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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1997)
Just out ▼ m a rch 7, 1007 ▼ 7 national briefs Stt ■< Travel the world, but call us first. pulisivf Listiifs nr wrkpagF CALIFO RNIA The city o f Los Angeles has agreed to pay almost $90,000 to Peter J. Mackler to settle a police brutality lawsuit, according to a United Press International report. Mackler, a gay man, said he suffered a severe eye injury, headaches and dizziness as a result o f a beating by Officer David Peck at a civil rights protest in 1991. Mackler was never arrested or charged with any crime after the incident, which was captured on videotape. A lawyer involved with the case said the amount of the settlement, which also requires police department reforms, is a record in the city and one of the highest in such a case anywhere in the country. ▼ ▼ T Prize-winning kick boxer Paul Cain, 24, stands accused o f the December 1995 robbery and mur der o f 73-year-old Stanley Keith Runcorn, a noted geophysicist. Testifying in his own defense Feb. 14 in San Diego, Cain claimed he was defending himself against aggressive sexual advances by Runcorn. Cain said he suspected Runcorn might be gay shortly after they met, and he said it occurred to him that Runcorn might proposition him. How ever, he went to Runcorn’s hotel room, where he says Runcom pushed him onto a bed. Cain said he kicked and punched Runcom for about 35 sec onds. Runcom was also strangled, but Cain could not explain how that happened. He subsequently fled to M exico and was arrested when he tried to re-enter the United States. If convicted, Cain could spend 25 years to life in prison. ▼ ▼ ▼ Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) announced Feb. 12 a proposal to add protection o f homosexuals to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, according to a United Press International story. Sexual orienta tion is not presently included in the law, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, an cestry, family status or disability. A similar bill passed the state Legislature last year, only to be vetoed by the governor. Villaraigosa’s bill will encounter its first test in the Assembly Judiciary Committee in mid-March. COLORADO A bill sponsored by Sen. Pat Pascoe (D-Den- ver) that would have given gay men, lesbians and unmarried heterosexual couples legal rights per taining to illness, death and dissolution o f the relationship was defeated by a 5-3 vote o f the Colorado Legislature’s Senate Judiciary Com mittee on Feb. 5. If the bill had passed, the state would have instituted legal domestic partnerships as a requirement for access to such so-called spousal rights. CYBERSPACE On Feb. 13 the San Francisco-based AIDS charity Under One Roof unveiled its new virtual storefront, an electronic catalog o f merchandise where customers can ” browse and order, on the World Wide Web. The site joins Un der One R o o fs other fund-raising activi ties, such as its San F rancisco “actual” storefront and national holiday catalog, which have already raised $3.8 million v ic e s. Shop for a ca u se at http:// www.underoneroof.org ▼ T T The national Gay and Lesbian Task Force recently released a state-by-state review o f sexu ality-related legislation in the United States, and on Feb. 14 that information became available at the group’s Web site Task Force Online. The report, entitled “Capital Gains and Losses,” cov ers the 1996 legislative sessions and offers addi tional information— complete with a searchable database and downloadable maps and charts— on the general political climate encountered by sexual minority issues at the state level. V isit the N G L T F W eb site at http:// www.ngltf.org http//www. StanWiley.com JEWEL A. ROBINSON Multimillion $ Producer - HAW AII A grass-roots protest-celebration called "Fam ily Rights Weekend” is scheduled for April 18-19 in Honolulu. On Friday, April 18, activists, friends and families will lobby Hawaii lawmakers and possibly the governor. A rally and picnic is set for the following day at Ala Moana Park. The event, focusing on same-gender marriage issues, has been designed as a response to a large Jan. 24 gathering in the city o f those opposed such marriages. It is cosponsored by a growing list of organizations that includes PFLAG Oahu and the Marriage Project-Hawaii (formerly the Hawaii Equal Rights Marriage Project). For more information, call (801)288-9294 or send e-m a il to K ath yW U T @ aol.com or GO CAROLYN@aol.com OFFICE (503) 281-4040 232-5944 Res'60 1 800 232-5944 - 1730 N.E. 10th Avenue Portland, OR 97212 1939 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, Oregon VOICE MAIL (503) 323-2221 E-M AIL Jewel2U @ teleport.com impulse VIDEO Bring in this ad and receive 1 FREE RENTAL! When you rent another video at regular price NEW YORK For years the state o f New York has conducted anonymous testing o f newborns for HIV, and for the past 10 months it has disclosed the results only after obtaining the mother’s consent. According to a New York Times story, however, under the aegis o f a state law passed last summer, on Feb. 1 New York hospitals became the first in the nation to begin mandatory disclosure o f HIV test results o f infants. 10120 S. W. 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You'll find 14 different models of HotSpring and Tiger River spas and more options, accessories NORTH DAKOTA Keith Elston, head o f the American Civil Liberties Union in the Dakotas, had threatened to expose gay and lesbian lawmakers there if they voted to ban same-sex marriages. When the story reached ACLU national headquarters, however, Elston was made to withdraw the threat, and the organization’s director, Ira Glasser, faxed a quick apology. According to The Associated Press, Elston claimed he had the full support o f the ACLU when he first said he would out legislators he believed were homosexual in a Grand Forks weekly arts and entertainment publication. In a statement released Feb. 18, he said, “I made a mistake, and it will not happen again. The ACLU does not ‘out’ people, nor threaten to out people.” and ideas than anywhere else. You won't, however, have a choice when it comes to quality. HotSpring spas are the best you can buy. Our service records prove it. 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