Court Rules that Tragic Police

Outing of Gay Teen Violated Constitutional Rights;

ACLU Sees Broad Impact

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, November 7, 2000

PHILADELPHIA, PA – In a solid victory for the privacy rights of lesbian

and gay Americans -- and particularly for young gay people -- a Federal

Appeals Court ruled late yesterday that police violated a gay teen's

constitutional rights when they threatened to tell his family that he was gay. The boy

committed suicide after the threat was made.

The 2-1 decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in

Philadelphia found that the Constitution clearly protects a person's sexual

orientation from forced disclosure. The Court rejected the argument that lesbians

and gay men are not protected by the right to privacy, and ruled instead

that "[i]t is difficult to imagine a more private matter than one's

sexuality..."

Larry Frankel, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union

of Pennsylvania, which represents the young man's mother in a civil

lawsuit against the Minersville, Pa., police officers, hailed the decision.

"The idea that only certain Americans have a right to basic privacy should

have been discredited years ago," Frankel said. "This decision is an

important step in finally making it clear that fundamental rights belong to all

Americans."

Marcus Wayman, 18, was in a parked car with a 17-year-old male when

police questioned the two, found condoms while searching the car, and arrested

them for under-age drinking. At the police station, officers lectured the

two teens about the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality and threatened to

tell Wayman's grandfather that he was gay. After Wayman, a high school

football player, was released from police custody, he committed suicide in his

home.

Wayman's mother, Madonna Sterling, sued the town and the officers for

police misconduct, discrimination and violation of the right to privacy.

Although the case has not yet gone to trial, the police officers asked the

federal appeals court to let them out of the case on the basis that it was not

clear that the right to privacy protects lesbians and gay men.

The ACLU said the decision sends a particularly clear warning to adults

whose professions entrust them with highly sensitive information about

young people and sexual orientation.

"In no uncertain terms, this decision tells guidance counselors,

teachers, clergy and law enforcement officials that if they reveal someone's

sexual orientation, there will be serious, financial consequences," said Matt

Coles, Director of the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. "This

tragic case is an extreme example of something that goes on far too often. But

today – thanks to Mrs. Sterling's extraordinary courage – we have an

important tool to stop this sort of thing from happening again, and to

educate professionals who ought to know better."

This ruling will allow Sterling's lawsuit against the town to go

forward, the ACLU said. The case is Sterling v. Borough of Minersville, et al.

Mrs. Sterling is also represented by David Rudovsky of Philadelphia.