Defendants cleared in Atlanta Eagle case
An Atlanta judge has found three defendants in a case spawned by a late-night raid on a crowded gay bar not guilty. Municipal Judge Crystal Gaines tossed out charges against the other five defendants in the case that accused men of dancing naked without permits and operators of the Atlanta Eagle with running an unlicensed adult establishment. A national gay rights group filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department accusing authorities of illegally searching patrons during the Sept. 10 raid.
Gay couples marry in Mexico City
Five same-sex couples made history in Mexico City on March 11 when they wed under Latin America’s first law that explicitly approves gay marriage. Mexico City’s legislature passed the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones in December. The legislation also allows same-sex couples to adopt children.
Colleges can’t ban gay discrimination, says AG
Virginia’s attorney general has advised the state’s public colleges that they don’t have the authority to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. The March 11 letter sent by Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli to state college presidents and other officials drew swift criticism from Democrats and gay rights activists. “It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like classification, as a protected class within its nondiscrimination policy,’’ Cuccinelli wrote.
