LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union told the Housing Authority of Santa Monica today to stop stalling and allow a gay man to live with his partner of 10 years.

"California and Santa Monica law make it very clear that you can't discriminate against gay people in housing," said Christine P. Sun, a staff attorney for the ACLU's Lesbian & Gay Rights Project. "Yet the Santa Monica Housing Authority keeps stalling and creating road blocks to keep this couple apart. It's time for the excuses to stop."

Gene Boccia and Brett Crowley recently celebrated 10 years together. Because both are disabled and forced to rely on public assistance, the couple has always been in fear of violating rules that would jeopardize their assistance. Boccia, disabled since a 1974 hate crime in which he was shot in the face, has been living in the same public housing complex since 1999. Crowley, a disabled veteran, rents a room from a friend with funds he receives from SSI. Though living apart has been a hardship, Crowley has always been supportive of Boccia, going with him to medical appointments, helping him with his grocery shopping, doing his laundry and cleaning his apartment.

Boccia recently learned from an unmarried, cohabitating heterosexual couple that he could apply to the Housing Authority to have Crowley share his apartment with him. Almost immediately, the couple submitted the necessary paperwork. The Housing Authority refused to act on the request, claiming instead that Boccia is in violation of his lease because Crowley was an "unauthorized tenant" in the apartment. The couple has repeatedly submitted paperwork, including a record from the Department of Motor Vehicles and a letter from Crowley's roommate, proving that Crowley lives elsewhere. (In the letter sent today, the ACLU provided a letter sent to Crowley at his home address from National Republican Senatorial Committee as additional proof of his separate residence.)

"The Housing Authority keeps making us jump through all these hoops and provide all this paperwork, but our straight friends' request to live together was approved almost immediately," said Boccia. "I'm about to undergo surgery and really need Brett to be able to look after me."

The ACLU first wrote to the Housing Authority on October 13, 2004 urging it to stop stalling on Boccia's application. The Housing Authority responded to that letter by again claiming that Boccia must first clear up the matter of Crowley living as an unauthorized tenant.

"Claiming that Boccia has violated his lease because Crowley was living in his apartment is nothing more than a smokescreen for discrimination," said Catherine Lhamon, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "They've provided ample proof that Crowley had his own apartment. Besides, the point is irrelevant since he is legally entitled to live there anyway."

Noting that both state and city law prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, today's ACLU letter demands that the Housing Authority immediately approve the couple's request to live together. The letter also highlights the extreme hardship caused by the Housing Authority's handling of the matter. Crowley is forced to spend hours on the bus so that he can take Boccia to his doctors' appointments. Boccia, who at 62 now faces multiple medical problems, is forced to live alone without Crowley by his side should he need emergency treatment.

The couple's struggle illustrates the difficulties same-sex couples on limited incomes face in trying to protect their relationships, the ACLU said. Because the couple has not been allowed to live together, they are prevented from registering as domestic partners with the City of Santa Monica. However, marriage in California, which carries greater protections than domestic partnership, does not require couples to live together.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, along with the law firms of Lackie & Dammeier LLP, and Bahan & Associates, today announced the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of City of Ontario police officers who were illegally videotaped while in the Ontario Police Department men's locker room.

The suit names the City of Ontario, the Chief of Police, and others as defendants.

"I think its safe to say that most Americans have a reasonable expectation of privacy while using a locker room," said Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. "Our clients did not agree to waive their Fourth Amendment rights when they became members of the Ontario Police Department and that is why we're filing suit today."

In approximately 1996, a police sergeant arranged for the installation of a hidden surveillance camera in the City of Ontario Police Department locker room at the direction of the Chief of Police. The camera was concealed in the ceiling of the locker room and provided a view of the door and the adjacent lockers and dressing area. The surveillance camera was connected to a video tape recorder located in a nearby office. The camera's installation was arranged by a sergeant within the Ontario Police Department.

The camera was only discovered when the Police Department began the process of moving to a new headquarters.

"In all the years we have represented police officers, this is the first time we've encountered hidden video surveillance of locker room activity and an extensive cover-up by top city management," said Michael Lackie, of Lackie & Dammeier LLP.

Approximately 125 persons have been identified on the one videotape that the plaintiffs have seen.

"The police officers here today are seeking accountability and the truth behind the illegal, covert videotaping of our men's locker room," said sergeant Steven Trujillo, an officer with the Ontario Police Department. "The officers standing before you are representative of those willing to stand up and defend our rights, even in the face of adversity and retaliation."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, together with the National Center for Lesbian Rights today filed suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, Washington Preparatory High School administrators, teachers, and security guards for harassing gay and lesbian students on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation.
The legal complaint, filed in federal district court, charges LAUSD and Washington Preparatory High School staff with operating "a climate rife with hostility towards and discrimination against students and staff based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation."
Conditions at the school, and the district's failure to address those conditions, were first brought to the ACLU's attention in August. Despite repeated demands by ACLU attorneys and students at the school, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District have not brought the school into compliance with state law.
"No student should go to school feeling unsafe from harassment of any sort," said Catherine Lhamon, staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. "But what makes this case particularly troubling is that the harassment came from school administrators, teachers, and security guards among others. Students have no recourse when the school bully wears a security guard's uniform or happens to be the home room teacher."
The following are a few of the numerous individual incidents of harassment listed in the legal complaint:

• Administrators, teachers, and staff themselves call students names such as "faggot" and "sinner" and tell the students they are "wrong," "unholy," "hate[d]," and "not supposed to be like this" because the students are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, or bisexual
• Teachers threaten to, and do, "out" students to their families as punishment for students' sexual orientation
• A student physically assaulted another student during class based on the student's sexual orientation but the teacher stood idly by because the teacher thought the assaulted student "needed to toughen up"
• Security guards verbally harangue same-sex couples but ignore public displays of affection from heterosexual student couples on campus
• Administrators and deans suspend and otherwise discipline students for complaining about harassment and for choosing same-sex partners
• An assistant principal refuses to speak the word "gay"over the school public address system to announce a meeting of the Gay-Straight Alliance club

"As I see it, people harass me and other students for being gay because they don't really know us," said David Ramirez [not his real name]. "If these people could sit down with me, they would find out that I'm just a regular high school student. I'm close with my family, and I spend a lot of time hanging out with them, barbecuing, and just having a good time. And, just like any other high school student I deserve respect too. I hope that by joining this lawsuit, I can educate people and make a difference for other gay and lesbian students."
The lawsuit calls for an injunction ordering the defendants to put an end to the unconstitutional and illegal harassment and also asks that the school and the district reevaluate and institute proper training procedures for all staff to put an end to the hostile and intolerant school envirornment.
"The Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network) is also a plaintiff in this case on behalf of young people at Washington Preparatory who were too scared to come forward or felt too unsafe to speak up about the harassment they are enduring," said Carolyn Laub, executive director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. "We are deeply concerned about the fact that many youth may not feel safe enough at Washington Prep to join the GSA club. GSA clubs provide a safe place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and straight ally students to meet at school and get support, which is especially important in the face of a hostile school climate."