Sonoma County settles bias suit
by Lois Pearlman
Sonoma County officials have agreed to pay $650,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an elderly gay man who claimed the county separated him from his longtime partner and auctioned off their belongings.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit, Clay Greene, will receive $275,000 from the county and an additional $53,000 from a co-defendant, Agua Caliente Villa, the nursing home where he lived after the county intervened in his life. Additionally, $25,000 will go to the estate of Greene's late partner, Harold Scull. Greene's lawyers, the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, and private attorneys in Sonoma County, will split the remaining $300,000.
County supervisors still need to accept the settlement at their next weekly meeting, August 3, but it appears to be a done deal. Both sides in the case said they are satisfied with the conclusion to the suit that was filed nearly a year ago in Sonoma County Superior Court.
"It puts this tragic episode behind everyone in a way that gives Clay a measure of personal comfort," said Amy Todd-Gher, the lead attorney in the case for NCLR. (read more)
Police decoys
to end in Palm Springs
Palm Springs Police Chief David Dominguez says he won't be doing more sting operations using police decoys to curb public gay sex. Dominguez said he plans to deal with the problem of public sex through more uniformed patrols, education, and community outreach. (read more)
Supes forum
highlights AIDS issues
Housing and employment for people with HIV and AIDS, as well as city funding for prevention and health care, topped the list of issues discussed at a forum last week, the aim of which was to ferret out where candidates in three of this fall's San Francisco supervisor races stand when it comes to AIDS issues. (read more)
Leather season opens
The Up Your Alley street fair, held Sunday, July 25 in San Francisco's South of Market District, is the prelude to the larger Folsom Street Fair in the fall. Nonetheless, the day saw several thousand people take part in the festivities, including Kelly Anthony and Horehound Stillpoint, above, who enjoyed a dance. (read more)
Choi discharge is official
It was official first. Now it's public. Army infantry officer and Arabic language specialist Lieutenant Dan Choi has been discharged from the armed services. Choi's military discharge brings to a close 17 months of whirlwind activism that began on national television last May when he declared that he is gay. (read more)
Know thyself: Take the
Oakland LGBTQI census
For a city rich in LGBTQI people of every age and ethnicity, Oakland remains somewhat in the closet about itself. (read more)
LGBT Lutheran pastors received
The Reverends Craig Minich, Megan Rohrer, Sharon Sue Stalkfleet, Dawn Roginski, Jeff Robert Johnson, Paul Richard Brenner, and Ross Donald Merkel are welcomed into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during a Rite of Reception ceremony. (read more)
SF Pride 'close to breaking even,' but director silent
Financially, it appears San Francisco's LGBT Pride Parade and celebration may not have been so fabulous after all. However, it's hard to tell exactly what's going on, since Amy Andre, the executive director, is refusing to speak to the media and won't allow other employees to speak on behalf of the organization. (read more)
Swiss no miss:
Zurich welcomes gays
"You are from San Francisco, so Zurich must seem very boring," said Cosimo Baumeister, a man I met in Zurich's Cranberry bar last month. (read more)
17 killed at gay party in Mexico
Seventeen people were killed at a birthday party organized by a gay group in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico, on July 19, the Los Angeles Times reported. (read more)
Lesbian couple dies in car crash
Longtime partners Ina Mae Murri and Stella Lopez-Armijo died within moments of one another on Saturday, July 17 in southeast Idaho near Preston after they were involved in a car accident. (read more)
Political Notebook: Gay-friendly Republican challenges Pelosi
John Dennis, an anti-war, gay-friendly Republican running in San Francisco's 8th Congressional District, is hoping he can attract disgruntled Democrats and independents to his effort to defeat Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this fall. (read more)
Online Extra: Political Notes:
Gay Campbell mayor plugs
PG&E's disputed SmartMeters
Evan Low, the gay mayor of Campbell, promotes PG&E's controversial SmartMeters; local Dems want Congress to pass ENDA this year, host rally outside Speaker Pelosi's SF office. (read more)
News in brief: SF LGBT center
closer to adding restaurant
The city's LGBT Community Center is one step closer to seeking a restaurant operator after winning approval for a zoning change from planning officials. Drugs deemed the cause of Kard Zone owner's death; East Bay church marks 10th anniversary; Rainbow center seeks volunteers. (read more)
