➤ BRONX DEBATE, from p.9
“I think sometimes they miss the
point,” Jackson, the former director
of programs for Destination Tomorrow,
told Gay City News. “It’s not
about showing up and telling us
what you can do for us because you
think this is what we want to hear.
They were just answering questions,
some were stuck, some were
reading, and that doesn’t make me
feel comfortable.
She continued, “Politicians have
to be invested in what they’re doing,
they have to be invested in the community
that they are trying to get
votes from, and tonight I must tell
➤ ASYLUM SEEKER, from p.5
guidelines that protect individuals
who are traveling to and from
courthouses from arbitrary arrest
in order to guarantee their
access to the justice system, the
legislation would create a broader
zone of protection than the current
court system rules provide.
An October study published by
Ceres Policy Research found that
the threat of detention by ICE has
a chilling effect on immigrants
and their families participating
in criminal, family, and civil
court proceedings.
Supporters of the measure
were in Albany on January 14 to
lobby legislators. Sponsored by
out gay Manhattan State Senator
MATT TRACY
“Pose” star Dominique Jackson was “not impressed”
with the candidates, saying “sometimes
they miss the point.”
you I am not into politics like that
and I was not impressed.”
Other members of the audience
felt differently. Tabazz Ebony, a
Black gay man involved in the ball
Brad Hoylman and Long Island
Assemblymember Michaelle
Solages, both Democrats, the bill
has an additional 33 co-sponsors
in the 63-member Senate and 72
co-sponsors in the 150-member
Assembly .
Yaritza Mendez, Make the Road
NY’s associate director of organizing,
underscored how Benitez
Lopez’s case illustrates the necessity
of the new legislation.
“Yimy’s case demonstrates exactly
why we need to pass the
Protect Our Courts Act,” Mendez
said. “Yimy has a pending criminal
case which is headed towards
a dismissal but when they went to
court in November, ICE followed
them outside of court and arrested
them across the street from the
scene who hails from the House of
Ebony, said he thought the candidates
were informative.
“The candidates all spoke out,
each one as an individual,” Ebony
said. “This is the poorest congressional
district in the Bronx and
they came here to pitch what they
want to do to the community. I applaud
that.”
James L. Goode, Jr., known also
as Junior LaBeija from the 1990
documentary “Paris Is Burning,”
was among the moderators of the
evening.
“Tonight we allowed our potential
candidates for District 15 of
the Bronx to understand and learn
courthouse. Despite the fact that
Yimy had already been released
on their own recognizance by a
Nassau County criminal judge,
they have now spent the last two
months in ICE detention in New
Jersey, where they have not been
able to attend criminal court or
meet with their public defender.
The Protect Our Courts Act would
prevent this unnecessary detention,
make sure that New Yorkers
like Yimy have access to the
courts, and keep our community
members with their loved ones,
where they belong.”
Joshua Joseph, a spokesperson
for Solages said that the assemblymember
is “gung-ho” on
getting action on the Protect Our
Courts Act in the new legislative
what our specific needs are within
the community,” he said after the
event concluded. “We also let them
know that we do not consider ourselves
exclusive; we are to be inclusive.
It cannot be ignored that the
LGBTQ community exists everywhere.
We are here, and because
we are here we must educate you on
how to meet our needs. If you meet
our needs, we will be more willing
to give you what you want.”
Other candidates on stage included
Jonathan Ortiz, a financial
counselor at Phipps Neighborhoods
Financial Empowerment Center,
and Frangell Basora, a former intern
for Serrano.
session, saying the measure
is among her key priorities for
2020.
In a written statement, Hoylman
said, “ICE arrests in and around
courthouses have skyrocketed by
an astonishing 1736% between
2016 and 2018. That has a chilling
effect on our judicial system,
preventing victims, witnesses,
defendants, and family members
— especially those who are from
marginalized communities —
from feeling comfortable participating
in our judicial system. I’m
proud to sponsor the Protect Our
Courts Act with Assemblymember
Michaelle Solages which will
finally end these disruptions and
allow our courts to operate with
fairness and due process.”
➤ AIR FORCE DISCHARGES, from p.6
facts found and the choice made.
Agency action is arbitrary and capricious
when the agency has relied
on factors which Congress has
not intended it to consider, entirely
failed to consider an important aspect
of the problem, offered an explanation
for its decision that runs
counter to the evidence before the
agency, or is so implausible that
it could not be ascribed to a difference
in view or the product of
agency expertise.”
Wynn focused particular attention
on the government’s inconsistency
regarding deployment to
CENTCOM’s area of operations.
Prior to the Roe-Voe litigation, it
had treated Modification 13 as a
“categorical ban” on transgender
service. Now, it is emphasizing
the opportunity for a waiver, even
though none has ever been issued
and these two plaintiffs would appear
to qualify.
“If Modification 13 is not a categorical
ban,” wrote Wynn, “the Air
Force acted arbitrarily by treating
them as categorically ineligible to
deploy to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility
and denying Plaintiffs
the required individualized assessment
of their fitness for continued
service. If Modification 13 is a categorical
ban, the Government failed
to satisfy the APA’s requirements
in promulgating their policy.”
The appeals panel endorsed
Brinkema’s conclusion that Roe
and Voe are likely to succeed on
their claim that their discharge
decisions were “arbitrary and capricious,
in violation of the APA.”
Wynn’s opinion dismissed a series
of arguments put forward by
the government — that HIV requires
“highly specialized” treatment
and that there is a risk of
battlefield transmission, with not
a single case ever documented of
a service member contracting HIV
through non-sexual means.
“A ban on deployment may have
been justified at a time when HIV
treatment was less effective at
managing the virus and reducing
transmission risks,” wrote Wynn,
who made clear that conditions
have changed considerably.
Beyond demonstrating their
likelihood of prevailing on the merits,
the plaintiffs also easily met
the other tests for obtaining a preliminary
injunction, the appeals
panel found. They showed they are
likely to suffer irreparable harm if
they are given medical discharges,
forcing them to out themselves as
HIV-positive when they apply for
non-military employment and setting
them back in their military
careers should they prevail and be
allowed to rejoin the Air Force.
Responding to the argument
that the preliminary injunction
improperly intrudes into military
personnel decision-making, the
court agreed with Judge Brinkema
that the plaintiffs’ request that
the military “adhere to their stated
policies and make nonarbitrary,
personalized determinations about
each individual’s fitness for service
did not do violence to the notion of
military independence.”
Lambda Legal’s lead attorney on
the case is Scott Schoettes from its
Chicago office. Outserve-SLDN/
MMAA’s lead attorney is Peter
Perkowski of Washington, DC.
January 16 - January 2 22 9, 2020 | GayCityNews.com
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