Hawaii Senate OKs same-sex civil unions
Hawaii News Now reports the state Senate approved civil unions for same-sex couples on Jan. 28.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives appeared poised to approve civil unions, even though it passed a similar measure last year that was vetoed by then-Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican.
But, newly elected Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie said he backs civil unions.
Naval Academy recognizes husband of late alum
Mark Ketterson said that having a marriage license made all the difference last year when he told the U.S. Naval Academy that his husband, John Fliszar, a member of the class of ’71, had died, reports Advocate.com.
Fliszar was a Vietnam veteran who wanted to have his ashes interred near the Navy cemetery in Annapolis, Md.
Ketterson contacted the memorial coordinator at the school, who asked for a marriage license. He and Fliszar were married in Iowa, and the widower believes that fact prompted the Navy to give an “amazing” response to the request.
In addition to a standard military funeral for Fliszar in October, the USNA alumni magazine published an obituary and stated he was “survived by his husband, Mark Thomas Ketterson.”
School district settles with trans student
Yahoo News reports Lambda Legal has reached a settlement with the Gary, Ind., school district, in the case of a transgender student who was barred from attending prom in a dress in 2006.
K.K. Logan, who at the time identified as a feminine male, was physically blocked by the school principal from entering the West Side High School senior prom in May 2006, enforcing a school policy forbidding clothing or accessories that “advertise sexual orientation” or “portray the wearer as a person of the opposite gender.”
The settlement provides for monetary compensation and includes changes to Gary public schools’ dress code and LGBT-specific nondiscrimination policies.
— Larry Nichols