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About Gay South Florida

Monday, July 30, 2007 -

Moments ago, United Parcel Service caved in and announced that it would give benefits to employees in New Jersey civil unions on the same basis as the company gives benefits to married straight employees. Yet as of today, Garden State Equality has 211 cases of couples complaning (sic) to the organization that their employers are not recognizing their New Jersey civil unions. Among the companies flaunting the civil unions law, according to two of the complaints, are two competitors of UPS: Fed Ex and DHL.

“Equal protection under the law is not supposed to wind through a tunnel of hell, where gay couples have to threaten companies with lawsuits and where Governors have to write letters to shame the companies into doing the right thing,” Goldstein said. “But that’s what gay couples have been reduced to under New Jersey’s civil unions law. This law is one of the biggest civil-rights failures of this or any other generation.

“Because of the New Jersey civil unions law, which isn’t consistently respected in the real world, many gay couples have been reduced to begging. It’s worthy of a cinematic tragedy, like when Oliver had to beg for more porridge. ‘Please sir, may I have my civil union benefits?’

“The torture that UPS put this one couple through, before the company finally relented and gave the couple benefits, shows how pathetic the law is,” said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality. “Many companies don’t understand the civil unions law, and many other companies understand the law but don’t respect it. Either way, the law is an abject failure in consistently providing same-sex couples equal protection.

“What will happen to the employees who work for the many other companies, like Fed Ex and DHL, that won’t cave in? How many of these couples and their children will have to suffer before the New Jersey legislature corrects the epidemic of inequality that the civil unions law has created?”

“Marriage is the only currency of commitment the real world universally accepts. Marriage is the only way same-sex couples in New Jersey will ever receive equality.”

Beating the Odds
Q&A with Terri O’Connell, NASCAR’s only trans driver.
by Daniel Weil, Gaywheels.com via 365gay.com

If you grew up as a good ol’ boy from Mississippi, a NASCAR career may have been higher among the echelon of your future dream achievements – especially if you wanted to make your racing-hero dad proud. J.T. Hayes faced just such a situation. With 500 wins on the NASCAR circuit and a promising career ahead of him, he thought he had found the “right” track – Almost.

A series of events and one particularly awful racing accident in 1991 shifted J.T.’s perceptions. Trapped upside down by his seatbelt with fuel pouring and smoke billowing from the vehicle, J.T. Hayes decided life was really too short to not live it as who you are.

To greatly simplify the story, a decision was made and cars sold to finance a sexual reassignment surgery that put a racing career on hold. In time, the sheltering and constraining cocoon of J.T. Hayes had disappeared and Terri O’Connell emerged to take the wheel.

Full of inner conflicts and fights with the world to be who she is and do what she loves, Terri’s is one of those stories to which many gay people can relate. But ask Terri her story today and she’ll tell you, “I’m a woman fighting the odds… I may have come from a very unique set of circumstances, but today, I’m a woman whose fighting to do what she loves to do the most.” With a new book coming out soon, television appearances behind and ahead of her, movie deals in the works and a new competitive NASCAR team being assembled, Terri O’Connell’s dream of once again setting hot rubber against professional pavement will soon be a reality. Only this time she has an added advantage – she lives as the person she was born to be…click the link to continue

www.GardenStateEquality.org
Tell-a-friend!

by: Juan Melli; Blue Jersey

Governor Corzine today wrote a letter to UPS Chairman and CEO Michael Eskew urging the company to reconsider it’s denial of benefits to civil union couples in New Jersey. Corzine argues that New Jersey law considers civil union couples as spouses, even though we can’t actually call them that. So, civil union couples are exactly like married couples and partners are just like spouses, but we can’t actually use those words because…who the (***) (Expletive deleted by savvyplanners.com) knows? The need for this letter is further evidence that this law simply doesn’t work. Eliot Spitzer took a lead on marriage equality and the New York Assembly subsequently passed marriage equality legislation. Corzine is armed with evidence that this law is a failure. He should step up and lead the state out of this mess and bring true equality for all our residents. Below is the governor’s letter: Dear Mr. Eskew: On February 19, 2007, New Jersey’s civil union law took effect. The purpose of the statute is to ensure the equal treatment of committed, same-sex couples in New Jersey by providing those couples who enter into a civil union with all of the benefits, protections and obligations of marriage. An important component of the equality envisioned by the law is the provision of health and other benefits to civil union partners of employees on the same terms as are provided to employee spouses. To accomplish this goal, the New Jersey law mandates that employers operating in the State provide benefits on equal terms to civil union partners and spouses. It has recently come to my attention that employers who self-fund employee benefits, such your company — that is, companies who do not provide employee benefits through a contract of insurance — may assert that federal law, namely the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), prevent enforcement against them of the mandatory provisions of New Jersey’s civil union statute with respect to employee benefits for civil union partners. While these statutes arguably provide that State anti-discrimination laws relating to employee benefits cannot be enforced against self-funded employers through legal action, nothing in federal law prevents self-funded employers from providing the civil union partners of employees with benefits on terms equal to those provided to spouses. It is my understanding that UPS has demonstrated this fact by going beyond the minimum requirements of federal law and providing benefits to the civil union partners of non-unionized employees. I applaud you for this decision, which represents a significant step toward eliminating inequality for committed, same-sex couples in New Jersey. Equal benefits have not, however, been provided by UPS to the civil union partners of employees represented by collective bargaining agents. It is my understanding that a clause in the applicable collective bargaining agreement(s) providing benefits to employee “spouses” has been interpreted by UPS as not applying to civil union partners from New Jersey. This interpretation of the contract(s) leaves a subset of your employees, including employees who work in New Jersey, without benefits for their civil union partners, creating inequity at the workplace and furthering the inequitable treatment of committed, same-sex couples that the New Jersey law is intended to eradicate. To the extent that the interpretation of “spouse” in the collective bargaining agreement(s) is based on the status of civil union partners under New Jersey law, I call to your attention a provision of the New Jersey civil union statute, N.J.S.A. 37:1-33, that provides that “[w]henever in any law, rule, regulation, judicial or administrative proceeding or otherwise, reference is made to . . . `spouse’ . . . or another word which in a specific context denotes a marital or spousal relationship, the same shall include a civil union pursuant to the provisions of this act.” The quoted provision makes plain that New Jersey law intends that civil union partners be viewed as spouses under all facets of New Jersey law and that a reference to “spouse” in a legal context, including in a contract, embraces civil union partners. This interpretation of “spouse” as it appears in the collective bargaining agreement(s) applicable to UPS employees who are in a New Jersey civil union would be consistent with New Jersey law and the intended purpose of the civil union statute. I urge you to reconsider your company’s reading of its collective bargaining agreement(s) on this point to facilitate implementation of the goals of the civil union law. Apart from any purely legal considerations, the provision of employee benefits to civil union partners on the same terms as spouses would be more than a symbolic gesture of your company’s commitment to eliminating discrimination. Spousal benefits are a key element of the financial and physical well-being of working couples and their children. The provision of those benefits can, in some cases, mean the difference between the security of having health insurance, the financial strain of acquiring coverage at significant expense, or the risk of financial ruin by remaining uninsured. Surely, as a company with a longstanding commitment to its employees and the community, UPS would not want to make its employees and their families face these difficult choices based on the subtleties of the interaction of federal and State law, the happenstance that an employee is in a collective bargaining unit rather than an unrepresented position, and an unnecessarily restrictive interpretation of a phrase in a collective bargaining agreement(s). Thank you in advance for your consideration of this matter. Sincerely yours, Jon S. Corzine Governor

Juan Melli :: Corzine Urges UPS to Provide Civil Union Benefits

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007 — As of today, five months after New Jersey’s Civil Union Law took effect, at least 1 in every 7 civil-unioned couples in New Jersey is being denied equal protection under the law.

In today’s meeting of the New Jersey Civil Unions Review Commission, the state registrar reported that 1,359 couples have gotten civil-unioned in New Jersey since the law took affect on February 19, 2007.

During the same five-month period, 191 civil-unioned couples have reported to Garden State Equality that their employers refuse to recognize their civil unions. That is a 14 percent, or 1 in 7, failure rate, at least.

During the first four months of the law, the failure rate had been at least 1 in 8, demonstrating that employers have not increased their acceptance of the law as they’ve become more familiar with it. Employers are actually becoming more resistant.

“What society would tolerate a law’s failing 1 in 7 times?” said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality. “If New Jersey’s Civil Unions Law were a person, it would be arrested for committing fraud.”

In fact, the law’s failure rate is likely way higher than 1 in 7 because the 191 couples encompass only those who have come to Garden State Equality. The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights reports it is hearing from 90 couples a month inquiring about problems with civil union implementation — which would be potentially 450 couples.

The Star-Ledger recently ran a front-page story, picked up by news organizations across the country, on how one company, United Parcel Service, refuses to provide equal benefits to civil-unioned employees in New Jersey even though UPS provides equal benefits to its employees in Massachusetts who are married to same-sex spouses there.

Today’s new numbers demonstrate that the failure of New Jersey’s civil unions law goes way beyond UPS. The 191 cases that have come to Garden State Equality involve almost 191 companies.

Many of these companies point to a provision in Federal law that allows them to ignore the laws of various states that recognize same-sex relationships. This begs the question: If Federal law is the problem, what difference would it make to call same-sex relationships “marriage” rather than “civil union”?

A big difference. The Washington Post recently did an investigation in which it reported that companies in Massachusetts are hardly ever using federal law as an excuse to deny equal benefits to same-sex couples married in that state. Even with the problem of federal law, same-sex couples married in Massachusetts, as that state’s law allows are getting equality. Civil-unioned couples in New Jersey are not.

“Month after month, as new statistics of the Civil Unions Law’s failure are released, there’s tragically no improvement in acceptance of the law,” said Goldstein. “Civil unions just don’t work in the real world. Marriage is the only currency of commitment the real world consistently accepts. And the only way to New Jersey will ever see equality is to give same-sex and opposite sex couples the same freedom to marry.”

If you have gotten civil-unioned in New Jersey and your employer is not recognizing your civil union, please contact Garden State Equality as soon as possible. E-mail us your story, including your name and phone number, to Contact@GardenStateEquality.org. We will keep all information confidential. Garden State Equality chair Steven Goldstein is at cell (917) 449-8918. Garden State Equality deputy director David Smith is at cell (908) 917-0654. Thanks so much.

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(Cape Town, South Africa) LGBT civil rights activists in South Africa are calling on the government to do more to end the growing number of attacks on lesbians in the Black townships following the brutal murders on the weekend of two women.

Sizakele Sigasa, 30, an outreach coordinator at the Positive Women’s Network and a lesbian and gay rights activist, and her friend Salome Masooa, 23, were tortured and murdered in Soweto.

(Caution: Graphic description at the source. Reader’s discretion is advised.)

Grooms Also Get In On New Trend

Source: WNBC.com

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Brides are taking the plunge into rivers, oceans, lakes and fountains for outlandish wedding pictures.Most of them said their wedding dresses are just taking up space, and they want to put them to good use for some edgy pictures in their photo album, reported KERO-TV in Bakersfield, Calif. Brides tend to be picky about where they sit and what they do while getting pictures taken before their wedding, so trashing their dress after the honeymoon allows them to get the pictures they really want.Dress trashing has become popular in the last year, with brides diving underwater or even rolling in the dirt. But women are not the only ones getting down and dirty. Their husbands are joining in the fun, too. Although the name suggests these women are trashing their dresses, it’s not totally true. Most of the dresses can be cleaned and made to look just like new.
###

NOTE from the CEO:

Yes. It is a growing phenomena— dress trashing. We’ve all seen it on TV commercials, gossip and reality TV programs and the like. I remember a celebrity diving in to the Caribbean.

It’s not that I’m saying its a good idea or not. It is entirely up to the Brides and Grooms!

The questions that should be asked, though, are:
Do I CARE about having to get the garment properly cleaned?
Will I have a blast and ENJOY the relaxation that comes from ‘getting loose’?
Will we LOVE looking at these photos forever?
How many ‘real’ shots should we take, just in case?
Do we think its a cool and FUN thing to do?
Will this be the PERFECT way to release all the tension of the day!?

If you can answer immediately, and without hesitation, “yes!” then maybe it’s just the thing you need to send your event over the top!!! Just make sure to give the number of your dry cleaner to your coordinator!

Enjoy!

-MW

Gay Allies Form Group In Florida Marriage Battle
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: July 11, 2007 – 3:30 pm ET

(Tallahassee, Florida) A new organization made up mainly of people who are not gay has amassed more than $1 million to battle a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Florida Red & Blue boasts both Democrats and Republicans among its members. The organization says that the proposed amendment could be devastating not only for gay and lesbian couples but also for unmarried opposite-sex couples who live together.

The group says that many straight couples in non-married relationships depend on domestic partner registries.

Florida Red & Blue is led by Bob Farmer, a former treasurer for the Democratic National Committee and a key fundraiser for four Democratic presidential campaigns; and by Jon Kislak, the former financial director for Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum’s campaign.

In just 60 days they raised $1.01 million.

”This is not just a gay marriage amendment,” the Miami Herald quotes Stephen Gaskill, a spokesperson for the group as saying.

“It’s easy to focus on that because that’s what is controversial, but it goes way beyond that.”

The proposed amendment is being pushed by conservative Christian group Florida4Marriage. It attempted to have the measure placed on the 2006 ballot but fell short of the required number of signatures.

Of the 611,009 signatures necessary to place the amendment on the November 2006 ballot, only 455,363 were gathered by the February 1, 2006, deadline. (story)

But under Florida law Florida4Marriage, can continue to add names to the petition in a bid to get it on the 2008 ballot.

The group says it needs 18,000 more signatures by February to get the amendment on next year’s ballot.

©365Gay.com 2007

Read Further Coverage in the Miami Herald by Steve Rothaus

Source: Juan Melli, Blue Jersey

A UPS representative offered this explanation to Blue Jersey’s Juan Melli.

“I saw your blog post on UPS. What the Star Ledger doesn’t explain is that UPS doesn’t legally have the right to give same sex benefits to Ms. Brazier because she is part of the Teamsters and any changes to benefits have to be done as part of the collective bargain process.

The contact expires in 2008. Absent a law that specifically categorizes same sex partners as married spouses such as in Mass., UPS cannot unilaterally change a union contract to offer same sex benefits. We have already brought up this issue to the Teamsters for consideration.

As a matter of corporate policy, UPS currently offers same sex benefits to all non-union employees — management as well as administrative workers. This includes all such employees in New Jersey, even though the state has failed to recognize gay partners as married spouses. Beyond health care, UPS also offers benefits such as medical leave, pension rights, funeral leave, relocation and transfer benefits. We recently added same-sex benefits as part of a new contract with UPS pilots too. The situation regarding Ms. Brazier and her partner is just as disappointing to UPS as it is to them. Our corporate policy is very clear. But for unionized employees, we can only address the issue through the union at contract renewal time.

Lynnette McIntire
UPS”

Click the link to follow the discussion on Blue Jersey