FLORIDA: Gay Man Refuses Jury Duty While Courthouse Refuses Gay Weddings

Jacksonville resident Chuck Chapman, 63, appeared  for jury duty this week but told the judge that he will refuse to serve as long as Duval County officials refuse to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies at the courthouse.

After a federal court ruled Florida’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, Duval County Clerk of Court Ronnie Fussell said his office would comply with the law and issue marriage licenses. But he said his staff felt uncomfortable performing weddings for same-sex couples, so the clerk’s office wouldn’t host ceremonies for either straight or gay couples. “If they feel uncomfortable performing the weddings in the courthouse, then as an openly gay man I feel uncomfortable being here [at the courthouse],” Chapman said Tuesday. Chapman is 63, and he’s lived in the city since he was 2. He graduated from Andrew Jackson High School, then the University of North Florida. He’s owned a hair salon for 22 years on the Southside. “It’s my town, and I happen to be a gay man,” he said. “Don’t make it any more difficult than it has been. It’s my town, too."

Chapman said that he was willing to be held in contempt, but the judge dismissed him from the jury pool without giving a reason.

Dan Choi's Trial Set For August

Yesterday a federal court set August 28th as the date that Dan Choi will be tried for DADT-related civil disobedience at the White House. Chris Geidner reports at Metro Weekly:

Former Lt. Dan Choi was in federal court today, the lone individual still facing charges from any of the 2010 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" protests that took place at the White House. He also was in uniform, a reminder of the symbol for repeal that Choi and other active servicemembers became during the course of the 2010 debate over ending the 1993 policy and instead allowing out gay, lesbian and bisexual service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Sitting at the defense table in Courtroom 7 of the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, Choi was silent throughout today's brief conference where U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay set an Aug. 29 trial date for Choi on federal charges of violating a federal regulation prohibiting "interfering with agency functions," specifically disobeying a lawful order of the National Park Service.

Dan Savage Has A Different Idea About LGBT Civil Disobedience

Dan Savage isn't for or against the March On Washington, saying, "I'm officially agnostic: if people want to march, they can march." But he offers up an additional or alternate idea for a protest that he thinks could have a great impact - and it would only require 730 people.

Here's the idea: one gay or lesbian couple—a couple currently denied their rights under DOMA—shows up at the entrance to the White House grounds. A different couple every day. They ask to speak to the president about DOMA. They're refused. They sit down. They refuse to leave. They're arrested, carried away by the police. Couples would be recruited from all over the country, demonstrating that gay marriage isn't just an issue in liberal California or godless New England, and the media in each couple's home city and state would be notified in advance of their arrest. The occasional famous couple—Rosie and Kelli? Ellen and Portia?—would participate to pull in celeb media. But most of the couples who come to D.C. to get arrested would be average folks. The couples would need support, legal and logistical, and we would need someone to organize media outreach and maintain a website. The website would include a photo and profile of each couple that comes to D.C. to get arrested, collect all the press, and be used to recruit couples willing to travel to D.C. and get arrested.

The action would be small scale—it would be human scale—and it would go on and on and on. It would demonstrate better than another gay march just how seriously we take this issue: we take it seriously that we're willing to travel to D.C. and get arrested. It wouldn't be a one-day event that the White House could ignore or bluff its way through with some lame statement about its "commitment" to ending DOMA. The couples would keep coming. Every day an arrest. Drip, drip, drip. Members of the White House press corps would see couples getting arrested every day on their way to work. Gibbs would be forced to address DOMA on a near-daily basis. The president would be asked about the issue again and again.

My boyfriend—who doesn't do demonstrations (or interviews or photos or anything public)—is so upset about the DOMA brief that he's willing to go to D.C. and get arrested. So am I. We can't be the only couple that feels this way.

I like this. A lot.

Arrests Begin In San Francisco

Follow along as Twitter member 1Struggle1Fight tweets the demonstration. It's fascinating to me that while the first round of Prop 8 protests were clearly a Facebook phenomenon, today belongs to Twitter, where the number one hashtag today is #rejectprop8.

SD Pride Calls For Civil Disobedience

Maybe I spoke too soon when I predicted scant public disruptions over this widely-expected verdict. San Diego Pride says:

"San Diego Pride and its many supporters will continue focusing on public education and coalition-building in a newly energized movement determined to achieve marriage equality for scores of same-sex couples who are unfairly denied the privilege. That means forging the most skilled individuals and groups from both inside and outside the LGBT community who are dedicated to effecting change on this issue once and for all. [snip] We encourage the use of nonviolent civil disobedience to further these causes, and we are committed to finding the most effective ways to achieve and secure full equality for all LGBT individuals."

Whatever you do folks, please do not physically endanger yourselves or others and do not damage private or public property. Rage, yes. But keep it to words and signs. Civil disobedience. Everything that may happen today, no matter how seemingly justified in the moment, will likely be filmed for use against us. Remember the styrofoam cross lady. Stay classy, San Diego.

UPDATE: The SFPD is about to commence arresting the demonstrators who are peacefully blocking Van Ness Avenue, the city's major north-south thoroughfare.