Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Discrimination in Kentucky

Kentucky Equality Federation continues Community Outreach and Support Expansion

Kentucky Equality Federation continues community outreach with additional Outreach Directors.

Please visit our Community Outreach Section for additional information, and join the Community Group that fits you: http://www.kentuckylgbt.org/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/1173749

We currently have Outreach Directors and Community Communication/Support Groups for the following: Latino/a, Transgender, Youth (Middle and High School), and University!

Kentucky Equality Federation and Marriage Equality Kentucky are still looking for Outreach Directors (or Assistant Outreach Directors, respectively) to represent members of Kentucky's LGBTI community who are often not included, either in positions of leadership or in public education:

• Asian
• Black
• Latino
  
• Transgender
• Intersex
• Immigration
• Seniors
• Medical
• Faith
• LGBTI Parents
• Youth, and
  
• University
  

Gay equality in Kentucky Government hasn't hurt Gov. Beshear

According to a Herald-Leader/WKYT Kentucky poll, the approval rating for our new chief of state and government, Governor Beshear, is up 18 points!

It doesn't look like creating job security for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in Kentucky's Government has hindered the current Governor in the slightest, nor did it help a politically wounded former Governor when he rescinded them in 2006. (story)

The average Kentuckian values equality and fairness!

LGBT People Protected Again in Kentucky Government

Hats off to Governor Beshear! Finally, some good news!

Kentucky Equality Federation started an online petition for this a few weeks ago (though we had no idea the Governor's Office was considering it already). This will give the Family Foundation something else to blog about!

This was pulled from the Commonwealth News Center:

FRANKFORT, KY – Governor Steve Beshear today signed an executive order restoring equal opportunity employment to all employees and prospective employees. Under the order, no one can be hired or fired based on race, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, ancestry, age, disability, or veteran status.

“A person should be hired or dismissed on the basis of whether they can do the job,” said Gov. Beshear. “Experience, qualifications, talent and performance are what matter.”

In 2003, Gov. Paul Patton issued an identical executive order and said he was a strong supporter of fair and equal treatment of employees. He noted that qualifications and conduct in the workplace should be the only factors by which an employee is judged.

However, in 2006 Gov. Ernie Fletcher stripped those job protections (story) from a certain segment of the state employee population - notably Kentuckians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. The suggestion was that such protection was either unnecessary, legally expensive or the equivalent of “special treatment.” As a result, a gay person could be fired simply for being gay.

The executive order signed today by Gov. Beshear restores equal treatment, diversity and inclusiveness to government.

This is GREAT! I'm sure former Governor Fletcher isn't very happy with this; he revoked the previous order attempting to appeal to his conservative right-wing to remain in office.

Below is the actual text of the signed order:


You can view a complete copy of the executive order by visiting the Executive Journal of the Kentucky Secretary of State's website, or click here.

NKU to offer same-sex benefits

Northern Kentucky University’s plan to allow same-sex domestic partner benefits (story) has reignited controversy about same-sex civil rights across the Commonwealth. The Board of Regents at NKU was wise to wait until the 2008 General Assembly adjourned before approving the new benefits.

This comes more than two years after NKU’s Faculty Senate President recommended the benefits package.

Some of the worst comments around the Commonwealth:

1. I am against anything which promotes or encourages same-sex partnership because the bible says that it is a sin. We need to encourage better moral standards for our children, even in college levels.
2. This is exactly what we needed, paying medical bills for nasty queers.
3. I have no problem with the decision IF the university would also apply this policy to heterosexual unmarried couples who "live in the employee's household for at least 12 months and be "financially interdependent" with the employee." That way the policy would be fair to everyone regardless of sexual preference. If the policy is only available to same sex partners than it is outright discrimination by a government entity. Just make it fair to everyone and everyone will be happy.

Comment # 3 makes a good point! Under this line of thinking, homosexuals are being discriminated against every day…..we cannot file joint tax returns, no marriage, no civil union, no criminal injuries compensation, no exemption from conveyance tax, no hospital visitation rights, no international immigration or Visa rights, etc., etc. Thanks for reminding us just how bad the Commonwealth of Kentucky treats us!

Congratulations to everyone at NKU and its Board of Regents......you did the right thing!

Outrageous! Smokers protected, LGBT people are not!

By: Jacob Barrett

During the course of what I do as Director of Development for Kentucky Equality Federation, I thought maybe we should build a coalition with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. Once I got to their page I looked a plaque that has the protected classes under Kentucky law (includes Kentucky Acts, Revised Statues, Administrative Relations, and Executive Orders).

Now you all know what the common ones are, but to my utter amazement smoking is a protected class in Kentucky. Smoking is clearly a choice. Being gay is not, but even if you believe it is, why is it not a protected class in Kentucky since something as trivial as smoking is?

In Kentucky, being LGBT makes you a second class citizen! We are not protected for we are, but on the up side, you’re protected if you smoke! This should make everyone realize just how far down the “food chain” LGBT people are in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

In Kentucky, the commonwealth will not protect you, and it is perfectly legal for your employer to fire you because of your sexual orientation or gender identity……so, if you’re LGBT and you’re gonna get fired, just say, “Hey wait! I’m a smoker! Wanna go have a cigarette with me?”

In Kentucky, we have a long, long, LONG way to go!

KRS 344.040 Discrimination by employers.

It is an unlawful practice for an employer:

(1) To fail or refuse to hire, or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of the individual's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age forty (40) and over, because the person is a qualified individual with a disability, or because the individual is a smoker or nonsmoker, as long as the person complies with any workplace policy concerning smoking;

(2) To limit, segregate, or classify employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect status as an employee, because of the individual's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or age forty (40) and over, because the person is a qualified individual with a disability, or because the individual is a smoker or nonsmoker, as long as the person complies with any workplace policy concerning smoking; or

(3) To require as a condition of employment that any employee or applicant for employment abstain from smoking or using tobacco products outside the course of employment, as long as the person complies with any workplace policy concerning smoking.

KY will not appeal Cumberlands decision (duhhh)

In April 2006, Kentucky legislators approved a $12 million grant to the University of the Cumberlands, a private school in Williamsburg, Ky., affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

The university expelled student Jason Johnson in April 2006 after he posted comments about his sexual orientation on MySpace.com.

Ernie Fletcher, the governor named in the lawsuit, had asked a judge to determine the constitutionality of using taxpayer money for private institutions of higher education. His successor, Steven Beshear, said he agreed with the ruling and his office would not appeal the decision.

This was one of the primary reasons for the Soulforce Equality Ride visit to the Cumberlands in 2007 (story).

In an opinion requested by Governor Fletcher, on March 6, 2008 Franklin Circuit Court Special Judge, Roger Crittenden, issued an order that rendered the appropriations made for the pharmacy school an unconstitutional establishment of religion under Sections 2 and 189 of the Kentucky Constitution. In addition, the court ruled that a permanent scholarship program created for the pharmacy school by the 2006-07 Kentucky Budget bill was in violation of Section 51 of the Kentucky Constitution.

Senator Vernie McGaha, one 13 lawmakers who sided with the university, said he was unsure whether the decision would be appealed.

"Where we go from here will be a collective decision," McGaha told Louisville's Courier-Journal newspaper. "I don't agree with his ruling."

But, people on the loosing side often disagree!

Constitutional Amendment - Senate Bill 161

This bill was sent to the Senate State & Local Government Committee yesterday:

Senate Bill 161: AN ACT proposing an amendment to Sections 36 and 42 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to legislative sessions. Propose an amendment to Sections 36 and 42 of the Kentucky Constitution to repeal annual sessions; provide ballot language for submission to voters.

This is without a doubt the dumbest idea ever conceived! We already have a “part-time” legislature!

One major obstacle now is that Kentucky’s lawmakers are not in session long enough to accomplish anything. They currently meet for 60 days on even numbered years, and 30 days on odd numbered years. This of course doesn’t include holidays, Sunday, etc. Basically, our legislature is only in session for several months!

I wonder how many decades it would take Kentucky to have a statewide law to protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment if the General Assembly only meets every two (2) years? Who wants to wait 2 years before a new law is passed, changed, etc.? You must also remember that Kentucky’s legislature cannot call itself into special session….. only the Governor can.

Let's hope Senate Bill 161 dies quickly.

In California, their lawmakers meet year around (much like the federal model, Congress)…. so do lawmakers in California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

- Full-Time: California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

- Middle: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

- Less than Part-Time: Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Average Kentuckian Values Fairness

By: James-Clifton Spires

My work, which is with a private contractor that answers telephone calls for various U.S. government agencies, has allowed me to conduct initial telephone background checks on firearms purchases, assist people looking and applying for government grants, and help federal employees with their travel arrangements.

My co-workers and I have spoken with a wide range of people on these various issues, from country music stars and U.S. senators to pawnbrokers and people on the verge of homelessness.

The type of work we do requires an acceptance of the fact that the job requires us to be anonymous voices answering a telephone, subject to each caller's mood and interpretation of how we sound.

It's somewhat akin to being a voice actor --- you can adapt to a wide range of situations without having to change your appearance or shift your position in your chair. You just have to listen and respond accordingly.

I'm the oldest person, by a few months, in the office bay where I work. I've become aware of the fact that my voice occasionally makes me sound much younger than I am --- some people who call who are close to my own age will refer to me as "young man" --- sometimes in an affectionate manner or sometimes condescendingly, depending upon the nature of the call.

I've had enough speech training over the years to cover the Southeast Ohio Appalachian drawl (filtered through North Carolina and Kentucky) that I've grown up with and affect a neutral-sounding Midwestern accent similar to that used by network news anchors. I've also learned something about letting bits and pieces of regional accent creep in, depending upon the caller and the situation. For the most part, Ah do --- uh, I do --- just fine. I reckon.

As I said, the people who call me, or any other person who answers telephones for a living, only knows what little we give them of ourselves --- the rest is up to their imaginations and their mood when they call. I've had people cry because I sounded sympathetic, scream because they were in a mood to scream, flirt with me, mother me, threaten me and offer to hire me away just because of the way my voice sounded to them.

None of them know that I'm 57 years old, the father of adult children, shave my head, use Just for Men on my beard, am built like a long-past-his-prime heavyweight contender, or live with a male partner whom I call my husband. They do not know my politics, my religion, whether I can sing like Andrea Bocelli or Roseanne Barr, whether my eyes are blue or my skin is brown or anything else --- unless I tell them.

As a result, our over-the-phone-wires relationships are based on business and mostly first impressions. If I come off as competent, friendly, and helpful, I can usually soothe an angry or distressed or frustrated caller and leave them in a better frame of mind at the end of the call. Not all the time, but most of the time, if I'm doing my job properly.

I've had dissatisfied people ask to speak to my supervisor. I've also had callers ask if they can talk to me specifically if they need to call back again. The good and the bad. It's all based on what our experience was with each other.

Obviously, the good calls are the best ones --- you get a sense that it's going well when the caller starts to joke, tell stories about himself or herself, or gets interested enough into you to ask personal questions. We're trained to keep it light and neutral --- and not reveal too much about one's self or the inner workings of our company.

I've had callers, feeling comfortable with me, assume that I might be "their" kind of people. These folks will volunteer their political affiliations ("I voted for the woman," a brusque Boston accent told me in a call just after the Massachusetts presidential primary) and sometimes their prejudices ("Grants for minorities. Yeah, you can't be white these days if you want government money!").

Occasionally you get clues about someone who is, shall we say, a fellow traveler. "My SPOUSE and I went kayaking and camping in Alaska last year," a business-like female caller told me in a purposeful non sequitor from our discussion of her grant application. (Yeah, I thought. My SPOUSE and I went to Miami last year and ogled some cute gay boys. My gaydar's working on you, too, sister.)

Because our office is located in southeastern Kentucky, a lot of my co-workers are locals whose values (and accents, more often than not) reflect the culture in which they were raised. On the first day of our training class, we were asked to introduce and tell a bit about ourselves. I was one of the first selected to speak and, sticking to a vow I made a few years ago to never again be closeted in the workplace, came out and said that I was the father of adult children and I was on my third marriage to my first husband.

The training class instructor, obviously in new territory with this revelation, took on a tone of false heartiness and said, "Well, we don't have to get TOO personal, here," although I didn't see that what I said was too much different from my co-workers who got up and told about their families, some of which included babies with different daddies.

I figured if there was going to be any backlash from anyone in the class, I'd set up the situation so I could get it out of the way at the beginning. Instead, on our breaks in training, I found different class members coming up to me and whispering, "My brother's gay." "I have a best friend whose family kicked him out." "My husband doesn't know it, but I have a girlfriend." "Do you need a hug, James?" In other words, apparently these southeast Kentuckians' culture included something I, as a relative newcomer to their community, didn't expect: A respect for people's individuality and a willingness to accept and maybe try to identify with someone who different from themselves.

Our class bonded very closely, much like a unit of military recruits who went through the rigors of boot camp together. We struggle with the same work-related issues and know bits and pieces of each others' stories and living situations. People ask me about my husband much in the same way they'll ask someone else about a heterosexual spouse. I'm just James. They're just them. We do our jobs, get along with each other, do our work at the workplace and the rest of our lives in our appropriate elsewheres.

I've found that my co-workers are very much like most of the people who call us for anonymous assistance. What I do with my life before and after work isn't really their concern. It's how we interact together in a professional situation that is important.

My co-workers are typical of the people I've met in Kentucky, for the most part. They may have not traveled widely or been exposed to a lot of different cultural experiences, but they were raised with the basic principle, "Live and let live." They tend not to be involved with politics --- most of them ignore the frothing Fox News coverage, in the company breakroom, of the minutiae of the presidential race. They are religious, but leery of people who are "too religious."

And for the most part, they could care less, unlike certain politicians who cater to the extremist elements of the religious right, about "protecting" the institutions of marriage and the family from homosexual influences. Most people use their energies to focus on their own marriages and would resent anyone else trying to butt in and "help" them, unless they asked for the assistance first.

In other words, the average Kentuckian values fairness. He or she just wants to get along with everyone else and is willing, as most of us have been taught from childhood, to live and let live. Don't interfere with their lives and they won't interfere with yours. Any politician or religious leader who suggests otherwise is either listening to a limited constituency or has never worked in an environment where diversity is respected and valued.

There are all kinds of people in the world, with all kinds of interests and needs. None of us can tell anyone else what's right for him or her --- but what we can do is treat each other with the same courtesy, respect and equality that we want for ourselves.

Equality. Fairness. Nothing more, nothing less!

Why do we need you to stand with us on February 12th? Look at what we are fighting! This comments are from your elected officials!

It's OK to fire someone if they're gay. Historically, homosexuals haven't suffered. - Representative Joseph Fischer (October 2006)

Homosexuality is aberrant behavior. - Senate President David Williams (January 2008)

The University of the Cumberlands stands for what is positive [by expelling a gay student]. - Senate President David Williams (August 2006)

I don't want to entice any of those people [queers] into our state. Those are the wrong kind of people. – Senator Dick Roeding (July 2006)

The Log Cabin Republican Club of Kentucky, a gay GOP group, "are nothing but a bunch of queers." - Senator Dick Roeding (July 2006)

I wouldn't think that there would be a lot of support in the General Assembly for giving benefits to people that were involved in same-sex relationships. Doing so would be bad public policy. - Senate President David Williams (July 2006)

I am committed to protecting traditional marriage. I proudly supported the Same-Sex Marriage Amendment proposal in Kentucky in 2004 and was pleased to see it pass with 74% of the vote. - U.S. Representative Geoff Davis [part of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation] (July 2006)



We need your support as the opposition has the voices and numbers that we fail to get to the Capitol. The sad truth is the opposition is the minority, but have been able to drum up enough voice in the capitol to seem like the majority. Lets make a difference this year; start doing!

Click here to sign-up now, or visit kefaction.org! Join us! Show your support by standing united with Kentucky Equality Federation and Bluegrass Fairness of Central Kentucky! Your presence will make a real difference in the fight for equality and fairness for LGBT Kentuckians!

Stupid, unfounded Homophobia: Kentucky Basketball Fans Outraged Over Photo of Players' Embrace

From The Official Queen of Shade:

If a photo says a thousand words, apparently this seemingly innocent photo of two University of Louisville basketball players embracing has produced thousands of words spewing gay panic.

Hundreds of irate readers have contacted the Louisville Courier-Journal after the publication of the image. It shows Cardinals players Jerry Smith hugging Juan Palacios in the first half of their game against the University of Louisville after a big, emotional play. One reader accused the legendary conservative newspaper of "pushing the homosexual agenda."

Louisville Courier-Journal public editor Pam Platt explains. "Some of the comments registered by angry, offended and/or baffled readers: 'Awful,' 'an embarrassment,' 'horrible decision,' 'poor judgment,' 'distasteful,' 'a mystery' and 'shame on you.' " Then, she nails it: "What is it about two athletes sharing a moment of physical and emotional closeness in the middle of a big game, in the middle of a basketball court, that puts some people off so much?"

Sports fans should be used to witnessing these moments and photos of athletes bonding and it's just beyond the pale that so many (presumably very! straight!) readers would read gay subtext into an innocent sports photo. Platt makes an interesting argument that content is a Rorschach test and people bring "their own ideas and baggage to what they see and read—or what they don't see and don't read into words and images." Or, perhaps, what they would like to see.

Hope, renewal, and the reality of prejudice

I think both Christmas and the coming New Year must be a time of renewal, of hope and determination to work for a better Kentucky, United States, and world..... where people can experience all the liberties our founding fathers fought for. Therefore, wherever inequality exists and the leaders that are in control refuse to act, there is a greater responsibility for all of us to take a stand against all that dehumanizes the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.

The flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky says it best: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall." Thank you to everyone who contributed and/or donated to Kentucky Equality Federation.

An enormous fight is in front of us in 2008; front and center is the issue of domestic-partner benefits in the Kentucky Retirement System, as outlined by James:

I had hoped the New Year in Kentucky, with a new gubernatorial administration that has to be an improvement over that of the discredited Gov. Ernie Fletcher would start out in an encouraging manner for those of us who believe in equality for everyone regardless of sexual orientation.

Alas, that is not to be. Just as Gov. Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo were sworn in and starting to look around their respective offices, members of their own Democratic party were filing legislation to prevent state universities from offering health care benefits to employees involved in domestic partnerships.

I had hoped that the year 2008 might be a year where those of us who believe in gender and sexual orientation equity would be able to take some steps forward in adding on to rights already achieved --- things like hate crime protection, access to marriage/civil union rights, adoption, automatic rights of inheritance --- instead of having to backtrack and re-fight battles already won.

A few legislators --- led by Democratic Reps. Ancel Smith and Richard Henderson --- do not understand that Kentucky has always been --- and still is --- a place where all people should be welcome to live in harmony.

It is clear that Smith and Henderson, in bringing up a previously defeated proposal to block public universities in Kentucky from extending health benefits to unmarried, live-in partners of the institutions' employees, acted without the sanction of their own party. This has caused an embarrassing situation not only for party leaders, but for Democratic leaders and other party members within the Beshear administration.

Trustees at several Kentucky institutions, led by the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, have approved offering health care to domestic partners of unmarried employees as a matter of good business. The policy makes the universities more competitive with other top universities nationwide, because it opens the pool of potential employees and appeals to the increasing number of private employers --- who can be drawn upon for financial support and to provide cooperative educational opportunities and investment with the universities --- who already extend health care benefits to live-in partners of workers, regardless of sexual orientation.

In other words, the universities' policies are good business for a state that is on the precipice of a new era of economic progress after four failed years of an administration that collapsed under its own prejudices and lack of vision.

The matter of inclusion is a moral and ethical issue. Moral, because all great religions preach that love and tolerance should trump all other rules for living. Ethical, because this country --- and the states that make it up --- was based on the premise that all people are created equal.

If our government creates policies that benefit its public employees, it should do so for all the employees, without discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, and yes, sexual orientation.

If these representatives --- and the other Democrats and Republicans who co-sponsored this legislation, which has its roots soaked in bigotry --- will not withdraw their sponsorship, then the people of their districts should look for gay-supportive candidates from either party to replace them.

Click here to read unedited comments from James.

HRC playing "catch-up" with the "Wal-Mart issue"

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) appears to be playing catch-up with the “Wal-Mart issue.”

The Human Rights Campaign is giving Wal-Mart (WMT) a red "do not buy" rating in its new consumer guide, bestowing a lump of coal on the retail giant just in time for the holiday shopping season. Citing Wal-Mart's refusal to offer domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian workers, the HRC said Tuesday that the USA's biggest private employer has "more work to do in furthering equality." It advised gays and their supporters to shop elsewhere.

Wal-Mart rated a red 40 on a scale of 100, down from a yellow 65 in 2006. It was among 54 companies that scored 45 or lower in HRC's 2008 Corporate Equality index, which assigns ratings to 519 large companies.

Also in the red: Toys R Us, RadioShack (RSH) and AutoZone (AZO).

Wal-Mart rival Target (TGT) rated a "green" 80, meaning that "consumers should make every effort to support these businesses." Last year's guide was downloaded from the group's website (www.hrc.org/buyersguide) more than 250,000 times.

But, we covered this story back in July:

• Wal-Mart shuns gay groups!

If you shop at Wal-Mart you can find the same (or better) prices at Meijer, K-Mart, Family Dollar, Kroger, or Save-A-Lot. Stop shopping at Wal-Mart! Forget about the so called "convenience" of "everything" being in one store, it is time for the gay community to stand their ground against Wal-Mart.Let us forget for a moment that this company destroys the "American Dream," exploits their employees, and contracts labor for less than $1.00 per hour in other countries.

Let us not forget that Sam Walton, Wal-Mart's founder sit on the Board of Directors of Winn-Dixie for nearly a decade (thereby learning the grocery business) and opened the first Supercenter (with groceries) less than a year after Winn-Dixie retired him. Let us not forget that Wal-Mart targets other stores to run them out of business: K-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Sloan's (Lexington), Rose's, Kroger, Toys "R" Us, Publix (Florida), Food Lion, A&P, Grand Union, Colonial/Big Star and Piggly Wiggly, and Target.

As it stands Wal-Mart remains the only national discount chain that does not offer partnership benefits (both Sears Holding Company and Target offer same-sex domestic partnership benefits). Wal-Mart also has the dubious distinction of being one of the few companies to ever pull back a GLBT initiative.

Governor Fletcher's legacy and his final desperate acts to remain in office

With Governor Fletcher still lagging behind in the polls he resorted to posting the Ten Commandments in the Capital yesterday labeling himself “a man of values.” This is funny coming from Fletcher, a man who apparently has no care values of his own. Fletcher’s values consist of a crude calculation of how he can remain in office. His flip-flops on important issues are by now, legendary.

Fletcher began attacking the homosexual population of Kentucky soon after he was indicted to appeal to the right wing:

• Intolerant Fletcher says that since Kentucky has a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, it also includes banning health insurance, inheritance, and hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples. Funny, I don’t recall those items being included on the 2004 Constitutional Amendment.
  
• He refused to veto unconstitutional funding to the University of the Cumberlands, leading Kentucky Equality Federation to hold a protest outside the Governor's Mansion during the Governor's Annual Derby Breakfast (that brings approximately 15,000 people to Frankfort from around the nation).
  
• Governor Fletcher also rescinded an executive order Governor Patton had established protecting LGBT people from discrimination in government.
  
• Earlier this year Fletcher called the General Assembly into special session to (among other things) ban domestic partner benefits at Kentucky educational institutions even though he reappointed Regents to the Board that supported offering them.
  
• His latest aggressive tactic against the gay population includes trying to “scare” voters into voting for him, asking them whether they "want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco."

Ernie, politicians can learn so many things from your world famous flounders. The legacy of the Fletcher Administration will be "what not to do." Hopefully, First Lady Glenna Fletcher gave a “heads up” to staff to begin packing for an evacuation of the Mansion.

Halloween Express misses deadline

Kentucky Equality Federation received a discrimination report when a person who identified himself as the owner of the Halloween Express store located at 3410 James Sanders Blvd in Paducah, KY called a homosexual customer a freak and asked him to leave the store.

Halloween Express was given 48 hours to respond......they declined.

Though each Halloween Express is individually owned, the franchiser has an obligation to the customers who visit stores that bear its name. As such, Kentucky Equality Federation recommends all members, allies, and affiliates avoid Halloween Express stores until further notice.

Blatant intolerance or discrimination must be challenged by our entire community.

UPDATE 3:40 PM: Many of you have questions about the complaint. Additional information is below.

I went into the store and was browsing for a costume. When I went to the shoe section the employees walked away laughing and making crude comments about me looking at women's shoes. I then went to the owner and informed him that i was being treated unfairly and all i got was laughed in the face, and told, "Get out of my store you freak".

Halloween Express (both the owner and corporate) refused to apologize.

Last year an employee at a Steak n' Shake (story) in Louisville called a male customer a faggot.

As a community we must show intolerant people that this type of behavior is unacceptable in a civilized society.

Keep in mind that the American Family Association continues to boycott Ford and Wells Fargo because they support and offer domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples.

Denied!

This is a listing of "disabilities" the gay community must put up with. Conservatives say their is no use for civil unions, etc. well, what about the following rights homosexual couples are not entitled to:

- Accidental death benefit for the surviving spouse of a government employee;
- Appointment as guardian of a minor;
- Beneficial owner status of corporate securities;
- Bill of Rights benefits for victims and witnesses;
- Consent to post-mortem examination;
- Control, division, acquisition, and disposition of community property;
- Criminal injuries compensation;
- Death benefit for surviving spouse for government employee;
- Disclosure of vital statistics records;
- Eligibility for housing opportunity allowance program of the Housing, Finance and Development Corporation;
- Exemption from claims of Department of Human Services for social services payments, financial assistance, or burial payments;
- Exemption from conveyance tax;
- Funeral leave for government employees;
- Income tax deductions, credits, rates exemption, and estimates;
- Insurance licenses, coverage, eligibility, and benefits;
- Legal status with partner’s children;
- Making partner medical decisions;
- Payment of worker's compensation benefits after death;
- Permission to make arrangements for burial or cremation;
- Right to inherit property;
- Rights and proceedings for hospitalization and treatment (both voluntary and involuntary);
- Spousal privilege and confidential marriage communications;
- Tax relief for natural disaster losses;
- Right to marry someone out of the country, and bring them back here to the U.S.

The denied rights we judge to be the worst have been placed in bold.

In a "free society" where homosexual couples must also pay taxes.....why not refuse? If the government refuses to recognize our relationships maybe we should refuse to recognize their authority (just a thought, but gosh that would be funny).

Is this list missing anything?

Washington leaves Kentucky behind with new Domestic Partner laws.

New laws go into effect in the State of Washington on Monday:

• The right to visit a partner who's in the hospital.
• The ability to make important medical decisions for that person if necessary.
• Registered couples can now inherit property from a partner who dies without a will and administer their estate.
• Domestic Partners will now have the ability to sue for the wrongful death of their loved one.

Did you realize you don't have these rights if you're in a same-sex relationship in the Commonwealth of Kentucky?

Get involved today and help us change Kentucky!

Your thoughts and comments are always welcome!

Common reasons stated by conservative persons that homosexuals shouldn't get married.

Brian Stephens, a new member of Kentucky Equality Federation's General Advisory Council wrote a fascinating article titled: "Common reasons stated by conservative persons that homosexuals shouldn't get married."

Click here to read it.

House of Representatives Adjourns; Kentucky Families Safe.....for now.

House Speaker Richards and the entire House of Representatives immediately adjourned the special session called by Governor Fletcher.

"The House of Representatives did what was right for Kentucky families and taxpayers." "Speaker Richards stated it best that the session could cost up to 2.5 million dollars (if it lasted for the anticipated 8 weeks) and that Governor Fletcher should have showed support for energy initiatives during the 2006 and 2007 General Assembly and otherwise kept his veto pen in his desk." - Jordan Palmer

Hats off to the House of Representatives for the leadership and knowledge they showed today in Frankfort.

UPDATE - Official Statement - 11:48 PM
Kentucky Equality Federation praises the wisdom of House Speaker Richards and the entire House of Representatives for immediately adjourning the special session called by Governor Fletcher. The House of Representatives voted to end a special legislative session called by Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher an hour after it started.

"The House of Representatives did what was right for Kentucky families and taxpayers," stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. "Governor Fletcher apparently has no core beliefs of his own, his decisions seem to be nothing more than a calculation of how he can stay in office."

Governor Fletcher added a ban on domestic-partner benefits at universities and public agencies to the agenda of the special session that could have cost taxpayers $60,000.00 per day to hold.

Kentucky Equality Federation supported Governor Fletcher's original statement that universities should determine their own policies. But the Governor changed his mind in the middle of an election year and added it to a 'laundry list' as a reason to call the General Assembly into session.

Several Kentucky universities and public agencies offer affordable health insurance to both heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Family Foundation of Kentucky threatens to file an injunction to stop UK domestic partnerships.

The Family Foundation of Kentucky is considering filing an injunction against the University of Kentucky to stop domestic partner benefits from going into effect on Monday when their new fiscal year begins.

Let them file their injunction, because doing so could open a Pandora's box they will never be able to close again.

Domestic Partnership? The real issue here with the Family Foundation of Kentucky is if homosexuals have the rights to any of the benefits associated with marriage. Why would they not?

Kentucky Constitution - Section 233A: Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.

Marriage is something created by the state (both Kentucky and the United States) for the benefit of its citizens.

Most people cannot disassociate a chapel, white dress, and a best man from their definition of marriage. The only religious thing about marriage however is in the minds of the people. When a marriage is dissolved it is done by the state, not God. When a minister pronounces someone married he or she does so by saying "by the power invested in me by the Commonwealth of Kentucky."

Marriage Defined:
Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract.

The reasons people marry vary widely, but usually include one or more of the following: legal, social and economic stability; the formation of a family unit; procreation and the education and nurturing of children; legitimizing sexual relations; public declaration of love.

• What gives heterosexual couples the right to be the only ones to enjoy this? The state.
• Is Section 233A (passed by a 2004 Constitutional Amendment) of the Kentucky Constitution unconstitutional? Yes. It violates Section I, Section II, Section III, and Section IV of the Kentucky Constitution.
• Does Section 233A of the Kentucky Constitution violate United State law? Traditionally, the federal government did not attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage recognized by a state was recognized by the federal government, even if that marriage was not recognized by one or more other states (as was the case with interracial marriage before 1967). With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, however, a marriage was explicitly defined as a union of one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law. (See 1 U.S.C. § 7.) Thus, no act or agency of the U.S. federal government currently recognizes same-sex marriage.
  
  Some opponents of same-sex marriage, wanting to ensure that the constitutionality of such laws cannot be challenged in the courts under the Full Faith and Credit clause, Equal Protection Clause or Due process clause of the United States Constitution, have proposed a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution that would prevent the federal government or any state from providing a marriage or the legal incidents thereof to a same-sex couple, whether through the legislature or the courts.

Let the Family Foundation of Kentucky file their injunction so the legal battle may finally begin.

A UCLA report released in January 2007 about the attitudes of college freshmen nationwide says acceptance of same-sex marriage grew between 2005 and 2006. The study found that 61% of incoming freshmen last year agreed that same-sex couples should have the right to marriage, up 3.3 percentage points from 2005.