Organizers are planning a vigil in San Francisco for Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at Jane Warner Plaza Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro after two out lesbian Texas teens were shot over the weekend in a park outside Corpus Christi

Local organizer Jason Haas phoned the Bay Area Reporter Tuesday afternoon with information about the June 27 vigil. Haas said people are asked to bring signs and flowers. He also said that local leaders have been invited to attend.

According to a report in the Dallas Voice, Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, was found dead and Mary Christine Chapa, 18, was rushed to a hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery and was listed in stable condition Tuesday.

The lesbian couple had been together about five months. They were found by visitors to Violet Andrews Park in Portland, Texas at about 9 a.m. Saturday, June 23. Both had gunshot wounds to the head from a large-caliber handgun, the Voice reported.

Police believe the shooting happened around midnight Friday. Portland Police Chief Randy Wright told MSNBC that investigators believe the shootings were committed by a third party but are unsure whether they are related to the young women’s sexual orientation

The full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused Tuesday (June 5) to review a panel’s decision that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

The refusal means almost certainly that proponents of California’s ban on same-sex marriage will soon file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With last week’s 1st Circuit decision striking a core section of the Defense of Marriage Act also heading to the nation’s highest court, it is now likely the Supreme Court will have two major same-sex marriage cases on its docket in October. The 9th Circuit case, if accepted, would ask whether states can ban same-sex couples from obtaining a marriage license; the 1st Circuit case, if accepted, would ask whether the federal government can refuse to recognize marriages licensed by states to same-sex couples.

The three-paragraph order stated that the request for a full court review “failed to receive a majority of the votes” of active judges. It also noted that the mandate would be stayed for 90 days to enable proponents of Prop 8 to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Accompanying the order was a dissent from three circuit court judges. It said the refusal for appeal “has silenced” a “respectful conversation” about the same-sex marriage issue. It called the 2-1 panel decision striking Prop 8 a “gross misapplication” of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Romer v. Evans. In that case, the Supreme Court said states could not pass laws that excluded gays from protection just because gays are an unpopular group.

The panel decision, said the dissenters, “have now declared that animus must have been the only conceivable motivation for a sovereign state to have remained committed to a definition of marriage that has existed for millennia.”

Proponents of Prop 8 filed the 9th Circuit full court appeal, asking it to overturn a decision by a three-judge panel of the circuit in February. That panel decision found that California’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal constitution by stripping from same-sex couples a right they had (to marry) prior to passage of Prop 8. In order for a limited en banc (full) panel of 11 judges to have heard the appeal, at least 14 of the circuit’s 26 active judges would have had to say another review is warranted.

The case is Perry v. Brown, led by famed conservative attorney Theodore Olson and preeminent liberal attorney David Boies and organized and funded by the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
In that case, two same-sex couples sued after being denied marriage licenses once the voter-approved constitutional ban on same-sex marriage went into effect.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled, in August 2010, that banning same-sex couples from obtaining marriage licenses violates the federal Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process. He agreed to delay enforcement of the decision, pending an appeal by Yes on 8 attorneys to the 9th Circuit.

In February, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit, in a 2-1 vote, upheld Walker’s decision. But in doing so, the panel explained that Prop 8 improperly removed from a group of citizens (gays) a right they already enjoyed (marriage). The California Supreme Court had ruled, in May 2008, that the state constitution required that same-sex couples be able to obtain marriage licenses the same as straight couples. But in November of that year, voters approved Prop 8, amending the state constitution to explicitly ban the recognition of same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples who had been allowed to wed between June and Election Day 2008 remain legally married in California, but other same-sex couples could no longer marry.

While attorneys and activists uniformly called the February 7 panel decision a major victory, the decision did stop short of saying that same-sex partners, like straight partners, have a “fundamental right to marry.” Instead, it said Prop 8 deprived same-sex partners only of the “right to use the designation of ‘marriage.’” If it had ruled same-sex couples had a fundamental right to marry, said Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund’s legal director Jon Davidson, “the marriage laws of 44 states would have been cast into doubt …” And by rendering such a relatively narrow ruling, said Davidson and others, the panel reduced the likelihood the U.S. Supreme Court would take the case.

“The fundamental right to marry, as protected by the U.S. Constitution,” said Williams Institute legal scholar Jenny Pizer, “has to have the same contours throughout the country. So a decision concluding that same-sex couples have the same fundamental right as different-sex couples would call into question all the marriage restrictions states currently impose.”

- Reported by Lisa Keen

President Barack Obama today issued his annual proclamation declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month just as Pride parades and festivals get under way in cities across the country.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) also issued a Pride Month video (http://tinyurl.com/6m8wypg) in which she recounts the “dark days” of the Stonewall riots and other setbacks, noting that progress has been made since then.

In his proclamation, Obama starts out by noting that ordinary Americans “have led a proud and inexorable march toward freedom, fairness, and full equality under the law.”

“The LGBT community has written a proud chapter in the fundamentally American story. From brave men and women who came out and spoke out to union and faith leaders who rallied for equality to activists and advocates who challenged unjust laws and marched on Washington, LGBT Americans and allies have achieved what once seemed inconceivable. This month, we reflect on their enduring legacy, celebrate the movement that has made progress possible, and recommit to securing the fullest blessings of freedom for all Americans,” the proclamation reads.

Obama also describes how his administration has worked to broaden opportunity, advance equality, and level the playing field for LGBT people and communities. That includes passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act; action to end housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and expanding hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients and their loved ones. And of course, Obama mentions the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy that had prevented gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

The proclamation also makes note of Obama’s historic statement last month that he supports marriage equality for same-sex couples.

“And because we must treat others the way we want to be treated, I personally believe in marriage equality for same-sex couples,” the proclamation states.

The proclamation calls upon the country to “eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.”

In her video message, Pelosi also mentions recent achievements such as the repeal of DADT, which “took its rightful place in the dustbin of history.”

“President Obama made it the policy of his administration to no longer defend the shameful Defense of Marriage Act,” Pelosi added.

Pelosi noted that more needs to be done, including ending workplace discrimination.

“We must protect and preserve the rights of all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation,” she said.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the core part of the Defense of Marriage Act, barring federal recognition of marriages of same-sex couples, is unconstitutional.

The panel said that, under simple rational review of the law, the same-sex couples seeking to overturn DOMA, “cannot prevail.” But, the panel also said that the principles of equal protection and federalism implicated together by DOMA “require a closer than usual review based in part on discrepant impact among married couples and in part on the importance of state interests in regulating marriage.”

The panel decided that an earlier 1st Circuit decision on a case challenging “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” “has already declined” to grant “suspect classification” to laws based on “sexual preference.” And the panel said it was neither empowered nor willing to “create such a new suspect classification for same-sex relationships.”

But citing Romer v. Evans and other U.S. Supreme Court precedents, and noting that the denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples married in Massachusetts “does burden the choice of states … to regulate the rules and incidents of marriage,” the court said Section 3 cannot stand.

-Reported by Lisa Keen

Friends of Oakland murder victim Brandy Martell will gather for a rally in downtown Oakland on Sunday, May 13.

Martell, a transgender woman, was shot as she sat in her car with friends at 13th and Franklin streets in Oakland on April 29. As of this week, Oakland police continue to investigate the case but no arrests have been made.

Tiffany Woods, program coordinator of the TransVision program at Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, said the rally will be held in the amphitheater at Frank Ogawa Plaza, near the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway, from 6 to 8 p.m. Woods will be among the speakers at Sunday’s rally.

Woods knew Martell, 37, who had done some volunteer peer education work for TransVision. She also helped at the Transgender Day of Remembrance event in Oakland last November.

Family and friends mourned Martell at two memorial services earlier this week.

Friends who were with Martell in the early morning hours of April 29 have said that they were approached by two men, who talked with them and then left. Apparently one of the men later returned, at around 5 a.m., and shot Martell, the friends said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Oakland police homicide unit at (510) 238-3821 or the dispatch office, (510) 777-3333.

Just one day after President Barack Obama’s big announcement that he supports the legal right of gay couples to marry, Republican nominee-apparent Mitt Romney is scrambling to contain an unexpected revelation.

A close friend of Romney’s, when the two were attending a private boarding school outside Detroit during their high school years, says Romney forcibly held down and cut the hair of a fellow student despite the student’s screams for help.

The Romney friend, Matthew Friedemann, told the Washington Post, in a story published May 10, that the victim of the attack had tears in his eyes and was screaming for help when he, Romney, and several other students tackled the non-conforming student whom many presumed to be gay.

The Post said four of the other students who participated in the attack confirmed it. One recalled it as “vicious.” Friedemann said Romney organized and led the attack.

Asked about the Post story, Romney told Fox News Radio Thursday that he didn’t recall the incident but added, “I certainly don’t believe that I … thought the fellow was homosexual.”

Although he didn’t remember the incident, he characterized the attack as a prank, acknowledged that it might have gone “too far,” but said he considers himself to be “a very different person” now.

The victim of the 1965 attack, according to the Post, was John Lauber, who died in 2004. In high school, Lauber had grown his hair long, bleached it, and wore it in a style that it draped over one eye. That, according to Friedemann, led many students to presume Lauber was gay.

Friedemann said Romney saw Lauber’s hairstyle and said, “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong!” A few days later, said Friedemann, he found Romney leading a group of students into a room where Lauber was. Friedemann said Romney and the group grabbed Lauber, pinned him to the floor, and enabled Romney to cut his hair.

The Post got confirmation of the attack from five of the students who participated in it.

Alex Shriver, a Romney campaign spokesman, on MSNBC Thursday afternoon, blew off a question about the incident, calling it a “temporary media distraction, with sort of questionable timing.”

But the Post found another fellow student of Romney’s, Gary Hummel, who was gay at the time and recalled Romney mocking him with “Atta girl!” whenever we spoke out in class.

- Lisa Keen

In journalism, one of the first things writers learn is not to plagiarize from other writers. Writers’ works should be their own, or at the very least attributed to the original source. That’s true whether covering city hall or writing calendar listings. Plagiarism is a fire-able offense, as many a reporter has learned.

This week, the Bay Area Reporter became aware that the SF Bay Times was cribbing the calendar listings from BARtab, our monthly nightlife publication. BARtab editor Jim Provenzano spends a lot of time writing the listings, adding his creative flair and making them unique. That’s what a good writer does, even with something that can seem mundane, like calendar listings.

What caught our eye was the sheer number of identical listings that appeared in the April 5 edition of the Bay Times – and that whoever compiled the listings (Robert Fuggiti is the byline listed) even managed to copy Jim’s typos. That was evidence enough for us to fire off a letter to Bay Times publisher Betty Sullivan, asking her to immediately cease and desist.

Here’s one example:

From the April 1, 2012 edition of BARtab:
Bijou @ Martuni’s
Enjoy an Easter-themed musical cabaret show post-sisters in the Park, with Molly Gazay, Robb Huddleston, Nikki Arias, hostess Trauma Flintstone and accompanist Alan Choy. $5. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. at Market. 241-0205.

Here’s the April 5, 2012 Bay Times:
Bijou @ Martuni’s. Enjoy an Easter-themed musical cabaret show post-sisters in the Park, with Molly Gazay, Robb Huddleston, Nikki Arias, hostess Trauma Flintstone and accompanist Alan Choy. $5. 7pm. 4 Valencia St. www.dragatmartunis.com.

Readers should note the typo – not capitalizing the word “Sisters” that appeared in Jim’s BARtab listing. And yet there it is again in the Bay Times, along with the word-for-word description of the event. The only difference is that Jim includes a phone number, the Bay Times listed a website. That is not enough of a distinction to make the work one’s own.

Listings from April 9, April 10, April 11, and April 12 are all the same, with the exception of one for April 9 that was given a different title. The listings for April 13 are different. The listings for April 14 include two (La Bota Loca and Frolic) that are identical to BARtab. A recent review has determined that plagiarism has occurred in the previous three consecutive issues.

We sent Sullivan the letter. She responded that she would look into it. Then today she called us and said she was sorry about the situation.

“I will take every step to correct it,” she said. “I was surprised by it and am sorry about it.”

We’re appreciative that Sullivan has pledged to rectify the situation and look forward to next week’s Bay Times calendar being BARtab-free.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon told reporters today that he would not seek the death penalty “in any case.”

The issue was raised by the Bay Area Reporter during a Q&A with reporters at a biannual press breakfast Gascon hosted at Delancey Street Restaurant.

Earlier this month, defendant William Payne pleaded not guilty to the 1983 murder of Nikolaus Crumbley. During a court appearance February 2, Assistant District Attorney Michael Swart said that the murder charge against Payne could be altered to reflect that it occurred during the course of sodomy, which would make Payne a candidate for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

At the time, Swart said he did not know if the DA’s office would alter the charge but said that if it became a capital case it would go before a committee in the DA’s office. The decision to seek the death penalty would ultimately be made by Gascon.

Thursday, Gascon was asked about the Payne case.

“We’re not going to be seeking the death penalty,” Gascon said.

Asked to clarify if he was just referring to the Payne case, Gascon said his office would not seek the death penalty “in any case.”

“It would be life without parole,” he said of the severest penalty his office would seek in applicable felony cases.

During his 2011 election campaign, Gascon said that he’s “not a believer” in the death penalty but did not specifically rule out applying it in cases.

The B.A.R. will have more on the Payne case in next week’s edition.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan will join with city council members to celebrate the recent Proposition 8 court ruling and marriage equality activists will make their annual pilgrimage to county clerk offices around the state on Valentine’s Day.

In Oakland, the mayor and city council members will join community leaders and host a Celebration for Marriage Equality at City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 14. There will be cake and refreshments. The event is free and open to the public. More information is available on the Facebook page, “Overturn of Prop 8 Valentine’s Day Reception.”

The reception will celebrate the February 7 decision by a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that found Prop 8, the state’s same-sex marriage ban, unconstitutional.

Also on February 14, marriage equality advocates with Get Equal, California Faith for Equality, Coalition of Welcoming Congregations, and Marriage Equality USA will hold their annual marriage counter demonstrations at county clerk offices around the state. These are generally peaceful and fun actions, whereby same-sex couples approach the counter and ask for a marriage license. Because same-sex marriage is not currently taking place in California, the clerks turn the couples away, but the demonstrations keep the issue in the public eye and many clerks are supportive. Additionally, because many opposite-sex couples tie the knot that day, it’s also an educational opportunity.

In San Francisco, the counter action will take place at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. In the East Bay, leafleting will take place at the Walnut Creek BART station (all day) and in Martinez, there will be a counter event from 4 to 5 p.m. People are encouraged to bring balloons, smiles, and friends.

For more information and a listing of activities planned in other cities, visit www.marriageequality.org and click on “Action Center” then “Calendar of Events.”

[Updated: Also, in Berkeley, author Cynthia Chin-Lee will be at Books Inc. Tuesday at 4 p.m. to sign copies of her latest children's book, Operation Marriage (Reach and teach/PM Press). The story is based on a real Palo Alto family caught in the crossfire of Prop 8. Illustrator Lea Lyon and local leaders will be at the event as well. The book signing is sponsored by Freedom to Marry. Books Inc. is located at 1760 4th Street.
Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder of Network Spiritual Progressives and Tikkun magazine, will be on hand to introduce the Defense of All Families Pledge that has already collected around 2,000 signatures.]

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee this morning named Christina Olague as the new supervisor for District 5. Olague, who had served as president of the Planning Commission, was sworn in around 10:30 a.m.

An out bisexual Latina, Olague was an early member of the “Run Ed Run” campaign to encourage Lee to seek a full four-year term.

“Christina Olague is my appointment for District 5 supervisor,” Lee said in a statement. “As a low-income tenant and immigration advocate, she shares my values in making government more fair and responsive for San Francisco residents. She has been a voice for our neighborhoods and has proven through her voting record on the Planning Commission that what San Francisco needs most right now is job creation and revitalizing our local economy.”

District 5 covers the Haight Ashbury, Lower Haight, Fillmore, Western Addition, Parnassus Heights, North Panhandle, Anza Vista, Lower Pacific Heights, Japantown, part of Hayes Valley, part of Ashbury Heights, and part of UCSF Parnassus Heights.

Olague will fill the term of former Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who was sworn in Sunday as sheriff. She is expected to run for a full term when the odd-numbered districts are up this November.

The Bay Area Reporter will have more on Olague in Thursday’s edition.