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Albert M. Toney III | |
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| Born | October 24, 1966 |
Albert Toney III (born October 24, 1966) is a civil rights activist who retired from the Worcester Massachusetts Police Department after being shot in the line of duty.
Albert Toney III was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is the son of a Massachusetts State Police Sergeant and an elementary school teacher.[ citation needed ]
In 1987, Toney joined the Worcester Massachusetts Police Department, and in 1991, was wounded in a shooting incident that killed his then life partner, Robert Domiano Jr, and another friend, John Ellison, who later died from the result of his injuries. [1] The shooter was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment for his actions after a nationwide search took place and the perpetrator found. [2] Toney became the first openly gay police officer on the Worcester Police Department and publicly declared that he would focus his efforts on gay civil rights. [3]
He retired from the police force in 1995 as a result of his injuries from the shooting, but continued to educate others on homosexuality and the stigmas attached to being open about it to the public.
In 2001, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the 1992 first-degree murder conviction of the person who wounded Toney in 1991, and ordered a new trial based on how the original presiding judge instructed the jury on the elements of first-degree murder. [4] On March 31, 2003, the shooter was re-convicted of first-degree murder in the Worcester Superior Court and was again sentenced to life imprisonment. [5]
Albert Toney III began educating and promoting equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community after retiring from the police force as a result of his injuries sustained in a shooting in 1991. He became involved with his future husband, Keith Fitzpatrick, in 1999. The pair were actively involved in the gay civil rights movement, becoming the faces of gay marriage in Massachusetts while educating people about the importance of recognizing gay and lesbian relationships and families. In 2004, they were featured in a documentary, "Same Sex America", that covered the contentious debate over same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. [6] They were also featured in a televised public service announcement, "Its Wrong to Vote on Rights - The Toneys", regarding a proposed ballot initiative within the Massachusetts Legislature that involved gay marriage. [7]
Albert was appointed as co-vice-chair of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) advisory board by Governor Deval Patrick on October 30, 2007. [8]
In 2004, Albert Toney III and Keith Fitzpatrick were legally married in the state of Massachusetts, and became the first same-sex marriage in their town of Holden. In March 2009, they became plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders), Gill v. Office of Personnel Management et al., challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented the federal government from having to recognize legal state-sanctioned same-gender marriages. Their section of the lawsuit resulted when Keith was subsequently denied a U.S. passport in his new married name after having provided their marriage license as acceptable proof of a legal name change. [9] In June 2009 the Toney's became the first successful challenge against DOMA when the Department of State effectively changed the law so that legal state-sanctioned same-gender marriage licenses would be accepted as proof of a legal name change. [10] This would later become the only successful challenge against DOMA before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled on June 26, 2013 that the law was unconstitutional. [11]
Albert was also successful in challenging Massachusetts' pension laws when he raised the issue of retirees in same-sex marriages being excluded from being able to cover their spouses because same-sex marriage did not exist, nor was it foreseen, at the time of their retirement. Legislation was approved to allow retirees to change their pension retirement option to one that would pass their retirement benefits on to their spouses in the event of their own death. [12]
In 2012 the Toney's published a diversity and anti-bullying themed children's story book entitled, "Snions, Stiraffes and Frish...Hooray! Gonzo Finds Fairview Valley". [13] Their efforts of spreading the message of civility, kindness, equality and inclusion to young readers was covered by local news outlets. [14]
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marriage to the union of one man and one woman, and it further allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.
The availability of legally recognized same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state (Massachusetts) in 2004 to all fifty states in 2015 through various court rulings, state legislation, and direct popular votes. States each have separate marriage laws, which must adhere to rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States that recognize marriage as a fundamental right guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as first established in the 1967 landmark civil rights case of Loving v. Virginia.
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is a non-profit legal rights organization in the United States. The organization works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression. The organization primarily achieves this goal through litigation, advocacy, and education work in all areas of LGBT rights and the rights of people living with HIV. In addition, GLAD operates a legal information line, GLAD Answers, where LGBTQ & HIV+ residents of New England can receive attorney referrals and information about their rights. The organization changed its name to GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders in February 2016.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2003.
Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts has been legally recognized since May 17, 2004, as a result of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts Constitution to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. Massachusetts became the sixth jurisdiction in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. It was the first U.S. state to open marriage to same-sex couples.
Same-sex marriage in New Jersey has been legally recognized since October 21, 2013, the effective date of a trial court ruling invalidating New Jersey's restriction of marriage to persons of different sexes. In September 2013, Mary C. Jacobson, Assignment Judge of the Mercer Vicinage of the Superior Court, ruled that as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, the Constitution of New Jersey requires the state to recognize same-sex marriages. The Windsor decision held that the federal government was required to provide the same benefits to same-sex couples who were married under state law as to other married couples. Therefore, the state court reasoned in Garden State Equality v. Dow that, because same-sex couples in New Jersey were limited to civil unions, which are not recognized as marriages under federal law, the state must permit civil marriage for same-sex couples. This ruling, in turn, relied on the 2006 decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in Lewis v. Harris that the state was constitutionally required to afford the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court had ordered the New Jersey Legislature to correct the constitutional violation, by permitting either same-sex marriage or civil unions with all the rights and benefits of marriage, within 180 days. In response, the Legislature passed a bill to legalize civil unions on December 21, 2006, which became effective on February 19, 2007.
Libertarian perspectives on LGBT rights illustrate how libertarian individuals and political parties have applied the libertarian philosophy to the subject of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. In general, libertarians oppose laws which limit the sexual freedom of adults.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the Bahamas face challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While same-sex sexual activity is legal in the Bahamas, there are no laws that address discrimination or harassment on the account of sexual orientation or gender identity, nor does it recognize same sex unions in any form, whether it be marriage or partnerships. Households headed by same-sex couples are also not eligible for any of the same rights given to opposite-sex married couples.
This article addresses the history of lesbianism in the United States. Unless otherwise noted, the members of same-sex female couples discussed here are not known to be lesbian, but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of lesbianism—that is, same-sex female sexual and romantic behavior.
Same-sex unions in the United States are available in various forms in all states and territories, except American Samoa. All states have legal same-sex marriage, while others have the options of civil unions, domestic partnerships, or reciprocal beneficiary relationships. The federal government only recognizes marriage and no other legal union for same-sex couples.
Immigration equality is a citizens' equal ability or right to immigrate their family members. It also applies to fair and equal execution of the laws and the rights of non-citizens regardless of nationality or where they are coming from. Immigration issues can also be an LGBT rights issue, as government recognition of same-sex relationships vary from country to country.
Same-sex marriage in Nevada has been legally recognized since October 9, 2014, when a federal district court judge issued an injunction against Nevada's enforcement of its same-sex marriage ban, acting on order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit had ruled two days earlier that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Same-sex marriage was previously banned by an amendment to the Constitution of Nevada adopted in 2002. The statutory and constitutional bans were repealed in 2017 and 2020, respectively.
Mary L. Bonauto is an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who has worked to eradicate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and has been referred to by US Representative Barney Frank as "our Thurgood Marshall." She began working with the Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, now named GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) organization in 1990. A resident of Portland, Maine, Bonauto was one of the leaders who both worked with the Maine legislature to pass a same-sex marriage law and to defend it at the ballot in a narrow loss during the 2009 election campaign. These efforts were successful when, in the 2012 election, Maine voters approved the measure, making it the first state to allow same-sex marriage licenses via ballot vote. Bonauto is best known for being lead counsel in the case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health which made Massachusetts the first state in which same-sex couples could marry in 2004. She is also responsible for leading the first strategic challenges to section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United States have a long history, including vibrant subcultures and advocacy battles for social and religious acceptance and legal rights.
Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management is a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3, which defined the federal definition of marriage to be a union of a man and a woman, entirely excluding legally married same-sex couples. The District Court that originally heard the case ruled Section 3 unconstitutional. On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional, and denied appeal of Pedersen the next day.
United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013), is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case concerning same-sex marriage. The Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
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This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the United States.
