MAY 6, 1994

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 9

No partner benefits at Kent

Continued from Page 1

wasn't sure of the willingness of the ACLU or the Lambda Legal Defense Fund to be involved. He also noted that a government procedure might be possible based on the Ohio Civil Rights Commission's Executive Order No. 8364 which prohibits discrimination. Johnson may choose to proceed within the University as the arbitration is only binding through the current contract. With the support of the faculty and the AAUP, it might be possible to include the extension of benefits to domestic partners as part of the next contract negotiations which will begin in the summer of 1995.

At present Johnson is pursuing this last strategy by seeking support within the University community. A month ago the Diversity Followup Committee, at Johnson's request, brought a motion to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate to place the domestic partnership benefits issue before the Faculty Senate for a vote. The Executive Committee declined to put the motion forward while arbitration was in process. Johnson will be soliciting the needed 100 faculty signatures on a petition to have the issue voted on by the Faculty Senate. (On another front, despite the exposure of his case, Johnson was elected as president of the Faculty Senate on May 2.)

He is asking that concerned groups and individuals on campus write University President Carol Cartwright in support of his initial request. He also noted that the new Gay and Lesbian Sociology course that he will be co-teaching next fall filled its 50 places during pre-registration and that room

was being made to admit 20 more students.

The way the University administration has handled Johnson's request is disturbing. To my knowledge, and I'm an associate professor at KSU, no attempt was made by the administration to find out what the University community thought about the issue. The original denial of Johnson's request was clearly motivated by fear of political repercussions. University President Carol Cartwright's silence is telling. Her rhetoric about the importance of the diversity in the community is beginning to lack credibility. Most disturbing of all is Johnson's statement that the University attorney's brief was "clearly homophobic" and employed the "language of fear" traditionally directed against homosexuals. This would indicate the University administration used homophobia to "win" its case and save face with the conservatives in Columbus and on the board of trustees.

Civil rights for gay people are important for the creation of truly diverse communities. The KSU administration has taken a position that is starting to look a lot like homophobia. I can only hope that in the ensuing debate on campus, the University community will take a stand against the administration's attitudes and decisions.

Readers of the Chronicle who are alumni, or are in any way affiliated with Kent State, are encouraged to write Carol Cartwright in protest of the University's position on health benefits for domestic partners. Letters should be addressed to the President, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242. Johnson would like copies of letters sent to him at the Sociology Department.

Jeffrey J. Gerhardstein, L.I.S.W., A.C.C.

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