When news of Will X. Walters’ suicide broke there was shock and anger throughout the LGBTQ community and beyond – shock at this senseless waste of life and anger that a simple apology could have prevented these prolonged proceedings many years before. At a memorial service, Jan. 7 powerful eulogies were given in celebration of…
This past Saturday, community activists and friends of Will X. Walters gathered at the Rainbow Flag monument in Hillcrest to remember the young activist who took his own life. Will’s recent case against the San Diego Police Department had gotten national attention, especially after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor….
SAN DIEGO — A Public Candle and Flower Vigil in Memory of Will Walters will be held today at 2 p.m at the Pride flag located at the corner of University Avenue and Normal Street in the heart of San Diego’s historic LGBTQ Hillcrest neighborhood. There will be remarks and remembrances from community members, colleagues…
SAN DIEGO — Will Walters, who sued the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) for discrimination when he was arrested for wearing a short kilt-like costume at the LGBT Pride festival in 2011, was found dead Wednesday at his apartment in Hillcrest in an apparent suicide. Dec. 13, an eight-member jury in the U.S. District Court…
Following a week of testimony in the civil suit of Will Walters v. City of San Diego et al, the jury rejected the claim that five San Diego police officers discriminated against Walters for wearing a short kilt-like costume at the LGBT Pride festival in 2011. The eight-member jury in the U.S. District Court for…
SAN DIEGO—Closing arguments will be heard today in the civil suit of Will Walters v. City of San Diego et al, following a week of testimony that included more than a dozen witnesses and the presentation of evidence including photos of women wearing more revealing swimsuits than the kilt for which the plaintiff, Will Walters,…
SAN DIEGO — Will Walters was just 29 when he was inexplicably manhandled, assaulted and arrested for wearing a leather kilt at the 2011 San Diego LGBT Pride festival. For Walters, the ensuing five years has been a quest for justice and overcoming myriad delays and challenges presented by the legal team of San Diego…
SAN DIEGO—After five years and myriad motions to delay or dismiss Will Walters’ 14th Amendment discrimination civil rights lawsuit against the City of San Diego, whose Police Department wrongfully arrested him when they applied a tougher, discriminatory standard of enforcement of the city’s nudity ordinance at the 2011 LGBT Pride Festival than the standard of…
In a remarkable legal whipsaw for the City of San Diego, a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a motion for an en banc review from the entire court to appeal their decision allowing Will Walters to have his day in court, said a spokesperson for the plaintiff, Will…
It did not surprise many of us when the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of gay activist Will Walters’ lawsuit against the city and San Diego Police Department, and was granted a jury trial. Judge Harry Pregerson even stated, “Why don’t we just say that this was a bad call by…
