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HRC proposes linking ENDA
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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
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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.
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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