So the old news, at the beginning of this year, that I missed is that Benjamin Cruz won the senatorial election in Guam in January 2008. Pictured below as "may be the nation's highest-ranking gay judge" (Silva, 1997). At that time he was unanimously confirmed by Guam's judiciary committee on September 29, 1997 despite some "resistance due to his sexual orientation throughout his career". (Silva, 1997)
According to Queerty, Cruz had won the senatorial election by 41 percent of the votes this past January 2008. http://www.queerty.com/gay-politician-wins-big-in-guam-20080107/I want to say congratulations Judge BJ, way to go!
First, I am just curious though if same-sex marriage has come up since his 1997 statement: "Cruz says he doesn't see any major gay issues coming before the high court soon. Guam, Cruz says, is relatively "good" regarding gay rights--the island has no sodomy laws. The hot issues of same-sex marriage and same-sex harassment have yet to catch fire in Guam, and he doubts he'll be addressing them in the near future." (Silva, 1997)
Secondly, there may not be sodomy laws however, the social climate may still not be supportive of the GLBT community at large. Evident by when people are afraid to come out of the closet! Is there an annual gay pride event; is there a GLBT center to support the community?
Island Dyke
Reference:
Silva, D. (1997) Cruz control: newly appointed Guam supreme court justice Benjamin Cruz may be the nation's highest-ranking gay judge. The Advocate, 11/25/1997. Retrieved on May 9, 2008 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-20013295.html
1 comment:
very informative. this news is new for me as well. good job!
Post a Comment