Just out., January 01, 1993, Page 7, Image 7

Ju at out ▼ Ja n u a ry 1. 1093 ▼ 7
M ARCH O N
W A SH IN G T O N , D.C.
Colorado boycott snowballs
The lesbian and gay community is responding
swiftly to the passage in Colorado of anti-gay
Amendment 2. Boycott Colorado, Inc., has been
founded as “a grassroots organization of volun­
teers working to educate the world about the
atrocity called Amendment 2.” It is coordinating
much of the boycott movement. Although Aspen
Gay Ski Week 1993 is still scheduled, promoters
and fund-raisers continue to pull out their support
of individual events, making it unclear what will
be left when Ski Week takes place in late January.
Robin Tyler has canceled out and said that she
will conduct all future fund-raising events outside
Colorado until Amendment 2 is overturned. Scott
Hitt, co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Victory
Fund and a regular participant in the annual ski
event, said, “We cannot spend our money in
C o lo ra d o .” L esbian ten n is sta r M artina
Navratilova has compared the developments in
Colorado to the hard-line communist takeover of
her native Czechoslovakia in 1968, and she has
joined others in filing a lawsuit challenging the
amendment. “If Amendment 2 is not overturned,
I will move out of Colorado,” she said. “I will not
pay taxes in a state that does not recognize me as
an equal citizen.”
The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund has issued
an alert to its nationwide membership warning of
“adverse conditions” in Colorado and recom­
mending that travelers and convention planners
avoid the state. Arriba! Ski Club of Southern
California, one of Ski W eek’s founding organiza­
tions and participating clubs for the last 15 years,
is canceling the race they sponsored and refusing
to participate in any way in Ski Week.
Jim Hunger
FLORIDA
Miami Beach moved closer to becoming the
first community in Dade County to adopt a
human-rights ordinance including sexual orien­
tation since the county’s original law protecting
gays was repealed by referendum in a 1977
campaign led by Anita Bryant. The proposed
ordinance, covering employment, housing and
public accommodation, is opposed by some
religious groups but is considered likely to pass.
GEO RG IA
A new program sponsored by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention encourages busi­
nesses to be actively involved in educating their
workers about AIDS and to keep HIV-infected
employees working as long as possible. It rec­
ommends assuring HIV-positive employees that
they will remain entitled to health insurance and
other company benefits. Announcing the pro­
gram via satellite hookup, Health and Human
Services Secretary Louis Sullivan said he was
“very concerned” about a Supreme Court ruling
allowing a company to drastically reduce the
benefits of an employee with AIDS— a ruling
the Bush administration had been seeking.
IDAHO
Three Meridian High School teachers who
were suspended for allowing lesbian parents to
talk to their students were reinstated on the
condition that they apologize to the students and
their parents. Letters of reprimand will also be
placed in the teachers’ personnel files.The school
board considered the teachers’ action to be a
violationof the state teachers’ code of ethics and
will require board approval of all future
speakers.
KANSAS
On Our Backs magazine, billed as “enter­
tainment for the adventurous lesbian," switched
to Dimension Graphics in order to print its entire
issue on glossy paper after that printer had
demonstrated a lack of homophobia by printing
The Advocate. The Kansas-based company, how­
ever, on very short notice refused to print two
photographs, one of a woman masturbating with
Clinton sends greetings
April 22-26
President-elect Bill Clinton sent a letter of
support to the fifth-annual Creating Change Con­
ference. The National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force presented the conference, which ran from
Nov. 13 through 15 at the Los Angeles Hilton.
‘T o my friends at the National Gay and Les­
bian Task Force," Clinton said in his letter, “I
would like to welcome you all to the NGLTF
Policy Institute Conference. Hillary and I would
like to thank you all for the hard work you have
done for the advancement of human rights for gay
and lesbian people everywhere. It is an inspiration
to us all.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to
thank every one of you for your tremendous
support during our campaign for change— with­
out your support our victory on Nov. 3 would not
have been possible. I now ask you again for your
help and support in implementing the changes
that are needed to get America moving forward
once more. Thank you. Sincerely, Bill Clinton.”
Former NGLTF leader Urvashi Vaid read the
letter, which was greeted with wild applause by
the more than 1,200 activists at the conference.
The conference featured awards for four organi­
zations and two individuals for their work in
advocating civil rights and visibility for lesbians,
gay men and bisexuals. The awards went to No on
9; the Equal Protection Campaign in Colorado;
United Lesbians of African Heritage; the Na­
tional Latina/o Lesbian and Gay Organization;
Philip Rubin, founder of the first community
center for deaf gays and lesbians; and Dee
Mosbacher, the out lesbian daughter of Robert
M osbacher, the leader o f the Bush-Quayle
campaign.
Irene K. Hislop
a dildo and the other of lesbians practicing safe
sex with plastic wrap. The January/February
1993 issue of On Our Backs will return to a non­
glossy format in order to include the photo­
graphs. To obtain a copy of the censored
November/December 1992 issue or the forth­
coming uncensored issue, call 1 -800-845-4617.
MASSACHUSETTS
Two top officials in Gov. William W eld’s
administration have publicly affirmed that they
are gay and involved in long-term romantic
relationships. Kevin M. Smith and Mitchell L.
Adams came out in a Boston Globe story, citing
growing support for gay rights. Weld, a Repub­
lican, earlier this year signed an executive order
giving some benefits to domestic partners of
state employees.
MINNESOTA
Pride Institute, America’s first inpatient fa­
cility devoted exclusively to the treatment of
alcohol- and drug-dependent lesbian, gay and
bisexual persons, has been purchased by North­
ern Healthcare Associates. Founded six years
ago. Pride Institute celebrates the history, heroic
figures and spiritual resources of the lesbian and
gay community, transcending the homophobia
inherent in most mainstream treatment facili­
ties. For more information, call 1-800-54-
PRIDE.
NEW YORK
Organizers for the June 1994 Gay Games IV
in New York expect 15,000 athletes and 500,000
spectators, up from 1,300 athletes participating
in the first Gay Olympics in 1982 and 7,250 in
the last Gay Games in 1990 in Vancouver,
British Columbia. “It will be the largest gather­
ing for the purpose of sports and arts in history,”
said Bob Weaver, a member of the board of
directors of the San Francisco-based Federation
of Gay Games. Ice hockey and figure skating
have been added to the list of athletic events,
bringing the total to 26, including several not
included in the regular Olympics. A cultural
festival will also be included.
Compiled by Jim Hunger
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