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Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper » Volume 15, Number 7 • August 19, 2000 . FREE
Gore taps Sen.
Lieberman as his
VP running mate
by David Elliot
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—^Vice President and
Democratic party Presidential candidate A1
Gore announced August 8 that he has chosen
US Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut as
his running mate.
In response, the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force (NGLTF) issued a report on
Lieberman indicating that he has voted to end
employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation and hate violence against GLBT
people, but he also has a decidedly mixed record
overall on other issues important to the pro
gressive community.
“Senator Lieberman’s record is one that bears
studying and watching,” said NGLTF Execu
tive Director Elizabeth Toledo. “He has a gen-
erally good record on issues important to the
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender commu
nity. At the same time, Lieberman, like Clinton
and like Gore, has not always proven to be a
friend of the progtessive community when we
needed him.”
Lieberman, who is the first member of the
Jewish faith to be selected for the national ticket
of a major US political party, has taken several
public stands that demonstrate support for is
sues important to GLBT people:
• He has co-sponsored the Hate Crimes Pre
vention Act and this year voted for the Local
Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, whose
passage in the Senate has put the hate crimes
ball in the US Houses court.
GLBT center project gains steam
Sen. Joseph Lieberman
• He has co-sponsored and voted for civil
rights legislation that would prohibit discrimi
nation in employment on the basis of sexual
orientation.
• He also has sponsored and voted in favor
of the Ryan White CARE Act, has implemented
a non-discrimination policy covering sexual ori
entation for his office staff and supported end
ing the ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual people
serving openly in the military.
However, at least two votes prevent
Lieberman’s record from remaining completely
supportive of issues important to GLBT people:
• He voted in favor of the Defense of Mar
riage Act, which granted states the right to
refuse recognition of same-sex marriages per
formed in other states.
See LIEBERMAN on page 13
FL judge denies lesbians and gay
men domestic violence protection
Kv l-v^r^ J T> 1 111 1 I
by Robert Marcus James
Special to Q-Notes
CHARLOTTE—It’s been talked about for
years: creating a place for GLBT people to meet,
share our history and heritage, and celebrate
our lives. The community has been waiting, but
the wait will soon be over. The Lesbian & Gay
Community Center Project (serving the GLBT
community of greater Charlotte) is now being
driven forward by a
group of community
volunteers who have
been meeting since Feb
ruary to breathe new life
into this oft-mentioned
idea.
Last year, OutChar-
lotte hired Grassroots
Leadenship to facilitate a
study to determine if
Charlotte was ready for
and could support a
community center. The
overwhelming response
was that the community
is ready for a center. The
Project Committee has
done additional research
and begun a strategic
plan — which will be handed over to a new
not-for-profit Board of Trustees in January
2001.
“It’s been a long, thorough process,” said
David Howard of the Planning Committee.
“We are being very deliberate in our work to
ensure the success of a community center. We’ve
developed a mission statement and program
goals based on the work of the Study Commit
tee. Rooted in values of collaboration, pride,
advocacy, unity, self-determination and social
justice, the Community Center sees itself as
enhancing existing organizations by helping
Town Meetings
Wednesday, August 30, 7:00pm
West Boulevard Public Library
2157 West Boulevard
Thursday, August 31, 7:00pm
University City Regional Public
Library 301 E. WT Harris Boulevard
Tuesday, September 5, 7:00pm
Morrison Regional Public Library
7015 Morrison Boulevard
Wednesday, September 6, 7:00pm
Plaza-Midwood Public Library
1623 Central Avenue
coordinate administrative costs such as sharing
rr* • ^
othce space and equipment.”
The Mission Statement for the Center says
that the “Community Center provides a home
for the nurture and celebration of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender organizations, insti
tutions, and culture; offers acce.ss to informa
tional and educational resources and activities
designed to empower individuals to achieve
their fullest potential:
promotes strong com
munity partnerships;
opposes prejudice; and
increases public affir
mation of LGBT indi
viduals through educa
tion, advocacy and out
reach.”
Two questions con
stantly posed to Project
Committee members
are “Where is the Cen
ter going to be?” and
“Wlien will it open?”
Addressing these is
sues, Howard explains,
“It will likely be a
couple of years before
we are able to have a
physical location, but we ate planning to start
programs at the beginning of the year. Programs
will be tailored to the needs and desires of the
community and will take place at various loca
tions around the city. While it will take a couple
ofyears to plan and execute a capital campaign,
the immediate goal is to get people involved in
the process and build excitement for the Cen
ter.”
The Project Committee has already looked
at several po.ssible sites to guage costs and met
with the community’s larger GLBT organiz;i-
See CENTER on page 21
by Eric Ferrero
Special to Q-Notes
.BRADENTON, FL—-The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) is investigating reports
that lesbians and gay men are now considered
ineligible for protection from domestic violence
in parts of Florida due to an “unconstitutional
and unconscionable” court decision.
Circuit Judge Marc Gilner denied a domes
tic violence injunction to a 27-year-old
Bradenton man earlier this year because, the
judge said, the domestic violence law did not
apply to “roommates.”
The man requesting the restraining order
said he had been in a “monogamous, commit
ted relationship” with his partner, who he said
punched him repeatedly during an argument.
In court documents, he included photos of his
swollen cheek and eye.
Just 89 minutes after the victim asked for a
restraining order, Gilner denied it. The victim
asked him to reconsider, and the judge issued a
hand-written denial that said, in part, “Florida
law does not recognize same-sex, live-in rela
tionships as family.”
Gilner’s decision was based on Florida’s law
banning recognition of same-sex marriages
(which are not legal in any state), as well as the
state’s law preventing gay men and lesbians from
adopting children. The ban on adoptions is al
ready the subject of an ACLU lawsuit.
In the months since the judge’s ruling,
county clerks have not issued applications for
domestic violence injunctions to lesbians and
gay men.
“The ruling was clearly unconstitutional,”
said Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU Les
bian and Gay Rights Project. “It would be hatd
to think of a clearer denial of‘equal protection
of the law’ than denying protection from vio
lence because of sexual orientation.”
Since they are not protected by domestic
violence injunctions. Manatee County lesbians
and gay men in abusive relationships can only
apply for repeat violence injunctions. These in
junctions are more cumbersome to obtain, have
more limited effect and are available only to
those who have already been abused.
“This is dangerous,” Coles said. “We’ve al
ready had conversations with county officials,
and we are looking into the quickest way to
resolve this situation and ensure equality and
safety for all citizens. Our preference is to re
solve this without a lawsuit.”
Nothing in Florida state law on domestic
violence injunctions prohibits judges from is
suing restraining orders to gay men or lesbians,
the ACLU said. Judges in the neighboring
counties of Sarasota and Charlotte issue domes
tic violence injunctions regardless of sexual ori
entation.
The US and Florida Constitutions mandate
that all citizens be treated equally under the law,
and Coles said legal precedent clearly includes
lesbians and gay men as people who are en
titled to equal protection.
“We believe lives may be in the balance in
Manatee County,” Coles said. “We aren’t talk
ing about pushing for societal acceptance or for
technical recognition. This involves people’s
basic safety.”
For more information about the ACLU Le.s-
bian and Gay Rights Project, access the group’s
web site at www.aclu.org. T
Task Force says gays were seen
but not heard at GOP convention
by David Elliot
Special to Q-Notes
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Behind the smoke
and mirrors, the Republican National Conven
tion reflected a party deeply divided between
moderates who want to paint a picture of tol
erance and conservatives who reject the basic
humanity of GLBT people, the National Cay
and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) charged
“Viewers w
ho
Rep. Jim Kolbe
watched [the] con
vention on TV
might be confused,”
said NGLTF Execu
tive Director Eliza
beth Toledo. “Was
this the first Repub
lican Convention
ever to discuss diver
sity and inclusion?
Or was it yet an
other Republican Convention where GLBT
people were told we do not have a voice in the
political process? In fact, it was both.”
According to NGLTF, lowlights and high
lights of the convention for the GLBT com
munity included;
• Republicans adopted a party platform that
barely differed on GLBT issues from the plat
form adopted in 1996. This year’s platform
would ban gay, lesbian and bisexual people from
serving in the military; prevent the expansion
of civil rights laws to include sexual orienta
tion; and endorse only families with a “father
and a mother.” The platform al.so includes a
gratuitous reference in support of the Boy
Scouts of America’s right to discriminate, and
includes a total ban on abortion, even in cases
of rape, incest and threats to the mother’s life.
• For the first time in history, an openly gay
Republican congressmait. Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-
AZ) addre.ssed the convention. However, Kolbe
was not introduced as a gay congressman, never
mentioned the fact that he is gay and his sexual
orientation was not listed in the official con
vention program. During Kolbe’s speech, ap
proximately 25 Texas delegates removed their
hats, bowed their heads and prayed, with one
delegate holding up a sign on national televi
sion that read, “There is a way out.”
• Many journalists focused on the role of
Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice Presidential
nominee Dick Cheney, who stated several years
ago in a Washington Blade interview that she is
lesbian. Although Mary Cheney joined her fa
ther on stage during the convention’s gala fi
nale, the Bush-Cheney ticket appeared to
struggle over what role she would play in the
general election campaign.
In a nationally televised interview, Lynn
Cheney stated that her daughter “has never
declared” herself to be a lesbian, despite her
prior interview and her stint as liaison to the
GLBT community for Coors.
“In the final analysis, the message sent to
the GLBT community by the Republican Party
was that it is okay to be seen but not heard,”
said Toledo. T