News Briefs

WINNERS. Brenda Thomas (pictured) received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the April 21 Houston Transgender Unity Banquet. Brandi Williams earned the People’s Choice Award. Other award winners at the annual black-tie event, held at the Hilton Southwest: Jane Ellen Fairfax, the Dee McKeller Award; Sara Rook, the Apogee Award. IBM received the Champions Award for corporate support.

CENTER LAUNCHES TESTING PROGRAM

On July 16, the Houston GLBT Community Center (3400 Montrose Blvd., Suite 207) will begin providing free, regular testing for HIV, Hepatitis C, and chlamydia. Through a new collaboration with Houston Area Community Services (HACS), the center will offer the tests on a drop-in basis on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 7 to 9 p.m. A trained HACS staff member will administer the tests. More info: 713/524-3818 or www.HoustonGLBTCenter.org.

SPIKE THIS! V’BALL SEASON BEGINS

The Lone Star Volleyball Association will begin the fall league season on July 13. Practices and games are held in the Jerabeck Athletic Center on the University of St. Thomas campus. The league offers two levels: Recreational/Intermediate and Power/Competitive League play will begin on August 3. New members received 50 percent off the first-season dues. More info: www.lsva.org.

GO, CANADA!

On June 10, an Ontario appeals court issued a landmark ruling that recognizes civil-marriage rights for same-gender couples. The Canadian government opted not to appeal the decision.

Same-gender American couples may marry in Ontario, under the ruling.

Before you plan to throw a maple-leaf bouquet at your wedding, however, keep in mind that a Canadian marriage will not ensure equal treatment back in the United States. The federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 limits the definition of marriage to a “legal union between one man and woman as husband and wife.”

Locally, attorney John Nechman, who works on issues of partner rights both through his practice and his work with the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force, also raised a red, rather than maple-leaf, flag. “We are urging caution to binational couples,” he reported via e-mail. “I have actually read posts from some who have written things like, ‘We can’t wait to get back to the U.S. border and flash that certificate to the inspections officer!’ Any foreign national doing so will probably not be allowed to enter the U.S. unless he or she is a permanent resident. So many mistakenly believe that a Canadian marriage will be recognized by the Department of Homeland Security.”

In mid-June, five national organizations issued a statement advising that “couples should absolutely not race across the border” to set up lawsuits in response to U.S. discrimination against marriages granted in Canada. “The wrong cases could set us back for years. We will be strongest if we work together,” the statement read.

Information is available from these groups through their websites:

• Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, www.glad.org

• Lambda Legal, www.lambdalegal.org

• National Center for Lesbian Rights, www.cnlrights.org

• American Civil Liberties Union Lesbian & Gay Rights Project, www.aclu.org

• Freedom To Marry, www.freedomtomarry.org.

In another marriage-related development, Nechman pointed out that a decision is expected this month from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Goodridge v. Department of Health. In this Massachusetts case, seven same-gender couples denied marriage licenses have filed suit against the state.

MAPLE-LEAF MARRIAGE?

Once you have consulted one of the national groups involved in marriage-rights issues (see previous article) and an attorney, do you still plan to travel to Canada to wed? We want to know. Send information to tim@outsmartmagazine.com.

If you have any comments about this article, please email them to letters@outsmartmagazine.com.