News
Flanagan First Openly Gay Nominee For Senate
Frank Helps Raise Funds for VCU
CU Supporters, Opponents Defeated in Primaries
Candidate's Definition of "Family Values" Questioned
The Rest of Our World ...
the
rest of our world...
Out in left field
LOS ANGELES—Apparently lesbians are welcome at Dodger Stadium after all.
The Dodgers baseball team apologized to a couple a day after ejecting them from the ballpark for kissing during a game.
“It means a lot to me that you are Dodger fans,” team president Bob Graziano told the women. “We will continue to do the right thing.”
Danielle Goldey and Meredith Kott were escorted out of Dodger Stadium on Aug. 8. They said they initially were not told why they were being ejected but later were told that someone complained and said children should not be exposed to “those people.”
The couple said their companions, a heterosexual couple, also kissed but were not ejected. Because of this, they felt the action of the eight security guards was discrimination.
***
He will survive
LOS ANGELES—America’s latest media celebrity is gay.
Richard Hatch is the man who won the “Survivor” $1 million prize.
Since being crowned as the king of the CBS island, he’s been besieged by all kinds of mail, including proposals of marriage from both men and women.
All summer, viewers had debated which castaway would outlast the others. Finally, the secret was revealed.
Hatch, who had been taunted for his penchant for nudity, condemned as a snake by a fellow castaway, and stood out as the only openly gay contestant emerged with another label: millionaire.
The 39-year-old corporate trainer took home the cash prize and a new car, confounding those certain his scheming would cost him in the end.
***
Scouts lose donors
DALLAS—Corporations that have traditionally supported the Boy Scouts are trying to decide whether to continue.
Their concerns are about the Supreme Court ruling that allows the Boy Scouts of America to discriminate against gays.
Some corporations that have been longtime supporters of the Boy Scouts have anti-discrimination policies that would prohibit the same stance as the Scouts.
The stance already has cost the Scouts financial support from companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. and Wells Fargo. Others, concerned about hurting the beneficiaries of such funding—the boys themselves—are weighing their options.
Providence, R.I.-based manufacturing giant Textron has decided not to give to an annual dinner for the Scouts, although it gave $3,000 last year, spokeswoman Sue Bishop said.
Chase Manhattan Corp. is considering revoking its contributions.
Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York, which gives between $100,000 and $150,000 a year, is “actively reviewing” its relationship with the Scouts, said spokesman Joe Cohen.
Media company Knight Ridder has asked that funds it gives to the United Way not be directed to the Boy Scouts because it conflicts “with the company’s philosophy on people and diversity, and the company could not support such a discriminatory stance,” said Polk Laffoon, vice president of corporate relations.
***
Innocent plea
FAIRMONT, W.Va—A pair of teen-agers accused of beating a gay black man to death have pleaded innocent to murder.
The 17-year-olds are accused of killing Arthur “J.R.” Warren, a 26-year-old acquaintance, and then running over him with their car in a bid to disguise his death as a hit-and-run.
Jared Wilson of Fairview and David Parker of Grant Town are jailed without bond on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy. Both have been transferred from juvenile to adult court, where conviction could mean life in prison without parole.
The teens are accused of pummeling Warren with their fists and feet during an argument at a vacant house in Grant Town, near Morgantown.
Authorities say the boys then dumped Warren along a road and ran over him four times with a car in a failed attempt to disguise his injuries as a hit-and-run.
***
German soldiers
BERLIN—It’s OK to be gay in the German military.
The German government said being gay is no reason to reduce a soldier’s status or limit his responsibility.
The issue had arisen in the case of an officer who was reassigned from platoon leader to an office job after a background check revealed he is gay.
He filed suit in Germany’s Constitutional Court last year against the move, and in April the Defense Ministry said he would get his old job back.
In a response to a question by the parliament faction of the Party of Democratic Socialism, the government reaffirmed that homosexuality was no “separate entry criterion” for military service. The Defense Ministry will also make it clear in army regulations the consequences of discrimination based on sexual orientation, and offer advice for leaders in a brochure on dealing with gay troops in the army.
***
Scout camps OK
WASHINGTON—The Boy Scouts can still camp in federal parks.
The U.S. Interior Department caused a furor when it requested Justice Department advice on whether an executive order prohibiting discrimination would apply to the Boy Scouts of America.
President Clinton’s order prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in federally conducted education and training programs.
After questions from the top lawyer at the Interior Department, Attorney General Janet Reno determined that “Boy Scout Jamborees are not federally conducted education or training programs,” according to a Justice Department statement.
She said the Clinton order “does not apply to private organizations that may use federal lands for their own training programs.”
The Supreme Court has said that the Scouts may prohibit openly gay members or leaders of the organization.
***
Orange GSAs a go
SANTA ANITA, Calif.—A Gay-Straight Alliance will be permitted in suburban Los Angeles schools.
The Orange Unified School District decided to settle a federal lawsuit by reversing an earlier decision to ban the club from meeting at an area high school.
As part of the settlement, the board changed its policies on school clubs before approving the Gay-Straight Alliance Club.
The new rules prohibit student clubs from discussing sexual activity and create a system that will allow parents to object to a child’s participation in any school group.
In December, the board unanimously rejected the Gay-Straight Alliance Club at El Modena High School, prompting a federal lawsuit by two students who wanted to create a forum for gay students to discuss discrimination.
***
Texas marriage
SAN ANTONIO—A same-sex couple in Texas has been permitted to marry.
A woman and a transsexual who was born a man obtained a marriage license by taking advantage of a court ruling that defines gender only by chromosomes.
Jessica Wicks and Robin Manhart Wicks, who took Jessica’s surname this year, were allowed to pay $36 to get their license, even though they consider themselves a same-sex couple. Had Jessica Wicks been born a woman, their marriage would be illegal under state law.
However, because of a state appeals court ruling that said chromosomes, not genitals, determine gender, the two will be able to wed.
Phyllis Randolph Frye, an attorney for the Wicks, said the couple has advanced the rights of gays, lesbians and transsexuals across the country.
“We feel that this could open an equal protection argument from a legal standpoint because lesbian and gay couples can argue, ’Well, if this lesbian and gay couple can get married, why can’t we get married?’”
***
Turk discrimination
ISTANBUL, Turkey—Turkey can be a tough place to visit for a boatload of gays and lesbians.
Passengers on a gay-oriented cruise were barred by police from visiting the ancient ruins of Ephesus. It prompted high-level apologies from Turkish officials.
“I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere,” said Bruno Gideon of Toronto, a cruise passenger. “I didn’t think a country like Turkey would act like this. I still don’t understand.”
The cruise liner Olympic Voyager was taking 800 passengers, many from the United States, on a seven-day tour with stops in Egypt, Israel and Greece.
The cruise stopped at the Turkish Aegean port of Kusadasi and passengers boarded buses for Ephesus, which draws thousands of tourists each year.
After allowing several groups to leave, police turned back at least two other buses. The sudden change apparently came after they realized the passengers were all homosexuals, the tourists and members of the tour’s crew said.
Police also chased after buses headed from the cruise liner to the Ephesus. They caught one in the town of Selcuk, some two miles from the Ephesus ruins, and sent it back to the cruise liner.
***
Gays in the news
SAN FRANCISCO—Gay journalists say there’s greater acceptance in newsrooms across the country, but news coverage of gays and lesbians isn’t keeping pace.
The survey also found that anti-gay slurs are still commonly heard in newsrooms, despite improvement in other areas important to gays and lesbians, including domestic partner benefits and anti-discrimination policies.
“It shows that we’ve made lots of progress but that there’s still a lot to do,” said Robert Dodge, president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, which released the study at its 10th annual convention.
The association’s survey of 363 gay print and broadcast journalists included questions ranging from how comfortable the journalists felt being “out” in their newsrooms to how often managers asked their opinions on coverage of lesbian and gay issues.
The research found that gay journalists applaud national coverage of gay-related news, such as the killing of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming and the coming-out of comedian Ellen DeGeneres. However, fewer than half of the journalists surveyed said their organizations paid enough attention to ongoing issues, such as same-sex marriage and gays in politics.
***
Dutch marriage
THE HAGUE, Netherlands— Gay and lesbian couples in the Netherlands can now get married.
Lawmakers gave same-sex couples all the trappings of marriage, too, including adoption and divorce—approving legislation that provides gays rights beyond those offered in any other country.
The new law will bring little change to the daily lives of most gays in a country that has long been at the vanguard of gay rights. But activists say it marks a bold step toward recognizing the equality of gay and heterosexual unions in the Netherlands.
Lawmakers thumped their desks in approval when the vote passed 109-33 in the lower house, and some of the scores of witnesses in the packed public gallery applauded and embraced. The bill still needs approval by the upper house, considered a formality, and is expected to take effect next year.
Opponents warned the legislation will isolate the Netherlands and said it threatens Dutch values.
***
Blood donors
GAITHERSBURG, Md. —It looks like gay men still won’t be welcome at the local blood drive.
A team of scientific advisers is telling the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the 15-year-old ban on accepting blood from men who have sex with men should stand.
They say there’s a lack of evidence about how it might affect the AIDS risk in the nation’s blood supply.
All men who seek to donate blood are asked if they have had sex, even once, with another man since 1977. Those who say they have are permanently banned from donating blood.
Critics say that policy, in effect since 1985, is outdated because better testing can now detect virtually all blood infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS—and there’s an increasingly urgent need for more blood donors.
Also, the gay community contends the policy is discriminatory, forbidding donations by thousands of men whose HIV tests show they’re healthy.
So the Food and Drug Administration asked its scientific advisers Thursday whether it should change the rule to ban only men who had sex with another man within the past five years.
But the advisers voted 7-6 that there was not enough evidence that it’s safe to make that change. The FDA is not bound by its advisers’ decisions, but typically follows them.
***
May ousted
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif.—An Arizona lawmaker is being recommended for an honorable discharge from the Army Reserve.
Reserve Lt. Steve May was accused by the Army of violating its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy by acknowledging his sexuality during a legislative debate.
Officials wouldn’t disclose why a panel of three Army colonels recommended an honorable discharge after the Army had pursued an other-than-honorable, general discharge. Honorable discharges are typical for soldiers forced to leave the military because of sexual orientation.
“We presented the position that we thought was justified in this case,” said Maj. Mark Johnson, who argued the military’s case.
May’s attorney Christopher Wolf said the investigation was a personal attack on the legislator’s integrity. May’s record is unblemished and he has been rated an exceptional officer.
“We believe the board ignored the facts and ignored the law,” Wolf said.