SPLC condemns House Republican action on disabled lesbian vet

Fuente: windycitymediagroup.com

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) condemned efforts by House Republicans to prevent a decorated 12-year U.S. Army veteran and other married gay and lesbian veterans from receiving the same disability benefits provided to their married heterosexual counterparts.

In an effort to deny these veterans their benefits, the group of legislators, who are part of the so-called Bipartisan Legal Advocacy Group (BLAG), moved to intervene today in the case filed in February by the SPLC on behalf of Tracey Cooper-Harris and her wife, Maggie. The couple has been denied dependency benefits available to married veterans because the federal government will not recognize marriages by same-sex couples.

"This shameful crusade by Rep. John Boehner and his colleagues against our brave men and women in uniform is nothing short of disgusting," said Christine P. Sun, deputy legal director for the SPLC. "These lawmakers are actually spending our taxpayer dollars in this fight against those who put their lives on the line in defense of our country. It's really remarkable the lengths they will go to discriminate."

In a letter to Boehner, the Democratic members of BLAG denounced the motion to intervene, which will be filed today in federal court in Los Angeles, as a new and direct assault against our nation's veterans. The letter can be viewed at www.democraticleader.gov/. Although the group is a bipartisan panel, House Democrats have refused to support any legal defense of DOMA and have repeatedly called for a briefing on the expenditures by the group. Last October, Boehner tripled the estimate that the DOMA defense will cost taxpayers to $1.5 million, which will be paid to a Washington, D.C., law firm.

The letter from Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer also notes that the Republicans' efforts to intervene in the case exceed the scope of the original BLAG authorization to defend DOMA. The March 2011 motion by GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor that authorized the group's intervention in these issues was limited to defending "section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act" and no other federal statute. As such, Pelosi and Hoyer have requested a formal vote of the BLAG on extending the defense of discrimination to veterans and their families.

"I am very disappointed that lawmakers claim to support veterans, but are preventing families like me and Maggie from getting the benefits we need to survive," Tracey said. "I dedicated 12 years of my life to defending the country I love. It's frustrating that these lawmakers would rather use taxpayer dollars to defend discrimination instead of providing my family the benefits I earned as a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We live paycheck to paycheck and those benefits could go a long way toward easing some of the financial pressure we face."

In 2011, the House Speaker created BLAG in response to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's decision not to defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Section 3 prohibits the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples, even if the marriage is fully recognized by state law. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice announced that it would not defend the definition of marriage under Title 38, the federal statute that relates to military benefits, because it has determined that the law is unconstitutional. Despite BLAG's efforts, two federal courts have blocked Section 3 of DOMA as unconstitutional.

The lawsuit filed by the SPLC and the law firm of WilmerHale in February charges that the Department of Veterans Affairs discriminated against Tracey and her wife by denying them disabled veteran benefits available to other married veterans and their spouses, even though their marriage is legally recognized in California, the state where they live.

The VA denied the benefits because Title 38 defines "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex." Even if the department changes its definition of "spouse," DOMA defines marriage for all federal purposes as between one man and one woman as husband and wife.

In 2010, Tracey was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), which the VA has determined is connected to her military service. There is no known cure for MS, a disabling disease that attacks the brain and central nervous system. Tracey applied for additional disability compensation as a married veteran to help ensure that Maggie has some financial stability.

The couple, a typical working-class family, is on a limited budget. Maggie is an apprentice at an electricians union and Tracey is a graduate student who only recently got a job with the local VA. Any additional income or benefit from Tracey's years of military service would offset some of the economic strain resulting from Tracey's medical condition. This includes the cost of medicine, therapy and time the couple has to miss from work to attend Tracey's doctors' appointments.

A video detailing how DOMA is harming veterans and their families like the Cooper-Harris family can be viewed at www.splcenter.org .

Juez autoriza a pareja gay adoptar un niño con discapacidad

El Cisne elcisne.org
Brasil

El Departamento de Infancia y Juventud de Cascavel, una localidad de Curitiba, autorizó la adopción de un niño de 8 años con parálisis cerebral a una pareja gay conformada por dos hombres que conviven desde hace 12 años. La autorización es irreversible, de acuerdo con la sentencia del juez Sérgio Luiz Kreuz.

Las barreras legales y los tabúes que impiden adoptar a muchas parejas con discapacidad y la gran cantidad de niños con discapacidad huérfanos que aguardan adopción en hogares provisorios, son dos temas de gran vigencia que ponen al descubierto la desigualdad de derechos que aún predominan en nuestras sociedades. Sin embargo un juez brasileño acaba de romper una brecha que puede llegar a impactar positivamente en estas problemáticas.

seguir leyendo... El caso fue diferenciado por el lazo afectivo que uno de los hombres ya tenía con el niño, según la Justicia. El menor había ido a parar a un refugio comunitario de la ciudad porque se encontraba en la calle y la familia no podía brindarle el tratamiento adecuado. Pero debido a sus necesidades especiales él no podía permanecer en el refugio y fue entregado a un hogar de guarda dentro de un programa municipal.

Durante dos años, uno de los hombres fue el padre adoptivo temporal del niño y durante ese período la justicia decidió destituirlo de su familia biológica y postularlo en adopción, pero ningún matrimonio se ofrecía a recibirlo por causa de su discapacidad.

Inicialmente la pareja gay no se postuló a la adopción para no ocasionar polémicas. Entretanto el juez conversó con ellos y confirmó que estaba comprobada la relación de afecto entre los dos hombres y el niño, invitándolos a realizar la adopción definitiva bajo su respaldo.

Hasta el momento no se han pronunciado quejas significativas al respecto y la familia disfruta de su segunda oportunidad para realizarse desde el amor y la lucha por los derechos humanos fundamentales.

NORTHFLEET: Homophobic abuse drives disabled couple out of home

By David Mills » newsshopper.co.uk
A DISABLED couple forced from their home after suffering weeks of homophobic abuse and anti-social behaviour say they were driven to the brink of suicide.

Keith Stepney, 53, and his partner John Mead, 42, say they regularly had eggs and stones thrown at their home in Warwick Place, Northfleet, and homophobic graffiti daubed on the window.

The couple, who have both suffered from depression and anxiety, kept a log recording around 100 incidents over a six-week period.

Mr Stepney says the trouble started at the end of July when he decided to set up a neighbourhood watch group, but believes they were targeted because they are a gay couple.

“It was living hell, we didn’t know what was going to happen from one minute to the next.

“We couldn’t step outside the door unless my daughter-in-law had her car outside.

“At one stage we got out all our pills and thought it’s not worth going on.

“We just felt we couldn’t go on any longer.”

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Windows covered in eggs
Mr Stepney suffers from a nervous disorder and a lung disease, while Mr Mead has mild cerebral palsy and a hip problem forcing him to use crutches.

They say one of their two pet lovebirds died from the trauma of their window being hit.

Mr Stepney said: “There must have been 20 eggs thrown on one occasion.

“Our windows were literally covered in eggs.”

He says the abuse would come from adults as well as youths.

Mr Stepney said: “As they walked by they would shout, call us every name under the sun, we also had adults in cars blowing their horns.

“We got on the 490 bus once and from the moment we sat down there were comments being made by a group of women further back, but we took no notice.

“They got off at the same bus stop and it carried on til we got into the flat.”

He said of another occasion: “I was washing up one day and the same group of youths came by shouting abuse.

“One held his hand up as if it was a gun.”

Mr Stepney claims police only started to act quickly after they made 20 phone calls in three days.

He said: “We were told to just mark it in on our log sheet and not to call unless there was a physical threat to us.

“After it became apparent it was homophobic crime they acted quickly.

“But on Friday and Saturday nights it often took three hours or longer, because police were deployed elsewhere.”

To escape their ordeal the couple last month moved into hiding outside the area.

Police response

Police say three youths had been arrested. Two were released without charge and a third was given a warning.

The area commander for North Kent police, Chief Superintendent Paul Brandon, said: “Police in north Kent have worked closely with Mr Stepney and Mr Read to resolve problems they were having regarding anti-social behaviour.

“The Neighbourhood Task Team (NTT) was deployed to patrol at regular intervals in the area and a good relationship was built up between the local PCSO, Tiffany Hills and Mr Stepney.

“This week, he was visited by neighbourhood Inspector Mike Coltham who spoke to him about the issues he faced.

“Insp Coltham made sure he had contacts for neighbourhood officers at his new address.

He added: “Mr Stepney was advised to call 999 if he felt under threat or in danger - following the guideline that the emergency number should only be used in that situation.

“Friday and Saturday nights are inevitably a busy time for us and our resources are often stretched.

“Patrols are deployed on a priority basis and if there was no threat to life or a crime was not in progress at the time of the call, then it may not have been made a priority at the time of the call, depending on what other calls we were receiving, but this is not to say the call was not important to us.

“Patrols did attend to see Mr Stepney. A huge amount of work and resources went into dealing effectively with the situation he faced and I feel we offered a very high level of support to help deal with his situation.”

Julio Cuesta, primer transexual que cambia su identidad 'oficial'

ELMUNDO.ES (10/04/2007)

MADRID.- Después de cinco años de una larga batalla vital para que se reconozca su identidad oficialmente, Julio Cuesta se ha convertido en la primera persona transexual (y el primero con discapacidad) que cambia de sexo y nombre en su documentación en aplicación de la Ley de Identidad de Género. Ha recibido el esperado papel con el sello del registro civil en los Juzgados de Valencia.

Cuesta, quien acudió al juzgado acompañado de su madre y de varios responsables de colectivos de homosexuales, transexuales y bisexuales, mostró su satisfacción por la consecución de este documento que le permitirá cambiar su nombre y sexo de documentos oficiales, como el DNI, sin tener que someterse a una operación genital.

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A pesar haber nacido con cuerpo de mujer, Julio Cuesta se sintió desde siempre un hombre y eso le llevó a comenzar, hace 30 años, el proceso de reasignación de sexo, un recorrido en el que ha contado con el apoyo de toda su familia, quienes comprendieron desde el primer momento su situación

Apoyo incondicional en el seno familiar
La primera persona a quien contó que se sentía hombre fue a su hermana, mientras que su madre se enteró siendo él adolescente, al leer su diario porque, según explicó, "veía que Julio estaba muy triste" y cuando volvió del instituto lo abrazó y le dijo que no se preocupara de nada porque le ayudarían en todo.

A partir de ahí, Julio Cuesta pasó cuatro años visitando psicólogos y psiquiatras e inició el proceso de hormonación, que tuvo que interrumpir después de que durante una intervención quirúrgica por un problema de rodilla, una negligencia del anestesista le dejara un mes en coma.

Esta intervención le dejó importantes secuelas físicas que le afectan a la visión, al habla, al equilibrio y a la coordinación de movimientos, así como una discapacidad del 79% y un delicado estado de salud que le impide volver a pasar por el quirófano para someterse a una operación de reasignación sexual.

Desde ese momento, Julio inició un proceso legal para lograr su reconocimiento como varón, pero la Audiencia de Valencia rechazó la petición de cambio de sexo y nombre registral, y en estos momentos el caso se encuentra en el Tribunal Supremo, aunque no tendrá que pronunciarse ya que la legislación le ha permitido lograr su objetivo.

Tras recoger su nueva partida de nacimiento, Julio Cuesta se mostró "muy feliz" porque, según dijo, "era algo por lo que yo y mi familia hemos luchado y sufrido mucho, pero al final hemos logrado la recompensa", y lamentó que su padre, fallecido hace tres años, no pudiera compartir este momento.

"Gracias a esta ley he hecho realidad mi sueño", aseguró Cuesta, quien señaló que desde siempre tuvo claro que le atraían las mujeres y que no le gustaba su cuerpo y se alegró de haberlo podido cambiar legalmente, ya que físicamente le resulta imposible librarse del sexo femenino.

Su madre, quien recibió con lágrimas de alegría el documento que reconoce que tuvo un hijo y no una hija, llamó a su hija para contárselo, aseguró sentirse en "una nube" y afirmó que Julio siempre ha tenido el "cariño" y la "compresión" de su familia.

Tras tres años de lucha, un gay discapacitado consigue subsidio para sus hijos en EEUU

http://www.365gay.com/news/gay-dad-kids-receive-social-security-benefits/

Los servicios sociales estadounidenses finalmente se han echado atrás en su decisión de negar a los hijos de Gary Day el subsidio que les correspondía al quedar él discapacitado.

Day presentó su solicitud en febrero de 2006, aportando toda la documentación legal que le acreditaba como padre de sus hijos. Los servicios sociales (Social Security Administration) acusaron recibo y dijeron que tendría una respuesta en 45 días.

Después de un año sin recibir respuesta, Day se puso en contacto con la SSA a través de Lambda Association, y la respuesta fue que todavía no se había determinado la idoneidad de la solicitud al presentar ‘ciertos problemas legales y de procedimiento’.

A pesar de que había presentado todos los documentos necesarios y cumplía todos los requisitos, y a pesar de haber contribuído como cualquier otro ciudadano al mantenimiento de los sistemas de prevención social, a Day y a su familia se le siguió negando el subsidio solicitado, por lo que Lambda Legal demandaron a la SSA en mayo de 2008.

El viernes pasado la agencia envió una carta a Lambda Legal reconociendo la relación legal entre Day y sus hijos, corrigiendo, aunque tarde, la injusta discriminación que venían sufriendo debido a la orientación sexual de sus padres.

Fuente: dosmanzanas.com