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⚫ January 30, 2009 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

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newsbriefs

Iceland to be first nation with a gay head of state

Reykjavík, Iceland-The tiny country on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is set to be the world's first with an openly lesbian or gay head of state.

Johanna Siguroardottir, the 66-yearold minister of social affairs, is expected to be named prime minister following the collapse of the country's ruling government in economic strife due to the economic crisis across the globe.

She has been a member of parliament since 1978 and was selected on January 27 to be prime minister by members of the Social Democratic Alliance, the main partner in a newly-formed coalition government.

The deputy chief of mission at the Icelandic embassy in Washington, D.C. told the Washington Blade, "If she is gay, that is not an issue at all. We are very liberal in that sense. It has never been an issue for her as a politician."

Her official state biography lists author and playwright Jonina Leosdottir as Siguroardottir's spouse, and same-sex unions have been legal in the country since 1996, granting all the rights and privileges of marriage, although without the name.

A poll taken by the English-language newspaper The Icelandic Review found her the most popular minister in the gov-

ernment.

9 Ohio firms make top workplace list

Washington, D.C.-The Human Rights Campaign released a list of 260 companies that got top marks on its Corporate Equality Index under the banner of "Best Places to Work 2009."

Every year, the organization rates companies based on factors like domestic partner benefits, LGBT-inclusive antidiscrimination policies and more.

This year, nine Ohio companies made the top list with the Cleveland and Columbus areas each having three, and Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo showing up with one each.

Key Corp., Progressive Insurance and the law firm Squires Sanders and Dempsey represented Cleveland, while Abercrombie and Fitch, Nationwide Insurance and Cardinal Health are all in the Columbus area.

Macy's of Cincinnati, Dayton's NCR and Toledo's Owens Corning also represent Ohio in the rankings.

Children's sale will allow partners

Raleigh, N.C.-Organizers of a large children's consignment sale in Raleigh say the will change a policy after a lesbian couple was questioned by workers.

The Kids Exchange sale allows its volunteers to shop for clothes and toys be-

fore the sale opens to the public, but they are only allowed to bring a spouse.

Amanda Lenhart told the Raleigh News & Observer of that she was stopped at the door and again at the register January 21 when she went shopping with her partner Kathy Perry, who is a volunteer.

Kids Exchange co-founder Amy Winstead says the policy was not meant to discriminate against gays.

She says the policy could also be unfair to single mothers and military families, and she will let volunteers vote at the next sale if they want to shop alone or bring a guest.

N.Y. can recognize out-of-state vows

Albany, N.Y.-A midlevel state appeals court on January 22 upheld New York's policy granting health benefits to spouses of gay and lesbian state workers who have been legally married outside the state.

Five Appellate Division justices, in two concurring decisions, rejected claims that the state Department of Civil Service exceeded its statutory authority in granting health insurance benefits to same-sex partners legally married elsewhere.

The justices upheld a 2008 ruling from

a lower court in Albany, rejecting a challenge on behalf of four upstate taxpayers brought by attorney Brian Raum, who is also counsel for the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund.

Justice Robert Rose noted that New York's top court has ruled state law limits marriages conducted within the state to people of the opposite sex. But New York also recognizes valid marriages from elsewhere, except when strictly prohibited by a state statute or the union is considered “abhorrent to public policy," such as incest, polygamy or when someone is under the age of consent.

"Our courts have narrowly construed these two exceptions, applying the marriage recognition rule to recognize a wide variety of out-of-state. marriages that would not qualify as marriages if they had been solemnized in New York," Rose wrote. No New York statute specifically precludes recognition of same-sex marriages from elsewhere, nor does the state's public policy abhor it, he wrote.

Justices Karen Peters and Anthony Kane agreed.

In a separate concurring decision, Justice John Lahtinen wrote that state workers have been entitled for more than a decade to get health coverage for a samesex domestic partner. The practical effect of the civil service ruling was to give an out-of-state marriage certificate the same weight as the affidavit required to get such employee benefits.

Brown: Don't let Prop. 8 donors hide

Sacramento-Attorney General Jerry Brown is urging a federal court to reject an attempt to conceal donors to the campaign for a marriage ban amendment passed last year by California voters.

Brown filed a brief on January 22 asking the court to deny a preliminary injunction sought by supporters of Proposition 8.

If granted, the injunction would free them from having to file campaign finance reports detailing late contributions.

The measure's supporters also have asked the court to order state officials to remove names of donors that already have been posted on the secretary of state's web site.

The supporters contend that revealing donor names has led to harassment of some contributors.

Brown says the proposition's supporters do not qualify for an exemption to contribution disclosure laws that the U.S. Supreme Court carved out for persecuted minorities.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for Jan. 29.

Haggard had a second boyfriend

Denver-Disgraced

evangelical

leader Ted Haggard's former church disclosed on January 23 that the sex scandal that caused his downfall extends to a young male church volunteer who reported having a sexual relationship with Haggard a revelation that comes as Haggard tries to repair his public image.

The man came forward to church officials in late 2006 shortly after a Denver male prostitute claimed to have had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with Haggard that often involved using crystal methamphetamine.

The church reached a legal settlement to pay the volunteer for counseling and college tuition, with one condition being that none of the parties involved discuss the matter publicly.

A Colorado Springs TV station reached the church January 22 to say the young man was planning to provide a detailed report of his relationship with Haggard to the station.

The disclosure comes as Haggard, 52, is about to give a series of high-profile interviews to promote a cable documentary about his time in exile.

In early 2007, New Life Church disclosed

that an investigation uncovered new evidence that Haggard engaged in "sordid conversation" and "improper relationships"-but didn't go into detail. Earlier, a church board member had said there was no evidence that Haggard had sexual relations with anyone but Mike Jones, the former hustler.

The volunteer was an adult at the time, and the relationship was consensual, although an organization that focuses on clerical abuse points out that Haggard was far more powerful emotionally. Hawaii considers civil unions

Honolulu-A majority of Hawaii state House members support a bill that would legalize civil unions between same-sex couples.

Thirty-two of 51 House members are backing a bill by House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro, D-Aiea-Halawa, that would allow partners who obtain a license to enter into a civil union.

They would have the same rights, benefits and protections that state law affords married opposite-sex couples.

Oshiro said it's time that the state allowed civil unions. Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and California permit civil unions. Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriages.

Similar measures have stalled in recent years.

Hawaii was the first state to pass a constitutional marriage ban amendment in 1998, beginning a wave of them that now numbers 30. The move came after the state supreme court indicated it was about to rule in favor of same-sex marriage.

City worker partner benefits upheld

New Orleans-The city of New Orleans has the right to offer health benefits to unmarried domestic partners of city employees, a state appeals panel has ruled.

Three judges from the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Christian group's argument that the city violated the state constitution and public policies that favor marriage over unmarried cohabitation. The city's policy covers samesex and opposite-sex couples who are living together.

"We are not persuaded by the plaintiffs' argument that the registry ordinance would confuse the marital status, rights and benefits accruing to married persons as they drive from Lafayette to New Orleans," the judges wrote, noting that New Orleans' policy "creates no obligations between the parties who choose to register."

The Alliance Defense Fund sued the city on behalf of a group of New Orleans taxpayers. Lambda Legal, which advocates for the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, intervened in the case and supported the city's position.

"The practical effect," Lambda Legal attorney Kenneth Upton Jr. said of last week's ruling, "is that the employees who have a same-sex partner can continue to insure them."

Before 1997, only married spouses were eligible for coverage under the city's health-care program. At least 132 people registered as domestic partners between 1997 and 2003, but only about 10 city employees had registered domestic partners who were receiving health benefits as of August 2003, according to the Fourth Circuit's ruling.

French cabinet minister comes out

Paris-France's minister in charge of parliamentary relations, Roger Karoutchi, has told the country that he is gay-the first Cabinet member in recent memory to openly declare his homosexuality.

His statement says: "Yes, I have a life...I say it naturally. I have a companion and I'm happy with him.

Karoutchi's statement Friday comes shortly before the February 4 publication

of his book Mes Quatre Verites (My Four Truths) in which he devotes two pages to the subject.

Friends say he came out with the revelation because of "attacks by his enemies."

While the 57-year-old Karoutchi is the only cabinet minister to come out, he is not alone. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe is the best known French politician to have come out ten years ago. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit is also out.

AIDS activist Martin Delaney dies

San Francisco-Martin Delaney, who led the movement to grant AIDS patients access to experimental drugs and headed early education efforts about the disease, has died. He was 63.

Delaney died January 23 of liver cancer at his home in San Rafael, said Dana Van Gorder, executive director of Project Inform, the San Francisco AIDS treatment advocacy and education organization that Delaney co-founded in 1985.

Earlier this week, Delaney was presented with a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases award for his role in leading the push to make AIDS treatments and education more widely available.

In an interview with PBS' Frontline, Delaney said he started Project Inform to study patients who were bringing in experimental HIV medications from Mexico that were still under federal review.

The effort brought the group into conflict with several government agencies and spurred its campaign for changes in U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules to give patients with potentially terminal diseases faster access to unapproved drugs.

Project Inform led early efforts to educate patients about their treatment options and was the first group to set up a national AIDS treatment information hotline, according to the group's web site.

The organization also successfully challenged the FDA and the U.S. Border Patrol to make it easier for Americans to bring back medications from beyond the country's borders.

Through much of the 1990s, Delaney served as an official AIDS research adviser to the National Institute. He also led the Fair Pricing Coalition, which negotiates with pharmaceutical companies to keep HIV drug prices down. He was the executive director of Project Inform until 2008.

Delaney is survived by a sister, Lois Delaney-Ogorek, and brothers Bill, Don and Michael Delaney.

Bathhouse probed after death there

Pittsburgh-Police say they've opened a wide-ranging investigation of a private health club geared toward gay men where an Ohio man was found dead January 3.

Autopsy results on 31-year-old Cleophus Pettway of Youngstown are still pending.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported that Club Pittsburgh stayed open after its politically connected owners talked with city officials, despite complaints about nude go-go dancers, pornographic movies and sexual activity.

An attorney for the club owners say they are cooperating with investigators. Police say the investigation is general in nature, meant to determine if there was any criminal activity at the club.

Police say Pettway was found dead in a private rented room at the club.

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