September 26, 1997 GAY PEOPle's ChroNICLE 9

NEWS BRIEFS

Judge says he'll meet partner law opponents in hell

Chicago-A Cook County judge has upheld a new ordinance that gives health benefits to the domestic partners of city workers September 16, and said there would be a special place in hell for the people who sent him nasty letters about the measure.

Five South Side residents filed a lawsuit to challenge the law shortly after it took effect, but Judge Thomas Durkin denied their requests.

After his ruling, Durkin addressed the dozen or so anonymous letter writers who lobbied him to rule against the ordinance.

"I have been described as being on a slippery slope to perdition for doing what I believe to be my job," Durkin told the packed court room. "I am quite certain that if they are right, and I am condemned to hell, I will meet a goodly amount of them there because their attitude certainly shows a lack of a basic element-personal charity toward others."

Dornan banned for picking fight

Washington-The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to ban notoriously antigay former Rep. Bob Dornan from the House floor while they consider his challenge ofalost election.

Ordinarily, former representatives may be present at such functions. However, the House took the highly unusual measure Sept. 18 after Dornan insulted Rep. Robert Menendez, DN.J., and attempted to get him to step outside the chamber for a fistfight.

Texas Republican Joe Barton, who said he disagreed with the ban, called Dornan's behavior "despicable."

Dornan was unseated from the House of Representatives in November 1996. He lost the election by 984 votes to Loretta Sanchez, a gay-supportive candidate. Dornan claims that his defeat was the result of illegitimate votes by illegal aliens and asked to have the election overruled.

Fired lesbians may sue

Columbus-A Franklin County judge has ruled August 26 that Amy Mier and Christina Roush may sue their former employer for antigay discrimination.

Roush and Mier say Certified Oil Company fired them because they are lesbians. While Columbus has a civil rights ordinance that protects against anti-gay work discrimination, it does not specify how employees can make claims.

In another case in 1995, a Cincinnati appeals court ruled that an employee could not sue for an anti-gay firing, because in the state of Ohio, employers may fire without cause. However, the Franklin County judge disagreed with that decision, saying that there is "a clear public policy against discrimination by employers" within Columbus.

It keeps them 'safe' from gays

Cincinnati-The anti-gay Christian Family Network, which has members in 40 states, announced its support for the Cincinnati Gay and Lesbian Community Center's September 19 private party at Paramount's Kings Island.

Over the last 13 years, thousands of lesbians and gay men have come to the park for informal Gay Days while it is open to the public, wearing red as a sign of solidarity. The network said it found a private party preferable to the earlier informal events.

"By holding a Gay Day at a time when the general public is not present... families are safe from unwanted, unsolicited subjection to homosexual activity," said Don Jackson, president of the network.

Eric Hunter, of the Cincinnati Lesbian-Gay Center, said the event was very successful, drawing over 2,700 people from all over the Midwest and other parts of the country. The center exclusively booked the amusement park for the evening, and then sold tickets.

While conservative Christian groups have threatened in the past to attend the events in protest, Hunter said there was no evidence of any anti-gay presence at the private event.

"They could have bought a ticket," said Hunter, "but their money would be going to support our work."

Colorado forms marriage panel

Denver Colorado Gov. Roy Romer announced September 11 that he has created a 17-member commission to research the issues related to same-sex marriages.

"I created this commission to encourage a thoughtful and thorough discussion on how our policies should evolve, to give support, stability and protection to those in long term, committed relationships of the same sex," the governor said.

Romer has vetoed two bills banning samesex marriage, because he said they were more punitive than beneficial.

The panel will look at the major legal and economic rights, responsibilities and benefits extended to married couples that are not extended to those in same sex relationships.

Job bias bill awaits governor

Sacramento-Legislation to strengthen California's ban on job discrimination against gays and bisexuals was approved by the California State Senate on September 10 and sent to the governor's desk.

Governor Pete Wilson had neither signed nor vetoed the bill as of Tuesday, September 23, said San Francisco Bay Area Reporter editor Mike Salinas.

The measure, by Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, would transfer sexual orientation anti-discrimination provisions that are currently in the state Labor Code to the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which covers discrimination against other groups. It would also extend the prohibitions to cover all non-profit groups unless they are church-related.

The bill would lengthen the time period for filing discrimination claims, from the current 30 days to one year.

"This will bring fairness and equal treatment under the law to this community, and it's long overdue," Villaraigosa said.

Critics called the bill a bad precedent, and said it was unfair to employers who had legitimate personal concerns arising from the lifestyles of employees and applicants.

Gay officer wins medal of valor

New York City-A police officer stabbed while struggling with a suicidal maniac became the first openly gay city cop to be awarded the department's Medal of Valor at a ceremony also honoring five officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

"I really can't believe what just happened today," Officer Carlos Crespo said after receiving his green-ribboned medal on September 18. "I think the gay and lesbian community and the Police Department are building bridges to come together."

Crespo recalled being wheeled into an emergency room after he was injured in the line of duty.

"I heard someone ask, 'Does he have a girlfriend? Does he have a wife?' And my response quickly was, 'No, I don't have a girlfriend. I have a boyfriend.'

"And at that instant, they yelled and said, 'Get highway cops to go pick up his boyfriend.'

Crespo, a member of GOAL, the Gay Officers Action League, said he wants New Yorkers to realize "that the stereotypes no longer really exist and that they're shattered."

Other officer returns gay medal

New York City-A police officer who won a medal from a gay officers' group has been suspended without pay for 30 days for allegedly using anti-gay epithets when he gave the medal back after the ceremony.

The Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) gave Officer Lawrence Johnston a medal for valor at the NYPD's annual Medal Day ceremony-the same day a gay officer won the department's medal of valor (above story).

Johnston allegedly used "some very vulgar language with sexual innuendos" when he returned the medal shortly after ceremony, said Marilyn Mode, a police spokeswoman.

If the allegations against him are true, they suggest "the worst sort of homophobic behav-

ior" Mode quoted Police Commissioner Howard Safir as saying. Safir learned of the allegations the following day, she said.

The charges against Johnston have not been determined, pending an investigation, Mode said.

3 charged with killing roommate

Richmond, Va.-A grand jury has indicted three women on capital murder charges in the abduction and slaying of a new roommate who apparently started a relationship with one of the suspects.

"There are times when people need to die, and this is one of those times," Domica Winckler, 18, told investigators. Winckler is one of the suspects in the July 27 killing of Stacey Hanna.

The victim was beaten and stabbed and suffered a fractured skull. Detective Rick Mormando said that Winckler admitted throwing a cinder block at Hanna.

Police say all four suspects-Winckler; Tracy Bitner, 19; Kelly Tibbs, 18; and Stephanie Cull, 18-are lesbians.

Winckler, Bitner and Tibbs were indicted on September 15 on capital murder, robbery and abduction charges. A hearing in Cull's case was postponed to Nov. 6; she is charged with first-degree murder and abduction.

Investigators say Hanna was driven to a remote area on a ruse of drinking beer. That is where she was initially attacked, police said.

At first, the suspects "were just going to give her a beating because [they believed that she] was interfering in their relationships and had told lies to them," said Detective Dave Zeheb.

But after assaulting her, the women became concerned that she would go to police. "So they decided at that point that they needed to kill her," Zeheb said.

Hanna was forced into the trunk of the car and driven to a logging road, where she was

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attacked again. Police said Bitner admitted slashing the victim's throat at the end of the attack.

Prison won't allow hand-holding

Tuscon, Ariz.—Gay civil rights activists and prisoner advocates are calling a policy barring gay inmates from embracing or holding hands with their partners during visits nothing more than discrimination.

Heterosexual inmates in Arizona prisons are routinely allowed to embrace and hold hands with their partners during visits.

State Corrections Director Terry Stewart says the policy is based on a two state laws: one prohibiting same-sex marriage and the other promoting "strong families and strong val-

ues.

"Any policy condoning homosexual activity at visitation, amid families and children, would be contrary to state law," Stewart said.

"There is absolutely nothing sexual about two individuals holding hands or giving an affectionate hug at the end or the beginning of a visit," said Donna Leone Hamm, director of Middle Ground Prison Reform, a Phoenixbased prisoners' rights advocacy organization.

"Terry Stewart's homophobic slip is showing," she said.

Arizona is not the only state with such a policy, attorneys for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said on September 15. But neither they nor the National Criminal Justice Reference Service knew how many states have similar policies.

State Rep. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, who is openly gay, wrote Stewart in July questioning the no-touching, kissing or hugging policy after receiving letters from two women who claimed discrimination while visiting their inmate lesbian partners in prison in Tucson.

Compiled from wire reports by Dawn Leach and Doreen Cudnik.

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