GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Fireworks

•

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com Volume 25, Issue 15 January 15, 2010

JENNIFER WOODS

The eclectic performance crew Infusion lights up the stage with fire during the Wild Winter Wonderland party at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland. The December 19 party benefited the Westhaven Youth Shelter. Performers included Diana Chittester and her band, Anthony Covatta, Argyle Mist, the Cleveland Fetish Community, the Cleveland Kings and Girls and dances by Liquorbox.

The inaugural party, set to become an annual event, was produced by Pink Flash Productions, a networking and event marketing company serving the LGBTQ community. Owner Carly Mesnick was thrilled with the 160-person turnout for this first event and with the generosity of the performers and eight sponsors.

-Patti Harris

Cleveland and Columbus Prides

are back on separate weekends

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-Dates have been set for Pride festivities in Cleveland and Columbus this upcoming June, and the two will be back on separate weekends.

Last year, construction forced Columbus LGBT Pride onto the third weekend in June. Organizers of the Cleveland event, normally on that weekend, were unable to book Voinovich Park for a week

Inside This Issue

HE BRIDGE From Mennonite Boy to Gay Man

later, so the two events were at the same time.

Because of continued reconstruction in Bicentennial Park and other commitments for Goodale Park, Columbus Pride Continued on page 7

Mary Zoller will run th Cleveland LGBT Center search for new director

Editors

Gender identity added to federal job rules

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.-The Obama administration, in addition to appointing a transgender woman to a Department of Commerce position this month, also extended equal employment rules for government, employees to cover gender identity.

While federal law prohibits federal employment decisions based on anything other than merit, and discrimination based on sex is illegal, this is the first piece of federal policy explicitly banning discrimination based on gender identity.

The policy protects current and prospective employees of the federal government, but does not cover employees of private companies, or state or local governments. Currently, under 40% of the population lives in states, counties or cities that offer job discrimination protection based on gender identity.

"This new policy is a very significant development,' American Civil Liberties Union senior legislative counsel Christopher Anders said. "The inclusion of gender identity in federal EEO [equal employment opportunity] policies is a very clear statement that the federal government will not discriminate based on gender identity. The Obama administration is demonstrating a strong commitment to an

effective workforce by making clear that the federal government will not discriminate against transgender employ-

ees.

The current version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in Congress, which would extend workplace discrimination protection on a national basis, covers both sexual orientation and gender identity.

However, with mid-term congressional elections this year, House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she will not have her vulnerable members tackle "controversial" issues unless the Senate does so first. Critics believe that means that ENDA is unlikely to move in the House of Representatives unless the Senate passes it first.

"Employment discrimination can have a devastating effect on transgender Americans and the families they support, Anders said. "With its new policy, the federal government is setting a good example for all employers."

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"Although many state governments and businesses already provide workplace protections for transgender employees, explicit protection of transgender federal employees will likely be a catalyst for many more states and businesses to apply the federal policy," he concluded.

Ban on HIV+ entry to U.S. finally ends

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.—On January 3, one of the most visible governmental specters from the early days of AIDS-phobia was lifted as the HIV travel ban ended.

Introduced in 1987, the ban added HIV to communicable diseases that would bar a foreign national from entering the United States.

for the

The lifting of the ban was a twofold process. The first, completed in 2008 as part of the reauthorization President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, shifted regulation of the ban back to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. That put the decision-making power on whether to leave HIV on the banned list in the department's hands instead of legislative control.

Last summer, the Obama

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administration introduced new guidelines that would remove the HIV travel restrictions, which went into effect on January 3.

The ban has caused most major international AIDS conferences to be held outside of the United States, since many prominent scientists and activists would not have been able to enter the country to participate.

"The United States of America has moved one step closer to helping combat the stigma and ignorance that still too often guides public policy debates around HIV/AIDS," said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Selmonese. "Today, a sad chapter in our nation's response to people with HIV and AIDS has finally come to a close and we are a better nation for it."

"This policy, in place for more than two decades, was unnecessary, ineffective and lacked any public health justification," he concluded.