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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1986)
Washington state gears up for hot political summer New York City Council approves gay-rights bill This September, King County (Seattle) voters will consider a referendum which seeks to overturn the recently passed Fair Employ ment Ordinance (FEO). The ordinance, which was passed December 9,1985, bans discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, and sensory, mental, or physical handicap. Concerned Citizens for King County (CCKC), a right-wing group composed largely of fundamentalist Christians, has spearheaded the drive against the ordinance by collecting 41,000 signatures calling for a referendum. Even though sexual orientation is only one of the ten protected classes covered by the law, CCKC activists refer to the FEO as “the homosexual rights ordinance." Lesbian and gay men together with people representing other protected classes, have organized the “Yes on 7” Committee to or ganize in support of the ordinance. The CCKC is also working with Washing ton State Representative Glenn Dobbs from Centralia, who has announced his intention to place an initiative on the November ballot to prohibit “ sexual deviants" from working with “at risk groups" of people. The proposed initiative also forbids any state or local law, or executive order, that would disallow discrimi nation on the basis of sexual orientation. The initiative is seen as a direct attack on Governor Booth Gardner’s Christmas Eve executive order which banned discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation. According to the proposed initiative, “ sex ual deviants" would be prohibited from work ing, directly or indirectly, with children, the handicapped, the elderly, anyone in "state custody,” or anyone in a “ risk group popula tion.” The initiative explicitly states that gay men and lesbians may not be employed by volunteers in any “ political entity” (that is, governmental agency) and in institutions in cluding, but not limited to, hospitals, health care facilities, mental health hospitals and clinics, jails, prisons, half-way houses, juvenile centers, group homes, resident crisis centers, foster care, day care, battered wo men’s shelters, alternate resident placement facilities, “and other such facilities.” The proposed initiative defines a “ sexual deviant” as someone who sexually exploits or abuses a minor child, a handicapped person, or an elderly person, or any other person “at risk"; someone who commits rape; someone who engages in sado-masochism, bestiality, homosexuality, water sports, or scat; or any one who uses an "object" (a dildo, for exam ple) for sexual pleasure. Dobbs has until the first week of July to gather 152,000 signatures in favor of the in itiative. If he succeeds, as is generally considered likely, the initiative will appear on the November ballot by Jay Brown The New York City Council approved a gay-rights bill on March 20 by a two-thirds majority. The bill, known as Intro. 2, was the last in a series of bills introduced over a period of 15 years. The last time the full council considered a similar bill was in 1974. During the final talley (21-14), which came after an extended, emotional, and sometimes acrimonous hearing, as it became clear that the bill would finally pass, supporters jumped to their feet and cheered. Primary opposition to the bill has come from the Roman Catholic Church and . Hasidic Jewish men. The only opposition at the final hearing came from Brooklyn Council man Noach Dear. As Dear denounced the bill over 40 men and women silently stood and turned their backs on him, thus emulating a group of Hasidim who had turned their backs on Mayor Ed Koch when he spoke in support of the bill a week earlier. The bill, which amends the administrative code of New York City, is intended to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orienta tion in housing, employment and public ac comodations. Also, provisions in the bill prohibit its repeal by referendum. Supporters say it is basic civil-rights legislation; oppo nents contend that it “condones homosexu ality” (Ronald Reagan echoed this sentiment at a news conference on March 22 .) Mayor Koch, at an impromptu hallway news conference following the vote, said that passage of the bill would make “ ... no major change in the life of this city. The sky is not going to fall." The most dramatic moment at the final hearing came when uncommitted Councilman Wendell Foster of the Bronx, a minister with the United Church of Christ, looked up at the people in the gallery and said: “ In the spirit of Christ I must love my homosexual brothers and sisters, even though I don’t understand them. They frighten me. They intimidate me. Yet, I have to live with myself.” Foster, a Black, also cited personal knowledge of discrimination in his decision to vote in favor of the bill. Another uncommitted councilman, Joseph F. Lisa of Queens, chairman of a council sub-committee on AIDS, also voted in favor of the bill but two hours later attempt ed to have his vote reversed. Lisa said he was under no outside pressure when he changed his vote. The majority leader, Peter F. Vallone, said that Lisa’s reversal was not valid. An omnibus gay-rights bill, similar to the New York legislation, is certain to be intro duced in the 1987 session of the Oregon Legislature. The Oregon effort is being spear headed by the Oregon chapter of the Ameri can Civil Liberties Union’s Commission on Lesbian/Gay Rights. Burton White, commis sion chair, applauded the action of the New York City Council, "We welcome the action by the New York City Council in passing the gay-rights legislation which guarantees to a group of Americans, who have been discri minated against. the same rights that belong to all who live in this country." "Legislation must be enacted to protect human beings against discrimination," White emphasized. "Passage of similar legislation in Oregon has been a long-standing legisla tive goal of the ACLU. One of the things that is always persuasive to a legislative body is pas sage of similar legislation elsewhere. It is very welcome to have courageous action by New York City and it is encouraging to have legislative victory in spite of homophobia." Rick Haselton, also an ACLU Gay/Lesbian Commission member, praised the "yes" vote by Councilman Foster, the Black minister. “ He drew upon his own experience with dis crim ination and human rights and knew he needed to vote for the measure," Haselton said. Haselton stressed that it takes a lot of ground work and cooperation among diffe rent groups to win the struggle for human rights. (Ed. note: For more on the ACLU Lesbian/Gay Commission see W.C. McRae's story on the subject in this issue.) Networking, political consciousness essentials in AIDS fight The values of networking and an en hanced political awareness in the gay com munity as it struggles with the effects of the AIDS epidemic made deep impressions on CHESS representatives Michael Pavlin and Dan O'Neill as they attended the 7th Annual Lesbian/Gay Health Conference and 4th An nual AIDS Forum in Washington, D.C., in mid-March. Founded in 1978 as a caucus for lesbian and gay health professionals to share their struggles for recognition of the gay com m unity’s specialized health concerns, The National Lesbian/Gay Health Foundation has evolved into a strong force at the fore front of the gay/lesbian movement The latest conference lasted four days and was attended by hundreds of representatives from lesbian and gay organizations all over the country. Because the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s brought with it concern that other gay and lesbian health issues might become ob scured, the National AIDS Forum was established to provide a specific clearing house of information and resources for AIDS-related service organizations such as CHESS and Cascade AIDS Project. The goals of the conference were to increase in form ation sharing, networking and coalition building during these critical times. Accord ing to O ’Neill and Pavlin, the most useful aspect was the chance to meet and identify the people and organizations involved with the AIDS crisis nationwide. “The opportunity for netowrking was in valuable, and we established contacts that later can be tapped as potential resouces" said O ’Neill. "There’s a tendency to narrow the focus down to our own community and the problems we have to face in Oregon, but this forum gave us a chance to hear how other communities both large and small, are dealing with the AIDS crisis, and also a chance to share mistakes and successes," added Pavlin. The conference general sessions provided the most current information available on national gay/lesbian lobbying efforts, medi cal research, civil rights and legal issues by featuring speakers such as Dr. Mathilde Krim of the AIDS Medical Foundation, Jeff Levi of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Gary MacDonald of the AIDS Action Council. There was a strong push throughout the conference for a raising of the political consciousness of the American gay com munity. Specific pieces of repressive legisla tion proposed in several states and other civil rights issues were cited as reasons for the need to start considering AIDS as a political crisis, and not just a medical or social crisis. The general conclusion of the conference was that AIDS will be the major domestic issue facing the United States for the re mainder of this century, and that the crisis will impact on our society in a devastating manner unless the Gay/Lesbian and AIDS- related service organizations are united in purposes and resources. (Ed. note: Michael Helquist is preparing an exclusive report on the health confer ence and AJDS forum. It will appear in the May issue of Just O ut) See our cookbook store Now Serving Lunch (11 -2) with Sandwiches on our World-Famous Bread Baked Daily. Hours M-F 7:30-5:30 Sat 10-4 224-7940 • 911 S.W. Tenth, Portland, OR 97205