Obituaries

David Allan Beck

David Allan Beck, Esquire, born November 29, 1944, passed away January 16, 1992 at the age of 47. An accomplished sole practitioner of law, he received his B.B.S. from Ohio State University in 1970, M.A. and post-Masters work in history at the University of Iowa in 1971, and his J.D. at the Cleveland Marshall Law School in 1981.

Before practicing law, David served as an assistant professor of history at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and was chief steward of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees local in Iowa City. An astute law student, he was the editor of the Cleveland Law Review for 1980-81. Upon graduation, he established a law office in Garfield Heights which was later moved to Berea. The Standard Building offices of David A. Beck and Associates were opened in 1986, and remained open until late 1991, when he relocated this office at his home due to terminal illness.

A creative, intellectual fellow--always with an anecdote, he will be remembered dearly by all of his friends. He is survived by his lover of twenty-two years, Steven J. Grove, whom he met in 1970 while they were both attending the University of Iowa. Their romance roared, and while they lived together since 1972. David's last moments were shared with Steven at the Southwest General Hospital, when he passed away with the morning of Thursday, January 16, due to terminal liver illness. He will be remembered most for his cheerful nature by his assistant, Michael Goetsch, who said, "Had circumstances been different, you would never have found such a generous and giving individual--giving of his heart."

Memorial services will be held in February; those wishing to attend or send condolences may contact Steven Grove at 243-3940, or write care of P.O. Box 693, Lakewood, OH 44107 ▼

February 1, 1992

1991's crowds

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 7

These five events in the lesbian-gay community drew the largest number of people in 1991. In descending order:

Dancin' in the Streets

4,000

NOCI's We Are Family Picnic 2,400

Pride '91

Women's Variety Show Center Talent Show

2,000

1,200

900

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Marriage

Continued from Page 1

Also, because the District still has sodomy laws in effect that prohibit oral and anal sex, these "were obviously not the forms of intercourse" that legislators had defined as "consummating” a marriage.

Separation of church and state

But the portion of the decision that appeared to anger the couple most was Bowers' use of biblical passages to bolster his arguments against gay marriage. During a hearing on the case last July, Bowers ordered the attorneys for both sides to "[g]o all the way back to Genesis" to search for the "societal concept" of marriage. Dean and Gill presented what they termed "two voluminous documents" holding that certain religions had permitted, and their clerics had performed, samesex unions throughout history.

Bowers, however, stated that "there is no indication that the Church officially recognized these 'unions' as marriages, notwithstanding the acts of individual clergymen." Citing the Genesis account describing the creation of woman from a rib of man, the divorce laws laid down in the book of Deuteronomy, and certain New Testament passages describing the relationship between husband and wife, Bowers said that the "Bible demonstrate[s]" that society has recognized that it takes a man and a woman form a marital relationship." This view, Bowers stated, "is older than Christianity itself."

"One of the characteristics of fundamental moral principals is that they are immutable--not simply malleable reflections of the mores of the moment," wrote Bowers. "The Ten Commandments are as relevant today as they were at Mount Sinai, and their observance or non-observance no less consequential.”

"Thus," he continued, "if homosexual marriage were anathema to Christian religious dogma and morally repugnant, it would still be so, regardless of the number of clergy willing to participate in such a ceremony or the number of centuries over which they did so."

The most alarming aspect of this decision is the court's establisment of religion," said Dean, who is an attorney. “I ask you, whatever happened to the separation of church and state?"

Dean also accused Bowers of ignoring the couple's briefs on religion and samesex marriages and invoking unconstitutional principles by using the term "the Church."

"Judge Bowers states that 'the Church,' with a capital C, 'has never officially rec-

said

ognized same-sex marriages,' Dean. "This is state establishment of one religion over another."

Mary Jane DeFrank, executive director of the ACLU of the National Capital Area, said during the press conference that Bowers' citation of the Bible was "not normal” judicial practice, and that her organization was "definatly looking into the separation of church and state" issue raised by Bowers' decision.

Dean and Gill's appeal will land the case before a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals. ▼

Reprinted with permission from the Washington Blade.

New Jersey

Continued from Page 1

moved [the legislators], our confidence and self-image did the trick."

In the meantime, the Coalition's Task Force, which formed in July, was conducting "the final push to get the bill passed," according to co-chair Eric McKinley. He described the undertaking as "very quiet," with a "massive education effort" aimed at state legislators, using data on discriminatory incidents that were reported to the Task Force during a 1991 survey.

When the bill came up, McKinley said the limited opposition made a final effort to derail it by introducing an amendment to exempt religious organizations, although the bill already contained such an exemption.

"I thought it was a last-ditch effort to kill the bill," said Task Force co-chair Calkins. "[The opponents] knew if the amendment was accepted, it would kill the bill" because no time remained for the procedural motions any amendment would require.

But, the amendment was killed, said McKinley, and, prior to voting, no opposition was expressed.

"At the final vote, there were no people speaking in opposition, only in favor," said McKinley. "They were the most impassioned speakers that I had heard the whole day."

•

With Gov. Florio's signature on the legislation, New Jersey will become the fifth state to have gay rights protections, joining Wisconsin, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The California legislature passed a bill extending employment protection to gays last year, but it was subsequently vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson. ▼

Reprinted with permission from the Washington Blade.

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