www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com December 5, 2008 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

newsbriefs

Oregon town turns out for the nation's first TG mayor

Silverton, Ore.-The nation's first openly transgender mayor won by a comfortable margin on November 4.

Three weeks later, she won again by a landslide.

A large group of counterprotesters overmatched three young women and a man from a Kansas church who came to Silverton to protest Stu Rasmussen's election win. The protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church arrived with an assortment of signs, such as "God Hates You," "Fags Are Beasts," "Your Pastor is a Whore" and "Barack Obama Antichrist."

But the town greeted the four Fred Phelps family members with festive counterprotest. More than 100 people paraded in the street and some men wore women's clothing in a show of support for Rasmussen.

"Today, I'm just Joe the Crossdresser," said Silverton attorney Yossi Davidson, 59, who stood across City Hall from the protesters wearing a dress. "Stu's an institution in this town, which is probably why he got elected. He's a straightforward, genuine kind of guy despite his gender complexities."

Rasmussen, 60, has been a fixture in Silverton politics for more than 20 years, and has twice before been mayor of the small city 45 miles south of Portland. Those terms, however, were before the breast implants and before the once-discreet crossdresser started wearing dresses and 3-inch heels in public.

Rasmussen stood with friends and watched the spectacle with a mixture of amusement and pride.

"This is very heartwarming; this is such a great community," she said. "I don't think this is about me as much as it's about community spirit."

Lawmakers may condemn Prop. 8

Sacramento-The California legislature's LGBT caucus, joined by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, introduced a resolution on December 2 condemning the state's marriage ban amend-

ment.

The resolution is non-binding, but would put legislators on the record over their support or opposition to the measure. Both chambers have twice passed same-sex marriage bills, in 2005 and 2007, only to have them vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The California Supreme Court has agreed to take on six lawsuits challenging the constitutional amendment, which passed 52%48% in the November 4 general election. The suits say that because the measure stripped a minority of an existing constitutional right, it is a revision that requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

The court is expected to hear arguments in March, and may rule as early as June. California officials are also planning to investigate whether the Mormon church

gave an accurate accounting of its role in the campaign promoting the ban.

The action by the California Fair Political Practices Commission came in response to a complaint filed over two weeks ago by a gay rights activist. Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, accuses the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of failing to report the value of the work it did to support Proposition 8.

Roman Porter, the agency's executive director, said December 1 that the decision to open an investigation does not mean staff members have determined there was any wrongdoing, only that Karger's complaint merits further inquiry.

A representative of the Salt Lake Citybased church could not be reached for comment.

Vatican opposes U.N. gay resolution

Vatican City-The Catholic Church will oppose a French resolution in the United Nations urging the decriminalization of homosexuality, a high-ranking official said in an interview.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, told a Catholic news agency in France that the resolution, which would have no power, would "add new categories of those protected from discrimination," according to Reuters.

"If adopted, they would create new and implacable discriminations," he said. “For example, states which do not recognize same-sex unions as 'matrimony' will be pilloried and made an object of pressure."

The resolution is will be presented later this month by the French ambassador, and is supported by all 27 members of the European Union.

Vatican press officials had to scramble to deflect criticism from the Holy See after gay civil rights organizations pointed out that gays in many of the countries that outlaw homosexuality, especially in Africa and the Middle East, face the death penalty if convicted.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi issued a statement saying that "no-one wants the death penalty or jail or fines for homosexuals," and pointed out that 150 U.N. members still criminalize samesex sexual activity.

Italy's La Stampa newspaper, however, said in an editorial that the church feared "a chain reaction in favor of legally recognized homosexual unions in countries, like Italy, where there is currently no legislation." The paper called the Vatican's rationales "grotesque."

No ban for Indiana next year

Indianapolis-Lawmakers will face plenty of challenges when they meet in January for the 2009 legislative session, with the top priority being a balanced bud-

get amid a tanking economy. But one hotbutton issue that's likely to be left off the agenda is same-sex marriage.

The GOP-controlled state senate has voted three times since 2005 to pass a marriage ban amendment, which would have to pass two consecutive, separately elected General Assemblies and then win approval in a statewide vote to take effect.

But resolutions supporting the proposed amendment have twice died in the Democrat-controlled House.

Sen. Brandt Hershman, a Republican from Wheatfield who has pushed the measure in the past, told the Indianapolis Star that he doesn't plan to raise the issue next year unless the House takes action first.

House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has repeatedly said that Indiana's DOMA law prohibiting same-sex marriages is enough.

"I've been asking people to show me that the current law has been broken, and they haven't showed me yet. I want to see the couples that were illegally married," he said earlier this year when asked about the prospects of a constitutional amendment.

EHarmony settles suit with gay site

Pasadena, Calif.-Online dating service eHarmony is adding another personality trait to its 29 dimensions of computability.

The California company will begin providing same-sex matches under as part of a settlement with New Jersey's Civil Rights Division.

New Jersey resident Eric McKinley filed a complaint against the online matchmaker in 2005 because it does not allow matching of same-sex couples.

Under terms of the settlement, the company can create a new or differently named

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web site for same-sex singles. The company can also post a disclaimer saying its compatibility-based matching system was developed from research of married heterosexual couples.

Neither the company nor its founder, Neil Clark Warren, admit any liability.

In addition, eHarmony will pay the division $50,000 to cover administrative costs. It will pay McKinley $5,000 and give him a free one-year membership to its new service.

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

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