08/17/2010
Back in April I updated a story on Ceara Sturgis, a lesbian senior at Wesson Attendance Center in Jackson, Mississippi. Sturgis had her yearbook photo rejected by the school, citing dress codes, because she was wearing a tuxedo.
When the yearbooks came out, Sturgis was surprised to find that not only had her yearbook photo not been included, her name was not mentioned at all despite the fact that she had attended Wesson for 12 years.
Now, the ACLU has filed suit against the school:
The lawsuit charges Ceara's rights were violated under Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex and sex stereotypes, and the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection.
"Inclusion in the senior yearbook is a rite of passage for students, and it is shameful that Ceara was denied that chance," said Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. "It's unfair and unlawful to force students to conform to outdated notions about what boys and girls should look like without any regard to who they actually are as people."
Ceara tried posing with the drape, but felt extremely uncomfortable and had her mother request that she wear the tuxedo instead. The photographer permitted Ceara to do so. It was only after the portrait was taken that the principal informed Ceara that he would not allow the photo to be published. Despite efforts to resolve the issue by Ceara's mother and the ACLU, Ceara received her yearbook without her portrait, or even her name, included in the senior class portrait section.
"This should never have been an issue. Title IX and the Constitution prohibit school officials from forcing students to conform to gender stereotypes. Ceara should not have been expected to compromise her everyday appearance and identity for her senior portrait," said Bear Atwood, interim Legal Director for the ACLU of Mississippi. "The school's actions are discriminatory, unlawful and mean-spirited."
Read the full complaint HERE (PDF).
Said Sturgis' mom Veronica Rodriguez at the time the yearbooks were issued:
"They didn't even put her name in it. I was so furious when she told me about it. Ceara started crying and I told her to suck it up. Is that not pathetic for them to do that? Yet again, they have crapped on her and made her feel alienated. It's like she's nobody there, even though she's gone to school there for 12 years. They mentioned none of her accolades, even though she's one of the smartest students there with wonderful grades. They've got kids in the book that have been busted for drugs. There's even a picture of one of the seniors who dropped out of school. I don't get it. Ceara is a top student. Why would they do this to her?"
Posted 12:15 PM EST by Andy Towle in ACLU, Discrimination, Mississippi, News | Permalink
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The penguins at the Philadelphia Zoo find a way to combat the August doldrums (which, given their situation can't be much different than the June, July, or whatever month doldrums).
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
Continue reading "Watch: A Day in the Life of an Evasive Butterfly"
Posted 11:35 AM EST by Andy Towle in Nature, News | Permalink
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Above, a recent shot of a bearded Jake Gyllenhaal out in L.A. (via just jared).
Below, the sexiest frame from the trailer for his new romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs, in which he teams back up with his Brokeback Mountain beard Anne Hathaway, as a Viagra salesman.
Trailer, if you're interested, is AFTER THE JUMP...
Continue reading "Presenting Jake Gyllenhaal's Beard"
Posted 11:05 AM EST by Andy Towle in Anne Hathaway, Facial Hair, Jake Gyllenhaal, News | Permalink
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UK Gay News reports on a radio interview with Russia's first modern billionaire German Sterligov:
During the radio show, the host of Cultural Shock, Ksenia Larina, asked Mr Sterligov: “I want to understand, German, what what you want to do … what to do not only with atheists but also with gays and lesbians?”
Mr. Sterligov responded: “As it is written by the Apostle Paul, Let it be their blood upon their heads.
Other guests on the programme chipped in. One asked: “This is what is written about gays and lesbians?”
“Yes, replied Mr. Sterligov. “This is what is written about the homosexuals.”
Another guest wanted clarification. “That means to kill?”
“Yes, for sure,” Mr. Sterligov confirmed.
Before this exchange, Mr. Sterligov said that he would never hire any gay man or woman to work for him. “No, well … homosexuals would not be given a job under any circumstance … never.”
“And if there is ever a law in the state requiring me to employ homosexuals, I would immediately disobey it.”
Mr Sterligov further explained his position about the laws: “I believe in God and for me the laws of God are above the laws of man. Where they coincide, I admit them. Where they are contrary to the law of God, I spit on them.”
Sterligov, known for his fundamentalist Orthodox views, amassed a huge fortune in commodities trading following the collapse of the Soviet Union and quit his job to live as a peasant in the Russian countryside.
Gay and lesbian advocates are planning to take action against Sterligov's calls for violence according to UK Gay News.
Said Article 282 director Nikolai Baev: “We intend to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Sterligov for his calls to violence against gays and lesbians in Russia...In the private sphere, he can preach all sorts of homophobic and xenophobic ideas. However, the public advocacy of violence and hatred is prohibited by law in Russia. We will require the application of this law to protect the rights, lives and dignity of LGBT citizens of Russia."
Posted 10:23 AM EST by Andy Towle in German Sterligov, News, Russia | Permalink
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The Stars and Stripes reports on the below-average return rate for the Pentagon DADT troop survey:
"Sunday was the deadline for troops to complete the Defense Department's 'don't ask, don't tell' attitudes survey, and officials at the Pentagon said the final tally on completed responses was 109,883 -- a response rate of only about 27.5 percent.
That's below the 30 to 40 percent response rate researchers from the University of Texas at Austin say an average email or online surveys should pull in, and well below the 52 percent participation rate officials at the Office of Personnel Management got in their similarly-structured 2010 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey."
The results reportedly won't be released until December.
And a new survey is set to go out:
"Meanwhile, later this month the Pentagon plans on mailing out another 150,000 surveys to military spouses (70,000 active duty spouses, 80,000 reservist spouses) asking their feelings on a "don't ask, don't tell" repeal. That survey will be due back in late September."
Meanwhile, Aaron Belkin at the Palm Center writes in the Huffington Post that it's "do or die" time for repeal:
If this policy is to be put out of its misery, three things must happen over the next few months. First, the Senate must vote in September, over the objections of Senator John McCain, to pass the defense authorization bill which includes repeal language.
Second, the Pentagon Working Group now studying the issue must deliver a report to Secretary Gates on December 1 which recommends new regulations based on non-discrimination. This is not a negotiable point. As our NATO allies have demonstrated, writing non-discrimination regulations is quite simple. I have every reason to expect the Working Group to do a good job. But red-herring issues such as marriage and partnership benefits (which the Pentagon has no business addressing at this time) should not be allowed to delay an otherwise straightforward process. The Group must get back to business and focus on the (very simple) task at hand.
Finally, the President will have to resist the inevitable demand from Service Chiefs to delay the implementation of non-discrimination so that they can study, study, study beyond the year that they have been given already.
The Palm Center released new data yesterday regarding the 428 LGBT service members discharged in 2009 under the failed policy:
"The figure is down from 619 service members discharged for violating the policy in 2008.
Women account for 14 percent of Army soldiers but received 48 percent of the Army's "don't ask" discharges in 2009, the study said. Six percent of the Marine Corps is female, but women accounted for 23 percent of its discharges. The Navy discharged only two officers for violating the policy in 2009, and both were Asian. The Army discharged five officers -- two were black, one was Asian and two were white, the Palm Center said.
Last year's "don't ask" discharges accounted for about one-tenth of 1 percent of all separations and did not affect the military's readiness, said congressional aides familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak on the record.
But the list included eight linguists, 20 infantrymen, 16 medical aides and one member of the Army's special forces, positions considered "mission critical" by the Government Accountability Office."
Posted 9:49 AM EST by Andy Towle in Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Military, News | Permalink
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Tokyo's 9H Pod Hotel is about to open in 55 locations in Japan. Not for claustrophobes.
Design Scene writes: "Besides its monochrome interior design by Takaaki Nakamura enriched by Masaaki Hiromura graphics, visitors also enjoy custom designed toothbrushes, sleepers, soap and even sleepwear."
Posted 9:33 AM EST by Andy Towle in Design, Hotels, Interiors, Japan, News, Tokyo, Travel | Permalink
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