News
Mass, High Court Overturns Marriage
Flanagan To Run for VT State Senate
White River's Tip Top Cafe Closes
Lesbian Sues Brattleboro TV Station
The Rest of Our World
The
Rest of Our World
Conciseness Counts?
St. Louis,
MO - Here is the entire text of presidential candidate Richard Gephardt's
statement on President George W. Bush's support for an anti-gay marriage
constitutional amendment, all three sentences:
"It is time for President Bush to end his
alliance with homophobic bigotry once and for all and speak out against
the Republican Party's hostile election-year attempt to amend the United
States Constitution to include a ban on gay marriage. Throughout our history,
the Constitution has been amended to afford expanded rights to disenfranchised
citizens, not to unfairly single out a particular group of Americans by
limiting their rights. The president should stand up against these kinds
of intolerant forces in his own party and should espouse views of tolerance
and equality that truly reflect the values of the American people."
Gephardt is on record as not supporting
gay marriage, although he would support a civil union-type arrangement.
Bush Congratulates MCC?
West Hollywood,
CA - During the same week that President Bush endorsed the anti-gay Marriage
Protection Week, he sent enthusiastic 35th anniversary congratulations
to Metropolitan Community Churches, a group that performs more than 6000
same-sex weddings annually.
President Bush's letter to MCC Los Angeles
left Rev. Neil Thomas, senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church
of Los Angeles, baffled. "How does one denounce the right of gays and
lesbians to marry in their churches and suggest they are incapable of
having healthy marriages in one moment, and in the next rejoice in God's
faithfulness to a gay and lesbian congregation that performs such same-sex
marriages?" Rev. Thomas asked.
Clark Says Review Service Ban
Boston,
MA - Early last month, during the America Rocks the Vote live forum for
youth, General Wesley Clark said, "I think everybody deserves the right
to serve. And when I am president, I'm going to make sure that we treat
every man, woman, and child in America with dignity and respect. And that
includes the opportunities to serve in the United States armed forces."
As announced by the Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network, Clark called on military leaders to review the policy
saying it "needs to be reviewed because there are so many indications
that it's not working."
US Naval Academy Alumni Out
Annapolis,
MD - For the first time, a U.S. service academy alumni association will
be asked to recognize its gay, lesbian, and transgendered graduates by
creating a chapter for them.
On Veteran's Day, former U.S. Navy officer
Jeff Petrie and a contingent of other former naval officers who served
with distinction presented a proposal to establish a gay alumni association
chapter - USNA Out - to the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association.
The proposal included the bylaws and a roster of more than 25 members,
as required to organize a new chapter.
Petrie, a 1989 Naval Academy graduate who
is gay, worked with fellow graduates and the unrecognized Service Academy
Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association. "The environment at Annapolis has
been disapproving and damaging for high-achieving gays and lesbians for
many years," Petrie said.
No NJ Gay Marriage Yet
Trenton,
NJ - A lower state court ruled last month against legalizing marriage
for same-sex couples in New Jersey. The seven plaintiff couples have been
together between 11 and 32 years. Five of them have children. All of them
need the legal security that comes with marriage but has been denied to
them.
"This ruling propels us forward to higher
courts where both sides have always known it will be decided," said David
Buckel, Lambda Senior Staff Attorney, as he announced that the ruling
will be appealed.
The words "husband," "wife," "spouse,"
or some form of the word "marry" appear in more than 850 provisions of
New Jersey law. The New Jersey Supreme Court will have the last word.
Dakota Court Scraps Anti-Gay Ruling
Bismarck,
ND - Unanimously agreeing to allow a lesbian mother to maintain custody
of her two children, last month the North Dakota Supreme Court struck
down a 1981 decision used to deny custody of children solely because of
a parentŐs sexual orientation. The court ruled that possible prejudice
from others is not a valid reason to take children from lesbian and gay
parents.
The court had ruled 22 years ago that having
lesbian or gay parents was inherently harmful to children because they
may suffer "the slings and arrows of a disapproving society."
"It seemed inconceivable to me that my
children could be taken away simply because other people might be prejudiced
against us," said Valerie Damron, represented by the American Civil Liberties
Union. "I'm thrilled that the court saw that it was wrong to punish us
for other people's bigotry."
The decision leaves only four states -
Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia - where courts still
deny custody based on sexual orientation alone.
C.U. Bill in Massachusetts
Boston,
MA - A group of leading state Democratic House members, working in secret,
launched an effort early last month to devise a bill that would greatly
expand legal rights for gay couples in Massachusetts. Led by House Ways
and Means Committee Chairman John Rogers, long viewed as a foe of gay
rights, the group is seriously considering a compromise that would outlaw
gay marriage while approving Vermont-style civil unions here.
As reported in the Boston Globe, the members
plan to draft a bill and hope the Legislature will act on it before the
Supreme Judicial Court issues its ruling on whether to legalize gay marriage.
That ruling was issued November 18.
Golfer Reveals Prejudice
Washington,
DC - PFLAG announced its dismay at racist and homophobic comments made
by LPGA player Jan Stephenson in the November issue of Golf magazine.
Stephenson asserted women's golf is being hurt, saying "The Asians are
killing our tour," and "Society is more open now about gay relationships,
but it does hurt the tour. It hurts with sponsors. But if you had two
gorgeous girls who were gay, I don't think that would hurt." Although
she has apologized to the Asian community for her racist comments, she
has yet to apologize to the GLBT community.
"This is demeaning to all GLBT people,
especially to the athletes and their families. That they should be singled
out and ridiculed for their sexual orientation is disgusting," said David
Tseng, Executive Director of PFLAG.
Stephenson, recognized during the LPGA's
50th Anniversary as one of the organization's top 50 players, is known
for believing that women should use sex appeal to market their sport.
No Penis = No Cheating
Concord,
NH - When a woman cheats on her husband in a lesbian affair, it isn't
adultery. At least so says the New Hampshire Supreme Court in a 3-2 ruling.
The court ruled that a Dartmouth College professor cannot use same-sex
adultery as a ground for divorcing his wife. Adultery, the court said,
takes place only when the extra-marital sexual liaison involves a man
and a woman.
Justice Joseph P. Nadeau wrote for the
majority that New Hampshire law defines adultery as "sexual intercourse"
outside of marriage. Sexual intercourse, as defined in Webster's, requires
a male organ and a female organ in a sexual connection, "which clearly
can only take place between persons of the opposite gender," Nadeau wrote.
The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
in Boston submitted a brief in the case as a "friend of the court," taking
the position that cheating was cheating, regardless of the sexuality of
the partners.
Nadeau stressed that the decision was not
a gay rights issue. "This appeal is not about the status of homosexual
relationships in our society or the formal recognition of homosexual unions,"
he said.
AIDS Dollars Under Religious Threat
Washington,
DC - Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter last month instructing the
Dept. of Health & Human Services to investigate how an anti-gay lobby
came up with a hit list of AIDS research grants. Each of the programs
listed studied sexual behavior. The Traditional Values Council compiled
information on nearly 300 grants, including authors, dollar amounts awarded
and concise descriptions of the studies, and forwarded the list to conservative
members of Congress for targeting. Andrea Lafferty, executive director
of TVC, claimed the NIH needs "adult supervision," and has asked for a
Justice Department investigation of the grants.
Rep. Waxman denounced the review as "scientific
McCarthyism" and called the document a "hit list" created by right wing
ideologues.
Ohio City Offers DP Registry
Cleveland
Heights, OH - In a victory for the LGBT community last month, voters overwhelmingly
supported Issue 35, establishing a domestic partner registry. While domestic
partner registries exist in more than 60 localities across the country,
the win marks the first time in 13 years that a domestic partner registry
has been adopted via ballot.
Collaboration between Heights Families
for Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force helped secure
the victory. "Cleveland Heights represents the future for advancing equal
rights for [LGBT] people," said Dave Fleischer of the Task Force. "Instead
of waiting for the next attack by a homophobic ballot initiative, we go
on the offensive and speak directly to voters about issues affecting our
community."
The registry, open to both same-sex and
opposite-sex couples, will provide committed couples a certified record
of their relationship. While conferring no benefits, this documentation
has been used to secure basic rights in other jurisdictions with registries.
Taiwan & Gay Marriage
Taipei,
Taiwan - Taiwan's government is drafting legislation to legitimize same-sex
marriages, a cabinet official told Agence France-Presse last month. If
Parliament passes the law, Taiwan would be the first country in Asia to
legalize marriages among people of the same sex.
Jointly drafted by the presidential office
and the cabinet, the proposed Human Rights Protection Law is designed
to protect basic human rights. President Chen Shui-bian announced that
the government is seeking to legitimize same-sex marriages and recognize
the right of same-sex couples to adopt children. The final draft of the
bill is expected to be ready for parliamentary review in December.