No “Milk” for Students at San Diego School

Yesterday, the ACLU threatened a San Diego County school with a law suite for refusing to let a student present a report she had prepared as part of a class assignment which dealt with the life of slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk…that is until her classmates obtained written permission from their parents to hear it.

The legal director of the ACLU of San Diego County, David Blair-Loy said the principal of Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona violated the free speech rights of Natalie Jones, a 6th-grader at the school, by preventing her from giving an in-class presentation on Milk.

Theresa Grace, the school’s principal stated last month that the girl’s project, would require parents to be notified in writing, as per school policy, before their children are exposed to lessons dealing with sex.

Natalie wasn’t allowed to present her 12-page PowerPoint presentation until after the principal sent letters to her classmate’s parents alerting them about the “sensitive topic.” After the letters went out, Natalie was allowed to give her report, but only during lunch recess, not in class. 8 of the 13 students in Natalie’s class attended.

The ACLU sent a letter to the Ramona Unified District demanding that school officials apologize to Natalie, as well as clarify its sex education policy. The ACLU also is asking the girl be given the opportunity to present her biographical account of Milk’s life and death in class.

Blair-Loy stated:

“It’s not about sex, it’s not about sex education. It’s a presentation about a historical figure who happened to be gay.”

Firefighter Suit Demonstrates Right Wing Hypocrisy

So, you’ve heard by now about the four San Diego firefighters that won a little over $34,000 in a lawsuit for being “forced” to ride a fire truck in the 2007 San Diego gay pride parade.  This because they were subjected to “lewd acts”.

Well, those over on the right are claiming a big ole “V” for victory on this one.  According to a post on CNA;

Charles S. LiMandri, West Coast Director of the Thomas More Law Center, reacted to the ruling, saying, “This is a victory for all people who are willing to stand up for what is right when it comes to defending our basic freedoms of speech and religion.  No one should be forced to be subjected to sexual harassment on the job – not even male heterosexual firefighters who are being harassed by homosexual men at a Gay Pride Parade.  All city officials should now think twice before ever making such a wrongheaded decision to violate their employees’ rights in such an improper manner again.”

Co-counsel in the case, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Joe Infranco added in a statement, “Many people may mistakenly think the ‘gay pride’ parade is merely a ‘fun’ event.  They never would have imagined the crude sexual harassment these firefighters were forced to endure.”

Now the part I find hypocritical and a bit ironic, is how they claim the men were “forced to be subjected”.   However, when it comes to the case where the instructor stopped a student giving an anti-gay speech in his classroom because other students were offended, those on the right are screaming his First Amendment rights were violated.

So in other words, according to the Right, its OK to “force” people to hear about the evils of homosexuality, but its not OK to “force” anyone to have someone tell them they would like them to put their fire out.

Oh it get’s better by the minute!

SD Firefighters Awarded $34,400 for “Harassment”

Four anti-gay San Diego fire fighters who suffer from homophobia including Alex Kane, Chad Allison, Capt. John Ghiotto and Capt. Jason Hewitt, allegedly were subject to sexually based conduct and lewd comments as they rode on a fire truck during the San Diego Pride Parade in July 2007.

A jury delivered a ruling in their favor yesterday, agreeing they were sexually harassed because they were ordered to participate in the event.

Charles LiMandri, the attorney who represented the firefighters stated during his closing arguments that the men became targets of vulgar gestures and catcalls as they were forced to watch scantily clad men and women simulate sex acts.

This was the second trial in this case as jurors were unable to reach a verdict in a previous trial held in October of last year.

LiMandri was seeking $1 million for each firefighter at the first trial, but specific damages were not raised at this trial.

I hope the four homophobic men are all healed with their new found money. I guess the firemen couldn’t handle the heat of these flames!

10,000 Rally in San Diego Against Prop 8

Thousands of took to the streets Saturday in San Diego, California to protest passage of Proposition 8, a California measure banning gay marriage.

Police reports say approximately 10,000 demonstrators began marching through central San Diego at noon. The protest lasted about 90 minutes and no arrests were made.

Yesterday’s was the largest of several marches that have followed Tuesday’s approval of Proposition 8.

About 5,000 people turned out Saturday evening for a Prop. 8 protest in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. Also a candlelight vigil took place in Laguna Beach.

Manchester Hyatt Feeling Crunch From Boycott

As reported earlier on GayAgenda.com, Doug Manchester, the owner of the Manchester Grand Hyatt and The Grand del Mar donated $125,000 to support Proposition 8, a California ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage.

The GLBT community immediately  started a boycott of the hotels which have been largely successful.  The American Association of Law Schools and the San Diego County pension board even decided to move events elsewhere.

Manchester sited this was not a problem. He told the Wall Street Journal, “We have received support from those that are in favor of Prop. 8, which has made up for some of what is being lost as a result of the boycott.”

It was later reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, that his CFO wrote in an e-mail stating the hotels were losing millions because of the boycott, and that “nearly every other luxury hotel in California is actively seeking out and marketing to the gay community to get their business. . . . We should be doing the same.”

The Hyatt Corporation distanced itself from Manchester, saying it was an inclusive organization and that “Doug Manchester in no way speaks for Hyatt”.

Because of his political views, Manchester can now be sued by his investors for the lost revenues. According to on-line sources, hotel rooms normally selling for $238 a night at the Grand Hyatt are going for $95 on Priceline.

Sorry Doug, looks like homophobia isn’t paying off.

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