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NEWS & LETTERS, October - November 2009
Queer Notes
by Elise
Washington, D.C., murder and hate-crime victim Tony Randolph Hunter will not get justice. Originally charged with voluntary manslaughter, Robert Lee Hannah accepted the prosecution's offer to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault. Using the "gay panic" defense, Hannah said he beat Hunter after Hunter sexually propositioned him. Hannah will be sentenced to a maximum of a mere 180 days imprisonment or $1,000 fine or both.
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Uruguay's legislature became the first in Latin America to legalize adoption by Gays and Lesbians, further solidifying the nation's reputation for being the most progressive in that region. The bill--which allows adoption by unmarried couples--awaits signature by President Tabare Vazquez. Also, Germany's Constitutional Court ruled that Lesbians and Gays can adopt their partner's children if they are related to them.
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Some notable actions in the U.S.:
- A second round of GLBT kiss-ins occurred in mid-August, after actions in July, protesting the arrest of gay couples who publicly displayed affection in Texas and on the grounds of a Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- On Sept. 13, hundreds rallied against the raid of the Eagle, an Atlanta gay bar. Witnesses said no reason was given for the raid and no one was arrested, yet every patron was made to lie down on the floor while many of their personal items were seized.
- In late September almost 200 Brooklyn Technical High School students counter-protested members of the Westboro Baptist Church whose anti-Gay and anti-Semitic message was to show "what good looks like." The students drove the Westboro people away 15 minutes before their protest was scheduled to end.
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