Dykes & Dykery

A Kentucky court is trying to force a lesbian woman to testify against her partner.

Prosecutors say that Geneva Case, who allegedly heard her partner Bobbie Joe Clary admit to murdering a man, must testify against her in court.

Kentucky law says that spouses are exempt from having to testify against each other, and though the two women entered into a civil union in Vermont in 2004, Kentucky does not recognize any type of same-sex union or marriage.

The is first legal test in Kentucky state to determine if same-sex partners will receive the same husband-wife privilege, or be forced to testify against each other.

According to local newspaper Louisville Courier-Journal, Case said she will not testify against her partner, citing the spousal privilege under Kentucky Rule 504 that states: ‘The spouse of a party has a privilege to refuse to testify against the party as to events occurring after the date of their marriage.’

Angela Elleman, one of Clary’s attorney, said: ‘It is going to have a huge impact.’

‘It’s going to come up again and again and again,’ she said referring to same-sex couples that are leaving to wed in other states but must face new legal challenges when they come back home.

Elleman also pointed out that certain states and even countries will recognize foreign same-sex unions that are officiated outside their borders. The Kentucky court must now decide if it will recognize same-sex unions officiated outside state borders, and to what extent.

‘Our position is that Ms. Case and Ms. Clary are not in a valid marriage under Kentucky law,’ said Stacy Grieve, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, in an interview.

In 2004, Kentucky voters passed a constitutional amendment that only recognizes marriages between a man and a woman.

‘The murder happened here and we have to follow the laws of Kentucky.’

That the ceremony is not a ‘marriage’ is valid and recognized under Kentucky law,’ said prosecutors.

‘Geneva Case and the defendant cannot prove the existence of a marriage under Kentucky law.’

Elleman responded: ‘The right to marry, including the right to marry whom one chooses, is a fundamental right firmly entrenched in American culture and in constitutional law.’

Read more. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else challenge this denial of our rights.

Danielle Powell was going through a hard time in the spring of 2011, just months away from graduating from a conservative Christian college in Nebraska. She had fallen in love with another woman, a strictly forbidden relationship at a school where even prolonged hugs are banned.

Powell said she was working at a civil rights foundation in Mississippi to finish her psychology degree when she was called back to Grace University in Omaha and confronted about the relationship. She was eventually expelled - then sent a bill for $6,000 to reimburse what the school said were federal loans and grants that needed to be repaid because she didn’t finish the semester.

Powell is now fighting the Omaha school, arguing that her tuition was covered by scholarships and that federal loans wouldn’t need to be repaid in that amount. She also notes she was kicked out even after undergoing months of counseling, spiritual training and mentoring insisted upon by the school following her initial suspension.

“I shouldn’t have this debt hanging over me from a school that clearly didn’t want me,” the 24-year-old said.

The university insists that the $6,000 covers federal grants and loans that, by law, must be repaid to the federal government because Powell didn’t finish her final semester. School officials declined to discuss specifics of Powell’s case, citing federal student privacy laws, but through a public relations agency said it would provide Powell official transcripts and transfer her credits.

Powell is skeptical. She noted that nine months after she was expelled in January 2012, the registrar’s office denied her request for her transcripts because of the $6,000 bill, though she eventually received student copies of her transcripts.

Grace University’s code of conduct for its students is strict: No kissing, no prolonged hugs and certainly no premarital sex. The school even monitors students’ television habits, forbidding HBO, MTV, Comedy Central and several other channels “because of the values they promote.” The rules are laid out in a student handbook signed by students every year.

“No one was more surprised than me,” Powell recalled of her relationship. “I had been very religious since I was a small child, and that did not fit in with what I thought I believed.”

It’s not unusual to see gay and lesbian students disciplined or even expelled from private Bible- and faith-based colleges, but Powell’s case is unusual, said Ken Upton, an attorney at Lambda Legal. The national civil rights organization helps gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

“This particular case is unusual because there’s this fear that they might not release her information and they are demanding payback,” Upton said. “We don’t see that very often. Usually, the school’s just glad to be rid of them.”

…

As required by the university, Powell said she promised not to engage in sex with anyone and completed months of church attendance and meetings with Christian mentors, spiritual advisers and other groups. She was then readmitted in January 2012, only to receive a letter days later from the university’s vice president, Michael James, revoking her admittance.

James wrote that her re-admittance had been based on professions she made to various faculty and staff that she would change her behavior, but that “the prevailing opinion is that those professions appear to have been insincere, at best, if not deceitful.”

“I was livid,” Powell said. “I had done everything they asked me to do. I drove over to my mentors’ house and just bawled my eyes out.”

Read the full article.

The former ‘Glee’ star bravely came out as gay to the world during an interview in the Philippines on June 2. Good for you, Charice!

The singer Charice officially came out on June 2 in her homeland of the Philippines. The 21-year-old singer courageously faced a question about her sexuality while on “The Buzz,” a Filipino television show hosted by Boy Abunda, and did not back down from the truth.

Charice Comes Out As Gay

“Opo, tomboy po ako,” Charice told Boy — which means, “Yes, I’m a lesbian” — when he asked if the rumors about her being a lesbian were true. It was a huge moment for the singer, who up until that point had remained silent on questions about her sexuality.

“Now I feel free,” Charice said in her native language. “I can go out of the house without fear and certain that I’m not stepping on anybody’s toe.”

Read more

It’s just been a couple of days since Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Blue Is The Warmest Color” (read our review here) walked away from Cannes with the Palme d’Or, with the prize being shared by the director and the film’s stars, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. But the semi-controversy around the film hasn’t died down. In France, where gay marriage was recently signed into law, ‘Warmest’ only continues the fierce debate around the issue, and weighing in with her own opinion is the woman whose work without which the movie wouldn’t exist: Julie Maroh.

Maroh is the author of the graphic novel that was adapted into Kechiche’s screenplay, and taking to her blog yesterday, she has weighed in on the movie, and in particular the graphic sex scenes that have already caused a stir. Not only are the scenes explicit, but one particular sequence is long — so long in fact we wrote “as it ran on and on we found ourselves escaping the film’s spell a bit and starting to contemplate the spectacle of the flesh in itself.” But for Maroh, her concerns run deeper — here’s what she had to say: 

I consider that Kechiche and I have contradictory aesthetic approaches, perhaps complementary. The fashion in which he chose to shoot these scenes is coherent with the rest of what he his creation. Sure, to me it seems far away from my own method of creation and representation, but it would be very silly of me to reject something on the pretext that’s it different from my own vision.

That’s me as a writer. Now, as a lesbian…

It appears to me this was what was missing on the set: lesbians.

I don’t know the sources of information for the director and the actresses (who are all straight, unless proven otherwise) and I was never consulted upstream. Maybe there was someone there to awkwardly imitate the possible positions with their hands, and/or to show them some porn of so-called “lesbians” (unfortunately it’s hardly ever actually for a lesbian audience). Because — except for a few passages — this is all that it brings to my mind: a brutal and surgical display, exuberant and cold, of so-called lesbian sex, which turned into porn, and me feel very ill at ease. Especially when, in the middle of a movie theater, everyone was giggling. The heteronormative laughed because they don’t understand it and find the scene ridiculous. The gay and queer people laughed because it’s not convincing, and found it ridiculous. And among the only people we didn’t hear giggling were the potential guys too busy feasting their eyes on an incarnation of their fantasies on screen.

I totally get Kechiche’s will to film pleasure. The way he filmed these scenes is to me directly related to another scene, in which several characters talk about the myth of the feminine orgasm, as…mystic and far superior to the masculine one. But here we go, to sacralize once more womanhood in such ways. I find it dangerous.

As a feminist and lesbian spectator, I can not endorse the direction Kechiche took on these matters.

But I’m also looking forward to what other women will think about it. This is simply my personal stance.

Read more

I highly recommend reading her full statement, which can be found on her blog in French and English. Her last paragraph, regarding the director’s behavior toward her, is of particular interest.

A lesbian mom plans to comply with a Collin County judge’s order saying her partner must move out under a “morality clause” that was included in a divorce settlement with her ex-husband, according to a statement from her attorneys.

The statement released Monday afternoon also indicates that Carolyn Compton’s ex-husband unsuccessfully sought to have her jailed for violating the morality clause by living with her lesbian partner.

Compton has custody of two children from her marriage to Joshua Compton, and she shares a home with her partner of three years, Page Price.

The morality clause says Compton cannot have anyone in her home between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. if it is “an intimate dating relationship” but they are not married. Under Texas law, Compton cannot marry Price.

Joshua Compton reportedly went to court to enforce the morality clause after hiring a private investigator to spy on his ex-wife.

Republican Collin County Judge John Roach Jr. issued an order May 7 giving Price 30 days to move out. Roach reportedly rejected Joshua Compton’s attempt to have his ex-wife held in contempt, fined and jailed for each of the 181 alleged violations of the morality clause. Nevertheless, the judge’s order has prompted an outcry against him since Dallas Voice broke the story on Friday.

Attorneys for Compton and Price issued a statement Monday saying the couple plans to comply with the order even though it is an unconstitutional violation of their right to privacy under case law including Lawrence v. Texas. The attorneys also requested that unlike Roach, the press respect the couple’s privacy since the case involves children.

Read the statement at the link.

In the process of making Delaware the 11th state, plus the District of Columbia, with legal marriage equality, Sen. Karen Peterson came out as a lesbian, telling her colleagues, “If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, you need to work on your marriage.”

Peterson mentioned her partner of 24 years, Vicki. They entered a civil union, which were officially established in January 2012.

Read the whole article for particulars about the passage of this bill.

Remembering LA’s Earliest Lesbian Bars

The Palms may be the only lesbian bar in West Hollywood and the oldest continually operating lesbian bar in the Los Angeles area but it is far from the first lesbian bar in the area.

The June Mazer Lesbian Archives, located at 626 Robertson Blvd., adjacent to West Hollywood Park, maintains an extensive collection of lesbian-related information from across the nation. WEHOville consulted with the archive to learn more about some of the early lesbian bars in the area.

Angela Brinskele, the archive’s communication director, said that early records of lesbian bars are sketchy. Before the Stonewall riots, which are credited as the single most important moment leading to the gay liberation movement, police used to routinely raid gay and lesbian bars. As a result, people didn’t keep things that might associate them with those bars. To buy some protection for the bar and its patrons, lesbian bar owners often paid off police officers, either with cash or sex or both.

In 1991, the archive videotaped a half-dozen women reminiscing about the early lesbian bars. The archive hopes to hold another videotaping session this summer. People interested in reminiscing about lesbian bars from the 1950s to the 1990s should contact the Mazer.

The Mazer is still learning a lot about the bars of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Recently, the archive received a donation of several photographs dated August 1955, taken at a bar called the Green Door on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood. The donation is notable, Brinskele said, because LGBT historians had never heard of the Green Door. Furthermore, the photos show women freely posing, which was rare in a time of police harassment.

Below is a brief history of some of the earliest lesbian bars in the Los Angeles area, gathered from that taping session, Lillian Faderman’s book “Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics and Lipstick Lesbians”and other resources at the Mazer.

Profiles of the bars are at the link.

And in case you missed it, the Palms announced its closing will take place June 9th, just after Pride. It will be demolished and combined with the adjacent lot to build a 4-story building with residential and retail space.

by Brittney Griner for the New York Times

When the N.B.A. center Jason Collins announced he was gay last week, I was thrilled. Not only was I extremely happy for him, I thought that maybe, just maybe, his courage and the wave of positive reaction meant that we were on the verge of an era when people accept and celebrate one another’s differences. I think that’s what makes life beautiful: everyone is different and we can all learn from one another.

It takes a lot of courage to come out.

I first came out to my mom in the ninth grade. Even though the story is kind of boring (comparatively), I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was leaning against a wall in our house at the time, not doing anything in particular. For whatever reason, at that moment I let my mom know I was gay. It wasn’t planned. It just popped out. She gave me a hug, smiled and told me she loved me, and I went back upstairs to my room. Simple as that.

I knew then that it didn’t matter what my sexuality was; my mom and family would always love me for who I am. For me, the simplicity behind coming out was both powerful and beautiful. No drama, just acceptance and love.

That’s why I never felt the need to publicly announce I was “out.” People have asked me if I’m at all bothered that my “announcement” after the W.N.B.A. draft last month didn’t receive as much attention as Jason’s. Frankly, it didn’t matter at all to me. I simply answered a question honestly and am just happy to tell my truth and to be in a position to encourage others to do the same. It’s all about living an honest life and being comfortable in your own skin. It strengthens me to know that Jason and I (along with so many other out pioneers and allies) are united in a mission to inspire others who may be struggling. I want everyone to feel at peace and O.K. with being who he or she is.

Just as basketball doesn’t define who I am, neither does being gay.

But that doesn’t mean life was easy growing up. I was bullied in every way imaginable, but the worst was the verbal abuse. (I was always a strong, tough and tall girl, so nobody wanted to mess with me from a physical standpoint.) It hit rock bottom when I was in seventh grade. I was in a new school with people I didn’t know, and the teasing about my height, appearance and sexuality went on nonstop, every day.

People called me a dude and said there was no way I could be a woman. Some even wanted me to prove it to them. During high school and college, when we traveled for games, people would shout the same things while also using racial epithets and terrible homophobic slurs.

(That’s nothing compared with the horrendous things people call me online today — if you don’t believe me, look at the comments about me on Twitter and Instagram.)

No one deserves to go through that type of abuse. When I was young, I put on a face as if it didn’t hurt, but it’s painful to be called hateful names and made fun of because people thought my feet were huge or that I looked like a guy. It was hard to hear antigay slurs under their breath whenever I walked by them. It always confused me; I never thought that to be beautiful, you had to look any certain way at all. In my opinion, you’re beautiful because you are you.

Still, some people have it worse. I think about what Matthew Shepard had to face when he was tortured and chained to a fence in 1998 — I am thankful that Jason, as a veteran professional athlete, took the opportunity to remind people so that it never happens again. I think about that often, but I also think about the kids in middle school and high school today who daily are made to feel so bad about themselves that they contemplate not wanting to live anymore. That really hurts my heart because I’ve been there.

I’ve had moments when I questioned my place in the world. At times, especially in seventh grade, life was lonely and I’d often feel sad. I never wanted to deny who I was, but dealing with the sadness and the anger that came from people constantly making fun of me wore me down at times. I relied heavily on my mom, family and friends to lift my spirits and help me through it — and still do.

It’s taken me a long time to figure out exactly where I fit. During that journey, I realized that everyone has a unique place in this world. I also discovered that the more open I was with my family and friends, the more I embraced others, and the more committed I became to doing the things I love, like basketball, skating and, of course, eating bacon (the greatest food of all time), the more love and confidence I received in return.

I just had to hang in there and be myself.

Jason Collins’s announcement, with the support he has received, has already made me more optimistic than ever that people are ready. More important, that the pace of change is picking up. That’s why I have become involved in the It Gets Better project, whose mission is to inspire hope for young people facing harassment and bullying. Because, people, it’s time for bullying to end. Nobody should have to hear the types of things I did or to feel the way I have.

The good news is that I do see change coming. It might be slow, but there are so many positive signs. After being drafted by the Phoenix Mercury and with more media acknowledging my sexuality, I’ve received more hugs, tweets, thank-yous and well-wishes in regard to being “out” than ever.

Countless people have come up to me and thanked me for being proud of who I am.

It’s my job now to, I hope, be a light who inspires others.

Married same-sex couples have the same rights as married heterosexuals to have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled this morning.

Justices ruled 6-0 to require that the Iowa Department of Public Health begin listing both married parents on a newborn child’s birth certificate, despite state concerns that biological-based parenting rights would be cast aside if a Des Moines lesbian was allowed to establish paternity of her child.

The opinion, authored by Justice David Wiggins, brushes aside state government arguments that Iowa’s interest in “the accuracy of birth certificates, the efficiency and effectiveness of government administration, and the determination of paternity” require that the state hue to biological definitions in recording a child’s parentage.

Iowa currently keeps no records of biological parentage in cases where heterosexual couples use anonymous sperm donors, the court reasons. And state records would not be more accurate by requiring, as Iowa health officials until now have insisted, that nonbirthing mothers go through an adoption process.

“It is important for our laws to recognize that married lesbian couples who have children enjoy the same benefits and burdens as married opposite-sex couples who have children,” the opinion says. “By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple’s child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth. Therefore, the only explanation for not listing the nonbirthing lesbian spouse on the birth certificate is stereotype or prejudice.

“The exclusion of the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a child born to a married lesbian couple is not substantially related to the objective of establishing parentage.”

Today’s ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by Melissa and Heather Gartner after the state refused in 2009 to list both of their names on the birth certificate of their daughter, Mackenzie. The baby had been carried by Heather and conceived via an anonymous sperm donor.

Polk County District Judge Eliza Ovrom ruled in the couple’s favor in January 2012, finding that the state had failed to properly follow the 2009 court case that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Iowa law long has held that if a woman is married, the husband must be legally deemed the father unless there’s a court order that says otherwise.

Read more

‘Shower of Stoles’ exhibit supports LGBT [people] of faith

Seven members of First Congregational worked meticulously, well into the afternoon Friday as they hung 100 intricate, ministerial stoles. Their work was for more than just an art project, though.

Shower of Stoles is a traveling exhibit of more than 1,000 religious garments donated by LGBT individuals who serve or have served in ministry but have been defrocked by the church for their sexual orientations. Martha Juillerat started the project when she stepped down from the Presbyterian Church in 1995 and came out, according to the project’s website, www.welcomingresources.org. She asked for other LGBT [people] to send in their stoles to display and received 80 within the first day. The next spring, she had 200, so the first display was held in 1996 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Over the years, clearly, the exhibit has grown. Now it is split up into pieces, and First Congregational is hosting the exhibit for the first time from May 3 to May 15. Member Vickie Spyhalski is one of the seven who helped hang the stoles, which took several hours.

“The purpose is really to show the role that LGBT people play in the church and their role in the ministry,” Spyhalski said.

First Congregational has 100 of the stoles on display. Many of them are coupled with the stories of the people who wore them and the struggles they faced by coming out. Those stories, Spyhalski said, are powerful.

“It’s very moving when you get to see them,” Spyhalski said. “I actually hung a stole of a man who died of AIDS who was a minister. When you hang a stole and you realize he’s no longer with us, really it is a very sacred thing.”