just out ▼ January 16, 1908 ▼ 7
national briefs
CALIFORNIA
A lawyer for the Boy Scouts of America argued
Jan. 5 that gay people and atheists do not belong in
an organization that teaches conservative sexual
morality and promotes a duty to God.
According to The Associated Press, the Boy
Scouts went before the
California Supreme
Court to fight discrimi
nation suits filed by a
man who was expelled
because he is gay and
twin boys who were
thrown out because
they do not believe in
God.
Scout lawyer George Davidson claimed the
group was merely upholding its tenets.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs sought to portray the
Boy Scouts as a business rather than a private club.
Jon Davidson, an American Civil Liberties Union
attorney, said the Scouts sells camping supplies,
engages in public relations, pays full-time staff and
charge fees to its 5 million members across the
country.
“Those factors point to it not being a private
club,” Davidson said.
A decision is expected within 90 days.
FLORIDA
A committee of Florida ’ s Constitution Revision
Commission has balked at adding “sexual orienta
tion” to the classes of people afforded rights under
the state Constitution, the Miami Herald reports. At
least two members of the commission admitted
they personally supported the measure to protect
the rights of sexual minorities but voted against it
out of concern that it would have a negative impact
on other proposals.
Article One of Florida’s Constitution, which
outlines the basic rights of state residents, currently
reads: “No person shall be deprived of any right
because of race, religion or physical handicap.”
The commission, which convenes every 20
years, is continuing to debate the addition of age,
gender, disability (as opposed to “handicap”) and
national origin.
GEORGIA
On Dec. 17, Lithia Springs City Council unani
mously voted in favor of a nondiscrimination
policy that includes sexual orientation, theSoui/i-
ern Voice reports. The measure prohibits anti-gay
bias in city employment and forbids discrimina
tion by private businesses that contract to perform
work for the city.
Lithia Springs is the third Georgia city to pass
such a measure.
NEW YORK
A mid-level appeals court has denied a marriage
license to PhillipandToshav Storrs, citing technical
flaws in their argument. The decision came in a suit
the gay couple filed against the Ithaca city clerk who
told them state agency guidelines prohibited her
from issuing them a license.
On Dec. 24, the court sided with the clerk and
faulted the Storrs for not including in their claim the
state Department of Health, which has jurisdiction
over marriage licenses, the Ithaca Journal reports.
The Storrs launched their lawsuit following the
passage of a resolution by the Ithaca Common
Council urging the state to allow same-sex mar
riages. The court’s decision did not, however, ad
dress whether state law—which doesn’t specify
gender in reference to marriage—prohibits same-
sex marriages. The ruling focused instead on the
Department of Health’s authority to issue directives
pertaining to marriage licenses.
▼ ▼ ▼
Gay Men’s Health Crisis dropped its group
health plan in mid-December, forcing staff mem
bers to obtain insurance independently, the Village
Voice reports.
The weekly newspaper quotes an internal GMHC
memo that largely blames increasing insurance
costs for the move.
In 1989, GMHC’s health plan began to be
“experience rated”—meaning the price of cover
age was based on its own group usage rather than
general community rates—causing the agency’s
insurance costs to rise more than 200 percent.
According to Susan Dooha, a director in
GMHC’s public policy department, the practice of
experience rating is inherently discriminatory since
sicker populations—like the staff of GMHC, many
of whom are HIV-positive—end up paying the
most.
GMHC management has been quick to point
out the agency’s predicament is part of a larger
problem looming in the health care industry.
▼ ▼ ▼
U.S. Immigration officials in New York have
deported an HIV-positive artist who arrived to
work on an exhibit that will be part of the 1998
International Conference on AIDS in Geneva,
Switzerland.
“We have a very silly problem,” said David
Haerry of the AIDS Documentation Center in
Bern. “[The artist] traveled to the U.S. [with] his
antiviral cocktail in his bag. Unfortunately, he has
been controlled scru-
pulouslyby [immigra
tion officials] in New
York City. They found
the drugs [and] he had
to leave the U.S. on the
next plane.”
The U.S. ban on
HIV-positive visitors is
sometimes waived for
individuals visiting family, attending a conference
or receiving medical treatment.
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TEXAS
An infant caught in the middle of a legal battle
over his placement in the foster care of a suburban
Dallas lesbian couple has been temporarily handed
over to his aunt and uncle in Chicago, United Press
International reports.
The case garnered national attention last year
after a Texas child welfare worker said she had
been demoted for removing the boy from the cus
tody of the lesbian couple.
Rebecca Bledsoe claimed that because sodomy
is illegal in Texas, the state should not allow same-
sex couples to provide foster care; she filed a
grievance against the state, which is still pending.
The Liberty Legal Institute, meanwhile, has
intervened on behalf of the family and is pushing
for an investigation into the circumstances of the
original placement. According to the state Depart
ment of Protective and Regulatory Services, a court
will have to decide the permanent adoption of the
child, which could take as long as six months.
UTAH
Despite frenzied efforts by Councilman Bryce
Jolley, in December the Salt Lake City Council
voted 5-2 to approve a nondiscrimination ordi
nance that protects the rights of lesbian and gay city
employees.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake
City is the first Utah municipality to adopt such an
ordinance; the University of Utah and Salt Lake
County have similar policies.
Compiled by Christopher D. Cuttone
I
Finally,
someone to do the
homework.
Clint Schrader
has relocated his travel services
formerly,
New Raleigh Hills location
Locally gay owned
E ric D.
i
In Touch Travel N.W. Inc.
1
NORTH CAROLINA
On Jan. 15, gay and lesbian partners of graduate
students at Duke University became eligible to
receive health insurance and other benefits. The
new policy comes nearly three years after the
school extended benefits to same-sex partners of
faculty and staff, according to the Durham Herald-
Sun.
Heterosexual live-in couples do not qualify
under the policy and would have to marry to receive
full campus benefits.
cisions that prepare you with
Photography with a Bias
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