Jason Smith

The case of a gay Tyler man who sued the Texas Attorney General’s office for employment discrimination comes before the Court of Appeals in Austin this week.

Vic A. Gardner worked for the AG’s child support division for about three years. He received excellent performance reviews until an office Halloween costume party, the suit alleges. When he attended dressed as a geisha girl, his supervisor determined he was gay.

Once his sexual orientation was assumed by the supervisor, he was repeatedly disciplined until he resigned in February, according to his attorney, Jason Smith of Fort Worth.

In a sworn affidavit, the supervisor admitted he had a religious objection to Gardner being gay.

“You are who you are, but try not to be so out,” Smith said his client was told.

Knowing Gardner’s father was a Baptist minister, the supervisor asked Gardner at one point how he could do that to his father.

In October 2010, a lower court judge ruled the AG had immunity from prosecution and dismissed the case. Gardner appealed in November 2010 but withdrew his appeal in January 2011.

Gardner’s new appeal is asking the court to order a jury trial. The AG contends all Gardner can do is ask for reinstatement. Smith said his client is entitled to lost wages and more.

Since he lost his job, Gardner worked at Dillard’s, but then suffered a heart attack and had no health insurance. He’s now back at work.

Smith believes his client is entitled to compensation for the medical bills that would have been covered by his state health insurance and for mental anguish that may have led to the heart attack.

When Democrat Dan Morales was attorney general, he added sexual orientation to the department’s nondiscrimination policy. Republican Greg Abbott removed that protection after his election in 2002. Abbott also has intervened to block same-sex couples legally married in other states from obtaining divorces in Texas. And he recently issued an opinion saying he believes domestic partner benefits offered by local governments violate the state’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“It’s fair to say the attorney general has not been an advocate for gay and lesbian rights,” Smith said.

Despite a lack of specific protection in law based on sexual orientation, government agencies are barred from discriminating against gay employees under the constitutional principle of equal protection. Smith said pointed to the Mica England case, which prevented the Dallas Police Department from asking about sexual orientation on its employment application and disqualifying applicants based on the answer. He said the case also shows the need for a statewide employment nondiscrimination law that protects LGBT people.

“Discrimination against gay employees is prohibited under the Texas Constitution, which protects all Texans right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness just as God made them,” Gardner claims in his appeal. “Moreover, the Texas Supreme Court recently held that individual government actors are not immune from damages for violating an individual’s rights under the constitution.”

A spokesman in the AG press office said the office typically doesn’t comment on pending lawuits.

The AG questions whether sexual orientation was a motivating factor in the case, according to a deposition.

Lambda Legal indicated this week that they would file a brief in the case based on equal protection and on higherd scrutiny for sexual orientation discrimination.

Smith asked members of the LGBT community to attend oral arguments on May 22 to show support. He said Texas has an open courts system and he believes judges note when the public takes an interest in a case.

The docket is called for 9 a.m. and three cases will be heard that day. He said he expects to present his case at about 10 a.m. but urged anyone interested in coming to arrive earlier. The court is in the same building as the attorney general’s office: Price Daniel Sr. Building, 209 W. 14th St., Room 101, Austin.

Participants hold candles as they listen to speakers May 22, 2012, during Dallas’ first-ever Harvey Milk Day celebration at the Legacy of Love Monument. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

Dallas activists are having a Harvey Milk celebration again this year.

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 in a statement. “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 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.

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.

“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 here for a suggested $15 All proceeds benefit programs of Hope for Peace and Justice and GetEQUAL TX.

For tickets to Pam Ann, go here.

Indigo Girls, the lesbian folk band, plays at the McKinney Arts Center on Friday night, but there are lots of other gay-friendly things to do closer to downtown.

Also on Friday, photographer Alex Remington opens his one-man show of Dallas landmarks, Architectura, at the ilume Gallerie; it will play there through June. And Dallas ComicCon bursts into the Irving Convention Center in Las Colinas for a weekend of events.

On Saturday night, the Turtle Creek Chorale holds its annual Turtle Ball, this time at Trinity Groves, the new development near our fancy Calatrava bridge.

This is the last weekend to see Re-Designing Women at the Rose Room, as well as Fela! at the Winspear. And it’s your only chance to see Pam Ann, pictured, in her one-woman comedy act at the Majestic. But you still have time to catch Priscilla Queen of the Desert at Fair Park and the Dallas Theater Center’s Fly By Night at the Kalita.

Scouts for Equality and the Inclusive Scouting Network are holding a national Equal Scouting Summit next week while the Boy Scouts’ National Council debates whether or not to allow gay youth.

The event will bring together national leaders and discuss how to make the BSA more inclusive moving forward. Jennifer Tyrrell, Zach Wahls, Greg Bourke, Will Oliver and Eagle Scout Dave McGrath, who is biking 1,800 miles with his son for equality, are among the speakers.

The Voice of the Gay Scout project will also be a part of the summit. Gay Scouts are encouraged to send letters about what they would say to members of the BSA’s National Council. Scouts and allies will bring the letters to the National Council and read them aloud. Letters can be sent to voice@inclusivescouting.net.

The summit is May 22-24 at the Great Wolf Lodge, 100 Great Wolf Drive in Grapevine.

For more information or to RSVP, go here.

The queens of ‘Priscilla’

It is a small perturbation that the two longest-running Broadway musicals about drag queens — La Cage aux Folles and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, now playing at Fair Park Music Hall — involved plots where gay men have ill-advised sex with women and produce sons, only hoping not to embarrass their offspring. My guess is, this is done intentionally, to remind mainstream hetero audiences that gay or straight, we are all basically the same (as if showing our emotions weren’t already enough).

Still, you can practically hear the jaws drop inside the auditorium during many of the numbers of Priscilla, which makes La Cage look like a church social by comparison. Its outrageousness is less offensive and shocking than merely unbridled: It’s out-and-proud about its camp factor, and you’d better adjust or stay away.

Adjust. Do, do adjust, because Priscilla is a hoot, as glamorously trashy and enjoyable as the best drag show you’ve ever seen. Some people didn’t stay through Act 2; that was their loss.

The namesake bus

Three drag performers — gay men Mitzi (Wade McCollum, the one with the aforementioned offspring) and Felicia (Bryan West), and trans woman Bernadette (Scott Willis) —travel the Australian Outback in an elaborate bus on their way to a gig in a remote casino town. Along the way they encounter gay-bashers, weirdos, aborigines, looky-loo tourists, sex workers and, mercifully, tolerant, average folks who embrace differences rather than judge them. It’s the point of the show. (It’s the point of La Cage, too.) I found it telling that the first audience members I saw bail during the performance did so in the midst of a touching rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s song of tolerance, “True Colors.” It was as if those people couldn’t stand the idea they might feel empathy for a man in a dress.

Lauper songs appear elsewhere in Priscilla, a jukebox musical without original tunes but which shoehorns them into the story as they serve both the drag acts and illuminate the characters. Most are ’80s pop and disco numbers, though Mitzi’s version of “Always on My Mind” resonates on a different level as an expression of fatherly love.

But sentiment aside, it’s the fabulosity that carries the show, from the opening number “It’s Raining Men” (followed by a dead-on Tina Turner impersonation) to the scandalous “ping pong ball” routine (unforgettable) to some of the best sets and costumes you’ll ever see. Priscilla is hardly a perfect show, but you accept it for what it is, and gladly. That’s all it asks.

Runs through May 26. Get tickets here.

…………………

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,

When the Dallas City Council takes up a pro-LGBT resolution in June, it will have been seven months since the measure was first introduced by Councilman Scott Griggs.

If passed, the resolution would express the council’s support for marriage equality and a statewide bill amending Texas’ employment protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Griggs says he intends the resolution to not only send a message to the North Texas LGBT community that they have support from city leadership, but also to put pressure on lawmakers in Austin and Washington.

No doubt, the early part of 2013 would have been a perfect time to pass such a resolution. We have been in the middle of the 2013 Texas Legislature — which only meets on odd-numbered years for a short 140 days. We have also seen more support in our Legislature than in any previous gathering with many pro-LGBT bills gaining broader support.

However, time is running out. When the City Council meets to vote on the resolution June 12, the Texas Legislature will be resting up for another 140 days of hard work in 2015. This resolution, when passed, will be nothing more than a smile in our direction. The immortal words of Alanis Morrisette come to mind: “It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.”

Why did it take so long to bring this resolution to a vote? In truth, leadership just wasn’t there.

Let me preface the following by saying I am appreciative of the gesture. Not that many years ago, the thought that a Dallas City Council would even consider such a move was mere fantasy. Not that long ago, our community was happy just to have a handful of council people who would take our calls. This is a sign of progress. However, our community is learning that we need more than grand gestures and heartfelt handshakes — we need leadership.

Part of me wants to blame Mayor Mike Rawlings for this lack of representation. After all, the man clearly gets a C-minus (I’m feeling generous) on his report card for LGBT support. After side-stepping the signing of a “Mayors for the Freedom to Marry” pledge, he said he would rather focus on concrete solutions for the LGBT community, like putting pressure on the state for employment nondiscrimination. The mayor’s office even promised to send a city representative to Austin for LGBT Lobby Day. None of these things materialized, leaving LGBT activists with Equality Texas, GetEQUAL TX and countless others to fight for passage of Senate Bill 237 (The Fair Employment Act) without the help of our “friend,” Mayor Rawlings. The bill still sits in committee with one vote needed to get it to the Senate floor.

Now Rawlings has repeatedly referred to Griggs’ resolution as a “misuse of city council time.” Sad to say, this late in the game, he is almost correct. Almost.

But it seems the mayor is not the only city leader who needs to learn the difference between friendship and leadership. Perhaps the assumption that the mayor would once again hog the LGBT ire spotlight by saying something completely boneheaded was just too much? Where were Angela Hunt, Pauline Medrano and Delia Jasso? Other than telling the Dallas Voice that they were supportive of the measure, what steps did they take to ensure its quick passage? Griggs says he didn’t want to bring the resolution up for a vote until it was clear that it would pass — a smart move, but one that carried no real sense of urgency.

A better understanding of the needs of this community might have prompted our friends on the City Council to move faster, passing these measures in January when they could have helped to bring about actual change here in Texas. This late, a vote in our favor may feel good, but the more than 30 percent of LGBT Texans who have reported being fired and the 100 percent who must live in fear of losing their jobs simply because of who they are? Well, they will have to wait until 2015.

Being a friend to our community means more than riding in the Pride parade, hosting a Pride reception at City Hall or even writing resolutions on our behalf. Being a friend, especially being a friend we have elected to lead our city, means real leadership on issues that matter to this community. Don’t just say it. Do it. Don’t just support us. March by our side.

The business of changing Texas and the rest of the nation is a dirty one. It is time for all of us, even our city representatives, to get a little grit under our nails. The LGBT community is proud to have friends in our local government, but we have evolved beyond proclamations and parties. It is time to get serious about civil rights. It is time to move. It is time to lead.

Daniel Cates is North Texas regional coordinator for the direct action group GetEQUAL TX. He can be reached at daniel@getequaltx.org.

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.

Click to enlarge

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,