U.S. News - sexual-orientation

Oct

2012

12:05pm, EDT

Federal jury acquits cousins of hate crime in attack on gay man in landmark case

By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

A jury has acquitted two cousins accused of attacking a Kentucky man because he is gay, the first time prosecutors pursued federal hate crime charges in a case where the victim was allegedly targeted due to their sexual orientation, media reports say.

However, Anthony Jenkins and Jason Jenkins were convicted on Wednesday on kidnapping and conspiracy charges in the assault on Kenneth Pennington in a state park last year.

The Department of Justice had argued that the pair assaulted Pennington, 29, because he was gay and said the intent was to kill him. Anthony Jenkins' attorney, Willis Coffey, denied that, saying it was a plan to buy drugs that went wrong.

Jurors did not comment after the decision was rendered, nor did federal prosecutors, The Associated Press reported.

Relatives of Anthony Jenkins wept, while Pennington made an audible sigh when the verdict was read, media reports said.

"You'd like to have an acquittal on all counts, but he's happy he was found not guilty of a hate crime," Coffey said, according to The AP. "So am I."

The cousins allegedly punched and kicked Pennington while yelling anti-gay slurs at him during the April 4, 2011 attack in Kingdom Come State Park, The Lexington Herald Leader reported. Defense attorneys argued the attack stemmed from drug and alcohol abuse, said the paper, but the prosecutor argued otherwise.

"This is not about drugs, this is about the fact that Kevin is gay," U.S. Justice Department civil rights attorney AeJean Cha told jurors, according to The AP.

Pennington described the attack after he escaped in a 911 call played by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hydee Hawkins.

"They're trying to kill me," Pennington said. "I didn't know what they were going to do. I think it's because I'm gay."

Coffey, the defense attorney for Anthony Jenkins, said his client -- who has an IQ of about 75 -- told the court on Wednesday that Jenkins never formulated a plan to attack or kill Pennington, and called the anti-gay allegations "the nearest thing to nothing I have ever seen," reported The AP.

The Jenkins were the first people prosecuted under part of the federal hate crime law that makes it a crime to hurt someone because of their perceived or real sexual orientation. The pair faces life in prison on the kidnapping charges when they are sentenced on Feb. 21, 2013.

In April, Anthony Jenkins’ wife -- Mable Ashley Jenkins, 19 -- and his sister, Alexis LeeAnn Jenkins, also 19 -– pleaded guilty to assisting the kidnapping and assault of Pennington because he is gay, the Justice Department said in a statement.

It was the first federal convictions nationwide for violating the sexual orientation provision of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

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Oct

2012

4:55pm, EDT

Lawsuit seeks to block California ban on 'gay cure' therapy for children

By James Eng, NBC News

A conservative legal defense group is suing to try to block a new law in California that will ban therapies that aim to “cure” gay teens.

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The Pacific Justice Institute filed the lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Sacramento on behalf of a marriage and family therapist, a psychiatrist and a man studying to become a mental health professional. It names as defendants Gov. Gerry Brown and a host of other state officials.

Brown on Sunday signed SB 1172, a bill sponsored by state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, that would prohibit therapists from administering “sexual orientation change therapy” to gay and lesbian children under 18. California became the first state in the nation to crack down on “gay cures” for minors.

Brown and Lieu said such “gay conversion” therapies are not based on science and in some cases have driven teens to commit suicide.

The law is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

“Of all the freedom-killing bills we have seen in our Legislature the last several years, this is among the worst,” Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said in a statement. “This outrageous bill makes no exceptions for young victims of sexual abuse who are plagued with unwanted same-sex attraction, nor does it respect the consciences of mental health professionals who work in a church. We are filing suit to defend families, children and religious freedom. This unprecedented bill is outrageously unconstitutional.”

The lawsuit states:

“The statute materially interferes with the plaintiff mental health professionals’ exercise of their independent professional judgment in providing treatment to minors who have unwanted same sex behaviors or attractions. As such, the statute requires the plaintiff mental health professionals to discriminate against minors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning youth. This is in violation of these plaintiff mental health professionals’ obligations under the rules of professional ethics to provide treatment to persons regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Lieu, a former prosecutor, called the lawsuit "frivolous."

"Under the plaintiffs' argument, the First Amendment would shield therapists and psychiatrists from medical malpractice and psychological abuse claims simply because they use speech in practicing their medicine. That is a novel and frivolous view of the First Amendment.”

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, also said the lawsuit is meritless. “This lawsuit is a desperate, last-ditch effort to defend the indefensible,’’ Kendell told The Los Angeles Times.

The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH, a group of therapists who believe sexual orientation can be changed, has also said it plans to file a lawsuit to block implementation of the law.

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California becomes first state in nation to ban 'gay cure' therapy for children

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