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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1998)
1 4 J u s t o u t * aprii 17. 1998 Diane Rosenbaum for B isexual C onference D raws 900- plus N Representative D istrict 14 Diane Rosenbaum is endorsed by: Kathleen Saadat Jerry Weller Jean Harris Don Powell Fighting I good for the group because more students have started coming to meetings. The issue came to the forefront in February after members of the association read an article he Fifth Annual International Bisexual about G A S A in the Times. C aton wrote Conference, held April 4-6 at Harvard Superintendent Howard Hinesley, other mem University, attracted more than 900 people, bers of the school board and some political reports the Harvard Crimson. heavyweights like Congressmen Newt Gingrich The three-day event, which was organized by and Mike Bilirakis, a Florida Republican. Harvard Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Graduate The attention has highlighted a small group Students and the Bisexual Resource Center in that went unnoticed for a year outside the circle Boston, featured workshops on topics including of about 35 students who confidentially attend psychological research, activism, the media and ed its weekly meetings. The group formed in January 1997 after two students approached administrators with the idea. Meetings are held for about 45 minutes during the school day. Largo principal Barbara Thornton said G A S A is not intended to promote homosexual ity, but is a response to complaints from sexual minority students who say they have been harassed by others in the school. T "I am supporting Diane Rosenbaum for State Representative in D istrict 14. As a Steering Committee member on the No on 13 Campaign and Basic Rights Oregon, Diane has shown a long term commitment to fighting the OCA and ending discrimina tion against gays and lesbians. I urge you to vote for Diane Rosenbaum on May 19. — Don Powell, Co-Chair, No on 13 Campaign for justice the community Authorized by Diane Rosenbaum for Representative, D istric t 14, 238 -629 8 he ijgfit to be let alone is the most comprehensive of rights and the rçght most valued by civilized people.” x- Justice Louis Brandéis Rogers & Rodz Attorneys at Law Cali for brochure Criminal defense by a former judge, state and federal prosecutor, and state and federal public defenders 506 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Portland, OR 97204 (503)294-9998 It s a Great Time to Buy or Sell ! Interest Rates are Low, the Sun is on its Way . . . I According to Jonathan Urbach, a student at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who was the event’s facilities coordinator, the goal of the conference was “partly to empower the bisexual community, to increase their influ ence within the gay and lesbian community as well as increasing [their internal] bonds.” The conference included more than 150 workshops, as well as poetry readings and a con cert. The event’s three keynote speakers were Evelyn Mantilla, a Connecticut state represen tative; Kerry Lobel, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and Elias Farajaj^-Jones, a professor at Howard University Divinity School. Call Celia Now to Explore Your Possibilities ! Let me Guide you Through the Process. í2 r P a g e r:920-8403 Mobile:260-6231 F ax :2 8 4 -1 6 1 8 D efense Secretary William Cohen acknowl edged April 7 that “some commanders haven’t gotten the message” about the Clinton administration’s policy barring the pursuit and harassment of gay men and lesbians in the mili tary. He ordered new guidelines to explain and enforce it. “I have tried to make it very clear that we want this policy fully and fairly implemented. That means there’s to be no pursuit, there’s to be no harassment, and if it’s taking place, it’s some thing I’m very concerned about,” Cohen said in an interview on National Public Radio. P ostcard P rotest H its F lorida S tudent G roup A support group for gay and lesbian students at Largo High School in Florida is drawing protests from a Christian group with members across the state who fear other schools will try to duplicate the program, reports the April 4 issue of the St. Petersburg Times. From Key West to Pensacola to Jacksonville, members of the conservative Horida Family Association have sent about 1,000 postcards and letters to the home of Lucille Casey, chair woman of the Pinellas County School Board. They want the board to disband the Gay and Straight Alliance at Largo High, the only group CELIA J. LYON Sales Associate (503)287-8989 x147 (503)786-4959 C ohen H edges on ‘D on ’ t A sk ’ C ompliance Association head David Caton, who lives in neighboring Hillsborough County, told his group’s members about G A S A through his March newsletter, which he said goes to 10,000 supporters across the state. Caton has also contacted 3,500 homes and churches in Pinellas County to rally support. In a few weeks, the association is slated to send let ters to households in the Largo High School dis trict, he said. All will he encouraged to send let ters to school board members’ homes. The newspaper reports students who attend G A S A meetings are not discouraged by the opposition. According to Matt Popiolek, the group’s co-president, the publicity has been The “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” pol icy was initiated in 1994 amid controversy, attempting to strike a balance between prohib ited homosexual conduct in the military and attempts to maintain the privacy of those who choose not to declare their sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense released a report on April 7 showing the number of people discharged for being gay or lesbian climbed from 850 in 1996 to 997 last year. Cohen recommended, among other things, that military commanders consult with their superiors and military legal authorities before embarking on investigations of suspected gay men and lesbians. He also said commanders and investigators need more training about the poli cy. The report said without elaboration that in only three cases had the policy not been proper ly enforced. Critics of the policy said Cohen would not have issued the directives if indeed the policy was being properly enforced. “The policy itself is not being followed down the chain of command and the core problem of anti-gay bias goes completely unaddressed,’’ says Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay and lesbian political organization. “The policy is not working because commanders in the field are continuing to ask and pursue, hunting down gay service members unabated.”