Laurie Linton was equally well known — and well liked —
in the halls of state government, at the table of the city’s major gay organizations
and on the dance floor.
Plus: Staten Island stabbing, a GOP anti-bullying bill and Stonewall Dems’ Endorsement Flap
Additional financial woes arrive as city trims $5.5 million in HIV/AIDS funds and the CDC announces a 40 percent spike in estimated HIV infections.
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Friday, January 14, 2005
New York lost one of its best-known and well-liked gay activists when Laurie Linton
died of cancer on Jan. 10 at age 46. Linton is survived by her brother Robert
and the many friends she made over the years while in school, at work for various
gay and human-rights organizations, and in Fire Island Pines. Linton was born
and raised in Manhattan. She briefly worked at a prestigious Manhattan law firm
before serving in various positions in city and state government. As a counsel
to Gov. Mario Cuomo, she helped influence Albany legislators to consider several
proposals of interest to gay New Yorkers. At her funeral service on Wednesday,
Jan. 12, at the Riverside Chapel on the Upper West Side, Matt Foreman said that
all of the state’s gay-rights laws were a direct result of her work. Foreman
had worked with Linton while he headed the Empire State Pride Agenda, which she
helped found back in the 1980s. Foreman, now executive director of the National
Lesbian & Gay Task Force, also noted that Linton had more understanding of
gay life “than any gay man.” He was among the many eulogists who spoke
of her love of fun and dancing, as well as her activism. At the time of her death,
Linton was vice president of the board of directors of the Stonewall Community
Foundation, a group that provides seed money to AIDS and gay groups. Linton was
a popular figure in the Pines, where she summered. Linton often quoted from her
favorite film and musical, “Mame,” to “live, live, live,”
and her many friends and admirers testified that that was exactly what she did.
GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — A Greenwich gay
man says in a $30 million lawsuit against town police that officers violated
his constitutional rights when they arrested him for allegedly keeping a crocodile
in his home. Gary Ryder, 50, filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court
in Hartford, claiming police entered his home without a warrant and later attempted
to blackmail him by saying they had photographs of the reptile in his home.
Ryder was charged in September with illegal possession of a reptile and risk
of injury to a minor. His case is pending. Police Chief James Walters said the
lawsuit has no merit. Ryder accuses police of violating his Fourth Amendment
right against unreasonable searches and seizures, among other allegations. The
lawsuit also claims that police harassed Ryder in part because he is gay, saying
the laws against owning reptiles were enforced selectively against Ryder. Police
also removed three children from the home, who were being raised by Ryder and
his partner.
A man accused of having sex with a homeless man inside the health club of the
exclusive London Terrace Towers in Chelsea where he lives has been ordered to
sell his apartment after the building’s co-op board filed a lawsuit against
him, according to the Daily News, which reported on Monday, Jan. 10, that neighbors
had filed numerous complaints against Michael Davis, a rug cleaner, since he
bought a studio in the complex in 1993. Davis allegedly also had roamed the
hallways half-naked, blasted music from his apartment and stole clothes from
the laundry room. Responding to the lawsuit, a housing court judge approved
the eviction, slated to take place on Saturday, Jan. 15. “It was a very
difficult thing for the board to do,” board member Thomas Arbuckle told
the Daily News. “We were put in a position to go to court to decide an
issue. And the court decided we were correct.” Davis blamed some of the
behavior on sleepwalking and misunderstandings. He denied having any public
sex. Residents of the apartment complex told the Daily News that they are happy
to see Davis go. “Neighbor from hell is a good name for him,” one
long-time neighbor said to the paper. “He’s been involved in so
many bad thing. He’s been a chronic problem for years.”
Calling for a renewed effort to reform the state’s educating funding system
and to enact more stringent environmental protections, Gov. George Pataki delivered
his State of the State address on Wednesday, Jan. 5 before a joint session of
the state Legislature in Albany. During his speech, Pataki repeated his call
to reform the state’s harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws. “The Rockefeller
Drug Laws allow non-violent drug offenders to be more severely punished than
rapists,” he said. “We need to change that.” Pataki also outlined
a number of health care proposals, including reforming the state’s Medicaid
system. Responding to Pataki’s speech, Gay Men’s Health Crisis said
that these reforms would prove harmful to New Yorkers living with HIV or AIDS.
“The availability of affordable health care is essential to the state’s
response to the HIV/AIDS crisis,” GMHC Executive Director Ana Oliveira
said in a statement shortly after Pataki delivered his speech. “The governor’s
address treats health care only as a budget problem and is silent on the health
challenges, including HIV/AIDS faced by New Yorkers.” Oliveira accused
Pataki of remaining silent on the issue of AIDS. She said he has mentioned the
epidemic in only two State of the State addresses since being elected in 1994.
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