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Community Supports Survivors of Attacks
Farrell to Resign from VT CARES
Five Gay Legislators, No Gay Caucus
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Freedom Ringing
Lilburn, Georgia – Berkmar High School students opened the school
newspaper to a blank editorial page after the school's principal ordered
the staff to pull two opinion pieces about a new club for straight and
gay teens. Gwinnett County school officials said Principal Kendall Johnson
told the staff of Liberty to remove the editorials because he
felt it would disturb students during exam time, according to an Associated
Press report last month.
"Mr. Johnson was not going to
allow there to be distractions from what they are about teaching and learning,"
Gwinnett Schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach said.
The editorials debated whether a student
club, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Society, should meet on school grounds.
Liberty editor L'Anita Weiler, 18, said, "I had a feeling
it was going to be censored." Weiler
and student copy editor Kelly Shaul, 17, distributed copies of the editorials
to Berkmar students after the paper was published.
"We wanted to run a censored
stamp on the page. But Mr. Johnson censored our 'censored' stamp, which
is pointless," Shaul said.
With One Voice
Washington, DC – Twenty-two gay and lesbian rights groups, smarting
in the aftermath of the November election and bracing for President Bush's
second term, issued a unity statement last month, insisting they are not
backing off marriage equality but will simultaneously push for other "common
priorities." The statement differentiated the organizations' approach
from the bargaining stance reportedly taken by the Human Rights Campaign,
which was among the signers.
The San Francisco Chronicle
reported that these priorities include hate crimes legislation, employment
protection, immigration rights for gays and lesbian partners, overturning
the ban on gays in the military, and the continuing battle against constitutional
bans on same-sex marriage in states and Congress.
The statement, signed by Lambda Legal,
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the Human Rights Campaign, the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Log Cabin Republicans, Stonewall
Democrats, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and others, maintains
that American civil rights movements have historically proceeded through
a "complex interweaving of legal victories, political progress and
advances in public opinion."
To Serve or Not To Serve
Washington, DC – The Human Rights Campaign renewed its call to repeal
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell," in light of a Washington Post report
that Army officials are considering changing Pentagon policy to allow
for longer and more frequent call-ups of reservists to meet the demands
of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Any policy that keeps patriotic Americans
from serving during wartime is bad for the nation," said HRC Political
Director Winnie Stachelberg. "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is deeply hurtful
to gay and lesbian service members and their families, and is costing
the nation valuable service members."
According to the Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network, more than 10,000 service members have been discharged
since 1993 under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy at a cost
of more than a quarter billion dollars to U.S. taxpayers.
And, by the way, a report last fall from
the Urban Institute found that Vermont ranks second among the states in
per capita rate of gay or lesbian military veterans (7.2 per thousand
adults), after the District of Columbia ("just over 10 per thousand
adults").
Montana Court Extends Equal Protection
Helena, Montana – The Montana Supreme Court declared late last year
that the state constitution's guarantee of equal protection extends to
gays, and ruled that the state university system must offer same-sex couples
the same health benefits available to heterosexual couples. The
Seattle Times reported that the high court determined, in a 4-3 decision,
the policy violated the Montana Constitution's equal protection clause
because unmarried heterosexual partners could receive the benefit by signing
a common-law marriage affidavit, while unmarried gay partners could not.
"This is an incredible victory for
the lesbian and gay employees of the University of Montana System who
need to protect their families just like their straight colleagues do,"
said Scott Crichton, Executive Director of the ACLU of Montana. The ACLU
brought the lawsuit in February 2002 on behalf of two lesbian couples
and PRIDE, Inc., a Montana based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
advocacy organization whose members include employees and domestic partners
of employees of the University of Montana System.
Children of Evil
Costa Mesa, CA – Some parents and parishioners have accused the
Roman Catholic diocese in Orange County of violating church doctrine by
allowing a gay couple to enroll their children in a church-operated school.
The parents' group demanded that St. John the Baptist School accept only
children of families that pledge to abide by Catholic teachings, the Los
Angeles Times reported last month. Church doctrine opposes gay relationships
and adoption by same-sex couples.
School officials rejected the demand,
and issued a new policy stating that a family's background "does
not constitute an absolute obstacle to enrollment in the school."
The Rev. Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of diocese schools, said, "It's
a slippery slope to go down."
Some parents have promised to ask
the Vatican to intervene and have threatened to pull their children from
the school. Others are worried the boys' attendance will set a precedent,
saying their presence is part of an effort by the gay community to change
the church.
Mass. Marriage Ban Unlikely
Boston – As the Massachusetts legislature began a new session last
month, there were growing indications that the proposed constitutional
amendment banning gay unions will not survive the second vote required
to put it on a general ballot. The legislation passed last March would
allow civil unions, ban same-sex marriages, and convert marriages already
performed to civil unions.
But Democrats increased their numbers
at the State House last November. House Speaker Tom Finneran, who had
proposed an all-out ban on both gay marriage and civil unions, is gone,
replaced by liberal Democrat Salvatore DiMasi, who opposes any amendment.
Even one of the men who wrote the proposed amendment, Senate Minority
Leader Brian Lees, is having second thoughts about it, according to 365Gay.com.
Some statehouse Democrats say Senate President Robert Travaglini is under
pressure not to call a constitutional convention, allowing the amendment
to die.
Last November, Travaglini gave the toast
at the marriage of openly gay state Sen. Jarrett Barrios.
Pass the Remote
New York – Despite a national mood divided on issues such as same-sex
marriage, gay TV is about to proliferate, according to Newsday
early last month. On a cable TV channel called "here!", shows
range from a gay parenting series and a drama about a teenager's two gay
dads to a romantic comedy about lesbian monogamy, and a farce about gay
mobster roommates.
On the Logo channel, a series produced
by Cher and Chastity Bono will feature coming-out stories of celebrities
and newsmakers, while reality fare will focus on gay cops in New York
City, gay ocean-liner cruises, and dream weddings for gay couples.
Cablevision Systems Corp. announced that it is
offering on-demand programming from here!. The service was launched in
August 2003 and is now available in more than 30 million cable and satellite
TV homes nationwide, giving it a head start over Logo, which MTV parent
Viacom Inc. plans to launch this year as a digital channel with much wider
distribution.
Wanted: Queer TX Sheriff
Dallas – She admits she is different from the other 253 county sheriffs
in the state of Texas – now that Travis County’s 8-year veteran
(and openly lesbian) Sheriff Margo Frasier has left office. The difference?
Sheriff Lupe Valdez doesn't wear a cowboy hat or have a mustache, she
jokes to acknowledge the many ways that she stands out. When she was sworn
in at midnight on New Years Eve, according to the Dallas Voice, Valdez
became Dallas County's first Democratic sheriff in more than 30 years,
the first woman, the first Hispanic, and the first openly gay person ever
elected to that county's top law enforcement office.
Jose Plata, the first openly gay person
elected to the Dallas Public Schools Board of Trustees and a close friend
of the new sheriff, said, "What she will do in that office is show
the nasty, ugly right-wing group of people that someone with integrity
and character, someone who is a Christian and a better person than they
ever thought about being, is there serving them as the highest law enforcement
official in Dallas County, and doing it very well," he said.
Valdez was endorsed by the Gay and
Lesbian Victory Fund, which endorses and donates only to openly gay or
lesbian candidates, and she campaigned frequently at GLBT community events.
AZ Clergy March
Phoenix – Citing politicians who act like preachers and preachers
who act like politicians, a small group calling itself "No Longer
Silent: Clergy for Justice," staged a demonstration, as reported
in the Arizona Republic last month.
"We want Arizonans to know that
not everyone in the religious community agrees" with a proposed state
constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages and civil unions
said the Rev. David Ragan of the Shadow Rock United Church of Christ.
The clergy, opposing the ban represent Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian,
Episcopalian and Unitarian congregations. In downtown Phoenix, 120 ministers
and priests walked to the state Capitol, where Gov. Janet Napolitano was
preparing to deliver her State of the State speech.
A poll published in the Republic indicated
that a majority of Arizona residents are against a constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage.
Trans Celebrate Anti-Discrimination Guidelines
New York – Transgender advocates and activists are celebrating the
release of Guidelines Regarding Gender Identity Discrimination from the
New York City Commission on Human Rights late last year. The guidelines
interpret the Human Rights Law and are designed to educate the public
about the prohibition on discrimination based on gender identity and expression
that became part of New York City human rights law with the passage of
Int. No. 24, the transgender rights bill signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"The transgender community still
faces persistent and severe discrimination, being turned away from housing,
health care, and employment on the basis of gender identity and gender
expression," says Carrie Davis, a working group member and coordinator
of the Gender Identity Project (GIP) at New York's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
& Transgender Community Center. "These guidelines will help our
community know its rights and make this law more effective at preventing
a systemic discrimination, one that frequently affects our most needy
and least powerful members."
Compiled this month by Susan McMillan.