ju st o u t ▼ d o co m b o r I S . I M S ▼ S
national briefs
CALIFORNIA
Fans o f the television show Friends will soon
see a Gingrich in the cast. Candace Gingrich, sister
o f House Speaker Newt Gingrich and lesbian poster
girl, will play the part o f the lesbian m inister who
officiates at the w edding o f Susan and Carol, the
two lesbian characters. The episode will air in
January.
Gingrich was recruited for the role by David
Crane, the show ’s executive producer. The two
met at a Los Angeles benefit for the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance A gainst Defam ation.
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Protesters from A C T UP-San Francisco dis
rupted a Nov. 27 fund-raiser for the University o f
California at San Francisco’s AIDS Health Project.
In addition to the usual chanting, whistling and
blocked entrances, A C T UP set o ff stink bombs at
the Hyatt Regency Em barcadero, where the fund
raiser was held.
Protesters were angry that the event was sched
uled on the 17th anniversary o f the assassination of
Harvey Milk. They were also upset that A H Pchose
to honor Pat Christen, executive director o f the San
Francisco AIDS Foundation, at the gala. Earlier
this year A C T UP-San Francisco publicly called
for C hristen’s ouster.
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The dream o f a lesbian and gay com m unity
center in San Francisco may be a little closer to
becom ing reality. Project organizers told the Bay
Area Reporter on Nov. 23 that they have located a
site in the M arket Street corridor and are presently
negotiating with the owner.
W hen com pleted, the center will house an
inform ation and referral service for tourists and
newcom ers to San Francisco; it will provide m eet
ing and office space for com m unity groups and
projects; and it will be a safe space for people o f all
abilities, ages and ethnic and cultural backgrounds
to come together for the betterm ent o f the com m u
nity.
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W est Hollywood, the gay m ecca of Southern
California, is the new est site o f the never-ending
battle over gun control in this country. City C oun
cil m em bers are considering a proposal to ban the
sale of “Saturday night specials,” the cheap, unre
liable, low-caliber handguns favored by those crim i
nals who have not yet m oved on to sem i-autom atic
and assault weapons. Passage of the prohibition
would make W est H ollywood the first city in the
United States to ban these guns.
Thanks to the lobbying efforts o f the National
Rifle Association, every attem pt by the federal
governm ent to ban the weapons dom estically has
failed.
In October, all five m em bers of the W est Hol
lywood City Council unanim ously endorsed the
ban. The attorney drafting the ordinance is study
ing state bans on the weapons passed by Maryland,
M innesota, South C arolina, Hawaii and Illinois.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thom as Gumbleton
was honored in N ovem ber for his support of lesbi
ans and gay men within the Roman Catholic Church.
New W ays M inistry, a national Catholic group that
promotes openness to lesbians and gay men in the
Church, presented G um bleton with its Bridge
Building Award.
At G um bleton’s suggestion, the award was
presented in the same hotel in which the National
Conference o f Catholic Bishops was taking place.
Only a few of the 250 bishops at the conference
came to the awards ceremony.
MICHIGAN
A gay high school music director was the topic
o f discussion at a Nov. 20 Byron Center school
board meeting, according to the Detroit Free Press.
At issue was his sexual orientation, which has
aroused the anger of some parents.
Gerry Crane has vowed to rem ain on the job
despite the opposition directed at him. Crane de
nies that he told students about his private life.
Apparently, the trouble began when someone made
public the fact that Crane and his partner had
participated in a com m itm ent cerem ony.
<
In a move rem iniscent of Dan W hite’s “T winkie
defense,” law yers for John Schm itz, the man
charged with killing a gay man after the two
appeared on the Jenny Jones show, may try to
convince the jury that his thyroid made him do it.
Schm itz is charged with first-degree m urder in
the shooting o f Scott Amedure. Amedure was
killed three days after he revealed during the taping
o f Jones’ show that he had a crush on Schmitz.
Schmitz told police he felt humiliated by Am edure’s
disclosure.
On Nov. 6, doctors at Pontiac Osteopathic
Hospital diagnosed Schm itz with G raves’ disease,
a thyroid disorder. His attorneys are reviewing his
medical records to see if a claim o f mood swings
brought on by the disorder has a chance of standing
up in court.
MISSOURI
A new history book, one that tells the history of
lesbians and gay m en, has been rejected by the
libraries in nearly every high school in St. Louis
and St. Louis County.
Copies of Becoming Visible, a collection of
articles discussing gay people in prem odem soci
eties, the em ergence in the 18th and 19th centuries
o f the m odem gay
m ovem ent, and the
struggles o f lesbians
and gay men at the
end o f the 20th cen
tury, were sent to 83
high schools in the
St. Louis area. They
were donated to the schools in October by the St.
Louis chapter o f the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Teachers Network as part o f Lesbian, Gay and
Bisexual History M onth.
A random check o f high schools failed to find
a single high school that had put the book on the
shelves. A librarian at Norm andy High School,
however, said she is keeping a copy o f the book
behind the counter, but it is listed in the card
catalog.
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NEW MEXICO
Four people accused o f plotting to bom b enti
ties with liberal affiliations included gay bars among
their proposed targets.
Authorities said Larry W ayne Crow; Willie
Ray Lampley; Lam pley’s wife, Cecilia; and John
Dare Baird conspired to blow up gay bars, offices
of civil rights groups, abortion clinics and welfare
offices, according to the Associated Press.
Crow, who lives in New M exico, surrendered
to authorities after the other three were arrested at
Lam pley’s Vernon, Okla., home. M aterials used to
build bom bs were seized at the Lampley home.
All four are being held without bail by federal
marshals.
Compiled by Kristine Chatwood
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