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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1990)
Just news Founder of San Francisco's Wedge Program, Christian Her an, and author Lynda Madaras, to address teen AIDS issues What's Happening to My Body? Books for Boys and Girls and six other books, IDS prevention educators Christian including Womancare and Lynda Madaras Heran and Lynda Madaras will be Growing up Guide for Girls. Madaras most present at a benefit for House of Light, an recently published Lynda Madaras Talks to extended-care facility in North Portland, on Teens About AIDS: An Essential Guide for February 27. The two educators will talk Parents, Teachers, and Young People about adolescents, HIV and AIDS and will (Newmarket Press, 1988). host a showing of the award-winning video Madaras began teaching and writing ‘Teen AIDS in Focus.” about health and parenting more than 15 Christian Heran, who lives in San years ago and has been teaching sex Francisco, is a founder of the Wedge education and puberty education to teens and Program, a unique and unprecedented pre-teens for the past ten years. approach in delivering AIDS education to Madaras tells her young audiences “that school age youth. Heran’s program brings the future course of this epidemic will school children face-to-face with specially depend largely on the decisions their trained PWAs to learn about the epidemic. generation makes about sex and drugs" and Heran and his Wedge Program have received “that we’re all in this together.” commendations from the City of San The benefit will be held at the House of Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School Light, 597 N. Dckum, on February 27, at 7 District, the State of Utah, the US Secretary of pm. Admission is S5 for adults, $2 for ages Health’s “American Volunteer Award,” the 18 and under, pre-schoolers free. For more American Legion’s “Outstanding information call 289-3370 Contribution to Youth” award, a special citation from former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and numerous other awards and Christian Heran will also be plenary citations. session speaker during the Conference on Heran, a former model who was the AIDS/HIV Prevention Strategies for Reaching High-risk Oregon Adolescents original “Marlboro Man,” is an openly gay sponsored by the Oregon Department of man who visits schools and tells teens about his own battle with AIDS. Diagnosed with the Education Task Force on Out-of-school, disease in 1986, Heran, 54, was told he had School-age Youth to be held at the Valley three years to live. In his appearances he Conference Center in Beaverton. For emphasizes the importance of self-esteem and information on the conference call Jerry self-respect. Warren or Cheryl Eby at the Oregon Lynda Madaras is the author of the two Department of Education, (503) 378-8870. BY J A Y A B R O W N clergy group in the diocese. One of the most widely known openly gay priests in the Episcopal gay, country is a priest of the Diocese of Newark, the Rev. L. Paul Woodrum, Integrity’s lesbian clergy National Treasurer. “Since Integrity’s founding in 1974, scores Increases annually of lesbian and gay clergy nationwide have publicly declared themselves, and hundreds more have acknowledged their sexuality in he ordination to the priesthood of the less public ways because of fear of Rev. Robert Williams by the Rt. Rev. John S. Spong, Episcopal Bishop of Newark, homophobia in the Church,” said Fr. has been widely misrepresented in the media. Woodnlm — Integrity Contrary to assertions by United Press International, Reuters and others, Williams is New legal director neither the second open, non-celibate homosexual person nor the first such gay man to be ordained in the Episcopal Church. takes reins at Integrity, the nationwide ministry of and to the lesbian and gay community in the NGRA Episcopal Church, applauds the ordination of avid A. Bryan, former executive and the Rev. Robert Williams on Saturday, legal director of the Texas Human December 16, at All Saints Church, Hoboken, Rights Foundation, has moved into the top New Jersey. Fr. Williams, 34, is a long-time legal position as Legal Director of National member of Integrity. He was a founder of Gay Rights Advocates. NGRA is the nation’s Integrity/Dallas, is now a member of the New largest public-interest law firm protecting the York chapter, and was an Integrity lobbyist at rights of lesbians and gay men. the General Convention of the Episcopal Bryan replaces former legal director, Church in Detroit in 1988. Leonard Graff, who held the position for Fr. Williams’s ordination was only the seven-and-a-half years and is currently latest in a long series of ordinations of self- serving as interim executive director. Bryan affirming, non-celibate lesbians and gays in will direct the organization’s legal program the Episcopal Church since 1977. In January from NGRA’s San Francisco office. of that year, the Rev. Ellen M. Barrett, an The 34 year-old attorney graduated from open lesbian and first co-president of the Texas Tech University School of Law in Integrity, was ordained a priest by the Bishop 1981 and practiced corporate law in Houston of New York, the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr. for five years. He joined the Texas Human Ms. Barrett’s ordination engendered Rights Foundation as a member of the Board considerable controversy. Partly in reaction to of Trustees in 1984. it, in 1979, the Episcopal Church’s House of While a trustee, Bryan contributed to the Bishops approved a “sense of the House” resolution that non-celibate lesbians and gays litigation work challenging the Texas sodomy statute. Bryan also worked on cases resulting should not be ordained. That proscription was in the recognition of lesbian and gay student not binding on individual bishops and organizations at Texas A & M and Texas dioceses, however, and has been widely ignored. Several leading bishops, including Tech Universities. In 1984 and 1985, Bryan Bishop Spong and the Most Rev. Edmond was active in the Houston referendum Browning, now Presiding Bishop of the campaign to save a city ordinance prohibiting Church, signed a statement opposing the 1979 employment discrimination on the basis of action and stated that they would not be bound sexual orientation. by it. Bryan assumed his position as head of the The same month that the Rev. Ellen Texas Human Rights Foundation in 1989. As Barrett was ordained in New York with legal director, he helped to prosecute a widespread media coverage, the Rev. Susan discrimination complaint against Midland Bergmans, another open, non-celibate lesbian National Life Insurance Company for AIDS was ordained to the priesthood in San zip code “redlining.” Bryan also helped Francisco by the Bishop of California. Her prosecute the Texas Human Rights ordination received little media attention. Foundation’s disciplinary complaint against “Since 1977, on average at least five open, Judge Jack Hampton of Dallas, who was non-celibate lesbians or gays have been publicly censured last November for anti-gay ordained every year in dioceses from coast to bias. coast,” said Integrity’s President Kim Byham. Founded in 1977 in San Francisco, “Such ordinations have occurred in the National Gay Rights Advocates fights for the Dioceses of Michigan, Minnesota, New York, rights of gay men, lesbians and, through the Pennsylvania, California, Chicago, and AIDS Civil Rights Project, persons with HIV Western Massachusetts, among others.” disease. NGRA aggressively pursues impact While Fr. Williams is the first person in litigation in employment and housing the Diocese of Newark who declared himself discrimination, family partnerships, reform of to be a non-celibate gay at the time of his sodomy laws, anti-gay violence, and first — ordination, there is an active lesbian/gay amendment rights. ^ T D BARBARA G. C L I N I C A L ISAACS, Ph.D. P S Y C H O L O G I S T 2250 NW FLANDERS, SUITE 103 ■ PORTLAND, OREGON 97210 ( 503 ) just out ▼ 1 2 V February 1990 248-0775