Gay Activist, Va. Firm Spar Over Protest Films

The Arlington hubbub began last May, when Vincenz, 68, now a psychotherapist in the county, e-mailed Bono to ask him if he would duplicate two films of early gay rights protests she took in 1968 and 1970.

Vincenz had filmed the protests in Philadelphia and New York with a borrowed Bolex 16mm camera. Over the years, her footage has been included in PBS documentaries about gay rights pioneers and elsewhere.

"This struggle is dear to my heart," said Vincenz, seated on a sofa in her North Arlington home as she showed a DVD of the footage.

The black-and-white images -- of protesters in mod hairstyles marching through New York's Greenwich Village in June 1970 -- seem antiquated now. But at the time, Vincenz, said, the march was groundbreaking and the mood thrilling. It was just a year after the Stonewall riots there, which some consider the beginning of the gay rights movement in the United States.

"Nothing had ever happened like this," said Nancy Ruth Davis, Vincenz's partner.

When Bono read the titles of the movies, he balked at filling Vincenz's request, telling her in an e-mail that "Gay and Proud" and the "Second Largest Minority" indicated to him that the material might be of "questionable content." He referred human rights investigators to language posted on his business's Web site that informs customers that his company won't work with material such as pornography or cult video that "runs counter to our Christian and ethical values."

"That is our choice and must be respected," he said. Bono declined to comment for this story.

The Human Rights Commission ruled last month that Bono had discriminated against Vincenz and ordered him to copy the film or pay someone else to do it.

"We felt this was a fair way to address the issue," said Timothy Brogan, the commission chair. "If you're a business providing services to the public, you can't choose who you provide services to and who you're not going to provide services to . . . [T]hat's illegal in Arlington."

Since news of the commission's decision surfaced, Christian groups and others have rallied to Bono's cause. The conservative Christian group Family Policy Network is seeking to find other Arlington business people who feel their religious freedoms were infringed upon for a lawsuit.

"I, as an American citizen, am APPALLED that a government entity would FORCE a private citizen to do something that is against his religious and ethical beliefs," read one e-mail to the county. "What a frightening day in our history if you all are successful in trampling Christian's rights!"

Gay activists see the threat to the human rights ordinances as one more measure of uncertainty in a year when state residents will vote on a controversial amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

"It's just another example of the effort to remove whatever protections might be in place for gays and lesbians living in Virginia," said Joseph Price, general counsel to Equality Virginia, which is fighting against the amendment.

No matter what happens in court, Vincenz said she was glad she stuck up for herself.

"I wasn't going to let anybody discriminate against me," she said. "I wasn't going to do it. I had to live up to my own integrity."

To see a clip of Vincenz's film, go tohttp://www.washingtonpost.com.