ju st o u t ▼ O ctober 2 0 , 1 0 0 5 ▼ 7
books. Subsequently, the principal told her the
school board did not want her use the books in the
classroom because they contained gay characters.
Culliton then wrote to both the principal and a
new superintendent asking if she was being or
dered not to use the books. Neither the principal
nor the superintendent answered her letters. As
she had already received approval through the
normal procedures and her letters had gone unan
swered, Culliton distributed the books to her
students. Shortly after learning that Culliton was
using the books in class, the principal recom
mended she be fired. Insisting that the issue was
insubordination, not homophobia, the school board
voted last month to fire her. Culliton plans to fight
her firing.
The day after Culliton’s dismissal became
public knowledge, about 40 students from
Mascenic High School walked cut of classes in
protest. Students who refused to return to class
were suspended.
Kristine Chatwood
Martina touts new
VISA card
Martina Navratilova is teaming up with Subaru
of America, Travelers Bank and VISA USA to
market a new affinity card aimed at gay men and
lesbians. Navratilova will serve as the unpaid
spokesperson for the card.
The Rainbow Card is one of the newest affin
ity cards, which are credit cards targeting a spe
cific market. Money raised from consumer use of
the Rainbow Card will raise funds for charities.
The money will be distributed by the Rainbow
Card Foundation of Philadelphia. Subaru of
America is the founding sponsor of the Rainbow
Foundation.
In the first year, money from the Rainbow
Foundation will be channeled to six nonprofit
organizations, including the National Center for
Lesbian Rights and the Community Research
Initiative on AIDS.
According to the New York Times News Ser
vice, Subaru learned through focus-group inter
views with Subaru owners that the company car
ried some equity with gay consumers, particu
larly lesbians. This discovery led to a decision to
target some of its marketing to the lesbian and gay
consumer.
Kristine Chatwood
Conservative Christians
condemn Coors
Coors Brewing Co. finds itself between the
proverbial rock and hard place these days. Long
considered a stalwart supporter of right-wing
antigay causes, Coors has shaken its conservative
allies with its recent decision to extend health
benefits to the same-sex partners of employees.
And gay and lesbian activists, while supportive of
the extension of benefits, remain wary of the
company's history of right-wing activity.
The Rev. Fred Phelps, a right-wing activist
from Topeka, Kan., is planning a protest in No
vember at the Coors Brewery in Golden, Col.,
according to the Associated Press.
“I’m kind of glad that they [the gay commu
nity] are hassling Coors, because they deserve it
trying to straddle that moral fence,” Phelps said.
King Heights View
“This is not a matter that can be compromised in
our view of things.”
Although the Coors Brewing Co. may be
softening its stand in regard to homosexuals,
Coors family members are still involved with
conservative groups. The Coors Foundation has
given money to the Heritage Foundation and the
Mountain States Foundation, both of which sup
port antigay agendas.
Kristine Chatwood
White House HIV
summit planned
“President Clinton plans to host a one-day
White House conference on HIV and AIDS in
December featuring about 175 experts in research,
prevention, treatment and discrimination.”
It wasn’t exactly a banner headline, but in
stead a one-paragraph article “Inside the Loop” in
the Oct. 9 edition of The Washington Post.
Members of the Presidential HI V/AIDS Advi
sory Council which
called for the summit
know little more about
it, except that they now
report the summit will
be held on Dec. 6.
“Part of what you
get is a higher level of
visibility for the is
su e,” said council
mem ber A lexander
Robinson, co-chair of
the coalition National
O rg an izatio n s R e
sponding to AIDS.
He hopes it will
also “shake up the
administration claiming “to have accomplished
all of these things, yet at the agency level we often
meet some of the same old barriers we met be
fore.”
Ben Schatz, another council member and ex
ecutive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical
Association, “hopes the president is exposed to
ideas and thinking that normally doesn’t get ex
pressed to presidents.”
Schatz has another objective: “When the presi
dent responds off the cuff to things, as he tends to
do, we are able to get him saying the right things
in front of some of the boys in suits, who tend to
be somewhat more indifferent than he is. My hope
is that a strong message is sent by his presence and
by his comments.”
Schatz would speak to the president about
“homophobia and racism, two co-factors which
have absolutely crippled our efforts to fight the
spread of HIV, to do meaningful prevention and
to care for people with HIV.
“The issues of social prejudice and bias as
manifested by Jesse Helms and his ilk have to be
squarely on the table.... Many of us tend to gloss
that over,” he said. The administration needs to be
pushed “to act in a more courageous fashion.”
“ It will be ju s t schm ooze, schm ooze,
schmooze,” criticized Steve Michael of ACT UP
Washington. “The only way it would be accept
able for anyone to participate in the meeting is if
they publicly hold him accountable to his 1992
promises.”
“Anybody who writes it off beforehand is
simply being a rejectionist,” countered Schatz. “I
don’t think talk is meaningless. A movement that
says ‘Silence equals death’ cannot also say that
talk is meaningless.
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