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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1991)
j « « t «Mit ▼ Septem ber 1091 T 7 national briefs FLO R ID A : In a rare joint meeting, held at Tampa’s performing arts center and attended by more than 2500 citizens, governing councils of Tampa and surrounding Hillsborough County approved amendments to their respective human rights ordinances that will add “sexual orienta tion” to the list of protected characteristics. IL L IN O IS : Although comprehensive do mestic-partnership legislation never made it out of committee this year, the Illinois legislature has sent two bills to Gov. Jim Edgar that would pro tect gay and lesbian couples. The first m easure would allow patients in hospitals and nursing homes to choose their visi tors. The second bill would allow old people and persons with disabilities, including HIV-positive people, to live in government-subsidized housing with the partner of their choice after the couple registered with the county clerk. ▼ ▼ ▼ Chicago has its first publicly lesbian cop. Dorothy Knudson, 28, says she hopes to con vince police officers and gays and lesbians to discard stereotypes o f each other. She also wants to be a role model for other police officers who might want to come out of the closet. The department rewarded Knudson for com ing out by selecting her as one of its three repre sentatives to the new police Gay and Lesbian Advisory Council. ▼ ▼ ▼ The Gaylactic Network announced the accep tance of four panels in the final cut of the mini- programming series at this year’s annual World Science Fiction Convention, Chicon V in C hi cago. These panels cover: Gay Male/Lesbian/Bi- sexual Characters and Themes in Science Fiction and Fantasy; Gay Male/Lesbian/Bisexual Char acters in the Comics; Screaming Queens: Gay Male/Lesbian/Bisexual Characters and Themes in Horror; and Pair Bonding in Literature. M ARY LA N D : Baltim ore M ayor Kurt Schmoke, in response to a Gay Paper survey question regarding domestic partnership, earlier this week committed himself and his administra tion to “drafting a comprehensive city domestic partnership ordinance and will introduce that ordinance as an administrative bill.” Gay Paper NEW Y O RK : In a powerful legal ruling, the C hief A dm inistrative Law Judge o f the New York Commission on Human Rights .held that a dentist’s refusal to provide dental services to a patient w ith AIDS violated the City Human Rights Law. Finding that the use o f universal precautions against HTV transmission eliminates any alleged need to discriminate against HIV positive people, the judge rejected the dentist’s claim that his fear o f AIDS and his professed lack of certainty about infection control proce dures justified his refusal to treat the patient. Equally important was the judge’s determination that a dental office is a “place o f public accom modation" subject to the Human Rights Laws prohibition on discrim ination against the d is abled. Gay Paper N O RTH CAROLINA: After being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union, the North Carolina Department o f Transportation has re versed its decision to prohibit the Southern Ap palachian Lesbian and Gay Alliance (SALGA) from participating in a highway beautification program . T he state will install a sign with SALGA’s name on it-including the words “les bian” and “gay”-o n the portions of highway that the group will maintain. PENNSYLVANIA: In a significant victory in its decade-long campaign against discrimina tion in television aifd radio, the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force announced last week that four local radio stations had agreed to sign anti-discrimination contracts. W A SH IN G T O N , D .C .: U S. Rep. Steve Gunderson, (R.Wis.), was outed by the media in July after Michael Petrelis, a founder o f Queer Nation/D.C., threw a drink in G underson’s face June 30 at a suburban Washington gay bar. Ac tivists want Gunderson to come out publicly and speak up for gay rights, *nd to sign on as a co sponsor o f the federal gay rights bill. Gunderson acknowledged that he had been in the suburban Washington gay bar and that he has visited other gay bars. However, “Nothing in my personal life is legitimate discussion unless I am breaking the law or using my position for it,” he said. In the past two years, Gunderson has often voted pro-gay in Congress. ▼ ▼ ▼ The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has joined the Breast Cancer Coalition, a national advocacy group, to increase awareness o f and response to lesbian breast cancer and other health issues. ▼ ▼ ▼ African-American AIDS activists pressured black lawmakers recently in an unprecedented Congressional lobbying and briefing campaign aimed at sparking increased action around the growing crisis of AIDS in the African-Amercian community. In the first-every AIDS briefing to the Congressional Black Caucus, the activists are challenging the Caucus to take a greater leader ship role in securing HIV funding, treatment, care and education for minority communities. ▼ ▼ ▼ U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Louis Sullivan denounced ACT UP after the group zapped him in W isconsin. ‘T h e y ’re a nuisance,” Sullivan said. His comments echoed recent remarks by President George Bush. Dur ing a meeting with journalists from the religious press. Bush termed ACT UP “totally counterpro ductive,” “outrageous,” and “offensive,” and called the group’s tactics “ an excess o f free speech.” I soNttî'Kr \Us \a W e 'JQ Q^ e % ° 'NUn! J&issr , f I owe \\ to a\\ °' The AIDS epidemic hasn’t gone away. That’s a hard reality, and it’s something we have to deal with as individuals and as a community. More and more men like you are making commitments to staying safe. Use latex condoms every time you have anal or oral sex. Don't share needles if you do drugs. Staying safe may be difficult for you, but it can save your life. "Keep It Up” Playshop Tuesday, September 24 HIV+ Tea Dance Sunday, September 15 For more information, call CAP (223-5907) V/TDD 3 ©