national notes
Compiled by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
New gay youth statistics
MINNEAPOLIS—^According to a newly
released study, gay male junior and senior high
school students in Minnesota are seven times
as likely to try to kill themselves as heterosexual
students.
Researcher Dr. Gary Remafedi said that
sexual orientation is not, however, the cause of
the high risk for gay youth, and that it is more
likely due to the social stigma attached to “gen
der non-conformity,” or “appearing different
from other people.” “There also is substance
abuse, family dysfunction, keeping sexual ori
entation hidden from others, being in conflict
with others about sexual orientation and com
ing out at a very early age,” he said. %mafedi
said that sexual orientation was ruled out as the
basic cause because if it had been central, the
suicide rate would have been the same for young
lesbians. “There was no significant difference
in suicide attempts between lesbian and het
erosexual females,” he added.
Faircloth drops gay pollster
NEW YORK—New York Daily News
reported that Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-NC) had
dropped conservative pollster Arthur
Finkelstein “out of fear that his gay lifestyle
would become a campaign issue.”
Earlier this year, Faircloth hired Neil
Newhouse and his firm Public Opinion Strate
gies to be his campaign pollster for next year’s
re-election campaign. Faircloth hited Newhouse
because “he has a lot of experience in North
Carolina.” Finkelstein had been the pollster
for past Helms campaigns and for Faircloth’s
1992 campaign.
Gay bill defeated for 3rd time
LOUISVILLE, KY—For the third time in
five years, the Fairness Amendment, a proposal
designed to protect the citizens of Louisville
against discrimination based on sexual orien
tation, has been defeated by the board of aider-
men (city council). The vote was three in fa
vor and seven against with two abstentions.
Immediately following the vote and a large
outdoor rally across the street, nearly 125 sup
porters of the ordinance stepped into Sixth
Street, a four-lane thoroughfare in front of ven
erable City Hall, to stage a brief sit-down pro
test. When asked by city police to leave, all
but 52 did so. As the crowd took up a noisy
rendition of an old civil rights song, “We Shall
Not Be Moved,” police arrested the rest on
charges of obstructing a highway.
Gay school opens in Dallas
DALLAS—^Walt Whitman Community
School in Dallas is the nation’s first private
school for homosexuals, though a few students
are there not because they are gay themselves,
but because a parent is. Walt ''j^itman Com
munity School — all three teachers, seven stu
dents, one building and three classrooms of it
— is the dream of Becky Thompson, who is
lesbian, and Pamala Stone, who is not. The vet
eran educators had observed students harass
ing others at the Walden Preparatory School in
the north Dallas suburb of Addison, which they
both left in January.
Tuition at Whitman is $7,000 annually. Ms.
Thompson said all seven students are receiving
financial assistance from people who want the
school to succeed. The school also is seeking
grants from private foundations.
Although they anticipated attracting drop
outs a few credits shy of gtaduation, only two
students are seniors. That shows the earlier age
at which people are becoming aware of their
sexuality these days, Ms. Thompson said.
Village to register gay couples
OAK PARK, IL—In the village Ernest.
Hemingway once described as a place of broad
lawns and narrow minds, trustees have adopted
a measure establishing a domestic partnership
registry for same-sex couples. The registry in
Oak Park, Hemingway’s home town just west
of Chicago, will allow gay and lesbian couples
to register at Village Hall and receive a certifi
cate acknowledging their commitment.
In 1994, a similar proposal was rejected by
trustees after it was paired with an ordinance
that gave family benefits to gay partners of vil
lage employees. The measure adopted by the
village provides no specific benefits, but sup
porters say the same-sex registry will recognize
gay couples’ committed relationships as simi
lar to marriage and give those couples a tool to
fight discrimination.
Abuse in gay partners detailed
BOSTON—It wasn’t until he was hospital
ized with a broken jaw, ruptured spleen and
punctured intestine that Dennis decided to
leave his lover. But it wasn’t until years later
that the Boston accountant put a label on what
he’d been through: domestic abuse.
Gay victims of domestic abuse make up a
large population but attract litde mainstream
attention, according to Curt Rogers, executive
director of the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence
Project. The nonprofit agency conducted a sur
vey in June of 2000 gay men in Boston and
found that one in four had been a victim of
domestic violence — about the same number
as for heterosexual women. The survey, con
ducted during Gay Pride Week, helped validate
something gay activists say they have known
for years.
Eighty percent of the men surveyed could
not list a single resource for domestic violence
victims, Rogers said, adding that the survey
showed victims cross all age, income and eth
nic boundaries. The most important hurdle in
fighting gay domestic abuse, much like in het
erosexual domestic abuse, is publicizing the
problem so victims know they are victims,
Rogers said.
Drag shows pass a hurdle
CHARLESTON, WV—The Charleston
Municipal Planning Commission voted in fa
vor of a new ordinance that would allow male
and female impersonators in legally operating
bars and nightclubs and in local theaters. The
9-3 vote came after Boyd Mynes, owner ofThe
Broadway, was twice turned down for drag
shows under an old ordinance which lumped
male and female impersonators in the same
category as strippers and other sexually explicit
forms of entertainment.
The recent vote would remove imperson
ators from the city’s adult entertainment ordi
nance, which requires special permission, and
create a new category that permits imperson
ators without any kind of special permits. The
proposed change to the city’s ordinances must
still be approved by the planning committee of
City Council and the full council.
Ellen finally comes out in
Binningham
NEW YORK—The Gay & Lesbian Alli
ance Against Defamation announced that Bir
mingham, AL’s ABC affiliate is planning to air
the highly anticipated fall season of the televi
sion sitcom Ellen. This past April, Birmingham
was the only ABC affiliate in the nation that
refused to air the historic Ellen “coming out”
episode, although the recent rebroadcast of that
episode aired there without comment.
MN Supreme Court rules
same-sex harassment illegal
ST. PAUL—Sexual harassment between two
men violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act,
the state Supreme Court ruled in its first case
on whether same-gender harassment is illegal.
The court ruled 6-1 that harassment can take
place in the office even if no women are present
and neither party is sexually interested in the
other. The case involved Richard Cummings,
who was hired by S & K Trucking and Land
scaping of Rosemount in July 1992 as a sea
sonal truck driver. Cummings alleged that his
direct supervisor and the co-owner of the com
pany, Charles Koehnen, repeatedly made lewd
sexual comments and routinely put his hands
on Cummings’ hips, simulating a sexual act.
Cummings said the harassment occurred nearly
every day during the two years he was employed
at the company.
Koehnen claimed that he was just having
fun and because he isn’t gay, his actions
shouldn’t have been taken seriously. A district
court agreed with Koehnen, ruling that the
claim did not fall under the law because
Koehnen wasn’t sexually interested in
Cummings. The law prohibits sexual discrimi
nation, including unwelcome sexual advances
in the workplace.
See NATIONAL on page 23
Q-Notes T September 20,1997 ▼ PAGE 11