ju s t o u t ▼ Jan u ary 3, '1 9 9 7 ▼ 9 " '
exoi
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examine a profusely bleeding cut on his leg and
attempted to discourage him from waiting for an
ambulance. Lavoie and his partner, Ken Ludden,
then walked to a nearby hospital. Lavoie noted that
neither of the rescue workers, later identified as
firefighters, were wearing latex gloves, and specu
lated that they may have been reluctant to treat him
for fear of contracting HIV.
Responding to activists’ requests, M ayor
Marion Barry ordered the Fire Department in Sep
tember to strengthen its sensitivity training on
issues related to minorities, including lesbians and
gay men.
to grant a variety o f legal protections to gay men
and lesbians. The action followed testimony at a
public hearing on a proposal to seek legalization of
same-sex marriages, however, the council chose to
approve a substitute motion that didn’t deal with
marriage but instead asked state representatives to:
amend hate-crime statutes to include anti-gay
crimes, prohibit discrimination against sexual mi
norities in employment and housing, allow domes
tic partner benefits and insurance coverage, and
repeal Virginia’s law against sodomy. Activists
and lawmakers alike foresee failure for the mea
sure in the state’s conservative-ruled legislature.
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Information sought
on S/M-related laws
Queer images unwelcome
in SimWorld
The National Leather Association International
has launched a new project aimed at gathering
information related to S/M and the law. NLA
International’s Law Information Project will com
pile data on cases and statutes in force around the
country in order to provide a resource to attorneys
and to members of the sexual minority and leather
communities who may face legal problems due to
their participation in S/M activities.
Project volunteers are seeking detailed infor
mation about cases in which someone engaging in
consensual S/M was charged with, convicted or
acquitted of a crime such as assault, or lost his or
her children during a custody dispute, divorce or
state agency action; or cases in which “profes
sional dominants” have been arrested for prostitu
tion. To facilitate follow-up research, volunteers
need the names of anyone involved, the date and
location of the court case, the case number where
available and a brief description of the case.
NLA International activists are also asking for
information about state, county or city laws gov
erning S/M activity, such as wearing uniforms,
carrying handcuffs or knives, nudity in public or in
bars, flagellation in bars and the selling of S/M
paraphernalia. Send to Spencer Bergstedt, Attor
ney at Law, 1202 E Pike St., Suite 1070, Seattle,
WA 98122.
Computer programmer Jacques Sevrin, 33, of
San Francisco was fired from his job at Maxis Inc.,
producer of the popular SimCity 2000 computer
game, for inserting male hunks and kissing boys
into the background of the company’s new action
game, SimCopter. The game was released on Nov.
20 and some 50,000 to 80,000 copies were shipped
before the company discovered the additions.
Sevrin was fired soon after, but Maxis spokesman
Patrick Buechner denied that his dismissal was due
to the homosexual nature of the unauthorized ma
terial.
According to Sevrin, the game’s complex 3-D
background already included plenty of “standard
female computer-game bimbos,” while all the male
figures were “really dumpy, little squat middle-
aged types.” So he inserted a few surprises into the
program— what insiders call “Easter eggs”— which
cause unexpected background effects like boys
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it s About Commitment,
Same-sex marriage
brouhaha continues
While many members of the sexual minority
community are guardedly optimistic about the
future of same-sex marriage, state lawmakers na
tionwide are scurrying to enact legislation to pre
empt the expected outcome of the famous Hawaii
court case. Already, 16 states have outlawed same-
sex marriages, and two states have executive or
ders in place that ban such unions. Similar legisla
tion is under consideration in a number of states.
In New Jersey, state Sen. John Scott has co
sponsored an anti-gay-marriage bill, saying the
issue is an economic as well as moral one and
citing increased costs if employers were forced to
provide benefits for partners o f homosexual em
ployees.
In Florida, legislation sponsored by Sen. John
Grant o f Tampa is expected to pass with little or no
opposition. Grant says the state has a compelling
interest in restricting the legal definition of mar
riage to one man and one woman because of
insurance, pension and inheritance issues.
The outcome is less predictable in Wisconsin,
where that state’s only openly lesbian legislator,
Rep. Tammy Baldwin, has vowed to sponsor a bill
that would legalize same-sex marriages. Two anti-
gay-marraige bills will also be considered. Baldwin
says it is unlikely that a bill legalizing same-sex
unions would pass, but said that simply introduc
ing it will help educate citizens about discrimina
tion against sexual minorities in tax law, health
insurance, and hospital visitation and property
rights.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, members of the Alex
andria City Council voted to urge state lawmakers
WE REPLACE WINDOWS
it s About Respect,
kissing, Elvis impersonators and a greater number
of bimbos to appear.
Maxis executives were unamused and are pro
viding a corrected software “patch” to customers
free o f charge.
Boy’s family declines
to pursue Scondras
Former Boston City Councilor David Scondras
will not be prosecuted for allegedly groping a 16-
year-old boy because the teenager will not be
available to give testimony, according to a Boston
Globe report. Legal representatives of the boy’s
family, which lives in Washington, recently in
formed the district attorney’s office that they will
not return to Massachusetts and do not wish to
cooperate with or participate in the prosecution of
Scondras.
The Aug. 24 incident was reported to the police
by the teenager, who alleged that Scondras had met
him in a hotel lobby, offered him a free movie
ticket and touched his thigh in the dark theater. For
his part, Scondras uenied any wrongdoing and
alleged that the boy attacked him, giving him a
broken nose and jaw and causing him to lose three
teeth that police later found on the floor o f the
movie theater. Scondras suggested that the police
investigation was politically motivated because of
his sexual orientation.
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