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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1994)
just out ▼ may 20. 1004 ▼ 5 national news Queer staff association forms on Capitol Hill The queer presence on Capitol Hill is offi cially coming out, with the formation of the Les bian and Gay Congressional Staff Association. Its first meeting was held April 28. The association’s request for registration was approved by House Speaker Tom Foley (D-Wash.) and will be formalized by the House Administra tion committee. That official status, a first on the Hill, entitles them to a House mail box and use of office space for meetings. Several staffers had been talking about estab lishing a group for nearly a year. What galvanized them into action was an incident last fall—three members of the Oklahoma congressional delega tion told the Tulsa World they would not hire gay men or lesbians for their office staffs. This display of bigotry “illustrated the need for an association that would enable lesbian and gay House employees to offer one another mutual support,” said Robert Raben, a founding member and legislative assistant to Rep. Barney Frank (D- Mass.). The purpose and goals of the association are professional and personal development, educa tion and mutual support. House rules, much like rules governing non-profit tax-exempt organiza tions, prohibit any such group from formal politi cal activity, such as lobbying on a specific piece of legislation. “A core group of about a dozen have been working on this, and upwards of 30 have ex pressed interest [in participating],” said Mark Agrast, another founding member and senior leg islative assistant to Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.). Studds believes that “most members of Con gress— like most people—are fundamentally de cent and fair-minded.” He feels that as House members learn some of the people they work with and trust are lesbian and gay, “They will develop a greater understanding [of the problems facing them],” and act accordingly. In a related matter, the Human Rights Cam paign Fund, also prodded by the incident involv ing the Oklahoma delegation, has conducted a congressional survey. It asked members to sign a statement saying they did not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring and promo tion. In February, HRCF announced that more than half the members of the House of Represen tatives have signed. A similar survey began in the Senate in Febru ary. HRCF scheduled a news conference to an nounce they had garnered pledges from more than half the members of that body, but postponed the event. The delay does not appear to represent a fail ure to gather 51 signatures, but rather a decision to wait until they get 60. That is the number of votes necessary to end a filibuster. It is a more compel ling figure to seasoned observers of the Senate. HRCF lobbyists hope to gain the additional signa tures over the next few weeks. Gebbie’s leadership questioned by major AIDS organizations A draft entitled “National HIV Action Agenda” from the office of the national AIDS policy coor dinator, Kristine Gebbie, is drawing a critical response. The document, stamped "draft” and “for inter nal use only—confidential,” had been shared with a number of AIDS organizations for their reac tions. The answer from even the most mainstream of the groups was one of growing frustration. has yet to be a meaningful discussion of poverty, “Stand Up and Be Counted” awards will go to non-profit organizations to fund education and racism, and homophobia— root causes of the epi demic. Nor have fundamental prevention strate advocacy projects throughout Washington state. gies, such as condom-use and needle-exchange, The ultimate goal of these projects is to tie into been frankly discussed. efforts to pass a gay and lesbian civil rights bill “Having had nine months to develop strategy, and to defeat any discriminatory initiatives in however, the forthcoming ‘leadership statement’ 1994. from the Office of the National AIDS Policy "In times of crisis, it is important for commu Coordinator is unacceptable.” nity foundations to show leadership. We believe The association called upon President Clinton the ‘Stand Up and Be Counted’ awards will “to reinvigorate the Office with dynamic leader provide the seed money necessary to build a ship in the face of an astounding epidemic that strong bridge to visibility, acceptance and under continues unabated.” standing for the lesbian and gay community,” Steve Michael, of ACT UP/Washington, was said Tina Podlodowski, the foundation’s board not surprised by the banal content of the draft president. document. But he was pleased that other organi The Pride Foundation has made direct grants zations are now in public agreement with his of$400,000toover 100organizations since 1987. belief that “Gebbie has to go.” He called Gebbie The foundation raises funds for its granting and “a paper pusher who did the same thing to us in scholarship programs, educates about commu Washington state,” and said she “is only there to nity needs and solutions, fosters leadership, and handle queer voters.” promotes making the most of available commu Michael noted the timing of future release of nity resources. During regular granting cycles the draft document when he said it “is one more later this year, the group will distribute an addi piece of paper to flaunt at Gay Pride.” He saw it as tional $65,000. ju st the latest exam ple o f the C linton administration’s pattern of managing the news of AIDS rather than adopting policies to effectively combat HIV. Subsequent actions have further eroded sup- j port for the administration within the AIDS j Members of Congress are being asked to sign community. The HIV prevention media cam a petition stating that they oppose "all federal paign unveiled in January was most notable for attempts to use tax dollars to promote, encourage, ignoring the largest group of those infected with fund [directly or indirectly], or indemnify by HIV—gay men. While Clinton’s budget did show code of law, homosexuality or any perverse sub small increases in HIV funding, those increases group thereof.” The petition is being circulated did not begin to keep pace with the exploding by the Christian Action Network, an anti-gay caseload of people with AIDS. fund-raising organization, in response to a recent The response to this draft document by main announcement by the Human Rights Campaign line AIDS service organizations appears to signal Fund that more than 200 members of the House a new, more combative phase in their relationship of Representatives have non-discrimination poli with the Clinton administration. It remains to be cies regarding the hiring of lesbian and gay em seen whether this stance will have any impact in ployees. moving the administration to take the more ag Martin Mawyer, president of the Christian gressive steps the HIV epidemic demands. Action Network, stated in a March 24 letter to members of Congress, "Recently you were asked to prove your social sensibilities by signing a pledge to prohibit discrimination against homo sexuals in your personal hiring practices. Keep ing in form, we are asking that you sign the The Pride Foundation of Washington state attached pro-family pledge.” Mawyer calls the announced in April that it has raised $ 100,000 for homosexual movement “one of the greatest threats its “Stand Up and Be Counted” project. The to the American family.” special three-month fund-raising project matched Daniel Zingale, public policy director for the every dollar given with a challenge grant from the HRCF, called the Mawyer petition “a clear Allan Tonning Foundation. The money will be example of the radical right’s effort to distort an given to 20 projects which support outreach, important issue.” He said, ‘T o suggest that education and visibility to further the lesbian and opposing discrimination against lesbian and gay community’s struggle against discrimina gay Americans in the workplace is somehow tion. anti-family is an intentional distortion o f the Recent polling suggests that people who claim facts. they don’t know any lesbians or gay men are more Compiled by Bob Roehr and Jann Gilbert likely to vote against lesbian and gay civil rights. Radical right at work on Capitol Hill “It really isn’t an action plan,” said Dr. Mervyn Silverman, president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research. “These are just a set of goals.” “We could have said all of this two years into the epidemic, not 13 years into the epidemic,” said Dan Bross, executive director of the AIDS Action Council. “We need timelines attached to it. We need dollars attached to it.” Helen Fox, of the National Minority AIDS Council, said that group would not publicly re spond until after its board meets in May. The National Association of People with AIDS, in a statement it released April 13, said, “It has become painfully clear that the Office is not meeting the challenges of the HIV epidemic.” Characterizing the draft as “yet another bu reaucratic exercise that is long on process and short on results,” the association charged, “There cathartic comics I Pride Foundation grants awards featuring The Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé by P rof. I.B . Gittendowne W H A T DO YOU T H IN K A B O U T H IM A N D H \S PEERS N O T W A N T IN G TO PARTICIPATE IN A S O M E T IM E S C LU M S Y POLITICAL PROCESS M IR E D IN SCANDAL A N D STAGNATION ? 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