paris to protest the company’s live-scalding of birds in defeathering tanks, he was hauled to a psychiatric ward where he had to prove his sanity in French (as amusingly described in the title chapter of “Committed”).
·    How using celebrities can keep a cause on the pop culture radar; Mathews works closely with Pamela Anderson, Sir Paul McCartney, Pink, Chrissie Hynde, and many others
·    What PETA stands for and how its views are embraced, spurned and sometimes distorted
·    How to motivate the public—especially young people—in an increasingly apathetic culture

Always frank and unafraid to offend, Mathews’ antics are bound to make COMMITTED one of the most talked about books of the season. We hope you will take this opportunity to speak with him: Mathews will be on tour this April and is available in studio or via phone. Please let me know if you’d like more information or to schedule an interview. I look forward to speaking with you soon.