Media Trail

Arrest in antigay assault

KATU News reports that Portland, Ore. , police arrested a 21-year-old man July 24 after he assaulted a gay man whom he encountered walking with his partner.

The victim, a 30-year-old man, told police he and his partner were walking in a park with their arms around each other when two men called them antigay slurs. The victim later saw one of the men, whom police identified as Dillan Cashman, on a balcony next to the park, and told him that his comments were out of line. Cashman then left the balcony and allegedly assaulted the victim.

Cashman is charged with second-degree intimidation and fourth-degree assault.

Brief filed in DOMA case

Advocate.com reports that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a brief July 26 in Windsor v. United States, a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The brief contends that DOMA violates same-sex couples’ rights to equal protection. According to a statement released by Schneiderman’s office, he argues DOMA is “ … an improper intrusion on the traditional role of states in defining marriage; that it discriminates based on sex and sexual orientation and therefore must be subjected to heightened scrutiny; and that DOMA fails any level of scrutiny because it does not advance any legitimate federal interest.”

The plaintiff in the case is Edie Windsor, a New Yorker who paid $360,000 in inheritance taxes after the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer, whom she married in 2007.

Gay bar patrons settle

The Star-Telegram reports that two men injured during a raid at the Rainbow Lounge, a gay bar in Ft. Worth, Texas, announced their settlement with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission July 22.

The agreement, reached in March, was recently approved by the governor’s office.

The arrests of Chad Gibson, who sustained a head injury, and George Armstrong, who suffered a torn rotator cuff, inspired Ft. Worth police to establish a liaison to the gay community, begin diversity training and develop a more detailed bar-check policy.

Gibson settled for $210,000 and Armstrong for $15,000.The two had settled with the city earlier this year for $400,000 and $40,000, respectively.

— compiled by Chandlee Taylor

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