Lesbian Couple Needs Help After Arson

By Advocate.com Editors

Carol Ann and Laura Stutte are looking for help after arson destroyed their Tennessee home. The couple were out of town celebrating their 16th anniversary last September, only to return home to their house burned to the ground and their free-standing garage vandalized with the word "queers" spray-painted across it.

Making matters worse, staff members of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation who were sent to the scene several days after the fire made jokes and left their investigation dog in the truck, according to GetEqual. Now the women are living in an undisclosed location, and only $610.18 has been offered to them by the American National Property and Casualty Company to cover a cumulative $361,000 in property damages and personal item loss.

Their neighbor Janice Millsaps, who the Stuttes believe is involved in setting their home ablaze last year, has not been arrested and has been seen on their property since the fire. The couple are suing their neighbor for damages, but in the meantime, they have turned to GetEqual to make sure the insurance company assists them. The organization is asking people to sign a petition that will be sent to American National Property and Casualty Company's executive staff and every agent in the state of Tennessee. They are also asking for people to call the insurer's customer service hotline to address the situation, and the organizers of the Knoxville Pride Festival are raising $7,000 to get the couple's daughter a new insulin pump.

Watch Carol Ann Stutte share her story below:



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Flour Bluff High School Student Fights Discrimination

by Shannon Cuttle

Bianca "Nikki" Peet, a senior at Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, will head back to school today, but says she now feels afraid for her safety.

Last week Flour Bluff High School gained national attention after Peet, who has been fighting to get a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) approved on campus, was told by school administrators that she couldn't start the club. The school administration even went so far as to ban all extra-curricular activities in order to prevent the GSA from forming.

According to Peet, she wants to create a safe space not just for LGBT students and allies, but one that is  "open to all students to stop bullying for everyone and gives back to the community."

Peet says that she has been a victim of bullying and harassment at Flour Bluff High School, both for her disability and for standing up against bullying and harassment.

But even while some administrators and community members have opposed her plans to start a GSA, many others have expressed support.

"I have heard a lot of students say that they like the idea to start the GSA, that it is needed at our school, but the teachers tell me they are not allowed to talk to me about it," says Peet.

As of Monday, both the Flour Bluff Independent School District and the Flour Bluff High School website are no longer showing a listing of the student clubs for the high school, as the page now reads "error".

Paul Rodriguez, the President of the GSA at nearby Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, has been supporting Peet in her efforts to start the GSA at Flour Bluff High School. Rodriguez says that they have received support from the GetEQUAL Texas chapter and Equality Texas. The ACLU is now also in talks with Peet about next steps.

Tonight, Peet and the local Texas A&M GSA will host a community meeting open to students, parents and supporters about Flour Bluff ISD Superintendent Julie Carbajal's recent decision to ban all after-school clubs to prevent the GSA from forming. They hope to bring the community together against intolerance and discrimination.

"Other groups can disagree with the GSA or not like me because of it, but we need to respect each other and get along with each other and stand up to discrimination. Student clubs have a place at Flour Bluff High School", says Peet.

A peaceful protest has also been called for on Friday at 9am by local students outside Flour Bluff High School in support of having student clubs on campus to fight bullying.

We'll be updating this story all throughout the week as it moves along. Meanwhile, if you haven't added your name in support of Nikki Peet, urging Flour Bluff High School to allow a GSA on campus, please do so here.

Photo credit: basykes


ORIGINAL SOURCE

Update on lesbian TN couple who were victims of arson and hate crime

 We talked with Carol Ann Stutte on Saturday morning, learning more about the case and getting a sense of how the GetEQUAL community couple help out — I can’t tell you how wonderful these women are…they’re amazing. Here’s the situation:

Carol Ann and Laura Stutte owned a beautiful home on a beautiful piece of land in rural Tennessee — outside of Knoxville. Together for 16 years with a grown daughter, these women had developed a community for themselves in the heart of a very, very red state.

Their next-door neighbor began threatening them, repeatedly making direct threats that she would burn their home, poison their dog, and kill the couple. Shortly after each of the threats, those things came to pass — their dog suddenly died of poisoning and their beautiful home had been reduced to ashes.

It gets worse. The house was burned down while Carol Ann and Laura were out of town, celebrating their anniversary. When they returned, their home was burned to the ground and the word “QUEERS” was spray-painted on their free-standing garage.

It gets even worse. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation deployed staff to the scene…four days after the fire and following two rainstorms that destroyed much of the arson evidence. After the men drank coffee, cracked jokes, and kept their investigation dog in the truck, Carol Ann asked if they were going to investigate. The response? “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but we have more important things to do right now.”

And, believe it or not, it gets even worse. The Stuttes immediately filed a claim with their insurance company and the insurance company didn’t send a team of investigators until a week and a half after the fire. After initially honoring their claim for living expenses while the Stuttes waited on the investigation to take place, the insurance company — American National Property & Casualty Company — kicked them out of their rental home and told them they were on their own.

It’s been almost six months since the fire, and American National Property & Casualty Company will now no longer return calls from the Stuttes — and have made clear that they will not honor their homeowners policy. Last week, the company offered to pay $610.18 — yes, $610.18 — toward the living expenses for the couple, which are now over $5,000 for the past 6 months. And it’s clearly nowhere close to the $206,000 property claim and the $155,000 claim for personal items.

The Stuttes were hoping to follow the rules, resolve the situation peacefully, and just wait on this investigation to end — but it’s clear that American National Property & Casualty Company believe that lesbian lives are worth a small fraction of the value of straight lives. And the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation refuses to give any updates, preventing this from being designated as a hate crime…while their neighbor not only walks free, but has been sighted on the property repeatedly since the fire.

The Stuttes were recently forced to file a lawsuit against their neighbor while they live in hiding in another area of Tennessee, since this woman remains free. They’re suing the neighbor for damages — in the hopes that it forces the investigation to move forward and they can again return to their normal lives.

The Stuttes have reached out to GetEQUAL for help, and we’re determined to make it very difficult for American National Property & Casualty Company to conduct business until/unless they honor the Stuttes policy. We’re starting a campaign targeting the company, and we’ll periodically be asking you to take coordinated action in order to make things very difficult for this company. We don’t believe a lesbian home is worth less than a straight home — and we’ll make it clear to American National Property & Casualty Company that they have a lot of work ahead of them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you’d like to make a donation to help the Stuttes out, please head here: http://knoxvillepridefest.com/2011/02/03/insulin/. They’ve raised enough money to live on for the past few months, but they’ve reached the end of that money — and their daughter is in need of a new insulin pump. This is clearly an immediate need.

Additionally, we’ll be hammering away at the insurance company in a variety of ways this week, both online and offline. For now, start the calls — their 24-hour customer service line is 1-800-333-2860. Word is that they have a prepared statement at the ready — be sure they read the whole thing, and feel free to ask questions. We’re completely happy with tying up their phone lines all day long!

When you call, add a comment on this Facebook post with the results, including any new information you learn. We’ll be setting up a way for folks to quickly send emails to all/most of their staff, actions at their offices in Missouri, etc. But, for right now, call their offices and prevent them from doing business!

Original Source

Valentine’s Day marked with rallies, protests to call attention to marriage equality

Advocates for same-sex marriage marked this year’s Valentine’s Day with rallies and protests across the nation, many responding to a call from GetEQUAL and Marriage Equality USA to raise awareness about federal marriage equality.

“As we cheer on our heterosexual fellow citizens who are able to marry on this wonderful day of love, we will remind the world that falling in love and the desire to marry the person you love is a universal sentiment and that all citizens should have the freedom to marry the one they love.” said Molly McKay, Marriage Equality U.S.A. media director, in a press statement.

In at least 25 cities nationwide, same-sex marriage couples requested marriage licenses Monday to highlight the fact that they are denied full marriage equality in 45 U.S. states, and also denied federal recognition in the five states and District of Columbia where same-sex marriage is legal.  Read more here....

"A Prayer for David Kato"

By Andrew Harmon

A group of religious leaders including the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, are calling on organizers of Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. to honor Uganda gay rights activist David Kato, who was murdered last week.

"We're asking that prayers be said for David Kato and his family and friends in Uganda, who continue to face this hostile climate," Robinson told The Advocate.

That the Fellowship (also known as The Family), the influential conservative group that has hosted the annual breakfast since 1953, has extensive ties to African leaders like Anti-Homosexuality Bill sponsor David Bahati in Uganda, continues to be of great concern to Robinson, the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop.

"They need to know that we are watching this very closely," said Robinson, who will not be attending the event.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with people getting together to pray," he continued. "As you know when I said a prayer at the opening inaugural event [for President Obama], I was careful not to make it a Christian prayer or one associated with any particular belief. It's walking a thin line. I think what's of greater concern to me is Obama's attendance at an event sponsored by a group like The Family."

Last year Robinson was among several religious leaders who, along with advocacy groups like Truth Wins Out, helped to organize the American Prayer Hour as an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast. The coalition also urged President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who attended the prayer breakfast, to speak out against draconian legislation in Uganda commonly referred to as the "kill the gays bill” (both did so in their remarks).

"We may disagree about gay marriage," Obama said at the 2010 prayer breakfast, "but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are, whether it is here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda."

Robinson called for a prayer in commemoration of Kato along with Auburn Theological Seminary in New York. "We're here to urge powerful, influential spiritual leaders to underscore that prejudice and violence against any group goes against our faith traditions," said Auburn executive vice president Rev. John Vaughn.

GetEqual, the direct action group launched last year, plans to protest the National Prayer Breakfast (details can be found here).

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