Newspapers / Community Connections (Asheville, N.C.) / March 1, 1990, edition 1 / Page 1
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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS A Monthly Newsletter of the Asheville Area Gay/Leshian Community Asheville, NC March, 1990 US SENATE PASSES HATE CRIMES STATISTICS BILL Major Victory for Gays; Major Loss for Helms On Febr'iiary 8 the United States Senate linssed the Hate Crimes Statistics bill by a vote of 92-4. North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms and three other Senators were on the losing side. The bill now goes to a House-Senate Conference Committee, who will iron out differences between it and the House version, which jiassed overwhelmingly last summer. The hill would require collection of data on crimes motivated by bias based on race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. They did it by getting 60 Senators to act as cosponsors, Idie number needed to break a Helms filibuster. Once they had the 60th cosponsoi', Helms was powerless. Helm’s proposal of a strongly anti-gay amendment was soundly defeated, too (19 for, 77 against). In his last ditch efforts to persuade fellow Senators to vote against the hate crimes bill, Helms claimed that gay activists had "trumped up" the number of hate crimes against gays, and that the acts wore only minor ones anyway. Then he pi'esonted a seemingly opposite argument that gays would not report incidents of hate crimes. A spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign fund called the Helms amendment vote and the bill’s passage " landmark victories" for gays. NGLTFs Kevin Bcrrill, who heads that group’s Anti-Violence Project, said, "This is a historic moment for the gay and lesbian community," but added, "Our work is far t", •n.f.. ri -.’ ■ •U( 7 i; Cttie ‘;r 7 ^ ? E -mir iiCfl Holfe Nbill. •.tncHAfin Oppel. • John Lubv. ■Ed Wiu.iaMs, Douglas Clifton, ' Jf ACK E. TOMBftADBUHV.yEKHV.SHlNN. ' .Thundwy, JiAuary If, jftd . . ■ - ■ 0.0.hr'■ idjtorlald i'U-!, Self-Portrait Of The Senator ■ Gays Help Being Gay? Can Helms Help Being Mean? !l'ln his speech Saturday'in Raleigh ejiHoiincing that he would,’seek a fqd'nh ,'lerm, .U.'S, Sen.; Jesse Helms d??pribcd homosexuals and lesbians as. ‘Misgusiing people,’-’ which $,aid a lot tnore about Jesse Helms than it did about homosexuals and lesbians. • • C.,Une doesn't have to go along with the idea of legally sanctioned ntar- riages between homosexuals to ac knowledge that many homo.scxuals are admirable people with mahFgobd; cfualitic's. But to Seri. Helms they are simply “disgusting," , 'Tpne doesn't have to’ approve ’of j fully'flaunts his mean-spiritedness. He homosexual activity on moral or reli- glories in being mean-sp.irited. gious grounds to have compassion for Maybe Jesse Helms can no more homosexuals. But to Sen. liclrfis they ’ help being mean-spirited than a homo arc simply ■■disgusting."- . ■ ■ sexual can help being homosexual, so • 'Although there is no universal agree-- wc won’t describe him as.a,'-disgusting ment among psychiatrists and psychol-■ .person," Wc would suggest,-however, dgists about the causes of homosexual- - that anyone who lakes such joy in "disgusting.” ■ ■ _ '■ When Sen. Helms describes homo- [ sexiials -'and lesbian's as ‘’disgusting peoptc’l — as distinguished from hu man beings who, do things he finds disgusting ;V-.h'c feveals.wnal a mean- -spirited man he is, how totally lacking' •'in compassion he is for anyone who is, by his standards, dilTerenl. ; . Thai's hardly news, of course. But his Choice of that description Saturday reminds us again that Sen. Helms is hot only mean-spirited, but that he relishes being mean-spirited. He glee- ity, there is virtually universal agree ment that people aren’t homosexual by choice.' Common sense certainly sup-," pons that view. Anyone who chooses' tp b,e horhbscxual in this society would,! be choosing a life of torment, choosing to ,'Jbc ostracized, choosing to be a . victim of cruel prejudice, an object ofimage and betrays his Presbyterian irrational fear and hatred. But to Sen.- 'heritage when he embraces a man who Heims, these victims of forces beyond • castially and cruelly dismisses homo- their control, which neither they nor ’; sexuSls and lesbians simply .as "dis- experts really understand, arc simply'.- gusting people." . ^ meanness comes very close to exempli fying what is meant by “evil.” And Gov. Jim Martin, who has made a radio commercial for the sena tor .and introduced him to the crowd Saturday and sat beaming at the head '.table with him, belies his nicc-guy
Community Connections (Asheville, N.C.)
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March 1, 1990, edition 1
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