NEWS BRIEFS

FEBRUARY 25, 1994

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Gay government workers now have grievance policy

Washington-President Clinton's administration is informing government agencies that their gay workers can combat discrimination through government grievance procedures, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., announced February 4.

Frank said that while discrimination against gays has been banned in the federal work force since 1978, there was no adequate grievance procedure in place.

Frank, who is openly gay, released a letter from James B. King, director of the Office of Personnel Management, that will

be sent to federal agencies. The letter outlines the grievance procedures available, and says employees should not hesitate to contact agency lawyers if problems arise.

Frank told a news conference that early last year, an organization of gay, lesbian, and bisexual federal employees informed him about the inadequacy of grievance procedures. He negotiated the grievance policy with the Clinton administration and said he was authorized to announce it publicly.

He said the administration also has be-

gun to remove obstacles to gays seeking security clearances which enable them to use confidential and secret information.

STONEWALL 25

National and local fundraising starts

Stonewall 25 has announced plans for a national effort to coordinate 500 dinner fundraising events across the country. The dinner parties are to benefit the International March to Affirm the Human Rights of Lesbian and Gay People to be held in New York City on June 26. The "500 Club” planners are encouraging host participants to concentrate their efforts during the month of March.

"The 500 Club is a unique avenue for people nationwide to get involved in the planning of Stonewall 25, the largest human rights march in history," remarked Susan Jester, executive administrator of Stonewall 25.

According to Jester, an innovative approach to each event is important. "Some people are planning a comfortable night by the fireplace with friends, others are traveling from house to house hosting progressive dinner parties. We even have a group from Texas reenacting the Stonewall rebellion of 1969. Participants have been asked to set the flavor of the event, the time and place along with what they feel comfortable

asking for donations. Proceeds go towards the three million dollars needed for the events in New York." For information on the 500 Club, contact the event line at 202-544-7743.

And in Ohio... the Stonewall 25-Ohio committee also needs financial help to get the word out, cover planning expenses, and organize Ohio's participation in the June 26 event.

There's a lot of confusion out there; this is not Stonewall Cleveland that we're talking about; this is not Stonewall Union. Stonewall 25-Ohio is the regional arm of a national committee that is planning the huge march and companion events in New York City to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, generally recognized as the birth of the modern gay rights

movement.

So make your plans now to be in New York on June 26. And help your local committee by sending a donation, no matter what amount, to Stonewall 25-Ohio, P.O. Box 91031, Cleveland, OH 44101.

POSTINGS

Walking the Dead benefit. No, it's not another ACT UP demonstration; it's a benefit performance of the play Walking the Dead at Cleveland Public Theatre, written by Keith Curran and directed by Amanda Shaffer. The benefit performance will be on Thursday, March 3 at 8 pm. Tickets are $15 and are available from ACT UP by calling 621-2233. Less than 45 seats remain! All proceeds will help continue ACT UP's grassroots lobbying efforts to pass the "AIDS Cure Act" through Congress.

"Portraits Untitled,” an exhibition of pen and ink drawings by Mark Howard will open on Friday, February 25 from 6-8 pm at the Black Box. The exhibit will run through March 22. The Black Box is located at 1075 E. 74th St., between St. Clair and Superior Ave., in the Annex of the Old Hodge School. Gallery hours are Tuesday 5-8:30 pm, Friday 5:30-8 pm, and Sunday 2-5 pm.

The Black Box is a project of the St. Clair-Superior Coalition, with support from the George Gund Foundation. Call 391-0007. ♡

Feds sent to Camp Sister Spirit

Continued from Page 1

grateful that CRS was trying to diffuse some of the tension.

"I think they will try to find key people in the community to try to bring us to common ground so we can live in safety," Brenda Henson said.

Justice Department intervention is significant because it's the first time the federal government has responded to harassment of gays and lesbians, said Robin Kane, a spokeswoman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Reno has also asked the FBI to investigate complaints that a threatening letter was

mailed to the Hensons. In a letter February 17 to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Reno said she requested the investigation because, since the letter went through the U.S. mail, federal laws may have been violated.

Earthquake aid package is first to have gay bias protections

Reno said her agency was made aware of the threatening letter, which was postmarked from Gulfport, by a task force staff member. She said that if the law was violated, "appropriate action will be taken."

Washington-Legislation providing $8.6 billion in relief for Los Angeles earthquake victims specifically forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, congressional aides said February 19.

But Reno also stated in her letter to the task force that the federal government could not intervene on the basis of the sexual orientation of those whose rights were being threatened.

The anti-discrimination measure was discussed only briefly when House and Senate negotiators met to work out a compromise on the bill. There was no controversy when Rep. Julian Dixon, D-Calif., outlined its provisions.

Gay civil rights advocates hope it will be a model for inclusion of sexual orientation in anti-discriminatory language in other legislation, including the health care bill.

"This is the first time that sexual orientation has been protected from discrimination on a federal level," NGLTF spokesperson David Smith said Saturday. "The other significant aspect is that there was no opposition, which is very positive."

New Hampshire House passes lesbian-gay civil rights bill

Concord, N.H.-Moral and religious objections to gays and lesbians shouldn't strip gays of basic civil rights to a job and roof over their heads, the New Hampshire House says.

The House voted 226-131 February 15 to prohibit job and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill now goes to the Senate where supporters predicted passage.

"We're in good shape for the Senate. What we have to do now is talk to the governor," said Dover Democrat William McCann, the bill's prime sponsor.

Before the session, Gov. Steve Merrill met with Republican lawmakers to reiterate his opposition to the bill. Last month, Merrill called it divisive and unnecessary, and said he'd veto it.

Remember Anita? Now there's Limbaugh-flavored O.J.

Auburndale, Fla.-Amid a storm of controversy over its choice of a conservative radio host to promote orange juice, the Florida Citrus Commission is not making a Rush to judgment.

"We will attempt to ride it out," commission Chairman George Truitt said February 11 of the $1 million worth of spots that were to begin airing in mid-February on the Rush Limbaugh show.

A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles complained that Limbaugh may leave too much of a “political aftertaste" to be a suitable forum.

The nation's largest orange juice maker, Tropicana Products Inc. of Bradenton, logged about two dozen telephone calls February 11 from people unsure of the role Limbaugh would play in promoting juice. Pope denounces European Parliament pro-gay resolution

Vatican City Pope John Paul II February 20 assailed a resolution of the European Parliament that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry and adopt children.

The pope said it would legitimatize a "moral disorder" and urged the various parliaments in Western Europe to distance themselves from the measure.

The nonbinding resolution was presented by German Greens deputy Claudia Roth and adopted February 8 by a vote of 159-96.

John Paul, in weekly remarks from his apartment window to a crowd below in St. Peter's Square, said a "real family" cannot be built around the relationship between two men or two women.

Bishop bans phobes from church

Seattle The Catholic archbishop for Western Washington has issued a memo asking parishes not to allow signature gathering for two anti-gay-rights initiatives on church property. Anti-gay groups are trying to get Initiatives 608 and 610 on the state's November ballot.

Seattle Archdiocese spokeswoman Kay Lagreid said the memo does not mean Archbishop Thomas Murphy necessarily opposes the initiatives.

Feds name AIDS task force

Washington-The Clinton administration named an 18-member panel of scientists, doctors and AIDS activists February 4 to help speed the search for new drugs to combat the deadly virus.

The panel includes pharmaceutical industry executives as well as the heads of the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. It includes 10 doctors and two PhDs as well as a lab technician from Atlanta.

"I've asked this panel to identify new approaches in research and to remove any barriers or obstacles to developing effective treatments," Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala said.

The panel will be headed by her assistant secretary for health, Dr. Philip R. Lee, the director of the Public Health Service.

Shalala announced plans to form the task force November 30. Drug companies have formed their own cooperative group to try to speed work on new drugs and combinations of drug therapies.

NYC settles police brutality case

New York-The videotapes aren't nearly as clear as in the Rodney King case, but a gay activist who says they show police beating him at a demonstration has won a $350,000 settlement from the city.

Christopher Hennelly said February 16 he has suffered seizures, vision problems and other disorders since being beaten while watching a demonstration by ACT UP, outside the Midtown North police precinct on February 11, 1991.

A state judge, who viewed free-lance photographers' videotapes of the demonstration and questioned witnesses, ruled later that year that police rushed the demonstrators "without any apparent provocation" and that "Christopher Hennelly was assaulted he didn't assault anyone."

Springfield voters dump hate crime ordinance

Springfield, Mo.-By a 16,385 to 6,787 margin, voters February 1 rejected a bias crimes ordinance that would have toughened penalties for hate crimes triggered by race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation.

In public debate and advertising; Citizens for Decent Standards portrayed the law as a "mini-gay rights bill." Opponents outspent their rivals by a wide margin, according to finance reports. Three Baptist churches accounted for most of the $5,139 raised by opponents, while supporters of the measure raised $2,613.

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