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Gay Peoples Chronicle

NATIONAL NEWS

CHICAGO CARDINAL

AXES GAY RIGHTS

By ROB DAROFF

CHICAGO--A proposed amendment that would have outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation was soundly defeated by 30-18 vote in Chicago City Council July 29. Its defeat was mostly the result of opposition by a number of religious leaders in the city.

Although originally introduced almost nine years ago, the ordinance was finally scheduled for a vote on July 9. The vote was rescheduled for July 29 after opposition from the city's Roman Catholic archbishop made it apparent that the measure would fail.

The archbishop, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, issued the unexpected statement of opposition less than 24 hours before the scheduled vote.

Mayor Harold Washington, who supported the ordinance, said that Bernardin's statement cost it the support of at least six councilmen, and that its chances for passage were nil unless religious opposition was withdrawn. Before Bernardin's statement all sources indicated that the measure, was virtually assured of victory.

Bernardin's objections included concern that the measure might be interpreted as "acceptance or approval of homosexual activity," and that it might infringe upon the Church's right to přesent and practice its mòral

teachings.

At the same time, Bernardin said that he hoped city council would pass legisla tion that "protects the rights of all Chicago citizens, including gays and lesbians."

Although Bernardin met with gay activists and councilmen in an attempt to reach a compromise on the measure, the efforts were reportedly unproductive.

One of the participating activiss, James Bussen, president of the national Catholic gay and lesbian organization Dignity, said the cardinal did not accept any of the gay community's compromises and did not offer any of his own.

The proposed measure was a simple one-page document that would have expanded existing civil rights protections in employment, housing, and public accomodations to gays and lesbians.

Gay Chicagoans packed into City Hall for the vote, and in a display of unity left the chamber singing "We Shall Overcome."

Linda Leslie, a spokesperson for the Mayor's Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues, said the gay and lesbian community will "reward our friends in City Hall and will let our opponents know at the polls that the time for hatred and discrimination is over."

JUSTICE DEPT ASKS COURT

August 1986

BY

: Casmir Kuczynski

Demonstrators in City Hall chanting "Our rights now"

TO OK AIDS DISCRIMINATION

Ronald Reagan's Department of Justice (headed by Ed Meese) has asked the Supreme Court to rule that Federal law permits discrimination against handicapped persons if it is based on fears they are contagious.

Contained in a July 11 brief supporting a Florida school board's dismissal of a teacher with tuberculosis, the request follows the Department's recent ruling that employers may legally fire people carrying antibodies to the HTLV-3 virus as long as the reason given is fear other workers might catch the virus. Whether such fears are justified, the Department holds, is irrelevant.

The ruling continues to draw angry protest from gay people as well as from significant parts of straight society, including the medical establishment and much of the press.

Denouncing the ruling as "bad law and bad public

health policy," the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will pressure the Department of Health and Human Services to challenge the Department of Justice on this point.

Director Jeff Levi pointed out that effective state and local laws against discrimination remain in effect. He predicted the gay/lesbian legal organizations will challenge the ruling in the courts.

The national coalition of lesbian and gay elected officials strongly condemned the ruling, calling it "a calculated attack on the civil rights of people with AIDS and those perceived at risk" and "counter to the interests of public health and social justice." They urged gay people to insist the Department of Health and Human Services issue an opinion forbidding AIDS-related discrimination (see p 5).

In a sharply worded resolution submitted by openly gay Councillor David Scond-

oum

Outside City Hall after the vote

ras, the Boston City Council condemned the ruling, pointing out that it "serves to exacerbate irrational fear and fosters a sense of distrust among groups whose... cooperation is crucial in the battle against AIDS." The American Medical Association, which had strongly criticized the Justice Department's ruling, filed its own brief in the Florida case, supporting the teach-

er.

Stung by the New York Times' caustic editorial calling his opinion "a license to Hound AIDS victims," Assistant Attorney General Charles J. Cooper wrote a letter trying to defend it. His main point seemed to be a suggestion that it is less complicated legally to dismiss employees as soon as they are found to carry the HTLV-3 virus, rather than waiting to see whether they develop AIDS.

MENDMEN

JONATHAN KATZ JOINS

NAN HUNTER

Nan Hunter, Director of the ACLU's new Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, has announced the hiring of gay historian Jonathan Ned Katz as her assistant.

Best known for his two pioneering collections of documents bearing on the history of gay people in the United States, Gay American History (1976) and Gay//Lesbian Almanac (1982), Katz is also the author/compiler of a documentary play, Coming Out! (1972) and edited the Arno Press series of books on homosexuality.

As Hunter's assistant, he will help her challenge state sodomy laws and coordinate ACLU state affiliates' work to protect the rights of gay people.