VIDEO: When Freedom Can’t Defend Itself
On October 22, the ACLU of New Mexico premiered it’s new video, When Freedom Can’t Defend Itself, at the 49th Annual Bill of Rights Celebration. The video follows the stories of four New Mexicans, a Sikh paramedic, a National Guardsman, a Border Patrol agent and a high school student who all turned to the ACLU of New Mexico when their civil liberties were violated.
Posted in Featured Articles, Freedom Forum, Multimedia | 
Tags: 1st Amendment, Free Speech, LGBT Rights, Public Education, Religious Freedom | 
No Comments »Gay Veterans Will Have Their Day in Court
We may be a few months out from the new year, but it’s safe to say that the demise of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will be marked as a highlight of 2011. The end of that discriminatory statute and its demeaning implications to the men and women who serve our country is something to be celebrated. But even though DADT is gone, the legacy of unfair treatment of gay and lesbian veterans continues.
One of those legacies is the Defense Department’s separation pay policy for discharged service members. If you serve six years in the military and are then discharged involuntarily, Congress says you’re entitled to separation pay to help ease your transition to civilian life. But the DOD has an internal policy — not required by any statute — of cutting that separation pay in half if you’re discharged, even honorably, for “homosexuality.”
Let’s be clear: Many of those who were discharged under DADT were distinguished soldiers, airmen or cadets and had an unblemished record. They were service members in good standing, and there was nothing dishonorable about their discharge. Yet they are denied the same separation pay as other honorably discharged service members merely because they’re gay or lesbian.
That’s what happened to our lead client in our class action lawsuit challenging this needless policy. Richard Collins was a decorated Air Force Staff Sergeant who served nine years before being kicked out under DADT. He was seen kissing his civilian boyfriend, in a car at a stoplight, when he was off duty, out of uniform, and 10 miles off base. After being discharged under DADT, Staff Sgt. Collins discovered that his separation pay was cut in half.
We filed this lawsuit on behalf of Collins and 142 other service members about a year ago. We expected at the time that, once Congress passed the statute authorizing repeal of DADT, the government would quickly settle the case and give these honorably discharged service members the separation pay they are entitled to. Instead, the government has inexplicably dragged its feet every step of the way.
In May, the government asked the court to dismiss the case, without even defending the constitutionality of the policy. Instead the government argued that the courts could not provide any relief to service members whose separation pay was cut in half while DADT was still in effect. It didn’t make sense to us, and apparently, it didn’t make any sense to the court. Today, Judge Christine O.C. Miller of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims denied the government’s request and will allow these veterans to be heard.
The court’s decision means that these 142 service members will finally have their day in court. The government will have to explain to them and to the rest of the public how cutting their pay in half served important governmental interests. The government will have to make that explanation, even though the Pentagon has already issued a detailed report making clear that discrimination against gay and lesbian service members is entirely unnecessary and doesn’t serve the interests of the military. Good luck with that.
The government’s conduct is all the more baffling because in other contexts, the Justice Department has worked hard to defend LGBT people from this sort of pointless discrimination. Most dramatically, the Justice Department issued a thorough legal opinion explaining why discrimination based on sexual orientation must be treated as constitutionally suspect and has refused to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in federal court. But apparently, the relevant decisionmakers at the Pentagon haven’t gotten the memo, and continue to defend this outdated and irrational policy.
This case is about more than money. It’s about basic fairness. When you make a mistake, the right thing to do is to apologize and try to fix the problem. The government can’t undo all the harm that DADT inflicted on Mr. Collins and other honorably discharged veterans. But it can at least take the small step of giving these veterans the separation pay that was gratuitously taken away from them. In Richard Collins’ own words: “We gave all in serving this nation. The Pentagon should not give us half in return.”
- Joshua Block, ACLU LGBT Project
Posted in Featured Articles, Freedom Forum | Tags: Legal Advocacy and Litigation, LGBT Rights | No Comments »ACLU-NM Southwest Chapter Annual Meeting and Singer/Songwriter Competition
The topic of the 2011 Annual Meeting is issues which affect the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community. We will have presentations by three leaders of organizations working to make a real difference in the quality of life for LGBT members
Damie Nelson, the President of the Silver City Chapter of Parents Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) will discuss PFLAG’s work supporting the local LGBT community
Michael Huerta is the first openly gay politician to run for Mayor of Las Cruces and a Board member forNew MexicoGLBTQCenters, a local support, and social organization that is now spreading to other communities in the state
Kathryn Turnipseed is the Deputy Director of ACLU-NM. She will provide insight into the history of LGBT efforts to achieve rights equity, as well as continued efforts by the ACLU and cooperating organizations
Singer/Songwriter Competition Finals
Phil Bock – Albuquerque
Mark Courtney – Las Cruces
Larkin Gayle – Santa Fe
Co-Sponsored by Mountain Air Productions
ACLU-NM Southwestern Chapter Songwriter Competition
SILVER CITY, NM – The Southwestern Chapter of the ACLU of New Mexico is sponsoring a singer/songwriter competition, in connection with its Annual Meeting, to be held on October 7, 2011. Due to continuing attempts to suppress the rights of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) people; we are looking for songs that deal with issues of Civil Liberties relating to LGBT issues.
- This competition is open to all musicians in the “Border Regions” of West Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, who write and perform in any musical genre. The prize will be a 4 hour recording session, provided by our co-sponsor, Mountain Air Productions. Mountain Air Productions is a state-of-the-art, digital recording studio and production house, located in the performance space of Seedboat Gallery, in Silver City, New Mexico. All submissions must be original compositions of the Artist/Performer (maximum of 2 entries per Artist/Performer)
- Entry will be made on an official entry form (contact William Hudson, at williamhudson43@msn.com).
- Entrants will submit a tape or CD recording of their entry (It need not be a professional recording, but should be clean enough that the listener can hear the melody and musical interpretation).
- Entrants will submit a written copy of the lyrics (so that the appropriate theme and poetic quality can be evaluated).
All entries must be mailed to: ACLU/Competition
C/o Peter Falley
521 E. Lance Dr.
Silver City, NM 88061
Entries will be evaluated by the judging panel on;
- How appropriate the song is relative to the theme (Civil Liberties/Constitutionality, as it relates to LGBT issues)
- Artistic lyrical styling, poetic interpretation
- Musical originality, styling
All entries must arrive no later than August 30, 2011. Finalists will be notified no later than September 10, 2011. Finalists need to be present at The Annual Meeting of the ACLU of New Mexico, Southwestern Chapter, in Silver City, NM, on Friday October 7, 2011. On that evening, the finalists will perform their entry live for our audience and judges for final selection of the winner.
Download the entry form: 2011 Entry form
Download the Rules of Entry: 2011 RULES OF ENTRY
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 25, 2011
CONTACT: William Hudson
HC 71 Box 765
San Lorenzo, NM 88041
(575) 536 3092
Williamhudson43@msn.com
Posted in Featured Articles, News | Tags: LGBT Rights, Songwriting Contest, Southwestern ACLU-NM Chapter | No Comments »Las Cruces to anti-gay protester: “Baby, we were born this way!”
At PRIDE in Las Cruces: RCBR Director Vicki Gaubeca with Rebecca Dakota & Havens Levitt, lead plaintiffs in the ACLU-NM's domestic partner benefits lawsuit.
This weekend Las Cruces celebrated Southern New Mexico Pride, and the ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights was proud to be in attendance. As the ACLU staff collected signatures for a petition asking New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman to become a cosponsor of the bill that repeals the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” we noticed that Southern New Mexico Pride had its first anti-gay protester.
Now, we at the ACLU will be the first to defend anyone’s right to free speech-even if we find that speech extremely offensive. This lone protester’s opinion was especially hateful and abhorrent, but he had every right to publicly express that opinion. It has always been the ACLU’s stance that the best response to bad speech is more, better speech. And that is exactly what the good folks down at Southern New Mexico Pride delivered.
Anti-gay Protester at Southern New Mexico PRIDE
Rather than get into a heated, nasty confrontation with the protester, the Pride-goers simply cranked up Lady Ga-Ga’s self-affirming anthem “Born this Way” and drowned out the protester’s hateful remarks. You can watch the video below:
This is what America looks like. You have the constitutional right to express hatred and homophobia. But we reserve our constitutional right to drown you out with a celebration of diversity, inclusivity and fairness.
Posted in Freedom Forum | Tags: 1st Amendment, Gay Pride, Las Cruces, LGBT Rights, Public Education, Southern New Mexico | No Comments »
Loading ...
