Sexual Orientation and the Law Blog

Ethics complaint filed against anti-marriage Iowa lawmaker who urged clerks to break the law

An ethics complaint has been filed against an Iowa legislator alleging that he violated his oath of office by urging county recorders to defy a court ruling legalizing gay marriage.  The complaint also questions whether public money was used to promote an anti-marriage petition circulated by the Iowa Family Policy Center urging county recorders to defy the law by refusing to allow same-sex couples to marry.

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CT legislature approves same-sex marriage bill

Connecticut’s legislature voted Wednesday night to update the state’s marriage law to conform with October’s state supreme court ruling that same-sex couples have the right to marry.  The bill would turn all previous civil unions into marriages starting in October 2010.  It also contained protections for religious organizations.  The ABA Journal has a report and more links.

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The religious-conservative case against federal hate crimes legislation

John Whitehead of the religious-conservative group The Rutherford Institute argues against federal hate crimes legislation currently pending in Congress.  Whitehead argues that:

• hate crime laws favor a particular class of individuals for protection and seek to punish certain prejudices;
• such laws have a chilling effect on free speech;
• hate crime laws create a new class of investigative techniques by government agents and the police; and
• hate crime laws are redundant, because there are "already a host of stiff penalties on the books for those who commit acts of unspeakable horror, whether the crimes are based on an individual's race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation."

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Tenth Circuit reverses immigration judge's gay stereotyping

Tarik Razkane remained in the United States beyond the period authorized by his non-immigrant visa.  After the government sought to remove him, Razkane argued before an immigration judge that if he were returned to his native Morocco, he would be persecuted because of his homosexuality. 

That's when things got interesting.  According to an opinion issued Tuesday by the 10th Circuit US Court of Appeals, at Razkane's hearing,

[t]he government asked multiple questions involving the assumption that certain individuals appear “gay.” Specifically, at one point, the government’s lawyer asked Razkane if Moroccan people would identify him as gay by the way he talked, dressed, and moved. Razkane answered in the affirmative. The government lawyer went on to ask Razkane’s country conditions expert his opinion as to what would happen to someone who “looked . . . gay” while walking the streets in Morocco, to which the expert responded “Ma’am, I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that. I just don’t know what it means to look like a gay.” In his oral ruling, the IJ found Razkane’s “appearance does not have anything about it that would designate [him] as being gay. [He] does not dress in an effeminate manner or affect any effeminate mannerisms.”

In its decision reversing the Board of Immigration Appeals, the 10th Circuit chastised the IJ's reasoning.

The IJ’s homosexual stereotyping ... precludes meaningful review in this case. The IJ’s reliance on his own views of the appearance, dress, and affect of a homosexual led to his conclusion that Razkane would not be identified as a homosexual. From that conclusion, the IJ determined Razkane had not made a showing it was more likely than not that he would face persecution in Morocco. This analysis elevated stereotypical assumptions to evidence upon which factual inferences were drawn and legal conclusions made. To condone this style of judging, unhinged from the prerequisite of substantial evidence, would inevitably lead to unpredictable, inconsistent, and unreviewable results. The fair adjudication of a claim for restriction on removal is dependent on a system grounded in the requirement of substantial evidence and free from vagaries flowing from notions of the assigned IJ. Such stereotyping would not be tolerated in other contexts, such as race or religion.

The full opinion can be found here.

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Univ. of Arkansas at Little Rock hosts "Transgender People and the Law" on Mon., April 27, 2009

"Transgender People and The Law," Monday, April 27, 2009, from 12:00pm to 1:30pm in Room 323.

Co-sponsored by Bowen Lambda and the ACLU of Arkansas Student Chapter , this program seeks to promote an understanding of what it means to be transgender and of the challenges transgender people face. Program includes the following speakers and topics:

Olivia Powers' personal story as an individual who transitioned from male to female; a survey by Mike Lauro of how courts treat transgender litigants; Prof. Terri Beiner's analysis of transgender sexual harassment and employment discrimination; and perspectives on mental health by Margaret Morgan. We will suggest ways to make laws and policies more fair and how society can be more inclusive of transgender people.

This event is free and open to the public.

Individual boxed lunches will be catered by Milford Track. (see below, RSVP required if you want a free lunch)

Please read the following important notes:

(1) Lunch RSVP
Please RSVP to mvlauro@ualr.edu if you would like a boxed lunch AND specify your sandwich choice: Chicken; Ham; Turkey; Roast Beef; Combo Meat; Veggie; Garden; Grilled Cheese.

Lunch includes sandwich, chips, pasta salad, cookie, and bottled water. Your name will be on the boxed lunch and available before and during the program.

(2) Awards Presentation
The event will start with recognition of the 2009-2010 officers for both groups and the presentation of Bowen Lambda's 2009 Pride Awards.

(3) Join Facebook groups
Bowen Lambda,
ACLU of Arkansas

(4) Class Capture
This event will be recorded by the class capture system and a link to the recording will be emailed out after it is published.

Federal gay rights legislation: time for a new, more sweeping approach?

Tired of what they see as a too-timid incremental approach by Congress and leading LGBT rights groups, two gay philanthropists are advocating an omnibus federal LGBT rights bill.  According to the Washington Blade,

[T]he proposed omnibus bill goes much further than [the Employment Non-Discrimination Act] by adding sexual orientation and gender identity and protection provisions to more categories in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other civil rights laws that ENDA’s sponsors in Congress considered too risky to include in ENDA. Among them are protections from discrimination in housing and public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, and in the ability to obtain credit.
. . .
The draft Equality & Religious Freedom Act released last week on the eQualityGiving.org web site also includes: language repealing the Defense of Marriage Act; a provision repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell;” a provision incorporating the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act; and a provision incorporating the Uniting American Families Act, which would give the same immigration rights to foreign-born same-sex domestic partners of American citizens that currently are given to heterosexual foreigners married to Americans.

The "Blueprint for LGBT Equality" is available here.

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Transgenders born in CA may change sex on birth certificates, state appellate court rules

Transgender people born in California will be able to change the specified sex on their birth certificate, even if they live outside the state, a state appellate court ruled last week.  The Advocate reports.

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Legal lessons from the Vermont marriage-equality vote

At Huffington Post, Yale law student Aaron Zelinsky suggests three lessons from the Vermont legislature's vote in favor of marriage equality for same-sex couples: federalism can be progressive; legislatures, and not just courts, also enforce rights; and a single vote can make a difference.

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UCLA's Williams Institute offers fellowship in sexual orientation public policy

The Williams Institute will offer a Public Policy Research Fellowship to a recent graduate school graduate (including law school) who is interested in public policy research and writing on sexual orientation issues.  The Williams Institute is a national think tank at UCLA School of Law dedicated to advancing critical thought in the field of sexual orientation law and public policy.  More information is available at http://www.law.ucla.edu/WilliamsInstitute/Fellowships/Public%20Policy%20Research%20Fellowship%202009.pdf.

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Frank Rich on the sweeping changes in anti-gay politics

The governor of Utah endorses civil unions.  Rick Warren disavows anti-marriage activism.  Glenn Beck celebrates the Vermont marriage vote.  NYT columnist Frank Rich assesses the current state of anti-gay politics and finds that "homophobic activism is ever more depopulated and isolated as well as brain-dead."

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