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January 1993 • The Lambda • 5 STATE & NATIONAL NEWS Gays in the government? Chapel Hill hosts conference for gay public officials by Doug Ferguson raisers, dinners, planning ses- cant gains. F sions and seminars. It was rom Toronto to Aus- hosted by openly gay Chapel tin. San Dieeo to Mi- Hill Town Council member rom Toronto to Aus tin, San Diego to Mi ami, they converged on the Carolina Inn on the heels of a national election that seemed to spell victory for America’s lesbian and gay community. More than 75 openly gay and lesbian elected and ap pointed officials traveled to Chapel Hill on the weekend of Nov. 20-22 to discuss the 1992 election, which put in office the most supportive president in the history of the United States. They also gathered to learn from one another’s suc cesses and failures as some of the most visible members of this nation’s invisible minor ity. The Eighth Annual Interna tional Conference of Lesbian and Gay Officials, its partici pants ranging from members of Congress to school board representatives, featured fund Joe Herzenberg and Mike Nelson, executive director of the NC. Pride-PAC for Lesbian and Gay Equality. Nelson said he believes the conference was a huge suc cess. “People left the confer ence with a sense of shared purpose. It was a time to share their experiences as openly gay and lesbian elected officials.” Nelson added that planning sessions also benefited the conference goers by suggest ing strategies for re-election and for maintaining good media relations. And for those attending the conference who were interested in seeking of fice for the first time, informa tion on running a successful campaign was provided. Nelson said such political par ticipation is essential for gays and lesbians to make signifi- “The only way for us to achieve our equal rights is to get involved in the political process and to elect people who support our rights,” he said. “And we can fight better for our own rights than any one else can.” Herzenberg agreed that the formal aspects of the confer ence were important sources of information for those in attendance, but he pointed out that much was also gained from casual conversation dur ing free time. “We cut out some of the meetings from past years so that people could have a chance to talk with each other alittle more,” Herzenbergsaid. “People had complained be- fore that they never had enough time to get to know one another, he said. “Having more free time really worked out well.” Chapel Hill Mayor Ken Kathy Staley/Lambda Chapel Hill Town Council member Joe Herzenberg is the only openly gay elected official in North Carolina. “Chapel Hill has a long his tory of interest in protecting the rights of all people,” Broun said in an interview this Broun and Carrboro Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird were among the area leaders who addressed the conference. Both leaders said they were happy to play host to the conference and that they supported the group’s goals. month. “I think it’s symbolically im portant that we had the meet ing here.” 1992: THE QUEER YEAR IN REVIEW T by Mike Hefner he past year saw the issue of lesbian and gay rights enter the political main stream in an unprecedented way. This focus was mostly the result of efforts by the Christian right to reverse gains made in'=tecent years by the lesbian and gay civil rights movement. These efforts ranged from anti-gay rights initiatives and referendums in several cities and states to the anti-gay “family values” rheto ric at the Republican National Convention. The presidential race In 1992, the candidates for president focused on lesbian and gay rights more than in any previous race, with all three major candidates openly stating their position. Bill Clinton made clear his sup port for lesbian and gay rights throughout the campaign, as did most of the other Demo cratic candidates. But Clinton made a special effort to court the gay vote. The measures in Oregon and Portlan.d, were defeated, with 56 percent and 57 percent of votes against the measures, respectively. The Colorado and Tampa mea sures passed with 53 percent and 58 percent of the vote, respectively. Oregon's Measure 9 Oregon’s Measure 9 was the most far-reaching of the ballot measures in 1992. It would have amended the Oregon state constitution to prohibit state and municipal govern ments from using their funds or properties to “promote, encourage, or facilitate homo sexuality, pedophilia, sadism or masochism,” or to recog nize homosexuals as a group to be protected from discrimi nation. It would also have di rected Oregon public schools and universities to teach that homosexuality is “abnormal, wrong, unnatural, and per verse.” The effects that such a mea sure might have had are diffi cult to assess due to the vague language. It could be inter preted to bar homosexuals from any state-licensed pro fession, prohibit any organi zation, church or company with anti-discrimination poli cies from using public facili ties and require libraries to remove all gay-positive books from their shelves. Measure 9 was placed on the ballot by the Oregon Citi zens Alliance (OCA), a far- right group which has sponsored anti-gay and anti abortion rights measures in the past. In 1988, they spon sored Measure 8, which over turned an order banning anti-gay employment dis crimination in state govern ment issued by Governor Neil Goldschmidt. (Measure 8 was ruled unconstitutional by the Oregon Court of Appeals on Nov. 12,1992 on the grounds that it violated state employ ees’ free speech rights.) The campaign in Oregon was the most bitter in the coun try. Many groups opposing Measure 9 were the targets of vandalism and harassment. The No On 9 Campaign and Out-PAC, two political groups that worked to oppose the measure, had their offices van dalized and their mailing lists stolen. People on those lists later received threatening phone calls. The Portland Met- ropolitan Community Church, which serves the gay and lesbian community, was vandalized and had their membership roster stolen. St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Portland was also vandalized with anti-gay slogans such as “Catholics love gays,” “Vote Yes on 9,” and “Kill faggots” after the local Catholic Church announced their opposition to Ballot Measure 9. Colorado's Amendment 2 Amendment 2, the ballot measure passed in Colorado, seems to have been successful because it avoided the harsh language of Oregon Measure 9. Instead, it forbids "homo sexual, lesbian, or bisexual ori entation” from being the basis of any “minority status, quota preferences, protected status, or claim of discrimination.” This language enabled Colo rado for Family Values, the amendment’s sponsor, to frame the issue in terms of quotas and “special rights for gays” while hiding the fact that it removed all protec tions against anti-gay dis crimination. This tactic proved very ef fective. In one poll immedi ately after the election, more than one in five of those, who said they voted for Amend ment 2 also said they were in favor of gays and lesbians be ing protected from discrimi nation in housing and employment. The amendment will over turn existing anti-discrimina tion laws in Denver, “Boulder and Aspen. Those cities have joined the ACLU, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Lambda Legal De fense and Education Fund in a lawsuit challenging the amendment’s constitutional ity under the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitu tion. The passage of Amendment 2 has led to a growing nation wide boycott of Colorado. Na tional gay organizations such see Review, page 10
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