NATIONAL NEWS

Update: Gay Rights in Law

Section 108 of the proposed Family Protection Act, which prohibits homosexual advocacy by recipients of Federal funds, was recently analyzed by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS is a group which works exclusively for Congress, conducting research, analyzing legislation and providing information at the request of committees, members of Congress and their staffs. Section 108 states that "No federal funds may be made available under any provision of Federal law to any public or private individual, group, foundation, commission, corporation, association or other entity for the purpose of advocating, promoting or suggesting homosexuality, male or female, as a lifestyle".

In its controversial analysis, the CRS erroneously concluded that "This condition on Federal funding would be new to Federal law, although it is not apparent that any Federal grants are now made for the purpose of promoting homosexuality....Section 108 does not impose any direct restrictions on individual

or organizational advocacy of homosexuality".

In fact, a variety of Federal grants have been made from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the National Endowment for the Arts, to a number of gay and non-gay organizations for the purpose of research, outreach, community education, media work and other projects designed to portray gay people and their lifestyle in a positive manner or provide service to the gay community. If the FPA were passed in its present form, none of these grants could be måde.

The CRS analysis also states that Section 108 does not impose indirect restrictions on advocacy as a condition for receipt of Federal funds. However, Section 108 will have a severe chilling effect on both gay and non-gay individuals and organizations. A community health center which receives Federal funds, for instance, might not develop a gay outreach program for fear of losing such funds by "promoting" homosexuality. An academic department at a univer-

Elephants Oppose Equal Rights

(HerSay)-The National Organization for Women has decided to get tough with the GOP. The group charges the Republican Party is the biggest obstacle to passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. The new policy calls for NOW members to picket GOP leaders on a regular basis.

NOW spokesperson Judy Murphy says, "Up to now, we've had bi-partisan support for the ERA”. These days, however, Republican legislators are following the anti-amendment example set by party leaders, and by President Reagan in particular. She also notes Republican senators in Oklahoma recently voted as a solid bloc against the ERA when it came

Only Natural

(HerSay)-The "Dubious Progress Award" this month goes to the Midway Company, makers of the popular Pac-Man video game. To cash in on PacMan's success, Midway has developed a new computer game, featuring a Pac-Woman. Pac-Man was a homely animated figure that ran about eating energy dots. The new character, however, features red lips, long eyelashes, and a bow on her head.

Players who win at the new game get to see an animated segment featuring Pac-Man and PacWoman. In round one, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Pac-Man and the Pac-Woman fall in love. In round two, they chase each other around the screen. After the third round, a stork arrives, bringing Pac-Baby.

Marketing spokesperson Michael Leone says it's "only natural" Midway would bring out a female version of the game. Its name: "Ms. Pac-Man."

Voting Female

(HerSay)-Icelandic women, in a landmark move, will offer an all-female slate of candidates in the country's fall elections. The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports women Icelanders are fed up with inaction by male politicians, and have set up their own political headquarters in the capital city of Reykjavik. The women say they will urge all Icelanders to vote the all-female tickets in city council elections around the country this autumn.

Spokesperson Solrun Hallgrimsdotter says a demand for adequate childcare facilities is a major plank of the women's platform. She adds the traditional parties have given lip service to childcare, but "Nothing is done. Our action is a political protest that the people must take seriously".

Page 6/What She Wants/February-March, 1982

up for a vote in that state. NOW President Eleanor Smeal has called on ERA supporters to “Drive the point home to the Republican leadership that its opposition to women's rights will continue to polarize the women's vote".

No Rape Secrets

(HerSay)-A Canadian rape crisis center has been ordered to open its confidential files for inspection, or face the loss of its government funding. The British Columbia Rape Relief Clinic operates on a $150,000 annual contract with the Government of British Columbia. Now that government claims it must check the files of rape victims to see if the clinic's contract deserves to be renewed.

Rape Relief admits it signed a clause last year, giving the government "reasonable access" to its records. The group claims, however, the clinic has a prior duty to its patients to keep their records confidential, even if it means losing all its funding.

Prenatal Adoption

(HerSay)-England is not yet ready for embryo swapping. The British government of Margaret Thatcher has announced it will launch an investigation of plans by Dr. Patrick Steptoe to expand his test tube baby operation. Steptoe is the physician who pioneered in vitro fertilization. The process enables women with blocked tubes to get pregnant by fertilizing their eggs outside the body, and then implanting the egg in the womb.

Now Steptoe is proposing to freeze any leftover fertilized eggs and store the embryos for possible implantation in their donors or other, infertile women. The British Medical Association is upset with the scheme and has announced it will look into the ethics involved in embryo sharing.

A similar program is under way in Australia.

Kansas Justice

(HerSay)—A district judge in Franklin County, Kansas has ordered a man to buy his wife a box of candy after the man pleaded guilty to wife-battering. Judge Larry Coursen also suspended a $50 fine, and ordered Steve Jackson to pay only the court costs, in addition to the price of a Valentine candy box.

sity might not consider including homosexual issues and concerns' in its curriculum.

The CRS analysis also fails to mention any First

Номорновы CAN BE CURED

Gay March on Washington, Oct. 1979 Sierakowski/LNS Amendment violations in the form of direct or indirect limitation on speech, and potential problems involving the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Section 108 may also be challengeable on grounds of vagueness. "The sole reason presented for CRS's conclusion that this section is constitutional is the case of Harris v. McCrae, which involves the denial of Federal Medicaid funds for abortion. McCrae is not conclusive on this issue because the FPA involves the cutoff of Federal funds in response to the content of advocacy or membership in a class [homosexuals or their supporters]," stated Rosalyn Richter, staff attorney for the Litigation Project ✦ Against Anti-Gay Legislation.

Richter's analysis is borne out by the recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court in Department of Education v. Lewis, handed down February 4, 1982. The decision struck down the bill enacted by the Florida State Legislature that cut off funds to any university, public or private, that recognized, gave assistance or provided meeting facilities to any group that "recommends or advocates sexual relations between persons not married to one another". The main target of the bill was gay student organizations. In ruling that the bill violated the First Amendment, the Court stated, "The history of the interpretation of the First Amendment shows a steady movement toward protecting the free-speech rights of persons of all political and moral views. Ours is a nation rich in diversity, and our strength has been in our practice of allowing free play to the marketplace of ideas...To permit the continued building of our politics and culture, and to assure self-fulfillment for each individual, our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship".

While supporters of the FPA attempt to limit promotion or advocacy of homosexuality, however, legislation has also been introduced in Congress which would ban job discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. House Bill 1454, introduced by Rep. Ted Weiss (D-NY), with 52 co-sponsors, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual and affectional orientation in jobs, housing, public accommodations, and federally-assisted programs. Predictably, the chairman of the National Pro-Family Coalition has called the proposed law immoral and stated that homosexuals do not constitute a "legitimate" minority such as those currently protected by Title VII of the 1964 Act. Similar legislation (S.1708) has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Paul Tsongas (continued on page 11)