Apr 08, 2005   | COMMENTS     

Gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) on April 5 reintroduced legislation that would make permanent through law the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Affairs. Mayor Anthony Williams created the office by executive order last September after an earlier bill by Graham to create the office died in committee. The office received widespread attention last month after its first full-time director, lesbian activist Wanda Alston, was found murdered in her home. During the week of her funeral, Graham said he would resume his efforts to push through a bill to enact the office’s existence into law, in part, to honor Alston’s memory. The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, a gay political group, “applauds Councilmember Graham for his leadership on this important matter,” said the club’s treasurer, Darrin Glymph. “I’m sure that Wanda is smiling upon us,” Glymph said. Graham’s bill stalled in the Council in part because of opposition from the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, which has argued that such an office is not needed. GLAA, a small group of experienced local activists, has said D.C.’s gay residents are sufficiently organized to lobby the city government and that a GLBT office within the city government would tend to promote the agenda of the mayor rather than the gay community.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

‘Gay panic’ defense expected to surface in D.C. murder trial
Prosecutors were expected to ask a D.C. Superior Court judge to bar the use of the so-called ‘gay panic’ defense in the trial this week of Markus D. Johnson, who is accused of murdering the owner of a fashion modeling agency on 13th Street, NW, in March 2002. Johnson, who was 19 at the time of the killing, told police in a videotaped confession that he slashed the throat of Michael J. Myers, 47, and struck him in the head and body with a computer monitor and a floor waxing machine after Myers allegedly made sexual advances toward him. Police said they found Johnson in possession of Myers’ car at the time of his arrest and noted that Johnson admitted using latex gloves to attempt to remove evidence of his presence in Myers’ apartment, where the attack occurred. Myers used the apartment as a modeling studio. At a hearing in April 2002, Johnson’s attorney said Johnson acted in self-defense. The attorney, Tania Chutkan, said a fight erupted between Johnson and Myers after Johnson defended himself against Myers’ sexual advances, which she said included Myers rubbing himself against Johnson and complimenting Johnson for being attractive. She said Johnson escalated his assault on Myers after Myers allegedly threw a bottle at him. In pre-trial motions, the United States Attorney’s Office argued that friends and others who knew Myers said he was heterosexual and dated women and they did not believe he would make sexual advances toward a man. Johnson’s current attorney, Thomas Dybdahl, did not return calls by press time. The trial, before Judge Judith Retchin, was expected to last through next week. Gay rights attorneys have said the gay panic defense is used to appeal to the anti-gay prejudices of jurors. They say defense attorneys have used it in an effort to persuade juries to conclude that a murder was justified or unintended because a defendant reacted with uncontrolled horror or revulsion in response to a homosexual advance.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Del. House passes gay anti-discrimination bill
Delaware’s House of Representatives passed a bill that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation late last month. It is the third time a similar bill has passed the House. The previous two attempts at a law both died in a state Senate committee. As reported by the Associated Press, House Bill 36 passed after more than three hours of debate last week, by a 22-18 vote. While the bill does add the words “sexual orientation” to the state’s anti-discrimination policy, which already includes age and race, among other factors, it exempts most religious groups and the Boy Scouts, the AP reported. The bill also states that it does not legalize same-sex marriage. Still, passage of the bill is a victory for many gay rights activists, including William Oberle Jr. (R-Newark), who sponsored the bill. “It’s been a long battle over 10 years, and we’re another step closer,” he ...