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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE June, 1989

Dannemeyer sues gay paper

Attorneys for the San Francisco gay newspaper Bay Area Reporter will file court papers tomorrow to ask that a $2 million libel lawsuit brought by Rep. William Dannemeyer, R-Calif, against the paper be dismissed. One attorney for the BA.R. called Dannemeyer's suit "patently frivolous."

Dannemeyer alleges in his lawsuit that the B.A.R. reprinted a memo that said in part that Dannemeyer was "foaming at the mouth" and was "a live grenade" and "far too emotional to do any good" with respect to the AIDS issue.

The memo in question was published in the October 8, 1987 edition of the Bay Area Reporter. It was purportedly authored by Charles Rund, President Ronald Reagan's deputy campaign manager for poling in 1984. The purpose of the memo was to map a strategy for how Republicans could attack Democrats, during the 1988 elections, for being soft on AIDS. Rund operates a consulting firm known as the Charleton Research Group.

Dannemeyer, a well-known opponent of lesbian-gay rights and progressive AIDS policies, filed the suit in Sacramento County Superior Court on September 26, 1988 and served it on the B.A.R. on February 28, 1988. On April 28 attorneys will file a demurrer asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit. The brief argues that the Bay Area Reporter's story is constitutionally protected speech.

The newspaper is being defended by National Gay Rights Advocates and McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enerson, one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in the Bay Area.

When asked if it was libelous to say that Dannemeyer was "foaming at the mouth," Leonard Graff of National Gay Rights Advocates said, "Truth is an absolute defense to a charge of libel."

Graff, noting that Dannemeyer is his own attorney for the lawsuit, added, “I'm sure Bill is aware of the old saying: 'A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.""

"The First Amendment and California law protect the right of newspapers to report freely on public figures. This suit is patently frivolous and we expect the court to throw it out," said Eli W. Gould of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enerson.

Bob Ross, publisher of the B.A.R., commented, "This suit was filed to intimidate us because the B.A.R. is a gay paper. Well, it won't work. We'll fight this all the way. We intend to have thorough coverage of Congressman Dannemeyer;s activities."

Ross noted that the New York Times and Associated Press had also run the same story but have not been sued by Dannemeyer.

He added that anyone knowing of examples of Representative Dannemeyer's homophobic statements send them into the Bar Area Reporter.

Tom Horn, B.A.R.'s legal counsel, said, "We will mount a rigorous defense because this case has profound implications for all newspapers. The constitution protects the press from libel lawsuits that have a chilling effect upon their freedom to report on politicians who attack minority communities."

Hate crimes bill well supported

Nearly half of all U.S. senators and one-fourth of all members of the House of Representatives have become cosponsors of the federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act.

According to National Gay & Lesbian Task Force lobbyist Peri Jude Radecic, 43 senators and 114 members of the House had endorsed the bill by April 28, making it the most widely-supported bill pursued by the lesbian and gay civil rights

movement.

Radecic attributed the large co-sponsor list to the efforts of individual lobbyists, local gay and lesbian groups and the work of a 60-member Hate Crimes Coalition which NGLTF launched in 1987 to generate broad support for the act.

"The large number of co-sponsors shows that our lobbying efforts work," said Radecic. "Today, a significant percentage of all members of Congress recognize violence against lesbians and gay men as a serious problem deserving federal attention."

The Hate Crimes Statistics Act mandates collection by the federal government of data on crimes motivated by prejudice based on race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The bill's chief sponsors are Sens. Paul Simon, DIll., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. John Conyers, D-Ill.

NGLTF secured introduction of the hate crimes bill in 1987. Last year, NGLTF lobbying led to the overwhelming passage of the bill by the House, marking the first time a federal bill containing a reference to sexual orientation had passed either body of Congress.

The act also passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by an overwhelming margin but stalled in the Senate after Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., threatened to

Senate names gay man

The Senate announced four more appointees, including an openly gay man, to the new National Commission on AIDS, created by Congress last year to evaluate and affect federal policy for fighting the epidemic.

The National AIDS Commission, established by the omnibus AIDS bill passed last fall, will promote development of a national consensus on AIDS policy. Human Rights Campaign Fund lobbyists say the commission will make recommendations regarding the financing of health care and research needs relating to AIDS, monitor AIDS education programs for effectiveness, and make suggestions for improving other prevention efforts.

The commission succeeds the presidential HIV Commission established by former President Reagan, and is expected to implement recommendations of the president's report. That report featured hundreds of recommendations for dealing with the HIV epidemic, most of which were "shelved" by the Reagan administration with little or no action taken.

The Senate appointees to the commission are:

Larry Kessler, openly gay executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Boston. Kessler is regarded as an expert and champion of community-based AIDS service organizations;

Dr. June Osborn, dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan and a renowned authority on the HIV epidemic. Osborn is a U.S.representative to the Global Commission on AIDS of the World Health Organization and chairs the Advisory Committee for the AIDS Health Services Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She also has served as an adviser to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, and is a member of the National Institute of Medicine;

Harlan Dalton, Yale Law School professor and a leading expert on AIDS legal issues; and

Eunice Dias, director of Community Affairs and Health Promotion at White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles and a former public health official.

attach a four-part anti-gay amendment, Privacy

including statements that homosexuality was a threat to the American family and that sodomy laws should be enforced. Helms plans to introduce a similar amendment when the Hate Crimes bill comes to the Senate floor late this spring.

"We cannot be complacent about the support we have won for this bill," said NGLTF's Radecic. "Co-sponsors must be lobbied to stand up to Helms' anti-gay rhetoric. We cannot afford passage of anti-gay amendments which could wipe out the gains we are making on a number of civil rights fronts."

Constituent lobbying is urgently needed to add co-sponsors and to defeat attempts by Helms to enact anti-gay provisions. A legislative packet on the Hate Crimes Statistics Act may be obtained from NGLTF, Count Hate Crimes, 1517 U St. NW, Washington DC 20009.

Continued from Page 1

Detailed organizing packets on Hardwick and sodomy laws have been prepared and mailed to more than 500 organizations and individuals across the country. Packets include suggested events, background information, flyers, posters and stickers bearing the National Day Of Mourning logo of a red broken heart over black jail bars. Persons interested in obtaining packets or organizing events in their home communities are urged to contact your local political groups or NGLTF.

Among the events planned on or about June 30, 1989 are:

A petition drive and informational mailing to Missouri state legislators

By law, the Senate, House and administration are each to name five people to the commission. The Senate is expected to name its fifth member soon.

Three of the administration's nominees have been predesignated: the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Louis Sullivan), the Secretary of Defense (Richard Cheney) and the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs (Edward Derwinski). President Bush is expected to name two other appointees soon.

House appointees to the panel were announced in February. They included Rep. J. Roy Rowland, D-Ga., who served as co-chair of the majority whip's task force on AIDS during the 100th Congress. Rowland has been a strong advocate of sound AIDS policy during floor debate and recently was assigned to the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health, which has jurisdiction over most AIDS-related policy.

Others House appointees are the Reverend Scott Allen, who serves on the Texas state task force on AIDS; Diane Ahrens, who chairs the Ramsey County Minnesota Board of Commissioners and is head of the National Association of Counties' task force on AIDS; and Don Goldman, former president of the National Hemophilia Foundation and an attorney who has long advocated discrimination protections for people with AIDS and HIV.

"Overall, we are very pleased with the members of the new commission," said Robert Bray, Human Rights Campaign Fund communications director. "In particular, the inclusion of an openly gay member brings an important perspective to the panel."

Bray said the commission thus far does not include any "clear cut ideologies."

"Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., is to be commended for working to establish a commission absent of individuals with right-wing agendas,” said Carlton Lee, HRCF lobbyist. "He has paved the way for sound AIDS policy versus demagoguery. Based on the appointment of so many well-informed individuals to the commission, we are optimistic it will have a positive influence on national AIDS policy."

planned by the Pink Triangle Political Coalition in Kansas City, Mo;

• A mock funeral for the right to privacy organized by the Privacy Rights Education Project in St. Louis;

A special observation of the anniversary of the Hardwick decision in Atlanta, where the case originated;

A series of actions in Washington, DC, by OUT! focused on the 1989 DC Sexual Assault Reform Bill, which includes repeal of the District of Columbia's sodomy law.

A public forum on the Massachusetts sodomy law on June 28 in Boston, sponsored by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders of New England.▼

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