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Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 14, Number 21 • March 18, 2000 • FREE
Campaign begun to indude same-
sex couples in US Census count
by David Elliot
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—The Institute for
Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies (IGLSS) and
the Policy Institute of the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) have launched
“Make Your Family Count,” a national public
education campaign aimed at encouraging
same-sex couples within the gay, lesbian, bi
sexual and transgendered (GLBT) communi
ties to be counted in the US Census.
“This campaign has one simple message:
Our families exist and we must be counted,”
said Paula Ettelbrick, Family Policy Director
of NGLTF’s Policy Institute. “The US Census
tracks changes in American family structures.
Over the last ten years our community has had
a major impact in changing family policies,
from domestic partnership to second parent
adoption. It’s time that we include our families
in the official count.”
The “Make Your Family Count” campaign
urges same-sex couples living in the same house
hold to mark the ‘Unmarried Partners’ option-
when asked to describe their relationships. The
forms will be mailed to every household in the
United States in March and April. The cam
paign has also launched a web site, located at
www.WeCount.org, with information about
the Census and guidance to GLBT couples on
answering the Census forms.
“The Census will provide us with a gold
mine of information. We will have a statistical
picture of same-sex households by racial com
position, where they live, and how many chil
dren they have,” said Dr. Lee Badgett, Direc
tor of IGLSS. “The Census tracks chang es in
families in the US. Our families deserve to be
counted so that the full diversity of the Ameri
can family can be reflected and presented to
policy makers.”
“All public policy flows from the US Cen
sus,” Ettelbrick explained. “If we are not
counted, we lose out on federal funding for re
search, funding for community services and pas
sage and implementation of laws that benefit
our community. We also sacrifice important op
portunities for more equitable political repre
sentation of our community.”
Ettelbrick added that information collected
will lay the statistical foundation critical in dem
onstrating the need for domestic partnership
benefits, funding for community services, and
passage of policies that reflect the needs of
GLBT families and their children.
“While legislation in states like Vermont,
New Hampshire and Massachusetts has moved
in our favor, we are seeing a definite backlash
to our efforts through passage of laws blocking
marriage and adoption in other states like Utah,
California and Arkansas,” said Ettelbrick.
“The Census count will allow us to break
through the rhetoric and show dispassionately
that hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples
already share committed relationships and are
raising children. These families need the same
resources and recognition as any other family.”
In 1990, the category of “unmarried part
ner” firsr appeared on the census form. Approxi
mately 150,000 households self-reported as
same-sex unmarried partners — a severe
undercount compounded by the US Census
Bureau’s disqualification of same-sex couples
who marked “spouse” to describe their relation
ship.
According to Badgett, the Bureau consid-
M
CENSUS 2000
ered such a response to be a mistake because it
is legally impossible for same-sex couples to
marry.
“This year, the Census Bureau has indicated
that it will simply re-categorize the answers from
“spouse” to “unmarried partner” so that the data
is not lost,” said Badgett.
According to the 1990 Census, 75 percent
of American families no longer reflect tradi
tional definitions of families, consisting of a
married heterosexual couple with children un
der 18. Unmarried couples comprised approxi
mately 4.5 million families, a 400 percent in
crease since 1970. This figure reflects the rap
idly changing family unit.
To date, the Census Bureau has not included
a question about sexual orientation. GLBT
people not living with someone of the same sex
whom they consider to be an unmarried part
ner will not be visibly counted. However, a large
enough count of same-sex households, with or
without children, could help substantially in
future efforts to be included in the Census.
For each same-sex couple that describes their
relationship as being “unmarried partners” on
the Census short form, researchers will be able
to determine the racial, housing, age and de
mographic mix of same-sex households, as well
as the number of children in the household.
For the one-sixth of households that will re
ceive the Census long form, researchers also will
be able to determine education, citizenship and
income, among other things. T
Local gay activists discuss issues with police chief
Connie Vetter
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—
A handful of gay and
lesbian community
leaders met with Chief
of Police Darrel
Stephens on February
29 to initiate a dia
logue on sexual orien
tation and pitch sev
eral policy changes.
Unfortunately, the
group left without get
ting much of what it
wanted. One attendee attributed the stonewall
ing to political caution on Stephens’ part.
Connie Vetter, an attorney with the South
ern Center for Law and Justice and co-chair of
Meek PAC (the county’s GLBT political orga
nization), was the driving force behind the en
counter. “I met [Stephens] at a reception and
he seemed nice. I talked about the Southern
Center for Law and Justice and my work with
Meek PAC and said that I would like to orga
nize a meeting with a few gay community lead
ers. He told me to contact him.”
As a result, Vetter, Bob Barret, Dan Kitsch,
Tonda Taylor and Phil Wells met with Stephens
for about an hour in his uptown office at the
Law Enforcement Center. Four main issues
were covered: adding sexual orientation to the
police diversity training program; openly re
cruiting gay and lesbian officers; changing the
department’s handling of park solicitation ar
rests; and organizing a community-wide dia
logue with the chief during OutCharlotte 2000.
Reportedly, Stephens seemed puzzled by the
first request. “He seemed unsure of where we
were coming from,” Vetter recalled. “He kept
saying that he didn’t know the status of sexual
orientation as it applies to the diversity pro
gram and that he would Took into it. Of course,
we went in knowing that it’s not a part of it
and we told him so. He seemed cautious at first,
but got a bit defensive when we tried to nail
him down on the issue.” Still, Stephens agreed
to look into the matter and share his findings
and any possible policy changes.
Unlike the matter of sensitivity training,
Stephens’ position on actively recruiting gays
and lesbians for the police force was crystal clear
— even if his reasons were not. “He just said
‘no way,”’ stated Vetter. “He wasn’t really clear
on his reasoning. He said he had thought about
it and faced the same situation in other places,
but absolutely wouldn’t do it. He explained
something about looking at the percentages of
the population — I think he was talking about
race and gender breakdowns — and hiring and
said it would be difFicult to hire a percentage of
gays. It felt political to me. Open recruiting is
more about making a statement through the
ranks that [homosexuality] is okay than it is
about hiring gay and lesbian police officers.”
Despite Stephens’ hardline stance against
recruiting, the topic ushered in the day’s big
gest victory. He asserted that all police officers
have a right to be free from harassment and
assured that no one would be fired from- the
police department for being gay or lesbian.
On its third point, the group didn’t attempt
to argue the propriety of park stings, but in
stead ttied to change the manner in which the
campaigns are handled. They suggested that
police officers need to make a distinction be
tween sex in public parks and conversations
about sex. Vetter, who has represented numer
ous clients arrested in park solicitation sweeps,
said that two alternatives were proposed: issu
ing warning tickets before making arrests and
alerting the gay community when operations
are planned so internal education can be done
to curb activities.
“We got no commitment on the park ar
rests,” Vetter stated. “Chief Stephens said that
he really didn’t know what was going on in that
area and that they only conducted sweeps when
they received complaints from neighbors. I tried
to explain the heavy emotional weight of these
arrests. He said he would think about it and
maybe he will.”
The last talking point of the meeting seems
to have the best chance of panning out. Vetter
told Q-Notes that she “felt good” about the
possibility of securing a meeting between GLBT
citizens and the police chief or one of his repre
sentatives during the next OutCharlotte cel
ebration, scheduled for October.
Despite the few bright spots, Vetter said that,
overall, the gathering left her discontented. “I
had high expectations. I had perceived
[Stephens] as being a little less political, but he
seemed to be looking at how everything could
be used against him.”
Still, she was hopeful that the meeting was
a foundation on which better relations could
be built. “He met with us, he seemed to hear
us and, who knows, he may work on some of
the issues we talked about.”
For the group’s part, they plan to wait “a
few weeks or a month” before following up on
their diversity training request and hope to
schedule a full meeting in six months. T
Co-director of
MMOW resigns
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—Immediately after
the last issue of Q-Notes went to press, new in
formation was redeived that exacerbates the tur
moil being experienced by the Millennium
March on Washington for Equality (MMOW).
With all of the up and downs' reported here
over the past several months, it would appear
that problematic situations occur on nearly a
daily basis.
According to the Washington Blade, one of
two co-executive directors MMOW abruptly
resigned, apparently over a disagreement about
which company should be hired to produce the
April 30 event. Neither march officials nor
Malcolm Lazin, the co-executive director who
resigned, would confirm whether he voluntar
ily quit or was asked to resign, or what
prompted his departure.
The resignation followed the March board’s
reversal of a decision awarding the contract to
coordinate the rally to three independent pro
ducers and National Events — a stage, light
and sound company in Newington, VA. The
board decided instead to hire Artists Services
Inc. (ASI), a gay-owned company in Washing
ton, DC.
Lazin’s resignation is “a personnel matter that
I would rather not talk about in detail,” Ann
DeCroot told the Blade. DeCroot is one of four
national co-chairs for the march and executive
director of OutFront Minnesota, a statewide
advocacy group. She also is chair of MMOW’s
19-member board.
Lazin, a Philadelphia resident and executive
director of PrideFest America, an annual gay
symposium and festival, also refused to discuss
why he left.
Dianne Hardy-Garcia, the march’s other co
executive director, will now serve as the event’s
sole executive director, DeCroot said. Philadel
phia resident Michael Gallagher will continue
in his role as the march’s finance director, but
only the Millennium March office in Washing
ton, DC, where Hardy-Garcia is based, will
remain open. The Philadelphia office where
Lazin, Gallagher, and Robin Bentley, a former
march staff member, were based is scheduled
to close.
DeCroot said the MMOW board’s finance
committee will handle issues related to gener
ating revenue and financial management, du
ties that Lazin had handled.
Although Lazin didmot explain his resigna
tion, it appears to be directly linked to the
board’s change in event producer. While Lazin
believed the switch was a result of influence
from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC),
HRC’s Conway said the board selected a new
producer because ASI could coordinate the
event at the lowest cost.
ASI officials said they could produce the
event for $550,000, the amount board mem
bers have agreed to spend on producing the
rally. The bid from National Events exceeded
the budgeted amount by $62,000.
Lazin said National Events did “come within
budget,” however, because the actual amount
of funds being set aside for the rally is $605,000,
which includes the budget for producing the
rally as well as for other costs related to stage
and facilities management.
Lazin also said the bid made by National
Events included all possible costs that could
crop up, but ASI’s bid was less specific in terms
of outlining exactly what costs would be cov
ered.
In spite of Lazin’s departure, March orga
nizers are confident that the event will run
smoothly and be a success. T