PACIFICA
Father sues school district over harassment of his son
Classmates taunted ballroom dancer, 12, perceived as gay
Simone Sebastian, Chronicle Staff Writer
The father of a Pacifica seventh-grader has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the school district, saying that for two years administrators did nothing to protect his son as classmates taunted and abused him because they thought he was gay.

Mark Shaposhnikov said his 12-year-old son, an internationally competitive ballroom dancer and straight-A student at Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School, was repeatedly called "faggot," kicked and pushed by other students and had gum thrown in his hair.

The harassment peaked last year, when a few students began telling his son they were going to kill him, Shaposhnikov said.

"He was depressed, saying he hated his life and he was sorry he was born, " said Shaposhnikov, a 44-year-old small-business owner. "I trusted (school officials) to protect my son. But every time I ask them to do something, they do nothing."



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Decision Next Week In Oregon Gay Weddings
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Portland, Oregon)  A judge in Portland, Oregon Friday said he would rule next week on the legality of same-sex marriage. 

Multnomah County began issuing marriage licenses March 3.  A the California Supreme Court ordered San Francisco to stop allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, Multnomah is the only place in the court where same-sex couples can get marriage licenses.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski and state Attorney General Hardy Myers both appealed to Multnomah County to stop issuing the licenses until the matter is decided by a court.

The county has refused and under an agreement with opponents to gay marriage began a fast-track case to the state Supreme Court.


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Community That Tried To Outlaw Gays Issues Pride Permit
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Dayton, Tennessee)  Officials Friday issued permits for the first gay pride event ever to be held in Rhea County, a small community in East Tennessee that made the news last month when it tried to pass a law making homosexuality illegal.

Rhea County commissioners voted unanimously to ask the state for the power to jail gays. The move drew national media attention, and galvanized the small local gay population. 

A week later commissioners reopened the issue after some members of the council claimed they had misunderstood what they were voting for. The motion was rescinded despite the objections of its author, Commissioner J-C Fugate, who said it was perfectly clear. We want to keep "homosexuals out of here.'' 

Gays quickly began organizing a Pride celebration as a means of visibility in the community, and opened a to promote it.