1.) b — There is no state or federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, but city of Atlanta residents can file a discrimination complaint with the Atlanta Human Relations Commission. The commission is made up of citizens appointed by the mayor and city council members. For more on the commission or to file a complaint, visit www.atlantaga.gov/mayor/humrela_comm.aspx or call 404-330-6026.
2.) a — Georgia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages prohibits any recognition of such unions, regardless if they were performed legally out of state.
3.) c — Georgia’s adoption law does not specifically address sexual orientation, leaving it to the discretion of local judges. Generally, judges in Fulton, DeKalb and other metro counties have been willing to grant adoptions to gay and lesbian singles and couples, while some prospective parents have encountered hostility when trying to adopt in more conservative parts of the state.
4.) b, 5.) a, 6.) c — The city of Atlanta has a domestic partnership registry that is available to all same-sex couples living within city limits. With $30 and proof of residence, couples can arrange an appointment with the city’s Business Licensing department at 404-335-1914. Couples will get a certificate recognizing their domestic partnership, but no rights or obligations of marriage, with the exception of visitation privileges in the city jail. The city, and other jurisdictions, also have domestic partnership policies for gay and lesbian employees, which allows them to add their same-sex partner to health insurance policies.
7.) b — Some gay-friendly hospitals might not require legal paperwork, but it’s best to be on solid ground just in case an accident happens and someone winds up in a less welcoming hospital. Approved by the Georgia General Assembly last year, Advanced Directives include documents like power of attorney and living wills, which allows one partner to make medical decisions on behalf of the other. For Advanced Directives documents, visit http://www.georgiaequality.org
8.) c — Atlanta’s wide-ranging Human Relations Ordinance also prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, sex, domestic partnership status, national origin, age and physical disability. Citizens can file discrimination claims with the Human Relations Commission, but the legal muscle of the ordinance remains untested.
9.) a — Georgia’s obscenity law prohibits the sale of “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.” The law contains a couple of “you couldn’t make this stuff up” clauses, including exemptions for college students conducting research, and for people with a doctor’s prescription. For the rest of us, those goodies are sold for novelty use only!
10.) c — The Georgia Supreme Court struck down the state’s sodomy law in 1998 in Powell v. State of Georgia, a case involving a heterosexual man convicted of performing oral sex on his niece. But the ruling was heralded as a gay rights victory because Georgia’s sodomy law had been used to brand all gay citizens as criminals and justify discrimination in employment and child custody, among other areas. The Georgia ruling came five years before the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated all antisodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.
FEDERAL
1.) a — Gay rights organizations continue to lobby Congress to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Sheppard Act, which would add sexual orientation to the list of categories protected under the federal hate crimes law. In 2007, a version of the bill, which also included gender identity, passed the House but stalled in the Senate after a failed attempt to attach it to a larger Department of Defense bill.
2.) b — New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, announced last month that he was directing state agencies in New York to prepare to begin recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions.
3.) b — The Americans with Disabilities Act protects people living with HIV/AIDS from discrimination in the workplace and public accommodations.
4.) c — Since the federal government does not recognize same-sex couples, gay couples enjoy no immigration benefits, such as marriage as a pathway to citizenship. As a result, gay Americans in bi-national couples face the choice of ending their relationship, living together here illegally, or moving abroad when their partner’s stay in America ends. Gay rights organizations continue to lobby Congress to pass the Uniting American Families Act.
5.) c — The two-pronged Defense of Marriage Act prohibits federal recognition of same-sex couples, and tells states that they don’t have to recognize such unions either.
6.) a — Idaho, Ohio, Tennesses. Most states allow post-operative transgender individuals to receive a new birth certificate, or amend their original one to reflect a sex and name change.
7.) c — Although gay and lesbian military heroes have been kicked out of the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began, the Washington Post reported in 2005 that such discharges were at their “lowest levels since the Defense Department began keeping such figures.” In reality, it’s a continuation of doublespeak on the part of the U.S. military,who recognize the worth of gay soldiers during wartime, then purge them from the rolls during peace. By the end of 2006, some 11,704 gay and lesbian soldiers were discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
8.) a — Despite the cultural strides made by gay men and lesbians over the past four decades, and the growth of large gay national organizations, a stand-alone bill supporting gay rights has never made it all the way through the federal legislative process.
9.) b — The Lawrence v. Texas ruling was based primarily on the right-to-privacy tenants established in Roe v. Wade, the historic ruling that affirmed abortion rights.
10.) a — Last year a fierce debate took place when leading gay politicians and gay rights organizations opted to pursue a sexual orientation- only version of ENDA, believing that including gender identity would hinder the bill’s chances for passing. The sexual-orientation version of ENDA passed the U.S. House last November before stalling in the Senate.
FAMOUS FACES:
1. Harvey Milk
• Elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming the first openly gay elected official in a major city and only the third in the United States
• Advocated coming out as the way for gay people to achieve acceptance
• Became a gay rights martyr when he was assassinated in 1978 by a conservative political rival after one year in office.
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