ACLU Urges Kansas Public Library Not to Censor Employee for Discussing Historic Sodomy Ruling
July 16, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TOPEKA, KS - Citing serious First Amendment violations, the American Civil Liberties Union today sent a letter to the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library asking that it reconsider its actions in forbidding one of its staff members from talking at work about the recent historic Supreme Court ruling banning sodomy laws.
“It’s against the law for a public employer to prevent employees from talking about pressing social issues at work if it’s not keeping them or their coworkers from doing their jobs,” said Ken Choe, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project.
The library employee, Bonnie Cuevas, was ordered on the day after the ruling to stop discussing the decision and its impact on her family. No other library staff members were placed under the same restriction.
“This was the biggest legal step forward in lesbian and gay rights in history,” said Cuevas, a longtime Topeka activist and member of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). “A public library, of all places, should understand why I, as the mother of a gay son, took a few minutes of time to talk about it.”
On June 26, the day of the Lawrence v. Texas decision, Cuevas was approached by one or two co-workers and received a few unsolicited calls from friends who wanted to share their excitement over the decision with her. Cuevas also received a brief unsolicited call from a reporter who wanted a comment on the significance of the decision for gay and lesbian people and their families. None of these conversations lasted more than a couple of minutes, Cuevas said.
The next day, Cuevas received one more short call from a friend about the decision. Not long after that, two library managers called Cuevas into a meeting where they told her that she was absolutely prohibited from ever speaking about Lawrence v. Texas at work again. To justify the censorship, the library managers told Cuevas that a co-worker had complained that Cuevas was creating a “hostile work environment.” When Cuevas asked whether her talking with the press had been a concern, the managers told her it was not.
“We hope that the library will agree that issues affecting the lives of lesbian and gay people – especially something of the magnitude of the Lawrence v. Texas decision – are a compelling concern for those of us who live and work in Topeka,” said Pedro Irigonegaray of Irigonegaray & Associates, who is working with the ACLU to represent Cuevas. Irigonegaray added, “I have immense respect for the professionals who operate our library, but this is a moment in our history when libraries ought to be defending freedom, not limiting it.”
Since the June 27 meeting with library managers, Cuevas has complied with the restriction on her speech. Although some of her co-workers continue to discuss the Lawrence decision, they have not been reprimanded.
“Libraries are the places that we most rely upon to encourage the free expression and exchange of ideas,” said Dick Kurtenbach, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri. “We hope that when the library administrators examine the silencing of Ms. Cuevas more closely, they will see that a grave mistake has been made.”
In its letter, the ACLU asked that the library lift its restrictions on Cuevas’s speech in compliance with the law and expressed its hope that the matter can be resolved without resorting to litigation.
For those that might have read the first post awhile back ...
Kansas Public Library Concedes That it Can’t Censor Employee for Discussing Historic Sodomy Ruling
August 5, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TOPEKA, KS - Responding to a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library has conceded that, under the law, it cannot forbid one of its employees from talking at work about the recent historic Supreme Court ruling banning sodomy laws.
“To a large number of Americans, the Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas was a shining moment in our history because it’s another giant step toward equality for all Americans,” said Dick Kurtenbach, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri. “We’ve made certain that the public library understands that it cannot strip Bonnie Cuevas of her constitutional right to free speech by prohibiting her from ever talking about this important development at work.”
On the day after the ruling, Bonnie Cuevas, a longtime Topeka activist and member of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), was ordered by two library managers to never again discuss at work the decision and its impact on her family. The ACLU sent a letter to the library’s director, pointing out that such an order violates Cuevas’s First Amendment right to free speech, and the library’s attorneys have now responded that the library will not restrict Cuevas or any other employee this way in the future.
“When the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws, it was an incredibly significant moment for my family,” said Cuevas, the mother of a gay son who was the victim of an anti-gay hate crime. “Ordering me not to talk about a social issue like this at such a crucial time in history seems to me to be completely contrary to the ideals and principles that public libraries should exemplify.”
On June 26, the day of the Lawrence v. Texas decision, Cuevas was approached by one or two co-workers and received a few short, unsolicited calls from friends who wanted to share their excitement over the decision with her. The next day, Cuevas received one more short call from a friend about the decision. Not long after that, two library managers told her that a co-worker had complained that Cuevas was creating a “hostile work environment” instructed her never to speak about Lawrence v. Texas at work again. She was the only library staff member to be placed under such a restriction.
“Bonnie Cuevas has once again proven herself to be a tireless advocate for civil rights,” said Pedro Irigonegaray of Irigonegaray & Associates, who worked with the ACLU to represent Cuevas. “She knew her employer couldn’t censor her speech at work on such an important issue, and she should be commended for standing up to the library for trying to stomp on her First Amendment rights.”
Under the law, public employees – such as people who work at public libraries or for the government – may discuss matters of public concern at the workplace as long as that speech doesn’t interfere with the employees’ ability to do their jobs, the ACLU said.
“Everyone who supports the rights of gay people needs to speak out and work to make gay people truly equal,” said Ken Choe, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. “The Supreme Court has given local activists an amazing opportunity to work for true equality in their communities, and we hope that people will take advantage of this chance to make meaningful and lasting change.”
The ACLU has developed a new website, www.aclu.org/getequal, that is designed to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people and their supporters take advantage of this unique opportunity. The advocacy materials on the site are designed so that even those most strapped for time can make a difference. Suggested activities range from a one-click action alert to members of Congress opposing the anti-gay relationship amendment to comprehensive instructions on how to organize campaigns to change local laws. The materials at http://www.aclu.org/getequal, focus on three critical issues facing LGBT people: (1) protections against discrimination in the workplace, housing and public accommodations, (2) making schools safer for LGBT students, and (3) getting equality for LGBT relationships.
