The U.S. Courts of Appeals have issued two new rulings in cases where gay men are battling to stay in the United States rather than to be deported to their countries of origin. In one, involving a gay man from Trinidad & Tobago, the 3rd Circuit granted the government's motion to dismiss the appeal on jurisdictional grounds. In the other, involving a gay man from Kenya, the 8th Circuit remanded the case to the Board … <Read More>
Is False Imputation of Homosexuality Still Slander Per Se in Texas?
Under the common law of slander, a plaintiff ordinarily has to prove that a defendant's statement about the plaintiff caused him monetary loss in order to maintain a legal claim of defamation, but common law courts considered some statements to be so inherently damaging that harm to reputation with financial consequences would be presumed without proof. Such an action is called slander per se. Traditionally, stating or implying that somebody was homosexual was on the slander per se list. Changes … <Read More>
Spousal Privilege and the Same-Sex Marriage
One of the important legal benefits of marriage — something that can't really be quantified in monetary terms — is the ability to have somebody in whom to confide and share life's difficulties and secrets, sure that the law will place a "cone of silence" over the couple and decline to compel one to testify about the content of private conversations with the other. Now a Delaware court has recognized spousal privilege for a same-sex couple … <Read More>
The American Symphony Orchestra present’s Schmidt’s “Notre Dame”
In what was claimed to most likely be the piece's first professional presentation on a "major stage" in the United States (Carnegie Hall), the American Symphony Orchestra presented a concert performance of Franz Schmidt's opera, "Notre Dame," on Sunday afternoon. Leon Botstein conducted a very fine cast of Lori Guilbeau (Esmeralda), Stephen Powell (Archdeacon of Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris), Burak Bilgili (Quasimodo), Corey Bix (Phoebus), Robert Chafin (Gringoire), David Pershall (a fellow officer to Phoebus), and … <Read More>
More Beethoven (and Hartman) from the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic's mini-Beethoven Festival this season consisted of a series of three programs conducted by David Zinman, whose recording Beethoven Symphony cycle with his Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra is widely regarded as having set a new standard for integrating early music performance practice insights with the power and color of a modern orchestra. Zinman's revelatory approach was fully on view in the opening work of Saturday nights performance of the third program, Beethoven Symphony No. … <Read More>
“L’Arpeggiata” at Zankel Hall – Los Pajaros Perdidos
Wednesday night the European early-music ensemble "L'Arpeggiata" settled in for a four-concert run in New York, performing its opening show at Zankel Hall, the underground small auditorium of Carnegie Hall. I use the phrase "opening show" advisedly because L'Arpeggiata, under the savvy leadership of Artistic Director Christina Pluhar, does not play "concerts" in the traditional sense but rather puts on a show, in which many of the individuals on-stage assume the role of "characters" in … <Read More>
Lambda Legal Defeats Motion to Dismiss in Gay Discrimination Suit Against Texas College Officials
U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means, of the U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, ruled on March 12, 2012, that Jacqueline Gill can pursue her discrimination claim against officials at Tarrant County College District who have denied her the opportunity to be considered for a permanent full-time faculty position teaching English. Rejecting the defendants' motion to dismiss the case, which was filed on Ms. Gill's behalf by Lambda Legal, Judge Means found that "the unconstitutionality … <Read More>
Weekend Diversity: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; HIM at Soho Playhouse; “John Carter” at the Movies
Three weekend events to mention today: On Saturday night, I attend the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's concert at Carnegie Hall. On Sunday afternoon, I attended a performance of Clifford Streit's play, "Him," at Soho Playhouse. And Sunday evening I saw the new movie "John Carter," which was widely accounted a failure by critics who have little sense of humor and consider a very expensive film to be a failure if it was only the second … <Read More>
New York Trial Court Says No To Gender Identity Order for Transsexual Petitioner
Asserting that his court was without authority to act, New York Supreme Court Justice Charles J. Markey (Queens County) ruled on February 28 that a petition by a transsexual man asking the court to officially declare that he "will be known now and forever as being of the male gender" could not be issued by the court. Justice Markey's decision, A.B.C. v. New York State Department of Health, NYLJ 1202544729247, at *1, was published by the New … <Read More>
“An Iliad,” by Denis O’Hare & Lisa Peterson, with Stephen Spinella
Here's a neat idea. We know that "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" were originally lengthy poems recited by rhapsodes to audiences in Greek taverns and other gathering places, passed down and refined over generations until somebody finally transcribed them and attributed them to Homer, about whom virtually nothing is known. Lisa Peterson had the idea of attempting to recreate in a modern way the idea of a rhapsode – a lyrical reciter – relating the … <Read More>