President Asked to Support Gay Rights

Assistant to the President Ann Wexler and Domestic Policy Staff aide Bob Malson, acting on behalf of President Carter, received a petition calling for a Presidential Executive Order and support for the gay rights bill in Congress: The petition was presented at the White House on December 19 by Kay Whitlock, Co-Chairperson of the National Gay Task Force Board of Directors, and Charles F. Brydon, NGTF Co-Executive Director. Joining Ms. Whitlock and Mr. Brydon were representatives of eleven other national gay organizations. Participating with Ms. Wexler and Mr. Malson was Scotty Campbell, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the successor agency to the U.S. Civil Service Commission.

In her petition presentation remarks, Ms. Whitlock took note of administration accomplishments since the initial March 1977 meeting convened by then-Assistant to the President Midge Costanza. "That meeting and others that have followed began the task of instilling a consciousness of lesbian and gay concerns in government," she observed. "And there have been other steps we wish to recognize and acknowledge". Ms. Whitlock then cited the appointment of open lesbians to Presidential commissions, the Internal Revenue Service decision to grant tax deductible status to gay groups, and the administration's civil service reform legislation. "These are important steps," continued Ms. Whitlock, "but they have had only a minimal impact in the face of the institutionalized and entrenched prejudice that is rooted in government programs and in government policies at agencies exempt from civil service rules".

Responding on behalf of the administration, Ann Wexler said, "There is discrimination that must be

addressed. We cannot constantly be in a reactive position on this". Ms. Wexler then introduced Mr. Campbell who reviewed provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 which, for the first time in law, prohibits discrimination in the civil service on the basis of non-job related private conduct. "The law is clear, there can be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This was the intent of Congress," said Mr. Campbell. "And it protects 95 percent of all federal employees". He acknowledged, however, that other steps are needed to handle the problem with such agencies as the FBI, State Department, and the military. Discussion then shifted to the problems of institutionalized prejudice, the anti-gay attitude that is the general posture of government and is reflected in government programs and services.

Concluding the meeting, Ms. Wexler said that an executive order and other steps are "under active consideration" to address the problems of institutionalized discrimination in government. She assured participants that the issues raised in the hour and a half meeting are taken seriously by the administration. Pending completion of a review for a comprehensive executive order, the administration pledged to be actively involved in cases of anti-gay discrimination. Specifically mentioned were the pending lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons and monitoring job discrimination within the federal civil service.

Commenting after the meeting, Ms. Whitlock observed, "It was clear that some issues raised prompted genuine concern. And I was pleased to hear them say they will continue to work with us".

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund President Margot Karle stated, "I think that progress was

INS: Bordering on the Absurd

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued a temporary directive on August 14, 1979 which reversed its policy on the admission of aliens thought to be lesbians or gay men into the U.S. The change of policy, ordered by former INS Commissioner Leonel Castillo, came two weeks after the Public Health Service announcement, issued by Surgeon General Dr. Julius B. Richmond, that Government physicians would no longer consider homosexuality to be a mental disease or disorder, The August Public Health Service statement too marks a change in policy. The result of a court challenge by Carl Hill, an acknowledged gay man denied admission to the U.S. last summer, the Public Health Service announcement comes almost six years after the American Psychiatric Association declared that homosexuality is not a disease or disorder.

Last month (December, 1979 WSW), we reported that the INS had responded to a complaint filed by the National Gay Task Force (NGTF) and the National Organization for Women (NOW) charging harassment of Canadian women en route to the Michigan Women's Music Festival in Hesperia, Michigan. Acting Associate Attorney General John H. Shenefield wrote: "We very much regret this unfortunate incident....It is not anticipated that a similar occurrence will arise”.

However, since that time, Justice Department attorneys have determined that the August policy reversal was not within the bounds of INS authority. The August directive reversed a policy statement legislated by Congress in the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, otherwise known as the McCarranWalter Act. According to a statement by John M. Harmon, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, quoted in the December 27, 1979 New York Times, "The INS is statutorily required to enforce the exclusion of homosexual aliens”. Harmon stated that "Congress considered homosexuality a disease" in 1952 when the law was passed, and

"not a word in the statute or its history suggests a Congressional intent that the Surgeon General be empowered in the future to eliminate homosexuality as a ground for exclusion by declaring his disagreement with Congress' determination". Harmon also rejected a suggestion made in a letter signed by 18 Congressional members that the INS could “make policy changes in light of changing facts and societal values without regard to court decisions or legislative history".

Although the temporary directive is still in effect, David M. Crosland, Acting INS Commissioner, stated that the INS would renew enforcement of the ban on homosexual aliens. Crosland said that in the instructions to be given to immigration officers, INS border guards would be discouraged from asking aliens "a lot of unnegessary questions" about sexual orientation. According to the Times, Crosland refused to comment on whether or not the 1952 policy banning homosexual aliens should be changed.

The National Gay Task Force, in a recent press release, responded to the new Justice Department proposal by saying it will use "every available means" to stop the renewed enforcement of the 1952 ban on homosexual aliens and the forcing of selected visitors to answer questions about their private sexual behavior. NGTF Co-Executive Directors Charles J. Brydon and Lucia Valeska stated: "We are prepared to pursue a variety of options from negotiation to litigation to prevent the government from instigating a peeping-Tom operation at our borders. The idea that the government should inquire into a visitor's private sexual behavior is offensive to decent people everywhere".

The NGTF has requested a meeting with John H. Shenefield, Acting Associate Attorney General, to discuss the Justice Department's decision and to present arguments for reconsideration of the proposal being prepared by attorneys for the NGTF, Gay

made on important issues including employment where the administration is now aware of a number of our concerns. If the follow-up after the meeting is as diligent and concerned as the attitudes expressed by administration officials at the meeting, I think there will be significant policy and legal changes which will benefit all lesbians and gay men”.

* "I think the fact that an executive order is under active consideration along with other measures and that the President is aware of these matters is a significant forward step," commented Charles Brydon. "I too will be interested in the quality of the follow-through. To a large degree, the understanding is there. Now it's time for the administration to act".

Brydon also announced that the administration will set up a series of separate meetings on the immigration problem. The bulk of Wednesday's conversation concerned areas where the President has discretionary authority. Immigration is governed by detailed federal law.

Gay community participants in the December 19 meeting included Steve Endean, Executive Director, Gay Rights National Lobby; Adam DeBaugh, Director of the Washington Office, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches; Mary Spottswood Pou, Co-Director, National Convention Project; Joyce Hunter, National Co-Coordinator, National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights; Frank Scheuren, President, Dignity, Inc.; Teresa DeCrescenzo, National Secretary, Gay Academic Union; H. Gerald "Jerry" Schiff, President, National Association of Business Councils; Walter J. Lear, M.D., Convenor, National Gay Health Coalition; and A. Billy S. Jones, CoExecutive Director, National Coalition of Black Gays.

Rights Advocates of San Francisco. If no solution can be found, the NGTF wil consider available legal options. These include a court order reversing the Justice Department opinion or an order that would compel immigration officers to ask questions about the private sexual behavior of every visitor to the U.S.

Valeska and Brydon also took issue with the INS claim that only 31 people were, denied entry into the country for medical and psychiatric reasons between 1971 and 1978.

"We have been acting in good faith with the Department of Justice to end what is generally agreed to be an unenforceable law and we will continue with that effort as long as it proves productive. We want to note, however, that it is important for the public not to be misled by the disingenuous comments of Acting INS Commissioner David Crosland concerning the number of persons excluded for medical and psychiatric reasons. Private conversations with INS officers have indicated a figure closer to 2,000 per year. Beyond the numbers, INS has a well-known practice of intimidating and harassing people into withdrawing their applications for entrance. The victims of this unlawful practice never surface in the numbers compiled of aliens who are denied entrance".

The NGTF urges lesbians, gay men and gay rights supporters to remind Jimmy Carter of his May 1976 campaign promise: "I do not think that the government at the local, state or federal level should single out homosexuals for abuse or harassment or prosecution under the existing laws. As President, I can assure you that all policies of the federal government will reflect this commitment". Letters protesting the Justice Department's position and renewed enforcement of the ban on homosexual aliens should be addressed to: President Jimmy Carter, The White House, Washington, D.C. 20500.

January, 1980/What She Wants/Page 7

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