just out ▼ novombor 1, 1900 ▼ 7
It marched to the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers Association office and staged a
spirited protest culminating with a “die-in.” Pro
testers chalked body outlines and tossed mini
greenbacks with the portrait replaced with
“$ GREED = DEATH.”
"This is the most powerful, influential and
richest nation in the world,” said Chris Bates,
executive director of the D.C. CARE Consor
tium. “Our plea to the American public is, join us
in bringing pressure on the drug companies,
through the Congress and through your local
activism, so that we can get reasonable prices for
these drugs and we can improve the quality of life
for American citizens living with HIV.”
Bob Roehr
High court declines review;
Cammermeyer w ins appeal
On Oct. 21 the U.S. Supreme Court declined
without comment to review Thomasson vs. Perry,
the first case challenging the military’s “don’t
ask, don’t tell” policy to reach the court. This
action leaves in place a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals decision upholding the constitutionality
of the Clinton administration policy.
Chai Feldblum, legal consultant for the Hu
man Rights Campaign and professor of law at
Georgetown University, said she is confident the
court will soon hear one of several other similar
cases. “This was the first...so it would have been
highly unusual for the court to take it, ” she said.
Lt. Paul Thomasson was discharged after re
vealing his orientation to his commanding of
ficer, and his case seeks to demonstrate the policy ’ s
unconstitutionality as a matter of infringement on
freedom of speech.
“We anticipate that the Supreme Court will
decide to hear a case that challenges not only the
question of speech, but the policy’s prohibition
against conduct,” said
Feldblum.
The A m erican
Civil Liberties Union
and Lambda Legal
Defense and Educa
tion Fund agreed, not
ing in a press state
ment that “the order
does not reflect the
justices’ thinking on
the issue, but will open
the door for other cases to reach the Supreme
Court.”
In related news, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals rejected the government’s effort to re
verse a lower court decision preventing the mili
tary from d isch arg in g Col. M argarethe
Cammermeyer, the highly decorated Army and
National Guard nurse who was the subject of the
1995 television film Serving in Silence and who is
the highest-ranking service member to be dis
charged under the "don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Lambda Legal Defense said in a press release
that the ruling preserves an important federal
court opinion, issued by Judge Thomas S. Zilly of
the U.S. District Court in Seattle, which ruled the
military’s anti-gay policy to be unconstitutional.
Col. Cammermeyer is now on inactive duty
awaiting resolution of her case, which has been
returned to Judge Zilly for further ruling follow
ing the defeat of the government’s appeal.
Christopher D. Cuttone
Washington gubernatorial
contest heats up
The . ace for governor in Washington state has
come down to two drastically opposed candi
dates: former state Senate leader Ellen Craswell,
running on the Republican side with the Bible as
her guide, and King County elected executive and
front-runner Gary Locke, who supports sexual
minority rights, abortion rights and environmen
tal protection. Both Craswell and Locke would
like to succeed outgo
ing Gov. Mike Lowry,
a D em ocrat, who
abandoned his re-elec
tion campaign amid
allegations of sexual
harassment.
C rasw ell, a 64-
year-old E uropean
A m erican, favors
drastic spending cuts
to finance a 30 per
cent reduction in taxes, the elimination of state
land use planning and all but ending the state’s
involvement in education. She also supports anti
abortion legislation and calls homosexuality a
sinful, chosen “lifestyle.”
Locke, 46, is an urban liberal who portrays
himself as tough on crime and a fiscal moderate.
As a member of the state House Appropriations
committee, he helped push through an ambitious
health care reform project and a $1.2 billion tax
increase in 1993, both of which have since been
repealed. If elected, he would be the nation’s first
Asian American governor outside Hawaii.
A Team
You Can
Depend On.
Jim Bean
Craig Everitt
Scott Bottaro, GR1
Donald Falk, GRI
Deborah Betron
CRB, GRI
Broker/President
Jude Watson, (>RI
Broker
John Terrill. GRI
Associate Broker
Laurie SantaMaria
Chris Bonner. GR1
Associate Broker
Associate Broker
Bill Galvin
Rohin Grimm
Gerry Federico, GRI
Carolyn MacMurray
Kathleen Ira
Anita Trudeau
Greg Washington
Christopher D. Cuttone
Gay activist promoted
by Hawaii Democrats
In an attempt to conform to guidelines estab
lished by the Democratic National Committee,
the Hawaii State Democratic Committee voted
unanimously to appoint gay activist Martin Rice
of Kauai as first vice-chair. With former Honolulu
City Council Chair Marilyn Bomhorst taking
over as state party chair, the first and second vice
chairs would have been Velma Santos and Joan
Takano, respectively. The DNC requires gender-
balanced leadership at the head of each state party.
In 1994, Rice convinced the Kauai County
Democratic Party to endorse same-sex marriage
as part of its civil rights platform. Together with
GLEA Foundation Director Bill Woods, Rice
obtained party approval of a resolution calling
upon the state Legislature to cease interfering in
the now-famous Baehr vs. Miike case.
'o ih v
M a rttn p
Kathy Tysinger
Robert Amhes
Sandy Mort
Philip Beausoleil
Christopher D. Cuttone
Oklahoma is scene of
another anti-gay murder
In Oklahoma’s second anti-gay murder this
year, Albert J. Bixler was apparently beaten to
death with a car tire jack by Shannon Lee Jones,
23, and Mark Jones, 30. Both suspects are resi
dents of Woodward, a small town near the Okla
homa Panhandle. The older man is in police
custody, while the other remains at large. Police
have also issued a material witness warrant for a
third man, Clifford Green.
Mark and Shannon Lee Jones are not related
but do live in the same apartment building, where
a witness overheard Shannon say, “The queer son
of a bitch got what he deserved.” At least one other
witness heard the two men bragging about the
murder.
This incident follows a recent development in
another hate-inspired murder, in Guthrie, earlier
this year. Two teenagers identified by police as
skinheads have been charged with the fatal beat
ing, stabbing and shooting of Charles Meers and
with setting fire to his body and his home in an
attempt to conceal their crime.
Christopher D. Cuttone
Linda Welch
s i
Karen Bilsing
Realty
Jay Pevney
For Those Who
Appreciate
Superior Service
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Clackamas County Office
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Portland, OR 97232
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