Q-Living
People & Their Pets
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Special Section
Congratulations Jim Baxter!
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Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Vol. 21 . Number 06 www.q-notes.com July 29.2006
^Marriage amendment’
fails again
Republicans continue to
use political ploy to
divert attention Jrom
real issues
by Donald Miller
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
The House of
Representatives on July 18
rejected a constitutional
amendment to ban same-
sex marriage. The measure
fell 47 votes short of the
two-thirds majority needed
for passage.
The failure came despite
an appeal from the White House.
“When activist judges insist on redefin
ing the fundamental institution of mar
riage for their states or potentially for the
entire country, the only alternative left to
make the people’s voice heard is an amend
ment of the Constitution,” said a statement
issued by the administration.
The proposed amendment said “mar
riage in the United States shall consist only
of the union of a man and a woman.
Neither the Constitution, nor the constitu
tion of any state, shall be construed to
require that marriage or the legal incidents
thereof be conferred upon any union other
than the union of a man and a woman.”
A similar proposed amendment failed
to get enough votes last month in the
Senate.
At the opening of the debate. Rep. Phil
Gingrey (R-GA) said that despite the loss
holding the vote was important.
“This vote will serve as an opportunity
for each and every member of this body to
go on record in support or in opposition to
protecting the traditional definition of
marriage,” said Gingrey.
“This bill, to put it simply and bluntly,
is about adding discrimination and intoler
ance to the United States Constitution,”
said Rep. James McGovern (D-MA).
Conservative Republicans vowed they
would return next year and eventually
would win. But one conservative group, the
Traditional Values Coalition, said it was a
“good thing for traditional marriage” that
the measure failed because it wasn’t clear
enough in ruling out civil unions.
“The House joined the Senate in reject
ing the use of the Constitution to discrimi
nate against Americans,” said Caroline
Fredrickson, director of the ACLU
Washington Legislative Office. “Election
year politics should not be used to target
gay and lesbian families. As they have done
before, the House rightly rejected that
ploy.”
Human Rights Campaign President Joe
Solmonese made the following statement:
“More and more Americans are beginning
to understand that same-sex couples and
their children deserve to be treated equally
under our nation’s Constitution, nothing
more and nothing less. Congress has
defeated this discriminatory amendment
on four separate occasions now, while the
American people’s support for equality has
continued to grow. The message is clear:
get to the work of protecting families, not
threatening them with prejudice.”
The House vote was 236 to 187, with
one member voting present, which was —
once again — far short of the two-thirds
required to pass a constitutional amend
ment. The ACLU noted that supporters of
the discriminatory amendment gained no
ground over their major defeat two years
ago:
• The House vote in 2004 was 49 votes
short of the two-thirds required for pas
sage; today, the House vote was 47 votes
short of the two-thirds required for pas
sage;
• In 2004,27 Republicans in the House
see anti-gay on 13
New director named to
Duke Center for LGBT Life
Former Duke alum to take position
by Jim Baxter . Q-Notes staff
DURHAM, N.C. — Janie Long, currently
the director of the Mqrriage and Family
Therapy Program at Antioch New England
Graduate School, has been named director
of the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Life at Duke University.
“I am very happy to be returning to
North Carolina after many years living out
side my home state,” Long told Q-Notes.
“As in every state I have lived, there is still
much that needs to be done to empower and
nurture our
community. I
will be looking
for ways for the
Center to be
reaching outside
the bounds of
its walls. Service
to the greater
Duke communi
ty, the Durham
community, and
‘As a Duke alum, I am extremely happy
to return to a campus that has always
held a special place in my heart.’
— Janie Long
the LGBT community in N.C. will be a focus.”
Long, who also serves as associate chair
of the Department of Applied Psychology at
Antioch, in Keene, N.H., is a member of the
American Family Therapy Academy, the
American Association for Marriage and
Family Therapy and has been a member of
the National Council on Family Relations.
Her appointment at Duke begins Aug. 1.
She succeeds Karen Krahulik, who is now an
associate dean at Brown University.
“On the Duke campus I will work to
address the needs of all students who want
some affiliation with the Center, including
newly questioning students, students who
are well established in their identities and
students with multiple identities,” she said.
“My [efforts] will be solution focused
and action oriented. We also have many
alums throughout the state, and I look for
ward to their involvement as well.”
Prior to her appointment at Antioch,
Long served in administrative capacities as
director of the Marriage and Family Therapy
(MFT) graduate programs at the University
of Louisiana at Monroe; director of clinical
training within the MFT program at the
University of Georgia; and women’s program
director at Roanoke Valley Psychiatric Center
in Salem, Va.
“We are fortunate to have such an expe
rienced administrator coming to Duke who
brings expertise in teaching and family
therapy]’ said Zoila Airall, assistant vice
see duke on 12
OLOC Conference in Durham
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wQ>
Since 1986
A soldier’s story
Violence in the
Middle East
Editor’s Note: These are the
thoughts of a gay soldier — a
North Carolina native — who has
been deployed to Iraq. Because of
the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
policy, he must remain anonymous.
The troubles here in the desert keep
mounting. Not only here in Iraq and the
Baghdad region where I’m located — but in
Israel, Lebanon and Palestine. The violence
is amazing; the armies of the countries men
tioned are fierce and have no tolerance for
each other. It’s a much different bat
tle than we are faced with’here in Iraq.You
could say that’s a linear battlefield and you
know where you enemy is. Here in Iraq it’s
non-linear — you have no idea where the
next attack may come from. Israel and
see soldiers on 12
ctUntint 10 yi
Mvfrini LGIT n
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DJ Anthony spins at PRIDE Charlotte
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