j u s t o u t ▼ fo b rv a ry 17. 1 0 0 3 T 3
Idaho Citizens Alliance
looks to lawmakers
Kelly Walton, chairman of the Idaho Citizens
Alliance, says he may look to the Republican-
controlled state Legislature to promote his group’s
discriminatory agenda. That may not be so easy,
however, since legislative leaders say they plan to
focus this session on reducing big government.
House Speaker Michael Simpson and Senate
President Pro Tern Jerry Twiggs, both Republi
cans from Blackfoot, predict most politicians will
steer clear of controversial discriminatory lesbian
and gay rights measures. Such a bill has yet to be
introduced, and political observers predict bill
opponents would try to keep such a measure bottled
up in committee.
The ICA may be able to use a parliamentary
maneuver early in the session to bypass the GOP
leadership and get its proposal to the floor, where
some say a discriminatory measure could gain
approval.
The ICA unsuccessfully sponsored Proposi
tion 1 last November, an initiative that would have
restricted civil rights protections based on sexual
orientation.
Colorado officials keep
pushing Amendment 2
Colorado state officials have filed a brief with
the nation’s highest court Seeking to overturn the
Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling last October that
declared Amendment 2 unconstitutional.
Allstate reverses policy
Allstate Insurance Company, one of the nation’s
largest insurance companies, has agreed to write a
joint liability policy for a gay male couple living in
New York City.
"Insurance companies should not be in the
business of picking and choosing which types of
families are given coverage,” says Suzanne
Goldberg, staff attorney with the Lambda Legal
Defense and Education Fund in New York. "Re
fusing to issue joint personal liability insurance to
lesbian and gay couples violates New York state
laws which prohibit insurance discrimination based
on marital status and sexual orientation.”
Allstate had initially denied the joint policy to
James Colgate and David Fields, a gay couple who
had lived together for more than a decade and were
registered with the city of New York as domestic
partners.
The company maintained that a joint liability
insurance policy was only available to individual
subscribers and those “who have a legal relation
ship via marriage or some other legally recognized
standing, such as blood relation or adoption.”
The couple applied for the policy in 1993 while
renewing an existing rental policy they shared on
their Greenwich Village apartment.
Allstate reversed its position after several
months of negotiation with Lambda attorneys,
who argued the company’s actions violated both
state law prohibiting marital status discrimination
and general provisions of state insurance law pro
hibiting unfair discrimination between people in
the same class of risk. Lambda also argued the
latter provision prohibits discrimination based on
sexual orientation.
The company finally granted the joint policy in
mid-December.
BY LINDA KU
Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton filed
the brief with the U.S. Supreme Court a few weeks
ago. The state’s top court had ruled Amendment 2,
a discriminatory initiative approved by voters in
1992, was unconstitutional because it interfered
with the rights of lesbians and gay men to partici
pate in the political process.
Nebraska says no gay
and lesbian foster parents
The Nebraska Department of Social Services
recently implemented a new ban on foster parenting
for gay men and lesbians. Mary Dean Harvey,
director of the Nebraska Department of Social
Services, stated that it was in the best interest of the
state to place children “in the most family-like
setting.” Gay men and lesbians are now banned
from operating foster care agencies, and unmar
ried heterosexual couples may not adopt children.
The action has been denounced by Citizens for
Equal Protection, a statewide gay, lesbian,
transgender group. The National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force Fight the Right project is working with
CFEP and local activists to challenge the policy.
According to Robert Bray, NGLTF Fight the Right
organizer, “The radical right is launching multiple
attacks against the gay, lesbian and bisexual com
munity simultaneously.... We need to respond
aggressively...and be prepared for future attacks,
whether they are in Nebraska or New York City.”
With the passage of a House Bill 1184, a piece
of legislation that is a mere seven lines long, South
Dakota stands to become one of the first states in
the Union to take pre-emptive action against the
recognition of same-sex marriages legalized in
other states.
The bill whipped through the House of Repre
sentatives with a vote of 54-13 in favor of passage.
During floor debate, some legislators com
pared the marriage ban to “making homosexuality
illegal in South Dakota.” The Rapid City Journal
quotes State Rep. Roger Hunt of Brandon as saying
the bill was introduced because of the “great eco
nomic expense” same-sex marriage could bring to
the state. Passage of the bill would “prevent one
partner from homosexual marriages from being
added to certain health and life insurance policies,”
he said.
Guns and queers
Two discriminatory organizations have an
nounced a two-year plan of attack against gay men
and lesbians in Washington state, according to
Seattle Gay News. This plan includes initiatives to
both Washington citizens and the Legislature.
The Equal Rights Not Special Rights Commit
tee plans to file an initiative to the Legislature that
would be identical to last year’s failed Initiative
608. That measure would have prohibited civil
rights protections for gay men and lesbians. It
would also have prohibited public schools from
“promoting homosexuality as a healthy or appro
priate behavior.”
Last month, the Citizens Alliance of Washing
ton filed two initiatives to the people. If passed, one
measure would prohibit gay men and lesbians
from adopting children. The second would remove
restrictions from buying and owning guns.
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and Kristine Chatwood
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