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It QjWpte^ T-Npvembar 27,1999; »*v« . “ *\r» * fc t . u 511 Q^e^ns Road QAmt Raroift4H £U^c€' in tk€> Htort 9{^ewCy 1Rj.mo deCed (704)336-6700 ^{—3^ 10:00-6:00 features • 14.CC UtiCities incCucCed • fitness !Rpoml • ‘Business Center, • “Private Pntry Gill Foundation reveals initiatives ^ $2 Coronas and^^ Transistor Twister shots DJ Edward Kirkland supplies HiNRG'Euro House by Scott Swenson Special to Q-Notes DENVER—The Gill Foundation, one of the nation’s leading funders of GLBT and HIV/ AIDS organizations and programs, has an nounced plans for an impressive philanthropic campaign to develop and broaden leadership for the GLBT movement. The new effort, dubbed The Gill Foundation 21st Century Ini tiatives, is part of an overall 40 percent increase in the Foundation’s grantmaking budget for the year 2000. The three projects comprising the 21st Cen tury Initiatives include: People of Color Initiative: to increase ra cial justice through funding and technical as sistance to people of color organizations and multicultural leadership development in all GLBT organizations ($1 million over five years); Statewide Organizing Initiative: to develop and strengthen statewide GLBT nonprofit or ganizations ($1.5 million over five years); Community Center Initiative; to strengthen existing GLBT community centers and build new centers in non-urban America ($2 million over five years). “The Gill Foundation 21st Century Initia tives represent an effort to identify and focus resources on specific communities within the GLBT movement. In order to ensure these ini tiatives are a success, we will be working with leaders within those communities to plan and develop strong programs,” said Katherine Pease, executive director of the Gill Foundation. For the People of Color Initiative, the Foun dation is convening a diverse group of people of color leaders from organizations around ^e country to help plan and implement the projea. Similar meetings will be called next year to es tablish the statewide organization and commu nity center initiatives. Tim Gill, founder and president of the Quark software company, started the Founda tion in 1994 in response to Colorado’s anti gay Amendment Two ballot measure. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $14 million to GLBT and HIV/AIDS organizations throughout the country. In addition to its grantmaking program, the Gill Foundation also supports a training pro gram — the OutGiving Projea — that pro vides technical assistance to organizations in the GLBT movement. For more information on the foundation or .the initiatives, call (303) 292-4455 ext. 1218. T Report documents rise of bigotry AVyXHOS 18 +up .icimittrci prior to sliowtimc • uptown cM.irlottn 704.375.8765 www.mythosclulicom by Nancy Coleman Special to Q-Notes WASHINGTON, DC—During the trial of Aaron McKinney, lawyers defending Matthew Shepard’s accused killer resorted to the familiar tactic of blaming the victim. Preparing a so- called “homosexual panic” defense, they planned to suggest that Shepard might have provoked his own murder by making a sexual advance toward their client — implying that any “real man” in similar circumstances might react the same way. Although the judge ultimately disallowed the controversial defense for legal reasons, the attempt stood as a chilling reminder of the cli mate of bigotry and intolerance facing GLBT Americans. In addition, the warped wranglings of the trial were an appropriate backdrop for the re lease of Hostile Climate, the sixth nationwide chronicle of anti-gay discrimination compiled by the People for the American Way Founda tion (PFAW Foundation). The report details almost 300 incidents in 47 states, more than twice as many instances as reported in the 1998 edition. The states that reported the highest num ber of incidents were California (31), Texas (18), Florida (17) and i n- New York (15) — North Carolina and South Carolina re ported five and four incidents, respec tively — but the epidemic of underreporting makes it impossible to know how many addi tional situations went undocumented. Occurrences related to marriage and family issues — such as same-gender marriage, adop tion, child custody and foster parenting — more than doubled from 20 in 1997 to 42 last year. In the area of education, which includes incidents that occurred in secondary schools or colleges, the number again more than doubled, from 34 in 1997 to 76 in 1998. The report further details incidents in the following cat egories: anti-discrimination ordinances (32), censorship (20), “culture wars” or situations related to public events such as protests or pa rades (36), employment (36), politics and gov ernment (44) and religion (32). “Since Matthew Shepard’s death, we have been asking ourselves, as a nation, ‘How have we arrived at such a place, where someone could commit such a heinous, heartless crime?’ The answer, as this book reveals, is that we start down this path whenever we deny people their basic human rights and dignity, said Carole Shields, PFAW Foundation president. Hostile Climate documents many events that are shocking not simply because they are anti gay, but because they communicate an uncon scionable callousness toward human life. For example: • A float in Colorado State University’s homecoming parade mocked Matthew Shepard as he lay dying five miles away in the local hos pital. The float featured a scarecrow lashed to a fence — the same way Shepard was found — with the words “I’m Gay” painted on the front and “Up My Ass” on the back. • Paramedics in Washington, DC stopped life-saving care to a car accident victim when they discovered that she was transgendered. She later died at the hospital when a doctor failed to perform routine medical procedures. The report details how the Religious Right demonizes GLBT citizens while claiming to be moderate and representing average Americans. For example: • In California, State Sen. Pete Knight launched a ballot initiative campaign that would prohibit the state from recognizing same-gen der marriages, even though they are already outlawed in California and are not recognized in any other state. While Knight claimed that the initiative was not anti-gay, incidents of vio lence increased in Oregon, Maine and Colo rado when those states put gay civil rights to a vote. The campaign is continuing and Califor nia voters will decide the question in March 2000. • Religious Right organizations attacked The Sissy Duckling, a gay version of the ugly duck ling story written by gay actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein. A psy chologist on James Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program charged that the show cre ated gender confusion in the minds of children, leading them to think: “I can get as crazy as having sex with animals because anything is possible and I don’t know if I’m a guy or a girl.” Hostile Climate shows how the Religious Right’s message that GLBT Americans should be reviled and excluded is received and ampli fied at the state level: • In Oklahoma, the legislature debated a bill that would have prohibited gays and lesbians from working in public schools. The lawmaker who sponsored the proposal said his goal was to “drive [gays] back in the closet like the way they were.” • The Christian Coalition in Florida, while trying to repeal a non-discrimination law, dis tributed a fraudulent document purporting to be a “Gay Manifesto. It warned: “Homosexu ality must be spoken in your churches and syna gogues.... [Homosexuals] will in all likelihood - expunge a number of passages from your Scrip ture and rewrite others, eliminating preferen tial treatment of heterosexual marriages....” • Rev. Gabriel Jose Carrera’s campaign for state representative in Hartford, CT against openly bisexual Rep. Evelyn Mantilla charged that Mantilla wanted to teach “anal sex” and “lesbian love” to school children. One of his campaign posters included a vulgar term for lesbian in Spanish that was placed over a bull’s See REPORT on page 11 Hostile Climate details more than twice as many instances as reported in the 1998 edition.
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