May 11, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

7

newsbriefs

Kent State to have Ohio's first minor in LGBT studies

Kent-Kent State University will break new ground this fall as it becomes the first college or university in Ohio to offer a minor in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies.

Kent joins a dozen other schools across the nation with similar programs, including Stanford, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan, Duke and Brown University, according to a story in the campus Daily Kent Stater.

The minor will be interdisciplinary, with classes in programs as diverse as political science, anthropology, modern and classical language studies, justice studies and psychology.

It will have two required classes, Introduction to LGBT Studies and Individual Investigation. There will then be two divisions of classes from which students can pick to tailor their minor to their interests.

Sociology, Department chair Robert Johnson, Andrew London, and Dr. Molly Merryman of the Women's Resource Center designed the minor, and sent out an interdepartmental letter stressing that the study of LGBT sexuality will lead to a greater study of sexuality in general.

Study supports 'ex-gay' groups

New Orleans-A controversial study released May 9 at the American Psychiatric Association's annual conference suggests that some gay people can be converted to heterosexuality if they are motivated enough. The findings were immediately challenged by LGBT organizations and academic critics.

Neither the APA nor the American Psychological Association endorse “reparative" or conversion therapy, which both organizations warn may be extremely damaging to the mental health of the people involved. The study, conducted by Robert Spitzer, consisted of 45-minute telephone interviews with 200 people who had "become" heterosexual, 143 of them men. The interviews were made up of 60 questions about sexual feelings and behavior before and after therapy.

There is no credible scientific evidence that suggests sexual orientation can be changed, "and this study doesn't prove that either," according to psychologist Douglas Haldeman, on the clinical faculty of the University of Washington.

What is worse, according to critics, is that the group of people in the study were not chosen scientifically. Forty-three percent of the people surveyed had been referred to Spitzer by "ex-gay" groups, most of which are sponsored by anti-gay Christian organizations. Another 23% of the survey pool were referred by the National Association

for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, a conservative group that considers homosexuality a disorder.

According to the two APAs and other mental health organizations, sexual orientation is probably determined by a complex interaction of biological and environmental factors.

The theory that people who become “exgay" are actually bisexual to begin with was not mentioned in the study, nor by its critics. Minister faked hate crime

Newport, Vt.-A minister who admitted to setting his car on fire to make himself look like a victim of a hate crime has been given a five-year deferred sentence

The Rev. Dwight Walker was sentenced after he pleaded no contest May 2 to charges of third-degree arson, felony unlawful mischief and a misdemeanor of making false police reports.

Walker resigned as a minister after he was charged with the April 7, 2000 incident.

Walker, who is gay, admitted to police he set fire to his leased car parked next door to the Coventry Congregational Church in order to make it look like he was being harassed because of his sexual orientation.

The incident occurred at the height of the debate in the legislature over the civil unions law for same-sex couples.

District Court Judge Howard Van Benthuysen ordered Walker to serve 500 hours of community service and donate $1,000 to the Newport City Fire Department.

Workplace bias bill delayed

Baton Rouge, La.-A Lousiana State Senate committee agreed May 4 to delay a decision on a bill that would ban workplace discrimination against gay men and lesbians.

The delay was to work out some legal kinks in the bill, primarily that the proposed legislation does not match existing law on workplace discrimination.

Debate on the bill was heated, with Rev. Grant Storm, a radio minister, leading the charge against the bill, alleging that it would require Christian business owners to hire "sinners."

According to the Advocate, a Lafayette area newspaper, C.D. Jones, the committee chair, pointed out that lying, jealousy and adultery are also sins.

"Sin is sin," Jones said. “If you don't hire sinners, you're not going to have any employees."

company's non-discrimination policy.

The only catch so far? The company is recommending that stockholders reject the addition of sexual orientation.

Home Depot, a national chain of hardware and home improvement stores, has many locations in areas which ban job discrimination by sexual orientation. While the company says that it bars discrimination, however, their policies do not explicitly state sexual orientation as a protected category. unlike such national chains as CompUSA. Walgreen's, Sears. Staples. Target and Toys R Us.

The proxy, available online, reads. "We believe this proposal is not necessary. Our stated policy is that we do not discriminate on the basis of color, race, age, sex, natural origin, religion or disability. This policy mirrors the categories required by federal laws. If we go beyond legal requirements. it would be impossible to enumerate additional categories that fully express our inclusiveness."

A spokesman for the company said that the proxy stands on its face value. A backlash from gay men and lesbians boycotting the chain might, he conceded, have an effect on company policies.

measure, which repeals Arizona's laws prohibiting unmarried cohabitation, sex that is not intended to produce children, and "the infamous crime against nature," which means oral or anal sex.

Repeal supporters said the laws no longer apply to modern society and are used to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Hull's signing of the bill was something of a surprise. Her office received 1.868 e-mails and phone calls in the days prior to her signing the bill, urging her to veto it.

Opponents of the repeal have threatened to call a referendum on the measure. They will need to collect 80,000 signatures in the next three months to force a popular vote on the repeal.

"Keeping archaic laws on the books does not promote high moral standards: instead it teaches the lesson that laws are made to be broken.“ Hull wrote in a letter to the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, explaining her action.

Fourteen states still outlaw oral and anal sex: three of these do so only for same-sex partners. Ohio repealed its sodomy law in 1974.

Governor may sign hate crime bill TG civil rights bill advances

Austin, Texas-The Texas Senate on May

7 approved a hate crime bill which includes gay men and lesbians, similar to a bill shot down two years ago after then-governor George W. Bush said he did not want to see it come to his desk.

Gov. Rick Perry has expressed opposition to some of the central provisions of the bill. but said he would make a final decision when the bill comes to him.

The bill has already passed the state's House of Representatives, where it will now return for House approval of Senate changes before it can go to Perry.

The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Act passes the Senate 20-10, with five Republicans. including Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff.

An alternate proposal that would have increased penalties for crimes committed because the victim was a member of an "identifiable group," similar to an existing law, was turned down as too vague. Perry preferred the alternate version.

The Senate approval of the bill came a week after swastikas were painted on the St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas.

Home Depot says no to gay job rule Arizona repeals sodomy law

Atlanta-Home Depot stockholders will have the opportunity May 30 to decide whether the company will incorporate protections for gay men and lesbians into the

Phoenix-A bill repealing the state`s century-old sodomy law was signed by Gov. Jane Hull on May 8.

On an 18-11 vote, the Senate passed the

Providence, R.I.-The state's House of Representatives started the month by handing a victory to LGBT activists, narrowly approving a bill May 1 that would extend state civil rights protections to transgendered people.

The bill would prevent discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in employment. housing and public accommodations.

The bill is broadly worded to protect the spectrum of people that are considered transgendered. It would protect anyone whose "gender-related expression is different from that traditionally associated with the person's sex at birth."

Opponents complained that it would allow boys into the Girl Scouts and allow men to compete in the Miss Rhode Island pagcant, claims that supporters of the bill labeled fanciful at best.

Sexual orientation has been protected under Rhode Island law since 1995. Gender identity was originally included in that earlier bill, but was removed to gain its passage.

The bill's future after House passage is uncertain. however. It is expected to face a hard fight in the more conservative Rhode Island Senate. ✓

Compiled from wire reports by Brian DeWitt. Anthony Glassman and Patti Harris.

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