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GAY PEOPLE's ChroNICLE AUGUST 29, 1997

NEWS BRIEFS

IRS grants lesbian-gay youth group tax exempt status

Greensboro, N.C.-The Internal Revenue Service granted tax exempt status to a gay and lesbian youth group it had previously told must first prove that it does not encourage "homosexual attitudes or activities."

When the Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Support System applied for tax exempt status in 1996, the IRS bumped the application from a local Atlanta office to its national headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In a September 1996 letter, the IRS stated that in order to have tax-exempt status, GLASS must document safeguards "to assure that counsellors and participants do not encourage or facilitate homosexual practices or encourage the development of homosexual attitudes and propensities."

The IRS later apologized and reopened the case under a different agent. The new agent approved the tax exempt status in August.

P-town mulls gay bias program

Provincetown, Mass.-A proposed antibias curriculum in the Provincetown schools has sparked controversy from critics who say it "promotes homosexuality."

But school officials say that Provincetown is more diverse than most towns in Massachusetts and the curriculum is merely an attempt to stamp out prejudice.

The school committee voted to review the curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12 to eliminate bias, and to encourage teachers to be open to all people in classroom discussions.

Since Provincetown has a large gay and lesbian community, signs of affection between same-sex couples are a common sight.

Town Manager Keith Bergman who was among those who pushed for the changes, said, "Not all of our students are white, not

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all of our students are straight. In this community it's not going to come as a revelation that we have gay and lesbian parents."

The school committee is holding public hearings so residents can discuss the proposed changes.

Two held in gaybashing

Monterey, Calif.-Two men who allegedly attacked another man outside a gay bar have been arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon and "terroristic threats," a hate crime.

Police reported that the victim, whose name was not released, was taken to a local hospital and treated for bruises, facial lacerations and a possible broken jaw.

The victim was outside the Lighthouse Bar and Grill at about 1:20 a.m. August 16 when he was approached by two men.

One of the men, Jason B. Soboleski, 20, allegedly asked the victim, “Are you a fucking queer?"

Soboleski and Jonathan Maxon, also 20, then allegedly beat and kicked the victim and called him a "queer" and a "fag."

Both suspects were being held in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Navy official busted by vice

Annapolis, Md.-The chief spokesman for Navy Secretary John Dalton has been charged with soliciting sex from an undercover male police officer.

Police said Capt. Michael John, 43, was arrested on the night of August 15 near an adult video store in Annapolis, the home of the Naval Academy.

John, who has has served in high-profile public affairs positions during his 21-year military career, was among 28 people arrested during a two-week vice squad investigation of the store. He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of solicitation that together carry a maximum penalty of two years in jail and a $1,000 fine.

"Guilty or innocent, it's just such an embarrassment, professional and personal,” John said. "No matter what happens now, no matter what I say, there will be doubts."

John acknowledged visiting the store, but said he was surprised by the police account of his arrest.

John's wife Kate stood by her husband, refering to him as “an officer and a gentle-

man.

John became Dalton's spokesman in June. He has been temporarily reassigned, and no replacement has been named.

Marriage ban petition approved

Sacramento, Calif.-Backers of a plan to bar state recognition of gay marriages have been authorized to collect signatures to qualify for the June 1998 ballot.

Proponents of the Definition of Marriage initiative now need to gather 433,269 valid signatures of registered voters by January 2.

According to Andy Pugno, legislative aid to State Sen. Pete Knight, R-Palmdale, the Sacramento woman who is listed as the proponent of the measure provided no contact number.

INSTANT

"It's kind of a mystery. We don't know who the person is who's introduced it," Pugno said. He added that he did not know of any elected representative involved with the effort, and that it seems as if "politicians are being kept in the dark."

Knight has introduced legislation the past two years to prevent California from recognizing gay marriages. Both times, the bills were defeated.

But similar bills have passed in 25 states (A similar bill in Ohio, H.B. 160, is stalled in committee).

Life Lobby, a statewide lesbian-gay political group, is mounting a "decline to sign" campaign.

"Only a broad coalition will be able to stop it," said Life legislative advocate Ellen McCormick.

Prison rape gave HIV, suit says

East St. Louis, III-A former Illinois prison inmate who claims he was infected with HIV after repeat sexual attacks by fellow prisoners is suing the Department of Corrections. The case went to trial on August 25.

Michael Blucker alleges prison officials did nothing to stop the rapes, even though they knew that some fellow prisoners carried the AIDS virus.

Corrections officials said that they cannot legally separate prisoners who have AIDS from other inmates without violating their civil rights. Both sides in the case acknowledge that Blucker contracted HIV while he was incarcerated, but prison officials are expected to allege that it was not rape, but consensual sex that infected him.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said that the case could have big policy implications for state prison systems, which are required not only to protect society from inmates, but to protect inmates from each other.

Murder gets sensational press

New York-Members of New York's SM and transsexual communities have voiced their outrage at the way the press reacted to the recent murder of by Nadia Frey, a transsexual who worked as a professional dominant under the name "Mistress Hilda."

Frey was found murdered in her New York City apartment over the weekend of August 15-16.

As the story broke, the police and media implied that Frey's lifestyle was responsible for her murder. Stories appeared both on television and in the print media that placed the blame for the murder on Frey and highlighted her alternative sexual practices as “deviant" and "bizarre." The Daily News ran the headline WHIPPER GETS WHACKED while the New York Post's lead began, "Her business was violence."

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom sent letters to each of the media outlets, complaining about their biased coverage.

In the letter, executive director Susan Wright called the media's coverage of Frey's murder "trivializing and derogatory toward those involved in alternative sexual practice."

"By blaming the victim and holding her up as an object of mockery, you make likely that

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such murders will happen again [and] less likely that police and courts will vigorously prosecute these types of crimes," Wright said. Second HIV-resistant trait found

Washington-Researchers studying specimens from 3,000 people have confirmed a second mutation that inhibits the disease progression of HIV.

In a study published recently in the Journal of Science, scientists at the National Cancer Institute said the altered gene, along with one discovered earlier, account for about 30 percent of the longterm survivors of HIV infection.

This suggests that still other gene mutations exist that protect against HIV, the researchers said.

Gay bookstore vandalized

Minneapolis-A man has been charged with damaging property for allegedly breaking the storefront windows of a gay bookstore and spray-painting FAG, KKK, and 187 on the building. The number is a California police radio code for homicide, popularized in a movie.

Thomas Paul John Hamilton, 49, admitted to police that he vandalized Brother's Touch Bookstore with a hammer over the previous weekend, on August 16. He also said he sprayed paint on the windows.

Harvey Hurtz, an employee at Brother's Touch, said that since there was an annual art fair taking place in the bookstore's neighborhood that week, they left the anti-gay graffiti on the building for five days in the hopes it would educate the community.

As for the person who did the damage, Hurtz said, "One part of me would like to see him charged with a hate crime. The other part would like to see him receive help if he needs help."

Damage to the bookstore exceeds $500. Reed to work for Sanchez foe

Orange County, Calif.-The Los Angeles Times reports that Anaheim city councilm member Bob Zemel has hired former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed to personally manage his "exploratory” campaign for Congress.

Zemel is considering a run in 1998 against Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., who narrowly defeated right wing Republican Bob Dornan in the 1996 congressional election.

Zemel is the first to hire Reed since Reed formed Century Strategies, an Atlanta political consulting business specializing in electing "anti-abortion, pro-family, antitax" candidates.

Zemel defeated Sanchez in a 1994 race for an Anaheim council seat.

Library book held hostage

Belmont, Calif.-"We're not going to bring it back!" said Belmont resident Linda McGeogh, referring to the The New Joy of Gay Sex, a book she and friend Melinda O'Leary checked out of the library and put into a storage locker.

The book has been overdue since June 11 after San Mateo County Librarian Nancy Lewis turned down McGeogh's request for the library to remove the book.

Lewis also rejected McGeogh's request that the book be placed in a special section off the shelves where patrons would need to request it saying, "For us, it's a First Amendment issue."

McGeogh insists the book's gay content has nothing to do with her request that the library ban the book.

"It's something that should be kept in a bedside table, not in a public library," she said.

Lewis will appoint a panel of librarians to review the book and make a recommendation as .to how to handle it, but Lewis has the final say. There are three copies of the book in the San Mateo County library system, located just south of San Francisco. The library is seeking replacement cost for the book in addition to overdue fines of $7.

Compiled from wire reports by Doreen Cudnik, Eric Resnick, and Dawn Leach.