Newspapers / Community Connections (Asheville, N.C.) / May 1, 1993, edition 1 / Page 1
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Asheville, NC Serving the Southern Appalachian Gay/Lesbian Community Circulation 7,000 Vol. V, No.5 May 1993 Lesbians in the Military What You Can Do Community Connections has re ceived a number of phone cal^i re questing theaddresses and phone ihin- bers of officials one could contact re garding the ban on gays in the mili tary. Here they are: - President Bill Clinton at the White House: (202)456-1111. ■ Senator Jesse Helms: US Senate, 72S Dirksm Building, Washington DC 20510(202)224-6342; • SenatorLauch Fairdoth: U;S. Sen ate, 716 Hart Building, Washii^ton DC 20510 (202)224-3154; 'U.S.Rep. Charles Taylor: R-N.C., 11th District, U.S. House of Represen tatives, 516 Cannon Building, Wash ington DC 20515 (202)225-6401; U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger: R-N.C., 10th District, U.S. House of Represen tatives, 2238Ray bum Building, Wash ington DC 20515 (202)225-2576 • General Colin Powdl: (703)697- 9121 • House Armed Services Commit tee; (202)225^151 • The Pentagon: (703)697-5737 • Secretary of Defense Les A^in: (703)695^61 One^iHiQn“^(Or Mui u) nnaiunr by The Washington, D.C. mayor's of fice estimated the crowd at the April 25 March on Washington at one million, ac cording to the New York Times (4/26/93). But the Metropolitan Police Department put the figure at 1.2.million {McNeil/ Lehrer, 4/26/93). People present at the March are talking one million plus, some even over two million. The Park Service, whose estimates are always low, regardless of which group is marching or demonstrating, set the figure at 300,000. It was reported on National Public Radio on April 28 that march orga nizers had spoken with representatives of the Interior Department, who promised them that a recount would be taken. Asheville State Representative Stands Up for Sodomy Reform On April 19 N.C. State Representa tive Marie Colton (Asheville) introduced a bill into the NC General Assembly chang ing the state's sodomy law to make sex between two consenting adults legal if occurring within the privacy of a home. After surviving one House judiciary com mittee vote, the bill was killed in a second vote within a week of being introduced. North Carolina's so-called crimes against nature (CAN) or sodomy law out laws sexual contact other than sexual inter course between a married couple. Colton said she believes that individuals should have the right to choose with whom they have sex as long as it is kept in the confines of the home. The law is often used as the basis for arresting men frequenting gay cruising areas, but not applied to persons who frequent heterosexual cruising areas. Gay. rights advocates object to laws on two grounds: that it basically outlaws gay and lesbian sexual expression and that its en forcement is selective. According to the Asheville Citizen- Times Merrimon Avenue Baptist Church Reverend Billy Cline appears to agree. Cline was quoted as saying, "What two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home that doesn' t hurt anyone should not be the business of government." This is the same Rev. Billy Cline who organized the 20,000-participant anti-gay "Family Values" March last June. Colton said that the bill is dead for this session of the General Assembly. The bill's supporters do not expect it to be introduced in the Senate.—Compiled from the Asheville Citizen-Times (4/19/93 and 4/23/93) by Cynthia Janes Minnesota Outlaws Discrimination Against Gays Minnesota became the eighth state in the union to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in housing, employment, andpublicaccommodations. Thebill, which passed the House of Representatives on March 31 and the Senate April 1, was authored by the state's two openly gay legislators. Democrats Allan Spear in the Senate and Karen Clark in the House of Representatives. Supporters worked for 20 years to get the bill passed. Governor Arne Carlson, a Republican and longtime supporter of the measure, withstood criti cism from his party's right-wing, andsigned the measure into law April 2. The other states with laws prohibiting such discrimination and the year legisla tion passed are: Wisconsin (1982), Massa chusetts (1989), Hawaii (1991), Connecti cut (1991), New Jersey (1992), Vermont (1992), and California (1992). -Excerpted from The Washington Blade (4/9/93)
Community Connections (Asheville, N.C.)
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May 1, 1993, edition 1
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