In Brief

Staff Reports

Ohio High School Anti-Gay Beating Caught On Cell Phone Video

CHILLICOTHE, OHIO -- The mother of a gay 15 year-old boy- the victim of a brutal case of antigay bullying caught on cell phone video and later posted to Facebook- is seeking to have hate crime charges brought against her son's assailant.

The video clearly shows the attacker waiting for the boy and then immediately throws a series of punches and then violently takes the victim to the ground after a desperate attempt by the youth to get away from his assailant. Both boys are students at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio.

ABC News affiliate WSYX in Columbus, Ohio reported that the attacker posted anti-gay remarks on the victim's Facebook page two days before the attack.

The station interviewed the victim's mother, who describes what she saw of the vicious beating on tape.

"The boy stood there and waited on him, and waited on him, and waited on him," she told WSYX. "And then as soon as he walks in the door, the boy hits him. The victim walks away saying, 'What did I do? Why are you doing this?' And he keeps walking away."

But then the boy grabs the victim, stands over him on the ground and delivers at least seven punches in quick succession, the smacks audible on the tape.

The mother told the station that her son might have a concussion and chipped teeth, and that she wants that attack pursued as a "hate crime." The mother is certain it was motivated by her son being gay.

"It's my son," she said, "and they did it just because he's a homosexual."

"I was waiting for somebody," says the boy, whose identity is hidden in the news report. "I covered myself, I shielded my body, and he just kept hitting me and nobody did anything."

Equality Ohio Executive Director, Ed Mullen, stated that this incident is emblematic of violence experienced or feared by LGBT students every day. Mullen adds: 

"Union-Scioto has no policy in place that specifically protects students from being bullied or attacked based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Union-Scioto Local School District does have a policy that prohibits harassment based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, disability, among others, but it does not specifically protect against harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity."

Mullen explained that the incident serves as a reminder that Ohio’s anti-bullying law must be strengthened and specific protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth must be included. 

Mullen says: 

 “All students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have the right to a safe school and education. Students should not fear verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, or physical assault in our public schools.”

An anti-bullying bill is pending in Ohio's legislature. Ohio House Bill 208 would add sexual orientation, gender identity, and other enumerated protections to Ohio’s anti-bullying law without changing the general prohibition against any bullying or harassment. Proponents of the bill are seeking testimony in the House Education Committee, according to Equality Ohio, but the bill has not been a priority of the committee.

SLDN Files Federal Suit on Behalf of Married Gay and Lesbian Service Members, Veterans

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- A team of lawyers from the Service Members Legal Defense Network launched a federal lawsuit here today in U. S. District Court on behalf of current and former service members seeking equal recognition, benefits and family support for equal sacrifice and service in the U.S. Armed Forces. The plaintiffs, each legally married, want the armed services to recognize their families and seek the same family support and benefits for their same-sex spouses that the services and Department of Veterans Affairs provide to opposite-sex spouses.

This is the same court that ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage last year. That decision is being appealed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. The 1996 law bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed in states that allow them. The suit also challenges provisions of federal code regarding spouses that lawyers said bar gay couples from accessing benefits provided by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Those benefits include military identification cards, access to bases, recreational programs, spousal support groups and burial rights at national cemeteries.

“This case is about one thing, plain and simple. It’s about justice for gay and lesbian service members and their families in our armed forces rendering the same military service, making the same sacrifices, and taking the same risks to keep our nation secure at home and abroad,” said Army Veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis. “These couples are in long term, committed, and legally recognized marriages, and the military should not be forced to turn its back on them because the federal government refuses to recognize their families.”

“We’ve been serving our country too long, working too hard, and sacrificing too much to see our families denied the same recognition, support and benefits as our straight, married counterparts,” said lead plaintiff, Major Shannon McLaughlin of the Massachusetts National Guard. McLaughlin and her spouse, Casey, are the parents of ten month old twins, Grace and Grant.

Currently, federal law requires the military to ignore these marriages and, therefore, prevents it from providing vitally needed benefits to these legally married spouses, including housing; health care; surviving spouse benefits; the issuance of military identification cards; and morale, welfare, and recreational programs. These inequities were recently spotlighted when Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charlie Morgan of the New Hampshire National Guard, announced today as a plaintiff in this case, was forced to seek intervention from elected officials and the Pentagon in order for her spouse, a part-time special education teacher, to be permitted to attend a yellow-ribbon reintegration ceremony following CW2 Morgan’s return from a deployment to Kuwait.

“As plaintiffs, we are fighting to receive the same benefits and opportunities as our married heterosexual counterparts. This discrimination causes undue financial and emotional hardship for our families. As a cancer survivor, who has been recently diagnosed with a recurrence, I worry every day that my health may take a turn for the worse, and Karen would be unable to receive the survivor’s benefits to help take care of our daughter. We are only asking for fair and equitable treatment as a recognized family,” Morgan said today.

Sarvis pointed out this is not about special rights, as some critics have argued.

“We are not advocating any special treatment for the families of gay and lesbian service members or veterans, but we want to underscore that all military families should be treated the same when it comes to recognition, benefits and family support,” said Sarvis.