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Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 15, Number 26 • May 12, 2001 • FREE
Brandon Teena
Sheriff held
accountable in
Teena death
by Peg Byron
Special to Q-Notes
LINCOLN, NE — In a ruling that
strengthens law enforcement’s duty to protect
lesbian, gay, bi
sexual, and
transgender crime
victims, the Ne
braska Supreme
Court held a
Richardson
County sheriff ac
countable for his
failure to protect
Brandon Teena,
who was raped and later killed by his rapists
after law enforcement failed to intervene.
The decision in /oann Brandon v. County of
Richardson unanimously ruled in favor of the
victim’s mother on all her claims. The case has
been closely watched by civil rights and victims’
advocacy groups, all of whom urged the Court
to vigorously enforce the government’s obliga
tion to protect all people who are victimized by
crime, regardless of sexual orientation, gender
identity, or other perceived difference.
Brandon’s mother said, “Nothing will bring
Teena back, but I will sleep better knowing that
we have found some justice for my child, and
that because of this case, fewer parents will find
their children abused and exposed to danger
by law enforcement officials.”
Brandon Teena was born Teena Brandon and
raised as a girl. In 1993, he was living as a man
in Falls City, Nebraska. There, two male ac
quaintances raped Brandon after discovering his
physical sex.
Shortly afterward, Brandon reported the rape
to Sheriff Charles Laux, who not only notified
the rapists of the complaint, but took no steps
to protect Brandon, despite strong evidence that
his life was in danger. Laux, who had been abu
sive and accusatory while interviewing Brandon
about the tape, even forbade a deputy from ar
resting the pair, who then tracked Brandon down
and shot and killed him. The killers were later
arrested and convicted of murder.
The Court sided with Joann Brandon, rep
resented by Lambda Legal Defense and Educa
tion Fund and co-counsel Herbert Friedman, in
her claim that the trial court erred in reducing
damages for Brandon’s pain and suffering where
the Sheriff had violated a duty to protect. The
court also found that the Sheriff’s conduct for
the abusive treatment during his interview of
Brandon was “extreme and outrageous, beyond
all possible bounds of decency, and is to be re
garded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a
civilized community.” The Court further found
that the value of Brandon’s life to his mother
should be higher, and that Brandon most cer
tainly bears no fault whatsoever for his murder.
“The Court today sent a strong message to
law enforcement that there is a high price to pay
for not respecting victims of violence, including
victims of bias violence,” said David S. Buckel,
Senior Staff Attorney for Lambda Legal. Buckel
added, “This is a great victory for the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community, and
other communities who suffer abuse and vio
lence because of who they are.” ▼
The Queen City shows its colors withIPride
Suzanne
Westenhofer
kept ‘em
laughing.
Jade Estaban
Estrada .
rocked out on
center stage.
Brian
Scenes from Charlotte Pride.
See our next issue for details;
uifi :
Vendor Fair
AIDS Walk 2001
Gay Latin director appointed to US civil liberties group
by Eric Ferrero
Special to Q-Notes
NEW YORK — Anthony D. Romero, an
openly gay man, a Latino, a Ford Foundation
director and public interest attorney, was ap
pointed May 1 as
the sixth executive
director of the
American Civil Lib
erties Union.
Romero will take
the helm of the
ACLU from Ira
Glasser, who has led
the organization
since 1978.
“I hope to begin
my tenure-as the
leader of this vitally
important organization by sparking a new dia
logue about the bedrock values of American de
mocracy,” said the 35-year-old Romero. “My
overarching goal is to promote a new genera
tion of committed civil libertarians and civil
rights activists.”
Anthony D.
Romero
“Even though we have come so far,” Romero
said, “our nation faces serious and continuing
civil liberties challenges - widespread racial pro
filing, threats to reproductive freedom, hostil
ity to immigrants, a burgeoning prison popu
lation and, most importantly, a generation of
young people who do not fully embrace or ap
preciate the need for constant vigilance and
defense of our constitutional freedoms.”
Romero also said that he is eager to explore
the impact of science and new technologies on
freedom of expression, privacy and discrimina
tion. “The ACLU must do as much for the fu
ture as it does for the present,” he said.
“Leading the ACLU will be a life’s dream
and aspiration come true,” added Romero, who
becomes the first Latino and the first openly
gay man to head the ACLU.
Nadine Strossen, the ACLU President who
led a 14-member committee that recommended
Romero, called him “brilliant, dedicated, de
termined, diligent, resourceful and successful.”
“Anthony is an idealist, bold and creative in
his vision and strategy, but skeptical and realis
tic in his tactics,” Strossen said. “His career ex
emplifies the adage that those who prepare for
opportunities are the most likely to discover or
create them.”
Romero has worked at the Ford Foundation
for almost a decade. He is currently the Direc
tor qf Human Rights and International Coop
eration, which is the foundation’s largest pro
gram with $90 million in grants last year. He
joined Ford in 1992 as a program officer in the
Rights and Social Justice Program and, after less
than four years, was promoted to become one
of the youngest Directors in Ford’s history.
Before joining the Ford Foundation,
Romero worked at the Rockefeller Foundation.
He graduated from Stanford Law School and
Princeton University.
“The ACLU Executive Director is the con
ductor of an often-brassy orchestra,” said out
going Executive Director Ira Classer. “He does
not need to play all the instruments, but must
be able to envision, organize and lead the per
formance. I am confident that Anthony
Romero is the best person to be the ACLU’s
next conductor.”
See ROMERO on Page 6
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