LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California hailed yesterday's expansion of domestic partners' rights, as Governor Gray Davis signed into law AB 25, Assemblymember Carole Migden's proposal to build the rights and responsibilities the state confers on those who register as domestic partners.

"This is a pivotal moment in California's relationship to same-sex couples and their families," said Christopher Calhoun, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the ACLU of Southern California. "The state is clearly on the path to equality for same-sex couples, and there's no turning back."

"No other state in America has made these kinds of strides in recognition of same- sex couples without being forced to do so by a lawsuit," said Calhoun. "That makes California a political leader in recognizing same-sex couples and their families �_ and that makes this new law truly historic."

No other state except Hawaii and Vermont, both of which faced legal challenges from same-sex couples, has offered so many rights to same-sex couples.

The victory on AB 25 was hard-won. Civil rights organizations and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community groups throughout the state, led by the ACLU of Southern California, the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE), and People For the American Way, put together a grassroots campaign to demonstrate the breadth of support in California for expanding domestic partners' rights.

"For the first time in California's history," said Calhoun, "there were more letters, phone calls, e-mails, and faxes in support of an LGBT civil rights bill than in opposition. That's not because the right suddenly stopped opposing equality for LGBT people, but because the LGBT community and its allies mobilized an unprecedented campaign to communicate to legislators and to the Governor their support for AB 25."

Pro-AB 25 activists, co-ordinated by the ACLU/SC and CAPE, attended pride festivals, book festivals, concerts, flea markets, and shopping districts throughout the spring and summer and also organized on-line. Corporate allies Working Assets and PlanetOut helped organize letter and e-mail campaigns.

AB 25 adds numerous rights to California's domestic partner registry, among them:

the right to sue for wrongful death

the right to make medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner

the right to make financial decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner

the right to adopt a partner's children using the same process stepparents use

the right to relocate with a domestic partner and receive unemployment benefits

the right to use the state's statutory will form

the right of a surviving partner of a state employee to continued health coverage

the right to use dependent health coverage without a state income tax penalty

the right to use sick leave to care for a partner

the right to file for disability benefits on behalf of a partner who is unable to do so

AB 25 also requires insurance companies that make dependent coverage available to include domestic partners and changes the age from 65 to 62 for opposite-sex couples who wish to register.

"Our work on securing equality for same-sex couples is far from finished," said Calhoun. "Even with the passage of AB 25, there are hundreds of rights and responsibilities granted to married couples that are denied to same-sex couples. AB 25 is a big step forward on a long path, but it is not our final destination."

LOS ANGELES - Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, The First Amendment Project of Oakland, CA and a large number of local and national artists announced that they are protesting the removal of Alex Donis' exhibit, "WAR," from the Watts Towers Art Center.

The show, which is comprised of a series of paintings featuring fictionalized pairings of LAPD officers and gang members in same-sex dancing poses with companion text from renowned African-American poet and performance artist, Keith Antar Mason, stirred controversy. The Watts Community Action Council warned of protest and possible violent action by members of the Watts community. The Art Center Director, Mark Greenfield, in consultation with Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department General Manager Margie Reese, decided to take the exhibition down.

In a letter to Mr. Greenfield and Ms. Reese, the groups and artists urge the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department to live up to the requirements of the First Amendment and take a stand for artistic expression by reinstalling the show as soon as possible. Furthermore, they called for a policy to ensure that First Amendment rights are protected in the future.

The letter states, "a government sponsored art space cannot legally cancel an exhibition of constitutionally protected expression merely because the art may offend the sensibilities of certain members of the community."

"Art challenges the very notion that there is only one way of seeing things, " said Heather Carrigan, Director of Public Policy at the ACLU of Southern California. "No one is required to like Mr. Donis' art, but everyone should be allowed to make that judgment for him or herself."

Svetlana Mintcheva, Arts Advocacy Coordinator at the National Coalition Against Censorship, said that "if warnings of controversy and possible violence succeed in silencing expression, then violence prevails over freedom and democratic dialogue."

LOS ANGELES - In response to concerns voiced by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the Claremont Unified High School District has agreed not to pat- down students and conduct "breath searches" at school graduation ceremonies without reasonable suspicion that a particular student has violated applicable law or school rules.

As first reported in the Claremont Courier on June 27, 2001, Claremont High School teachers performed pat-down searches of students before they were allowed to enter a baseball field where their graduation ceremony was to take place.

Soon after learning about the reported searches, the ACLU/SC sent the district a letter calling for an end to the policy of searching students without reasonable suspicion, explaining that such searches are in clear violation of students' Fourth Amendment rights. In response to the ACLU/SC's letter, the district agreed that students will not be searched without reasonable suspicion. Today, the ACLU/SC sent the district's counsel a letter saying that, in light of the district's assurances, litigation should not be necessary unless there are future violations of students' rights.

"We are pleased that the district has given assurances that it will respect students' constitutional rights and that it will not conduct blanket searches of graduating students," said Dan Tokaji, staff attorney for the ACLU/SC. "Students who have worked hard to graduate should not have their rights violated simply because the school has a hunch that a few of them may be under the influence of alcohol. The ACLU/SC will remain vigilant in making sure the district abides by its promise to end indiscriminate searches."

A copy of the ACLU/SC's letter to the Claremont High School District follows this release.

"A few bad apples should not be allowed to taint the experience of graduation day for the rest of the student body," said ACLU/SC board member Glenn A. Goodwin who resides in the Claremont area. "Graduation day should be about proud parents and students celebrating and ejoying the highest academic achievement of these students' young lives not about administering pat-down searches and breath searching students who may have never had a drop of alcohol in their lives."