Dec 22, 2006   | COMMENTS     

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s gay marriage ban does not prevent domestic violence charges against unmarried people, a lawyer for the state told the Ohio Supreme Court last week. In a case expected to set a precedent affecting a dozen similarly worded bans around the country, Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel argued that Ohio’s 2004 constitutional amendment was clearly intended to outlaw same-sex marriages and civil unions, not to render obsolete portions of the state’s domestic violence law as the case seeks to do. The case is among the first before a state Supreme Court to interpret any of the constitutional gay-marriage bans passed in the wake of the controversial Massachusetts decision allowing same-sex marriages, legal observers said. Hutzel said public statements, campaign literature and press accounts at the time of the amendment made the intent of its backers and supporters clear, but she was rebuffed by the justices. Carswell was charged with the assault of his live-in girlfriend because he was “living as a spouse” with her under the domestic violence law.

Chicago gay school superintendent
alleges discrimination in complaint

CHICAGO (AP) — Lambda Legal filed a discrimination complaint last week against a suburban school district and its board, saying they fired the former superintendent because he is openly gay. Bremen High School District 228 has insisted Rich Mitchell was fired last month for other reasons, including a joke video that portrayed teachers as killers, strippers and drug users. The complaint by Lambda Legal, a gay rights organization, with the Cook County Human Rights Commission accuses the district, board of education and school board president with sexual orientation discrimination. Ray Hauser, an attorney representing the district, has called the discrimination allegation “ridiculous,” and said Mitchell was fired for poor leadership. Mitchell, 42, had been superintendent since 2004 and was fired last month after a 4-2 vote.

Outed student suing Calif.
school seeks $1.3 million

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Attorneys for a lesbian student who sued an Orange County school district and her principal for revealing her homosexuality to her mother have asked a judge to award their client up to $1.3 million in damages. Charlene Nguon, 18, filed the lawsuit against the Garden Grove Unified School District last year alleging her privacy rights were violated. She also claimed she was singled out and punished by Santiago High School principal Ben Wolf and other school officials for hugging and kissing her girlfriend on campus. During closing arguments in the trial Tuesday, Nguon’s lawyer Dan Stormer asked U.S. District Judge James Selna for $300,000 to $1.3 million in damages. “It is a significant impact in one’s life to be punished for who you are,” Stormer said. But Dennis Walsh, an attorney representing the school district, said Wolf merely told Nguon’s mother that her daughter was being disciplined for “kissing another girl.” “It’s not a blatant disclosure of sexual orientation,” Walsh said. A ruling is expected within six weeks.

Milwaukee judge tosses
lawsuit over nude musical

A civil rights lawsuit filed by the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center was thrown out, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week. The suit was prompted by a Milwaukee police shutdown in August 2005 of “Naked Boys Singing,” a nude musical review. The production was closed because its organizers didn’t have a license. The city later determined that a license wasn’t needed because the center is a non-profit group. The show reopened in October 2005. The center was seeking $600,000 in damages and alleged violations of free speech and due process. Some center leaders said the group was targeted because its members are gay. U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert Jr. dismissed the suit and said the center “must establish that the violations were part of a custom or policy by the municipality.” Clevert determined that wasn’t the case here since members of the Milwaukee police vice squad don’t have citywide decision-making authority, the Sentinel said.

Mich. high court to hear
same-sex benefits case

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court again will hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Ann Arbor school district’s same-sex benefits policy. But the justices won’t focus on the constitutionality of providing health insurance and other benefits to workers’ gay partners. The case involves whether 17 taxpayers followed the proper procedure to stop Ann Arbor Public Schools from offering benefits to gay couples. The high court first ...