Jun 16, 2006  |  By: ELIZABETH A. PERRY  | COMMENTS     

When lesbian activist Lilli Vincenz took her videotaped footage of gay rights marches to an Arlington video store for duplication and was refused service, she had no idea that a firestorm of controversy would result.

What started as a simple request last May evolved into a yearlong battle between Bono Film & Video and the Arlington Human Rights Commission.

The commission ruled on April 13 that Tim Bono, owner of Bono Film & Video, discriminated against Vincenz because she is a lesbian. On June 6, the commission reversed its decision — one day before Bono brought his own lawsuit against Arlington County.

“We will continue to pursue the case,” said Bono’s attorney, Rena Lindevaldsen of Liberty Counsel. “The county is investigating [discrimination cases] based on sexual orientation, and they don’t have the authority to do that.”

Bono’s lawsuit is based on the original commission ruling and the county’s anti-discrimination law, Lindevaldsen said.

Arlington County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac said the commission did not give any specific reasons for reversing its decision.

“They are committed to protecting individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation,” he said. “But they did not find it necessary to continue with this case based on the facts.”

According Lindevaldsen, Bono refused Vincenz’s request because of the content of the videos, not her sexual orientation.

“Virginia follows Dillon’s Rule, which says a municipality or county can’t exercise an authority unless it is given that authority by the state,” said Lindevaldsen. “In Virginia, sexual orientation is not included in the list of classifications.”

In 2002, Fairfax County wanted to add protections based on sexual orientation but the state’s attorney general at the time, conservative Republican Jerry Kilgore, concluded local goverments lack such authority.

The Human Rights Commission’s April 13 decision said Bono had discriminated against Vincenz because she is a lesbian and ordered him to duplicate the tapes or pay for them to be duplicated elsewhere. The commission’s executive director, Raul Torres, said the decision was based on e-mail correspondences, video content and testimony.

Longtime customer

Vincenz said she had done business for years with Tim Bono’s father, Joseph, so she thought nothing of asking Bono’s son to duplicate two 15-minute historical gay march documentaries, “Gay and Proud” and “Second Largest Minority.”

Bono refused her request and referred her to his website, for an explanation. According to the core values statement published on bonofilm.com, the company can refuse work based on any content it deems objectionable.

Despite her legal wrangling with Bono and Liberty Counsel, Vincenz said she knows she is not the target of religious conservatives’ wrath. She said she is willing to do whatever her lawyers recommend. She also is aware that any publicity can be good publicity, especially for gays and lesbians — a segment of the population she says was marginalized and ignored before the Stonewall Riots.

“Today we are very visible,” she said. “The publicity I got is good because people who don’t know anyone who is gay will see we are like everyone else. There wasn’t an organized attack on gays and lesbians back in 1971, when we first started, the way there is now. Today we’re seen as the enemy to a large group of so-called Christians. I’m a Christian too, and I’m disappointed some of the larger denominations are not backing us up.”