News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - A task force that was convened to counter the devastating effects of homophobia in the foster care system in Los Angeles County gathered at the Edelman's Children's Court today to unveil a "hate-free zone poster," which was placed in the Children's Court lobby - as well as to set forth its recommendations on how to address the issue of homophobia in the foster care system.

ANAHEIM - Yesterday evening, the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) approved a settlement agreement with plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California in a book-banning case at Orangeview Junior High School involving a biographical series about gay and lesbian people, "Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians." The subjects of the books include tennis player Martina Navratilova, economist John Maynard Keynes, and writers Willa Cather and James Baldwin. The books were pulled from the library by district officials. The ACLU/SC represented two student plaintiffs, who charged that the censorship of the biographies violated their First Amendment rights and violated state nondiscrimination laws. The suit was filed on December 21, 2000, and sparked heated controversy in the District, including one demonstration outside of the school led by activists in support of returning the books. Today, the ACLU/SC and the District's lawyers will file a motion with the Federal District Court asking for approval of the settlement.

Civil rights are too often conceived as individual rights, but families and couples can be discriminated against as well, and these forms of discrimination are as insidious as any other. In 1967, when the Supreme Court overturned South Carolina's interracial marriage ban, it recognized that marriage was a right and that denying that right on the basis of the partners' respective races was a form of discrimination. When the state grants some families protections and rights, but denies them to an entire other class of families - just as it does in excluding gay and lesbian families from the protections of over 300 state laws and over 1000 federal laws - it both imperils and insults those families. The American Civil Liberties Union is strongly opposed to any such discrimination.

LOS ANGELES - On behalf of its 28,000 members, the ACLU of Southern California called on Senator Dianne Feinstein to oppose the nomination of John Ashcroft as Attorney General of the United States, citing the nominee's appalling record on civil liberties and civil rights during his tenure in elected office in Missouri and in the United States Senate.

SAN LUIS OBISPO - The ACLU of Southern California and the San Luis Obispo Chapter of the ACLU sent letters today to the County of San Luis Obispo and City of Atascadero challenging the legality and fairness of subsidizing the activities of the Boy Scouts of America by offering them "sweetheart deals" on rent of government lands, facilities and buildings.

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LOS ANGELES ? On August 24, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted asylum to Geovani Hernandez-Montiel. After being expelled from school, beaten by a mob and sexually assaulted by police in his Mexican homeland, the 21-year-old gay man sought asylum in the United States. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejected Hernandez-Montiel's asylum claim, stating that he was persecuted for his effeminate appearance and characteristics, not his sexual orientation. The ACLU of Southern California and other civil rights groups filed an amicus brief on the Hernandez-Montiel's behalf.

LOS ANGELES - The David Bohnett Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today announced the creation of the Bohnett Fellowship at the ACLU of Southern California, a staff attorney position that will focus on gay and lesbian civil rights litigation. Attorney Martha Matthews, Esq., most recently of the National Youth Law Center, has been chosen to fill the position. The Bohnett Fellow at the ACLU of Southern California is the only dedicated position funded thus far by the David Bohnett Foundation.

Carlos Gonzalez, a Latino math teacher from East L.A., was driving his new red mustang convertible when police officers pulled him over, handcuffed him, questioned him, and detained him'all without asking for his ID or explaining what he had done. After 25 minutes of personal terror and public humiliation, Gonzalez received a ticket for speeding'the first point during the ordeal at which the officer mentioned a traffic violation. Gonzalez was shaken by the incident and no longer drives his red mustang, which he traded in for a car less likely to attract the attention of police.