national notes
Compiled by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
Republican aide joins HRC
WASHINGTON, DC>-The chief of staff
for a conservative congressman who opposes
same-sex marriages has resigned to become a
lobbyist for a leading national gay rights orga
nization. Tracey St. Pierre quit as chief of staflF
for Rep. Charles Canady, a Florida Republi
can, to work on employment discriminadon
issues for the Human Rights Campaign, a lobby
spokeswoman said. Canady has pushed for leg
islation barring same-sex marriages and has also
led the drive to ban so-called pardal birth’ abor-
Out may be out
LEWISVILLE, TX—The library board is
recommending that a magazine geared toward
gays and lesbians remain on the shelf despite
some complaints. About a half-dozen residents
have formally asked that Out magazine, avail
able in the library since July, be removed. The
advisory board’s unanimous recommendation
that Our remain has been forwarded to the City
Council, which is likely to consider the matter
this month. The board said pulling the maga
zine would be censorship and a violation of the
First Amendment. The city attorney’s office is
sued a 15-page opinion that says removing the
magazine based on its content and viewpoint
would be “the very thing the First Amendment
was put in place to protect against.”
Ellen won’t change for ads
BEVERLY HILLS, CA—Don’t look for the
sitcom Ellen to back away from exploring gay
issues during the fall season — despite the sldt-
tishness of some advertisers, ABC programming
chief Jamie Tarses said. If some adverdsers don’t
like it, there are others willing to take their place,
Tarses told television executives and other mem
bers of the Hollywood Radio and TV Society.
Gay men can’t touch
LOS ANGELES—^Movo Media, Inc., one
of the nation’s largest telephone dating services,
has stumbled upon a solid wall of resistance to
their gay-oriented advertising efforts by the
New York Metro Transit Authority’s (MTA)
outdoor agencies. The advertisement, which
features a male couple embracing, was turned
down by the MTA as unacceptable. “The MTA
requested putting clothes on the shirtless couple
and we complied,” said Movo Media CEO
Mark Terwilliger. Terwillinger termed the re-
jeaion as discriminatory and homphobic.
Gays lose school policy fight
DETROIT, MI—Wayne-Westland school
officials don’t appear in a hurry to reconsider
their decision to omit the term “sexual orienta
tion” from harassment policies despite pleas
from community members. School board
members this summer unanimously approved
adding specific wording to protect gay and les
bian students from harassment. However, as
school board elections approached, it was made
public that then-board president Trish Brown
is a lesbian, and a campaign was launched
against her and the policy’s wording. The board
voted 6-1 in August to remove the wording
from the policy, but any board member can ask
for its return.
Louganis leads AIDS walkers
MILWAUKEE, WI—The femiliar Olym
pic theme music played as Greg Louganis took
center stage once again, this time to urge Wis
consin AIDS Walk participants to “be your own
heroes” in the battle against the disease. “Don’t
look further than yourself for heroes,” said
Louganis, the only man to sweep diving gold
medals at consecutive Olympics (1984 and
1988) and to score consecutive perfect 10s in
an international competition. Dressed in khaki
shorts, a gray T-shirt, a black zippered jacket
and trail shoes, and accompanied by one of his
dogs, a Jack Russell terrier pup named Nipper,
Louganis rode in a black convertible to start
the eighth annual 6.2-mile walk along
Milwaukee’s lakefront. A total of 10,178 people
took part in the walk, organizers said. The event
raised $808,461, including a new record for cor
porate sponsorship — $ 150,000. The proceeds
benefit organizations around Wisconsin that
help.those affected, by the-disease. - . -
People may veto gay law
AUGUSTA, ME—A rarely used “people’s
vote” may be employed in Maine if enough sig
natures have been submitted to force a veto vote
on the gay-rights law the Legislature passed this
year. By seeking a people’s veto, organizers have
prevented the state from implementing the gay-
rights law — at least for now. The secretary of
state has until Oa. 18 to determine whether
the petitions contain the signatures of at least
51,131 registered voters. That’s the minimum
required to force a referendum. If the petitions
fall short, the gay-rights law will go into effea
the day after the secretary of state announces
his count. If the petitions contain enough valid
signatures, the law will remain in limbo until
voters decide whether to implement or veto it.
AIDS groups oppose money?!
WASHINGTON, DC—Ironically, the
nation’s leading AIDS advocacy groups recently
asked the US House of Representatives to op
pose two amendments calling for more AIDS
program funding. A coalition of AIDS groups
that includes the DC-based National Associa
tion of People With AIDS (NAPWA) said it
could not support the amendments because
they called for taking the funds fi-om health
programs earmarked for migrant workers, refu
gees, homeless people and family planning cen
ters. The House defeated both amendments,
one in a roll call vote and the other in a parlia
mentary procedure. The House debate on AIDS
funding took yet another unexpeaed turn when
Rep. Bob In^is (R-SC) suggested that the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention give
AIDS prevention grant money to groups like
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX).
PFOX has begun a nationwide campaign to
encourage gays to “change” their sexual orien
tation to heterosexuality. Inglis said groups like
PFOX would promote sexu^ abstinence as the
best means of AIDS prevention. Rep. John
Edward Porter (R-IL.), who chairs the House
Appropriations subcommittee on health issues,
said that the appropriations measure would not
restrict PFOX or similar groups from receiving
CDC funds as long as they meet standard eli
gibility requirements for CDC AIDS preven
tion grants. Daniel Zingale, executive ffirector
of the AIDS Action Council, called the pros
pect of CDC funding for PFOX “appalling,”
saying the group is promoting an anti-gay “po
litical agenda” rather than efforts to curtail
AIDS.
Police sued by gay groups
PROVIDENCE, RI—^Two gay and lesbian
groups recently filed a lawsuit against the city
police, accusing the department of violating the
state public-records law by withholding reports
of people arrested for alleged illegal sexui ac
tivity ^ong River Drive on the East Side. Over
the past year, the groups say, they have repeat
edly asked the state’s largest police force to sup
ply the arrest reports, and narrowed their origi
nal request to help the police. Still, they have
received no reports. Gay & Lesbian Advocates
and Defenders (GLAD), a Boston-based legal-
advocacy group and one of the plaintiffi in the
Superior Court lawsuit, and the Rhode Island
Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights want
to inspect the records because gays have com
plained that police officers arrested them in
Blackstone and Paterson Parks even though they
were doing nothing wrong. According to the
state attorney general’s office, police depart
ments must allow the public to see, at a mini
mum, records reflecting the initial arrest of an
adult, including the name, address and age of
the defendant, the place of arrest, the name of
the arresting officer and the charge.
Gay leader succumbs to AIDS
NEW YORK—Irving Cooperberg, one of
the guiding forces behind the creation of two
major institutions in New York’s gay and les
bian community: the Lesbian & Gay Commu
nity Center and Congregation Beth Simehat
Torah, died August 20 at his home in Manhat
tan. When he died, he was with his life-part
ner of 25 years, Lou Rittmaster, 'Mio announced
the cause of death as complications due to
AIDS, noting, “Irving lived with HIV for 12
years. He chose to be public about his HIV
early so that others could learn that the diag
nosis was not an immediate death sentence.”
Q-Notes T October 4,1997 ▼ PAGE 13
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AIDS now second
ATLANTA— AIDS has lost its place as the
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