Dallas activists are having a Harvey Milk celebration again this year. The 2nd annual event planned by GetEQUAL TX and Hope for Peace and Justice will be 7 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at Cathedral of Hope’s Interfaith Peace Chapel.

The event will include speakers, music and a staged reading of Dear Harvey by Patricia Loughrey, which will be the first time the play has been staged in Dallas in any form.
GetEQUAL TX regional coordinator Daniel Cates, who is directing it, said he hopes to mount a full production later in the year.

“This is a beautiful piece and one that I am excited to bring to Dallas,” he said. “Harvey’s message of hope is one that all people, LGBT and not, should hear. This will be an inspiring evening.”

Dear Harvey is an ensemble piece created though interviews with people who actually knew Milk, his personal and political writings, newspaper stories and letters written to him from across the nation.

The cast includes the Rev. Carol West of Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, Lynn Walters, executive director of Hope for Peace and Justice, Jeffrey Harper, Mark Calloway, Todd Whitley and Alan Dudley of the Cathedral of Hope Theatre Ministry, and local activist Natalie Johnson.

“It is important for us to celebrate and remember our history as LGBT people. No one is going to tell our story for us. We have to do it ourselves. We owe it to younger generations to let them know where they come from and how far they can go,” Cates said.

Tickets to the Dallas Harvey Milk Celebration are available for a suggested $15 donation. All proceeds benefit programs of Hope for Peace and Justice and GetEQUAL TX.

Cabaret Extravaganza raises funds for Cedar Springs improvements

The Cedar Springs Merchants Association presents Cabaret Extravaganza from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Rose Room on Thursday, May 30.

An evening of cabaret music, comedy, and food and drink, the event is a fundraiser for the Cedar Springs Merchants Association, featuring Vince Martinez, Paul J. Williams, Linda Petty, and hosted by Victoria Weston.

Silent auction items will be on preview starting at 5:30 p.m., when the doors open, and will close at 8:30 p.m..

All tickets are general admission at $40 per person. Seating with tables will be available on a first come, first-serve basis. There are additional chairs/stools along the general seating area.

The Cedar Springs Merchants Association is a nonprofit organization to promote business, beautify and help protect The Strip on Cedar Springs.
For more info, visit ShopCedarSprings.com. •

George William Amerson, right

George William Amerson was born June, 11, 1938, in Petersburg, Texas, and left the world a better place on May 19, 2013.

A Realtor since 1975, he was a member of the MetroTex and Henderson County Association of Realtors, serving twice as president of HCBR. George was a founding partner of Uptown Realtors.

George is survived by partner of 42 years, Mike Grossman;  children, Laura and Devon Cloud, and Barney and Stephanie Grossman; and grandchildren, Miles and Rachel Grossman, who will miss their Papa George.

George and Mike were married in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2013, on the occasion of their 42nd anniversary.

George’s surviving siblings are Ruby Embry of Lubbock; Eva Loue and Mike Brula of San Antonio; Glenda and Bill Ware of Arlington; and Dwight Amerson of Dallas. He is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and their children.

George was preceded in death by his parents, Eva and Raymond Amerson; and brother, John.
George was active in the LGBT community since the early 1980s. He and Mike were among the founders of Oak Lawn Community Services. He was a volunteer for the the Experience Weekend and helped bring the event to Dallas many times. He volunteered for the Human Rights Campaign and was among the founders of the Dallas Way: The GLBT History Project. George was a member of the choir at the Cathedral of Hope for many years, and more recently at First Methodist Church.

…………………….

Charles Anderson

Charles Terry Anderson Jr., a longtime resident of Dallas and member of the gay community, died on Friday, May 10, 2013, at 71.

Charles was born Oct. 27, 1941, in Tyler, the only child of Charles T. Anderson of Grand Saline and Vernelle Thedford Anderson of Tyler.

Charles had an outstanding academic career, graduating with honors from Tyler Junior College and later completing his studies at UT-Austin, where he was named to the Dean’s List of Outstanding Students, received a Distinguished Service Award from the University of Texas Press and was nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship. He received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, and his master’s degree, cum laude, from that university.

After college, Charles worked in administrative positions for the hotel industry, earning awards for his contributions to that industry. In 1986, he became Library Assistant for the Dallas Morning News and in his 10 years there, provided research for five series of articles that earned the Pulitzer Prize.

He concluded his professional career with Southwest Airlines, where he received numerous awards from the company.

In 2009, Charles published In Illustrious Company, a collection of his essays on literature. Charles is survived by many beloved family members and numerous cherished friends.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 24, 2013.

Rep. Mary Gonzalez

ANNA WAUGH  |  News Editor

AUSTIN — LGBT advocates are calling the 83rd Texas Legislature a success after several anti-gay measures were defeated and a handful of pro-LGBT bills made it out of committee.

Lawmakers filed a record 30 pieces of pro-equality legislation, from bills to protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination to those that would repeal the state’s marriage amendment and pave the way for civil unions and marriage equality.

And despite no specifically pro-LGBT bills passing, some cleared committee for the first time in 12 years. Two non-specific bills endorsed by Equality Texas passed that will help LGBT youth and employees, and three anti-LGBT bills died.

Daniel Williams, Equality Texas field organizer, said the session was an “enormous success.”

“We have had a very, very good session,” Williams said. “I think this is probably the second-most successful session for LGBT issues in the history of Texas.”

The most successful would be 2001, which saw the passage of the state’s hate crimes law that includes “sexual preference.” But Williams said this session was by far the most productive since Republicans took over the state House in 2003.

“There were more conversations on our issues than we’ve ever seen before,” he said. “We proved this session that LGBT Texans are vocal, we are engaged, we are a force to be reckoned with, and we can’t be ignored.”

Openly LGBT state Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso, said she was able to put a face on LGBT issues, helping spur dialogue among her colleagues. And while she was initially nervous about the session, but she was pleased to see so many pro-equality bills filed.

“I thought this could be a potentially harmful year for LGBT issues,” she said. “I think we had a pretty successful year. We were able to move legislation forward, which gives me a lot of hope for next session.”

Equality Texas Executive Director Chuck Smith said the record number of pro-equality bills filed was because of strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

“That’s indicative of our allies positioning themselves to be on the right side of history,” Smith said. “They’re not afraid to file [pro-LGBT legislation] anymore.”

Republicans helped advance SB 538, authored by El Paso’s Jose Rodriguez, to remove the unenforceable “homosexual conduct law” from the Texas Penal Code. Dallas

Republican John Carona supported the bill. Carona also supported SB 1316 — which would provide legal protections for same-sex minors in intimate relationships under the “Romeo and Juliet” defense — to help it out of committee.

The House version of SB 1316 by Gonzalez also passed out of committee. Neither bill made into to the floor for a vote. But Smith said passing three bills out of committee reflects a shift in opinion among lawmakers and the public.

“The allies are there now,” he said. “The issues are out front now.”

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, has been a longtime LGBT advocate. He said lawmakers who haven’t taken a stance to be on right side of history have finally come to see that standing up for the LGBT community is the right thing to do.

“Those who didn’t get it before, they get it now,” he said.

Three anti-LGBT pieces of legislation and one anti-gay amendment all died. At press time, the fate of a fifth anti-LGBT measure was unclear.

Republican Fort Worth Rep. Matt Krause’s HB 360 originally stated that student groups at state-funded universities could discriminate based on gender, race and sexual orientation. A compromise bill later passed out of committee that would have allowed student groups to disregard a school’s nondiscrimination policy in determining membership. Krause then attached the bill as an amendment to another bill and it passed the House. It was unclear whether the amendment would be included in a final version of the bill.

Smith said the tactics to pass anti-gay measures this session were less direct, with Krause saying his amendment called for free speech at universities. But in the end, he said the discriminatory purposes didn’t resonate with constituents who helped defeat them.

“The majority of Texans are not supportive of gay-bashing or blatantly homophobic or transphobic fear-mongering,” he said.

The Senate passed Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell’s SB 1218, which would have prohibited anyone from obtaining a marriage license with a document that lacks a photo, including an affidavit of sex change. But advocates delayed the process for its advancement in the House and it never made it out of committee for a vote.

State Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, passed a committee substitute of HB 1568 that would have given the Texas attorney general the ability to discredit and defund school districts in the state that offer employees domestic partner benefits. The bill never made it to the floor for a vote.

Arlington state Rep. Bill Zedler ended up withdrawing an amendment that would defund LGBT resource centers at state universities when it hit the House floor in April.

News of the amendment that stated LGBT and gender centers caused high-risk behavior and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases created an uproar among LGBT advocates. Petitions and letters opposing the amendment were sent to lawmakers before it was withdrawn.

Coleman said the anti-gay sentiment in the Legislature was less vocal this session but was still present.

“What I do believe is the open bigotry from a verbal point of view is tamped down because it’s seen by public as unfair,” he said. “The people that are anti-LGBT would rather say nothing rather than be called homophobic.”

Although none of the LGBT-specific legislation passed, two of Equality Texas’ endorsed bills passed both chambers and would help LGBT citizens. HB 2482 by Houston Democrat state Rep. Carol Alvarado will create a study to determine the reasons major companies have chosen to invest or relocate to other states after considering Texas.

Smith said the study would help drive support for statewide job nondiscrimination protections for LGBT employees. He brought up Gap Inc.’s decision to not move some offices to El Paso several years ago after citing a lack of LGBT protections.

Both the House and Senate versions of a bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s list of protected classes in employment received committee hearings this session, but neither made it out of committee.

“If Texas wants to compete on a national and international scale, we can’t look like a backward place that’s biased against a segment of the workforce,” Smith said.

“Employers want to know that all of their employees will be treated equally.”

SB 831 by state Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, and Coleman also passed. It expands mental health and suicide prevention programs in schools to include substance abuse.

When the session ends May 27, Smith said the work for the 84th Legislature will begin.

“We’re getting to the point where we’ve got enough bipartisan support to get bills out of committee but not enough to pass a vote,” Smith said.

Gonzalez said she’s looking forward to next session and having the “opportunity to have even more LGBT people on the House floor,” referring to lesbian activist Celia

Israel, who has announced her plans to run in Austin’s District 50.

“We only have forward movement in our future,” Gonzalez said.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 24, 2013,

MIXED EMOTIONS | Ousted lesbian den mother Jennifer Tyrrell, left, and gay Scout Pascal Tessier speak during a press conference Thursday, May 23, at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, after the Boy Scouts of America announced it had voted to lift its ban on gay youth. Despite the vote, the Irving-based BSA will continue to bar gay adult leaders and employees. (Anna Waugh/Dallas Voice)

Out Scouts, leaders celebrate BSA’s decision to lift ban on gay youth, but vow to keep fighting until LGBT leaders, employees can also serve

ANNA WAUGH  |  News Editor

GRAPEVINE — Gay youth members of the Boy Scouts of America will no longer face being kicked out because of their sexual orientation after BSA leadership voted to lift a 22-year ban.

The 1,400 members of the BSA’s National Council passed a resolution Thursday, May 23, requiring troops everywhere to welcome gay youth.

The historic vote comes more than a year after Ohio den mother Jennifer Tyrrell was removed from her position for being gay. Her removal created a national outrage and launched a national campaign with GLAAD to end the ban.
Cheers rang out as Tyrrell and others gathered in Grapevine hugged each other and cried after learning the result of the vote, which passed with more than 60 percent support. Family and friends shook their heads in joyful disbelief that years of work had paid off. Tyrrell called the resolution’s passage a first step, but said she and others will continue to push for full inclusion. The BSA will continue to ban gay adult leaders like Tyrrell, as well as LGBT employees.

“We will continue until there’s equality for all,” Tyrrell said, adding that her son, Cruz, is the reason she fights. “The Boy Scouts still tell him his moms aren’t good enough. Everyday they tell him his family is different and that’s not OK. He has a great family. He’s very loved. The BSA needs to recognize that they’re hurting him and others like him.”

Paschal Tessier, a gay Maryland Scout who faced not receiving his Eagle Scout Award because of the ban, was overcome with joy. He called his older brother, who is a gay Eagle Scout, to tell him the news back home. But he said the organization hasn’t solved the issue of equality because gay leaders are still barred from BSA ranks.

“It’s acceptable to be gay now,” he said. “But they’re trying to solve one form of discrimination with another. The adults in this that actually made this happen, now they’re not going to able to be Scouts like I am.”
Zach Wahls, founder of Scouts for Equality, said the fight is renewed to include gay adults leaders like his two moms who were involved with him in Scouting.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but our fight goes on,” Wahls said.

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin issued a statement calling this “a historic day for Boy Scouts across the country who want to be a part of this great American institution.”

“But the new policy doesn’t go far enough,” he added. “Parents and adults of good moral character, regardless of sexual orientation, should be able to volunteer their time to mentor the next generation of Americans.”

HRC also noted that the Boy Scouts still bans gay employees and called for the organization to adopt an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policy across the board.

Resource Center Dallas CEO Cece Cox called Thursday’s vote a “half-measure.”

“It is a step forward from their previous position, but not a full solution,” she said. ” It tells gay Scouts that they can take part in their troops, but once they reach adulthood, they will be denied the ability to lead. It also excludes open LGBT adult leadership in the Scouts, thereby maintaining a system of ‘less-than’ status. Scouting should not rest and pat itself on the back for only lifting the ban on gay Scouts; they should take the next step and lift it for adult leadership as well.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican who has been outspoken in support of the ban, said he was “greatly disappointed with the decision.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins echoed Perry’s comments.

“It is clear that the current BSA leadership will bend with the winds of popular culture, and the whims of liberal special interest groups,” Perkins said in a statement. “There is little doubt that God will soon be ushered out of scouting. Now is the time for new leadership. In the meantime, we will stand with those BSA Councils who will now act to protect boys from a new policy that only creates moral confusion and disrespects the views of the vast majority of Scouting parents.”

The decision takes effect Jan. 1, 2014. A task force to help with the implementation was already been created.
Wahls said his organization will ensure the policy goes into effect and be a watchdog over councils in the event that gay Scouts face discrimination.

Leading up to the vote, dozens of protesters held signs outside the Gaylord Texan that read “No on the resolution” to greet council members meeting there.

Across the street at the Great Wolf Lodge, gay Scouts and allies held an Equal Scouting Summit, sharing emotional stories about the negative impact of the gay ban and how changing it would help Scouting survive in America.

The Boy Scouts ban on gay Scouts and leaders began in 1991 when the organization determined open homosexuals went against the part of the Scout Oath that mandates members be “morality straight.”

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban in a 2000 case when justices ruled that the private organization could choose its membership.

Even though gay Scouts have been kicked out and leaders removed for being gay, many still continued to serve quietly or with the approval of their local troop.

After Tyrrell was removed, AT&T CEO Randall Stevenson and Ernest & Young CEO Jim Turley, members of BSA’s Executive Board, then joined forces to discuss the ban in February. The board decided to postpone a decision until the National Council could vote.

The compromise to only allow gay youth was announced in April after the organization surveyed parents and leaders. But with 70 percent of troops chartered by faith-based organizations, the debate continued to draw backlash from conservatives. The Mormon and the Roman Catholic churches came out in favor of the compromise.

Steven Havard, aka Stacey McBride O’Neil

DAVID TAFFET  |  Staff Writer

A drag performer from Oklahoma has filed a discrimination complaint against a Dallas retailer after they refused to allow him to try on a gown.

Steven Havard, aka Stacey McBride O’Neil, of Tulsa, filed the complaint this week, under the city of Dallas’ nondiscrimination ordinance, against Terry Costa, which has a store at Preston Road and LBJ Freeway.

In a letter responding to O’Neil’s allegation, the owner of Terry Costa acknowledged that the store does not allow men to try on gowns.

“I was made to feel like a second rate person when I went into Terry Costa,” O’Neil said. “I made a nearly five-hour drive to try to find a gown for the Miss Gay Oklahoma America Pageant and was treated like dirt.”

Tina Loyd, the owner of Terry Costa, was out of the store for the week and not available for comment.

On May 11, O’Neil drove with his partner from Tulsa to buy a gown to compete in the Miss Gay Oklahoma America Pageant. He asked friends where he should look.

“Everyone recommended Terry Costa,” O’Neil said.

When they got to Dallas, they stopped at the North Dallas store first.

“An amazing consultant helped,” he said.

She told him there was a private dressing room where he could try on a gown.

But he said nothing he saw on display immediately blew him away and they decided to look at a few other places. The sales associate made it clear that there would be no problem trying on the gowns before buying one.

When he returned in the afternoon to Terry Costa, he was told the saleswoman who helped him earlier had left for the day, so he went over to the section with his size and picked out a dress. That’s when the manager came over and looked at him in disgust, he said.

“‘We’re not going to make any accommodations for you in our store,’” he said she told him.

She said she would let him buy a dress “if you have the money,” but he couldn’t try it on or return it.

“My jaw hit the floor,” he said.

He said he wasn’t going to buy a $1,300 gown without trying it on, so he hung up the dress and walked out. From there the couple drove home to Tulsa.

When he contacted the store about his experience, Loyd sent him a letter of explanation.

In her letter, Loyd explained her “experience with male clientele.”

“Several years back,” she wrote, “we noticed a sharp and dramatic increase in theft.”

She connected the increase in theft to an increase in male customers.

She claimed a staff member attended a pageant one week after an expensive dress was missing from the racks. A man, who had been in the store and tried the dress on, was wearing it on stage.

“There he was, competing in the very dress he stole from us, a dress that had not been widely distributed or available for order,” she wrote. “He didn’t even bother to take the pins out we used to fit the dress since it was too big.”

Loyd said she asked the police for help with the theft problem but didn’t receive any.

O’Neil said Loyd’s explanation was even worse than the original insult. Now he felt he had been accused of being a thief.

When he returned home, he contacted the Dallas Fair Housing Office, which handles discrimination complaints. The ordinance prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations. Each violation is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

Ken Upton, Lambda Legal supervising senior staff attorney, said the argument that a drag queen stole from the store so they won’t serve any drag queens cannot be supported legally — at least not under the city’s ordinance.

What if a black person stole from the store so it maintained a policy of never serving blacks, Upton asked.

Upton sympathized with the plight of a small business owner facing theft from her business. He said there’s no argument that theft is illegal. But so is not serving one customer based on what another customer has done.

After posting his story on Facebook, Corey Martin contacted O’Neil and offered to make a gown.

Although they had never met, they were already Facebook friends. Martin now lives in Dallas but worked on Broadway as a costume designer and has created dresses for a number of area performers.

“It didn’t surprise me it happened,” Martin said.

Because of his experience designing and sewing dresses and gowns, he has applied to work at stores advertising for tailoring help. He’s been refused employment because of his sex.

“‘You can’t work here,’” he said he’s been told. “‘You’re a man. Women don’t feel comfortable in a fitting with a man.’”

Martin said when he’s shopped in high-end fabric stores, he’s had similar experiences with store personnel not trusting a man looking at material for women’s gowns.

He said store clerks have followed him around the store.

But he suggested that as part of the solution to making a sale rather than losing a customer or risking theft.

Instead of store clerks making fun of the drag queen, he said, one of them should help him.

In her letter to O’Neil, Loyd wrote she found “inexpensive gowns that were not our own hung in our garment bags.”

Martin suggested most stores do not allow customers to bring bags into the dressing room and some stores limit customers to one item at a time in the dressing room.

O’Neil said he’d drive back down to Dallas for his fitting with Martin and then again to pick up the dress before the Miss Gay Oklahoma pageant in June.

Nine years ago, O’Neil said he was diagnosed with cancer. He overcame it but six months ago the cancer returned. At his latest check-up, the cancer was again undetectable. That’s when he decided to make a run for the Miss Oklahoma title.

Over the years, he has been involved in a variety of charity fundraisers. He said it’s been a dream of his to represent one of the national pageantry systems and hopes the notoriety of this event doesn’t spoil his chances.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 24, 2013,

RITE-OF-SPRING | GetEQUAL?TX members hold a banner calling for ExxonMobil to add LGBT?protections outside the company’s annual meeting at the Meyerson in May 2012. (Anna Waugh/Dallas Voice)

DAVID TAFFET  |  Staff Writer

IRVING — For the 15th consecutive year, ExxonMobil shareholders will vote next week in Dallas on a resolution that would add LGBT employees to the company’s nondiscrimination policy.

Meanwhile, the national civil rights group Freedom to Work filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil this week alleging that the company violated the state of Illinois’ ban on anti-LGBT employment discrimination.

And Resource Center Dallas officials released details of a meeting they arranged last year between ExxonMobil Human Resources officials and executives from other local Fortune 500 companies, to discuss the business advantages of having nondiscrimination policies in place and offering equal benefits to all employees.

The shareholders resolution that will be voted on next week was again filed by New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on behalf of the state’s pension funds, which own more than $1 billion in Exxon stock.

DiNapoli’s resolution asks that, “ExxonMobil amend its written equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

ExxonMobil rescinded domestic partner benefits and protections for gay employees after Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999. In 2011, ExxonMobil became the first company to receive a negative score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

After the resolution was filed last year, the company tried to block a shareholder vote. The Securities and Exchange Commission rejected Exxon’s attempt and placed the issue on the shareholder ballot. This year, the company did not try to obstruct it.

Since shareholders last gathered, Resource Center arranged the meeting between Exxon leaders and executives from other local companies. The assumption by the group at the time was ExxonMobil was studying how to implement partner benefits and put in place an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policy.

Gary Freundorfer, an RCD board member who is vice president of human resources at AT&T, said Exxon officials were cordial and inviting at the meeting.

“But they were very noncommittal,” he said.

Rebecca Solomon, vice president and senior tax officer with Bank of America, said she saw several “aha” moments during the meeting. She said ExxonMobil executives seemed determined not to be pushed into changes by activists, but she presented solid business reasons for adopting inclusive policies.

“Family leave, sick leave, implementing these policies create a work environment where people feel welcome,” she told them.

She suggested implementing these policies could reduce litigation as well as draw talent from a larger pool.

“I wouldn’t work for you,” Solomon said she bluntly told them.

But after the meeting, nothing changed.

“A manager in HR told me they would make the change if an executive order were issued,” RCD spokesman Rafael McDonnell said.

HRC spokesman Michael Cole-Schwartz said his organization continues to press President Barack Obama to issue an executive order that would require companies doing business with the federal government to have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policies.

“It’s unclear when that might happen,” Cole-Schwartz said.

But he said the White House continues to indicate it will issue that order at some point.

The executive order is viewed as a stopgap until there are enough votes in Congress to pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act passes, which would ban anti-LGBT job discrimination.

Neither the state of Texas, where Exxon is based, nor the federal government have laws prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

In April, ENDA was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives with 170 co-sponsors and in the Senate with 46 co-sponsors.

In his shareholder resolution, DiNapoli wrote, “We believe that corporations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity have a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining employees from the widest talent pool.”

He cited cities such as Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles that restrict business with companies that do not guarantee equal treatment for LGBT employees. While not directly addressed in the resolution, the comptroller believes Exxon is violating New York law by not recognizing all of the marriages performed in that state and is costing the state money by not offering benefits to families of LGBT employees.

New York Comptroller spokesman Eric Sumberg said if the U.S. Supreme Court declares the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, it will make New York’s case stronger.

ExxonMobil’s board recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution.

The company claims it already prohibits “all forms of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in any Company workplace, anywhere in the world.”

The board believes its “all-inclusive, zero-tolerance policies” make the proposal unnecessary.

ExxonMobil spokesman Charles Englemann referred to the board’s position on the resolution and said, “There is nothing I am able to add to it.”

Freedom to Work filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, May 22 accusing Exxon Mobil of violating the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Freedom to Work partnered with the Equal Rights Center, one of the most experienced civil rights groups that engages in comprehensive civil-rights investigations in employment and housing.

Two fictitious applicants submitted resumes to ExxonMobil. One was a highly qualified LGBT woman and the other was a less qualified straight woman.

The LGBT applicant’s resume said she was involved in the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, while the non-LGBT applicant’s said she was involved in a feminist organization. The two fictitious applicants went to the same high school and college and graduated at the same time, so age or location were not factors.

The LGBT applicant had better grades, better computer skills, a higher level of responsibility in her previous job, more relevant experience for the ExxonMobil posting and a slightly longer period of work experience.

The LGBT person was not contacted by the company while the straight person was. She did not respond, but Exxon contacted her two more times and even said they would hold the job open for her. Even after the less qualified applicant didn’t contact the company, the better qualified candidate was still not contacted. The lawsuit seeks to require Exxon to stop discriminating specifically in Illinois, but to amend its equal employment policy. It also seeks damages.

Demonstrators plan to gather outside the Meyerson Symphony Center during ExxonMobil’s shareholders meeting, from 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 29, until the meeting begins at 9 a.m.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 24, 2013,

…………………

The Adoption Center is open 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon until 5 p.m. on Sunday. All adopted pets are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. Standard adoption fees are $85 for dogs and $55 for cats, but right now they’re offering $30 adoption fees for pets 1 year or older. We also offer discounts on adoption fees for pets who have been at the Adoption Center more than 4 weeks, for pets over 6 years of age, to any senior citizen that adopts a pet, and to anyone adopting more than one pet at a time. For more information, visit
DallasAnimalServices.org or Facebook.com/DallasAnimalServices. Photo contributed by Judi Burnett.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 17, 2013,

ANNA WAUGH  |  News Editor

FORT WORTH — A lesbian Cub Scoutmaster recently took what she expects to be her last campout with her pack.

The Fort Worth leader told Dallas Voice she plans to resign from her post within the next month if the Boy Scouts of America doesn’t vote to allow gay youth members next week.

The organization was originally considering allowing gay Scouts and leaders in February, but postponed a decision until the National Council’s 1,400 members could vote. In April, the BSA said the council would consider a compromise allowing only gay youth at its meeting May 22-23 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine.

But the Cub Scoutmaster, who asked not to be identified because her partner still plans to be involved in their son’s troop, said she doubts the policy will change, and she plans to resign from her position if it doesn’t. She said she nearly resigned last year when a Boy Scout in California, Ryan Andresen, was denied his Eagle Scout Award because he came out as gay.

“I love the Boy Scouts, and I love what they stand for, but I can’t be a part of them teaching kids to hate gay people,” the Fort Worth Scoutmaster said.

Councils across the country have spoken out for and against the resolution to allow gay youth. Meanwhile, some leaders have already resigned because of the ban. And while many religious and gay rights groups are supporting the compromise, the Human Rights Campaign has pledged to continue advocacy until the BSA implements a nondiscrimination policy.

Gays have long been Scouts, leaders

The Fort Worth Cub Scoutmaster began volunteering as a den mother with her partner five years ago when their son joined Cub Scouts. When he moved onto a Boy Scout troop, she stayed with the Cub Scout pack, while her partner went on to become a leader in their son’s troop.

Taking over the pack two years ago, she said she inherited a handful of kids and a small amount of funds in an area where many of the kids come from low-income families. But she raised money through private donations to fund events for the pack, which has grown to more than 40 boys under her leadership.

Although her work has gained the respect of many volunteers from local packs and troops — many who know she is gay — she fears she would be removed if the regional council found out about her sexuality. And with little parent involvement in her pack, she worries about who would take over if she resigns. But she said she’s not sure she can continue to serve if gay leaders aren’t eventually welcome by the BSA.

“We give a lot of money and a lot of time to this program. I don’t want to continue to give my time and money to any organization that doesn’t consider me equal,” she said. “I have a real issue with them saying, ‘OK, yeah, you can be a Boy Scout until you’re 18 — and then you’re out.’”

Gays have served in silence or with the approval of their troops from the BSA’s beginning. Scouts and leaders have been kicked out when they came out or were outed. Ohio den mother Jennifer Tyrrell launched a national push last April when she was removed from her position for being gay. Two national BSA board members joined forces to end the ban, which has led to the proposed compromise.

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Jon Langbert’s son belonged to a Dallas-area troop that allowed Langbert, who’s gay, to serve as popcorn colonel for two years, until parents complained about his sexual orientation in 2010. He was then removed from the position.

Langbert called the current proposal a “compromise in name only” because it says that some gays are OK, but gay leaders aren’t.

“It’s absolutely a step forward because it does solve the problem for gay boys that want to be in the Scouts,” he said. “It continues to send a very negative message about how they view gays.”

Langbert said many gay parents have served as Scout leaders over the years despite the national ban. But he said the ban serves as a deterrent to gays who want to join the BSA and also allows a way for anti-gay parents to get them removed.

“There are absolutely gay youth and leaders now serving in the closet, and some where their troops have never cared,” he said.

Leo Cusimano, Dallas Voice publisher, is an Eagle Scout and served as an assistant Scoutmaster. Now one of Cusimano’s sons is a Boy Scout in a special needs troop, where he regularly attends meetings and events. His troop has asked Cusimano to become more involved, but he said he declines because of the ban and will continue to until gay leaders are welcomed at the national level.

“Because of the ban, I’m not willing to immerse myself in volunteering for the Scouts,” he said. “I don’t wear the uniform, and I don’t take part in the troop committee.”

He also doesn’t attend council functions where he’d need to bring his partner. And even though he thinks not allowing gay leaders prevents talented LGBT parents from contributing to the organization, he said he wants his son to experience Scouting.

“I’m keeping my son in Scouting because I want him to have the same opportunities I did,” he said.

HRC calls proposal ‘a good start’

Religious leaders had threatened to sever ties with the BSA if the gay ban was lifted. But the compromise brought support from both conservatives and gay rights groups. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the country’s largest sponsor of Scout troops, praised the decision to welcome gay youth while maintaining the ban on gay leaders.

Many councils have voiced how they’ll vote next week. In Houston, the Sam Houston Area Council voted to oppose the compromise in April. The council, which covers 16 counties in southeast Texas, has 12 voting members.

“We have had an open and respectful discussion with regard to the various points of view on this complex issue. The Council will, as it always has, support and implement all policies of the Boy Scouts

of America, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming vote,” Board Chairman Rodney Eads said in a statement.

However, two North Texas councils are staying neutral.

Pat Currie, Scout executive at the Dallas-based Circle Ten Council, said the council is not making its opinion of the proposal public, but will follow whatever is decided.

“Our council’s position is that our role is to serve kids with a quality Scouting program and we intend to do that regardless of the outcome of the vote,” Currie said.

He said the council has seven voting officials and another six that are members of the board who will vote because of their volunteer positions. Circle Ten covers 12 counties in North Texas and Oklahoma.

John Coyle, Scouting executive for Hurst-based Longhorn Council, said his council is not taking a public stance either. The council serves 23 counties across Northwest Texas and will have eight voting members at the national meeting.

“We feel when the vote takes place, we need to follow it,” Coyle said, adding that councils who have taken a stance will still have to follow any change the national council approves. “Supposedly local units are going to need to allow youth to join regardless.”

The initial proposal in February would have allowed local troops to determine if they wanted to allow gay Scouts or leaders. But Coyle said after the BSA surveyed members and parents in March, it was determined that all troops should follow the same policy.

“Everyone kind of agreed that we need a consistent policy across the nation,” he said.

Gay rights organizations have praised the compromise as progress for the BSA.

Zach Wahls, founder of Scouts for Equality, said that “passing the resolution is an important first step.”

He noted that this is the first time in the history of the Boy Scouts that it is considering allowing gays and said he hopes it will lead to more inclusion.

HRC spokesman Paul Guequierre said the organization is supporting the compromise, but it will continue to advocate for the BSA to add a nondiscrimination policy.

“It’s a good start, but it needs to go further,” he said.

Guequierre said HRC has decided to dock points on the Corporate Equality Index from companies who donate to the BSA even if the compromise passes. Beginning in 2015, companies will lose points for giving to anti-gay organizations, but the number of points deducted hasn’t been decided yet.

Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, whose companies both receive a perfect score on HRC’s CEI, joined forces last year to push for change to the policy as members of the BSA’s National Executive Board.

Several United Way chapters have stopped funding Boy Scout councils without nondiscrimination policies.

But United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has given Circle Ten Council grants from its Community Impact Fund over the years, including more than $300,000 in 2012. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas spokeswoman Michelle Frith told Dallas Voice its grant recipients would be announced May 24.

Lesbian leader vows to be heard

The Cub Scoutmaster is currently planning one last event with her Fort Worth pack before she plans to resign, but it all depends on the national council’s vote.

She said news has spread of her decision to quit the Scouts and the Scoutmaster of the troop her pack feeds into has asked her to come and serve with them because he doesn’t want to lose her. But she says she must take a stand if the BSA’s leadership continues to discriminate against gay youth.

“Until people stand up and say something and leave the program, the program’s not going to change,” she said.

Although she’s signed up to teach a youth volunteer class this summer, she said she’ll finish the school year out with her Cub Scouts and then go before her council so its members know exactly why she’s leaving.

“If they do not pass this vote, then I will absolutely go before my council’s roundtable and tell them why I’m leaving,” she said. “And I will be heard.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 17, 2013,

Ken Upton Jr.

ANNA WAUGH  |  News Editor

MCKINNEY — Page Price and Carolyn Compton have been together for almost three years, but a Collin County judge is forcing them apart.

Judge John Roach Jr., a Republican who presides over the 296th District Court, enforced the “morality clause” in Compton’s divorce papers on Tuesday, May 7. Under the clause, someone who has a “dating or intimate relationship” with the person or is not related “by blood or marriage” is not allowed after 9 p.m. when the children are present. Price was given 30 days to move out of the home because the children live with the couple.

Price posted about the judge’s ruling on Facebook last week, writing that the judge placed the clause in the divorce papers because he didn’t like Compton’s “lifestyle.”

“Our children are all happy and well adjusted. By his enforcement, being that we cannot marry in this state, I have been ordered to move out of my home,” Price wrote.

Price also mentions that Compton’s ex-husband rarely sees their two children and was once charged with stalking Compton. She said he also hired a private investigator in order to bring the case before the judge. Court records show the ex-husband, Joshua Compton, was charged with third-degree felony stalking in 2011 but pleaded to a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing.

Price declined an interview until her lawyers figure out the next step.

Compton was granted a divorce from her ex in 2011, according to court records. The case was reopened in April to dispute custody, which she shares with him.

Compton’s attorney, Barrett Stern, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment. Her ex-husband’s attorney, Paul Key, also didn’t return a phone call.

Ken Upton Jr., senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal’s Dallas office, said he is familiar with the case. He said morality clauses are rarely enforced and were historically used to prevent unmarried people from cohabitating with children present. Courts often include the clauses without people knowing, especially in conservative areas like Collin County, he said.

Gay couples are unfairly targeted under the clause because they can’t legally marry in Texas, Upton said.

So, an ex who is upset that his marriage ended because his wife was gay could use it against her later.

“What the clause has become is an extra burden on gay people because they’re no more likely to violate it than straight people,” he said. “It’s a problem that continues with homophobia.”

Upton said Compton wasn’t held in contempt for living with Price, but the judge is going to issue a new order that cites Price must move out under the clause.

The couple can appeal the decision, which would likely be overturned. Upton said many appeals courts look at the relationship and if it causes any harm to the children in deciding whether to honor the morality clause. Being that the couple already lives together with a healthy environment for the kids, Upton said they stand a good chance to win on appeal.

If the couple decides to appeal, he said the case could set an example in Texas for how courts will interpret the clause for gay couples.

“This could be an important case in Texas,” he said. “I think it’s a case to watch.”

The situation is similar to a 2011 Houston case where a judge ruled that William Flowers couldn’t leave his children alone with his partner, Jim Evans, because they were not related by blood or adoption, despite the couple being married. Had he ruled under the morality clause, the partner would have had to move out.

The appeal was filed in October 2011 with the oral arguments heard in November 2012, according to court records. The ruling is still pending.

A fundraiser for Page Price and Carolyn Compton’s attorney fees is 3-6 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at Eden Lounge, 2911 Main Street. Admission is $25. Checks can also be sent to Dee Pennington, c/o Dallas Credit Union payable to Page Price. Mark Personal on envelope and mail to 1301 Young Street #100, Dallas, TX 75202.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 17, 2013,

TORN APART | Lon Watts, right, and Jim Heath are shown together the last time they saw each other.

DAVID TAFFET  |  Staff Writer

PITTSBURG, Texas — With his partner of 34 years in a nursing home, a court order preventing him from entering the facility and two weeks to get out of his house, Lon Watts sold his wedding ring to pay for gas to get to his mother’s place in Oklahoma.

Watts never expected to be in this position, because he always thought of himself as part of his partner Jim Heath’s family.

But after Heath was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, his sister stepped in and took guardianship from Watts, who is now unable to see or talk to Heath.

After the story of Heath and Watts recently made national news, Watts has renewed his fight to bring Heath home and launched a legal fund, but the fight could take years.

Power of attorney wasn’t enough

Watts met Heath at a predominantly gay church in Houston in 1979.

“He was my first love,” Watts said. “He was gorgeous.”

Heath was 10 years older than Watts, who was just 21 at the time.

From Houston, the couple moved to Dallas, then to Oklahoma. Watts said they were very close to Heath’s family — so close that in 2000 they decided to move back to Heath’s hometown, Pittsburg, a town of 4,500 people about 120 miles east of Dallas. Heath continued to work in insurance. Watts became a receiving manager for Walmart. And Heath’s sister, Carolyn Franks, helped them buy a home.

Watts said Franks’ best friend was president of the local bank. She arranged a loan and the couple made the $5,000 downpayment. They had the money, but not the credit to qualify for the mortgage.

Franks did not return a call seeking comment for this story.

In 2006, Heath began to show signs of Alzheimer’s Disease. The next year, Watts retired to take care of his partner full-time.

This wasn’t the first time he’d been the caregiver. When Franks’ mother-in-law became gravely ill, Heath and Watts took her in rather than put her in a nursing home.

“She died in my arms,” Watts said.

He called it an honor to have cared for her. That’s just something families do, he said.

Heath was in his late 50s when he started becoming forgetful. Watts said he noticed when he asked his partner to do something, it wouldn’t get done, and there was a blank stare.

Watts thought he had all the paperwork in place — wills naming each other beneficiaries, mutual powers-of-attorney.

As the Alzheimer’s progressed, Watts said Heath was comfortable in his surroundings and never wandered. But he kept bells on the doors just in case Heath decided to leave the house at night alone.

In 2011, Watts noticed large blisters on Heath’s foot. He noticed swelling elsewhere.

“He had love handles where he never had them before,” he said.

He called 911, but paramedics refused to take him to the hospital.

“I couldn’t get him to a doctor,” he said.

But when the blisters opened, he got him to the emergency room, tricking him to leave the house by telling him they were visiting a friend.

From there, Heath was transferred to Pittsburg Nursing Center.

That’s when things turned ugly.

He said a nurse was “badmouthing” Heath. Watts reported it. The nursing home called police and filed criminal trespassing charges against him. Even after that employee was fired a few weeks later,

Watts was barred from entering the nursing home.

Franks, who had not seen her brother in awhile, visited him in the nursing home, saw the blisters and accused Watts of abuse. She called adult protective services.

He said Franks hired an attorney from Mount Vernon, 25 miles from Pittsburg. Without mentioning her brother’s relationship or Watts’ power of attorney in court, she was declared her brother’s guardian.

“When she filed for guardianship, she didn’t acknowledge I existed,” he said.

Then she sent Watts an eviction notice from his house. He said they were 12 years into paying off the 15-year note when Heath was hospitalized.

Watts challenged the guardianship immediately, but the court date kept being postponed.

“She got the house, took everything, leaving him penniless, before it came up in court,” Watts said.

He lost the guardianship fight a year ago, was out of money and depressed, but has renewed his bid to care for Heath.
Watts has started a legal fund and hired Austin attorney Dax Garvin, hoping to be reunited with his partner. Garvin is out of the country and was unavailable for comment for this story.

Fighting to bring his partner home

Dallas attorney Rebecca Covell, who specializes in LGBT estate planning and probate law, said, “A court-appointed guardian supersedes powers of attorney.”

She said same-sex couples in Texas, with no protection under the law, should have a declaration of guardianship in addition to their other paperwork. That document would state that if one partner is incapacitated, the other would control all health and financial decisions.

“That’s how you stop a family from doing an end run-around,” Covell said.

She said Garvin would probably file an application to remove Franks as guardian, but waiting so long could be problematic.

This week, Watts tried to contact Heath by phone. He was told Franks posted a “no outside phone calls” sign on Heath’s door.

Watts called that inhumane and reported it to the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services.

Elaine Renoire, president of the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse, said wresting away guardianship is difficult.

“Mediate it,” she said. “Settle it out of court.”

She said money is usually at the root of the battle for control. She called locking Watts out of his partner’s life “ill-intent.”

“Isolating him is not a good sign,” she said. “But keep the heat on or they won’t ever let him see his partner.”

She said the guardian has three jobs — to protect wards from hurting themselves or others, conserve their assets and property and protect the public from becoming public charges.

Instead, the assets are gone. Heath is a public ward. And interaction with people he’s known for years to slow the progression of Alzheimers has stopped. But she’s still not optimistic the court will revoke Franks’ guardianship.

Watts would like to care for Heath himself.

“He should be at home,” Watts said.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 17, 2013,