In Brief

Staff Reports

Maine Signature Gathering Success Last Election Day

PORTLAND, MAINE -- Election Day volunteers gathered more than 35,000 signatures in support of a 2012 ballot initiative that would allow marriage licenses for lesbian and gay couples in Maine, bringing the total gathered - in just 12 weeks - to more than 100,000 signers.

Amy Mello, Equality Maine's field director, shared the news with volunteers and Election Day organisers telling an enthusiastic group of volunteers that with their hard work, a total of roughly 100,000 signatures had been gathered since the effort began in late August.

"Not only were we incredibly successful at gathering signatures at the polls today, but volunteers all over the state met voters who have changed their minds on this issue in the last two years," said Betsy Smith, EqualityMaine Executive Director.

Equality Maine filled more than 500 volunteer shifts, from Aroostook to York County and many places in between.

"The enthusiasm was incredible, we had a volunteer in Gardiner who kept calling to extend her shift because she was so excited at how many people were signing," Mello said.

Volunteers from around the state reported Mainers who said they'd had changes of heart since 2009. "I met a man today in Caribou, who told me he wouldn't have signed two years ago, but his daughter has now convinced him," said Equality Maine's Political Director Ali VanderZanden.

Smith said these changed minds are a result of the robust public education efforts by Equality Maine and Gay & Lesbian Advocates Defenders (GLAD), and a broad coalition of other organizations, since Mainers voted to repeal a law allowing marriage for lesbian and gay couples in 2009.

"There was definitely a feeling of momentum among the volunteers on Election Day," Smith said.

Indiana City Council Amends City Code To Prevent Discrimination Against LGBTQ People

City Councilman Dan McGinn

EVANSVILLE, INDIANA -- A measure which was passed Monday by an unanimous vote of the city council, amends the Evansville city's municipal code to include provisions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to the measure's sponsor, City Councilman Dan McGinn,

"My hopes are that prejudice and bigotry will slowly disappear. Hopefully it will disappear like a lot of other groups. That's my hope."

In an interview with the Evansville Courier & Press newspaper, McGinn told the paper that he had lost his brother to AIDS and had been a lifelong witness to issues like gay bashing. Sponsoring the revision in code to provide equal opportunity for all citizens in the areas education, employment, access to public conveniences and accommodations and the purchase or rental of real property, was his chance to help, he said.

"I'm in a position where I could help eliminate all of this," he said. "That's why I'm interested in helping."

The approved ordinance also defined sexual orientation as being male or female sexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, real or perceived, by orientation or practice.
McGinn said defining those terms in city code would provide an opportunity for discussion in the community. That, he said, would result in a better understanding.
McGinn said perhaps the biggest impact the community will see from the revision is how it bolstered the city's efforts to grow areas like Downtown and the Arts District.
"By broadening our statute and adding four different types of people, it will let people know we are nice people, and we are tolerant," he said. "We want to let the rest of the state and the rest of the world to now discover the great people of Evansville."

"Talking about the issues is what helps to eliminate the prejudice and bigotry," he said. "I think a more open, free society will let people know we're starting a trend where we're trying to let them know we're accepting of all lifestyles." ~ Evansville Courier & Press

Puerto Rico's Lawmakers To Exclude LGBTQ Persons From Hate Crime Protections

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO -- Last month the Puerto Rican Senate approved an amendment to the island's penal code that would strip protection for LGBTQ persons in the hate crime statues. LGBTQ persons were not the only affected group of citizens as lawmakers also voted to remove protections for ethnicity and religious beliefs as well. The lower house is expected to vote on the amended penal code that would eliminate sexual orientation, gender identity and expression as soon as this week in a special session called by the island's Republican Governor Luis Fortuño.

In a press conference Sunday, lawmakers Representative Héctor Ferrer and Senator Eduardo Bhatia joined with LGBTq Equality Rights and activists criticising the amendment to the penal code's hate crimes provisions:

"To eliminate these groups as protected categories is to invite the commission of hate crimes in Puerto Rico," said Ferrer, as Vocero reported on Dec. 4 "It is a setback in the country’s public policy."

"In an advanced society, this is dangerous for society," added Bhatia, as Primera Hora reported.

Edge Media's National News Editor, Washington D. C. based Michael K. Lavers, reported Monday:

Political affiliation, age and disability would remain part of the revised hate crimes statute if legislators approve the new penal code and Fortuño signs it into law. Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force accused both Senate President Thomas Rivera-Schatz and Fortuño of homophobia.

"Basically they took out the communities hardest hit by hate crimes in Puerto Rico out of the hate crimes statute," Serrano told EDGE, referring to both LGBTs and Dominicans who work on the island who continue to suffer disproportionate rates of hate and bias-motivated violence on the island. "It’s an outrage and now we’re calling upon the House to restore this to where it should be."

Nearly two dozen LGBT Puerto Ricans have been murdered on the island since late 2009 in what Serrano and other activists have repeatedly described as an epidemic of anti-LGBT violence. These include gay teenager Jorge Steven López Mercado, who was stabbed to death before his decapitated, dismembered and partially burned body was dumped alongside a remote roadside near Cayey in Nov. 2009. Three LGBT Puerto Ricans-Alejandro Torres Torres, Karlota Gómez Sánchez and Ramón "Moncho" Salgado-were found dead within a 72-hour period in June.

The Justice Department cited in inadequate response to hate crimes as among the Puerto Rico Police Department’s numerous deficiencies in a damning report it released in September. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice’s own reports indicate that prosecutors have yet to convict anyone of a bias-motive crime on the island.

[...]

"Puerto Rico’s recent rash of hate crimes against the LGBT community is a sad reminder of why hate crimes laws are needed," added Human Rights Campaign spokesperson Paul Guequierre. "Removing sexual orientation and gender identity from the law would set Puerto Rico back and endanger LGBT people in the commonwealth."

Puerto Rico is an American territory. Islanders are residents of the United States who are able to travel freely to the mainland, but do not vote in national elections.