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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

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August 1, 2008 www.GayPeoples Chronicle.com

newsbriefs

Bush signs HIV funding bill that repeals U.S. entry bar

Washington, D.C.-President Bush on July 30 signed legislation that triples money to fight AIDS and other diseases around the world, and also repeals a longstanding bar to HIV-positive people entering the U.S.

In a rare case of cooperation between the White House and the Democratic-controlled Congress, lawmakers voted to significantly increase U.S. assistance to fight AIDS, malaria and erculosis around the world. The five-year, $48 billion plan was passed by the House last week.

The Senate also attached a measure, welcomed by AIDS advocacy groups, that ends a two-decade-old U.S. policy that has made it nearly impossible for HIV-positive people to get visas to this country as immigrants, students or tourists.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, has won plaudits from some of the president's critics both in Congress and around the world.

Hate crime law struck on a technicality

Philadelphia-Advocates are urging state lawmakers to reinstate an expansion of Pennsylvania's ethnic intimidation law to cover sexual orientation, gender identity and disability after a state Supreme Court ruling struck down the provisions.

The high court last week unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that voided the 2002 expansion of the law.

The court did not consider the measure's provisions, only that it was passed unlawfully when legislators inserted its language into an unrelated bill on agricultural terrorism.

The state constitution bars changing a bill to alter its original purpose.

The ruling on July 23 was called a "victory for constitutional government" by one of the plaintiffs, Michael Marcayage, who heads an anti-gay evangelical group in Lansdowne, Pa.

But Stephen A. Glassman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, said he was disappointed.

"This diminishes not only the strength of the law, but the quality of life in the commonwealth," said Glassman, who pushed for the expansion.

Gov. Rendell, through a spokesman, urged the legislature to reinstate the changes.

"Removing protections from any class of people does not seem to fit any categories of equal protection," spokesman Chuck Ardo said.

Marcavage and other plaintiffs sued after being arrested in 2004 for picketing at Philadelphia's Pride festival.

Two ads dropped after complaints

Harrisburg, Pa.-Candy maker Mars, Inc., says it is pulling a Snickers television advertisement that prompted a complaint from a gay equal rights group. The statement came the same week that Nike announced it was pulling a shoe ad that some decried as homophobic.

The company said in a July 24 statement that the ad, featuring the actor Mr. T, is the second in a series that was meant to be funny and has been received well. But Mars says the ad is not meant to be offensive and it is pulling it.

The Human Rights Campaign criticized

'You're a disgrace to the man race!' Mr. T hollers

the spot as using stereotypes of gay men. In the ad, a man is speedwalking on a suburban street, the camera focusing on his brightly-clad, bouncing hips. Suddenly, a monster truck crashes over a house with Mr. T in the back, aiming a Gatling gun that shoots Snickers bars at the speedwalker. "You're a disgrace to the man race!" Mr. T hollers.

It's the second time in a year and a half that the privately held company has pulled an ad after receiving complaints that it was homophobic. An earlier ad showed two men eating the same Snickers bar until they seemed to kiss, then reacting violently.

The Nike print ad showed a basketball player dunking over another, with the crotch of the player dunking planted firmly in the other player's face. Over this was a large tag line: "That Ain't Right."

Nike said July 25 it would pull three ads for its Hyperdunk basketball shoes. The ads, created by Portland's Wieden + Kennedy agency, were titled "That Ain't Right," "Isn't That Cute," and "Punks Jump Up."

Nike previously defended the ads, but said it would withdraw them as quickly as possible "to underline our ongoing commitment to supporting diversity in sport and the workplace," the Portland Oregonian reported.

Teen to be tried as adult in shooting

Oxnard, Calif.-A Ventura County judge says a 14-year-old charged with killing his gay classmate will be tried as an adult and, as a result, may face a life sentence.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Douglas Daily ruled July 24 that the stiff punishment wouldn't be unconstitutional.

Brandon McInerney is charged with firstdegree murder and a hate crime in the February 12 killing of 15-year-old Larry King at their Oxnard middle school.

King sometimes wore makeup and told friends he was gay. McInerney allegedly brought a gun to school and shot King in the computer lab.

McInerney's arraignment is set for Au-

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Bias claimed in Pride cruise death

San Diego, Calif.-To police, Steven Hirschfield was violent and out of control when he clambered aboard a patrol boat sent to rescue him in the San Diego Bay during a Pride party cruise.

The 37-year-old bodybuilder, shirtless and wearing sneakers, seized an officer's stun gun and beat him in the face, they say, before he was fatally shot while reaching for the officer's weapon.

Their account has left his grieving family in disbelief. Family members suspect Hirschfield, whom they described as deeply artistic and loving, was a victim of anti-gay bias and a police cover-up.

"He is not violent. I have not seen him hit anybody in my life," his sister, Kristine Hirschfield, said at a news conference last week. "It doesn't make any sense."

The family plans to file a federal lawsuit claiming Hirschfield's civil rights were violated and conduct its own investigation into his death.

'Don't ask'

Continued from page 4

"Do we want to have a sexualized atmosphere in our armed forces?” asked Donnelly. According to Donnelly, the number of gay discharges is insignificant because more servicemembers are discharged for weight violations and for being pregnant.

"You need to think about this issue of HIV positivity," Donnelly to the committee. "We have troops who are not deployable because of their HIV status."

Donnelly also disparaged the British military, calling them inferior to the U.S. forces because they are accepting transgender people in the military.

"Our armed forces demands are much higher than other countries," Donnelly said.

Retired Army Major Brian Jones was the final witness. He is also associated with the Center for Military Readiness.

"I performed long range patrols in severe cold weather conditions in teams of 10, with only mission-essential items on our backs. No comfort items. The only way to keep from freezing at night was to get as close as possible for body heat-which means skin to skin," Jones said.

"Navy SEALS are required to do the same thing for purposes of survival," Jones said.

"On several occasions, in the close quarters that a team lives, any attraction to same sex teammates, real or perceived, would be known and would be a problem. The presence of openly gay men in these situations would elevate tensions and disrupt unit cohesion and morale. This would be the case even if there is no attraction involved."

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Hirschfield was a dancer in the Circuit Daze harbor cruise, a July 19 dance party attended by about 900 revelers as part of the weekend's gay pride celebrations. The crew called the Harbor Police Department just after 11 p.m., about an hour into the cruise, to report a man overboard.

Hornblower Cruises general manager Jim Unger said that Hirschfield refused to accept a flotation device from a crew member. When a harbor patrol boat arrived, Hirschfield initially refused to climb onto the swim deck but then hauled himself onto the bow using a hanging rope, said acting San Diego police Lt. William Stetson.

Once on the boat, Hirschfield grabbed Officer Wayne Schmidt's stun gun and beat him in the face before reaching for Schmidt's pistol, according to harbor police Lt. John Forsythe. Officer Clyde Williams then fatally shot Hirschfield in the chest. Schmidt was treated for face and leg injuries.

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

"Introduction of homosexual men under these conditions would create unnecessary tension and potential for disruption that would be disastrous in terms of increased risk to individual soldier's lives as well as mission accomplishment," Jones said.

During the questioning of the witnesses, McHugh asked Darrah if she would still join the Navy if she realized she was a lesbian at the time of joining.

Darrah replied she would not. Alva said he would join because it is a challenge.

'When did you come out as hetero?'

Arkansas Democrat Vic Snyder, a physician, lambasted Donnelly, telling her that bringing up HIV is inappropriate.

"By this analysis we ought to recruit only lesbians into the military because they have the lowest incidence of HIV in the country," Snyder said, before calling the rest of Donnelly's testimony "bonkers.”

"Ms. Donnelly, are you asserting that our servicemembers are not professional enough to serve with homosexuals?" asked Pennsylvania Democrat Patrick Murphy, a freshman legislator and Iraq veteran.

Murphy also expressed that he was insulted by Donnelly's remarks.

"Ms. Donnelly, when did you decide to come out as heterosexual?" asked New Hampshire Democrat Carol Shea-Porter.

"Ms. Donnelly, are you aware that the Army is allowing 10 percent of new recruits to come in with moral waivers? asked SheaPorter. "Moral waivers" permit recruits with criminal records to enter the services.

"Ms. Donnelly, I don't know why these good people are your targets," Shea-Porter said of gays and lesbians.

Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays, also a co-sponsor, called the current policy "unpatriotic" and "absolutely cruel." "Would you tell me, Ms. Donnelly, why I should give one twit about [Darrah's] sexual orientation when it did't interfere one bit with her service?" Shays asked.

"I respect everyone's military service," Donnelly said.

"How do you respect their service? You want them out," snapped Shays. "How does the relationship that Capt. Darrah has with her partner have any impact on the service as long as it is her own personal experience?"

"We have people who serve under conditions of little or no privacy," answered Donnelly. "Forced intimacy is the term used in the law. That's what it's all about, Congressman."

Tauscher remarked that repealing "don't ask, don't tell" is "about having the most perfect union."

"We have to make sure the military reflects American values," Tauscher said. Tausher has promised to reintroduce the bill in January when the new Congress begins.