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Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper > Volume 14, Number 24 * April 29, 2000 • FREE
Civil unions advance in Vermont
by Dan Van Mourifc
Q-Notes Staff
MONTPELIER, VT—Civil unions legis
lation in Vermont was recently passed in two
Senate committees, advancing the measure to
the full Senate. But the bill received from the
House was not simply rubber-stamped and the
votes did not come as soon as expected.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held ad
ditional hearings and debated several issues
before passing the bill 4-2. The legislation is in
response to a court order stating that same-sex
couples should be entitled to the same benefits
as heterosexual couples.
The committee grappled with the issue of
how to deal with out-of-state residents who
might seek a civil union license and how that
license would be viewed in their home states.
Senators finally decided to delete any mention
of that from the bill after concluding they
couldn’t accommodate each other’s differences.
That particular issue, however, may be revis
ited when the bill is debated by the full Senate.
“There’s no way to avoid the fact that in the
future there will be people going to court,” said
Sen. Richard McCormack (D-Windsor).
Immediately following the Judiciary vote,
the Finance Committee voted 4-3 to recom
mend the bill, after reviewing tax implications.
The Senate version is quite similar to the
version passed by the House. While gay and
lesbian couples will be prohibited from marry
ing, they would be granted marriage benefits
through parallel civil unions. •'
If passed, civil unions would confer on same-
sex couples ail the benefits that the state ofVer-
mont controls, including tax breaks, hospital
visitations, medical decision-making for a part
ner and inheritance rights. That does not in
clude federal benefits granted through marriage.
including taxes, immigration and many insur
ance benefits.
The other major debate revolved around
what to name the new legal structure. The
House named the legal relationships “civil
unions” in an effort to get away from the term
domestic partnerships, which some gay couples
objected to and others argued could be con
fused with narrower benefits. Senators retained
the original name because it had taken on a
dignified meaning and particularly liked the
inclusion of “civil” in the title.
Sen. Richard Sears (D-Bennington), chair
man of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said
the biggest difference between the House and
Senate versions was the effective date. Under
the Senate bill, provisions related to taxes and
insurance would not take effect until next Janu
ary. However, most other provisions of the bill
would take effect July 1. Under the House bill,
most provisions would not take effect until Sep
tember 1.
The Senate bill also changed emphasis on
certain provisions. Both bills start with a long
list of findings. The first finding in the House
bill refers to Vermont’s history of independence
and equal treatment and respect for all Ver
monters. It also quotes the “common benefits
clause” of the Vermont Constitution, which
formed the basis of the court’s ruling that same-
sex couples were entitled to the same rights as
opposite-sex couples.
The first finding in the Senate bill is a state
ment confirming that marriage under Vermont
law is a union between a man and a woman.
The second finding refers to Vermont’s history
of independence and the “common benefits
clause.” '
The Senate was also scheduled to consider a
See VERMONT on page 17
ACLU files suit against state-funded
religious group for firing lesbian
by Eric Ferrero
Special to Q-Notes
LOUISVILLE, KY—In a first-of-its-kind
case that may change the landscape of the na
tional debate over whether religious groups that
discriminate should receive taxpayer funds, the
American Civil Liberties Union and Americans
United for Separation of Church and State have
filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of
Kentucky and a publicly-funded religious or
ganization that fired a lesbian employee.
For several weeks, the ACLU has been ne
gotiating with the Commonwealth of Ken
tucky, which has been reexamining its contracts
"Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children
must be held accountable. Most
citizens do not want their tax dollars
used to discriminate." — Jeff Vessels
with Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children be
cause of the organization’s religious policy
against hiring gay men and lesbians. Kentucky
Baptist Homes for Children received $13 mil
lion of its total $19 million budget last year
from the state.
“Both the state and Kentucky Baptist
Homes for Children must be held accountable,”
said Jeff Vessels, executive director of the ACLU
of Kentucky. “Most citizens do not want their
tax dollars used to discriminate, which is what
is happening here.”
The lawsuit, filed April 17, opens a new
front in the battle against employment discrimi
nation by charging that Alicia Pedreira, a les
bian, was fired because she did not share her
employer’s religious beliefs about homosexual
ity. As is the case in most states, Kentucky law
prohibits employment discrimination based on
religion, but does not address discrimination
based on .sexual orientation. While Louisville’s
Fairness Ordinance prohibits discrimination
against gay men and lesbians, the local law does
not apply to religious organizations like Ken
tucky Baptist Homes for Children.
The case also raises the serious question
about where the Constitutional rule of church-
state separation draws the line when it comes
■ to government funding of
religious organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that
Kentucky is violating the
US Constitution’s Estab
lishment Clause by financ
ing a religious organization
that discriminates on the
basis of religion and uses
taxpayer money to fund a particular brand of
Christianity.
“Everyone agrees that Alicia Pedreira was a
good counselor. She was fired not because she
couldnt do the job, but because of religious
intolerance and discrimination,” said Michael
Adams, associate director of the ACLU Lesbian
and Gay Rights Project and lead attorney. “If
Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children believes
that its religion teaches it to discriminate, that’s
its right. But to pay for it with taxpayer money
violates the separation of church and state re
quired by the Establishment Clause.”
See SUIT on page 27
StopDrLaura.com organizes first
station protests, more anticipated
by Wanda Pico
Special to Q-Notes
DALLAS, TX—On April 15, a wide-rang
ing coalition of demonstrators gathered at the
Dallas offices of CBS affiliate KTVT, Chan
nel 11 to demand that the station drop plans
to air a television show hosted by radio talk
show host and anti-gay activist Laura
Schlessinger. A similar protest was held in
Chicago the same day. Both events were
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GLAAD's Cathy Renna speaks to KTVT protestors
mounted under the auspices of
StopDrLaura.com, a national organization
that opposes the show.
On Friday afternoon, April 14, gay and
lesbian community representatives met with
Brian Jones, station vice president/general
manager, to demand that KTVT drop plans
to broadcast Schlessinger’s new fall television
show.
John R. SeligofStopDrLaura.com, Cathy
Renna of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD), Steve Atkinson of the
Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance (DGLA) and
Dave Gleason of Parents, Families & Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) met with
Jones for over an hour. They shared their con
cerns about Schlessinger’s upcoming show, ex
plaining how she already uses her current ra
dio program to rail against gays and lesbians,
calling them “deviants” and “biological er
rors” and suggesting that a “huge portion” of
gay men are pedophiles.
Jones promised that
KTVT would monitor the
program for balance and
content, but said he was
unable to cancel it at the
current time.
During the meeting, he
presented a memo from
CBS stating that
Schlessinger had apolo
gized for her comments
against gays. When the
community representa
tives pointed out that
Schlessinger had recanted
her apology a few days
later, Jones appeared sur
prised and expressed dis
dain that CBS had failed
to share that information with him.
Before leaving, the activists requested that
Jones relay the GLBT community’s concerns
to top management at both CBS and Para
mount, the show’s producer.
Afterward, the meeting was labeled a be
ginning for continuing dialogue, but the fol
lowing day’s protest was deemed necessary
due to KTVT’s unwillingness to cancel the
show.
Over 125 protesters attended the rally.
See PROTESTS on page 13
Observer: Dr. Laura show “DOA”
by Tom Paine
Special to Q-Notes
It was an ethical dilemma worthy of the
“Dr. Laura” radio show. A gay Hollywood
“extra” shows up for a taping of the Leeza talk
show at Paramount Studios, but suddenly
finds that the show has been canceled and in
her place is the queen-of-mean herself, anti
gay radio talk show host Laura Schlessinger.
“I didn’t know if I should walk out, yell at
her, or stay and take notes,” Jim [not his real
name] recalls thinking as Ms. Schlessinger
walked into the studio. The unwitting ob
server decided to stay and later sought me
out to tell his story. By his account, Laura
Schlessinger’s new TV show is DOA.
The experience of this first taping may be
enough to convince Paramount to abandon
the program before it’s launched this fall. The •
company is facing intense criticism for its
decision to add Dr. Laura to the lineup.
Schlessinger has called^ys and lesbians “bio
logical errors,” sexual deviants and
pedophiles. Civil rights advocates accuse Para
mount of a double standard on prejudice,
saying the studio would never give a show to
someone who had voiced similar unfounded
slurs about African Americans, Jews or other
minorities.
Negative and boring
As an “extra” who has attended many such
tapings, Jim knows what’s expected of him:
“sit, smile and clap,” he told me. Pretty rou
tine stuff. That’s why he was surprised by the
secrecy surrounding the first taping of Dr.
Laura’s show. The studio audience was made
up entirely of paid extras and no one was fore
warned that their host would be the good
doctor — who in real life is a physiologist,
not a psychologist.
“This has never happened before; [the stu
dio] always tells us where we’re going,” Jim
said. He overheard another audience mem
ber saying that “she had gay friends and had
she been told it was Dr. Laura, she wouldn’t
have attended.”
It was 7:30 in the morning when Laura
Schlessinger entered the studio. She was
shorter than expected, wearing a nondescript
suit, and her hair was “better than usual,” Jim
said. Schlessinger immediately tried to warm
up the audience.
“She kept trying to bribe the audience,”
he said. “She tried to get us all in a good mood
by giving us a tee-shirt and a water jug. Usu
ally, the warm up will give you a prize or two,
but never to this extent. Afterwards, she gave
every person in the audience her ‘Ten Com
mandments’ book,” Jim noted. “A lot of us
said we were going to have a book burning
party.”
The studio proceeded to tape several long
segments. Jim said the segments are normally
edited so that only the best parts air. “I don’t
think there were any good parts,” he said. “I
don’t know what they’re going to cut. She
wasn’t even being controversial — just nega
tive, boring, ignorant.”
See SHOW on page 27