California Judge Refuses to Issue Injunction Against Proposition 6

LOS ANGELES, August 25 (Times)-A Superior Court judge refused Thursday to issue an injunction removing from the November ballot Proposition 6, the measure that seeks to remove gay and lesbian teachers from California schools.

Judge Charles H. Phillips, although saying the wording of the initiative is "ambiguous," ruled against claims that state and county officials failed to do their duty in verifying signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Phillips ruled out claims of fraud made in a suit by the California Federation of

Teachers, Gay Teachers of Los Angeles, LA Gay Center

the National

Organization for Women, and the No on Briggs Initiative Commit-

tee,

headed

by

Morris Kight. Phillips said he found no evidence of fraud as alleged in the suit and he ruled that Attorney Genera Evelle J. Younger had done his duty in summarizing the initiative on petitions circulated for signatures. The anti-Proposition 6 groups alleged title and the summary on petitions were misleading. They said the title indicated that the initiative was against homosexuality, while the wording of the proposed law is broader.

that the

It addresses itself to penalties for those who so much as advocate sexual relationships between persons of the same sex or who advocate support of gay rights legislation.

Phillips commented that the "blatant ambiguity" of the Briggs proposal makes it difficult to interpret, but he said the attorney general cannot be blamed for vague wording in the summary. The summary says that Proposition 6 "provides for filing charges against (school employees) for advocating, imposing, encouraging or promoting public sex acts... between persons of the same sex in a manner likely to come to the attention of other employees or students

private or

It also provides for filing charges against school employees who "publicly and indiscreetly engage in such acts," the summary notes.

Attorney Albert L. Gordon

claimed

that as many as 4000 signatures may have been forged on petitions. But Phillips noted that the measure overqualified by about 17,000 votes for a random sampling method of signature verification and he said he found no evidence of fraud.

The anti-Proposition 6 groups raised questions

in their suit about the constitutionality of the Briggs initiative, claim-

Opens Program for Disabled

LOS ANGELES, September 12-The Gay Community Services Center has in-

men

stituted a new program providing outreach to disabled lesbians and gay who are finding it difficult, if not impossible, to discuss their sexuality in nongay-identified surroundings. "There is a large population of disabled gays whose physical and emotional problems may be given plenty of concerned attention by state and county agencies, but who still feel oppressed because of their sexual preference," announced John Leaton, program director. "Now they have a place to go. Leaton has been connected with the counseling department at GCSC for over three years, and has been instrumental in organizing and maintaining the twice weekly men's rap groups, as well as running the training program for peer counselors. He heads a staff of five that in-

""

cludes disabled gays.

While the primary focus of the program will be to provide counseling for the sexual problems of the disabled, the counselors will also be able to direct clients to other GCSC departments, including those for employment and housing. The funding for the program, provided by the Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA VI), also allows for the counselors to make visitations to those unable to come to the center, whether they are at home or in institutions. ■

Anti-Briggs Org Goes Statewide

ing that it "compelled allegiance to a SAN FRANCISCO, CA, August 29-

state-imposed orthodoxy and violates concepts of separation of church and

state.

Phillips declined to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the measure itself. He said that the time to test it is if

and when it is approved by the voters.

Writers Cop Prizes for Women's Reporting

NEW YORK, September 11 (UPI)-Gay Pauley, United Press International senior editor, has been named second prize winner of the 18th Catherine L. O'Brien award for women's interest reporting for a story on incest, it was an-

nounced Monday.

Pauley will receive a $300 honorarium and the privilege of selecting a student in her community to receive a $750 journalism scholarship. She was cited for her story, "Incest-Mankind's Oldest

Taboo-is Being Treated Openly at Last." First prize was awarded to Lori Sturdevant, reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune for her entry, "Deprogramming: 'I Hate to do This... But I Had To." "

Sturdevant will receive $700 and is entitled to select a student in her community to receive a $1,000 journalism scholarship.

">

Peter Gallagher of the St. Petersburg Times won third prize for "Lori Ann's Mom Inherited a Legacy of Questions." Gallagher will receive a $200 prize and a $500 scholarship to the journalism student of his choice.

Extensive plans for a statewide effort to defeat the Briggs initiative were-announced today at a news conference by the No On 6 Committee. At the conference in San Francisco, co-chairs of the committee, Jerry Berg, practicing attorney and board member of the Human Rights Foundation, Naomi Lauter, Vice President of the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union, the Rev. Donald W. Seaton, Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oakland, and Joan-Marie Shelley, Vice President of the San Francisco Federation of Teachers, denounced the Briggs initiative as an invasion of the right of privacy of gays and heterosexuals alike, a waste of taxpayers' money in the inevitable creation of a new bureaucracy, and a proposal which would promote bigotry and harassment, disrupt schools and communities, and institute modern-day witch-hunts.

Berg explained that the No On 6 Committee had been formed by Concerned Voters of California to conduct the organization and media campaign statewide. CVC, an ad hoc committee of gays and straights, was formed last September to wage the non-partisan campaign against the Briggs proposal. With headquarters in major California cities, the group is planning a massive voter contact drive and a media campaign is in production. Extensive efforts are underway to raise the $1 million plus needed to finance the campaign. Berg urged that all persons and organizations who revere freedom join in waging an all-out effort to defeat this proposal. ■

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