NEWS BRIEFS

DECEMBER 10, 1993

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

7

PROGRESSIVE URBAN REAL ESTATE

PURE

APA weighs in on Bottoms case

Washington-The world's largest psychological association is asking a Virginia court to allow a lesbian to retain custody of her son, saying research shows sexual orientation does not affect parenting abilities.

The American Psychological Association, in a brief filed with the Virginia Court of Appeals, also argued that removing the 2year-old from his mother was not in the child's best interest.

"Sexual orientation should not be a sole or primary factor in deciding any aspect of parental rights," the APA's Clinton Anderson said Friday. "Our hope is that good information based on empirical research, not bias, has an impact on the court."

A Henrico County Circuit judge in September awarded custody of Tyler Doustou to his grandmother, Kay Bottoms, because his mother, Sharon Bottoms, was a lesbian.

The psychologists' association reviewed studies on parenting abilities of lesbian mothers compared with heterosexual mothers, and on children of gays and lesbians compared with other children.

"There are no significant differences in psychological adjustment or mental health," Anderson said.

In fact, the latest study on lesbian mothers shows they score significantly higher than heterosexuals on the Parent Awareness Skills Survey, which measures sensitivity to common childhood problems, the association reported.

Since 1985, about 100 lesbians and gays have gained parental rights in court by adopting a partner's biological child, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco.

Feds finally say the 'C' word

Ann Arbor, Mich.-Condoms will be mentioned in a federally funded AIDS public service advertising campaign to be unveiled later this month, breaking a longstanding taboo.

The condom ads "will be very different than anything you've ever seen before," Kristine Gebbie, national AIDS policy coordinator, said in a speech at the University of Michigan on December 3. "They reflect the changes we're going through here."

Gebbie said the campaign, targeted at young people, has been kept under wraps to avoid "weird backlashes."

The campaign is to be announced Dec. 21 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Medical authorities have long urged condom use to help prevent the spread of AIDS, but the Reagan and Bush administrations refused to publicly support their use. L.A. to extend spousal benefits

Los Angeles-Unmarried partners of city employees will be covered under city health insurance policies, City Council members decided in a 10-3 vote.

However, the city still must negotiate terms of the new policy with each employee union before it into effect. goes

In August, Los Angeles County supervisors agreed to offer dental benefits to domestic partners of county employees.

To qualify, city employees must have lived with a partner for at least a year before they and their children can qualify for both medical and dental coverage.

A 1987 survey indicated that 4.2 percent of the city's civilian work force lived with an unmarried partner. Estimates that 291 employees, not including police officers and firefighters, will enroll a domestic partner in a city health plan.

Cracker Barrel bias rule loses

Lebanon, Tenn.-Cracker Barrel shareholders on November 23 defeated a measure that would create an anti-discrimination policy at the family restaurant chain, accused by critics of refusing to hire gays. Cracker Barrel said two years ago that its 163 restaurants would hire only heterosexuals, but then rescinded that rule. Gay activists and others say the rule still exists.

The proposal drew 14 percent of the stockholders' votes, which under securities rules will allow the issue to be raised again next year.

Eleven Cracker Barrel workers were dismissed at the time the 1991 policy on hiring heterosexuals became public. The workers were never rehired.

A second policy change, to expand the board of directors to "reflect the varied races, genders and sexual orientations of shareholders..." was defeated by 87 percent of the vote.

Despite the company's disavowal of the anti-gay hiring policy, gay groups say the policy is intact and enforced.

Judge: ADA includes insurance

New York-The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to cases where health plans are accused of discriminating against workers with AIDS, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo rejected an effort by the Mason Tenders District Council Welfare Fund to block a lawsuit alleging that it cut off medical benefits for four workers who had AIDS.

Sprizzo's ruling, issued November 19, dismissed a motion from the welfare fund that claimed it was exempt from the ADA. It was the first time a federal judge had applied the 1990 law to an AIDS case.

Lawyers representing the workers said the decision represents a big step toward reversing earlier rulings that allowed selfinsured health plans to deny coverage to those with AIDS and other costly illnesses.

Attorneys for the Mason Tenders had claimed the disabilities act could not apply to health plans governed by the federal pension law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

American apologizes for kicking PWA off plane

San Francisco-American Airlines apologized for causing any "inconvenience, discomfort or embarrassment" to a passenger with AIDS who was dragged off a flight when he refused to disembark.

Timothy Holless, 33, of San Francisco, "violated company policy" when he hung an IV bag over his seat and "refused to cover his open sores," said American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.

Flight attendants offered to put Holless on a later flight to give them time to discuss how to properly handle his medical condition, Fagan said.

On November 14, witnesses said Holless was dragged off the plane screaming. They also said they saw no open sores. Chicago police arrested him and released him on his own recognizance.

In its apology to Holless, American said a review of the incident showed that flight attendants "genuinely felt they were acting in your best interest and in the interest of all passengers on board the flight."

Holless had flown from San Francisco to Chicago, on to Columbus, Ohio then halfway back without incident, said Robby Robinson, a board member for the San Mateo AIDS Program who happened to be on all flights with Holless. However, Holless did not use the IV bag on the earlier portions of the flight.

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Massachusetts governor nominates 'phobe to bench

Boston-Some gay rights advocates are upset over Gov. William Weld's judicial nomination of a former state senator who led a fight to block passage of a gay rights law.

Weld has nominated Republican Edward P. Kirby to be an appeals judge for the Department of Industrial Accidents. The job pays $70,000 a year.

During debate over the state's gay rights law in the late 1980s, Kirby, at various times, equated gays with pedophiles, arguing that they should not be allowed to teach in public schools or to parent children.

He also blamed gays for the AIDS epidemic.

Kirby represented his Plymouth Countybased district for 12 years until he lost his reelection bid last year.

New York judge says military can't recruit on campus

Buffalo, N.Y.-A state university law school cannot bring military recruiters on campus because the Pentagon discriminates against gays, a judge has ruled. A lawyer in the case says the ruling should be applied to all the state's universities.

Military recruiting at the State University of New York at Buffalo's law school violates an anti-discrimination order issued by Governor Mario Cuomo, State Supreme Court Justice Diane Lebedeff ruled on November 18, in New York City.

Evan Wolfson, an attorney for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the gay-rights legal group that filed the lawsuit, said the ruling named only the Buffalo school. But he said it should legally be applicable to the entire state university system, which has 400,000 students on 64 campuses.

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