Tag Archives: death

Judge to rule this week in Nikki Araguz case

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Nikki Araguz

Transgender widow vows appeal if she loses case

JUAN A. LOZANO  |  Associated Press

WHARTON, Texas — The transgender widow of a Texas firefighter will likely learn next week whether his family’s request to nullify their marriage and strip her of any death benefits will be granted, a judge said Friday.

State District Judge Randy Clapp made the announcement after hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by the family of firefighter Thomas Araguz III, who was killed while battling a blaze last year. The suit argues that his widow shouldn’t get any benefits because she was born a man and Texas doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.

The widow, Nikki Araguz, said she had done everything medically and legally possible to show that she is female and was legally married under Texas law. She believes that she’s entitled to widow’s benefits.

“I believe the judge is going to rule in my favor,” Araguz said after the court hearing.

The lawsuit seeks control over death benefits and assets totaling more than $600,000, which the firefighter’s family wants to go to his two sons from a previous marriage. Voiding the marriage would prevent Nikki Araguz from receiving any insurance or death benefits or property the couple had together.

Thomas Araguz died while fighting a fire at an egg farm near Wharton, about 60 miles southwest of Houston, in July 2010. He was 30.

His mother, Simona Longoria, filed a lawsuit asking that her son’s marriage be voided. She and her family have said he learned of his wife’s gender history just prior to his death, and after he found out, he moved out of their home and planned to end the marriage.

But Nikki Araguz, 35, has insisted that her husband was aware she was born a man and that he fully supported her through the surgical process to become a woman. She underwent surgery two months after they were married in 2008.

Longoria’s attorney, Chad Ellis, argued that Texas law — specifically a 1999 appeals court ruling that stated chromosomes, not genitals, determine gender — supports his client’s efforts to void the marriage.

The ruling upheld a lower court’s decision that threw out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a San Antonio woman, Christie Lee Cavazos Littleton, after her husband’s death. The court said that although Littleton had undergone a sex-change operation, she was actually a man, based on her original birth certificate, and therefore her marriage and wrongful death claim were invalid.

Ellis presented medical and school records that he said showed Nikki Araguz was born without female reproductive organs and that she presented herself as a male while growing up and going to school. He also said her birth certificate at the time of her marriage indicated she was a man.

“By law, two males cannot be married in this state,” Ellis told the judge.

Nikki Araguz, who was born in California, did not change her birth certificate to reflect she had become a female until after her husband’s death, said Edward Burwell, one of the attorneys for Thomas Araguz’s ex-wife, Heather Delgado, the mother of his two children.

But one of Nikki Araguz’s attorneys, Darrell Steidley, said that when his client got her marriage license, she presented the necessary legal documents to show she was a female. He also noted changes made in 2009 to the Texas Family Code that allowed people to present numerous alternatives to a birth certificate as the proof of identity needed to get a marriage license. That was an example, he argued, of the state trying to move away from the 1999 appeals court ruling.

The changes in 2009 allowed transgendered people to use proof of their sex change to get a marriage license. The Texas Legislature is currently considering a bill that would prohibit county and district clerks from using a court order recognizing a sex change as documentation to get married.

After the hearing, the firefighter’s family and attorneys for his ex-wife criticized plans by Nikki Araguz to star in a reality television dating show and implied she was only interested in money and fame that the case would bring her.

“That is absurd,” Nikki Araguz said in response. “I’m after my civil equality and the rights that I deserve as the wife of a fallen firefighter.”

If the judge rules against the firefighter’s family in their motion for a summary judgment, the case would then proceed to trial. Araguz said if the judge rules against her, she would appeal, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

—  John Wright

Letting it REGISTER • Pride Weddings & Celebrations 2011

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Gift registries can be intimidating. Dean Driver makes them easy

FASHION. PLATE. | Dean Driver knows how to make a tabletop pop — and how to make it easy on you to choose your gifts. (Arnold Wayne Jones/Dallas Voice)

BY RICH LOPEZ

Perhaps the one wedding tradition same-sex couples might waffle on is signing up for that beg-a-thon, the gift registry. Forget whether to do so (you should); the real question is, where can you find that particular china pattern you once saw in a magazine?

The answer to that question is probably Dean Driver. With his new company, Consilium Lifestyle Collections, Driver makes what could be a daunting (even intimidating) task for same-sex couples possibly the easiest  job out of all the wedding planning.

“I don’t know if the average gay couple feels comfortable going into stores,” Driver says. “They may, but many retailers just aren’t reaching out to gay couples.”

Teaming up with Consilium Creative Marketing, Driver created what may be the first by-appointment source of its kind in Dallas to provide a wedding gift registry for same-sex couples. While the services are for everyone, Driver believes that this personal touch can bring comfort to any gay newlyweds hesitant about how to sign up for gifts. It also gives them a home field advantage when looking for fine tabletop products and more.

“The way we do business is changing, and this has afforded me the ability to do in-home consultations and also wedding registries,” Driver says. “I come to the client with samples to get an idea of their lifestyle and suggest products and can see what will work with what’s already in the home.”

The affable Driver knows his stuff. After working with tabletop industries for years in large markets like New York, he has access to many luxury brands and even unique home products. The usual china and crystal items are no problem, but items like linens and household accessories are more easily available through him.

Driver’s first piece of advice on getting started with a registry: Don’t be intimidated.

“I demystify all that for you,” he says. “That’s what I’m here for. I’ll make it easier for you. And people shouldn’t think that everything offered in a registry costs so much. We do have some unique options that are moderately priced.”

Consilium has only been around for a few months, but it has burst out of the gate with a selection of up to 50 brands, some exclusive to them. And with Driver’s knowledge and background, he can pretty much get anybody anything they want.

“I’m a sort of an expert in tabletops, and I have my finger on the pulse of the industry,” he says. “I go to Paris, to Milan and see all the new patterns. And if you saw a plate in a magazine and brought it to me,  I could pinpoint what it is. When I say anything, I mean anything — and you may be only person in the country to have it.”

Something his company can guarantee is the death of that most dreaded wedding tradition: The return. Once items are selected for the registry, gift givers don’t have to worry about buying an item that’s already been purchased. Instead, the company does gift cards only, which are beautifully packaged for the giver to present.

“This prevents exchanges or duplicates,” he says. “Plus, clients may change their minds and gift cards give them an opportunity to get something else. And it’s a little more green without all that wrapping paper and shipping to worry about.”

Driver and company seems to have gotten rid of all the excuses couples can make to partake in registering for gifts. Being that a wedding is a life-changing event, Driver mostly wonders why not go all out?

“Couples shouldn’t shy away from getting nice things,” he says. “This is the one time to get the nice stuff, so why not? Anything you want, I can get.”

The only caveat — Driver encourages people to use the nice stuff everyday.

“Yeah, don’t pack it away in a cabinet like our parents did,” he says.

Of course, if there’s one thing gays know how to do it’s merchandise.

For more information, visit ConsiliumLifestyleCollections.com.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 6, 2011.

—  Michael Stephens

Did Scott Lively’s homophobic ‘nuclear bomb’ cause a death in Uganda?

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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Photobucket Last week, anti-gay activist Scott Lively whined in a local Boston newspaper that he is being unfairly criticized for his stances against the lgbt community, including playing a huge role in the creation of the infamous “kill the gays” bill in Uganda.

After an incident in Uganda yesterday, he may want to keep his mouth shut:

An outspoken Ugandan gay activist whose picture recently appeared in an anti-gay newspaper under the headline “Hang Them” was beaten to death in his home, Ugandan police said on Thursday.

David Kato, the activist, was one of the most visible defenders of gay rights in a country so homophobic that government leaders have proposed to execute gay people. Mr. Kato and other gay people in Uganda had recently warned that their lives were endangered, and four months ago a local paper called Rolling Stone published a list of gay people, and Mr. Kato’s face was on the front page.

At press time, the police do not view Kato's murder as a hate crime, but a robbery. However some lgbt activists in Uganda disagree:

Gay activists . . . said Mr. Kato was singled out for his outspoken defense of gay rights. “David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S. Evangelicals in 2009,” said Val Kalende, the chairperson of one of Uganda’s gay rights groups, in a statement. “The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S. evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood!”

Mrs. Kalende was referring to visits in March 2009 by a group of American evangelicals who held anti-gay rallies and church leaders who authored the anti-gay bill, which is still pending, attended those meetings and said that they had worked with the Americans on their bill.

One of the those activists was Scott Lively He even bragged that the 2009 visits created a “nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.”

Kato's death comes almost a month after the arrest of Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa on conspiracy charges. Ssempa, a chief pusher of the country's “Kill the Gays” bill and also for his penchant for showing “scat porn” in church is among eight people  who was either detained or sought after an “alleged conspiracy to injure the reputation of Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral, Kampala.”

Ssempa and eight others had been charged with spreading rumors that Kayanja was gay, which is supposedly a common way to settle political scores in Uganda, but has deadlier implications since the controversy about the anti-gay bill.

The webpage Box Turtle Bulletin said the following:

David Kato was a spokesperson for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and one of the plaintiffs (or applicants) in the successful lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction against the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication of the same name). Kato was one of three applicants who had been named by the tabloid under a headline tagged “Hang Them!” His photo appeared on the tabloid’s front cover.

LGBT Ugandans have lived under a menacing atmosphere for more than a decade. The anti-gay hysteria has increased significantly since the introduction of the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill into parliament in 2009. That bill, which remains under review Parliamentary committee, would impose the death penalty on LGBT Ugandans under certain circumstances and criminalize all advocacy by or on behalf of LGBT people. It would also criminalize even knowing someone who is gay if that person fails to report their LGBT loved one to police within 24 hours. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for February 18, and the bill is expected to be considered after Parliament returns for a lame-duck session before the new Parliament begins in May.

Now in all honesty, we do not know the truth behind Kato's murder at the present, so it may be unfair to blame Lively. Certainly he never told people to kill anyone. And according to him, he never agreed with the death penalty facet of the Ugandan anti-gay bill.

But he did fan the flames of hatred towards lgbts in Uganda and that's the funny thing about fanning flames.

They always get out of hand and sooner or later, someone gets burned.
Pam’s House Blend – Front Page

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Activist Outed on Cover of Ugandan Tabloid is Beaten to Death

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Uganda

David Kato, a Human Rights Activist, who according to Human Rights Watch "had dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender persons (LGBT) in Uganda" was beaten to death in his home yesterday.

Human Rights Watch explains: Kato

Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato's home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato's lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.

Kato was the advocacy officer for the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda. He had been a leading voice in the fight against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which has been before Uganda's parliament since October 15, 2009.

You may recall that back in October, the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone published a list of '100 Top Homos' with the directions to "hang them" written on the cover.

Kato's face appeared on the cover, and inside, and was named by the tabloid.

Said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch: "David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community. David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan LGBT people bravely and will be sorely missed."

In related news, in yesterday's round-up I posted the story of Brenda Namigadde, a lesbian Ugandan in the UK who is being threatened with deportation despite the hideous situation in Uganda. David Bahati, the author of the "kill the gays" bill, has taken an interest in her 'redemption'. Please sign a petition for her safety here.


Towleroad News #gay

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Death and War and Us

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A lot of people are being blamed for deaths these days. First we had Wikileaks. Now, no one has shown a single death resulted from the revelations. And yet, the media was awash in condemnations of the danger the revelations would pose for innocent Afghans and the like. Then the Arizona tragedy. The right has taken a lot of flack (some deserved, some not, in my view) over the prospect that its rhetoric could have made a maniac buy a gun, drive out to a Safeway, and pull the trigger. And on the one hand, this is a good sign. Culture of life and all that. Every life matters, every life is precious, every life has value, et cetera. It says something good about America as a civilization that values life. But when you look at our actions as a nation of war, this all comes tumbling down. One of Eabo’s comments triggered this diary. He claimed: “And not one single act of death or violence…has been attributed to talk radio, or sarah palin.  But that hasn’t stopped your fellow travelers from arguing that, has it?”
The thing is, we can attribute deaths to individual politicians. We can attribute them to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell for knowingly misleading this country about Iraq. We’re talking predictably dead civilians on the order of one hundred thousand. And these people lied to make it happen. Then there were the Congressmen who decided war was a light enough matter to be informally declared on only the most skimpy of evidence. We can blame them too. Then we get to the great educated eloquent liberal Democratic president, Barack Obama, who regularly sends robots to drop bombs on Pakistani villages, deciding that the deaths of innocent civilians are acceptable–and only acknowledging this in a joke about the Jonas Brothers, and sends the same robots to Afghanistan. Barack Obama, who relentlessly bombs Yemen, who sends weapons to the region and lies about it. These are the deaths we cause.

These are not simply deaths caused from our passivity (i.e. crime, preventable disease). These are deaths that we directly make happen. Now, you don’t have to agree that every single one of these acts of war is wrong to agree with this single main point: If the United States, as a nation, truly valued life, we would care that our bombs fly across the world and shatter innocent families. We would not relegate our wars to the inside of the front section of the newspaper that only the most dedicated read. We would not accept that a president can wage war in half a dozen countries and not tell us about it. It would bother us that our flag is printed on these bombs, it would bother us that we are the bringers of death, and it would bother us that, across a significant portion of the world, we are the things that go “bump” in the night.  
Pam’s House Blend – Front Page

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Watch: John McCain and Mark Kirk Share Evil Laugh Over Death of Omnibus Spending Bill — ‘Did We Just Win?’

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Mccain_kirk

Political theater at its most macabre, from Thursday night.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…

The death of the omnibus bill was what led Reid to file cloture on the DREAM Act and DADT repeal.

There are some reports emerging that McCain and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) are so angry about the DREAM and DADT votes that they're threatening to push back on the START treaty ratification. And some that they're not.

Stay tuned…



Towleroad News #gay

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Hermilio Moralez Beat Teenage Friend Joshua Wilkerson To Death Over Alleged Sexual Advances

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Texas authorities have arrested 19-year-old Hermilio Moralez on murder charges after allegedly beating to death his friend of five years Joshua Wilkerson, 18, and burning his body after Wilkerson supposedly made sexual advances toward the teen during a ride home from school.

CONTINUED »

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Texas Teen Claims Sexual Advances Caused Him to Beat Fellow Male Student to Death, Burn the Body

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Crime_texas

A gruesome story is unfolding in Pearland, Texas, south of Houston, ABC13 reports:

"Authorities now say that Joshua Wilkerson, 18 (above left), was beaten with a large wooden rod and that his body was burned. Hermilio Moralez, 19 (right), is charged with murder in Wilkerson's death. According to court documents, Wilkerson gave Moralez a ride home from school Tuesday and Moralez stated that Wilkerson began to make sexual advances towards him. Moralez said they got out of the truck and began to fight when Wilkerson grabbed a large wooden rod and tried to hit him. Moralez said he took the piece of wood from Wilkerson and began to hit him with it. He said Wilkerson was not moving afterwards."

Moralez also apparently tried to take a police officer's gun from its holster while he was leading authorities to the body. He has been "charged with failure to identify and attempting to take a weapon from a peace officer. His bond on those two charges are ,000 and ,000, respectively. No bond has been set for the murder charge."

Watch a brief news conference, AFTER THE JUMP…



Towleroad News #gay

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Openly Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson To Retire Over Death Threats

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Saying he is tired of the incessant death threats rained down from God’s Gentle People™ , openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson is retiring.

“The fact is, the last seven years have taken their toll on me, my family and you,” Robinson wrote in a message posted on the diocese website. “Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years.” Robinson was openly gay when he was elected bishop in 2003, but it aroused such passions that he wore a bullet-proof vest to his consecration. His ordination as bishop — the first of an openly gay priest in any Christian denomination — so divided the church that its General Convention in 2006 called a moratorium on “any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.”

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Margie Phelps at Supreme Court: ‘Mark it down: Every death is in God’s hands, and he’s just getting warmed up.’

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Kerry Eleveld was at the U.S. Supreme Court today to hear the oral arguments in the case brought against the Phelps by the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. He died in Iraq and the Phelps clan protest at his funeral. More on that subject here and here.

This is a First Amendment case and the Phelps were represented by one of their own, Margie:

Margie Phelps represented Westboro in front of the nine Supreme Court justices, displaying a mostly flat affect and decent command of the legal issues surrounding the case. But when she stepped in front of the microphones following the proceeding, Phelps switched on the more dogmatic and combative temperament that she and her church members are known for, even treating the mass of reporters to several lines of a variation on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”

Here are some of the rantings that occurred outside the Court:

“Note to all — when you have a private funeral, we will not be there. When you have a public funeral and you broadcast to the nation that that dead soldier is a hero and that God is blessing America, we will be there and tell you, God is cursing America. It is a curse for your young men and women to be coming home in body bags. And if you want that to stop, stop sinning.”

“Look at you all right here. We don’t have to follow anybody. You follow us. We did not know any — we don’t know these families. We know this nation, whose destruction is imminent, has brought wrath from God. You have dead children coming home from that war. You have dead children. God’s promise to you is that if you would obey him, you would not need a standing army.”

“No, it’s not only the soldiers dying. God is bringing the trauma. He’s opened up his armory, and there’s no limit to the ways he can bring you trauma.… Everybody who dies, God kills. He holds the breath of life in his hands, and that’s what this rebellious nation is mad about, I think. You don’t want to say there’s a sovereign God with the breath of life in his hands. Mark it down: Every death is in God’s hands, and he’s just getting warmed up.

(Margie Phelps is joined by her sister Shirley Phelps-Roper in song.)

Cryin’ about your feelings / For your sin, no shame / You’re going straight to hell on a crazy train.

I think the Phelps are already on board that crazy train.




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—  John Wright