Gay ice skaters settle hand-holding harassment case
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, May 11, 2006

A company that was sued by a pair of gay skaters who alleged they were harassed for holding hands has agreed to hold monthly gay-straight skate nights, to sign an anti-discrimination pledge and to contribute $5,000 to two gay groups as part of a legal settlement.

As part of the settlement announced late Wednesday, the skaters, John Manzon-Santos and Alan Lessik, also will get free admission for one year to the weekly "pairs preferred" skating sessions Berkeley Iceland plans to offer. East Bay Iceland, which owns the Berkeley rink and two others, also agreed to post placards advertising its efforts to promote diversity and to require its workers to undergo sensitivity training.

Manzon-Santos and Lessik, amateur skaters who are training to compete in the Gay Games being held this summer in Chicago, alleged in a lawsuit filed last month that Berkeley Iceland's manager twice told them to stop skating together. The manager said he was concerned about safety, but the two men suspected they were targets of gay bias because they saw male-female couples holding hands while skating, Manzon-Santos said Thursday. the rest