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NEWS ITEMS AFFECTING GAYS, LESBIANS & BISEXUALS
FOR 2005 - OCTOBER to DECEMBER
Sponsored link.
In the following, "SSM" refers to "same-sex marriage."
News of 2005-October to December:
 | 2005-OCT-21: Kansas court overturns discriminatory legislation:
Matthew Limon was barely 18 years of age when he engaged in consensual
homosexual sex with another male who was almost 15 years of age at the time.
Both were inmates at a residential school for developmentally disabled
youths. If the 15 year-old had been a young woman, Limon would probably have
received a sentence of 15 months
in jail or less. He was given 17 years in jail -- an increase in
sentencing by 15 times! The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Kansas courts to
retry the case. The Kansas Supreme Court unanimously declared the state law
under which Limon was convicted to be unconstitutional.
1 More
details. |
| 2005-NOV-08: TX: Constitutional amendment
passed: By about a 74% majority, Texas voters approved a constitutional
ban on same-sex marriage. Texas became the 19th state in the U.S. to pass
such an amendment. |
| 2005-NOV-08: ME: Anti-discrimination law passed: The Maine
legislature passed a law earlier in 2005 which amended the Maine Human
Rights Act. The changes make discrimination illegal in employment,
housing, credit, public accommodations and education based on sexual
orientation, gender identity and gender expression. This was confirmed by
the voters by a margin of about 56% to 44%. Maine has become the last state
in New England to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
2 |
| 2005-DEC-13: IA: Lawsuit by six same-sex
couples who want to marry: Six same-sex couples attempted to obtain
marriage licenses in Iowa. All were refused. With the help of Lambda Legal,
they launched a lawsuit to challenge the marriage act in the state which
restricts marriage to one man and one woman. The lawsuit has reinvigorated
support for the Iowa Marriage Amendment which is a constitutional
amendment to prevent same-sex couples from marrying in the state. It was
passed in the house during 2004, but has not yet passed the Senate.
3 |
| 2005-DEC-19: IN: Indianapolis city council
to vote on Human Rights Ordinance: The Indianapolis and Marion County
City-County Council will vote on a new ordinance that would protect
persons of all sexual orientations -- heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual
-- as well as persons of all gender identities.
A number of other cities in Indiana have sexual-orientation ordinances, but
this one goes further by imposing sanctions on businesses that are found in
violation. 4 |
| 2005-DEC-20: IN: Indianapolis council
passes ordinance: Proposal 622 was
passed by a vote of 15 to 14. This reverses the 11 to 18 defeat last April.
All but two Republicans voted against the proposal; all but two Democrats
voted in favor.
5 |
| 2005-DEC-29: CA: Expelled students sue
private Christian school: Two 16-year-old female students were expelled
from California Lutheran High School because the administration
suspects that they are lesbians. Their attorney,
Kirk D. Hanson, said that the expulsion traumatized
and humiliated them: "Their entire support network was pulled out from
under them because of suspicions about their sexual orientation." They
have launched a lawsuit in Riverside County Superior Court, asking
for unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent the school from
excluding students with a homosexual orientation. According to the
Associated Press, principal Gregory Bork allegedly "...grilled them on
their sexual orientation and 'coerced' one girl into saying she loved the
other." In a letter to the parents, Bork allegedly admitted that
officials had seen no physical contact between the students. However he
allegedly said that their relationship was "uncharacteristic of normal
girl relationships and more characteristic of a lesbian one."
6 |
References:
- "Court Rules Kan. Can't Single Out Gay Sex," Yahoo! News,
2005-OCT-21, at:
http://news.yahoo.com/
- "It's a Full House! Voters Uphold Anti-Discrimination Bill," GLAD,
2005-NOV-09, at: http://www.glad.org/
- "Call to Action," Iowa Family Policy Center, 2005-DEC-16.
- Mona Passignano, "Indianapolis City Council to Vote on Sexual-Orientation
Ordinance," Focus on the Family, 2005-DEC-17, at:
http://www.family.org/
- Pam Spaulding, "Indianapolis passes gay rights ordinance,"2005-DEC-20,
at:
http://www.pandagon.net/
- "Suspected Lesbian Students Sue Christian School For Expulsion,"
Associated Press, 2005-DEC-29, at:
http://www.foxnews.com/
Notice:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. sec 107: The news items
contained in the above hyperlinks are provided without profit by the
Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, PO Box 27026, Kingston ON
Canada K7M 8W5, and are intended to be available to anyone
interested in the topics included, for educational purposes only. Any
editor, author, Webmaster, writer, publisher, news service, etc. that
objects to being part of this listing may request that future works be
excluded. We will also attempt to delete previous entries from the
same source.
Copyright © 2005 & 2006 by the Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2005-OCT-22
Latest update: 2006-JAN-03
Compiler: B.A. Robinson
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