Just news
Iran begins homosexual genocide
University of Oregon establishes task
force on lesbian and gay concerns
President Myles Brand has a strong committment to
affirmative action and to change the campus and its problems
of heterosexism, racism and sexism
BY
SARAH
DOUGLAS
n May 1989, the then President of the
University, Paul Olum, promised to
establish a task force to investigate the
eruption of overt harassment of lesbian and
gay students on the campus. This was in
response to death threats, shoving matches,
verbal assaults and abusive posters experi
enced by openly gay Tim Hughes who was
running for ASUO student body president.
Hughes was not the first openly gay or lesbian
person to run for president. Three previous
ASUO presidents had been lesbian and sub
jected also to both sexual harassment and
sexual orientation harassment. Hughes lost
the election but blatant aggressive harassment
of him, his running mate and lesbian and gay
students has continued.
After Olum retired as President in July
1989, the new President, Myles Brand, took
office with a strong commitment to affirma
tive action and to change the campus and its
problems o f heterosexism, racism and sexism.
He made good Olum’s promise to form a Task
Force on Lesbian and Gay Concerns with the
following charge:
[To] analyze the degree to which discrimi
nation based on sexual orientation exists on
the University campus and consequently
negatively affects the academic or profession
al lives of students, faculty and staff [and] ad
vise on ways the University can combat sexu
al orientation discrimination and create a more
accepting environment for gays and lesbians.
To summarize its findings, the Task Force
will produce a report for President Brand on
I
June 16,1990.
After some initial problems in constituting
the membership (specifically the lack of
representation of people of color and a per
ceived underrepresentation of lesbian and gay
people), the group began meeting weekly in
January. During the third week of January
members of the Task Force participated in a
day long homophobia workshop led by Mary
Li and Greg Asher from the Portland lesbian
and gay community. The Task Force now has
24 active, committed members representing
students, faculty, staff and administration.
The co-chairs are faculty members Cheyney
Ryan and me, Sarah Douglas.
In addition to a climate of acceptable
harassment, the Task Force has found that
although the University has a high level
policy affirming the right of all individuals
regardless of sexual orientation to equal
opportunity in education and employment, it
has never implemented it into detailed policies
and daily operations. To begin to gather
information, as well as increase community
participation, the Task Force has split itself
into six specialized sub-committees: Employ
ment, Student Life/Services, Academic Cur
riculum, Harassment and Violence, Diversity
and Campus Education.
Current or previous members of the
University who would like to participate in
this process or have been subject to
harassment, violence, or discrimination based
on sexual identity, contact GALA at 346-
3360. (Confidentiality, if necessary, will be
maintained.)
“The religious punishment for the despicable act of
homosexuality is death for both parties
..
— Iranian Chief Justice Morteza Moghtadai
BY
REX
ran on New Year’s Day began an official
extermination campaign against
homosexuals, according to syndicated U.S.
newspaper columnist Jack Anderson and
broadcasts from Iran Radio.
Anderson reported that “three accused
homosexual men were publicly beheaded in
one of the city squares of Nahavand, and two
accused lesbians were stoned to death in the
city of Langrood.”
“The new policy toward homosexuals”
was announced on New Year’s Eve in private
meetings between Iranian Chief Justice
Morteza Moghtadai and lower judges and
court officials, Anderson said.
Moghtadai reportedly told the officials that
“the religious punishment for the despicable
act of homosexuality is death for both
parties,” and detailed five execution options:
“beheaded by a sword,” “stoned to death,”
“thrown down from a height such as a
mountain or tall building,” “die under the
ruble of a wall demolished on their head,” or
“burned alive.”
Anderson’s managing editor, Daryl
Gibson, said January 28 that sources for the
column included contacts inside Iran.
Attempts to confirm Anderson’s report,
however, were met with shock by diplomatic
officials reached by telephone in Teheran
January 29 by this [US-based] journalist. The
United States does not have diplomats in Iran
but maintains an “interests section” at the
Swiss embassy.
“Let me interrupt you,” said Swiss
embassy press attaché, Jean Daniel Bieler. “If
I
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this is not an administrative or practical
matter, it is not possible to discuss it by
telephone. I am sorry for you, but we cannot
speak about anything political on the
telephone. You must understand our
situation.”
Asked about the news reports, a
spokesman for the U.S. State Department in
Washington said January 28, that “if they’re
bragging about [the anti-gay campaign] on
radio, then it’s probably true.
“Those people have committed so many
grievous offenses against common decency,
you shouldn’t be surprised that this is just one
more group of people who have been chosen
for the regime’s ire,” said George Malleck,
deputy public affairs advisor for Near Eastern
and South Asian affairs.
“They kill lots of people for lots of
reasons, none of which make lots of sense.”
Malleck ordered two computer searches
through the State Department’s Foreign
Broadcast Information Service, “but nothing
turned up, at least nothing that had been
translated.”
The 1989 edition of the Spar tac us
International Gay Guide reports that “sexual
relationships between men are punishable by
death” in Iran.
“However, this barbarous legal practice
cannot change the fact,” the book continued,
“that homosexual sex is traditionally anything
but uncommon in Iran, and this also goes for
the Shiite clergy.”
The book did not publish addresses for gay
meeting places in Iran “because of the current
mortal danger.”
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