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NEWS IN BRIEF
Two Supreme Court Protesters Singled Out
Washington, D.C.-Two of the estimated
800 protesters arrested at the Supreme Court
lesbian and gay civil disobedience (CD) last
October 13lh have ben handed harsh fines by
a Superior Court judge. Alexander Willis
received one year of supervised probation,
100 hours of community service and a $100
fine. Both Willis and Michael McDonogh
were found guilty of demonstrating without a
permit and unlawful crossing of a police line.
According to Willis' attorney, Leonard
Graff, the legal director of National Gay
Rights Advocates, there is no "rhyme or
reason" to singling out Willis and McDonogh
from the 800 arrested at the largest act of civil
disobedience since the antiwar protests of the
early 70s. "The government simply decided
that they had to make an example of these
people. Considering the symbolic nature of
the crime, the sentence was unnecessarily
harsh." The government has scapegoated his
client, he said.
Organizers of the CD also decried the
harsh sentences. Most of the 800 arrested
pleaded guilty and paid a S50 fine; 51 others
spent 48 hours in jail.
Several women, however, were subjected
to pelvic searches, other medical
examinations and strip searches by police
while in custody. One of the women
reportedly suffered internal damage as a
result of the examination.
DC civil rights attorney Nina Kraut plans
a multimillion dollar suit against the city on
behalf of the women to halt forced body
cavity searches. NGRA plans to appeal
Willis' sentence.
-Gay Community News
History-making
Candidacy Announced
in Ohio
Columbus-History was made in
Columbus, Ohio, on June 23rd when Mike
Gelpi announced his plans to run for the
United Slates Congress. This is the first time
that an openly gay candidate has announced
his intentions to seek a Congressional seat.
While others have announced their sexual
orientations after their elections, Gelpi made
the decision to announce his sexual
orientation at the same time that he opened his
headquarters as he wanted to run an honest,
forthright campaign. The reaction from both
the media and the public has been positive
and supportive. Gelpi, who is running as the
Democratically endorsed candidate, will face
incumbent Republican Member of Congress
John Kasich and Larouchite Mark Brown in
the general election in November.
John Kasich has been consistently
unsupportive of the issues on the social and
Civil Rights agenda. Kasich's one committee
assignment-Armed Scrvices-has enabled him
to address reduction in military spending for
toilet seats. However, at the same time, he
has voted for almost every weapons system
and organization request proposed by the
Pentagon.
Gelpi says, "The issue for the gay and
lesbian community is the neglect of the
Reagan administration to adequately address
our concerns. Kasich's lack of compassion
has only intensified Reagan's efforts to
disenfranchise us. Are we really better off
today than we were eight years ago? Can we
afford to re-elect people like John Kasich?
Can we build a successful Congressional
coalition that will protect our rights?"
Gelpi is actively seeking support from the
gay and lesbian communities across the
United States. "We are asking not only for
financial contributions but also for
volunteers." Individuals or groups who are
willing to hold fundraisers or volunteer their
efforts are asked to contact the Gelpi
Headquarters at (614) 464-9300. "I believe
that this is an effort not only for the Twelfth
Congressional District, but for gay men and
lesbians regardless of where they live."
Episcopalian Bishops
Refuse to Condemn
Homosexuality
Detroit-Episcopalian bishops attending
their 69th General Convention voted against a
proposal to condemn homosexuality as a
failure of Christian ideals. In rejecting the
proposal, the House of Bishops, one of the
two governing bodies of the church, decided
to call for a dialogue among churches to
continue on the subject of sexuality. The vote
on homosexuality brought mixed responses
from the delegates representing 2.6 million
members of the Episcopalian Church in the
United States. Many complained that the
church leadership did not act decisively on the
issue.
The bishops endorsed a resolution
affirming traditional biblical teachings on
chastity and fidelity without mentioning
homosexuality.
The Rev. Paul Moore Jr., bishop of New
York, supported the actions taken by the
House of Bishops saying "Gay people going
through the tragedy of AIDS should not be
denied the strength of an intimate relationship
with a person of the same sex."
The tone of the convention brought several
gestures of support for people with AIDS
(PWAs), including a healing service for
PWAs, and a call for church leaders of all
denominations to form personal relationships
with PWAs.
-F.G.
Gay Editor Banned
From USSR
Finland-ll looks like Russia and Finland
are close to declaring war over the gay
connection. The Soviet Union is so upset at
the Finnish gay magazine, Seta, which
recently featured Chairperson Gorbachev on
the cover, flying through the air, with a "sexy"
Superman torso, that the Seta editor, Reijo
Harkoncn, has been refused a visa to visit
Russia any more.
Seta has been acting as the link between
Western gay organizations, including the
International Lesbian & Gay Association
(ILGA), and the representatives of the
unofficial gay movement in Leningrad and
other Soviet cities. The foreign ministry in
Moscow, who made the decision to ban
Harkonen, have repeatedly expressed their
irritation with the information about the
repression of homosexuals in the USSR
which has been circulating in the West thanks
to reports in Seta magazine. The Soviet
policy of reform has not yet made any
difference to the position of lesbians and gays
in Russia.
- John Hubert
Atlanta Police
Courteous, Ineffective
in Anti-Gay Case
Ai/an/a-Alianta Police have made no
progress on a complaint filed by four gay men
after the driver and passenger of a car verbally
harassed them and tried to strike them with a
wooden club.
The incident took place more than two
months ago when the four friends stood
talking in the parking lot in front of the
Midtown Six Theatre. The black
Volkswagen with tinted windows approached
the group, the windows were rolled down and
a club was swung. Two gay men who had
left the theatre only moments earlier said the
same car approached them. That time, the
people in the VW yelled "Faggots!" and other
standard homophobic insults.
Police officers arrived shortly after they
were called, and by all accounts were
courteous and helpful. They took a report,
including the tag number which the four men
say they made a point to remember
accurately. In addition to the police, the men
reported the incident to activists and to the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
After several weeks without police
progress, Georgia ACLU Director Gene
Guerrero spoke with police and, eventually,
got a copy of the report. In the report he
discovered that police had transposed
numbers and checked for the wrong lag.
Guerrero notified police of their error and the
investigation resumed. Still, there has been
no progress.
Detective M.L. Sanders, the man in charge
of the case, told Southern Voice that the case
is "inactivated." He says the tag number still
doesn't correspond to any registered vehicle.
He has found a similar vehicle with a similar
tag but, he says, without identification of the
driver, "we're back at square one."
-F.G.
Teachers Union Urges
Counseling for
Gay/Lesbian Students
New Orleans-Delegates to the National
Education Association (NEA) annual
convention voted to urge all school districts to
offer counseling to students struggling with
their sexual identity. After a heated debate,
the delegates representing almost two million
NEA members approved the resolution
despite strong opposition from John Walters,
Chief of Staff for Education Secretary
William Bennett.
One of the strongest supporters of the
measure, NEA Secretary-Treasurer Roaxanne
Bradshaw, spoke of her experience with a
young student who is now in a coma after
attempting suicide because of her anxiety over
her sexual orientation.
-F.G.
U.S. Senate Votes to
Repeal Part of D.C.
Gay/Lesbian Rights
Law; Nunn & Fowler
Go Along
In what some consider its first vote on gay
and lesbian rights, the U.S. Senate voted
58 - 33 to force the District of Columbia to
weakent its tough gay rights law.
The July 11th vote would block the D.C.
'89 budget of $3.7 billion unless the D.C.
council votes to allow private schools with
religious tics to deny services or support to
gay and lesbian groups. It was introduced as
an ammendment by Senator Bill Armstrong
(R-CO) on the appropriations bill for the city.
But lobbyists say the amendment will
probably be nixed in Senate-house
conference as intruding on home rule. ■
The Vote came in the wake of an '87 court
ruling that the D.C. gay rights law required
Georgetown University to give gay groups the
same access to facilities and funding as other
groups. Georgetown, which has disclaimed
any involvement in the amendment, is
connected to the Catholic Church.
Leading the debate for gay rights were
Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the D.C.
Appropriations subcommittee, along with
Alan Cranston (D-CA) and Lowell Wcicker
(R-CT).
"It is just good, old-fashioned,
straightforward bigotry," Weicker said. "This
should go back down the sewer from which it
came."
The amendment was not intended to harm
gays but to protect the rights of schools to
practice their religious beliefs, Armstrong
said. He compared it with the struggle of
churches in Nicaragua and Poland against
their governments.
Democratic Senators Sam Nunn and
Wyche Fowler of Georgia voted against gays,
while more of the 54 Democrats voted for
gays than against (26 for). That was not
nearly the case with the 46 Republicans, but 6
voted for gays, including 2 surprises: William
Cohen (ME) and Dan Evans (WA), who is
retiring this year.
Jesse Helms did not vote because he is
hospitalized for prostate problems.
A strong reaction to the vote is building in
D.C. council, the Washington Post reports.
Chairman David Clarke said he would allow
the spending freeze to take effect rather than
weaken gay rights.
"I hope they (Senators) are ready for no
police, no firefighters and no anything else,"
Clarke said, predicting his colleagues would
agree.
- John Ward
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