When Assemblymember Tom Ammiano heckled Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger during an October Democratic gala, he was upset with Schwarzenegger’s cuts to state-financed AIDS programs and the fact that the governor had vetoed AB 382, the bill he championed calling for gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners to be offered segregated prison housing.

We’re all upset with the state budget mess and cuts to programs. But there is an appropriate way to convey feelings to the governor. The reality is that Schwarzenegger has signed more bills advancing gay rights than all past California governors put together. The budget crisis is not his doing, it’s the Legislature’s.

Besides, it’s unlikely Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill out of personal animosity. In fact, he didn’t necessarily disagree with AB 382 but merely said it is superfluous.

However, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission reported last week that 60,500 state and federal prisoners were sexually assaulted in 2007. And a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation study that found 67 percent of GLBT prisoners report being sexually assaulted by another inmate, “a rate 15 times higher” than the overall population. So Ammiano wants this protection in the Penal Code and has vowed to re-introduce the bill in January. Perhaps Sen. Marc Leno can carry it this time.

Last week, Maine voters approved a measure to repeal marriage rights for same-sex couples by a vote of 52-48 percent. The narrow margin will be key to the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices who may ultimately decide this issue, five of whom look at voting trends. For example, in deciding whether to strike down consensual sex statutes in 2003, the court looked at votes taken by legislatures. Even those votes that were close showed the court that measures designed to punish gay people violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection for all.

Federal sentencing guidelines restrict the discretion judges can apply to cases. But in every case a defendant seeks what mercy a judge can give, and Robert Mormando, a confessed Gambino family gunman who appeared for a sentencing hearing before a federal judge in late October, is no exception.

After admitting that he played a role in the shooting death of a bagel store owner in 2003, Mormando told the judge that he was not only a government informer but also gay, The New York Times reported.

Mormando wanted the judge to know that he wasn’t merely an average informer, but took added risk because of his sexual orientation.

The irony is that Mormando’s hearing was cloaked in complete secrecy. But an informant told the New York Times, which reported the matter. So, if Mormando thought his mobster cronies wouldn’t find out he was gay, well, it’s in the paper of record.

The Times reported that, in 1992, gay mobster John D’Amato, a former boss of the DeCavalcante crime family, was murdered when his girlfriend outed him to other family members.

Federal immigration laws allow persons to seek asylum in the United States, and usually immigration officials will consider such petitions when the applicant can show likely persecution upon return to the country of origin.

Religious persecution has been a basis for asylum for decades, and, as The Los Angeles Times reported in October, a legal clinic at Pepperdine has been successful in seeking asylum for a devout Iranian woman whose family shunned her because she converted to Christianity. Religious apostasy can be punished by death in Iran.

Pepperdine’s clinic is a wonderful idea, and the school deserves kudos for engaging in such a project. The only problem is that the clinic focuses primarily on serving those who have converted to Christianity and fear “removal” to their country of origin. Consequently, one wonders if the clinic will encourage Muslims (and others) to convert to Christianity for asylum purposes.

It’s also unclear whether the clinic will address asylum claims for persecution based upon sexual orientation. As noted on the school’s Web site, Pepperdine welcomes all members of “traditional” faiths, and reserves the right to discriminate against others.