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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 20, 2014
PAGE 7A
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City commission to discuss appointing LGBT liaison
The Lawrence Human Relations Commission will discuss appointing an LGBT liaison to the city commission and police force Thursday in light of the Municipal Equality Index (MEI) released last Wednesday by the Human Rights Campaign, said Megan Gilliland, communications manager for the City of Lawrence.
Lawrence scored a 72 out of 100 on the annual report, up 17 points from the score of 55 Lawrence received in 2013. Out of the six cities
scored in the state. Lawrence scored the highest. Lawrence's score received a significant boost from the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state of Kansas last Wednesday, according to the report.
According to the Human Rights Campaign's website, the index "demonstrates the ways that many cities can — and do — support LGBT people who live and work there, even where states and the federal government have failed to do so."
Lawrence lost the most points due to the town's lack of an LGBT liaison or task force to the police and city
commission. Gilliland says while Lawrence doesn't have an officially appointed LGBT liaison, any issues that affect the LGBT community are still regularly addressed.
"It's in the form of that Human Relations Commission because they make recommendations to the city commission on all kinds of issues," Gilliland said. "So that is our way of having a liaison to the city commission and the executive branch."
The Human Relations Commission's job, according to Gilliland, is to uphold chapter 10 of the Lawrence City Code. Chapter 10 covers
human relations, which includes gender identity and discrimination.
"Sometimes task forces are pulled together because there is a problem and there is a lot to discuss."
SGT. TRENT MCKINLEY Lawrence Police Department
Out of all the cities surveyed, 71 percent of them, including Lawrence, lacked a liaison or task force to the city police department.
Sgt. Trent McKinley, the media spokesman for the Lawrence Police Department, said any LGBT issues would be dealt with at the city level, and any complaints of an officer would be dealt with internally by the Office of Professional Accountability.
McKinley said the fact that Lawrence does not have LGBT liaison or task forces could be a sign they are not needed.
"Sometimes task forces are pulled together because there is a problem and there is a lot to discuss," McKinley said. "At least in the police department I don't hear of any issues, I'm
just not aware of that being brought to our attention."
Topeka followed Lawrence with the next-highest score in Kansas with an overall score of 43 out of 100. Wichita scored 38, Olathe and Overland Park both scored a 37. Kansas City, Kan., scored a 24, whereas Kansas City, Mo. was one of 25 cities to receive a perfect score of 100. Overall the state's average score was 38.5, 20.5 points below the national average.
Edited by Alyssa Scott
FUNNY FROM PAGE 6A
about the disease, and that he had mentioned Hilarity for Charity U. a movement to raise awareness among universities. Ashley said he had an "aha moment" and realized HFCU would be a good fit for Kansas, and he could be the one to start it.
This is the University's first big fundraiser for HFC, and Ashley and his executive board of seven spent the summer planning.
"As soon as school started, we hit the ground running." Ashley said. "I plan to have this [event] every year after I graduate in December, so this is our first annual HFC variety show."
Ashley said Seth Rogen has agreed to come with a friend to hold a meet-and-greet at the university that raises the most money. Ashley said that is an additional incentive and motive for raising money for the association.
The club has also been marketing to different student groups, including fraternities and sororites, in addition to different student clubs and organizations on campus, like the School of Engineering. Ashley said its primary fundraising effort with student groups is a competition among all of the groups to see who can raise the most money for HFC.
Whoever raises the most money will be awarded the HFC traveling trophy, which will go from group to group over the next couple years, Ashley said. He said if Kansas raises the most money and Seth Rogen does ends up visiting, he will offer the meet-and-greet to the
student organization that raised the most funds.
Caitlin Luyemura, a senior from Osage City and the fundraising director for KU HFC, said she joined the organization soon after Ashley told her about starting it up.
"I was already interested in neurodegenerative diseases, but Jordan's the main reason that got me on board," Uyemura said.
She said she was in charge of events for raising funds for HFC and helped with media and sponsorship for the organization, as well as for the event this week.
"I got involved because my grandmother suffers from dementia, and finding a cure for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is what drove me."
VICTOR ZAHAROPOULOS Senior from Lenexa
Uyemura said she's really excited to see the turnout, but the hardest part was talking to people and getting the organization's name out there.
"Other [well known] events, most people know what they are when they hear the name," she said. "We're hoping Hilarity for Charity will be like that soon."
Victor Zaharopoulos, a senior from Lenexa and the director of operations for KU HFC, said being a new organization has been the greatest challenge.
"Not having that structure or example to follow has been
Zaharopoulos said he became involved because he knew Ashley for a long time and knew it was a worthwhile cause.
the most challenging aspect, but has also given us a lot of freedom to explore different ideas and to explore what other groups aren't willing to do," Zaharopoulos said.
Ashley said aside from hoping for a successful first HFC Variety Show in Lawrence, the club is striving to become more well-known.
"Our main challenge is to just prove ourselves, and I think we'll do that after our show this year," Ashley said. "Our message is to do a lot of fun things to support something serious, and we are able to go that direction."
"I got involved because my grandmother suffers from dementia, and finding a cure for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is what drove me," Zaharopoulos said.
Ashley said this is the last event for KU HFC for the semester, and the club will be focusing on new leadership to replace current positions and help the new group set up a great fundraiser for next year. He said he hopes the group gains traction and gets more people excited to help out with the Alzheimer's Association.
"Everyone is donating their time because they believe in the cause, or know somebody with Alzheimer's, and everyone who donated feels connected to the event," Zaharopoulos said. "I think it will be a very fun, and very powerful night."
Edited by Alyssa Scott
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Montana marriage ban overturned; licenses granted
Associated Press
LISA BAUMANN
HELENA, Mont. — A federal judge on Wednesday overturned the state gay marriage ban in Montana, one of the last states to continue defending its ban despite rulings in favor of same-sex marriage from appeals courts that overseen them.
At least two counties Missoula and Park started issuing marriage licenses to gay couples soon after, while court clerks elsewhere in the state geared up to do so Thursday.
U. S. District Judge Brian Morris ruled Montana's constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and a woman violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
"This Court recognizes that not everyone will celebrate this outcome," Morris wrote. "This decision overturns a Montana Constitutional amendment approved by the voters of Montana. Yet the United States Constitution exists to protect disfavored minorities from the will of the majority."
Park County issued its first same-sex marriage license hours after the ruling. The couple plans to return to the county courthouse Thursday to be married by state district judge, Clerk of Court June Little said.
Montana's Republican attorney general, Tim Fox, vowed to appeal but said he wouldn't ask the state to block marriages in the meantime.
"It is the attorney general's sworn duty to uphold and defend Montana's constitution until such time as there is no further review or no appeal can be made in a court of law," Fox said in an email to The Associated Press.
At least one other gay couple got a license in Missoula County, Clerk of Court Shirley Faust said.
In Montana's most populous county, Yellowstone, the clerk of district court said she expects her office to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Thursday morning.
Sue Hawthorne smiles during a news conference announcing the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris calling Montana's gay marriage ban unconstitutional on Wednesday in Helena, Mont. Hawthorne and her partner Adel Johnson are plaintiffs in the case and were married earlier this year in Washington state.
"We're ready to go," Kristie Lee Boelter said. "For my office, nothing will be different than any other day."
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in September that Idaho and Nevada's bans are unconstitutional. Montana is part of the 9th Circuit, and Morris cited the appeals court's opinion in his ruling.
"The time has come for Montana to follow all the other states within the Ninth Circuit and recognize that laws that ban same-sex marriage violate the constitutional right of same-sex couples to equal protection of the laws," he wrote.
"Calling Tonya my partner, my significant other, my girlfriend, my perpetual fiancée has never done justice to our relationship." Angie Rolando said. "Love won today."
Also Thursday, the ACLU plans celebrations at county courthouses in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula. The group will have officiants there for couples who wish to marry immediately, ACLU spokeswoman Amy Cannata said.
Four same-sex couples filed a lawsuit in May challenging Montana's ban. The plaintiffs included Angie and Tonya Rolando.
The couple said they plan obtain a wedding license as soon as their courthouse opens Thursday.
"It's a perfect clear day in Bozeman and an amazing day overall. This is awesome," he said.
Another plaintiff, Chase Weinhandl, said he couldn't be happier about the ruling.
Montana and two other states, Kansas and South Carolina, continued their
legal fight against same-sex marriage despite rulings from federal appeals courts that oversee them that concluded gay and lesbian couples have the right to wed.
In South Carolina, a judge issued the first gay marriage licenses and a couple was wed Wednesday, even as the state attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block the unions.
Republican Rep. Steve Daines was the sole member of the state's congressional delegation to express disappointment in the ruling, saying an "unselected federal judge" had ignored Montanans' wishes.
Before Wednesday, samexex couples could marry in 32 states, parts of Kansas and Missouri, and the District of Columbia.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said in a statement he has instructed his administration to quickly take the appropriate steps to ensure legally married same-sex couples are recognized and afforded the same rights and responsibilities that married Montanans enjoy.
Voters in the state in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Such bans have fallen around the country since the Supreme Court last year struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
"I strongly believe in marriage as the union of one man and one woman and will continue working to defend the family," Daines said in a statement.
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