LOCAL NEWS OF NOTE ON GLINN

For immediate release: For more info: December 18, 2006 Sean Kosofsky, (248) 761-2886 LANSING VOTES TO PROTECT GLBT PEOPLE (Lansing-MI) - Tonight the Lansing City Council voted unanimously to pass a human rights ordinance that bans discrimination within the city, including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Today, Michigan's Capital City, became the 14th municipality in the state to outlaw discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people when the city council voted unanimously to support a human rights ordinance. The ordinance bans anti-gay discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. It also includes local protections based on race, religion, sex, weight, and other characteristics. "Today is a great day for everyone who lives or works or even passes through, Lansing," said Sean Kosofsky, Director of Policy for Triangle Foundation, Michigan's leading civil rights organization for GLBT people and their allies. "The unanimous vote by city council, should send a loud message that discrimination has no place in Lansing." Anti-gay discrimination is still legal in the State of Michigan, because the State's civil rights law, The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, does not prohibit discrimination based on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity or expression." Fourteen cities have gone the extra step of banning such discrimination, within their borders. Anti-gay activists from the American Family Association - based in Midland - have threatened to repeal the protections for GLBT tax-payers and residents of Lansing. "This ordinance is like a holiday gift to the entire Lansing community. It is a shame anti-gay extremists from outside Lansing want to divisive and mean-spirited agenda to Lansing," continued Kosofsky. The other Michigan cities with protections for GLBT people are: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Douglas, Birmingham, Oak Park, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Flint, Huntington Woods, Ferndale and Grand Ledge. -30-

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AFTER 21 YEARS PUBLICATION SERVING THE GLBT COMMUNITY IN AMERICA'S FIRST CIVIL UNION STATE CLOSES UP

The decision was difficult. After 21 years of service to the community, Out in the Mountains comes to a close this month. This is the final issue. We want the community to know how we got here. But we also want to celebrate and honor the love, energy, time and passion put forth by so many people - board members and editors, writers and distributors, donors and advertisers, and a host of other volunteers of all stripes - for the last two decades.

How we got here Dan Brink, a former Board president and volunteer for eight years, said he first knew there were problems with the organization about four years ago when the budget had to be cut by a third. Activity for the paper had increased exponentially, Brink said, when in 1999the Vermont Supreme Court told the legislature to find a way to grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples had in marriage. "With all the attention that brought to Vermont, it also brought volunteers, donations and grants" to the paper, Brink said. Subscriptions went up. Advertising dollars also increased. But the energy and money were not sustained. But the reality is that the media landscape has shifted.

Where 20 years ago, there was no Internet and no mainstream coverage of gay issues, now there are both. Among queer media, Out in the Mountains was one of a handful of nonprofit newspapers remaining in the country. Others had folded, or had become for profit. MPM decided long ago it would not make its living by selling ads for tobacco, alcohol or bathhouses - of which there were plenty to advertise in Montreal. "I think people in the community would have had an incredibly difficult time with that sort of advertising in our newspaper," Cote said. "We would have continued to lose both traditional advertisers and I think our subscriptions would have dropped even further."

21 years of serving GLBT Vermont Out in the Mountains was created because politicians weren't listening. After Vermont's first Pride march, according to Howdy Russell, one of OITM's founders, the organization Vermonters for Lesbian and Gay Rights formed. A forerunner to what is now known as Equality Vermont, the organization began to talk with legislators about the lack of equal rights and protections for all Vermonters. But candidates and legislators did not respond to surveys, nor would they talk with the group's representatives. "What emerged pretty quickly was we weren't going to have any clout unless we had a way to inform the voters the way we wanted to inform them," Russell said. "As soon as we had a vehicle to spread the word among people who wanted to hear, we got a different response from politicians." Euan Bear said the big issues during her tenure as editor over four years included the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the criminal prohibition of sodomy in Texas. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated the state's Equal Protection Clause. All of the groundwork was laid for a gender identity bill that would have protected the employment rights of transgender people.

What she is most proud of, however, are the community profiles she started that helped inform people how Vermonters were living; the Youth Zone that gave voice to teens; and giving space to Vermont cartoonists. "There's a lot of talent here," Bear said of the writers, cartoonists and other contributors to the paper. "We wanted to be a showcase for that talent. And I think we did a pretty good job."

The future Out in the Mountains has had its up and downs over the years, many supporters say. The paper ceased publication for a stretch several times in its history. And it always came back. "The strongest role the paper had in the community," Bear said, "was letting us feel connected." Some members of the community have expressed concern about how people will stay connected - and informed - without the paper. Some have talked about the possibility of sustaining an online edition. Some have talked about listservs and blogs. "I think the community will come together in the not too distant future and find a way to provide a voice for our community," Cote said.

Celebrating 21 years Everyone is invited to celebrate all that has been accomplished over 21 years by joining us at RU12 Community Center on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. for an open house. Dozens of dedicated people have given enormous pieces of their lives to this paper - so that all of us could be informed, so that we could help make change. Our state is a far better place because of them. Please celebrate what they have given to us and to everyone who has yet to arrive in Vermont.•

California's civil union bill sidelined
By Ari Bendersky, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
SUMMARY: California gays and lesbians were dealt a brief setback on
Monday when state Assemblyman Paul Koretz shelved the state's civil
union bill.

California gays and lesbians were dealt a brief setback on Monday when
state Assemblyman Paul Koretz announced he would temporarily shelve
Assembly Bill 1338 - the California Family Protection Act - extending
gay couples' wait to legally form civil unions in the state. 

Koretz, however, looks at this as a stepping stone to passing the bill.


"We scored a huge victory this year, " Koretz, D-West Hollywood, said
in a statement. "We put civil union on the map in California and began
the dialogue. We opened many eyes to the need for full legal
recognition of committed same-sex couples." 

The California Family Protection Act is closely modeled after Vermont's
same-sex "civil unions" bill that was voted into law in April of 2000.
Koretz hopes to follow in the footsteps of Vermont's legislature in
providing gay and lesbian couples many of the same rights married
heterosexual couples currently enjoy. 

Koretz decided to shelve the bill now because he feels many people
still need to be educated on the inequalities toward gay and lesbian
people, according to Eric Astacaan, legislative advocate for the
California Alliance for Pride & Equality (CAPE). 

"We knew the civil union issue was relatively new," Astacaan said.
"Some people don't have a full grasp of the necessity of the civil
union. Time is on our side." 

Same-sex couples in the state can legally register as domestic
partners. 

Earlier this week, the bill came under a flurry of opposition by groups
like Focus on the Family. On Monday, that group's founder, Dr. James C.
Dobson, along with Family Research Council (FRC) president Ken Connor,
broadcast to more than 7.5 million listeners of his weekly radio show
that the "bill would overturn the will of Californians." 

"The California Legislature has been captured, almost without
opposition, by those who hold a gay and lesbian philosophy and by a
governor -- Gray Davis -- who has signed into law a host of
pro-homosexual bills revolutionizing that state," Dobson told his
mainly Christian-based audience. 

While groups like FRC and Focus on the Family claimed a victory with
the temporary shelving of AB 1338, Koretz isn't giving up so easily. 

"AB 1338 may have stalled, but the issue of civil union is still very
much alive in California," he said. "The battle may be over, but the
war has only just begun." 



Stop “Gay Marriage” in California
Bill Aims to Follow in Vermont’s Footsteps
By Robert H. Knight
December 20, 2001 
In January, California legislators will take up AB 1338, a “civil
unions” bill that conveys all legal aspects of marriage except the word
“marriage” to homosexual relationships. In effect, the bill brazenly
creates counterfeit marriage by another name, overriding Californians’
vote in 2000 to preserve marriage.

AB 1338 is similar to the “civil unions” measure enacted in Vermont and
would force employers to end any distinctions in policies based on
marriage. This would destroy the uniqueness of marriage and put
employers at risk for legal action if they maintain marriage-based
policies of any kind. Christian, Jewish and Muslim employers would find
themselves having to choose between their faith and their freedom to do
business.

AB 1338 states that “a spouse in a civil union shall have all the same
rights, protections, benefits, and responsibilities under law, whether
they derive from statutes, administrative or court rule, policy, common
law, or any other provision or source of law, that are granted a spouse
in a civil marriage.”

A San Francisco law now requires all businesses that contract with the
city to provide “domestic partner” benefits to homosexual and unmarried
couples, regardless of the beliefs of the employer. AB 1338 would
result in a statewide application of that oppressive law in the Golden
State. The legislature already passed AB 25, which provided a dozen
marriage rights to homosexual couples, but AB 1338 goes all the way
toward ending the uniqueness of marriage. Within a short time,
homosexual activists would demand the use of the term “marriage” as
well, by contending that the state’s policies indicate that it sees no
moral distinction whatever.

The adoption of such a law would have national implications and would
pave the way for legal crises in other states as homosexual couples
obtain the equivalent of marital status and then sue other states to
recognize the relationship. Voting patterns indicate that the measure
could go either way. Yet some Democrat legislators and even Gov. Davis
of California could be persuaded to preserve marriage if the public
rises up.



TRIANGLE FOUNDATION/ ACLU FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST
CITY OF DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT.

Triangle Foundation v City of Detroit

Remarks of Jeffrey Montgomery, Executive Director of Triangle Foundation
Press Conference with ACLU of Michigan
Announcing the filing of a Federal Court lawsuit against the Detroit Police
Department
Monday 17 December 2001

So why are we here?

We're here today to protect civil rights ---that's the short answer.

We're here ---and now in Federal Court--- because of outrageous police
activity and behavior; police profiling; an overactive prosecutor; and to
combat homophobia.

We're here in a much broader sense because now, today, more than ever,
someone has to monitor and cal out examples and instances of abuse of
authority ---abuse of public trust.

Law enforcement -from the U.S. Attorney General on down the line--- has
sought and to a large extent has been granted some very far-reaching powers
since 9-11. We all need to be sure that law enforcement is deserving of our
trust. In the case of the Detroit Police and Wayne County Prosecutor in
these instances, they have failed their test of trust.

We're here to try and restore some of the damage done to the individual men
who have been victims of police abuse, as well a to redress the abuse of
public trust.

We need to acknowledge that not all entities in the City have collaborated
in this profiling. The City Council has been helpful in dealing with these
outrageous profiling and civil rights abuses. We thank Council and Are sorry
that others in leadership of the City ---the Police and the Wayne County
Prosecutor-have not shared in finding a solution; but then they are the
problem.
--------------------------------------------------

ACLU Challenges Detroit Police Practice of Profiling Gay Men;
Police Actions Unconstitutional

Statement of Jay Kaplan,
Staff Attorney, ACLU GLBT Project
Monday, December 17, 2001

The ACLU of Michigan, on behalf of four men and the Triangle Foundation,
filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Michigan today challenging the
constitutionality of the undercover sting operations in Rouge Park conducted
by the Sixth Precinct of the Detroit City Police Department. Gay men or men
perceived to be gay have been targeted for arrest under Detroit's "Annoying
Persons" and "Solicitation and Accosting" ordinances.

In order to entrap men throughout the park, undercover officers would follow
or approach men they perceived to be gay, make eye contact and encourage the
men to respond in a sexual manner. If a man merely responded with a look,
gesture or conversation that the officers perceived to have sexual
connotations, the man was arrested under these ordinances and his vehicle
would be impounded. He was then required to pay $900, plus towing and
storage costs for the return of his vehicle. The money was not refunded,
even if the court dismissed charges under these ordinances.

None of these arrests, under these ordinances and through the Rouge Park
undercover decoy operation involved public sexual activity or prostitution.
The undercover operation was part of the "morality units" operations
conducted city-wide by all precincts to eliminate public sexual activity and
prostitution.

We believe that the actions of the Sixth Precinct to profile and arrest gay
men or men perceived to be gay under these ordinances are unconstitutional
in four respects: 1) The ordinances are overbroad and vague by not providing
adequate notice regarding prohibited conduct; 2) they violate our plaintiffs
right to have engaged in constitutionally protected speech and associational
activity under the First Amendment; 3) the singling out of gay men for
arrest and prosecution violates Equal Protection rights; and 4) the police
action of impounding vehicles and the practice of charging fees for the
return, towing and storage of vehicles constitutes an illegal seizure in
violation of due process.

There is a history to these types of operations where the police have used
undercover operations to target and arrest gay men. In 1997, the ACLU of
Maryland had a similar lawsuit against police for sting operations in parks
Baltimore-area. The ACLU of Northern California challenged ordinances that
would have allowed police to seize, claim and sell the vehicles driven by
people accused -- even if they are later found innocent.

Deborah A. LaBelle, ACLU Cooperating Attorney, will be lead counsel on this
case along with Jay Kaplan, Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan Legal
Director and Kary L. Moss, ACLU of Michigan Executive Director.

LGNY, December 7-20, 2001
( http://www.lgny.com  )

ELECTION 2001:  The New Mayor
Matt Foreman, Mathilde Krim named to Bloomberg transition committee
By PAUL SCHINDLER
         Continuing a post-election strategy aimed at demonstrating a
commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, Republican Mayor-elect Michael
Bloomberg has announced a 56-member transition committee that includes a
number of prominent individuals - union leaders and others - more typically
identified with Democratic politics.
         The group includes Matt Foreman, who will complete a four-year tenure
in December as head of the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), the state's gay
rights lobbying group, and Dr. Mathilde Krim, the founder of the American
Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).  ESPA endorsed Bloomberg's opponent,
Democrat Mark Green, in the November 6 election.
         The committee was announced on November 19 and held its first meeting
the following day.
         "The Mayor-elect stressed two items only," Foreman told LGNY.  "That
he was looking to identify the best and the brightest city commissioners and
that his administration needed to reflect the diversity of New York City."
         Foreman explained that the committee was broken down into 13 panels
representing broad policy areas, each charged with identifying candidates
for commissionerships within those areas.  Foreman has been assigned to the
criminal justice committee, which will make recommendations for corrections
department and probation department commissioners and for the city's
criminal justice coordinator.  A week before announcing the transition
committee, Bloomberg named Raymond Kelly, police commissioner under
Democratic Mayor David Dinkins, to return to that post.
         Foreman has strong credentials in the criminal justice field that he
brings to his work in the transition effort.  He ran the city's Gay and
Lesbian Anti-Violence Project from 1990 until 1996.  Prior to that, he
worked for ten years in prison policy and administration, as director of
Rikers Island, as executive assistant to the city's corrections
commissioner, and as assistant commissioner of the West Virginia department
of corrections.
         Richard Burns, executive director of the LGBT Community Services
Center, who played a key role in organizing queer community initiatives
aimed at influencing the Giuliani and Dinkins transitions in years past,
praised Foreman's selection.
         "I'm thrilled that he's been named to the transition committee,"
Burns said of Foreman.  "I think he'll do an excellent job."
         Besides criminal justice, other areas the transition committee will
work on include health, family services, and special populations, a grouping
that includes senior citizen services, the city Human Rights Commission, and
other specialized constituent outreach.
         Foreman stressed that while Bloomberg is hoping to receive two or
three recommendations for each commissionership, he has not bound himself to
choose only from the transition committee choices.
         "We are vetting candidates and submitting names to him," Foreman
said.  "He may or may not choose from that list."
         Foreman also said the transition committee will play no formal role
in recommending candidates for the several deputy mayor slots or for the
Mayor's staff at City Hall, which Bloomberg hopes to put together in the
next several weeks.  Nevertheless, committee members have been invited to
submit names for those positions as well, and to pass along resumes to
panels working on policy areas other than those to which they have been
assigned.
         "We were encouraged to look for and present commissioner-quality
names to the other panels of the committee, Foreman said.  "So if there are
people in [the LGBT] community who have the qualifications and the interest
in working in the Bloomberg administration, I'd like to hear from them, and
hopefully we can do our best to advocate for them."
         Foreman was quick to make clear that he has no sense yet of the
influence committee members will ultimately have in the transition process,
but said he hoped to "facilitate" the introduction of qualified candidates
to the Bloomberg team.  He urged people interested to be as specific as
possible about their skills and interests.
         In contrast to previous Mayoral transitions, Foreman expressed
optimism that Bloomberg's status as a political outsider will make for an
open process of forging a new administration.
         "My recollection was that the last two transition efforts were shams,
that both Giuliani and Dinkins came in with all sorts of baggage," he said.
"My sense is that most of the major appointments in those administrations
were done deals."
         Certainly, one of Bloomberg's goals in naming the transition
committee was to signal an openness of process.  Two of the city's leading
union officials, Dennis Rivera, who heads up 1199, the health and human
service workers union, and Randi Weingarten, the head of the United
Federation of Teachers, were among those named.  Both unions had supported
Green during the election, though Rivera was originally a Freddy Ferrer
supporter, and Weingarten first supported Alan Hevesi, then Ferrer, before
migrating to Green.  The transition group also includes former Democratic
Senator Bob Kerrey, whose brief tenure as president of the New School has
been marked by controversy about recent revelations of his role in the
killing of civilians during his Vietnam War service.
         Bloomberg also reached out to leaders in the African-American and
Latino communities, including Dr. Edison O. Jackson, president of Medgar
Evers College, and Rossana Rosado, publisher of El Diario.
         The Mayor-elect, of course, also tapped people identified with the
current Giuliani administration including AOL/Time Warner top executive
Richard D. Parsons, who headed up the incumbent Mayor's 1993 transition,
Alfred C. Cerullo, president of the Grand Central Partnership who was
formerly the city's finance commissioner, and Ninfa Segarra, a longtime
Giuliani loyalist who is now President of the Board of Education.  Segarra
has an antagonistic history with the gay community due to her strong
opposition to a public school curriculum that incorporates condom education
and the study of gay and lesbian families.
         Segarra notwithstanding, Foreman was upbeat in talking about the
influence the gay community can have in the transition process, noting that
the group includes other gay men and lesbians whose expertise is in areas
other than gay rights.  He also noted that two top LGBT aides to Bloomberg,
journalist Jonathan Capehart and Verna Eggleston, the former director of the
Hetrick-Martin Institute, continue to advise the Mayor-elect during the
transition period.
         "That's an important and positive thing," he said.
         Asked whether he might be amenable to going back into the public
sector now that he is leaving ESPA, Foreman said that transition committee
members were invited to join the effort on the understanding that they were
not seeking a post in the administration.

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