by Peter DelVecchio

Prop. 8 backers drop challenge on wording

After having suffered two defeats in court last week, the backers of the anti-gay marriage initiative, Prop 8, said Aug. 11 they would drop their challenge to the state’s official description of the measure.

Supporters want the description to read “Limit on Marriage”— which was the title on the petition they circulated before the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to marry.

However, a court agreed with Attorney General Jerry Brown, who changed the wording of the initiative’s title and summary to reflect current law. Voters will now read that Prop. 8 would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Prop 8 campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Kerns told the San Francisco Chronicle that they intend to leave the final outcome of the initiative in the hands of the voters.

Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors said he was pleased with the development. If Prop 8 passes, Kors said, “it will allow our California Constitution to treat different people differently … This new title makes that abundantly clear, and we are confident that Californians will reject taking away the fundamental right to marry.”

Meanwhile, conservative Republicans in the state Assembly are looking at ways to unseat Chief Justice Ronald George when he runs for re-election in 2010. George wrote the high court’s decision in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage.
—Karen Ocamb

McInerney pleads not guilty in King case

Brandon McInerney’s divorced parents were visibly upset as their 14-year-old pleaded not guilty in a Ventura County courtroom Aug. 7. Mcinerney is charged with a hate crime and the premeditated murder of gay 15-year-old Larry King last Feb. 12.

McInerney’s defense attorney, William Quest, is appealing an earlier court ruling that the teenager be tried as an adult, which Quest told the Ventura County Star was “essentially a death sentence.” If convicted, McInerney faces a mandatory sentence of 51 years to life in prison.

Quest also said that McInerney would plead to whatever charge the district attorney wanted if prosecutors moved the case to juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be incarceration until McInerney turned 25. Otherwise, Quest hopes prosecutors will reduce the charge to manslaughter with a sentence between 6-21 years.

King’s father, Greg King, was unmoved. “He went into a classroom in front of other students and shot my son in the back of the head twice,” he told the newspaper. “He didn’t take my son’s age into consideration.”

On Aug. 11, a judge ruled that Quest, who has alleged that King harassed McInerney, is entitled to view relevant portions of records documenting King’s behavior. King’s parents, meanwhile, filed suit on Feb. 8 against the school district and the county for allegedly failing to protect their son.

A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 23.
—K.O.

Alarcón announces LGBT domestic violence subcommittee

Flanked by Los Angeles City Councilmembers Eric Garcetti and Bill Rosendahl and representatives of several local LGBT groups, on Aug. 12 Councilmember Richard Alarcón announced the unanimous passage by the Council of a motion he introduced to create an LGBT-specific subcommittee for the City of Los Angeles Domestic Violence Task Force, according to an Aug. 12 release. Alarcón proposed the measure because—despite the fact that studies over the past two decades indicate no difference in domestic violence rates between gay and straight relationships and households—“there are no known LGBT-specific domestic violence shelters in the U.S., and many service providers do not properly address the needs of the LGBT community.” The motion also requests that the LAPD track LGBT domestic violence and “tasks the new subcommittee with education and outreach” and identifying funding.

Republicans Against 8

The grassroots fight against Prop 8, the anti-gay marriage initiative on the November ballot, just got tougher for the measure’s supporters as Log Cabin Republicans, members of the Equality for All coalition, recently created a campaign of their own.

Republicans Against 8 was formed “to complement the efforts of the No on 8 Campaign by reaching out to persuadable and undecided Republican voters with the message that opposing Proposition 8 is the conservative thing to do,” campaign manager Scott Schmidt told IN Los Angeles magazine.

That message is, “Proposition 8 violates the core conservative principles of limited government, personal responsibility and individual liberty. … The right to marriage is a deeply personal choice—not one that should be left to the long arm of big government to say when, whom and whether one can marry.”

Republicans Against 8 activists will be trained in how to deliver a “tailored message to voters the campaign believes can make a difference in the election and speaking to them in language with which they are familiar,” Schmidt said. (For more information, visit republicansagainst8.com.)

In a separate e-mail to Log Cabin members, Charles T. Moran, president of Log Cabin/Los Angeles, noted that Log Cabin has been working with the California campaign of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain “to provide an alternative to the failed leadership and promises made by Senator Barack Obama. The CA McCain campaign, sensing the potential for a strong GLBT vote, has even gone so far as to create an official GLBT coalition, named ‘Inclusion Wins with McCain.’ To our knowledge, this is the FIRST Republican presidential campaign with a GLBT caucus,” Moran wrote.

Moran also urged Log Cabin members attending the GOP Convention in St. Paul in September “to be out and visible in their support of Senator McCain and for individual responsibility and equality within the Republican Party.”
—K.O.

Fresno lesbians divorcing

A lesbian couple married in Fresno County June 27, just 10 days after marriage licenses became available to California same-sex couples, are divorcing, the Fresno Bee reported Aug. 8. Theresa Ramirez and Adelita Guajardo filed for divorce three days after marrying. In Fresno County, 118 same-sex couples have applied for marriage licenses, according to County Clerk Victor Salazar, who said “there is a good chance” that Ramirez and Guajardo are the first same-sex couple in the county to file for divorce. Filing for divorce so soon after marrying is not uncommon, according to experienced Fresno family law attorney Norm Fletcher.

Gay Men’s Chorus to perform at Disney Hall

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles will kick off its 30th anniversary season with a gala concert Aug. 25 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “one of the important links to a glorious tradition in music,” the celebratory concert is scheduled to feature special guests such as Della Reese, Billy Porter, Donzaleigh Abernathy, and just announced, Erin Hamilton and Levi Kreis.

Christine Chavez, granddaughter of United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez, will participate in a piece on immigration and racism, and George Takei and his partner, Brad Berliner, will appear in a tribute to marriage equality.

GMCLA has a long history of involvement with the LGBT movement, including participation in the first March on Washington in 1979 and the first national LGBT concert at the Washington Monument.

GMCLA has also served as goodwill ambassadors for the LGBT community, performing historic concerts in Latin America and Europe. For more information, visit gmcla.org.

Black LGBT voters meet to discuss Obama presidency

In the Meantime Men’s Group hosted a meeting Aug. 6 in Los Angeles to discuss “the role of the black LGBT community in helping to elect” Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, and a potential Obama presidency, an In the Meantime Men’s Group release states. The group is “a local nonprofit organization dedicated to the health and well-being of black bisexual and gay men,” the release says. Participants included Robert Cole, statewide director of African-American outreach for the Obama for President campaign, discussion moderator, journalist and political activist Jasmyne Cannick, Obama delegate Margaret Richards-Bowers and Steve Smith, former LGBT outreach director for the Obama for President campaign in California. For information on In the Meantime Men’s Group, visit inthemeantimemen.org.

Labor Day L.A. Foundation announces fundraiser weekend

The Labor Day L.A. Foundation (LDLA) has announced a schedule of events for its second annual fundraiser to take place Labor Day weekend, Aug. 29-31. LDLA’s “mission is to raise awareness of and provide grants to gay, lesbian, transgender, queer and queer-questioning … nonprofit organizations,” an LDLA release says. Events will include a Friday night kick-off party, bus tours of the “homes of notorious celebrities,” a 2Xist fashion/art show and awards presentation on Saturday, and a Sunday brunch and pool party. For tickets or more information, e-mail LaborDayLA@gmail.com or contact Dana Miller at MalibuDana@aol.com.