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PAGE 28 T Q-Notes T May 12, 2001 news notes Carolinas UUF marks 50 years in W-S WINSTON-SALEM —The Unitarian Uni- versalist Fellowship celebrated its 50-year anni versary the weekend of May 4-6 with a coffee house, games, a banquet, a special service and the “Mothet of All Potlucks.” Unitarians adhere to religious principles drawn from world reli gions, but do not have a set creed or doctrine. This openness has led Unitarians to be more welcoming of GLBT people than most tradi tional religious groups, and has stirred them to practice their beliefs through social action. Uni tarians in the Triad have been doing just that since the Woolworth sit-ins in I960. Baptist Church ousts BSA CHAPEL HILL — After 39 years sponsor ing Scout troops, Binkley Memorial Baptist Church has severed its ties with the organiza tion over its discrimination against homosexu als. Binkley has been open to gays and lesbians since its formation in 1958. But it didn’t offi cially adopt an inclusive policy until 1992, when it licensed a gay divinity student to preach and was subsequently ousted from the South ern Baptist Convention. Since then, the church has joined The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptist Churches in America. National GLBTs value online banking ROCHESTER — A survey conducted in April by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. reveals that financial con sumers who self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender are more likely than others to pre^ fer financial institutions that offer their services via the Internet. Half of all GLBT consumers (51 percent) said that offering financial services via the Internet was a key factor in deciding where to conduct their financial business, as compared to 43 percent of non-GLBT respondents. Accord ing to the study, GLBT consumers care more than non-GLBT consumers whether or not a finan cial institution practices non-discrirnination and has inclusive policies for people like them. Over half (57 percent) of GLBT people said, when de ciding where to conduct their financial business, it was extremely or very important that a finan cial institution has inclusive policies and banned discrimination against people like them. The cor relative percentage for non-GLBTrespondents was 49 percent. First TG legal fellowship set WASHINGTON DC — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will be home to what is believed to be the nation’s first legal fellowship specifically aimed at addressing discrimination against ttansgender people, thanks to a grant awarded earlier this year by the National Associa tion for Public Interest Law (NAPIL). Lisa Mottet, a former NGLTF legal intern graduating with honors from Georgetown University Law Center in May, will work as an Equal Justice Fellow for two years on a project designed to ensure that existing and future laws result in equal treatment in employment, education, housing and public accommodations for transgender people. The Transgender Civil Rights Project is one of 75 NAPIL Fellowships for Equal Justice scheduled to begin in September 2001. MS ends segregation JACKSON, MS — In a breakthrough for prisoners with HIV, Mississippi’s top prison of ficial announced last month that educational and vocational ptogtams will soon be available to all, eligible prisoners, regardless of HIV status. Mis sissippi is one of only two states in the country that still segregates prisonets with HIV in both housing and programs. This segregation and the resulting lack of program access has resulted in HIV-positive prisoners serving longer sentences than their HIV-negative peers, because partici pating in programs is viewed favorably by pa role boards. Local activists, inmates’ families and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) formed a coalition to help persuade Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Rob ert L. Johnson to appoint a state HIV/AIDS Inmate Task Force last year. One of the recom mendations of the task force was giving HIV positive prisoners access to the programs. Johnson announced April 30 that he will begin implementing all of the recommendations. Governor should correct error LANSING — Gay rights groups have asked Michigan Governor John Engler (R) to clarify remarks made by his press secretary that etrone- ously indicated that federal laws currently pro tect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Susan Shafer made the remarks fol lowing an April 17 rally in which Michigan State University students and community members showed support for legislation that bans discrimi nation based on sexual orientation. Cutrently, it is perfectly legal in 39 states — including Michi gan and both Carolinas — to fire a person based on their sexual orientation. FL suit goes national MIAMI — Court documents reveal that a national extreme right-wing consetvative otga- nization, the American Family Association Cen ter for Law and Policy is now involved in the legal struggle by the local “grassroots” Take Back Miami in its battle to repeal the sexual orienta tion amendment to the Miami-Dade Human Rights Ordinance. Based in Tupelo, Mississippi, the American Family Association (www.afa.net) includes in their mission statement that they “exist to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth.” Union cuts off BSA NEW YORK—The Communication Work ers of America, one of the largest member organi zations of the AFL-CIO, has resolved to sever ties with the Boy Scouts unil “its leaders reverse their policy of excluding gays from membership or volunteer activities in scouting.” The resolution indicates that they are ending a long tradition of suppott for scouting because the policy is regres sive at a time when other American institutions ate moving “in a more enlightened direction.” Gender bill passes RI House PROVIDENCE, RI — By a 46-41 margin, the Rhode Island House of Reptesentatives passed a bill May 1 that would clarify that Rhode Island non-discrimination laws protect transgender people from discrimination. The bill codifies federal and state court decisions which have held that it is nor legal to discrimi nate against individuals simply based on tradi tional notions of masculinity and femininity. The bill would add the phrase “gender identity or expression” to Rhode Island’s non-discrimi nation laws. It defines “gender identity or ex pression” as including “a person’s actual or per ceived gender, as .well as a person’s gender iden tity, self-image, appearance, expression or be havior, [even if] different than that tradition ally associated with the person’s sex at birth.” Consistent with the United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Price Waterhouse V. Hopkins in 1989, the bill outlaws discrimi nation on the basis of gender stereotypes. TN high court backs lesbian NASHVILLE -— The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled unanimously May 2 in favor of a lesbian mother, thus increasing protections for gay parents who live with their partners and have full or partial custody of their children. In one of the few cases it has ever considered involving lesbian or gay parents, Tennessee’s highest court overturned an appeals court decision that barred a lesbian mother from having her partner in their home when her two daughters would visit. The appeals court ordered the restriction following atguments from the fotmer husband, who said he wants his children to live by the Biblical man date that unmartied adults should not live to gether. Ruling 5-0, the Tennessee Supreme Court said there was no reason why Julia Eldridge should be required to have het partner, Lisa Franklin, leave their home during visits with her daughters, noting that the women’s living to gether caused no harm to the children. Email brings secret service PENSACOLA, FL — A Florida woman out raged by state Rep. Trovillon’s remarks to smdents during Equality Florida’s Youth Lobby Days got a visit from two Secret Service agents after sending Trovillon, Governor Jeb Bush, and President Bush email messages saying a firing squad would be lenient punishment for the legislator’s comments. The 58-year-old seamstress said she had been writing to Presidents and eleaed officials since Nixon, but had never before had a visit from the secret service. Trovillon told four gay youths that God would “destroy” them. ▼ 0 0 1 c A L • Gay Video Rentals as low as New Shipment of Gay XXX Videos as low as no®® • Gay DVDs • New Releases • Novelties We buy used magazines in good condition for 250
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