Jun 13, 2008   | COMMENTS     

Former D.C. police chief may create gay liaison unit in Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The city’s police commissioner is considering launching a full-time unit dedicated to improving relations with the gay community. Commissioner Charles Ramsey, formerly chief of D.C. Metro Police, which has a gay liaison unit, said the initiative would be a trust-building venture modeled after a detachment he created in Washington. He said he hoped the idea, which would include stationing two or three officers in a prominent gay neighborhood downtown, would improve the underreporting of hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. “They don’t have faith that the police will do something,” Ramsey told the Philadelphia Inquirer Monday. “We want to make sure they feel comfortable telling us about any issue that needs to be addressed.” The force has 6,700 officers.

Wis. Supreme Court says lawsuit over gay remark is frivolous

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A religious activist’s lawsuit claiming a Wisconsin gay rights group defamed him by accusing him of advocating the murder of gays is frivolous, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled last week. Anti-gay activist Rev. Grant Storms of New Orleans sued gay rights group Action Wisconsin after it took excerpts from a 2003 speech Storms made in Milwaukee and claimed he was advocating the murder of gays. Storms’ lawsuit was dismissed in 2005, and he was ordered to pay court costs and attorneys’ fees. The Supreme Court last week upheld that decision, which had been reversed by an appeals court. The high court’s 4-3 decision means Storms’ attorney James Donohoo will have to pay more than $87,000 in court costs and fees because the court said he should have known the lawsuit was frivolous. With interest and additional expenses, Donohoo said he now owes closer to $120,000. “I’m a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ as my lord and savior,” Donohoo said. “I’ll have life everlasting. I can use that assurance to try to deal with this decision and the ramifications of it.” Action Wisconsin’s attorney, Lester Pines, said he had not read the opinion in detail and had no immediate comment. Storms, who hosts a talk show on a New Orleans radio station, considers himself a Christian activist and has protested what he calls “the homosexual agenda.” In 2003, Wisconsin Christians United invited him to speak at the International Conference on Homo-Fascism in Milwaukee. Action Wisconsin obtained an audio recording of his speech and publicized remarks it said incited violence against gays. The group issued a press release saying Storms made sounds like gunfire, as if he were shooting gay people, and said, “God has delivered them into our hands. Boom boom boom ... there’s 20. Ca-ching. Glory, glory to God.” Storms argued his statements were taken out of context.

Most Americans say government should let gays wed: USA Today

McLEAN, Va. — Six in 10 Americans say the government shouldn’t regulate whether gays and lesbians can marry whom they choose, USA Today reported last week citing a Gallup Poll the paper co-conducted. It found that 63 percent of adults say same-sex marriage is “strictly a private decision” between two people. That the government has the right “to prohibit or allow” such marriages was agreed to by 33 percent of responders. Another 4 percent had no opinion. Majorities agreeing same-sex marriage should be private crossed level of education, income and regional brackets. The poll also found that 97 percent said people of different religions should be allowed to wed; 95 percent favored interracial marriages; 63 percent favored same-sex marriages; 30 percent favored polygamy; and 18 percent marriages where one or both were under age 16.

Federal appeals court dismisses challenge to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 12 gay and lesbian veterans who had challenged the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The plaintiffs had all been discharged under the policy, instituted by Congress. First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Howard said in the decision issued Monday that while some may question the wisdom of the policy, the court had to defer to congressional decision making. The policy prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members, but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or engaging in homosexual activity. The plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit that the policy violates their Constitutional rights to privacy, free speech and equal protection.

Pittsburgh minister faces two charges stemming from ...