Family Attorney

Six Are Arrested Protesting Policy On Gay Housing

Six students were arrested last week at the University of California at Irvine in a demonstration protesting Chancellor Jack W. Peltason’s refusal to permit gay and lesbian couples to live in family dormitories. The demonstrators blocked an entrance to the administration building.

About 100 students blocked a door after a noon rally, but most left after two warnings from the campus police. The six students who were arrested linked arms in front of the door and, after a third warning, were handcuffed and driven to the campus police station. They were charged with blocking the doorway and failing to disperse, both misdemeanors. They are to appear in court April 7. Before the crowd converged on the entrance, Melissa Soto, one of the protest organizers, said the blockade was symbolic of nontraditional couples being ‘’locked out'’ of campus housing.

‘’With this civil disobedience, we are forcing people to look at the issue,'’ Ms. Soto, a senior from Newport Beach, Calif., majoring in women’s study, told the onlookers.

‘Human Rights Now!’

Hundreds of students congregated around the administration building, holding signs protesting what the students called discriminatory university housing rules. Many chanted ‘’Human rights now!'’ and sang gospel songs while the police made the six arrests.

‘’This is the most right thing I’ve done,'’ Donald Ruth, a senior from Baldwin Park, Calif., majoring in psychology, said before his arrest. ‘’We will not tolerate this kind of discrimination at U.C.I. any longer.'’

Students and administrators said the rally was so planned, the police already knew whom they were going to arrest, and had finished most of the paperwork before the demonstration. The demonstrators knew when the police would begin making arrests, and left exactly 10 minutes for ‘’the media to record the rally,'’ said Judith Olson, a graduate student from Anaheim majoring in English and one of the protest organizers.

Several students appeared shaken and teary-eyed as they were escorted from the administration building.

Protest Followed Ultimatum

‘’I'm amazed that I had to get arrested for people to notice my cause,'’ Napoleon Lustre, a senior from Manila majoring in philosophy, said as he was driven away in a police van.

The protest followed an ultimatum last month to Mr. Peltason from a student group called the Shantytown Committee. The group demanded that the university recognize gay domestic partnerships, and that it hire openly homosexual teachers.

Unless its demands were met, the group said, it would stage demonstrations and rebuild a cardboard shantytown dismantled after a protest last month.

The Chancellor responsed to the ultimatum by pledging support for the recognition of domestic partnerships, but added that his hands were tied by state laws.'’The only nonstudents who may live in family housing are legal spouses and dependent children,'’ he said.

A dozen members of the committee rebuilt the shantytown on Monday, two days before the protest.

‘’You must choose between justice and university policy,'’ the committee said. ‘’You can’t be committed to working with the campus community to insure that there is a hospitable environment while supporting policies explicitly inhospitable to nontraditional families.'’

Source : query.nytimes.com

Related Articles from Attorney for Family

Shantytown Sit-In Protests Change In Housing Rule

A makeshift shantytown that was raised on Feb. 6 in the shadow of the administration building at the University of California at Irvine is challenging a new policy that bars non-traditional couples, including homosexuals and lesbians, from living together in housing for married students. A makeshift shantytown that was raised on Feb. 6 in the shadow of the administration building at the University of California at Irvine is challenging a new policy that bars non-traditional couples, including homosexuals and lesbians, from living together in housing for married students. Students set up a row of cardboard boxes and tents, occupied by

Two charged with domestic violence

A man and a woman, both from Massachusetts, were arrested this morning after expressing offensive Comfort Inn, police said. Daniel Kalinowski, 24, Worcester, was warned at about 2:15 pm after earnings reports and the woman pulls a knife on her, Waterville, "said the police sergeant. Joseph Shepherd. It was domestic violence and injuries, with a threat of criminal prosecution dangerous weapon. The woman, Kelly Tellier, 25, Dracut, Mass., was also arrested. She was in the attack on domestic violence. "It has saved, he went to prison," said Shepherd.

Kings’ Artest Arrested on Suspicion of Domestic Violence

Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest was arrested Monday after a woman called 911 from his home saying she had been assaulted. Placer County sheriff's deputies responded about 9:30 a.m. to Artest's five-acre estate in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis, where they found a woman who had suffered injuries, officials said. She declined medical attention. Deputies arrested Artest on suspicion of domestic violence and using force or violence to prevent the woman from reporting a crime, sheriff's spokeswoman Dena Erwin said. "He and the female were in the house and separated," Erwin said. "The deputies interviewed them and took Mr. Artest into custody." Artest, the

Concern over family law protests

The Law Society says a coalition of men's groups is causing distress to children by protesting outside the homes of family lawyers. The group, which is concerned about child custody rights for men, is targeting lawyers they don't approve of and has already staged pickets outside several Auckland homes. Chairman of the Law Society's Family Law Section, Simon Maude, says the group is taking a new and unusual step in picketing outside lawyers' homes. He says the protesters aren't breaking any laws but are causing children distress by using megaphones and distributing pamphlets with comments about the family lawyers. More :

Gooden allegedly punched girlfriend in face

Dwight Gooden was arrested early Sunday for allegedly punching his live-in girlfriend in the face, police said. The former All-Star pitcher was charged with domestic violence battery and was being held Sunday without bond at Hillsborough County Jail. It wasn't immediately known if he had an attorney. Jail officials said Gooden, a special assistant for the New York Yankees, was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday morning. He was arrested by Tampa police at 12:44 a.m., according to jail records. Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said the dispute occurred at the home of Monique Moore, Gooden's girlfriend. "She threw a handset