jus« o u t ▼ fsb ru a ry 1 0 . 1 0 0 6 T 7 national briefs DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Leaders of lesbian and gay Democratic organi­ zations will participate in a Democratic National Committee pre-election strategy meeting. The meeting will take place Feb. 16-18 in Washington, D.C. Meeting participants will be briefed on the re-election outlook, AIDS funding, voter registra­ tion and the religious right. Grass-roots activists will share strategies for energizing gay and lesbian voters. Democratic National Committee National Chairman Don Fowler issued the invitation to the gay and lesbian party leaders. Commenting on the Democratic Party’s com­ mitment to a more inclusive society that affords equal opportunity regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, Fowler said, ‘Together we will fight for our common values: Medicaid funding for people living with AIDS, a clean environment, quality education and an end to discrimination for all Americans.” ▼ V ▼ The Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition Inter­ national and Children of Lesbians and Gays Ev­ erywhere have an­ nounced that they expect to award at least $1,000 in schol­ arships this year. Awards from the Lee Dubin Memorial Scholarship Fund are given to the children of lesbian, gay and . bisexual parents. To . be eligible, an appli- cant must be enrolled j full time in an ac- post-secondary institution and have at least one lesbian, gay or bisexual parent. Scholar­ ship recipients will be announced at GLPCI’s 17th Annual Conference, to be held in July in Minne­ apolis. The deadline to apply for a scholarship is May 15. To receive an application, contact GLPCI, PO Box 50360, W ashington, DC 20091; fax (201)783-6204. HAWAII A new grass-roots organization whose goals are to ‘stop gambling, legalized prostitution and same-sex marriage,’ has sprung up in Hawaii. The group claims to have 1,000 members. Linda Rosehill, a Democratic Party commit- teewoman and— until January—the authorized representative of delegate tracking for the Clinton/ Gore ’96 campaign, has signed on as a lobbyist for the new organization. MAINE A bill that would have expressly prohibited same-sex marriages was withdrawn last month by the state senator who introduced it. Sen. G eorgette Berube (D-Lewiston) told the Lew iston (Maine) Sun-Journal that she feared the de­ bate would have turned ugly. “We [could not] have as­ sured the tone of the debate would have re­ mained rational,” she said. Maine is still re­ covering from a bruis­ ing campaign over an anti-gay ballot measure that was defeated by voters last November. Commenting on Berube’s decision to with­ draw the bill, Karen Geraghty, president of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, said, “We applaud Sen. Berube’s move today. We appreciate the fact that she is allowing for a cooling-off period after Question 1.” MARYLAND Love, intimacy and family are the topics dis­ cussed in a new therapy magazine, a quarterly called In the Family, that focuses exclusively on issues affecting lesbian, gay and bisexual families. For information or to subscribe, contact In the Family, PO Box 5387, Takoma Park, MD 20913, (301)270-4771. MASSACHUSETTS An AT&T Corporation factory in North Andover is teaching its employees tolerance as part of its quest for market share. Convinced that the benefits of this program exceed the costs, AT&T offers the w o r k s h o p “Homophobia in the Workplace” to em­ ployees on a volun­ teer basis. Approxi­ mately 2,000 em­ ployees have chosen to participate. The workshop is taught by Brian McNaught, a gay man. It is offered as part of the company ’ s diversity training curricu­ lum. McNaught believes that the effort closeted gay men and lesbians must exert to hide their private lives from co-workers impairs their job perfor­ mance. Management at the factory agrees with McNaught, reports the Wisconsin Light. “It’s an issue of productivity,” said plant per­ sonnel chief Robert Pettirosi. “If people are devot­ ing some of their energy to hiding what they are or worrying about what other people are saying, it takes away from the job.” SOUTH DAKOTA A committee of the South Dakota House of Representatives last month rejected a bill that would have banned same-sex marriages in the state. The State Affairs Committee voted 8-5 to kill the bill, which would have changed the legal defi­ nition of marriage to require that the relationship be between a man and a woman, reports the Asso­ ciated Press. The bill’s main sponsor, Rep. Roger Hunt (R- Brandon) sponsored a similar measure last year. That bill passed the House, but was killed in the Senate. W W W Claiming that their children were exposed to graphic descriptions of sexual acts as part of an AIDS-awareness class, angry parents appeared en masse in the boardroom of the Spearfish School District last month. The parents allege that their children were exposed to a list of graphically explained obscene slang, including a phrase relating to oral sex, and that the sex act was described in detail. The two guest speakers who gave the presenta­ tion to the seventh- and eighth-grade students at Spearfish Middle School say that’s not what hap­ pened. The speakers, both nurses from Family Planning, say they simply answered the students’ questions and that only about 30 seconds was spent discussing oral sex and explicit phrases. The president of the school board has proposed creating a parent-school committee to investigate the incident and report back to the board. TEXAS Shocking Gray was the first national specialty catalog aimed at the gay and lesbian community. Its first catalog came out in the fall of 1991. Last August, its publisher filed for bankruptcy, and the catalog was canceled. The rights to publish Shocking Gray were ac­ quired by SG Marketing, which has announced the resurrection of the popular catalog. The old mailing list no longer exists. To be added to the new list, call 1-800-344-4729. Compiled by Kristine Chatwood STEVENS Vancouver New & Used Cars & Trucks 503 - 226-0006 1 - 800 - 527-7542 Problems with your dream house? We can help! Arts & Crafts Construction specializing in repair & remodeling o f period houses call Steve at 648 6968 or 1 800 684 9038 licensed/bonded/insured CCB # 107844 sitoM i't y