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Bullied Gay Student Files Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Indy Schools

Indianapolis Public Schools has been named in a federal lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of Darnell "Dynasty" Young, the openly gay 17-year-old student who was relentlessly bullied and expelled after he brought a stun gun to school for protection. The lawsuit filed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Kirkland & Ellis alleges IPS engaged in "discriminatory treatment and fail[ed] to protect" the bullied teen.

"Rather than address the constant harassment and abuse suffered by 17-year-old Dynasty Young," said NCLR's press release. "School administrators blamed the harassment on Young’s gender nonconforming clothes and 'flamboyant” behavior.'"

In addition to the physical and emotional harm he experienced as a result of the bullying and the discrimination, Dynasty was unable to complete the spring semester of his 11th-grade year at [Arsenal] Technical High School, and will need to make up any necessary credits to graduate on time in 2013. He has recently enrolled in Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, a charter school not affiliated with IPS, where he is taking extra classes in an effort to try graduate on schedule.

NCLR Senior Staff Attorney Christopher F. Stoll said, "It is outrageous that school officials who were entrusted with their students’ safety and education blamed Dynasty for the abuse he suffered, and eventually expelled him from school, instead of accepting their responsibility to protect him from harm."

"I want to make sure no other student in the Indianapolis Public Schools ever has to go through the kind of abuse that I went through," said Young. "I am hoping this will get IPS to start treating kids like me with respect and really do something to protect their students."

Young says classmates at Arsenal Technical HS relentlessly bullied him ever since he and his twin brother arrived in October from Arizona—taunting him, calling him names, following him home and even throwing rocks at him. On 16 April, Young eventually fired a stun gun into the air to scare off a group of six kids who used gay slurs and threatened to attack him. Young was suspended and remained out of school until his expulsion on 8 May.

Young and his mother said they told the school about the bullying "more than 10 times"—but the school only formally investigated one complaint. The stun gun was given to him by his mother, who says school authorities were not helpful and told Darnell to "tone down" his accessories and mannerisms. Young's mother is also a party to the lawuit.

IPS agreed to end Young's expulsion in early August—with a caveat. The school disrict would not allow him to remain at Tech and he would have to enroll at an alternative school, NCLR's  Chris Stoll told the Indianapolis Star.

In other news: Young was attacked at a local mall and struck in the face by a man twice his age in May. The attacker reportedly recognized Young from news coverage, pushed and struck him and used homophobic slurs. The 34-year-old man was charged with misdemeanor battery.

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Rhode Island Senate Votes 21-6 for Civil Unions

The Rhode Island Senate has approved legislation tonight that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions. The approval came less than an hour after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7 to 4 to recommend passage, reports the AP.

State senators voted 21-16 Wednesday evening to endorse the bill. The legislation ... allows gay couples to enter into civil unions that offer the same rights and benefits given to married couples under Rhode Island law. It is now headed to the desk of Gov. Chafee for his signature.

The House of Representatives approved the civil unions bill by a 62 to 11 vote on May 19. HB 6103 was introduced as a compromise after House Speaker Gordon Fox—who became Rhode Island's first Black and first openly gay House speaker in February 2010—said a marriage equality bill did

But several civil rights and LGBT advocacy groups are calling on the governor to veto it because of what they call "overly broad" religious exemptions, reports the Providence Journal.

In a two-page letter sent to the governor, the groups said the bill — scheduled for a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Wednesday afternoon — "represents a huge step backward from Rhode Island’s longstanding nondiscrimination commitments" and provides "individuals and institutions a free-floating license to discriminate against a whole class of people, in defiance of general law."

"This amendment could allow individuals, who are legally required to recognize everyone else’s legal commitments, to opt out of doing so only for gay and lesbian people," the groups wrote. "In practical terms, this law could allow religiously affiliated hospitals to deny a civil union’s spouse’s right to be by his spouse’s side and make medical decisions for him."

The groups that signed the letter included Marriage Equality Rhode Island, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Freedom to Marry and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Chafee supported marriage equality and says he is inclined to sign the bill. No comment yet from his office on the veto request. The Catholic Church and evangelical leaders are also opposed to the bill.

Sonoma Co. Separates Elderly Gay Couple, Auctions Their Possessions

John Aravosis at AMERICABlog links to this heartbreaking and infuriating story of an elderly gay couple:

Seventy-seven-year-old Clay Greene and his 88-year-old partner Harold lived in Sonoma County, California and had been together 20 years. Although they had wills, powers of attorney and medical directives, none of that mattered once Harold was hospitalized.

"[C]ounty and health care workers refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes. Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s 'roommate.' The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.  What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings ...

Sadly, the story becomes even worse. The National Center for Lesbian Rights is fighting this horrific case—Greene v County of Sonoma et al—and explains everything.

One more thing: This tragedy unfolded only minutes away from San Francisco, in beautiful, progressive and (allegedly) very gay friendly Sonoma County. Voters there rejected Prop 8 by a 2 to 1 margin. If it can happen there, it can happy anywhere. Yet another reason why marriage equality is so important ...

Live Stream: California Supreme Court Hearings on Prop 8

The California Supreme Court is now hearing oral arguments on overturning Proposition 8. The hearing began this hour at 9am local time, noon on the East Coast.

The live telecast is available on the California Channel, but there are warning posted about heavy traffic. Live webstreams are available on CNN and San Francisco's CBS station, among others.

Arguing against the ban will be Shannon Minter, the National Center for Lesbian Rights attorney who successfully argued the gay marriage case before the high court. The NCLR is joined by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, who filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the voter-approved amendment.  The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles also joined the case and a legal opinion by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Pepperdine University Law School Dean Kenneth Starr will argue in defense of Proposition 8 and on behalf of the measure's sponsors. Starr is a former U.S. solicitor general and the former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.