Page 14 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

National Notes

July 17, 1992

House bill would end gay ban

Washington, D.C.-A new bill that would overturn the 50-year-old Department of Defense policy that prohibits lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from serving in the military has been introduced into the U.S. Congress. The Military Freedom Act, H.R. 5208, introduced May 19 by Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., would prohibit discrimination by the armed forces on the basis of sexual orientation.

An estimated 1,000 to 2,000 individuals are dismissed or discharged from their posts each year under the policy. According to a General Accounting Office report issued in 1984, 14,311 servicemembers were discharged between 1974 and 1984 for homosexuality. The same GAO report indicated it cost $579 million to train, ship, maintain for three years (the average amount of time before discharge), investigate, prosecute and discharge those servicemembers.

The bill currently has 44 cosponsors in the House. Lawmakers are looking for a main sponsor in the Senate.

Massachusetts gets first state gay-lesbian youth commission

In a July 11 ceremony at a Boston suicide prevention agency, Massachusetts Gov. William Weld created the "Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth,' the first of its kind in the United States.

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The commission will advise Weld and his cabinet on creating programs to deal with the high rate of gay and lesbian youth suicide, as well as homelessness and violence against young lesbians and gays. Weld swore in the 27 members of the commission at the ceremony, which was attended by over 100 people, including a

number of gay and lesbian high school students. Weld appointed David LaFontaine, of the Massachusetts Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, to chair the commission.

20/20 inundates gay teen hotline

Indianapolis--When ABC News' "20/ 20''program included its number in a May 8 segment on gay youth suicide, calls to the only national counseling hotline for lesbian and gay youth jumped from 50-100 to 500800 per night, and have remained at around 300 per night. The increase in calls, which the hotline, not the caller, pays for, threatens to break the line's $1,000 monthly budget.

The hotline, whose number is 800-347TEEN (8336), may be forced to cut back services unless they can locate funds to pay their $10,000 phone bill. Volunteers currently cannot answer most calls to the number, due to the funding constraints. Donations can be sent to Hotline, P.O. Box 20316, Indianapolis, IN 46220.

Madonna's brother to design stage for March on Washington

Washington, D.C.-Christopher Ciccone, creator of the stage for Madonna's "Blond Ambition" tour, and brother of the music industry diva, has offered to design and oversee the production of the stage for the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Rights. Ciccone is the first big name in the entertainment industry to officially sign on to the March, and organizers are certain his stage will attract Hollywood's best to the April 25, 1993 event.

Gay Games dates change

New York in '94, the organizers of Gay Games IV, have changed the dates the Games will be held in 1994. At a May 14 board meeting, the executive committee approved to hold the Games from June 17 through June 25, before the 25th Anniversary Stonewall Gay Pride Weekend, which is June 25-27, 1994. The Games had previously been scheduled for the week following Pride.

Gay Games IV is an Olympic-style event featuring 15,000 athletes participating in 40 individual and team competitions, ranging from aquatics, basketball and cycling to triathlon, volleyball and wrestling. Five hundred thousand spectators are expected to view the Games, which will be held in various facilities throughout New York City. The Games will also feature 5,000 artists and performers celebrating the world's cultural diversity.

ACT UP to protest Republican convention in Houston

On August 17, AIDS activists from across the United States will converge on Houston, Texas in a direct challenge to George Bush and the Republican Party. Members of ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and other AIDS activist organizations will meet in Houston during the Republican National Convention to carry out a week of protests against the Reagan and Bush administrations' handling of the AIDS crisis.

"We have no intention of going to Houston to talk to the Republicans about AIDS," said Jim Hull, one of the national organizers. "The time for talk is over. The Republicans have been told numerous times over

the past eleven years how to begin solving this crisis, and they have refused to do anything. In fact their policy if anything could best be described as one of genocide against people living with AIDS."

A march from a central Houston location to the Astrodome, where the convention will be held, is planned for Monday, August 17. Each day of the rest of the week smaller groups of demonstrators will move about the city focusing on other targets such as Republican senators or representa tives and state delegates to the convention wherever they may gather in restaurants hotels, or official functions.

Urvashi Vaid leaves NGLTF

Washington, D.C.--After nearly eight years of involvement at the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, executive director Urvashi Vaid announced she will leave the staff in December. She will continue to be involved in the gay and lesbian movement as a strategist and political leader. "This is a perfect time for me to move on, person ally and organizationally," said Vaid. "NGLTF is in strong shape--with unique and effective projects, a terrific staff, a visionary Board, and dedicated members and volunteers.'

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