SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPT.

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GAYLE'S CHRONICLE

An Independent Chronicle of the Ohio Lesbian and Gay Community

Volume 9, Issue 23 May 20, 1994

JAMES W. STENNIES, JR.

U.S. takes

new tack

in Steffan

case

Washington-The government raised a new argument May 11 in its case against a gay ex-midshipman, saying Joseph Steffan could have stayed in the U.S. Naval Academy if he had been able to prove that he never intended to engage in

gay sex.

The argument was presented as the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia began hearing Steffan's case. In an unusual move, the full court decided in January to reconsider a ruling in Steffan's favor issued by three of its judges November 16. The government had asked the court to rehear only the portion of the decision in which the appeals panel ordered the Pentagon to commission Steffan as an officer.

"He had to prove that he's not going to engage in homosexual practice," Justice Department attorney Mark Levy told the court.

At the same time, Levy said the government presumes that a person who expresses a homosexual "propensity" is virtually guaranteed to act on that sexual impulse.

The military assumes "that homosexuals, just like heterosexuals, usually act in accordance with their sexuality," Levy said.

But Steffan's lawyer, Marc Wolinsky, rejected the government's claim that the regu-

Continued on Page 4

Austin voters repeal partner benefits

by Scott Rothschild

Austin, Texas-The overwhelming May 9 vote to repeal health benefits for domestic partners of city employees has some people wondering what will become of Austin's liberal image.

"They whipped us bad," said Scottie Shelton, a city electrician whose lover lost her benefits. "This

is a wake-up call to liberal Austin and freethinkers everywhere."

The city voted 62 percent to 38 percent to restrict benefits to the immediate families and husbands

or wives of city employees. Political observers said there has been no great ideological shift in this lively college town that belies traditional Texas conservatism by always voting Democratic. They pointed to the mayoral race in the same election, in which two progressive candidates won 75 percent of the vote and will face a runoff.

Nevertheless, backers of the repeal said it proved their strength. "We are now the strongest po-

The show can go on, says Cincinnati prosecutor

Cincinnati-City and county prosecutors said May 6 they would not prosecute a play that includes frontal male nudity and depicts a love affair between a gay artist and a heterosexual man.

Grand Rapids gays narrowly get rights

Grand Rapids, Mich.-City commissioners narrowly approved a gay rights ordinance and were immediately confronted by angry residents wanting to rescind the law and recall commissioners who supported it.

Commissioners voted 4-3 May 10 for the ordinance, which will add gays and lesbians to the list of groups protected under the city's civil rights code. The code bars discrimination in areas such as housing, employment and public accommodations. The measure

failed by the same margin two years ago.

Mayor John Logie, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said he is aware that many in this conservative community oppose the ordinance for religious reasons.

"I am comforted in my own reading of Scripture that Jesus' teachings of tolerance helped guide me to vote in favor of this ordinance," he said. "Discrimination against anyone is bad for everyone."

Continued on Page 3

Poor Super Man, by Canadian playwright Brad Fraser, is making its world premiere at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, where it has played to sellout crowds and received favorable reviews. The play also tells the story of a transsexual dying of AIDS.

The question of whether it violated obscenity laws comes four years after the city prosecuted an art gallery and its director on obscenity charges for displaying photographs by the late Robert Mapplethorpe, some of which showed gay sex and children's genitals. The trial jury acquitted the Contemporary Arts Center and director Dennis Barrie of all charges.

Prosecutor Joseph Deters said he would not pursue a case because the most likely charge, pandering obscenity, would not be a felony.

"The only possible offense would be a misdemeanor pandering charge," he said at a news conference. "That makes it the city's responsibility."

INSIDE

Hamilton County prosecutes felony offenses that occur in Cincinnati, the county seat, but has no agreement to prosecute the city's misdemeanors.

Following Deters' announcement, City Solicitor Fay Dupuis said the city had reviewed evidence obtained by police and would not prosecute.

"The review did not disclose evidence of obscene material in the presentation of the play and, accordingly, the city solicitor has determined that no prosecution or further legal action is warranted," Dupuis said in a prepared state-

ment.

The City Council voted 7-2 May 4 to approve a resolution promoting artistic freedom and urging Deters not to prosecute Poor Super Man. The 200-seat Ensemble Theatre has added eight additional performances of the play through May 22.

"There have not been a lot of complaints," Deters said. "It is my understanding that the sheriff's

Continued on Page 3

litical force in Austin," said the Rev. Charles Bullock, president of Concerned Texans Inc., a radical right-backed group which organized the petition drive that put the issue on the ballot. "We're not going to just back off now."

That's just what people like Cheryl Kay are worried about. Kay, a part-time waitress who has lived with an Austin fireman for five years, called the repeal measure a well-disguised attack by the reliContinued on Page 4

Cobb says

it may 'clarify'

its stand

Marietta, Ga.-The chairman of the Cobb County Commission says a "clarification" may be in order for the county's resolution condemning the "gay lifestyle," reviving the prospect of a compromise with lesbian and gay civil rights advocates.

While Chairman Bill Byrne maintained May 11 that the 9month-old resolution would not be revoked or rewritten, rights advocates said they were encouraged by the latest development in the fight which had threatened to derail plans to hold 1996 Olympic volleyball preliminaries in Cobb County.

Byrne, who met with leaders of a group that opposes the resolution, said officials will do "whatever it takes to very sincerely clarify the intent" of the resolution.

Officials in the suburban Atlanta county have said the resolution has been "misunderstood" and that their motive was to oppose programs giving domestic partnership benefits to unmarried couples, regardless of sexual orientation.

However, last sumer's vote passing the resolution followed by two weeks another vote to discontinue all arts funding rather than fund a production of a play about heterosexuals dealing with gay issues. Commissioner Gordon Wysong, in numerous TV appearContinued on Page 3

Editorial, Speak Out.

Entertainment

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From the Hart.

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