Costume designer William Ivey Long dresses the musical.
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Castro cannabis seller in zoning limbo; panels discuss pros and cons of Prop 19.
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Designing ‘Dreamgirls’
– ut e s. in al ko nl on ec r o ers Ch rte p po nd Re , a a s re fied y A ssi Ba cla he ts, s t ar It’ s, w ne
Marijuana becomes a hot topic
see Arts
pages 8, 9
BAYAREAREPORTER
Vol. 40
. No. 33 . 19 August 2010
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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Marriages put on hold
Uncertainty for Prop 8 ballot repeal
by Matthew S. Bajko
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page 16
Matt Baume
Waiting to wed: Roger Hunt and Rod Wood were first in line last Thursday but Judge Vaughn Walker issued a temporary delay on his decision finding Prop 8 unconstitutional; on Monday an appellate court panel granted a stay, putting same-sex marriages on hold.
Low returns on DADT survey by Chuck Colbert Pentagon survey seeking the views of active duty troops on gays serving openly in the military is apparently a bust. Department of Defense spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told CNN that just two days before the August 15 deadline about 104,000 of the 400,000 100-question surveys had been returned. But the 26 percent response rate, Smith said, is typical for a questionnaire of this size. Two weeks earlier, Stars and Stripes, a military publication, reported only a 10 percent response rate, which may have prompted Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remind troops of the survey’s importance. “Your responses to this survey will help assess the impact of a change in the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law and associated policy on military readiness, effectiveness, and unit cohesion, should such a change occur,” Gates wrote last week. “The end result: more informed decisions.” The ultimate purpose of the survey is to inform the Pentagon working group on how to implement a policy change when Congress repeals the 17-year-old DADT federal law. A Senate panel and the full House have already approved a repeal measure. The full Senate is expected to take up the issue next month. A final working group report is due to President Barack Obama December 1. But the survey has drawn fire from repeal-the-ban proponents. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a legal services and advocacy organization, warned gay soldiers not to complete the questionnaire after the Defense Department would not guarantee anonymity and protection against being discharged under the current policy for participating in the survey. Servicemembers United, another group formed to repeal DADT, stopped short of recommending gay troops not complete the survey. Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, said he is not surprised the survey is a yawn among active duty personnel. “From what we are hearing, troops have little interest in this survey and simply just don’t care about this policy change,” he said. “While the De-
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Nicholson added, “Some commanders and senior leaders have even told subordinates that participation is mandatory. These occurrences further degrade the credibility of this survey’s methodology and violate ethical standards that prevent researchers from compelling respondents to participate in survey research.” Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, a public policy institute affiliated with the UC Santa Barbara, put the low response rate in historical and political perspective. “The reason so few troops have filled out their surveys is that, as objective data have shown for years, most just don’t care if gays are allowed to serve,” Belkin said. “The depiction of repeal as some mysterious, complicated process is incorrect.” In addition to the survey, the Defense Department is seeking confidential comments online. Smith told CNN that 67,000 people have responded to date. That number includes 2,450 active duty troops, with 280 of them self-identified as gay men or lesbians, offering their views. Aaron Belkin of the Palm Center In other news, the Palm Center released an updated statistical analysis for the year 2009, which found the Pentagon honorably discharged 428 service members for DADT policy violations. The number of gay-service related separations, however, is down from 619 the previous year. And yet the Defense Department continues to separate mission-critical specialists including eight linguists, 20 infantrymen, 16 medical aides, seven combat engineers, six missile artillery operating crew members, and one member of the Special Forces, among others, according to the Palm report. The data analysis also demonstrates a disproportionate rate of gay-service related discharges on the basis of race and gen– Aaron Belkin der. For example, while only 14 percent of Army soldiers are women, they accounted for 48 percent of 2009 discharges. Similarpartment of Defense and Westat [the research firm that designed the survey] are spinning the low re- ly, the Navy separated only two officers last year, sponse rate to the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ survey as both of whom were Asian. The 2009 data were collected by the Defense expected and sufficient, neither are disclosing the fact that the military leaders have had to put sig- Manpower Data Center and provided by the House nificant pressure on troops on multiple occasions Armed Services Committee. The full data set is available in PDF format at www.palmcenter.org.▼ to even get this level of response.” Jane Philomen Cleland
Rick Gerharter
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by Cynthia Laird ith the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision this week to stay the resumption of same-sex marriages in California pending its review of the federal Proposition 8 trial court decision, some marriage equality advocates are wondering when they should return to the ballot box in an effort to repeal the samesex marriage ban if they lose the court fight. When a three- Geoff Kors judge panel on Monday granted Prop 8 proponents a stay, it meant that same-sex couples who had been hoping to marry as soon as Wednesday night had to put those plans on hold. But in its order, the panel also issued an expedited briefing schedule that will see oral arguments in the case the first week of December in San Francisco. Two of the big unknowns, of course, are when the 9th Circuit will issue its decision, and what that ruling will be. Both the timing and nature of the decision will determine whether the case, known as Perry v. Schwarzenegger, will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Some legal observers think if the case goes to the high court that will happen in 2012, a presidential election year and the same year that many marriage equality advocates had been looking to repeal Prop 8 at the ballot box. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled August 4 that Prop 8 is unconstitutional but stayed his decision. On August 12 he lifted the stay but delayed the resumption of same-sex marriages to give Prop 8 proponents time to appeal. Immediately, protectmarriage.com, the proponents of Prop 8, filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit and requested Walker’s decision be stayed while the case is appealed. It is that matter on which the panel ruled Monday, effectively halting same-sex nuptials for now. Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, said in an interview this week that Prop 8 opponents may know the outcome of the Perry case in time to place a repeal initiative on the 2012 ballot. That is, if the final decision in Perry upholds Prop 8. Kors stressed that the situation is very fluid right now. “At this point, we could get a decision from the 9th Circuit in December, or, they could take several months,” Kors said. “We could lose, there could be no appeal, we could win on standing.” By that, Kors was referring to what has become a key issue in Perry – whether the Prop 8 proponents even have legal standing to appeal Walker’s decision. The 9th Circuit is expected to decide that question. [See story, page 1.] “Clearly if we win at the 9th Circuit it makes sense not to go back to the ballot in 2012,” Kors added. “But it’s so fluid. If we lose 3-0 at the 9th Circuit that wouldn’t
federal appellate court will take up the legal fight over California’s same-sex marriage ban in December under an expedited schedule that could bring a ruling in the matter in early 2011. While pleased with the court’s fast-tracking of the appeals process, same-sex couples and their advocates were upset by the decision of a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit not to allow any marriages to take place while the federal courts continue to weigh the matter. A federal trial judge had ordered the state to begin marrying same-sex couples as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 18 following his ruling that Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage in the Golden State, violated the constitutional rights of gay men and lesbians. But Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker purposely delayed his order issued Thursday, August 12 allowing the marriages to take place to provide time for the appellate court to address the matter. Lawyers for protectmarriage.com, the group
The reason so few troops have filled out their surveys is that, as objective data have shown for years, most just don’t care if gays are allowed to serve.”
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