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San Antonio, TX, August 12, 1996 --- Air Force Maj. Debra Meeks should be getting ready to collect her $1,800-a-month pension after spending nearly 19 years on active duty.
Instead she is facing discharge, loss of her retirement and jail on charges she was romantically involved with another woman. Her court-martial is scheduled to begin today.
The case centers on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows gays and lesbians to serve provided they do not have sex with service members and keep their sexual preference and conduct private.
Because Meeks, 41, denies having the affair, her lawyers argue that prosecuting her would result in the Air Force violating its 1993 policy.
San Diego, CA August 12, 1996 -- The Republican Party should have been more tolerant and included homosexuals in its national convention, Rep. Steve Gunderson says.
"We must ask who this party really is. What does it stand for in 1996? Are all Americans welcome or just a few?" Gunderson (R-Wis.) told gay and lesbian conservatives Saturday night at the sixth annual Log Cabin Republicans Convention.
The meeting was held through Sunday as an alternative to the Republican National Convention, which starts today.
"This party is going to have to deal with the gay and lesbian issue because family after family is being touched by it," Gunderson said in an interview with the Washington Post before the speech.
Gunderson said he was not invited to speak, nor did he ask to speak, at the Republican National Convention.
The Wisconsin Republican criticized the GOP platform, saying Republicans writing the party platform went out of their way to oppose measures that fight discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
"They didn't have to say that," Gunderson said, "That's just mean."
In response to Gunderson, Republicans National Convention spokeswoman Anne Gavin said that the party had room for different viewpoints.
The Log Cabin group agreed Sunday to put off a decision on endorsing Bob Dole until Friday to give Dole's campaign more time to publicly seek the group's support.
The decision came after no one from the Dole campaign visited the group's three-day convention.
"We were asking for an emissary from the Dole campaign to come to ask for an endorsement," said David Greer, the groups spokesman.
Washington, D.C. August 12, 1996 --- The Senate will, for the first time in U.S. history, debate a gay civil rights bill on Sept. 5 when it takes up the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act.
According to an agreement reached before Congress recessed for the month of August, the Defense of Marriage Act will come to the Senate floor at 10 a.m. EDT on Sept. 5. Debate is scheduled to last two hours.
During that time, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and James Jeffords, R-Vt. , will introduce the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as an amendment. ENDA would outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"This strategy has benefited the community by forcing a debate on employment discrimination against gay people," said Daniel Zingale, HRC political director. "Nonetheless, the Human Rights Campaign continues to vigorously oppose the so-called Defense of Marriage Act."
Supporters of DOMA will also have an opportunity to offer amendments to the bill. "We expect amendments from our opponents to be as noxious as the overall bill," Zingale said. All amendments must be submitted to the Senate leadership by close of business Sept. 3.
The anti-marriage bill passed the House on July 12 by a vote of 342-67. No amendments were attached to the bill in the house.
The Human Rights Campaign is encouraging readers to urge their U.S. senators to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S.932) as an amendment to the Defense of Marriage Act (S.1740), and to oppose DOMA itself. Senators can be called through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121; written by sending a letter to The Honorable [senator's name], U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510; or sent an electronic message through the HRC's Action Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.hrcusa.org.
Cincinnati, OH August 9, 1996 --- A plea agreement has ended a two-year-old obscenity case against a downtown Cincinnati bookstore for renting a film about fascism to undercover vice officers, Cincinnati newspapers reported on August 3rd.
The plea -- which came just three days before the start of what could have been a contentious, drawn-out trial -- capped years of legal maneuvers that took the case from the municipal court to the court of appeals to the Ohio Supreme Court.
In the same Hamilton Country courtroom where their trial was to be held, the oweners of the Pink Pyramid admitted to attempting to pander obscene material.
The store was fined $500 and can place the film -- which the city must return -- on the rental shelves again.
The plea stems from a comment a customer -- who later became an employee -- made two years ago to an undercover officer. The officer was returning a video when he asked workers for a more explicit movie.
Stephen Austin, who was in the Court Street store, recommended the 1975 Italian film Salo, which he touted as a film "with everything in it."
Those words taken together with the violent nature of the film, which depicts sexal tortune, urination, eye-gouging, scalping and the forced consumption of feces were enough for prosecutors to file charges of pandering obscenity against the store and three employees.
Both H. Louis Sirkin, the store's attorney and a nationally recognized First Amendment lawyer, and city prosecutors claimed victory.
In exchange for the pleas, prosecutors dismissed charges against Mr. Austin, Gary Allgeier and William Dean, the three employees who will not be prosecuted.
"We believe our principles to be very strong, and we consider the film to be of artistic, historical and political value," Mr. Vanover, a store co-owner, said.
The film, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, is based on the book of the same name by the Marquis de Sade, for whom sadism is named. It was intended to depict the horros of fasciasm in Italy during World War II.
"I was obviously concerned about the intellectual integrity of the film and maintaining that," Attorney Sirkin said. To that end, Sirkin suggested the pleas agreement to city prosecutors on Wednesday.
The plea did not involve any admission about the film, and thus, does not prevent is distribution and continued availability in the city. Had a jury found the film obscene, it would have been a crime for any business to put the movie on their shelves.
"Basically, we got what we wanted," city prosecutor Terrence Cosgrove said.
Had the case gone to trial, he would have attacked the bookstore on two fronts; they either distributed an obscene film, or they tried to rent an obscene movie when Mr. Austin referred to objectionable portions.
"Our contention all along ws that we need not prove that the film is actually obscene to prove pandering," Cosgrove said, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld pandering convictions in similar cases. "If the film wasn't obscene, you still needed to look at how it was presented."
Leanne Katz, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship called the end of the case "an imperfect victory, but a victory nonetheless" as the film will be returned to the store shelves and people can resume renting it.
Cincinnati, OH August 9, 1996 ---The plea in the PInk Pyramid case will do little to push obscenity out of the headlines in Cincinnati this year. An upcoming case involving alleged computer porn will keep the spotlight on Cincinnati which has yet to live down the prosecution of an art museum over the photographs of Robert Mapplethrope.
Next month, in what likely will be the first case of its kind in the country, the owner of a computer bulletin board service wil lgo on trial in Clermont County for transmitting alledgedly obscene images -- via the Internet -- into Hamilton County.
Bob Emerson was arrested and his Cincinnati Computer Connection ws shut down in June 1995, when deputies raided the office and seized $45,000 in equipment.
The raid was done at the behest of Hamilton County Sherif Simon Leis Jr. Members of Sheriff Leis' computer crimes task force conducted the raid. The sheriff and his subordinates are defendants in a $60 million class action lawsuit filed by users of the bulletin board service.
H. Louis Sirkin, a nationally recognized First Amendment lawyer who represented the PInk Pyramid, will handle Mr. Emerson's case. He said one of the "Real good issues" in the case will center on how obscenity is defined. In criminal cases, it is measured by community standards and decided by jurors.
"Which community standards apply?" Mr. Sirkin said, referring to the sheriff, who bases his standards on Hamilton Country. The case, however, will be heard in Clermont County.
Washington, D.C. August 9, 1996 --- President Clinton will address HRC OutVote '96, the first lesbian and gay national political convention, on videotape, the Human Rights Campaign announced today.
The president will send a taped message to the meeting in Chicago, to be shown Saturday, Aug. 17, during the main plenary session.
George Stephanopoulos, a senior Clinton adviser, will personally attend the meeting and will acknowledge the endorsement of Clinton by HRC, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization.
"This will be first time a sitting president has sent a personal, videotaped message to a gay political meeting," said Daniel Zingale, HRC's political director. "We look forwared to hearing what the president has to say and welcome his efforts to continue a dialogue with gay and lesbian Americans."
HRC OutVote '96 will take place August 16-18 in Chicago. Stephanopoulos is slated to speak at the main plenary session Saturday, Aug. 17, from 3:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. CDT.
HRC OutVote '96 will draw about 500 supporters of equal rights for gay people and teach the campaign skills they need to make a difference in this year's critical elections. The three-day event will feature speeches by prominent Republican and Democratic leaders, including Rep. Steve Gunderson, R- Wis., and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros. Other featured speakers will icnlude Ellen Malcolm, founder of the politcial organization EMILY's List; the Reve. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Protestant denomination that ministers primarily to gay men and lesbians; and Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, the highest-ranking member of the military ever to face discharge for answering truthfully when asked, during a security clearance interview, if she is gay.
Others slated to speak during the plenary session include: actress Judith Light, star of ABC's Who's the Boss; Mitchell Anderson from Fox's Party of Five, Amanda Bearse of Fax's Married... With Children; and Dan Butler from NBC's Frasier. Also addressing the convention will be HRC's official spokespeople for Campaign '96: Candace Gingrich; Chastity Bono, a writer with The Advocate magazine; and Sean Sasser, of MTV's The Real World III.
More information on OutVote is available in a following article.
Chicago, IL August 6, 1996 --- Opponents of the civil rights ordinance in Lansing, Michigan, want to fool voters and illegally obtain a ballot referendum on the law, an attorney for Lmbda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday in preparing fo roral arguments in the case.
Patricia M. Logue, managing attorney for Lambda's Midwest Regional Office, will ask the Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday to uphold a lower court's invalidation of referendum petitions that failed to disclose the text of Lansing's ordinance.
Logue noted that when opponents of the ordinance circulated petitions for a voter referendum on the new law, they used misleading flyers with false claims, for example, that the law gives civil rights to child molesters or restricts what ministers can preach.
"Opponents of this civil rights law seem to think they can't win unless they can fool Lansing voters about what the law means," Logue said. "We are not afraid of a fair fight, and Lansing deserves a fair vote on a civil rights law that merely ensures discrimination protections for its residents," she said.
Passed by the Lansing City Council in March, the ordinance extends the city's protections against discrimination based on categories including race, sex, age, and disability in housing, into areas of employment, public accommodations and public services. The law also adds protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, familial status and other characteristics.
The Ingham County Circuit Court ruled on May 20, 1996, that opponents of the law must use new petitions that fully disclose what the ordinance actually does, in order tto get their referendum on the November ballot. The City Clerk, which originally accepted the petitions, appealed.
Lambda, the nation's oldest and largest gay legal organization, and co-counsel Linda K. Henderson represent the Lansing Equal Rights Task Force in the appeal.
Oral arguments in Lansing Equal Rights Task FOrce, et al. v Lansing City Clerk are scheduled for 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, August 7, 1996, at the Michigan Court of Appeals in Lansing, MI.
GLINN- San Francisco, CA August 6, 1996 --- A club that openly sold marijuana to people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases, reopened its doors Monday, a day after state drug agents cleaned out its cupboards.
"We don't have any marijuana, but we have each other," said volunteer Gilbert Baker as a dozen people lined up outside. "We have love and compassion. That's what this club's been about from the start."
The Cannabis Buyers' Club has sold marijuana to the seriously ill since it was founded in 1991. Boasting 11,000 members, the club operated from a storefront on busy Market St.
Club leaders made no secret of the fact they sold the illegal drug, and city police, under orders from elected officials, didn't disturb the operation.
But on Sunday, state agents burst into the club, seizing more than 40 lbs. of weed, documents and an unspecified amount of cash.
The raid came after a two-year investigation during which undercover agents claimed they saw minors buying pot and people selling the drug to "patients" with "doctor's notes" scribbled on napkins or scrap paper.
State Justice Department spokesman Steve Telliano said the club helped distribute large quantities of marijuana throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
"This clearly was not a not-for-profit operation," he said. "We're all counting" the money, he said.
State attorneys will move to shut the club down permanently, Telliano said.
No immediate arrests were made, although Telliano said some are possible after agents examine the evidence seized.
Club founder Dennis Peron, who was out of town during the raid, insisted the club has tight restrictions on who should be sold marijuana, and said he had thousands of doctors' notes as proof. Some marijuana users say it can stimulate appetite and relieve the nausea caused by AIDS medications and chemotherapy.
Washington, D.C. August 9, 1996 --- President Clinton will address HRC OutVote '96, the first lesbian and gay national political convention, on videotape, the Human Rights Campaign announced today.
The president will send a taped message to the meeting in Chicago, to be shown Saturday, Aug. 17, during the main plenary session.
George Stephanopoulos, a senior Clinton adviser, will personally attend the meeting and will acknowledge the endorsement of Clinton by HRC, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization.
"This will be first time a sitting president has sent a personal, videotaped message to a gay political meeting," said Daniel Zingale, HRC's political director. "We look forwared to hearing what the president has to say and welcome his efforts to continue a dialogue with gay and lesbian Americans."
HRC OutVote '96 will take place August 16-18 in Chicago. Stephanopoulos is slated to speak at the main plenary session Saturday, Aug. 17, from 3:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. CDT.
HRC OutVote '96 will draw about 500 supporters of equal rights for gay people and teach the campaign skills they need to make a difference in this year's critical elections. The three-day event will feature speeches by prominent Republican and Democratic leaders, including Rep. Steve Gunderson, R- Wis., and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros. Other featured speakers will icnlude Ellen Malcolm, founder of the politcial organization EMILY's List; the Reve. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Protestant denomination that ministers primarily to gay men and lesbians; and Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, the highest-ranking member of the military ever to face discharge for answering truthfully when asked, during a security clearance interview, if she is gay.
Others slated to speak during the plenary session include: actress Judith Light, star of ABC's Who's the Boss; Mitchell Anderson from Fox's Party of Five, Amanda Bearse of Fax's Married... With Children; and Dan Butler from NBC's Frasier. Also addressing the convention will be HRC's official spokespeople for Campaign '96: Candace Gingrich; Chastity Bono, a writer with The Advocate magazine; and Sean Sasser, of MTV's The Real World III.
More information on OutVote is available in a following article.
Chicago, IL August 6, 1996 --- Opponents of the civil rights ordinance in Lansing, Michigan, want to fool voters and illegally obtain a ballot referendum on the law, an attorney for Lmbda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday in preparing fo roral arguments in the case.
Patricia M. Logue, managing attorney for Lambda's Midwest Regional Office, will ask the Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday to uphold a lower court's invalidation of referendum petitions that failed to disclose the text of Lansing's ordinance.
Logue noted that when opponents of the ordinance circulated petitions for a voter referendum on the new law, they used misleading flyers with false claims, for example, that the law gives civil rights to child molesters or restricts what ministers can preach.
"Opponents of this civil rights law seem to think they can't win unless they can fool Lansing voters about what the law means," Logue said. "We are not afraid of a fair fight, and Lansing deserves a fair vote on a civil rights law that merely ensures discrimination protections for its residents," she said.
Passed by the Lansing City Council in March, the ordinance extends the city's protections against discrimination based on categories including race, sex, age, and disability in housing, into areas of employment, public accommodations and public services. The law also adds protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, familial status and other characteristics.
The Ingham County Circuit Court ruled on May 20, 1996, that opponents of the law must use new petitions that fully disclose what the ordinance actually does, in order tto get their referendum on the November ballot. The City Clerk, which originally accepted the petitions, appealed.
Lambda, the nation's oldest and largest gay legal organization, and co-counsel Linda K. Henderson represent the Lansing Equal Rights Task Force in the appeal.
Oral arguments in Lansing Equal Rights Task FOrce, et al. v Lansing City Clerk are scheduled for 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, August 7, 1996, at the Michigan Court of Appeals in Lansing, MI.
GLINN- San Francisco, CA August 6, 1996 --- A club that openly sold marijuana to people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases, reopened its doors Monday, a day after state drug agents cleaned out its cupboards.
"We don't have any marijuana, but we have each other," said volunteer Gilbert Baker as a dozen people lined up outside. "We have love and compassion. That's what this club's been about from the start."
The Cannabis Buyers' Club has sold marijuana to the seriously ill since it was founded in 1991. Boasting 11,000 members, the club operated from a storefront on busy Market St.
Club leaders made no secret of the fact they sold the illegal drug, and city police, under orders from elected officials, didn't disturb the operation.
But on Sunday, state agents burst into the club, seizing more than 40 lbs. of weed, documents and an unspecified amount of cash.
The raid came after a two-year investigation during which undercover agents claimed they saw minors buying pot and people selling the drug to "patients" with "doctor's notes" scribbled on napkins or scrap paper.
State Justice Department spokesman Steve Telliano said the club helped distribute large quantities of marijuana throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
"This clearly was not a not-for-profit operation," he said. "We're all counting" the money, he said.
State attorneys will move to shut the club down permanently, Telliano said.
No immediate arrests were made, although Telliano said some are possible after agents examine the evidence seized.
Club founder Dennis Peron, who was out of town during the raid, insisted the club has tight restrictions on who should be sold marijuana, and said he had thousands of doctors' notes as proof. Some marijuana users say it can stimulate appetite and relieve the nausea caused by AIDS medications and chemotherapy.
By Tom Zanki
The Journal, Warren, New Jersey, Wed., July 24, 1996, Vol. 11, No. 30 --- George DeCarlo claims he lost his job as substitute teacher at Watchung Hills Regional High School because he is gay.
He has taken that claim to the state Division on Civil Rights, which certified a "probable cause" of Mr. DeCarlo's allegation earlier this year. Mr. DeCarlo has since filed his suit against the district with the New Jersey Superior Court, who received it July 12.
Watchung Hills Superintendent Robert Baly indicated the school has yet to receive a copy of the suit.
The suit alleges the district violated a 1992 state law that prohibits discrimination based on "sexual or affectional orientation."
The Berkeley Heights resident is seeking punitive damages, interest, and legal costs.
Mr. Baly said based on advice from the district's attorney, the administration could not comment on the matter.
"The only thing I'll say is this district does not discriminate," he said.
Mr. DeCarlo claims he experienced several incidents of students harassing him through the use of derisive names, including "faggot" and some obscenities. He said he brought complaints to Vice Principal Frances Sills and Mr. Baly in February 1994, Mr. DeCarlo said he also brought the matter to the attention of the county superintendent of schools.
"I went to the superintendent at the county level, because I did not feel comfortable with this administration," Mr. DeCarlo said. "The county offices are under the state Department of Education."
On May 10, another incident of name-calling occurred. This time Mr. DeCarlo submitted an official Report of misconduct to Ms. Sills.
"I said 'Come along with me, we're going to the vice principal's office,'" he said.
The student eventually confessed and was suspended one day, which Mr. DeCarlo felt was insufficient punishment. But, according to the Division on Civil Rights summary of investigation, the same punishment was applied to a student who allegedly referred to a black employee as an "Aunt Jemina."
One month later, Mr. DeCarlo said he received a letter confirming his reappointment as substitute teacher for the 1994-95 school year. But throughout the following fall, Mr. DeCarlo said, he received no phone calls for substitute work. He said he began inquiring with the administration about his status, but was frustrated by a lack of response.
The suit states the administration's response was that the original letter, reportedly dated June 7, was a "mistake." Mr. DeCarlo said he received another letter in January stating that he was not to return.
The suit states the administration's reason why Mr. DeCarlo was not invited back was because of "poor performance." Mr. DeCarlo maintains he never was notified about any shortcomings, only compliments like "good job, very good job, job well done."
"I received not one complaint," he said. "Nothing."
He then filed suit with the state Division on Civil Rights Mat 2, 1995. By January, the Division confirmed the existence of probable cause concerning Mr. DeCarlo's allegation. Frustrated at the length of time it took tom process his case, he took his complaint to Superior Court of New Jersey.
"The state apparatus on the Division on Civil Rights is simply insufficient," he said.
Mr. DeCarlo is confident he has a solid case.
"My attorney (Robin J. Gray of Cherry Hill) took the case because the lies are so obvious.
Mr. DeCarlo, 37, received his bachelor's degree in 1992 from Thomas Edison State College. He previously worked at Chatham Trust Company Bank in Convent Station. Currently unemployed, he said he misses teaching and was looking forward to returning to Watchung Hills, where he substituted for two years.
"I enjoyed it. I was even pursuing it," he said. "I was going to apply (to) Watchung Hills to see if there were any openings in the social studies department. But of course all those opportunities disappeared."
Altogether the experience of then past couple years has left him "very disappointed and very frustrated," Mr. DeCarlo said.
"I learned that even though they can pass a law against discrimination, it really doesn't mean much at all," he said. "As I say to gay people: 'Keep a journal at every job you get. Because they'll find a way to get rid of you. They'll simply find a way to get rid of you."
GLINN - Washington, D.C; August 6, 1996 --- Sen. Phil Gramm and his Asian-American wife, Wendy, are one of three married couples featured in a new TV advertisement critical of the Republican efforts to outlaw same-sex marriages.
"Phile Gramm made a choice in his life to marry a woman of another race.... before he
starts scapegoating other adults in American society, he should revist the moment when he made that choice," said Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights
Campaign, a national gay and lesbian political organization that paid for the TV spots.
"He should not be causing the kind of pain in other people's lives that he sought to avoid in his own," she said at a news conference Monday in Washington.
THe 30-second ad compares the plight of mixed race couples to the struggles of gay and lesbian couples today.
It will air in the San Diego market on CNN and several morning news shows during next weeks Republication National Convention.
Larry Neal, a spokesman for Gramm (R-Texas), said the issue is not about race, religion or class but about "forcing" the state to accept same-sex marriages.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole and his second wife, Elizabeth, although not a mixed race couple, are featured in the ad with a voice-over stating "there was a time when a divorced man would not have made an ideal candidate for marriage."
The third couple, Supreme Court Justie Clarence Thomas, who is African-American, and is wife, Virginia, who is white, are shown as an example of a marriage that was "so shocking to the majority" earlier this century that it was not legal.
A measure that would outlaw same-sex marriages was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate in April. Dole, who was Senate majority elader at the time, co-sponsored the bill.
The House passed the meausre in July and the Senate may vote on it after lawmakers return early next month from their August recess.
GLVF- Washington, D.C. August 1, 1996 --- Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund Executive Director David Clarenbach today announced his departure from that position effective August 9, 1996 to pursue other professional opportunities. The Victory Fund Board of Directors has appointed board member and former Victory Fund candidate Jonathan Wilson as Interim Excecutive Director while a search for a permanent Executive Director is being conducted.
According to Victory Fund co-chair Joy Tomchin of New York, "In his year as our Exeuctive Director, David provided the Victory Fund with essential administrative and financial management and austerity. He has accomplished much toward ensuring that the Victory Fund is a highly successful, effective and well-run organization with a healthy and stable financial condition. David will be sincerely missed and the board of directors wishes him well."
At its July 27 meeting in Washington, D. C., the Victory Fund Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint Jonathan Wilson as Interim Executive Director. Wilson, a successful corporate attorney, served on the Des Moines (Iowa) School Board for twelve years, including two terms as board vice president and three terms as board president. During his tenure, he earned a reputation as a hardworking, outspoken advocate for nondiscrimination, equal educational opportunities, and multi-cultural, non-sexist polices and curriculum. Wilson gained national attention when he came out as a gay man during a contentious school board discussion concering more uniform implementation of the school district's long-standing sexual orientation nondiscrimination policy. "I know very personally what it means to be targeted by the religious political extremists," Wilsons said," and I've got a message for them: This target shoots back. I intend to help legions of lesbian and gay candidates get elected and appointed to public office at every level all across our country."
Victory Fund co-chair Jeff Trammell of Washington D.C., said "Jonathan is an ideal choice for Interim Executive Director. He brings a unique perspective not only as a successful corporate attorney, but also as a former Victory Fund-recommended candidate and as a national figure who has dealt personally with the issues openly gay and lesbian candidates and public officials face each election cycle."
Said Jonathon Wilson, "David Clarenback has successfully positioned the Victory Fund for the future. I plan to build on his work." Added Clarenbach, "The Victory Fund is in good hands, and I look forward to working with the Interim Executive Director, Jonathan Wilson."
The Victory Fund Board has asked Clarenbach to serve as a management and policy advisor to the Victory Fund during the transition and search process. As members of the Victory Fund delegation to Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, Wilson and Clarenbach will take part in joint gay and lesbian community activities, including a major event honoring openly gay and lesbian delegates to be held on August 28 at the new Museum of Contemporary Arts. Clarenbach will also participate in ac tivities surrounding the Republican National Convention in San Diego, including LGBT Voices '96 and the National Log Cabin Club Convention.
The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is the nation's 15th largest independent political action committee and has raised more than $1.3 million for its recommended candidates. Founded in 1991, the Victory Fund is a donor network of individuals committed to electing qualified, openly gay and lesbian public officials at all levels of government. The Victory Fund is actively supporting 27 openly gay candidates nationwide, icnluding highly focused support for Democrat Rick Zbur's closely-watched Congressional race in southern California.
GLINN - Los Angeles, CA August 5, 1996 --- Nine months ago, Atlantic Records sounded every trumpet in its new gay marketing department -- an industry first. Led by journalist Peter Galvin, this ground breaking division set out to hawk Atlantic products to gay music fans and encourage openly gay artists on the label.
So why did Atlantic just fire the first rock band in its history led by an openly gay -- and frankly HIV positive -- man? Eight weeks after issuing "Sinnerman," the debut from the L.A. band Extra Fancy led by Brian Grillo, Atlantic showed the act the door. This, despite the band's glowing press and fervent following.
"A lot of gay people feel duped by this," says a source close to the group. "You can't court gay people with marketing, then stab those people in the back. Brian was a role model, the kind of person who could change people's minds."
Atlantic representatives and Galvin would not comment.
Extra Fancy isn't the only band to get cut from Atlantic of late. Company sources confirm that "between seven and nine" bands including Screaming Cheetah Wheelies and King's X, got canned, too. The cutback could be the result of relatively disappointing sales for Atlantic's two biggest artists of late: Stone Temple Pilots and Hootie & the Blowfish. Atlantic denied any relation between those slips and the purge.
Extra Fancy's iring rates as most surprising considering the band high-press profile, the label's stated commitment to gay artists and the speed with which the ax fell after the release of "Sinnerman." Sources say that Altantic told the group it couldn't funnel any more money toward getting them their break."That would be a fine argument after a year," says the source. "But how can you gauge the success of any record after eight weeks?"
Atlatnic's cutting of Extra Fancy was a surprise considering its reputation as the premier band in a thriving musics scene in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles, (which earlier had produced Beck and the Geraldine Fibbers). A recent compilation of the area's bands just came out on independent Neurotic Records. Lezle Stein, who assembled the LP, say E.F. "drew straight and gay audiences alike. Girls love Brian. They had crossed over." (The three members of E.F. outside of Grillo are straight.)
Yet the source says Extra Fancy became "ghettoized in (Atlantic's) gay-marketing department. Peter (Galvin) did a great job. But the rest of the company didn't help like they promised."
Other observers are hardly surprised that Atlantic did not back the band for long. "If you look at the (gay) artists who make it, their lyrics are gender-free," explains Ernest Hardy, who wrote up E.F. for L.A. Weekly. "Brian is far more specific and writes things that are much more threatening than your average Melissa Etheridge LP."
Still, others feel the band may yet fare well. "They're extremely popular on the live circuit," Stein says. "I think they'll be able to get another label, this time, hopefully, one that's really committed to them."
Washington, D.C. August 2, 1996 -- The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, commended the decision by Rep. Jim Kolbe, R- Arz., to reveal that he is gay.
"To be open and honest about being gay is often one of the most difficult decision in the life of any gay person, especially a public figure like Congressman Kolbe," sand Daniel Zingale, HRC's political director. "We applaud his action and look forward to continuing to work with him on issues of mutual concern."
HRC strongly believes that coming out is the most effective method gay men and lesbians can employ to end prejudice against them. HRC's polling has shown that people are significantly more likely to support equal rights for gay people if they personally know someone who is gay. Of Americans who say they do not know anyone who is gay, only 65 percent support equal rights for gay people, according to a poll conducted for the HRC in February 1994. That number shot up to 87 percent among Americans who said they know someone gay.
The Communications Decency Act was declared unconstitutional by a three-judge Federal panel in a 75-page opinion in Shea v. Reno handed down in Manhattan late Monday afternoon.
Previously a U.S. Court in Philadelphia had ruled the Communications Decency Act as unconstitutional. Reports indicate that the Supreme Court may hear the case this year.
The case was based on a controversial test article written by retired Texas Judge Steve Russell and published by The American Reporter on Feb. 8, the day President Clinton signed the law.
The American Reporter was represented by Arent Fox, Kintner Plotkin & Kahn attorneys led first by now-AOL attorney Randall Boe, Jim Stronski, Jill Newman and Wayne Metelski.
Chicago, IL July 31, 1996-- In a landmark case that could improve the lives of lesbians and gay men in the nation's schools, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of a young gay man who sued his former Wisconsin school for failing to protect him from constant, at times brutal, anti-gay assaults and harassment while he was a student.
The appeal, Nabozny v. Podlesny, was brought by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and is the first of its kind to challenge anti-gay violence in the nation's schools. The decision reversed a lower court's ruling throwing the case out and remanded it to the federal district court in Madison, Wisconsin for trial.
Patricia M. Logue, manging attorney for Lambda's Midwest Regional Office, who argued the appeal, said, "This ruling in favor of Jamie Nabozny is spectacular news for young lesbians and gay men facing violence and harassment in their schools. It means the federal constitution requires schools to offer gay students the same protections and safety given other students. This may seem obvious, but school officials regularly deny young lesbians and gay men refuge from violence."
A jubilant Nabozny said: "I hope the thousands of other gay teens forced to live through this kind of terror will be encouraged by my victory and will not give up. I feel like someone has finally recognized that it was the violence that was the problem, not me or my sexual orientation, and I am deeply grateful."
During his four-year ordeal in Ashland, Wisconsin, middle and high schools, Nabozny and his parents repeatedly asked schools to safeguard him from his attackers, but school officials told them that Nabozny had to learn to expect such abuse because he is gay. During an assault that resulted in injuries requiring surgery, 10 students surrounded Nabozny while another student wearing boots repeatedly kicked him in the stomach. Another time, students urinated on him, and in another instance, students pushed him to the floor and acted out a mock rape. Nabozny attempted suicide several times and ran away to escape the abuse.
"America's heartland is on notice that its schools are responsible for the security of their gay as well as non-gay students," Logue said. She said the ruling directly affects courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin and will be influential nationwide.
David Buckel, Lambda staff attorney and co-counsel in the Nabozny case, added, "This issue of anti-gay violence against schoolchildren has exploded, with hearings in states including Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island an Texas."
"This decision sends a messae to every school district in the country not to sweep problems of anti-gay violence under the rug," said Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn. "This is a pervasive problem that all schools must face. Young lesbians and gay men have the right to a safe education," Dohrn said.
Nabozny, now 20 years old, sued his high school and his case was thrown out without a trial in the federal district court in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1995. Lambda represented Nabozny in his appeal of that ruling, argued to a panel for the Seventh Circuit appeals court on March 28, 1996. The court ruled that Nabozny could pursue his gender and sexual orientation discrimination claims under the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Unless the school district petitions the full Seventh Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court for review, today's reversal of the district court decisiom means that Nabozny now can take his case to trial to establish the school's liability.
A friend-of-the=court brief was filed in support of Nabozny's appeal by the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Social Workers, the national organizations of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbains and Gays, and the Chicago lesbian and gay social services agency Horizons.
Washington, D.C. July 30, 1996-- Congressional negotiators nixed a provision today in the 1997 defense authorization bill that would have discharged members of the military who test positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
House and Senate conferees also rejected an amendment that would have overturned the "Don't ask don't tell" military policy and made anti-gay witch hunts the law.
"Extremists were dealt a setback today and common sense prevailed," said Winnie Stachelberg, deputy director for legislation at the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization. "We hope this atmosphere lasts until the end of the session."
Rep. Bob Dornan, R-Calif., personally attached the amendments when the bill was before his National Security subcommittee. The Senate version of the authorization bill contained an amendment, sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., mandating uniform treatment of al service members with chronic medical conditions. The Senate bill did not address the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
"Congress has already rejected both of these policies, and it was forced to reconsider them because of Dornan's anti-gay obsession," Stachelberg added. "The conference committee was right to repudiate these unnecessary, spiteful measures.
Another Dornan amendment, outlawing abortions at overseas military hospitals, was passed by the conference committee.
Last week, House GOP leaders denied Dornan a seat on the conference committee, ostensibly because he openly supported Joseph DioGuardi, the conservative Republican who is challenging Rep. Sue Kelly in the New York GOP primary. Dornan has also staged several angry tirades on the House floor recently against Rep. Steve Gunderson, an openly gay Republican from Wisconsin who is a close friend of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
In April, Congress passed an omnibus budget bill that repealed a discriminatory HIV-discharge message that Dornan had added to the 1996 Department of Defense authorization.
Almost immediately, Dornan introduced a slightly modified version of the measure to kick out service members with the virus that causes AIDS.
"That version was even meaner in that it ordered service men and women to be kicked out two months after diagnosis, as opposed to six months," Stachelberg said. "Dornan tried to make it more palatable by allowing those people to retire with full benefits, but he couldn't mask his underlying bigotry."
The discharge provision singled out service members with HIV and treated them differenly from those with other chronic medical conditions. Currently, service members with HIV are allowed to serve their country as long as they can perform their duties, but they are not deployed overseas. The same policy applies to serice members who have other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease or cancer.
Washington, D.C. July 31, 1996 -- George Stephanopoulos, a top advisor to President Clinton, will address OutVote `96, the first lesbian and gay national political convention, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign.
Stephanopoulos will acknowledge the endorsement of Clinton by HRC, the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch said today.
OutVote '96 will take place Aug. 16-18 in Chicago. Stephanopoulos is slated to speak at the main plenary session on Saturday, Augu. 17, from 3:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. CDT.
"We are extremely pleased that the administration, through George Stephanopoulos, will be participating in our convention," Birch said. "Recognizing that the president's relationship with the gay and lesbian community has been strained in some quarters, we see George Stephanopoulos' appearance as strong evidence that the president wants to continue the dialogue with gay and lesbian voters."
OutVote '96 will draw hundreds of supporters of equal rights for gay people and teach the campaign skills they need to make a difference in this year's critical elections. The three-day event will feature speeches by prominent Republican and Democratic leaders, including Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Wis., and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros. Other featured speakers will include Ellen Malcolm, founder of the political organization EMILY's List; the Reve. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, a Protestant demonimation that ministers primarily to gay men and lesbains; the Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, the highest-ranking member of the military ever to face discharge for answering truthfully when asked, during a security clearance interview, if she is gay.
Others slated to speak during the plenary session include: actress Judith Light, star of ABC's Who's the Boss?, Mitchell Anderson from Fox's Party of Five; Amanda Bearse of Fox's Married... With Children; and Dan Butler from NBC's Frasier. Also addressing the convention will be HRC's official spokespeople for Campaign '96: Candace Gingrich; Chastity Bono, a writer with The Advocate magazine; and Sean Sasser, of MTV's The Real World III.
OutVote '96 opens Friday evening with a welcome reception featuring Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-Ill. That will be followed by the first presentation of the HRC Equality Awards --- emceed by actor Harvey Fierstein -- in recognition of significant contributions to the cause of lesbian and gay equality. Topping off opening night will be a concert by the the avant-garde singing trio, BETTY.
Saturday and Sunday will be packed with workshops to teach activists the campaign skills necessary to get involved in HRC's efforts to elect and re-elect fair-minded members of Congress this fall. They will cover such subjects as raising money, creating a winning message for a politcal campaign, how to register voters and get them to the polls and how to make the most effect use of the Internet.
The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work, and in the community.
Democratic National Committee, July 27, 1996-- According to Brian Bond, Director of Lesbian and Gay Outreach for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 26-29 as convention participants. To date, the lesbian and gay Democratic contingent includes: 102 Delegates, 25 Alternates and 19 Standing Committee Members.
"This will be the largest lesbian and gay contingent ever for the Democratic Party," said Bond. "The DNC and the Clinton/Gore Re-elect Committee worked very hard to open doors and ensure inclusion in the Delegate Selection process."
"As it stands now, we have a 38% increase in the number of lesbian and gay Convention participants from 1992. This is not about political rhetoric, this is an example of real fundamental empowerment within the political process of the Democratic Party," said Bond.
The California contingent will be the alrgest with 34 Delegates and 8 Altenrates. Texas will follow with 15 Delegates and 3 Alternates. New York will send 11 Delegates and 3 Alternates. Florida and Massachusetts will each send 5 Delegates and 2 and 1 Alternates respectively. Washington State and Minnesota will each send 4 Delegates. The District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia and Vermont will each send 2 Delegates and 2 Alternates from Pennsylvania and 1 Alternate from Illinois and D.C. The following States will also have representation: Mryland, Montana, Ohio, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, Iowa, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin and Mississippi.
A roster of Convention gay and lesbian participants will be made available prior to the Convention.
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