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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1994)
8 ▼ January 21, 1994 ▼ just out HELP AT LAST For Degenerative Diseases • Arthritis • AIDS • Lupus • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Hollywood Clinic Steven Meeker, DIPL.AC., L.AC. Chinese Medicine National Board Certified in Acupuncture Susan Rogers, LM T 2163 NE Broadway »(503) 281-3835 PRIVATE THERAPY POOL • MASSAGE THERAPY SEE US FOR ALL YOUR COLLISION REPAIR NEEDS national news Man perceived as gay is murdered in French Quarter Three men have been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a Gulfort, Miss., man who was as saulted allegedly because his attackers thought he was gay. Joseph Balog and a male friend were walking in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early morning hours when a group of four or five men shouting homophobic epithets attacked them, killing Balog and seriously injuring the friend. Police reported that the victims were not gay. Arrested for first degree murder and held without bail were Grant Wayne Gunderson, 24, Ronald D. Graves, 24, and Mingo Graham, 23. All were from a New Orleans suburb. Police are reportedly looking for more suspects. The city’s gay and lesbian community re sponded to the assaults with a rally and candle light march to the intersection where Balog died. Lin-Todd Soldani, a liaison between lesbians and gay men who live in the French Quarter and the New Orleans Police Department, said of the at tack, “I think people are getting the signal from the government on down that gays arc second class citizens and it’s okay to treat them anyway at all.” Soldani also said that the attitude towards gay men and lesbians in the city has gotten worse after the city’s reversal of a decision to extend health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian city workers. NGLTF meets with Justice Department with Gus Van Sant, Empress Maria and Gail Shibley to benefit a program of Outside In and Phoenix Rising for homeless gay, lesbian and bisexual youth S a tu r d a y , Feb. 12, 3 pm at and sponsored by TH E CITY NI<3HTCLUBi3Nwi3th T ic k e ts $ 2 0 availab le a t O u ts id e In, Phoenix Rising, The C ity N ig h tclu b , B lo o m ln g s to c k , It's M y P lea su re . C all 2 2 3 -4 1 2 1 fo r m ore In fo rm a tio n . The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force met recently with the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss its involvement in the case of two lesbi ans, Brenda and Wanda Henson, who are being harassed and threatened by their surrounding com munity in Ovett, Miss. The Justice Department’s actions are restricted though, because the federal civil rights law does not include sexual orienta tion as a protected status. The actions taken thus far by the department include having the Community Relations Service contact the Hensons, the local FBI office, the U.S. Attorney’s office and the sheriff’s department in Jones County to let them know a federal agency is monitoring the situation. Departmentofficials are considering what other actions may be taken by the CRS. The Department of Justice has ordered the FBI to remain in close contact with the local sheriffs department and continue monitoring of the situ ation. Because an investigation could only be launched if other generally applicable federal statutes arc violated, the NGLTF has agreed to notify the Justice Department if any violent or threatening incidents happen to the Hensons. NGLTF’s Tanya Domi commented that the meeting “outlined some of the limits the Justice Department faces in intervening on behalf of gay, lesbian and bisexual people because sexual orien tation is not included in federal civil rights laws.” Maupin’s Tales of the City attacked by right wing groups across the country. Representatives from gay and lesbian civil rights groups also testified at the hearing. Speak ers from the D.C. chapter of Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Human Rights Campaign Fund called on CPB to continue airing lesbian and gay programming and asked for more funding for its production. HCRF’s Gregory King said, “The real threat to America comes from those who argue that some Ameri cans arc not members of the general population, that some Americans should be silenced and that some Americans are sub-human and are unde serving of human rights simply because they are different.” The HRCF is encouraging individuals to call local public television stations in support of pro grams like Tales o f the City. On a local note, a caller reported to Just Out that local PBS affiliate, Oregon Public Broadcast ing, has been receiving many negative phone calls regarding its recent airing of the show. To show your support for Tales o f the City call OPB at (503) 244-9900. HRCF to hire Ballot Measure Campaign manager The Human Rights Campaign Fund is set to hire a campaign manager to coordinate the 1994 Ballot Measure Campaign. HRCF’s Ballot Mea sure Campaign will provide coordinated political and fundraising assistance to fight the increasing threat of the radical right at the ballot box. The campaign manager will be responsible for over seeing political activities in several states and nationally and for providing consulting services to state campaigns. The temporary position will end on Dec. 31, 1994. Those interested in the position should send a cover letter, resume and three references to Eric Rosenthal, Political Director, HRCF, 1012 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005. American Airlines settles dispute American Airlines has made a settlement with Timothy Hollcss, the man with AIDS who Ameri can personnel forcibly removed from Flight 55 at O ’Hare Airport in Chicago in November. Repre sentatives for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund announced that as part of the settlement, the full terms of which are confiden tial, American Airlines will satisfy Hollcss’ re quest of additional training for gate agents and flight attendants about working with passengers with disabilities, including AIDS. Specifically, the airline will work with the National Association of People with AIDS and the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS to sensitize airline personnel to the needs and con cerns of persons with AIDS. American’s vice president of customer services, George Mueller said that the airline “tries to ensure that all of our passengers have a safe and com fortable flight., .rcgardlcssof their physical condition.’ He added, “We thank Mr. Hollcss in helping us to do a better job in that regard.” A public hearing was held by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington D.C., where groups strongly criticized the scries Tales o f the City by gay author Armistcad Maupin as “a slick piece of gay propaganda." Representatives from the Family Research Council and Accuracy in Media objected to taxpayers having to pay for a national propaganda exercise glorifying ho mosexual promiscuity ."The groups called for the CPB to air i he Gay Agenda, a homophobic film Which, has .been widely dtsiribukxht* **im*Qs i \ U \ W W com piled by Lee Norwood
