Blog of Rights
Robert
Nakatani
07/29/2010

Two ACLU Attorneys Named "Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40"

By Robert Nakatani, LGBT Project at 11:30am

The National LGBT Bar Association recently announced the recipients of its inaugural Best LGBT Lawyers under 40 Award, and we're happy to note that two ACLU attorneys are among that select group. Christine Sun, senior counsel for the ACLU LGBT & AIDS Project since 2005, has many gay rights accomplishments under her belt in her short career. She was lead attorney in Nguon v. Wolf, the Southern California case that led to the federal court ruling that a high school student cannot be "outed" to her parents without her consent. Christine was also counsel on Chandler v. Barker which recently struck down a Tennessee family court practice in divorce cases of prohibiting the same-sex partner of a parent from staying the night when the children are present in their home. Most recently, Christine represented Constance McMillen in her successful litigation against the rural Mississippi school district that refused to let her bring her girlfriend to the prom and then cancelled the prom when told they had to.

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01/13/2010

Top 10 LGBT Rights Developments of the Decade

By Robert Nakatani, LGBT Project at 3:28pm

The 'aughts' were a decade of rapid progress — and some setbacks — for LGBT rights. These are the top 10 developments, as we see them, for LGBT Americans these last 10 years.

10. State sexual orientation nondiscrimination laws pass halfway mark

At the start of the decade, state laws banning at least one type of anti-gay discrimination covered only about a third of the population. By 2006, these state law protections spread to more than 50 percent of Americans. Today, 21 states and the District of Columbia protect lesbians and gay men from discrimination, many comprehensively. We’re still lagging significantly behind, however, on state laws banning gender identity discrimination, which now cover roughly 40 percent of the population.

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09/04/2009

Progress

By Robert Nakatani, LGBT Project at 10:57am

On February 19, 1956, the sheriff of San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco, forced his way through a crowd of patrons in a bar called Hazel’s, owned by Hazel Nickola, jumped on the bar and shouted, "This is a raid!" His deputies then hauled off 87 men to jail, charging them with being "lewd and dissolute" persons and committing acts "outraging public decency." The sheriff later explained that "the purpose of the raid was to make it very clear to these people that we won’t put up with this sort of thing." The infamously homophobic Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABC) revoked Nickola’s liquor license, a decision upheld by the courts in an appeal assisted by the ACLU.

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09/01/2009

Victory in Discrimination Case Highlights Need for ENDA

By Robert Nakatani, LGBT Project at 11:03am

Brian Prowel, a gay man, worked for Wise Business Forms, a producer and distributor of business forms, at its Butler, Pennsylvania facility. The work environment was intensely “blue-collar macho.” In stark contrast to the other men at Wise, Brian had a high voice, did not curse, and talked about things like art, music, interior design, and décor. He walked and carried himself in an effeminate manner, was well-groomed and wore dressy clothes.

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07/30/2008

Peace Corps Changes Position on HIV-Positive Volunteers

By Robert Nakatani, LGBT Project at 3:46pm

There's been a good development in the case of Jeremiah Johnson, the Peace Corps volunteer whose services were summarily terminated when he tested positive for HIV. Johnson, you might remember, was told he could not finish his service in the Ukraine or anywhere else even though he was asymptomatic.

After pressure from the ACLU, and many current and former volunteers, the Peace Corps administration has had a change of heart, agreeing that it will no longer automatically terminate volunteers with HIV. The Peace Corps has promised to conduct an individual assessment of each volunteer who tests positive to determine the best steps to take to protect the volunteer’s health while also allowing the volunteer to continue his or her service when feasible.

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