Just briefs
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Massachusetts and San
Diego spared ballot challenge
The Massachusetts state supreme court has
ruled that the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian
Civil Rights Bill, signed into law by Gov.
Michael Dukakis in 1989, will not be subject to
referendum on the November 1990 ballot. At
torney general Jim Shannon ruled last Decem
ber that a referendum would be unconstitu
tional; his ruling was challenged and upheld on
July 5 by a 5-2 vote.
An effort in San Diego to repeal a new gay
rights ordinance failed last June when oppo
nents gathered little more than half of the
30,000 signatures needed to put the measure on
the ballot. Leading the opposition was San
Diego Citizens for Equal Rights, a conservative
group associated with Rev. Lou Sheldon’s
Traditional Values Coalition.
Hong Kong removes penalties for
gay men, but what about lesbians?
According to the July 12 Oregonian, Hong
Kong’s Legislative Council passed an ordi
nance, 31-13, to remove all “criminal penalties
relating to homosexual acts committed in pri
vate by consenting men who have reached the
age of 21.” The debate was seen as a test of
human rights in the British Crown Colony. The
first bill of rights in the colony’s history will be
proposed soon, and those concerned with a
broader interpretation of human rights
anxiously await changes sure to come when
Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule in 1997.
National Lesbian and Gay Civil
Rights Bill draws new cosponsors
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF) announced on June 25 the signing of
three new cosponsors to the Federal Gay and
Lesbian Civil Rights Bill. Senators Howard
Metzenbaum (D-OH) and Daniel Akaka (D HI)
and Representative Claudine Scheider (R-Rl)
recently cosponsored the bill which to date has
the support of 79 Representatives and 12 Sena
tors. NGLTF is conducting a massive national
constituent pressure post card campaign. The
preprinted message urges legislators to support
S.47 and HR 655, the gay and lesbian civil
rights bill. To get a a supply of post cards
contact NGLTF at 1517 U S l NW, Washington
D.C. 20009, or phone (202) 332-6483.
No gay rights in Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s gay rights measure passed in
the state Senate May 3 by a vote of 24 to 22.
The bill was killed in the House on June 28 by
a tie vote. Gov. Edward Di Prete did not take an
official stand on the bill, even though in 1985
he became the first and only Republican Gover
nor in the country to sign an executive order
prohibiting discrimination based on sexual
orientation in state government.
Open gay wins Ohio primary
Mike Gelpi, an openly gay candidate for
U.S. Congress from Ohio’s 12th district, won
the Democratic primary election May 8, defeat
ing two challengers and winning 52 percent of
the vote. Gelpi’s opponents were both gay and
anti-choice.
Gelpi said his victory in the primary “sends
a signal to the Democratic leadership in
Washington—gays and lesbians are coming
through the front door folks, and others are
going to be coming through the front door
immediately after me.”
Challenger wages
crusade against Studds
A wealthy Cape Cod businessman is
stressing “family values” in what he calls a
“crusade” to unseat Congressman Gerry Studds
in November.
Jon Bryan, who also ran against Studds in
1988, has plastered the media with political
advertisements “so inflammatory it would
embarrass me to repeat them to you,” Studds
said.
One of George Bush’s nephews is fundrais
ing for Bryan and exhorted that, “If we are
concerned about the state o f the family in
America, Gerry Studds is standing firmly in the
way of our making any progress to strengthen
it.”
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Lesbian and gays organize to make
Roberts Oregon’s next governor
A lesbian and gay committee has been
formed to support Barbara Roberts campaign
for governor. Fundraising, as of July 15, has
generated more than $35,000. Several fundrais
ers are planned in the next few months. Check
Out About Town for information.
On September 16, the gay and lesbian
committee is holding an auction on Roberts
behalf. On October 6, Roberts will attend the
Lucille Hart Dinner. To get involved call 273-
8765.
Tacoma will get second chance
A petition drive to have city voters
reconsider an anti-discrimination ordinance
collected just 20 more than the minimum
number of signatures needed to place it on the
November ballot.
A similar ordinance from the city council
was repealed last year. That law protected gays
and lesbians from discrimination in seeking
jobs, housing, loans and public accommoda
tions. The new law would protect Tacoma
residents from discrimination regardless of
sexual orientation.
'" V
City of Seattle employees
fight for domestic partner rights
Initiative 35 will appear on the November 6
ballot in Seattle. If passed it will repeal existing
city law that allows municipal employees to use
sick leave to care for their registered domestic
partners, and to take funeral leave to attend a
partner’s funeral. It will also repeal the
definition of domestic partnership.
First openly gay
candidate runs for Congress
Sean O ’Brien Strub, the fust openly gay
candidate in the history of the U.S. Congress is
running for a seat in the November elections.
Though Barney Frank and Gerry Studds have
been re-elected after their sexual orientation
became known, no openly gay candidate has
ever been elected in the U.S. House or Senate.
Strub is running against Republican Ben
Gilman, who has held this seat for 18 years.
Kissing: A new fad?
According to the Washington Blade, an
AIDS education poster which depicts two
same-sex couples kissing is currently under fire
from city and state lawmakers. The poster is
part of the Art Against AIDS series which is
currently traveling around the country to
benefit the American Foundation for AIDS
Research and local AIDS organizations. The
poster shows three couples— a male couple and
a female couple and an opposite sex couple
kissing under the words “Kissing Doesn’t Kill:
Greed and Indifference D o.”
Representative M onique Davis stated the
opposition’s position on the posters: “I think
this entices children to a particular lifestyle,”
she said. “W e don’t need to give our children
any additional items to be confused about I
think this makes [kissing members o f the same
sex] cool. It might m ake it a new fad.”
New law in Madison Wisconsin
formalizes gay relationships
Gay and lesbian couples m ay now formalize
their relationships at the city hall in Madison,
Wisconsin.
The Madison Common Council voted 16 to
4 June 5 to set up a system for domestic partner
registration.
Local couples can obtain a certificate of
domestic partnership from the city clerk, after
proving they are in a committed relationship,
live together, are not married and are not
already registered with som eone else. The
process costs $25.
Supporters of the new law say domestic
partner registration means M adison has
recognized that gay relationships are just as
valid as those of married people.
The same day, M adison passed a new law
making it illegal for “public accommodations”
to discriminate against dom estic partners in the
offering of family m embership plans.
The law was directed at the local YWCA,
which had refused to sell a family membership
to two lesbians and their children.
Both ordinances were proposed by openly
gay aldermen Jim M cFarland and Ricardo
Gonzales, Mayor Paul Soglin and seven other
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