ju s« o u t ▼ a p r ii 3 . 1 0 0 6 ▼ 7
national briefs
HIV+>
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ARIZONA
The Maricopa County Republican Party can
celed a performance by the Grand Canyon Men’s
Chorale because the party chair, Bernice Roberts,
objected to the lyrics of one of the Chorale’s songs.
The Chorale was scheduled to perform at the
GOP’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner, according to a
story in the Arizona Republic. One of the songs on
the program, “Diversity,” contains the lyrics,
“We’re gay men, and we’re here to sing for you.”
Roberts told the Chorale’s director, Kerry
Bedwell, to drop the song because she didn’t want
the program “mmed into a special-interest agenda.”
Bedwell refused and the Chorale was cut from
the program.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has
joined other civil rights groups opposing an “En
glish only” bill now before the U.S. Senate. Other
groups in the coalition include the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights, the Mexican Ameri
can Legal Defense and Education Fund and other
groups.
S 356, the “Official English Bill,” which is
sponsored by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), seeks
to make English the “official language” of the U.S.
government. The Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-
Alaska), held a hearing on the bill March 7.
According to the LCCR, if the bill passes, it will
prohibit the availability of bilingual ballots, deny
non-English speaking litigants the right to have
court interpreters, and prohibit the availability of
emergency services in languages other than En
glish.
FLORIDA
Tom Cunningham became the second openly
gay mayor in Florida when he was sworn into
office in February in South Miami. The 5 1-year-
old shop owner and Vietnam veteran won 57
percent of the vote in this upscale town near Coral
Gables. Cunningham had previously served as a
city commissioner.
KENTUCKY
A 29-year-old Louisville man who was shack
led to a bed and forced to lie in his own waste while
being held in the Jefferson County Jail has been
awarded more than $l million by a U.S. District
Court jury.
Pedro Sosa was charged with public intoxica
tion and jailed in September 1994. That charge was
later dismissed. Sosa, who has AIDS, claimed he
was denied water and the use of a toilet, even
though he had severe cramps and diarrhea, the
Louisville Courier-Journal reported. He was un
able to reach the toilet in his cell because he was
chained hand and foot to a bench.
Corrections officials admitted shackling Sosa,
but claimed they did so because he was causing a
disturbance and they feared he would hurt himself.
MARYLAND
The Commerce and Government Matters Com
mittee of the Maryland House of Delegates has
defeated two separate bills that would have ex
tended anti-discrimination protections to lesbians
and gay men. The committee voted 14-9 against
the bills.
Free State Justice Campaign, a Maryland activ
ist group, had hoped to get a bill out of committee
and to the floor of the House for a vote. In addition
to the FSJC bill, a gay rights bill was also intro
duced by Gov. Parris Glendening.
This was the fifth time FSJC has sought passage
of a gay rights bill. Activists vowed to try again
next year.
NEW MEXICO
Patti Bushee, an out lesbian, defeated three
other candidates to win a full term on the Santa Fe
City Council. Bushee won 62 percent of the vote.
Two years ago she was appointed to fill out the
term of Debbie Jaramillo when Jaramillo was
elected mayor.
Bushee was endorsed by the Human Rights
Election Fund, the police union, the firefighters
union, the Sierra Club, the home builders associa
tion and all the local newspapers.
NEW YORK
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Catholic
diocese of Albany has attacked the Christian
Coalition’s new Catholic Alliance. In an article in
the Evangelist, Hubbard criticized many issues
discussed in Catholic Alliance literature, accord
ing to a story in Colorado Springs’ Ground Zero.
Pointing out that the official positions of the
Roman Catholic Church are communicated in the
name of the bishops, and not through Pat
Robertson’s Catholic Alliance, Hubbard said, “I
am particularly concerned about the organization’s
stated purpose of representing the Catholic com
munity before Congress, state legislatures and other
governmental bodies. I believe that this Alliance
will create massive confusion, not only among
lawmakers in local, state and federal government,
but also among the Catholic faithful, as to who it is
that speaks legitimately on matters of public policy
for the Church in the United States.”
Hubbard added that although there are issues on
the Christian Coalition’s agenda about which the
Catholic Bishops agree, such as abortion, there are
many issues about which the bishops disagree,
such as welfare reform and the death penalty.
“What is interesting, too,” Hubbard said, “is
what is not on the agenda of the Coalition; for
example, legislation to protect poor children or
immigrants.”
NORTH CAROLINA
If some North Carolina legislators get their
way, state prison inmates who are HIV positive
will be housed in a separate prison facility. Segre
gating prisoners based on HIV status would reduce
the spread of HIV through sexual contact, state
prison officials claim. Those same officials also
said it would be easier to deal with infected inmates
if they were housed in separate facilities.
However, establishing separate prison facili
ties would violate confidentiality laws.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader is now pub
lishing same-sex engagement notices. The first
notice was published in the Dec. 31,1995, edition
of the paper. Vice
--------- --
President and
Editor Allison
P E NNS YL VANI A
W alzer to ld
the Associ-
ated Press that
—
publ i shi ng the
notice was one of the ways the
Times Leader makes itself accessible to its readers.
“If it does no harm to other people, I bend over
backward to make this paper available to the com
munity,” she said. “I do realize that reasonable
people can disagree about this issue.”
SOUTH DAKOTA
Despite the efforts of two legislators to bully
battered women’s and child abuse shelters into
resigning from the South Dakota Advocacy Net
work for Women, as a condition of continued state
funding, the South Dakota House approved an
other year of funding for the shelters.
The shelters had refused to capitulate to the
threats of Rep. Hal Wick (R-Sioux Falls), and Rep.
Helena Hassard (R-Hot Springs). The two legisla
tors objected to the SDANW’s support of pro-
choice and gay rights issues.
When the final vote was taken, eight of the 70
House members voted to discontinue the $250,000
appropriation for the shelters. Both Wick and
Hassard voted with the majority.
Phoenix Rising Personal Growth Workshop Series
Estate Planning
for Lesbians & Gays
Presented by Felicia Value, Attorney at Law.
Planning for incapacity and death.
How to set up control of property and
health care...what to put in wills and trusts...
how to deal with joint ownership...and more.
Sat. April 27,10 am -12 pm
Location: Centergee’s: 2005 NE 39th Ave. Cost: $20
To pre-register, send a check payable to:
Phoenix Rising Foundation
620 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 710 • Portland, OR 97204
These groups are
available for you:
Imagery/Vioualization
Sex Addiction; Meditation
Yoga; Aromatherapy
Health Management
Nutrition ?ro^rarr\
Strong Feelings & Change
Fundamentales Pe La
Imageria Guiada
Other Groups also available are
individual therapy appointments with
Lusijah Marx, RN, PsyD
Graham Harriman, MA
P R O J E C T
QUE S
a Healing Community
2 4 1 -6 4 4 8
For m ore workshop inform ation, call 223-8299
Groups can be covered through
Ryan W hite vouchers/grants
for those who qualify
Friends share clothes,
stories about boyfriends,
photos and books.
But friends don't share HIV.
Speak To Your Brothers
MenTalks • Volunteering • Outreach
HIV Testing • Speaking of Sex...
503 - 223-5907
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Compiled by Kristine Chatwood
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