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After more than two months of intense lobbying, the Albuquerque City Council passed a Hate Crimes Ordinance 7-2 on Monday, December 16, 1996, adding an addition charge to misdemeanors committed out of animus on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestory, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
The bill had been simultaneously, and independently proposed by Mayor Martin Chavez and Councilmember Sam Bregman in early October. The ordinance would create a new penalty for hate motivated crimes with penalties of no more than 90 days in jail and up to $500 fine. Only misdemeanor crimes are subject to city penalties. Felonies are the state's jurisdiction.
In 1995, the New Mexico legislature passed a Hate Crimes Bill inclusive of sexual orientation by a 75% margin in both houses, but it was vetoed by Gov. Johnson, along with 200 of the 400 bills to reach his desk. A veto override attempt in 1996 failed by 2 votes.
Chavez began work on the hate crime issues after Gov. Johnson's veto and the Governor's meeting with New Mexico Militia members just days after the Oklahoma City bombing. Johnson refered to the Militia members as "patriots."
"We talked with the NM Militia for 10-15 minutes during the break," said GLSTN member Dair Obenshain they were wearing the same buttons as us, so on both sides we were assuming we were on the same side! Joan finally asked where they stood on the bill, and we clarified that the 'No Hate Crimes' button really didn't mean 'No Hate Crimes Bill!'"
27 people testified in favor of the bill, and 4 against. Supporters included Chief of Police Joe Polisar, District Attorney Bob Schwartz, and representatives of Hispanic groups, Native American groups, Black groups, the Human Rights Coalition, National Organization for Women, the New Mexico Conference of Churches, a Holocaust survivor, the Human Rights Board, the Unitarian Church, the Emmanuel Metropolitian Communtiy Church, St. Stephen's Parich (EACA), Quakers, the council of the Greater Jewish Communtiy of Albuquerque, the Anti-Defamation League, ACLU, PFLAG, GLSTN, several unafiliated residents of Albuquerque and organizers of the renaming of a street after Cesar Chavez which passed earlier in the evening. Many of the people testifying urged passage without amendment, and with "sexual orientation" included.
In opposition to the bill were members of the New Mexico Militia, a right wing minister who is a member of the Militia and the New Mexico Christian Coalition.
Councilmember Vicki Parea--an Evangelical Christian--who tried unsucessfully to stop the bill in committee, proposed an amendment aimed at the inclusion of "sexual orientation" which would have added "This ordinance is not intended to create a protected status or substantive rights for any class or group of people for any purpose, including civil rights claims."
Bregman said that the amendment would call into question the Constitutionality of the bill which was carefully worded to pass constitutional muster based on the US Supreme Court rulings. The Amendment failed 3 to 6.
Council President Steve Griegos--holding his last Council meeting--said that he would be voting for the bill and said that several years ago while campaigning door-to-door with his son, was confronted at one home by a man brandishing a gun and said "You're that guy that supports those faggots!"
Councilmember Cummings, who voted with Parea against the bill, said "I think this bill creates an illusion of safety." amid other ideaolgically right wing comments.
Mayor Chavez is expected to sign the bill soon.
Bob Summersgill, publisher of the New Mexico Rainbow, The newspaper for the Lesbian and Gay communities of New Mexico. summers@rt66.com http://rt66.com/summers/bob.html
"Marriage has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men." --Loving v. Virginia (1967)
But the decision not to run the piece has stirred things up further. The student who wrote the piece, 15-year-old Socha Smith, has made her complaint public. Smith has accused the school of censorship, saying they are "too closed-minded."
The Washington Post, December 15. 1996 1150 15th St. NW,Washington,DC,20071 (No Fax - Letters by mail only)
By Tara Mack -- Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 15 1996; Page B03- The Washington Post --- The Alexandria City Council yesterday decided against urging the Virginia legislature to legalize same-sex marriage, voting instead to ask for a variety of other protections for gays and for the legalization of sodomy.
The action followed more than an hour of testimony at a public hearing on the same-sex marriage proposal, made by council member Lonnie C. Rich (D).
When it came time to vote, however, council member David G. Speck (D) offered a substitute motion, arguing that his was a more realistic request to send to the Virginia General Assembly. Even supporters of the marriage proposal viewed it as largely symbolic and didn't expect the generally conservative legislature to seriously consider it.
Speck's proposal didn't cover the question of marriage but asked lawmakers to amend hate-crime statutes to cover crimes committed against people because of their sexual orientation, to prohibit by state law discrimination against gays in employment and housing, to allow employers to extend insurance coverage to gay couples and to repeal Virginia's law against sodomy.
"We are not sending stuff down there [just] to send a message," Speck said at the hearing. "We are sending stuff down there that we think we need and we want to have passed." The council voted 4 to 3 to consider Speck's motion instead of the marriage measure, then passed each of the four parts separately on votes of either 6 to 1 or 7 to 0.
But Virginia lawmakers said yesterday that they didn't think Alexandria's wish list stood any greater chance of passage than the earlier proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.
"The motion will be laughed out of the halls of Richmond," said Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax). He predicted that any attempt to seek legal protections for homosexuals would cause a political backlash against them in Richmond.
"They might be looked upon as a group seeking special class citizenship, entitled to special rights," he said. "Right now they enjoy the same rights as anyone else."
Gov. George Allen (R) has not been receptive to strengthening rights for gays. In January, his administration reversed a rule allowing gay and other unmarried couples to get affordable-housing loans, a move he defended as an expression of support for the "traditional family."
Alexandria's same-sex marriage proposal drew more than 20 speakers to yesterday's hearing, most of whom favored the measure. Some told stories of the frustrations of being in a monogamous gay relationship without the legal benefits of marriage. Opponents argued that legalizing gay marriage would undermine heterosexual unions.
If same-sex marriage were legalized, "is there any logic that would prevent the legalization of plural marriage or polygamy down the road?" asked the Rev. Christopher Murphy of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alexandria, who spoke against Rich's proposal.
Christopher Redder, who attends the Transformation Christian Ministry in the District, also testified against the same-sex marriage proposal and called the substitute measure "disappointing, but not surprising," given the makeup of the council. Six members are Democrats; one is Republican.
Other ministers spoke in favor of broadening rights for gays.
"It is not the place of the City of Alexandria or the State of Virginia . . . to declare for anyone else what is and is not acceptable between that individual and God," said Carl Patton, who said he was a Baptist minister who had been in a gay relationship for 14 years. "If homosexuality is a sin . . . then leave that judgment to God where it belongs."
Several who spoke in favor of the marriage proposal expressed satisfaction with the substitute request.
"It was realistic, and [council members] have to be realistic," said Anne Briscoe, a lesbian and resident of Alexandria. "We all do."
Rich said he decided to raise the marriage issue after following the debate in Congress over the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows states not to recognize such marriages performed in other states. The measure was approved by Congress and was signed by President Clinton.
Rich expressed disappointment that his proposal didn't pass but said that wasn't the most important thing.
"Frankly, what's important was not so much the vote today, but the discussion [of gay rights] in the broader community," he said.
Staff writer Louie Estrada contributed to this report.
Chicago, IL December 12, 1996 --- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the nation's oldest and largest lesbian and gay organization, announced today that its Midwest Regional Office (MRO) has relocated to a new and larger ofice in downtown Chicago.
Lambda MRO Managing Attorney Patricia M. Logue said, "Lambda is putting down firmer roots here in the heartland. We now have a new office that almost doubles our old space, for a staff that has grwon to five members from just two a few years ago."
Logue said, "Our victory for Jamie Nobozny, the former Wisconsin student, is just the latest example of how Lambda's dedicated crew here is improving the civil rights landscape for a whole country through our work in this region."
Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart hailed the successes by the Midwest Regional Office and said, "Lambda has been intensifying its national efforts since 1990, when we established our Western Regional Office in Los Angeles. Thanks to Pat Logue and hier Chicago staff's prolific and effective work with local attorneys, activists and media, Lambda is making an indelible mark in the Midwest. This move to a larger facility demonstrates our commitment to the region."
Cathcart continued, "Lambda will achieve another first with the opening of a Southern Regional Office in Atlanta in 1997, marking the first time a national lesbian and gay organization is represented in that region."
The new Midwest Regional Office of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is located at 11 East Adams, Suite 1008, Chicago, IL 60603-6303. Phone: 312-663-4413. Fax: 312-663-4307.
San Francisco, CA Dec. 11, 1996 --- The San Francisco Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts has quietly adopted a more lenient policy toward gay members and leaders, putting it in apparent conflict with the national Scouts but positioning it to try to win back United Way and corporate funding cut off four years ago.
The national Boy Scouts of America opposes allowing homosexual members or leaders, and in the past it has expelled gays. A spokesman in Irving, Texas, where the Scouts have their headquarters, said that policy was unchanged.
But the Bay Area Council has adopted a policy that doesn't call for the expulsion unless the Scout or Scout leader engages in public homosexual conduct or advocacy.
"This is a very difficult issue," said Steve Barnes, the former military man who took over as the local council's chief executive officer last year. "What we've done is define where and when we'd take action.
"If you come into our program and you are interested in conduct or advocacy, then we will not retain you."
However, the Bay Area Council's new policy on sexuality, marked "confidential (and) not intended for public release," doesn't bar membership for simply being homosexual and forbids Scout officials from investigating a member's or leader's sexual orientation.
The policy was crafted by San Francisco business leader and Scout board member Stephen Bechtel Jr. and was passed by the council's board in an August meeting, sources said.
"The Boy Scouts of America does not ask prospective members about their sexual preference, nor do we check on the sexual orientation of boys who are already in scouting," the policy says. "We allow youth to live as children and enjoy scouting and its diversity without immersing them in the politics of the day.
"The Boy Scouts of America has always taught youth the traditional values of scouting families. Accordingly, we do not allow for the registration of members or as leaders those whose public conduct or advocacy does not suggest these traditional values."
Barnes said, "In this program, we judge people on the content of their character and their behavior. We need to be asexual as well as apolitical. . . . We're here to serve kids. We're here to serve all kids."
Rejecting the idea that the policy was a version of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Barnes said, "Sexuality is an adult issue. We don't think kids should be part of that. Most of these kids are Cub Scouts, aged 8 to 11, and there's nothing appropriate about anybody having a discussion with an 8- or 11-year-old about sexuality.
"And the politics (of the debate over gay rights) is not something we should get involved in."
Bechtel was unavailable for comment, and the Boy Scouts of America spokesman in Irving referred The Examiner's inquiry to local Scout officials.
Asked about the national Scouts' reaction, Barnes said, "We've communicated with the national office that this is our policy interpretation, (and) they said OK. Each council is independent, and (its) executive board has the responsibility to set policy for that council."
The Bay Area Council has some 32,000 Scouts and 5,500 leaders in San Francisco and Alameda County, except for Piedmont and the city of Alameda.
Some or all of the other six Scout councils in the Bay Area apparently have been approached about adopting similar policies, but none has acted yet, sources said. None of the Scout councils in the Bay Area receives United Way funds.
The United Way cut off nearly $500,000 in annual funding to Bay Area councils in 1992 because of the Scouts' anti-gay policies. Several major corporations -- Levi Strauss, Bank of America and Wells Fargo -- subsequently cut off funding as well.
Tom Ruppanner, president of United Way of the Bay Area, had a careful response when asked whether the Bay Area Council's new policy would restore funding.
"The United Way of the Bay Area accepts requests for grants on a year-round basis, selecting for grants organizations that help build healthy and safe communities.
"We have no position relative to the San Francisco Council of Boy Scouts of America because we have no application for a grant from that organization pending at this time. If such an application is received, the request for funding would be addressed in a timely manner.
"The door is open."
Ruppanner said individual United Way donors had pledged $344,457 to the Bay Area councils this year, $75,334 of it to the San Francisco council.
Sources said the Scouts were preparing a funding request for the United Way and that early indications were that it would be favorably received.
United Way board member David Wharton, who is gay, said Barnes "represents a different attitude about scouting and participation in scouting by gay and lesbian participants and program leaders. How far he's been able to spread this attitude up the chain of command isn't clear.
"We're desirous of having all agencies in the Bay Area conform with our non-discrimination policy. Given his overture to us, we have talked with him, but it hasn't been taken any further than discussions.
"This is a promising leadership initiative by Mr. Barnes. And we are interested in rebuilding the bridge to the Boy Scouts. This is promising revisitation of a tough issue. Where it goes is unknown."
San Francisco, CA December 10, 1996 --- A Russian lesbian is seeking political asylum at a United States Court of Appeals hearing Wednesday, when Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund will argue that Alla Pitcherskaia faces the threat of forced electroshock treatment and psychiatric hospitalization in her home country for being gay and politically active.
Pktcherskaia's political asylum plea will be the first such case before a federal appeals court involving persecution based on sexual orientation.
Lambda staff attorney Suzanne Goldberg, with co-counsel San Francisco attorney Ignatius Bau, will argue the case gainst the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
If the INS succeeds in defending the federal Board of Immigration Appeals' rejection of Pitcherskaia's application for asylum, the 34-year-old lesbian will be deported to Russia.
Russian authorities repeatedly detained Pitcherskaia and threatened her with psychiatric hospitalization and electroshock treatment to "cure" her sexual orientation. When organized criminals threatened and even kidnapped her for several days, she was denied police protection. She fled to the United States and applied for asylum in 1992.
Before the hearing, Goldberg said, "If Alla were returned to Russia, she could be forcibly institutionalized, arbitrarily arrested and left vulnerable by Russian police to anti-gay attacks by the Russian Mafia." Goldberg said of Pitcherskaia, "She clearly has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of being a lesbian. This is precisely the kind of case in which asylum based on severe torment for a disfavored sexual orientation should be granted."
"Persecution of lesbians and gay men around the world is a contemporary human rights crisis. Forced psychiatric institutionalization of gay people continues today in Russia, as do arbitrary arrests and detentions," Goldberg said.
Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn said, "For the United States to live up to the promise of its immigration law, refugees must be granted asylum when they prove that they fear persecution in their home countries because they are lesbian or gay."
Who: Federal Judges Betty Binns Fletcher, Charles E. Wiggins and Thomas G. Nelson. What: Pitcherskaia v. INS (95-70887), When: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 9 a.m. PST. Where: Ninth Circuit of the Federal Court of Appeals, Courtroom 3, 121 Spear St. San Francisco, CA.
See Related Story in FEATURES
In Maine, Henry Joy, a state legislator, hopes to ban same-sex marriage in his state by convincing other legislators to approve a law this spring that will only recognize marriages between a man and a woman.
In Massachusetts, Governor William Weld stated that while he opposed allowing same-sex marriage in his state, he felt that Massachusetts should recognizes gay marriages performed elsewhere, such as in Hawaii.
In Washington, State Representative Bill Thompson (R-Everett) plans to introduce legislation banning same-sex marriages. Similar bills are being reintroduced in California and Colorado, where previous efforts have failed.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, two opposing bills will compete in the legislature. Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison), the state's only openly lesbian legislator, said she plans to sponsor a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, while state Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) pledged to push for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman.
"The current Hawaii honeymoon for gay and lesbian couples may not last long," said Robert Bray, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Spokesperson. "Already, arch-conservative state legislators have sworn to introduce local bans on gay marriage." For more information contact Robert Bray (NGLTF) at (415) 552-6448 or pgr. (800) 757-6476. Or contact the Freedom to Marry web site at http://www.ftm.org.
In addition to the men kissing, Servin also inserted scantily clad men in some of the street scenes, noting that, "There was already a 'bimbo' in this game, but she was just a scantily clad woman. That one was authorized." Servin said that he did it in part to bring attention to the larger issue of the total lack of lesbian and gay imagery in computer games. "Overt gratuitous heterosexual content is present in many games," Servin noted, "but I can't think of a single example of gay or lesbian content." For more information contact Jacques Servin at (415) 864-1872.
Other possible candidates for the position include Pat Christen, director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Michael Isbell, director of Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York and Jim Graham, executive director of Washington, D.C.'s Whitman-Walker Clinic.
Response to the speculation about the candidates has been mixed, while the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has applauded Phill Wilson, other groups, such as ACT UP/DC have expressed the need for someone of higher prominence. For more information contact David Smith (HRC Communications Director) at (202) 628-4160 or (800) 386-5996 and Steve Michael (ACT UP/DC) at (202) 547-6780.
Washington, DC, Dec. 9, 1996 -- A 'Humanitarian of the Year Award' being given to Senator Bob Smith (R, NH) by the animal rights group Peta has drawn angry criticism from AIDS activists. Senator Smith, a staunch opponent of AIDS funding, is one of three US Senators who voted against the Ryan White CARE Act earlier this year. The Ryan White Care Act provides emergency relief for the treatment and care of poor people with AIDS.
The AIDS advocacy group ACT UP in Washington DC called Peta's award to Smith the ultimate insult to people with AIDS everywhere. States ACT UP spokesperson Steve Michael, who is HIV positive, "Bob Smith is one of the most hateful men to ever walk the halls of the US Senate. Smith's record on AIDS makes him the Jesse Helms of the North."
The arch-conservative Senator from New Hampshire will be joining other awardees including Gay and Lesbian entertainment figures Ellen Degeneres, Martina Navratilova and Sandra Bernhard at a Gala fundraiser for Peta to be held in Los Angeles on December 14. Noted Liberals like Woody Harrelson, Paul & Linda McCartney, Mary Tyler Moore Alec Balwin and Oliver Stone will also be participating in the ceremony honoring Smith.
According to Michael, "ACT UP is calling upon Peta to withdraw the "humanitarian' award to Smith, and is demanding that all entertainment figures in attendence repudiate Smith and his virulent opposition to AIDS treatment, prevention, and care."
"You can't wear a red ribbon and honor the public enemy No. 2 to people with AIDS (behind Jessee Helms of North Carolina)." adds Michael. He continues, "Giving an award to Smith is an insult to People with AIDS everywhere. We will no longer tolerate the marginalization of our lives by an organization that equates the lives of Gay men, injection drug users and African-American women with rodents. . We consider Peta's support of Smith as a declaration of war against all of us with HIV and AIDS."
Michael, who also sits on the DC area Ryan White Planning Council, and chairs it's Fiscal Oversight Committee concludes by saying, "If Bob Smith had his way, DC's poor people with AIDS would be denied access to AIDS drugs, housing, shelter and health care . It is hypocritical to honor such man as a humanitarian."
Earlier this year, ACT UP confronted animal rights groups over the use of laboratory animals for medical research. Animal rights extremist supported by Peta have broken into, burned and destroyed AIDS research facilities.
ACT UP's Wayne Turner notes that "many of the Hollywood celebrities that plan to attend the Peta/Smith awards are Gay or Lesbian closet cases. Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra Bernhard should be ashamed of themselves. By honoring a monstor like Senator Bob Smith, they are mocking the suffering of people with AIDS."
NOTE: ACT UP LA plans creative activities at the Peta/Smith event.
Following is a list of individuals that will be honoring Jesse Helms of the North
Hosts Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin
Masters of Ceremonies Bill Maher and Kevin Nealon
Lifetime Achievement Paul and Linda McCartney
1996 Humanitarian Awards Senator Bob Smith Ellen DeGeneres Nina Hagen The Paul Harvey Family Congressman Andy Jacobs Congressman Tom Lantos Mary Tyler Moore Oliver Stone Sir John Gielgud Woody Harrelson Chrissie Hynde Ricki Lake Todd Oldham Christy Turlington
Jennie Garth Martina Navratilova Tatjana Patitz Robert Sebree
Sandra Bernhard Boss Models Tanou Collart Rodney Dangerfield Kimberly Silverstone The Tunnel Club
also attending will be Grace Slick, Rod Stewart, Elle Macpherson, Elvira, Clint Black, Ed Begley, Jr.
ACT UP Washington calls on all persons in attendance to call on Peta to withdraw their award to Senator Smith. What will they do when Smith goes to the podium to speak???? How can anyone who wears a red ribbon applaud Smith????
The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power ACT UP Washington DC 825 5th Street NE Suite A Washington, DC 20002 December 10, 1996
The stay will remain in effect until the state Supreme Court rules, meaning gay couples won't be able to marry in Hawaii for at least a year, if at all.
Circuit Judge Kevin Chang agreed with Deputy Attorney General Rick Eichor that there would be confusion if gay couples got married and then the high court overturned his ruling.
"We kind of expected it, but we're not happy with it," said Joseph Milillo, who sued along with his partner, Pat Lagon and two lesbian couples.
On Tuesday, Chang said Hawaii failed to show any compelling state interest in denying gay couples the right to marry. It was the first such ruling by a judge in the United States.
(See below and see Features story on state's "long-shot" appeal.)
Jonathan Schmitz, 26, faced a life sentence for the murder of Scott Amedure following the infamous "secret crush" encounter with the victim at a taping of the "Jenny Jones" talk show. The case focused attention on "ambush television" and the tactics producers often use to bring guests onto daytime talk shows.
Witnesses testified Schmitz believed he was going on the syndicated show in March 1995 to meet a female secret admirer. Schmitz claimed he was humiliated before the auidence when the admirer turned out to be a man. Amedure, 32, was shot three days after the show's taping.
The show never aired but was played in court during the trial.
At sentencing, Schmitz said, "I'd like to say the word 'sorry,' The word 'sorry' is a very powerful word. It has a lot of meaning, and it is meant."
Schmitz and his family claimed he suffered from alcoholism, depression and a thyroid condition when the show ambushed him and pushed him over the edge. The judge said he took this into consideration, but added, "you still have to be accountable to society," who added two more years on a weapons charge.
Assistant Prosecutor Roman Kalytiak and the victim's family had asked for a life sentence, which would have made Schmitz eligible for parole in 15 years. Under O'Brien's sentence, Schmitz, with time served, will likely remain behind bars for at least 20 years.
Weld's remarks came as a Hawaiian judge Wednesday stayed his order of Tuesday allowing gay marriages, pending an appeal of the ruling to the state's supreme court.
Weld said he views the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which was recently passed by Congress and is designed to allow states to ignore gay marriages sanctioned by other states, as clearly ''unconstitutional.''
Weld said that his primary obligation as governor is not to adhere to the will of Congress but to the words of the US Constitution. And he believes the Constitution requires Massachusetts and other states to recogize the legal legitimacy of gay couples who might eventually marry in Hawaii and travel or move to Massachusetts.
''My position as a matter of law ... as the chief executive officer of a state is that that (gay) couple would be entitled to all the benefits and burdens of marriage,'' Weld said when asked about the Hawaiian case. ''That's the Constitution. It's the law.''
Weld acknowledged there was a limit on what he would promote in Massachusetts. While he argued the state should recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere, he pointedly did not endorse a new state law legalizing gay unions in Massachusetts.
''I'm not sure public opinion is ready for that, quite frankly,'' Weld said.
If the Hawaiian supreme court upholds the right of gays to marry, some constitutional scholars say that other states would eventually have to recognize the legality of Hawaiian marriage contracts in their jurisdictions and that the Defense of Marriage Act may overstep the federal government's bounds in such matters.
Eventually, issues involving the legality of gay marriage, and perhaps the Defense of Marriage Act itself, are expected to make their way to the US Supreme Court, which would interpret any constitutional concerns.
Weld's comments triggered quick and harsh reaction from several groups opposing gay marriages.
''Gov. Weld is being intellectually dishonest, and he knows better,'' scoffed Matt Daniels, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a conservative group.
''Massachusetts does not have to recognize those marriages. What Weld is saying is that he wants to, but the Defense of Marriage Act specifically says other states cannot be forced to change their laws,'' Daniels continued. ''And gay marriages are not allowed in Massachusetts.''
Other traditionalists agreed with Daniels, arguing that federal law supercedes the Hawaiian ruling that could legitimize gay unions in that state.
Opponents of gay marriage argue that the federal law, passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton this year, gives each state the power to ignore gay marriages performed and recognized in other states.
''Eventually one or the other law would have to be struck down, but it doesn't automatically mean the Hawaiian statute stands,'' argued state Sen. Robert Antonioni, a Democrat. ''And aside from overturning the expressed will of the elected representatives of the people, I'm not sure that the US Supreme Court wants to take such a significant and perhaps unprecedented leap in reengineering social policy.''
Meanwhile, local gay rights groups hailed Weld's comments and legal analysis Wednesday. They noted that in the past when Massachusetts banned interracial marriages, it still recognized such unions legalized in other states.
''Rhode Island allows first cousins to get married, but Massachusetts does not,'' noted Mary Bonauto, a lawyer with the Gay and Lesbian Defenders. ''Yet when those Rhode Island couples come here, their marriages are recognized as legitimate.''
Weld, who as governor has championed gay rights, offered another parallel. ''We recognize Reno divorces here in Massachusetts even though they are a lot quicker than divorces that in this and other states,'' he said. ''I think the problem would be the other way. For example, if you were on a cross-country train trip and whether you were married or not depended upon what state you were crossing at the moment.''
However, opponents argue that a legally sanctioned marriage is different.
''The passage of the Defense of Marriage Act reflects the fact that the Congress and the American people understand the difference between tolerance and endorsement of the gay lifestyle,'' Daniels said. ''We currently tolerate homosexual unions in this country. But with the Hawaiian case, what homosexuals are asking is for us to endorse them.''
Honolulu & New York, December 3, 1996 --- For the first time in U.S. history a state court ruled Tuesday that civil marriage law cannot discriminate against lesbian and gay couples. A Hawaii court ruled in the case brought by Honolulu civil rights lawyer Dan Foley and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of three lesbian and gay couples.
"This is a historic moment for lesbians and gay men," said Lambda Marriage Project Director Evan Wolfson, who with Foley is co-counsel in the case, Baehr v. Miike, tried in Honolulu this fall. "When required at our trial to justify its discriminatory marriage law, the government couldn't do it. The court today agreed that there is no compelling or logical reason for discriminating against lesbian and gay couples," Wolfson said.
Speaking from Lambda's New York headquarters, Wolfson said, "This case made a major breaktrough toward ending second-class status for gay families. This decision marks the beginning of the end to sex discrimination in marriage."
Lambda is spearheading a national movement to end sex discrimination in civil marriage, and to protect lesbian and gay families.
From Honolulu, Foley, who litigated Baehr v. Miike from its earliest stages, said, "Judge kevin Chang made the only decision that he could, given the evidence in this case. The decision is not only historic, but of vital personal consequence to the couples who want to get married."
Foley added, "Now that the court has ruled, the state should immediately issue civil marriage licenses to the couples in this case."
Foley, through the Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project (See article in Features), and Wolfson presented the case for two lesbian couples and one gay male couple seeking civil marriage licenses in Hawaii.
The three couples, Ninia Baehr and Genora Dancel, Pat Lagon and Joseph Melillo, and Antoinette Pregil and Tammy Rodrigues were denied marriage licenses by the state Department of Health in late 1990. In 1991, they jointly filed a lawsuit alleging the denial was unconstitutional and eventually the case was appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court.
In 1993, the state Supreme Court ruled that, under Hawaii's COnstitution, allowing civil marriage licenses only for opposite-sex couples and not for same-sex couples is sex discrimination. The court ordered the state to show what "compelling" interest justifies such discrimination in civil marriage.
Judge Chang of the First Circuit Court of Hawaii heard the case at a nine-day, bench trial, September 1020. Deputy state Attorney general Rich Eichor aruged on behalf of Director Lawrence Miike of the state Department of Health, which has jurisdiction over marriage licenses.
Lambda Executive Director Kevin Cathcart said, "This victory is important progress for the civil rights of lesbians and gay men in Hawaii and throughout the country. Just as the legal protections and recognition that come with civil marriage should be available to everyone regardless of race, religion, and ethnicity, they should be vailable to everyone regardless of sex or sexual orientation."
Cathcart added, "Just a generation ago, for example, courts ended state discrimination against marriages between people of different races. Today's ruling takes a similar step toward ending state discrimination against the marriages of lesbian and gay couples."
Two of the plaintiffs in the landmark case, Ninia Baehr and Genora Dancel, who now live in Baltimre, quickly stated their exuberance with the ruling. "Many people around the country helped break through this wall of discrimination. While we face mcuh more work ahead to secure this right nationally, Ninia and I are deeply honored to be part of today's victory," Dancel said.
"Our love made it possible for me and Genora to get through this long legal fight," Baehr said. "I'm looking forward to our love getting us to our weeding on a mountain slope in Maui," she said.
Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn said, "Without civil marriage, gay couples often face painful, difficult situations, like being barred from the hospital bedisde of a partner in a medical emergency. Lesbian and gay couples have had no access to the legal, economic and practical protections of civil marriage that non-gay couples can take for granted."
Other protections withheld from gay couples include access to family health coverage, immigration, divorce, and inheritance rights. Lesbians and gay men also are denied protection for their children and may lose custody when their partner dies.
Dohrn said, "Our society is structured so that hundreds of legal obligations and protections are available only through civil marriage. It's time the law stopped saying 'no' to those who want and need to say 'I do.' The choice of whether or not two people get married belongs to the couple, not to the state."
The prospect of ending marriage discrimination against same-sex couples has fueled recent backlash campaigns by the religious right to promote state and federal anti-marriage legislation like the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Wolfson said.
He noted that DOMA does not ban marriages for gay couples but would discriminate against legally married gay couples by allowing federal protections and benefits only for heterosexual married couples.
Wolfson said, "The absurdly named 'Defense of Marriage' Act, like the 16 state bills passed against equal marriage rights for lesbians and gay men, is unconstitituonal and will be defeated. State by state, court by court, we will put an end to this illogical and cruel discrimination.
"History wil judge those who have failed to help those living with AIDS and HIV," sand Lambda Executive Director Kevin Cathcart speaking from the organization's New York headquarters. "But the epidemic cannot wait, so with this AIDS report card, we are judging them now," he said and issued grades from 'A' to 'F'.
Failing grades went to the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and New York Governor George Pataki. Among those receiving top marks were the People with AIDS Health Group and Representative-elect Loretta Sanchez. Secretary of Defense Will iam Perry would have gotten an A for his opposition to proposed discharge of service members with HIV but instead got an incomplete, for his support of the military's ban on lesbian and gay service members, now being litigated in federal courts.
Also in New York, Lambda AIDS Project Director Catherine Hanssens said, "This report card cannot grade the full range of responses to the AIDS epidemic, or name every hero or coward in this public health battle. But, Lambda does highlight significant signs of AIDS discrimination in this country." She added, "We cannot slack off fighting discrimination and supporting people living with HIV and AIDS."
The Lambda AIDS report card also flunked the Chicago Public Schools system (For "requiring teacher applicants to answer questions about their medical status.")
"It is particularly distressing that an educational institution fails to make the grade," sai Heather Sawyer, AIDS Project Staff Attorney for Lambda's Chicago-based Midwest Regional Office, who is in negotiations with the Chicago school system. She added, "The volume of calls my office receives from the Midwest alone demonstrates how widespread AIDS discrimination and ignorance continues to be, from many more organizations and indivdiuals than we can list here.
In Los Angeles, Lambda Supervising Attorney for the Western Regional Office, Jon W. Davidson, said, "This is an apt time to express our thanks for the many heros who have stepped forward to fight the ongoing public health and policy battles. Much has changed with AIDS, but we still need courageous people setting high standards for the rest of us."
This Day in History: "On November 27th, 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White."
By Helen Altonn, Star-Bulletin
HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN November 26, 1996 The Hawai`i State AFL-CIO, representing more than 50 labor unions, has filed a lawsuit in Hawai`i Supreme Court challenging the election outcome on convening a constitutional convention.
Attorney General Margery Bronster has issued a legal opinion upholding the Nov. 5 vote for a convention to propose constitutional changes.
The 19 executive board members of the Hawai`i State AFL-CIO, joined by 35 plaintiffs from the 8th senatorial district (Hawai`i Kai) and other interested parties, are asking the court to decide the matter.
The issue boils down to the question of holding a constitutional convention, Herbert R. Takahashi, attorney who filed the union's lawsuit, said today.
About 45,335 blank and spoiled ballots were excluded from the count on the advice of the attorney general, he pointed out. There were 163,869 votes in favor of holding a constitutional convention and 160,153 votes against.
Bronster declared only a "simple majority" from the "yes" and "no" ballots count in determining whether there should be a convention.
Confusion occurred because on ballot measures involving proposed constitutional amendments, an "extraordinary majority" is required in which "yes" votes must be more than the combined count of "no" ballots and blank and spoiled ballots.
Takahashi said the language in the constitution referring to the question of convening a constitutional convention uses the words "images/ballots cast," as distinguished from "votes cast" or "votes tallied."
"And we believe that use of the word (ballots cast) communicates very clear intent that you must count all the ballots."
Dan Foley, Honolulu Civil Rights attorney, also has maintained "there's no question you must count all the ballots."
When the language was adopted in the first Constitutional Convention in the 1950s, Takahashi said, the framers used the words "votes tallied" when it came to ratification of specific amendments.
"But when it came to the calling of a constitutional convention, they used the words 'ballots cast.'" he said. There is a "clear distinction" between adopting a specific amendment or calling for a convention, he said.
The constitution also requires that a majority of ballots cast be in the "affirmative," Takahashi said. The same section, spelling out rules for adoption of revisions, required at least 50 percent of the total vote cast in an election, he said.
"In our view, the election officer should not have excluded the votes for those voters who decided to defer to other voters, in effect. If they had not cast a ballot it would be a whole different question. But they decided they were unclear which way they wanted to go and it must be resolved as the framers intended."
Hawai`i's last Constitutional Convention was held in 1978. It resulted in changes to the constitution that included the establishment of the Office of Hawai`ian Affairs; new protections for agricultural land, water and the environment; and a restructured tax relationship between the counties and the state.
Lambda Marriage Project Director Evan Wolfson and Honolulu civil rights attorney Dan Foley argued the case in September for three couraeous lesbian and gay couples who sued the state for access to what all other Americans take for granted -- the freedom to marry.
"For too long, lesbian and gay relationships have endured second-class status," said Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart. "We look forward to the court's stopping anti-gay discrimination in civil mariage laws." Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund attorneys and plaintiffs will be available for comment after the decision is issued.
Media Contact: Lambda Public Education Director Peg Byron, 212-995-9475 or 800-314-5149 (pager). Lambda will annouce the ruling as soon as it is available. Note that Hawai time is five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.
Los Angeles, CA Nov. 26, 1996 ---Tonight, American television has been enriched by one more lesbian character. Roseanne's mother Beverly Harris, played by Estelle Parsons on the popular sitcom, came out to her family during Thanksgiving dinner. The show pointed out the frustrations and pain Beverly felt living life in the closet and the challenge of coming out to one's family regardless of age.
For years, Roseanne has been a leader in presenting lesbian and gay issues. From Nancy (Sandra Bernhard) coming out as bisexual to the introduction of Roseanne's gay business partner Leon (Martin Mull) and his recent wedding to Scott (Fred Willard), Roseanne's track record on gay issues is unmatched. Roseanne's fair and accurate representation of lesbians and gay men garnered GLAAD Media Awards in 1992, 1993 and 1995.
There is no doubt that both Roseanne and the ABC television network will receive their share of bigotted attacks from religious extremists that, according to GLAAD's National Communications Director Alan Klein, "want to deny the realistic rendering of the true American landscape."
Please let Roseanne and ABC know how much we appreciate the inclusion of a major lesbian character on the show and encourage them to the develop the storyline regarding Leon and Scott's wish to adopt a child.
Contact: Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, Roseanne, Daniel Palladino, Executive Producers, Roseanne, c/o Carsey-Werner Productions, 4024 Radford Avenue, Building 3, Studio City, California 91604, fax: 818.760.5882; Ted Harbert, Chairperson, Jamie Tarses, President, Brett White of Broadcast Standards, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, California 90067, phone: 310.557.7777, fax: Jamie Tarses -- 310.557.7679, Ted Harbert --310.557.7160, Brett White -- 310.557.7160, e-mail: abcaudr@ccabc.com
New York, NY November 25, 1996 --- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund announced Monday a Florida county victory that advances efforts to wipe out remaining anti-gay amendments since the landmark United States Supreme Court ruling against such measures last spring. Lambda defeated Alachua County's anti-gay Amendment 1 following arguments at a Circuit Court hearing in Gainesville, Florida.
Circuit Judge Frederick D. Smith, in a three-page decision late Friday, state, "Amendment 1 is indistinguishable from the amendment struck down in Romer," the Colorado amendment that the Supreme Court rejected in Romer v. Evans last May as a violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause.
Lambda Staff Attorney Suzanne B. Goldberg, who argued against the amendment at a November 15 hearing in the case, Morris v. Hill, said, "Defeat of Alachua's Amendment 1 means that lesbian and gay residents in this Florida county cannot be banned from seeking the same protections against discrimination that their neighbors enjoy. Our victory drives another nail in the coffin of an irrational tactic against equal civil rights."
Goldberg continued, "Judge Smith made it very clear that minor language changes between the Florida county and Colorado state amendments amounted to a distinction without a difference. The law simply cannot single out a group of citizens for discrimination no matter the words it uses to do so."
Commenting on the period since Lambda, as co-counsel, helped defeat the anti-gay amendment in Colorado, Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn said, "We have seen state anti-gay referenda supporters withdraw measures in Oregon and Idaho as they realized their discriminatory strategies were futile. We expect to end this shameful chapter in American politics when we extinguish the anti-gay charter amendment in Cincinnati."
Dohrn noted, "The Supreme Court already has vacated a federal appeals court ruling upholding the Cincinnati amendment and sent the case back for review in light of Romer. Our final victory should come soon.
In his ruling, Smith noted the Supreme Court's words in the Romer ruling, which said, "A law declaring that in general it shall be more difficult for one group of citizens than others to seek aid from the government is itself a denial of equal protection of the laws in the most literal sense."
Smith added, "Under the analysis employed by the United States Supreme Court in Romer, there is no legitimate governmental interest that can support Amendment 1.
Passed by county voters in November 1994, the Alachua County amendment would have banned the Board of County Commissioners from adopting any ordinance that creates classifications based on sexual orientation or sexual preference expect as necessary to conform to county ordinances, federal or state law.
Lambda's cooperating attorneys in the Alachua County Case are Walter Reiman, Jacqueline Charlesworth, and Jamie Shapiro of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York, and Larry Turner and Robert Griscti of Turner and Griscti, P.A., in Gainesville.
GAINESVILLE, Fla.November 25, 1996 -- In what is perhaps the final act for anti-gay ballot initiatives, a Florida judge has thrown out Alachua County's charter amendment that barred laws protecting gays from discrimination, the Associated Press reports.
Citing a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down a similar Colorado measure, Circuit Judge Frederick Smith declared the county's charter amendment unconstitutional on the basis that it denied gays and lesbians equal protection under the law.
The ruling does not automatically give lesbians and gay men protection against discrimination under county law, AP said. Smith merely removed the legal barrier that kept commissioners from adding that protection in the future.
Smith based his ruling largely on the Supreme Court's decision this past May, saying the county's version "suffers the same constitutional infirmities.''
Commenting on the Florida decision, Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU's national Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, said that "anti-gay ballot initiatives are on their last leg."
"Although conservative extremists will conjure up other ways to attack lesbian and gay Americans," Coles added, "they will no longer be able to subject our basic civil rights to a popularity contest."
In a three-page ruling, Florida's Smith wrote, "Amendment 1's focus on sexual orientation cannot be explained on any rational basis other than as a manifestation of the majority's condemnation of homosexuality and bisexuality."
AP said that the ruling signaled a major victory for area gay rights supporters and bolstered their argument that minority rights should be put to a public vote. The ruling throws open the possibility that residents could ask commissioners to once again include "sexual orientation'' in their anti-discrimination ordinance.
Gay rights has been a divisive issue locally ever since commissioners voted 3-2 in 1993 to add that protection against discrimination in employment, housing and other areas, according to the wire service.
Voters reversed the commission's vote a year later and also passed the amendment banning any such laws in the future. Only the charter amendment, which passed in November 1994 with 59 percent of the vote, was challenged in court.
New York, NY November 25, 1996 --- Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, following its nearly $1 million settlement of a lawsuit against public school officials for allowing anti-gay student violence, released on Monday the first legal manual for countering gay bashing and abuse in public schools.
Entitled, Stopping Anti-Gay Abuse of Students in Public Schools: A Legal Perspective, the publication is a step-by-step guide to stopping serious verbal and physical attacks against lesbian and gay students. This basic, how-to book is the first and only legal manual for responding to anti-gay abuse in the schools.
Release of the book follows Lambda's victorious completion of the first lawsuit against anti-gay violence in schools. Last week, in Ashland, Wisconsin, school official agreed to pay an unprecedented $962,000 to settle Lambda's federal lawsuit on behalf of Jamie Nabozny, who suffered brutal anti-gay assaults and harassment at the hands of fellow students during his years in Ashland schools The settlement was made hours after a jury found three school officials liable for not protecting Nanozny.
David Buckel, a Lambda staff attorney who wrote the manual and assisted in Nabozny's case, said, "It is a terrible fact that atrocities like Jamie suffered are not isolated incidents. There are many signs of their destructive effects, such as high drop-out rates and high rates of attempted suicide among lesbian and gay youth. School officials need to address anti-gay harassment, not drive gay students from schools."
Buckel added, "From around the country, Lambda receives calls for help from students, parents, and teachers. This manual is a response to the needs we know young lesbian and gay people have in many communities."
Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart said, "Anti-gay violence and abuse are pervasive problems that all schools must face. Young lesbians and gay men have the right to a safe education, and Lambda hopes this manual supports violence-free educational environments."
For more information or to obtain a copy of this publication, call the Public Education Department at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund at 212-995-8585.
PRESS CONTACT: Jeffrey Montgomery (313) 537.3323; (313) 8326540
A Detroit man was beaten and shot six times in the lobby of his apartment building while a security guard stood by and did nothing. The victim, now a paraplegic, was awarded $10 million by a Wayne County jury on 21 November 1996. This judgment is thought to be the largest ever in a gay-bashing case. The judgment is against Pinkerton Security.
Sean McBride, 28, was attacked in January 1994 by three men who taunted and harassed him for being gay. After repeated insults and slurs were hurled at Mr. McBride, the action turned violent, ending with the six gun shots. The twenty-year-old security guard watched and even laughed at some of the remarks during the half-hour incident.
Carol McNeilage, Mr. McBride's attorney, said that her client "thought [the Pinkerton guard] would have gotten the, out of there." Of the verdict, she said, "Society has finally realized that homosexuals are entitled to full respect and dignity."
Jeffrey Montgomery, President of the Triangle Foundation, the Detroit-based gay/lesbian anti-violence project, had this reaction to the judgment:
"Once again, a Wayne County jury has done the right thing when confronted with facts that demonstrate that people are victims simply because they are gay or lesbian. In this case which has left Sean McBride paralyzed for the rest of his life, they have sent a strong message that gay victims cannot be ignored. The Pinkerton guard showed an irresponsible disregard for Mr. McBride's safety, although she was supposedly hired to protect him and the building he lived in, by finding amusement at his plight and failing to assist him.
"Beyond providing a level of relief for the victim, this award tells other gays and lesbians that they can get attention when they've been brutalized. It also speaks volumes about the importance of pursuing cases through all available channels when one has been a victim.
"This case shows that there is not only a risk of doing time if you prey on gay people, there is also a financial liability for those who participate to any degree in the attack."
LOS ANGELES, CA, NOVEMBER 25 1996 --- The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and actor/director Mel Gibson will host 10 lesbian and gay filmmakers for an on-location seminar on the set of Gibson's new film, Conspiracy Theory. The day-long seminar is scheduled to take place in early January, 1997 in Los Angeles.
Mel Gibson, Conspiracy Theory director Richard Donner and producer Joel Silver will provide up-and-coming lesbian and gay filmmakers with an up-close and personal look into the inner workings of a major Hollywood feature film. Last May, representatives of GLAAD and Mr. Gibson met to discuss the actor's relationship with the lesbian and gay community. The meeting, and the discussions that followed, led to the creation of this groundbreaking seminar.
"GLAAD is proud to offer up-and-coming lesbian and gay filmmakers the opportunity to spend time on set with an actor and director of Mel Gibson's caliber," said William Waybourn, GLAAD's managing director. "We hope that the GLAAD seminar will help lesbian and gay filmmakers get a foot in the door, and Hollywood to more accurately represent lesbians and gay men in film."
Seminar participants will be chosen from a nationwide pool of young lesbian and gay filmmakers. Criteria for selection include geographical balance and ethnic, racial and gender diversity. Waybourn added, "GLAAD is committed to seeing that the event's participants represent the diversity of our community."
In addition to the GLAAD seminar, Gibson recently held day-long lectures at Harvard and USC School of Cinema in an effort to reach out to film students.
GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay media watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.
Seventeen days after the Nov. 5 election, election officials said Friday that Sanchez, a 36-year-old businesswoman and political newcomer, was the winner in the House race in southern California's 46th District by just 984 votes.
Sanchez won with 47,964 votes to Dornan's 46,980, according to the final election results released Friday. The results will be officially certified on Nov. 26.
``All the ballots have been counted. These numbers should not change,'' Rosalyn Lever, Orange County's registrar of voters, said.
The White House had thrown its support behind Sanchez's effort to oust the tough-talking congressman, who made a brief unsuccessful bid for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination and was seeking his 10th term in Congress.
``It's done. The people have spoken,'' said John Shallman, campaign manager for Sanchez, who claimed victory last week even though all of the ballots had yet to be counted.
Dornan was not immediately available to comment.
Last week, Dornan said, ``I will not concede to an inarticulate, flaky, non-qualified person.''
The former Air Force pilot, known as ``B-1 Bob'' for his fiery rhetoric and uncompromising support of the military, also told reporters he suspected some non-citizens had cast ballots for Sanchez and he demanded an investigation.
During his 18 years in Congress, Dornan gained a reputation for strong opposition to abortion, communism, homosexual rights and gun control. He turned off some voters with his quixotic presidential bid, a move he defended as an attempt to sharpen the attack on President Clinton.
Sanchez, a financial analyst who had never held elected office, campaigned as a moderate while painting Dornan as an extremist out of step with the needs of his largely working-class constituents.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE November 22, 1996 901 Mission St.,San Francisco,CA,94103 (Fax 415-896-1107, print run 570,300) (E-MAIL: chronletters@sfgate.com)(http://www.sfgate.com)
After more than a decade of gleefully attacking presidents, first ladies, Democrats, moderates, communists, pro-choice groups, peaceniks, environmentalists, homosexuals and immigrants of every possible legal status, California Republican Representative Robert K. Dornan today finds himself secluded with possibly the most difficult opponent of his career.
Himself.
Dornan lost his Orange County congressional seat yesterday to Democratic political newcomer Loretta Sanchez, ending his nine-term run as the nation's most caustic conservative. And many people believe that the 63-year-old Dornan, whose tirades earned him a label as the ``court jester'' of the House, is almost solely responsible for his defeat.
``He just went too far, too often,'' one fellow Republican said yesterday.
``People got tired of his act. How else to explain it?''
Dornan, knowing he was likely to lose the close contest as county election officials tallied ballots during the past two weeks, stayed true to form in recent days, savaging his opponent, former supporters and illegal immigrants whom he claimed conspired to defeat him.
He has filed a formal complaint with the secretary of state's office claiming widespread voter fraud, but so far officials say there is no evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Orange County Registrar of Voters Rosalyn Lever said yesterday that Dornan would have to win nearly 80% of the 1,300 provisional ballots remaining in the 46th District to overtake Sanchez's 700-vote lead -- a near statistical impossibility.
Richard Diamond, Dornan's spokesman in Washington, D.C., said ``the congressman is not expecting them to go his way'' and blamed the loss on the motor-voter law and the laxity in the California registration and voting process. Dornan had predicted Monday that he would probably fall further behind in the close congressional contest.
`FLAKY AND UNQUALIFIED'
But Dornan did not let his pending loss keep him from his busy public schedule.
At a news conference last week, Dornan called Sanchez ``inarticulate, flaky and totally unqualified'' for the congressional seat. A few days ago, he lashed out at Republican Central Committee head William Dougherty because the GOP official supported Sanchez in the race.
``You are a disgrace to your baptism,'' Dornan shouted at Dougherty. ``You are a poor excuse for a Marine. You are a pathetic old senile man. You are a slimy coward.''
Dornan's outburst was in keeping with a combustible style that his supporters have described as colorful. For his part, the veteran congressman said his sometimes outrageous comments stem from his ``passion'' for public service.
Dornan continued to blaze a rhetorical trail this year when he threw his hat in the ring for the GOP presidential nomination. However, his pro-family, pro-defense stance did little to boost his longshot bid for the White House, and many observers say that the money he spent on the race hurt him when he ran for re-election against Sanchez -- an opponent his backers believe he underestimated.
But Dornan did leave his mark on Congress, giving impassioned speeches on the floor and on C- SPAN, CNN and talk radio. ``People who say I'm out of control mistake passion for temper,'' he explained last year, but his political pyrotechnics often got him into trouble.
`SLEAZY DRAFT-DODGER'
At various times, he referred to President Clinton as ``sleazy, deceptive, draft-dodging, foul- mouthed'' and called him a liar and a womanizer. Last year, Dornan alleged on the House floor that Clinton had lent ``aid and comfort to the enemy'' in Vietnam when he engaged in anti-war protests, a remark that his colleagues asked him to apologize for. Dornan refused. Dornan once characterized California Senator Barbara Boxer's financial backers as the ``coke-snorting, wife-swapping, baby-born-out- of-wedlock radical left.'' He also attacked the sexual orientation of gay Congress members. Last year, he proposed legislation to bar gays and lesbians from access to classified government files, saying that their sexuality made them vulnerable to blackmail.
However, he backed down after Representative Barney Frank threatened to turn over the names of closeted gay Republicans in the House to the House ethics committee.
``Bob Dornan and reality are not the best of friends,'' Frank said.
If Dornan does not run for office again, he will probably be remembered most for his steadfast defense of the controversial and costly B-1 bomber -- a position that earned him the nickname ``B-1 Bob.'' The former Air Force pilot served as chairman of the National Security Subcommittee on Military Personnel and on the Select Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence.
AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN
Sanchez, a former Republican who became a Democrat in 1992, was in Washington yesterday assembling a transition team and attending caucus meetings. The 36- year-old newcomer ran an aggressive campaign based on a platform of change -- change from Bob Dornan.
Dornan, a former actor and producer, suggested recently that he might work as a TV talk-show host or possibly work in radio, where he has occasionally filled in for conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh. It seems like a natural fit for Dornan, who appeared to enjoy the controversy he generated during his many years in Washington.
When he was named as one of the Congress members who had been involved in the House check- writing scandal a few years ago, Dornan was asked why he had bounced so many checks.
``I was building a shrine to the Virgin Mary in my back yard,'' he replied.
HONOLULU ADVERTISER November 21, 1996 --- State Attorney General Margery Bronster ruled yesterday that voters during the last election did indeed approve the calling of a Constitutional Convention.
Bronster had been reviewing the law at the request of the state Office of Elections after questions were raised over whether a "simple majority"--more "yes" votes than "no" votes--is all that is required to call a convention.
The law that covers calling a convention is worded differently from the one covering approval of amendments to the Hawai`i Consititution. Amendments require a majority of all the ballots cast, which means that blank and spoiled ballots count as "no" votes.
State elections chief Dwayne Yoshina said he expects to certify the election results next week.
Bronster also pointed out that the constitution says "delegates to the convention shall be chosen at the next regular election unless the Legislature shall provide for the election of delegates at a special election."
If lawmakers decide not to call the special election, the delegates would be elected in 1998 and the convention itself would have to be convened within five months of the general election in the year 2000.
House Speaker Joseph Souki said that decision will be up to all lawmakers, but he feels that "the sooner we do it the better."
The Hawai`i Government Employees Association is considering a court challenge but has not made a decision. Deputy Executive Director Keith Ahue said "we felt from the beginning5 that a ConCon is not necessary," partly because the cost was not warranted and also because the union felt that issues such as same-sex marriage and insurance reform should be debated by lawmakers. The cost has been estimated at more than $6 million.
Ahue said the 39,355-member union also is concerned that some people would use the convention as an opportunity to take away what the public worker's unions have been able to negotiate in their contract agreements.
Russell Okata, the association's executive director, said the union would continue its legal research but continues to oppose the Constitutional Convention.
Before the election, the League of Women Voters also urged the people to vote "no" on the convention but vice president Jean Aoki said the group will not challenge the decision in court becuase "the law is the law."
Aoki said the league felt that there "really was nothing critically wrong with the constitution." But she said the league would now press for the Legislature to fund the convention adequately and would urge people to get involved.
Bronster said she anticipated a legal challenge, no matter which way her office ruled.
She said she governor's opposition to a convention did not affect her at all. Bronster said she told the governor about the decision before she left town on Tuesday.
"The constitution itself requires the Legislature to provide for the number of delegates to the convention, the area from which they would be elected and the manner in which the convention should convene," Bronster said. And it requires the Legislature to provide the necessary facilities and equipment.
Attorney Jim Hochberg, an advocate of traditional marriage who opposes same-sex marriage, said he was surprised and pleased by the decision.
And he said lawmakers would have a hard time justifying to already-disenchanted voters a delay until the year 2000.
Hochberg said its necessary to have a convention soon because "there are a lot of really key issues that we cannot get the Legislature to deal with--term limits, high three (lawmaker's pension practice), taxation."
House Republican Leader Gene Ward was elated by the news. "Democracy prevails," he said.
But he believes incumbant Democrats, unions and other "powers that be" will try to sideline and to tirvialize the convention. Ward said he expects efforts to reduce the number of delegates.
The 1950 Constitutional Convention had 63 delegates, the 1968 convention had 82 delegates and the 1978 convention rose to 102 delegates.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Nov. 20, 1996 --- In a landmark case Wednesday, Wisconsin school officials agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle a federal lawsuit by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of a young gay man who suffered brutal anti-gay assaults and harassment at the hands of fellow students during his years in school.
Lawyers for the former student, Jamie Nabozny, now 21, of Ashland, Wisconsin, worked through the night to reach the unprecedented settlement with the school after a federal jury in Eau Claire, WIsconsin, found three Ashland, Wisconsin, school oficials liable for not protecting Nabozny while he was a student.
Patricia M. Logue, managing attorney for Lambda's Chicago-based Midwest Regional Office, said, "This is the first time ever that a federal jury has had the chance to judge a school for its response to anti-gay violence. The entire country should learn a lesson from the results."
In an agreement reached before the jury had a chance to consider damages in the case, the Ashland, WIsconsin, officials agreed to pay $900,000 plus up to $62,000 in Nabozny's potential medical expenses.
Logue said, "Countless gay kids have paid a high price for abuse. Now the tables have turned, and it is prejudice that is costly." Logue was Lambda's lead attorney for Nabozny's trial and also successfully argued his case to the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals, whose ruling in July opened the door to this week's trial.
"I'm very glad the truth came out. Now, I can go on with my life. I hope I can go to college and have the normal educational experience that I waited a long time for," said a jubilant Nabozny when the settlement was announced. "I feel like I have justice, and that this means justice for all other kids out there who aren't sure if they should stay in school or stay alive," he said.
Nabozny, who dropped out of school and eventually obtained a graduage equivalency diploma, tried to kill himself several times during the years of abuse he suffered as an openly gay student in middle and high schools in Ashland, WIsconsin. He required surgery for injuries suffered in one of the more vicious attacks by fellow students, who also acted out a mock rape on him in a classroom and pushed him down in a bathroom and urinated on him.
Lambda Staff Attorney David Buckel, who assisted with the case and recently wrote a legal manual for responding to anti-gay abuse in public schools, said, "Nearly one third of all gay teens drop out of school. This verdict will help more kids hang on to their futures."
David Springer of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, Lambda' cooperating attorneya nd lead trial counsel for Nabozny, said, "I am extremely gratified that a jury in America's heartland rendered a verdict for a young gay man sending such a powerful message about fair treatment for all students. Schools and school officials throughout the country are now on notice that their obligations include protecting lesbian and gay students."
Springer added, "The outcome of this case should make all Americans proud of the jury system that helped us reach this settlement."
A five-owman, two-man federal panel concluded Tuesday that two Ashland school principals and an assistant principal, Mary Podlesny, WIlliam Davis, and Thomas Blauert, were liable for not protecting Nabozny from abuse by other students from 1988 to 1992.
At the two-day trial, Nabozny and his mother Carol Nabozny testified that school officials brushed off repeated pleas for help with statements like, "Boys will be boys," and, "If you're going to be gay, you have to learn to expect such abuse." The officials testified they did not recall such incidents.
Carol Nabozny said of the settlement, "This sends a message of hope to all those parents watching how school abuse crushed the spirits of their sons and daughters."
At Lambda's New York headquarters, Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn said of Nabozny's experiences, "This is not an isolated incident. Anti-gay student violence has been reported throughout the country, from Utah and Texas to Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Schools have to understand that they need to not only protect their lesbian and gay youth from abuse, but provide support and teach tolerance among all their students to prevent atrocities like Jamie experienced."
Lambda is the oldest and largest legal organization dedicated to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV and AIDS. In addition to its New York headquarters and Midwest Regional Office in Chicago, Lambda has a Western Regional Office in Los Angeles and plans to open a Southern Regional Office in Atlanta next year.
New York, NY November 16, 1996 --- In the latest attack on the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union will present oral argument at a hearing in federal court on Monday, November 18, at 4 p.m.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals sent Able v. U.S.A. back to the District Court to determine if different rules of behavior can be applied to lesbian adn gay service members than to non-say service members. The federal law requires total celibacy, as well as secrecy regarding sexual oreientation, but only for lesbian and gay service members.
The ACLU and Lambda will present oral argument in Able v. U.S.A. before U.S. Judge Engene Nickerson of the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, New York on Monday, November 18 at 4 p.m., 225 Cadman Plaza East, Courtroom 11, 6th Floor, Brooklyn.
Lambda Legal Director Beatrice Dohrn said, "The name, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' omits half the story on the military's ban on lesbian and gay service members. The military not only puts a 24-hour-a-day gag on lesbians and gay men, it also requires them to be celibate while in the military. Heterosexual service members aren't subject to a prohibition on any private sexual relationships whatsoever. The COnstitution does not allow the military to have one set of rules for gay people and a different set for all others."
ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project Director Matt Coles said, "We now have the chance to show that it is not constitutional for a law to prohibit bahvior for lesbians and gay men that is commonplace for others -- like having an intimate, committed relationship. If the military's special rules for gay people's behavior cannot be justified, then the entire ban must fall."
After a trial last year, Judge Nickerson struck down the policy on First Amendment grounds, but the government appealed his ruling. The Second Circuit Court this summer ruled that speech and behavior restrictions should be reviewed together, and that the ban on military personnel who identify themselves as gay likewise cannot stand if the gay-only celibacy requirement is struck down. Thus, Judge Nickerson will now decide the fate of the entire statute.
At freshman orientation at the Congress this week, Sanchez was the most talked about freshman Rep from either party, the Times said. Reporters dogging her every step alternately referred to her as the "dragon slayer" and the "giant slayer."
Meanwhile, Dornan is still claiming voter fraud -- and Orange County officials are still saying there is not a smidge of evidence to support his claim.
Interestingly, even Gingrich has taken note of Sanchez' arrival in Washington. The Times quotes Newty as saying he finds Sanchez to be "a very attractive person..."
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