A gay Idaho man has said he will sue the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office if his complaints of anti-gay harassment continue not to be addressed.
Chukk Nielson said that he, his partner, and their son don’t feel safe. Ever since moving into their home in the town of Ammon two years ago, they’ve been targeted with vandalism and other forms of harassment, according to a news report posted online today by KIDK, an area station.
Said Neilson, “We got egged, a deer [head] put into our mailbox, spray painted with words ‘fag,’ ‘queer,’ [and] toilet papered with human feces wrapped in it, thrown up against our house.”
. . .
According to Neilson, he’s had police at his home a dozen times to investigate various incidents over the last two years. Neilson also said he and his family had made three calls just this past weekend. …
. . .
But the authorities have also failed to keep track of the cases.
Said Neilson, “They did take pictures every time, but [the photos] never got filed, [they] don’t have the case number [for the various reports], don’t know where the file went.” …
Toronto police will monitor this Friday’s concert by Jamaican dancehall artist O’Neil Bryan, also known as Elephant Man, after receiving complaints that the performer incites anti-gay violence through his music.
. . .
Despite protests by the Toronto-based Canadian Caribbean Human Rights Group, immigration officials have issued visas to both Bryan and Collins. The latter was banned from the United Kingdom in 2004. Bryan arrived in Canada last week and has performed in Winnipeg and Victoria, where local police closely monitored the concerts.
. . .
Ticket sales for Elephant Man’s show have been poor, with only one-third of the 2,180 seats sold. Sizzla’s concert is expected to draw 1,500.
That’s little comfort to the organizers of the Stop Murder Music campaign, made up of 20 advocacy groups that believe music by homophobic dancehall performers has contributed to mob attacks against gays in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Police could charge the artists if they perform anti-gay numbers.
The artists’ Toronto promoters, Ultimate Entertainment and Chris Hines Ent., say the performers don’t have the power to “invoke violence and murder” against gays and lesbians.
The Toronto booking agent says he can’t do anything now because of contractual agreements, but says: “I am a million per cent against lyrics that promote hatred against gays and lesbians, women, religions and races … Had I been aware of the nature of the lyrics, I wouldn’t have allowed the booking.”
That’s why it’s important to keep hammering at the issue. A lot of people who can do something are just not aware.
Americans who understand basic principles of justice have no problems with the hate crime bill known as the Matthew Shepard Act. This legislation, now awaiting a vote in the Senate, would finally protect the many citizens who are targeted for violence simply because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and it would provide law enforcement the necessary resources to investigate bias-fueled brutality.
Unfortunately, some clergy across the nation have joined together to oppose this bill in an aggressive and divisive manner. For instance, conservative African-American leaders - most notably Bishop Harry Jackson of Maryland’s Hope Christian Church - have been inundating the media and faith communities with the message that this legislation will allow police to storm into worship services and arrest clergy if they speak against being gay. They make the incendiary allegation that the bill will create “thought crimes” by punishing people for thinking ill of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
The truth is that the Matthew Shepard Act protects all First Amendment rights. And, although that is a given, this bill goes out of its way to protect the free speech of ministers. Those pastors who wish to continue condemning and dehumanizing the gay community will be free to do so.
The hate crimes bill provides resources for the investigation of violent actions - not beliefs, thoughts, or words. The proposed federal statute does not punish nor prohibit free expression of one’s religious beliefs. As University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey R. Stone recently concluded, “The argument of the pastors that the proposed legislation in any way threatens their right to preach their version of the Gospel is, to be frank, ridiculous.”
Despite the ridiculousness of their claims, the powerful and cash-rich antigay lobby continues to mold opinion against this legislation with fear and falsehoods. …
Sheila Schroeder, 43, and Kate Burns, 44, were led away in handcuffs by police when they refused to leave the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office after being refused a marriage certificate.
. . .
Denver police Lt. James Henning said Burns and Schroeder would be issued a summons for trespassing and released.
. . .
Voters in 2006 amended the Colorado Constitution to permit marriage only between a man and a woman. A proposal to recognize “domestic partnerships” between same-sex couples was rejected in the same election.
. . .
Deputy Clerk JoAnn Keys cited the 2006 amendment in refusing to issue a marriage certificate to Burns and Schroeder.
The couple then sat down on the floor in front of Keys’ desk and refused to leave. They were arrested at 5 o’clock, when the office closed.
A victim of homophobic violence claims a police officer tried to convince him not to file a report.
Jean Pierre Cheaib was leaving a Taylor Square nightclub about 10am 19 August when two men called him a “stupid poof”, told him he was “going to die” and hit him in the jaw.
. . .
“The officer told me how stressful the court process would be and said, ‘Do you realise that nine out of 10 gay men don’t report incidents because they are afraid?’” Cheaib said.
“I said I wanted to press charges anyway, and they said, ‘The men are only going to get off free.’”
. . .
Two days later, Cheaib reported the incident to the coordinator of ACON’s Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project, Carl Harris, who spoke to police about their handling of the confrontation.
Cheaib later received a phone call from the officer he had spoken to after the assault. The officer allegedly told Cheaib the matter would be “thrown out of court anyway”.
The American Civil Liberties Union says that Sen. Larry Craig should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea because “the secret sting operation used to arrest him was likely unconstitutional.”
The ACLU submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to a Minnesota District Court on Monday urging it to allow Craig to withdraw the guilty plea.
. . .
When free speech rights come into play, police enforcement actions must be “carefully crafted” so that they don’t unnecessarily ensnare people who are engaging in constitutionally protected speech, the brief states.
The secret sting operation used by the police to arrest Senator Craig was not “carefully crafted” to avoid ensnaring innocent speech, said the ACLU.
. . .
“Senator Craig has not always been a great friend of civil liberties, but you shouldn’t have to endorse the civil liberties of others to keep your own…
“Government should make public restrooms safe for all, but it should do so in a manner that is really designed to stop inappropriate behavior, rather than destroying the lives of people who might have no intention of doing anything illegal.”
Stings suck (can you say “entrapment?”), but we’re more concerned about airport cops focusing on dirty old (water-)closet cases, when they should be looking for — what are they called again? — oh, yeah… terrorists. We also have no love for Larry, that right-wing, gay-bashing hypocrite, but we’re having a very difficult time understanding how a stupid old putz in a men’s room warrants more attention than looking for people who might present a real threat to airport security.
“Persecuted for political reasons”? Yeah, we gay folk have it in for the people who are supposed to be protecting us, so we just make up gay-bashing crap when we feel like it.
The Rochester Police Department and a Civilian Review Board have upheld allegations against several officers who responded to a fight on South Goodman Street on June 1.
A group of people said they were attacked because some in the group are gay. They claim officers who responded let the suspects go and used anti-gay slurs. The officers also arrested three of the complainants, charging them with disorderly conduct.
Chief David Moore would not say which allegations were sustained, and whether any allegations were unsubstantiated. He would not identify the accused officers, or say how many were investigated and how many were found to have violated departmental policies.
. . .
“This is an example of cops being persecuted for political reasons,” said Mike Mazzeo, a Rochester Police Locust Club union official. …
Officer in trouble over motorist’s video in South County
ST. GEORGE [Missouri] — A car-mounted video camera — more commonly used by police than against them — captured a loud and threatening confrontation in this tiny St. Louis County community that left an officer on suspension and the whole world able to listen in.
The picture doesn’t show much, but the audio part of the recording, posted on Google Video and YouTube on the Internet, brought more than 300 protest calls to St. George Police Chief Scott Uhrig.
. . .
In the video, [Sgt. James Kuehnlein], a St. George officer for about two years, approaches a young man who was sitting in a parked car about 2 a.m. in a commuter lot near Spokane and Reavis Barracks roads. Kuehnlein asks for identification. When Darrow asks whether he did anything wrong, the officer orders him out of the car and begins shouting.
“You want to try me? You want to try me tonight? You think you have a bad night? I will ruin your night. … Do you want to try me tonight, young boy? … Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with?” the police officer says. Later, Darrow says, “I don’t want any problems, officer.”
“You’re about to get it,” Kuehnlein is heard saying. “You already started your (expletive) problems with your attitude.”
After the officer notices the camera, he says, “I don’t really care about your cameras, ’cause I’m about ready to tow your car, then we can tear ‘em all apart.”
The 20-year-old driver, Brett Darrow, 20, who had installed a dashboard video camera “after past run-ins with police,” posted the video, in two parts, on YouTube:
Senator Larry Craig pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct following a sting operation in a men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis airport.
He has said he regrets that decision made hastily and without talking to a lawyer. He said he was under stress and pleaded guilty only to put the matter behind him.
Lawyer William Martin said today a request to withdraw that plea would be filed tomorrow. Such requests are rarely granted. Martin would not discuss the argument he planned to make in court.
Martin said he was not involved in discussions about Craig’s future in the Senate. Craig originally announced he would resign at the end of the month, then said he was reconsidering that decision. His chief spokesman later said Craig had dropped virtually all notions of trying to finish his third term.
“My job is to get him back to where he was before his rights were taken away,” Martin said.
Craig’s congressional spokesman has said the only way that Craig is likely to remain in the Senate is if a court moves quickly to overturn the conviction, something that is unlikely to happen before the end of the month.
Amsterdam’s special homosexual police unit is set to don frocks, leather and rubber gear in the fight against homophobic attacks, it has been revealed.
Lesbian officers will be sent undercover to infiltrate anti-gay gangs and gay activists are calling for judges to ban known gay-bashers from gay areas and pick-up spots.
The plans are part of a concerted effort by the authorities to retain Amsterdam’s image as the gay capital of the world following a spate of homophobic attacks and widespread concern in the gay community of increased violence.
The Netherlands has long basked in its reputation as a peaceful and tolerant country. It was the first country in the world to recognise civil marriage for homosexuals. Every major political party - right or left - has strong gay representation in Parliament. But a survey released last week revealed a rising ground-swell of homophobic sentiment and violent attacks. …
Reports 
