Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1994)
ju » t out ▼ January 7, 1904 ▼ 9 national briefs C A L IF O R N IA The Los Angeles City Council has voted to extend health insurance benefits to the unmarried domestic partners o f city employees. A 10-3 vote passed the motion proposed by Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, the council’ s first openly les bian member. Employees must have lived with an unmarried partner for at least a year before they and their children can qualify for the medi cal and dental coverage. IL L IN O IS Ana Castillo, a Chicago native who now re sides in N ew M exico, has received the 1993 Carl Sandburg Award for Fiction. Castillo, who iden tifies herself as a bisexual, won the prestigious literary award for her novel a story that spans twenty years in the lives o f a Chicana mother and her four daughters. This is her third novel. Castillo has just finished writing So Far From God, Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma (Chicana feminism), which is scheduled for pub lication in the spring o f 1994. L O U IS IA N A Gov. Edwin W . Edwards has signed an execu tive order barring state agencies from discrimi nating against individuals based on sexual orien tation. The order specifically bars discrimination in providing services or benefits; in any matter pertaining to employment including, but not lim ited to, hiring, promotion, tenure, recruitment and compensation; and in the awarding o f con tracts or in the practices o f state contractors. M ASSACH USETTS Gay and lesbian activists are upset with G ov. W illiam W e ld ’ s choice o f Edward Kirby as an appeals judge in the state’ s Department o f Indus trial Accidents. Kirby, a Republican and former state senator, fought against the state’ s civil rights bill, which includes sexual orientation, that passed in 1989. He has also charged that gay men and lesbians “ recruit” children and that gay men are responsible for the spread o f A ID S . W eld, a well- known Republican advocate for the civil rights o f lesbians and gay men, feels that K irb y ’ s conser vative stance is merely, “ a difference o f degree.” Kirby has claimed that his position has been distorted. “ I am not a person who detests gays,” he said, “ I am very tolerant and accepting.” Boston’ s chapter o f the Log Cabin Republicans reports that K irby’ s new position would not give him power over civil rights issues. NEW YO RK The W orking Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues has published Funders of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Programs: A Directory for Grantseekers. The directory, the first o f its kind, provides information on potential funding sources for organizations and projects working with les bian, gay and bisexual communities. The publi cation lists over 100 foundations and corpora tions from around the country who have sup ported programs for those communities. The group plans to update the directory annually. Call (212) 475-2930. S O U T H C A R O L IN A Democrat Senator Ernest “ Fritz” Hollings re cently criticized African diplomats who traveled to Switzerland for trade talks that finally con cluded after years o f negotiations. Speaking in Washington the Senator remarked, "Everybody likes to go to Geneva. I used to do it for the Law o f the Sea conferences and you’ d find these p o tentates from down in Africa, you know, rather than eating each other, they’d just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva.” The remark brought condemnation from the National Asso ciation for the Advancement o f Colored People, and embarrassment from some white Democrats. TENNESSEE Shareholders o f the Cracker Barrel chain o f restaurants recently voted against a proposal for the company to adopt a non-discriminatory em ployment policy regarding gay men and lesbians. Seven ty-seven percent o f the shareholders present at a closed-door meeting voted against the pro posal and 14 percent voted in favor o f it. The policy was proposed by the N ew York City Re tirement System, a Cracker Barrel shareholder. A second policy proposal, designed to expand the board o f directors to “ reflect the varied races, genders and sexual orientations o f shareholders,” was also rejected. Cracker Barrel has been the target o f boycotts since it adopted a policy in 1991 that prohibited the hiring o f gay and lesbian employees and subsequently fired 12 lesbian and gay employees. Specifically, the policy stated that the company could no longer employ persons “ whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal hetero sexual values.” Although the company has since rescinded the policy, gay and lesbian activists say that since the fired gay and lesbian employees have not been rehired, the policy is still in place. SEC rules allow for shareholder’ s proposals to be reconsidered at future meetings if they receive at least three percent o f the vote. Therefore, the issue could come up again next year. W A S H IN G T O N D.C. Three national gay and lesbian civil rights groups have designated staff members to focus on the issues o f lesbian health. Marci Wasserman, a lobbyist for The Human Rights Campaign Fund is now spending half o f her time there working on lesbian health issues. She is concentrating on meeting with the staffs o f members o f Congress to educate them about lesbian health issues. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has hired Marj Plumb to work on lesbian health. Plumb is the former executive director o f Lyon-Marlin W om en’s Health Services in San Francisco and joins the staff at N G L T F as its new health policy director. She will focus on national health care reform, H IV prevention and lesbian health. Paula Eltelbrick, newly appointed head o f the New York office o f the National Center for Lesbian Rights, will work to stimulate more funding for lesbian health services and with the women’ s health community around specific issues. ^ * Wishing You All a ‘\H ap p y New Year... Deborah Bet run CRB. OKI Broker Ow ner Chris Bonner Scott Bottaro Associate Broker Million Dollar Cluh Million Dollar Cluh Marie la ird Donald Falk Judy Carnahan Certified Molly Brady Jim Bean New Homes Specialist Million Dollar Cluh Rich Filia Gerry Federico Hill Calvin John Terrill, GRI (»ary Sadleir Val Thorpe Million Dollar Producer Kim Kines Lucille Lockett Million Dollar Producer Kathy Tysinger Jud W alker Million Dollar Cluh Kathleen Ira Jude Watson, GUI Greg Washington Million Dollar Producer A sm mate Broker Million Dollar Cluh • Million Dollar Cluh m * C) c «b* 4 J + Bill Kline Linda Welch Karen HiLsing Anita Trudeau Million Dollar Cluh Bridgetown Realty 13630763 ”; to yours. We re pleased to have been part of your dream of being “home for the holidays.” We also thank you for using our services this past year and are committed to continuing to offer the same courteous professional service and attention to detail you have come to expect from Bridgetown Realty. T T T Susan Hester, the president o f the Mary-Helcn Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer has been asked to participate in a meeting o f health The Long Island-based company A vis Rent- and policy makers working to develop a plan to A-Car recently instituted a new policy regarding deal with breast cancer as a national health emer the additional driver fee for unmarried couples gency. Hester will join Secretary o f Health and who rent a car and both intend to drive. In an Human Services, Donna Shalala, government internal memo to its agents nationwide, the com pany announced that the fee could be waived, i leaders, scientists, breast cancer survivors, and representatives o f major corporations and organi The fee has been an industry standard and has zations that educate and support breast cancer traditionally been waived only for married couples patients. Says Hester, “ It is critical that lesbiaas or employees o f the same company traveling have this voice at the table so that our government together. The fees range from between $3 and can begin to understand that we are a community $10 per day. Some states currently limit or ban the charges. A spokesperson for A vis commented j at higher risk for breast cancer and [one] that is being quietly devastated by this disease.” on the move, “ A ll we are doing is reacting to customer demand. When we get enough [re quests], we bend and change with the times.” F o r the q u a lity se rv ic e y o u deserve. ▼ ▼ T Compiled by Lee Norwood R e d L io n L lo y d C e n te r B o lt o n P laza 1000 N.E. M u lt n o m a h 2 1 S 7 0 W illam ette D riv e W est Lin n , O r e g o n 9 7 0 6 8 Portland, O r e g o n 9 7 2 3 2 (503) 287-9370 fflU» Bridgetown Realty (503) 655-8015 ...and thanking you for making 1993 so successful.
