j u s t o u t ▼ ju n e 6 . 1 9 9 7 T 9
national briefs
CALIFORNIA
The results, released May 6, of a telephone
poll conducted by the nonpartisan Field Institute
show that most Californians support laws allow
ing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the
military and granting family rights to same-gen
der couples. The largest shift in opinion over the
past two decades appeared in the area of child
custody, where seven out of 10 people polled said
they supported the rights of queer parents who are
found legally fit to care for their children, reports
United Press International.
Respondents were split almost evenly on the
question of whether homosexual relations are
morally wrong. A slight majority—56 percent—
said they disapprove of same-sex marriages, and
49 percent favor a legislative ban on recognition
of queer marriages performed in other states.
CYBERSPACE
The Sisters of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, an
Episcopal group named for the Mother Theresa of
the 13th century, inherited a herd of Black Angus
from a charitable farmer in Stover, Mo., reports
the Orange County Register. Sister Mary Eliza
beth of San Juan Capistrano was sent to the small
town to care for the cows and while there met a
man with AIDS. Sympathy for his predicament—
living in a small town with only party-line phones
that was served by a doctor who visited weekly—
inspired her to embark on a project to bring
information about HIV/AIDS to geographically
isolated
Selling the herd gave the sisters enough money
to launch the AEGIS bulletin board in 1990. Since
then, the database has shifted to the Web, ac
quired funding from the U.S. National Library of
Medicine and grown to more than 350,000 docu
ments, making it the world’s largest database on
the subject.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
On May 12, the Supreme Court refused for the
second time in two years to review the military’s
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, reports United Press
International. The justices declined without com
ment to hear the case of Lt. j.g. Richard Dirk
Selland, which sought to prove that the policy
violates free speech rights.
Selland was discharged from the Navy in Janu
ary 1993, prior to enactment of “don’t ask, don’t
tell,” for revealing his orientation to his com
mander as part of a complaint about homosexual
jokes made by fellow crew members. He filed suit,
and a U.S. District Court ordered the Navy not to
kick him out until the policy went into effect.
Selland was discharged again in March 1994.
UTAH
It may seem ironic that Utah’s state bird is the
California gull, but even more ironic is biologist
Michael Conover’s research revealing that up to
2 percent of female California gulls get insemi-
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nated by already-mated males and then form
homosexual pairs to share nests, chick-raising
responsibilities and hunting duties.
In a state known for its Bible-toting, anti-gay
conservatives, this news could be contentious or
anecdotal. Gayle Ruzicka, president of the con
servative Eagle Forum, swallowed the idea of two
single-mother birds helping each other baby-sit,
reports the Salt Lake Tribune, but was nonplused
when informed that the female gulls also mount
each other.
Conover, who works out of Utah State Univer
sity, plans to continue his research in hope of
determining whether the birds’ same-sex pairing is
an inherited trait or learned behavior. He says the
homosexual pairing occurs in species where males
and females are so similar in appearance that a
minor operation is required for scientists to deter
mine their gender, so it’s possible that the gulls
themselves can’t distinguish between the two.
VIRGINIA
The latest chapter in the Sharon Bottoms saga
is an appeal to reverse part of an August ruling
which granted Bottoms greater visitation rights
with her son, Tyler Doustou, but stipulated that
her partner, April Wade, could not be present
during the visits. An American Civil Liberties
Union spokesman told The Associated Press that
the ruling is based on anti-gay bias and therefore
violates the equal protection clause of the Consti
tution.
The case will be heard before the Virginia
Court of Appeals, the court that gave Bottoms her
only major victory in the four-year custody battle
with her mother: a ruling in 1994, later overturned
by the state Supreme Court, that said her sexual
orientation was insufficient grounds to take her
son away from her.
WASHINGTON
The Seattle School Board voted at a May 8
meeting that donated books with gay and lesbian
themes must be reviewed closely before being
distributed. According to United Press Interna
tional, the board expressed concern about whether
such books simply provided information or pro
moted a homosexual lifestyle.
The board also voted to investigate whether the
Sexual Minority Advocacy Council, a group of
school district employees, crosses the same line.
▼ ▼ T
MASSACHUSETTS
Forty-one-year-old former social worker Jen
nifer Firestone of Cambridge has created Alterna
tive Family Matters, a business that will provide
networking and counseling services to lesbians
and gay men who want to have children. Accord
ing to the Boston Globe, the company’s first
catalog of New Englanders willing to be sperm
donors and/or co-parents is scheduled for publi
cation this fall.
For a $500 fee. Alternative Family Matters
produces a personal profile for the catalog, helps
members clarify the type of arrangement they
seek, and sponsors meetings between potential
co-parents. For an additional consulting fee.
Firestone will offer assistance in developing a
contract governing how the child will be raised
and addressing pertinent legal issues.
Investing takes more than money...
it takes vision, service, performance.
Bob Sullivan of Tacoma is suing Pierce County,
alleging that authorities withheld his AIDS medi
cation while he was in jail. According to a United
Press International story, the suit maintains
Sullivan’s condition has worsened significantly
because he was not given his medication while in
jail for two days on a drunk driving and outstand
ing warrant charge.
Sullivan had been taking antiviral medication
since December 1995 and had low levels of the
virus, but since the incident the amount of HI V in
his blood has increased 10-fold. His doctor con
firms that the medication had stopped working for
him because missing doses allowed the virus to
mutate. As of May 2, authorities had declined to
comment.
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