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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE January 10, 1992
O'Banion found guilty of simple assault; other charges dropped
by Martha Pontoni
The much-publicized Cincinnati case that began with the September arrest of Steven O'Banion for jaywalking has ended with O'Banion being found guilty of simple assault. In between, O'Banion was beaten, denied his AIDS medication and charged with attempted murder.
O'Banion was originally charged with four counts of attempted murder, three counts of felonious assault and one of aggravated assault after he was arrested for jaywalking outside a gay bar in Cincinnati. He was charged with attempted murder after Hamilton County deputies and a nurse accused him of spitting on them and thus possibly infecting them with the AIDS virus. O'Banion, who is HIV-positive, claimed that the deputies got spattered with blood and saliva after they beat him up and he threw up from the beating. The murder and felonious assault charges were dropped after the Hamilton County prosecutor could not prove that HIV can be transmitted via saliva.
O'Banion was found guilty December 23 of three counts of simple assault and will be sentenced February 12. Maximum penalty for simple assault is six months and $1,000 fine.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Gilbert Bettman commented during the trial that he felt that the officers were too rough with O'Banion when they brought him in. O'Banion says that the officers beat him, and taunted him for being gay.
A sheriff's department internal investigation says that excessive force wasn't used. The FBI has investigated the charges, but has made no comment on them.
ACT-UP Cincinnati has called for the Hamilton County commissioners to produce guidelines for the handling of HIV positive prisoners.
The Hamilton County commissioners said that it was not in their legal ability to address this issue. ACT-UP was referred to Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, who has not responded to ACT-UP's charges.
Author to give workshop
After receiving a diagnosis of AIDS-Related Complex in 1985, George Melton embarked on a search for a solution to the belief that his disease was inevitably fatal. This led him to explore the idea of inner healing through natural and spiritual means.
Melton, author of Beyond AIDS-A Journey Into Healing, will offer a lecture Friday, January 31, 7:30 p.m., focusing on the methods and insights that have resulted in his remission for over five years. He will speak at Trinity Cathedral, at East 22nd and Euclid in Cleveland.
He will also have a workshop the next morning on the psychological and
UPS
spiritual aspects of healing. The purpose of the workshop is to give participants the tools to help them move through the emotional aspects of the disease. The day is designed to teach the means by which to explore the feelings and beliefs that shape your life and health.
The workshop will be held Saturday, February 1, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Christ Episcopal Church, 3445 Warrensville Center Road, in Shaker Heights. Cost: Lecture only, $10. Workshop, includes lecture, $35.
For information and registration call
932-4134.
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National Notes
Federal gay civil rights bill now has 114 co-sponsors
In early November the number of co-sponsors for the federal gay civil rights bill in the U.S. House of Representatives topped 100, out of 435 total members. The added co-sponsors were Democrats Harry Johnston of Florida, Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Albert Bustamente of Texas, and Ed Pastor of Arizona.
Co-sponsors in the Senate went to 14 (of 100 members) when lobbyists won over Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Locally, Sen. Howard Metzenbaum and Reps. Louis Stokes, Edward Feighan, and James Traficant are co-sponsors.
The legislation has been reintroduced in each two-year session of Congress since 1977, steadily gaining additional co-sponsors. It is the only bill to provide recourse for those discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation.
Thompson wins guardianship of Kowalski
Calling Karen Thompson and Sharon Kowalski " . . . a family of affinity, which ought to be accorded respect," a Minnesota Court of Appeals named Thompson guardian of Kowalski. The decision, issued December 17, culminates and eight-year battle by Thompson for the right to care for her life partner, Kowalski, who was severely disabled in a car accident in 1983. Senator criticizes Steffan military ban ruling
Washington, D.C.-U.S. Senator Brock Adams, D-Wash., has criticized the recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Gasch upholding the military's ban on gays (see page 1).
"Judge Gasch has used the AIDS epidemic as a crutch to prop up the military's outdated policy," Adams said.
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Midshipman Joe Steffan's conduct, which was exemplary. It was based on pure prejudice against gay men and lesbians." Nation's first state gay youth services bill expected to pass
Cambridge, Mass On Dec. 9, the Gay and Lesbian Youth Services bill was reported favorably by the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee. The full House was expected to vote on the bill before Christmas.
The legislation, drafted and filed by the Massachusetts Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, seeks to create a lesbian and gay advisory board with the Office of Human Services. The board's chief focus will be to create statewide suicide-prevention programs for gay and lesbian youth and to establish gay-supportive programs in the state's 351 cities and towns. This bill is the first in the nation to specifically target gay and lesbian youth issues.
HIV-positive travel ban protested
The International Gay Travel Association submitted a letter to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta in response to the U.S. ban on admission of HIV-positive visitors to the United States.
The 500-plus member organization feels the government's current policy is illogical and in contrast to recommendations from health care professionals within the United States and worldwide. IGTA feels the time has come to put the hysteria and the negative politics related to the AIDS epidemic behind us and end the ban on admission of HIV-positive visitors
IGTA strongly urges readers to write to the CDC to help end the ban on admission of HIV-positive visitors. Write to: Charles Mc Cance, Director, Division of Quarantine, Center for Prevention
Services, U.S. Center for Disease Control Mail Shop E-04, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Fundies out to "de-gay" TV
The fundamentalist American Family Association has launched a "Project to Stop TV From Promoting Homosexuality." In a mass mailing to its members, the group sent preprinted, preaddressed post cards for mailing to sponsors with track records of buying commercials on shows that regularly feature lesbian and gay characters. The mailing specifically asked members to help fight the efforts of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
To counter this censorship campaign, GLAAD is asking gays and lesbians to write to the sponsors and urge them to continue advertising on programs that realistically portray gay and lesbian characters. Remind them that America's 25 million gay and lesbian consumers appreciate advertisers whose sponsorship of TV programs is not determined by the crude bigotry of a small group of extremists and that TV shows depicting life without the blinders of prejudice lead to a stronger, healthier America in which no one need to fear irrational hatred and violence.
Write to the following companies: Chairman D. Wayne Calloway, Pepsi Co., Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, N.Y. 10577 (Roseanne). Chairman Michael A. Miles, Philip Morris, Inc., 120 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017 (L.A. Law). Chairman Robert C. Stempel, General Motors Corp., 3044 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202 (L.A. Law). Chairman Lee Iacocca, Chrysler Corp., P.O. Box 1919, Detroit, MI 48288 (Dear John).
Reprinted from GLAAD/New York
newsletter. Essence of inclusion
Essence, a national magazine for African-American women, deserves praise. Last May Linda Villarosa, a senior editor at Essence, and her mother, Clara, co-wrote an essay about how Linda came out as a lesbian. It described how the two moved from fear and anger toward peace and acceptance. That article produced more letters from readers than any other article in the magazine's 21-year history.
The October Essence contained a follow-up article by Linda Villarosa in which she quoted positive and negative reader responses. The issue also contained an article by her mother on reactions she received. Both women mention "the outpouring of positive responses" they received following the publication of the first article.
It's significant that Essence not only has made efforts to include issues of concern to lesbians in its pages, but in doing so has created a workplace that is safe for openly lesbian or gay workers. To express appreciation, write Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, Essence, 1500 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.
Reprinted from the GLAAD/New York newsletter.
Only 22 schools have partner benefits
Washington, D.C.—Lesbian and gay couples and other non-traditional families can find, access to benefits like married-couple 'housing on 22 U.S. college campuses-but elsewhere the doors are shut, says a national survey released today by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute.
The survey, Domestic Partners/ Non-Traditional Family Recognition in Campus Benefit Policies, outlines benefits available in seven areas: married couple housing, access to health services, bereavement leave, sick leave, parental leave, tuition reduction and access to campus programs and libraries.▼