April 26, 2023 Dinner Meeting and Team Presentation
President-Elect Stefanie Field began the meeting by welcoming all Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court (Deegan Inn) members to the meeting, which was held indoors at the Canyon Crest Country Club. Stefanie announced that the Board was accepting nominations for the Outstanding Jurist Award, and Outstanding Attorney Award. Prior winners can be found on our website.
After the announcements, Stefanie announced there are two attorney board positions open, as well as two judicial board positions available. If you are interested in the open position, please send an email to Sherri Gomez.
Stefanie introduced the presenting team, Team Queens, and the team’s co-judicial masters, Hon. Joshlyn Pulliam and Hon. Carol Greene. Hon. Pulliam and Hon. Greene introduced the team members: Attorney Master Dwayne Beck, Attorney Master Kristine Borgia, Attorney Master Diane Mar Wiesmann, Barrister Kamola Gray, Associate Erik Oh, Associate Christopher Ortega, Associate Malvina Ovanezova, and Associate Bryan Owens Sahagun.
Team Queens began their presentation with the introduction to the movie Wayne’s World featuring the song Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen.
Attorney Master Mar Wiesmann introduced the theme of the group presentation, Bias in the Music Industry. Freddie Mercury, Queen, and Elton John were introduced as the first musicians or groups to break the homophobic stigma of the music industry.
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar in 1946, and moved with his family to England in 1964. He was a founding member and lead singer of the rock group "Queen." Mercury was the subject of a biopic, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Mercury died in 1991 of AIDS, only three days after publicly announcing he was afflicted.
Mercury named the band "Queen" because he thought it sounded regal. He designed the logo, which remains the same today, to include lions, a crab and fairies to represent the astrological signs of the founding members: Leo, Cancer, and Virgo.
Queen is known for its fusion of heavy metal and glam rock, and received a number of honors: In 2001, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and later "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Sir Elton Hercules John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in 1947 in Pimmer, Middlesex, Great Britain. He was raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandmother. He lived at home and wrote his music until he had four albums simultaneously in the American Top 40.
John wrote "Philadelphia Freedom" for his friend Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis (WTT) team, the "Philadelphia Freedoms." He founded the "Elton John AIDS Foundation" in 1992 after losing two friends, Freddie Mercury and Ryan White, to AIDS. The Foundation raised over $600 million to support HIV-related programs in 55 countries.
John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. In addition to five Grammy Awards, he won an Oscar for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King and other awards for Best Original Score for Aida, and "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman, the biopic of his life.
Hon. Joshlyn Pulliam and Hon. Carol Greene then hosted the game “Name That Tune.” The rules were that Team Queens would play a song, while providing up to three hints. Each table/team was provided with a rainbow flag. Each team designated a flag bearer to waive the flag for the table. When someone from the table recognized the song, the first group to waive their flag had the chance to name the song and win a prize. For each song named correctly, each team received a scratcher lottery ticket as the prize. There were four rounds of name that tune, with three songs at each round, for a total of 12 songs.
Between each round of “Name That Tune,” Deegan Inn Members learned about bias within the legal profession and the community. Attorney Master Beck and Barrister Gray presented on HIV/AIDS and Long COVID-19 as disabilities. The penultimate movie about HIV/AIDS is “Philadelphia.”
Attorney Master Mar Wiesmann and Associate Ovanezova spoke about Bias in the Music Industry, touching upon Taylor Swift and her legal issues and Rap & Stigma of Sexuality & Sexual Orientation/ Identification.”
Associate Sahagun spoke about the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995, (Cal. Civ. Code, § 51.6) and what businesses were affected by the act and provided examples of who violates the act. Finally, Mr. Sahagun explained the remedies for any violations.
Riverside County became the battleground for the Gender Tax Repeal Act.
Subsequently, there was a backlash to the “Pink Tax” and the state attempted to expand the gender tax repeal act with AB1576 and SB320. Currently, the Pink Tax has been modified by AB1287 (Effective January 1, 2023), which adds Civil Code, § 51.14.
Associate Ortega and Attorney Master Borgia discussed “Court Matters and Queen.”
Associate Ortega and Attorney Master Borgia started the section with the copyright infringement case between the Estate of Freddie Mercury and the charity initiative, “Go Go Gorilla.” The dispute involved a gorilla sculpture dressed like Freddie Mercury without obtaining permission from the Estate of Freddie Mercury. Go Go Gorilla’s sculpture was dressed in the distinctive yellow and white suit worn by the late rock star, Freddie Mercury, which the estate claimed was an unauthorized use of the late Freddie Mercury’s image and likeness.
Team Queens concluded their presentation with the music video “We are the Champions” by Queen.
At the conclusion of the presentation, Deegan Inn members were invited to score the presentation from a ranking of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The team and winning presentation will be announced at the September 2023 Orientation Meeting.