Gay Rights
Friday, July 3, 2009
Gay Rights Obama Vows Gays in Military Policy Shift
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, the Mountain Home Air Force Pilot who faces an honorable discharge for being gay, shook President Barack Obama's hand at a recent Gay Pride event at the White House.
Fehrehnbach told KTVB News in Boise:
"I sort of made a b-line to him and introduced myself and he had that look on his face like he knew who I was. I think there were people who told him I would be there. I introduced myself, I said I'm being discharged under 'don't ask/don't tell' and the situation for me was urgent and I need your help. And, he looked me directly in the eye and said, 'we're going to get this done'.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has indicated that soldiers like Fehrenbach may be allowed to continue to serve until the Administration works out a new policy to replace Dont' Ask Don't Tell, according to the Air Force Times. Gates said there could be exceptions to enforcing the policy if whomever outed the soldier had a chip on his shoulder.
“Do we need to be driven ... to take action on somebody, if we get that information from somebody who may have vengeance in mind or blackmail or somebody who has been jilted,” Gates said.
Air Force Times estimates that if unable to finish out his career, "Fehrenbach will lose $46,000 a year in retirement pay as well as medical benefits, according to pay charts. He would get a lump sum of about $80,000, half of standard involuntary separation pay for an officer of his years, the charts show."
Fehrenbach wore civvies to the White House Pride event, fearing disciplinary action for attending a "political" event with the Commander in Chief, AF Times reports.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Gay Rights / Nampa / LGBT / discrimination Nampa Rec Center denies family pass to lesbian couple
Posted by Lora Volkert on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 6:07 PM
A Lesbian couple from Nampa is challenging the city's policy of denying family recreation center memberships to same-sex couples.
"It's pretty obvious they're discriminating,” Rachel Dovel said about the Nampa Recreation Center's refusal to sell a family pass to her partner and their son.
Dovel and her partner, Amber Howard, wanted to get a family membership pass to the Nampa Recreation Center for themselves and Howard's 4-year-old son, Logan Henderson. According to Dovel, the Rec Center staff at first told them that they could get a family pass if they had legal documentation proving they were domestic partners—documentation that Dovel and Howard have because Dovel carries Howard on her insurance plan.
But when Howard returned to the Rec Center with the papers, the Rec Center denied them a family pass because Dovel and Howard aren't married under Idaho law.
“We are a family even if we can't get married,” Dovel said. “The Rec Center is standing behind those laws as a cop-out.”
The family pass policy, which states that "the primary member and spouse must be legally married," didn't add up to Dovel. The Nampa Rec Center gives family passes to single parents. Moreover, Dovel and Howard checked with Howard's sister and brother-in-law, only to find out they hadn't been required to show their marriage license to get a family pass.
The Rec Center's policies have nothing to do with sexual orientation, Dale said, but he said the center gives out passes only to families as defined under Idaho law—laws written to exclude homosexual couples from getting married in Idaho, adopting children together, or being recognized as a married couple if they were married in another state or country.
Marriage rights aside, Nampa's policy discriminates against gay couples by charging them more for identical services: Individual passes for three at the Rec Center would cost $400 a year more than the family pass, Dovel said.
Fortunately, the Caldwell YMCA allowed them to buy a family pass, which is good at YMCAs across the Treasure Valley. Although the costs are slightly higher than the Rec Center's family membership prices and they would have a longer commute, Dovel is grateful that the YMCA recognizes her family.
Other gyms, including the Idaho Athletic Club and Anytime Fitness, have also told Dovel they offer family memberships to gay and lesbian couples.
Dovel and Howard could still have gotten a family pass for Howard and her son in a single-parent family arrangement, while Dovel bought an individual pass, Dale said.
The Rec Center's family pass prices are so low they have to draw the line defining family somewhere, Dale said. “We have to protect the integrity of our funding structure,” he said. Otherwise, he said, “Any two people who happen to be roommates and say, 'Hey, we're family, give us a discount'—we would suffer financially.”
The Rec Center is funded strictly by membership dues, not tax dollars, he said.
Dovel said she plans to fight the Rec Center's policies. She and the editor of PrideDepot.com and members of other LGBT groups plan to rally and protest in front of the Rec Center.
“We want to make this as big as possible because LGBT issues that are going on here aren't as out in in the open as in other places,” she said. “We don't want to get it changed just for us. We want to get it changed for everyone.”
