School district to pay harassed student
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports a school district in Minnesota agreed to pay a $25,000 settlement to a high-school junior who was subjected to harassment by two teachers around his perceived sexual orientation.
Teacher Diane Cleveland commented that the boy’s “fence swings both ways.” When he wrote a paper on Ben Franklin, Cleveland said he had a “thing for older men.” Another teacher, Walter Fison, said the boy “enjoys wearing women’s clothes.”
The settlement comes after an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights; the school district denies it violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Both teachers have received “outstanding performance” awards from the district in recent years.
Few seeking marriage in Vermont
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus reports same-sex couples in Vermont can get married in the state as of Sept. 1, but so far, town clerks have received very few applications.
Susan Clark, the assistant town clerk in Rutland, said one couple has taken out a wedding application, but the staff doesn’t really expect too many more in the next several weeks.
In Montpelier, where supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage battled just months ago, no gay or lesbian couples have yet to ask for a civil-marriage license application.
Anchorage mayor vetoes gay-rights ordinance
Advocate.com reports the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, vetoed a recently passed gay-rights bill.
Mayor Dan Sullivan said the “vast majority of those who communicated their position on the ordinance are in opposition.”
In his veto message, he said there was “a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance.”
The Anchorage assembly approved the bill on Aug. 11 by a 7-4 vote, but eight votes are needed to override a veto.
The ordinance would have banned discrimination against LGBT people in employment, credit, public accommodations and housing. The bill passed after churches and other religious organizations were deemed exempt.
— Larry Nichols