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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 1996)
6 ▼ august 16. 1996 ▼ just out national news DISTRICT O F COLUMBIA Legislation proposed recently in the U.S. House of Representatives “attempts to prevent more Americans from contracting HIV and to improve the quality of life of those who are af fected,” according to Nil the b ill’s sponsor, Rep. Tom Cobum (R- Okla.). The National As sociation of People Ullllll llllllll with AIDS has ex- pressed concern, however, that The HIV Prevention Act of 1996 does not assist pro grams already in place to stop the spread of HIV in the United States. “It is imperative that our common goal—to stop the spread of HIV infection—be just that,” said Mike Shriver, NAPWA public policy direc tor. “This bill is the product of no consultation with national HIV prevention reform experts or advocates.” The Cobum bill also would establish a confi dential HIV reporting effort and require states to inform individuals if they may have been exposed to HIV by a current or past partner. i PORTLAND’S BED AND BREAKFAST WESHSRM IGSHTALnT 1 7 « NECLACXmS STEIEi; HEILAND OR ( 503 ) 331-1104 ARE Y O U ms a v a ila b le HIV NEGATIVE? Do you w a n t to get together with other HIV negative guys? Are you w o r r i e d about staying negative? Is it ha rd t a l k in g a b o u t b e in g HIV n e g at iv e with y o u r HIV positive friends? A s u p p o r t g r o u p for HIV n e g a t iv e g a y and bisexual men is n o w f o r m in g . To sign up t e l e p h o n e Doug at 2 2 3 . 5 9 0 7 , extension 145 SPKA K TO YO U R S p e a k to Your Broth ers is a p r o g r a m o f C a s c a d e A ID S P r o j e c t ; v:’v . . .4**' L a " A ,. - i B R O T H E R S l jiiin iiH C FLORIDA A Florida court has ruled that a lower court was wrong to deny a woman custody of her 4- year-old child simply because the woman is a lesbian. The Florida First District Court of Ap peals on July 16 granted Valerie Maradie, a nurse from Niceville, a new custody hearing. The Ap peals Court ruling stated that Okaloosa County Circuit Judge Jere Tolton could not assume with out evidence that “a homosexual environ ment...can adversely affect a child.” GEORGIA Following the lead of the San Francisco Gi ants, the first major league baseball team to host an AIDS benefit, the Atlanta Braves will dedicate its Sept. 7 game against the New York M ets to people in the At lanta area living w ith AIDS and HIV. According to the Southern Voice, the Braves F oundation, the charity arm of the team, will present a “significant” sum of money to three local AIDS service organizations. Recipients are Project Open Hand, AID Atlanta and the Grady Infectious Disease Programs pediatric unit. AIDS and cancer have been selected as the Braves’ targeted charities this year. “AIDS was chosen because of its enormity, and the desperate need for research and education,” Miles McRea, the team’s senior promotions director, told the Voice. In addition to the benefit game, the Braves also made public service announcements featur ing outfielder David Justice and third baseman Chipper Jones. The ads warn fans of the dangers of HIV. MASSACHUSETTS The Harvard Educational Review, a quarterly journal that “provides an interdisciplinary forum for innovative thinking and research in educa tion,” has published a special issue on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People and Edu cation. The issue includes a selection of youth writings; an interview with Cornel West on heterosexism and transformation; an article about a gay African American teacher who used histori cal figures to build and understand the dimen sions of his own identity; an alternative under standing of sexual identity based on the Native American concept of “two-spirit”; and a 14-page resource guide that educators can use to refer lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and their families, friends, parents and teachers for support and information. To learn more about the special issue call 1-800-513-0763. ▼ ▼ Y Charging that he was wrongfully terminated because he was “perceived not to be supportive of the homosexual movement,” Clinton “Skip” Parker, administrative assistant to the former Provincetown superintendent of schools, has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Dis c rim in a tio n , reports The W a sh in g to n Blade. Current su perintendent of schools Dr. Susan Fleming said Parker was fired because of an “unsatisfactory job performance and conduct unbecoming an administrative assistant of busi ness and finance.” Parker charges that he was “subjected to open hostility by the town and the school committee for not being supportive of the gay movement,” which he says is “predominant” in the town. The Massachusetts Commission Against Dis crimination will hold a hearing on the charges on Sept. 25. MINNESOTA Minneapolis is the site of the 1996 Gay Soft- ball World Series, which takes place Aug. 18-25. The largest annual gay event of its kind, the series is sponsored by the North American Amateur Athletic Alliance. Teams compete in either the open or the women’s division. The week’s games culminate in championship games to be played on Saturday, Aug. 24. Parties, dances, a celebrity T-shirt auction and other social events will take place throughout the week. NEW YORK John Scagliotti, executive producer and cre ator of In the Life, the gay and lesbian newsmagazine on PBS, left his position on Aug. 1. He spent 10 years working to bring the show to television. PBS began airing the show in 1992 on six stations; In the Life is now broadcast on more than 90 stations. Scagliotti has been succeeded by Charles Dominic Ignacio, formerly the show’s producer. Prior to joining In the Life, Ignacio worked in production at HBO andThirteen/WNTE, the PBS flagship station. He studied writing and directing under Milos Forman at Columbia University. NORTH CAROLINA A Seattle church youth group that had planned to travel to Greenville County to work on a Habitat for Humanity project canceled its plans after learning of an anti-gay resolution passed by the County Council, reports the Greensboro News & Record. Seattle’s University Congregational United Church of Christ, an “open and affirming church,” sent a letter and a resolution of its own to the County Council denouncing the anti-gay resolu tion. In the letter the Seattle group said, “The wording of the [county] resolution seems to sug gest the Council is concerned with the very real issue of family breakdown. Gays and lesbians are not the cause of this breakdown.” The Seattle group has now volunteered to work at a Habitat for Humanity project in Sumter. Compiled by Kristine Chatwood