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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1996)
8 ▼ jun o 2 1 , 1 9 0 6 ▼ ju s t out £ >'A national news HRC proposes linking ENDA to marriage act Individual, Couples, Group, Family Therapy & Medication Ryan White Funding Available Do you live or work in W ashington County? Accepting Medicaid / Oregon Health Plan, M edicare Private Insurance and Private Pay For information call 243-6970 W e’re here for you!! The Washington County Health Department offers daily HIV testing and counseling, by appointment and walk-in, in two convenient locations: » ]"▼▼ T T ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ T M ► Monthly Support Groups ► For Parents, Vtouth 4 Children (Meets second Monday of month) ► The Parent Teacher Panel ► Dialogue for Educators ► ► ► ► ► 7 155 North 1st Hillsboro ◄ Opening Hearts 4 M M i Speaker Empowerment Watehops ◄ A fAftILy 'lo re Makes a Fan Hr' »7 A A A I4 A Public Voice for Lesbian and Gay Families Weekly Tak Radio Prof am KKEY1150 AM *7-9 am Wed. Other services include STD exams and treatment and a Wellness Program for individuals who are HIV positive. Call 648-8851 ◄ ◄ ◄ ► ► ► ► 5 0 3 /2 2 8 -3 8 9 2 ◄ Fax: 503/228-3970 ◄ ◄ PO Box 11694 Portland, OR 97211 ► 12550 SW 2nd Beaverton » I a a a a a a a a a a for an appointment ◄ ◄ à a T M In an attempt to snatch some victory from what seem to be the jaws of certain congressional defeat, the Human Rights Campaign has pro posed amending the Defense of Marriage Act to include the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. ENDA, which would outlaw employment based on sexual orientation, already has biparti san support in the Senate. Polls show that more than 80 percent of Americans oppose job dis crimination based on sexual orientation. This number is in contrast to the 70 percent of Ameri cans who oppose same-sex marriage. While there is no guarantee this strategy would result in the passage of ENDA, or the defeat of DOMA, it is hoped that it will, at least, force Senate debate on a gay civil rights issue. Idaho voters give ICA thumbs down Brushing off his own trouncing in his bid for election to the state Senate and the defeat of four of the five other Idaho Citizens Alliance-backed candidates, ICA head Kelly Walton vowed to keep gathering signatures for the latest version of the group’s anti-gay-rights initiative. In announcing his decision to pursue the ini tiative, Walton pronounced the recent U.S. Su preme Court ruling on Colorado’s Amendment 2 “unconstitutional,” reports The Idaho Statesman. The ICA must gather 41,335 signatures from Idaho voters by July 5. Domestic partnership ordinance passed in Boulder FINE LINE GAY & LESBIAN DEPARTMENT STORE Pprtland Pride 1996 St op by our boothll! Featuring Movies “S' T-Shirts Jewelry Latest in pride Memorabila * * Portion of proceeds go to local charity <-« (t' (b (t* (tj m /J ) ijl vp y|) y j) v|) (b (tj vj) ^ (f* (i^ m (h ^ (b (t' (h Jp vj) v|) vj> vj) 4) 4) ÿp vP 4) vP 4) 4) vp 4I yj) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4) 4I 4) 4) 4) The Boulder, Colo., City Council on May 7 unanimously passed an ordinance establishing a domestic partnership registry, according to the Baltimore Gay Paper. Unmarried couples who are committed, live together and are at least 18 years old will be able to register with the city regardless of their sexual orientation. Boulder is the first Colorado city to adopt such an ordinance. The registry carries no legal weight, but may make it easier for employers to provide insurance coverage to the partners of unmarried employees. Boulder joins a list of approximately 20 other cities throughout the United States with domestic partners registries. Gay and lesbian political convention set for August Chicago will be the site of Outvote ’96, the nation’s first lesbian and gay political conven tion, scheduled for Aug. 16-18. Occurring between the two national political party conventions, Outvote ’96 will feature work shops on voter registration, get-out-the-vote tech niques, media relations and fund raising. Topics such as lesbian health issues, funding for AIDS prevention, using polling data to discuss lesbian and gay issues, and answering the charges of the religious political right will be the subjects of special issues discussions. HRC will present the first Human Rights Campaign Equality Awards at the convention. Gay Russian granted asylum in U.S. ci* m m (T* (p ( r (p (p (p (p (p (p (p (p (p m (p (p (p m (p (p m (p (p (p (p (p (p (p (p (p (p (t' ^ (t' ^ m Vp yj) vp 4 ) vp vp vp 4 ) vP vp vp Vp vp Cp Vp 4 ) vp 4 I vp 4 ) ip vp vP vP 4 ) vp vp vp 4 ) v¿) 4 ) vp 4 ) Cp 4 ) 4 ) 4 ) vp 4 ) 4 ) 4 ) p 4 ) Vp 4 ) The Immigration Law Project of the Los An geles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Cen ter won a landmark asylum case in May. Sergey Fedetov, a 23-year-old man who was beaten and jailed in Russia because he is gay, became one of only 36 persons to be granted asylum in the United States based on persecution because of sexual orientation. Fedetov was repeatedly beaten, interrogated, detained and jailed by police and threatened by school officials in his small hometown northeast of Moscow. The persecution continued when he moved to Moscow to earn enough money to come to the United States. He had heard that gay people in Los Angeles lived free from persecution. By December 1995, Fedetov had earned the money for a plane ticket and secured an exit visa for travel to Mexico, where he was robbed of all his money. Days after the robbery, U.S. Immigra tion and Naturalization Service officials caught him at the San Clemente checkpoint and detained him for entering the country without a visa. He was sent to the detention facility at Terminal Island. While in detention, Fedetov found the phone number for the Gay and Lesbian Center’s Youth Talkline in the phone book and called. Counselors at the Talkline put him in touch with a Russian Gay and Lesbian Support group, which referred him to Eugene Alper, the Russian liaison for the City of West Hollywood. It was Alper who realized that Fedetov had a good case for asylum and contacted the Immigra tion Law Project last January. Teacher sues parents in clash over “safe zones” A pink triangle on a small decal hangs outside the doors of seven classrooms at Brookfield High School in Brookfield, Conn. The signs designate the rooms as “safe zones,” places where gay, lesbian and bisexual students can talk without fear of being judged. During its first two years the program drew little attention. According to an Associated Press story, all that ended last October, when teacher Veronica Berrill was accused by a student’s par ents of using her classroom to recruit gay and lesbian youth. Neal Houde, the student’s father, wrote a letter to the school board claiming that the safe zones were part of a homosexual agenda, were “homo sexual recruiting,” and were “disgusting” and illegal. In April, Berrill filed a libel lawsuit against Houde and his wife, Katie. The Houdes countered by threatening to file their own lawsuit if Berrill did not drop hers. At issue is a talk Berrill gave to her students on the first day of class last September. The Houdes’ daughter was assigned to Berrill’s class. According to Berrill’s lawyer, Berrill talked about accepting all people, including gay men and lesbians, and made it clear that she would not tolerate derogatory remarks made about any par ticular group. A school board committee established to deal with the Houdes’ complaints, voted 5-2 to keep the safe zones. School officials say the matter is now a private dispute between Berrill and the Houdes. Compiled by Kristine Chatwood
