Council Members Criticize Police Handling Of Gay Men Kicked Out Of Chico's Tacos

EL PASO, TX - Members of El Paso City Council on Thursday told Police Chief Greg Allen they were unhappy with the Police Department's handling of an incident were two gay men were kicked out after kissing each other at a Chico's Tacos restaurant.
A group of gay men said they were told to leave by restaurant security guards. After police were called, an officer apparently told the men it was illegal for them to kiss in public citing a Texas law the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2003.
Council members expressed their concerns to Police Chief Greg Allen during a budget hearing for the Police Department.
"I would hope we had better diversity training," West-Central City Rep. Susie Byrd told Allen.
Byrd and Eastridge Mid-Valley Rep. Steve Ortega said they were troubled not only by the incident itself but the response by a police spokesman that the restaurant had a right to refuse service though El Paso has an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"That highly incorrect," Ortega said at the budget hearing at City Hall.
Allen responded that the officer sent to the restaurant was not very experienced. The men said two police officers, who have not been identified, went to the restaurant.
"We will be looking at (diversity issues) in roll call training," Allen said. "... The department will not tolerate any discrimination based on sexual orientation, race or anything else."
Mayor John Cook put an end to the discussion because it was not on the meetings agenda.
from The El Paso Times

District Sorry for Censoring Gay Kiss?

NEWARK - The school district said Monday it regretted ordering a picture of a male student kissing his boyfriend blacked out from all copies of a high school yearbook and said it apologized to the student.
Andre Jackson, the student, said he was disappointed that the superintendent had not delivered the apology face-to-face and in public. Because of that, he said he didn't accept it as sincere.
"I would accept an apology - a public apology," said Jackson, 18.
Jackson said he learned of the apology through the media.
The district issued a statement Monday saying it regretted the decision and that it would issue an unredacted version of the yearbook to any student of East Side High School who wants one.
"The decision was based, in part, on misinformation that Mr. Jackson was not one of our students and our review simply focused on the suggestive nature of the photograph," the district said.
"Superintendent Marion A. Bolden personally apologizes to Mr. Jackson and regrets any embarrassment and unwanted attention the matter has brought to him."
District spokeswoman Valerie Merritt said Bolden would meet with Jackson on Tuesday.
But Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said Jackson had not heard from the district by 10 p.m. Monday.
"They don't have a meeting set up, it's not true," Goldstein said. "The school district hasn't contacted him. Whether they reach out to him on Tuesday remains to be seen."
Jackson said his teachers, classmates and his parents all knew he was gay and that his sexual orientation was never a problem at school.
"I've never had to deal with this before," he said. "It's shocking. It's crazy."
Previously, Bolden had described the picture, which showed Jackson kissing boyfriend David Escobales, as "illicit."
"If it was either heterosexual or gay, it should have been blacked out. It's how they posed for the picture," Bolden told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Saturday's editions.
In the 4 1/2-by-5-inch photo, Jackson is seen turning his head back over his right shoulder and kissing Escobales, 19, of Allentown, Pa. It was blacked out after Russell Garris, the district's assistant superintendent who oversees the city's high schools, told Bolden he was concerned that the photo could upset parents.
The photo was among several that appeared on a special personal tribute page in the yearbook.
Jackson, who paid $150 for the page, noted that the yearbook is filled with pictures of heterosexual couples kissing.
Newark public schools have about 42,000 students, making it the largest district in New Jersey.
from The Associated Press

Gay Kiss Blacked Out In Yearbook

A gay-rights group is demanding an apology from Newark School Superintendent Marion Bolden for ordering her staff to black out a picture of a gay couple kissing be fore distributing copies of the yearbook to students at East Side High School.
Calling the directive homophobic and unlawful, Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, said yesterday the school also should redistribute a new batch of uncensored yearbooks at the district's expense.
"This action by the school district will have an unspeakably vile chilling effect on other gay and lesbian students coming out," Goldstein said. "Her (Bolden) trying to erase a student and his boyfriend is a metaphor for her trying to erase the gay and lesbian community out of Newark and its school system. It's wrong and it's ridiculous."
The photograph shows East Side High graduating senior Andre Jackson, 18, kissing David Esco bales, 19, of Allentown, Pa., on the lips. It was among several photos printed on a special page paid for by Jackson to commemorate his high school experience, at a cost of $150.
Yesterday, Bolden said the photo was not targeted because it was two men kissing, but because it was "suggestive" in nature and that she should have also censored other suggestive photos in the yearbook.
She said she promotes an atmosphere of tolerance for gay stu dents at Newark schools and in tends to apologize to Jackson if he believes the district did something to hurt him because of his orientation.
"I will call the student to let him know nothing was intended to hurt him or slight him," she said.
Until this happened, Bolden said, she was unaware high school yearbook pages were for sale to students and they could submit their own photos. She said in tended to discuss with her staff guidelines for future yearbook photo publications.
School staff covered over the photo in every copy of the yearbook, using black marker, before the $85 books were distributed at Thursday's banquet for graduating seniors. Officials had considered tearing out the entire page but decided blacking out the photo would minimize damage to the yearbook, the superintendent said Friday.
Prior to publication, officials at the school, in the city's Iron bound section, set parameters for yearbook pictures, banning gang signs, rude gestures and graphic photos. However, several photos of heterosexual students kissing were included in the final product. In fact, Jackson said that on the very next page of the yearbook is a picture of a female stu dent kissing her boyfriend.
"That picture was not even thought of or brought up," Jackson said.
When asked to explain the discrepancy, Bolden said Friday she didn't look at the entire yearbook and was presented only with Jackson's page for review. She said yesterday that an assistant superintendent brought the yearbook to her at a luncheon the day the books were to be distributed and she had to make a quick decision.
"If there were other suggestive photos, I should have blacked those out too. This is a first for me," she said.
Goldstein said he has received more than 300 phone calls from outraged members of the state's gay community since the story first appeared on nj.com Friday night.
"The second it hit the Web I started getting calls," he said. "This is not only homophobic, not only an egregious lack of judgment, but this is a violation of the law and we're looking at one of biggest firestorms of year if the superintendent doesn't change her mind."
Jackson said yesterday he appreciated Garden State Equality's efforts and agreed with their position.
"That's all I want, for them to redistribute the yearbook," he said. "It's messed up. What she said about the yearbook being provocative is just wrong."
from The Star Ledger