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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 19, 1995)
8 ▼ m ay 10, 1 0 0 3 ▼ ju s t out national news WHEEL ALIGNMENTS & TIRES ARKANSAS Robert Wiley, an elementary school guidance counselor with the Smackover School District, was suspended without pay for the remainder of the school year after showing videotapes relating to HIV and AIDS to schoolchildren. According to the Associated Press, Wiley, an employee of the district for 21 years, showed the videotapes to students in the fourth and sixth grades. The programs he showed had all been aired on the Arkansas Educational Television Network. After upset parents protested to the school princi pal and the district superintendent, Wiley was instructed not to show any more videos on HIV. Disciplinary action was taken against Wiley when he continued to show videos to students. 2454 E. BURNSIDE • PORTLAND, OR 97214 Family Oivned & Operated Since 1952 CALIFORNIA The Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest grass-roots environmental organization, announced in April that it will extend medical, dental and vision ben efits to the domestic partners of employees. These benefits are available to both same-sex and oppo site-sex partners. For insurance purposes, domes tic partners will carry the same status as married partners. The Sierra Club is a membership organization. Currently, over 2,500 members participate in its six regional gay and lesbian groups. Largest Pool in the ¥ of Downtown • Work out in a class or independently • Wear comfortable casual clothes • Multi-generational — all ages T T Y Plans by the California Institute of Technology to offer domestic partnership benefits to gay and lesbian staff members has opponents in the Pasa dena area hopping, Baltimore Gay Paper reported. Critics oppose the plan, which was set to begin May 1, because both CalTech and Jet Propulsion Laboratories, CalTech’s most famous facility, are the largest employers in the area. Additionally, JPL is very involved in government-related re search and with the public schools. Opponents don’t want school children to think that gay and lesbian relationships are as valid as heterosexual marriage. They also don’t want any of the federal tax dollars that go to CalTech and JPL to be used to provide domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples. 50% off Initiation Fee Offer expires May 31,1995 YW C A Y Y Y Greg Louganis, Olympic gold medalist and now well-known author, will act as grand marshal in this year’s San Diego Lesbian and Gay Pride parade. Louganis, formerly of nearby El Cajon, will lead the parade accompanied by his mother. Earlier this year, Louganis revealed both his sexual orientation and his HIV status during a television interview with Barbara Walters. His book, Breaking the Surface, has turned Louganis into a very hot commodity on the gay and lesbian circuit. Coed • Weight Room Cardio • Massage Aerobics • Yoga YWCA of Portland: Continuing to make a difference 1111 SW 10th • Portland • 294-7420 TWENTY-THIRD AVENUE Ïl O O K S 1015 N W 2 3rd A venue, P ortland, O regon 97210, (503) 224*5097 1 Monday-Friday 9 :3 0 - 8 pm □ Saturday 10 am - 8 pm □ Sunday 1 am - 4 pm FIEP0RT HOMOPHOBIC VIOLENCE DISTRICT OF COLOMBIA Third Parties ’96, a conference organized by progressive activists to develop a strategy for the 1996 elections, will be held June 1 to 4 at George Washington University. Spearheaded by “Green parties’’ from several states, the conference is ex pected to draw representatives from ACT UP, the Patriot Party of Virginia, the Maryland New Party, and Washington, D.C.’s Umoja Party and State hood Party. “Our goal is to seek agreement on a statement of shared principles—to promote this statement and the spirit behind it to stimulate third party discussions in the states,” conference coordinator Linda Martin said, in a story in The Washington Blade. For information on the conference, call (703)642-5710. ILLINOIS A hearings officer for the Cook County Com mission on Human Rights ruled May 4 that a Chicago-area sports bar illegally discriminated against four gay men when it had them arrested for dancing together. In her decision, Joanne Kinoy ruled that the Sidelines Sports Bar had discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation, a violation of Cook County’s human rights ordi nance. She recommended that the bar pay the maximum fine. Her decision will now go to the commission for review. INDIANA A group of Indiana gay men and lesbians has demanded the removal of an Indiana Civil Rights Commission member who spoke out against an Indiana General Assembly bill that would have prohibited employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. According to an Associated Press story, Ruth G. Benavente stated that she spoke out against the bill because of her religious belief that homosexuality is a sin and homosexuals should not have legal protections. NEW YORK Hoping to lead a unified economic campaign by the gay and lesbian community to encourage corporations to end discrimination in the work place, the Wall Street Project introduced in April a set of “Equality Principles on Sexual Orientation.” Modeled after the “Sullivan Principles on In vesting in South Africa” this voluntary eight-point code has been offered to major corporations in the United States and Canada. The Wall Street Project is a program of the Community Lesbian and Gay Rights Institute Inc. Its goal is to eliminate discrimination in every workplace in the United States. For more informa tion, write the Wall Street Project, 185 E 85th St., Suite 25A, New York, NY 10028-2147. NORTH CAROLINA A lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Op portunity Commission on behalf of a Campbell University teacher who was fired two years ago was settled out of court in late March. The teacher, who has AIDS, was fired because he was perceived to be a threat to the safety of the students. Under the terms of the settlement, he will receive $325,000 and will get his job back. According to an Associated Press story, this lawsuit was the first in North Carolina to apply the Americans with Disabilities Act to people with AIDS. WASHINGTON A special birthday party was held in Seattle last month for state Sen. Cal Anderson. The celebra tion raised money for the Cal Anderson House, a 24-unit apartment complex that will house low- income people living with AIDS. Anderson, a gay man, received personal letters of congratulations from President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash). The letters were read at the Pioneer Square event by Murray’s Seattle-based special assistant, Kennie Endelman. The Cal Anderson House was established through local, state and federal dollars, as well as private donations. Of the $2.6 million needed to complete the project, $ 1.47 million came from a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Compiled by Kristine Chatwood