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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1998)
» may U 1990 rT ÌT T T T m news C atholic U niversity N ixes G ingrich S peech O n if il < lo i 1 < L >3 r m Iff \o other ia ficai com pany provides these assurances: Washington Viatical Network, Ini*, never purchases insurance policies from its clients, thereby assuring you that the transaction is in your best financial interest. Washington V iatical Network. Inc. presents your application to no less than 15 different viatical purchasers to ensure that you receive the liighest possible benefits for your insurance policy. Fast cast - Nan • Easy - aa lassies ar eanpiieatiaes Strictest caatiSeace Vii si’i-.ci m . i /. k in FEGLI. VOLI, SGLL I ndimdi \ i & G roi p policies \\ \ S II 1 \ < ; r o \ V 1 A T 1 C A 1. Available 24 hours. (’all us now or anytime for a eonsultation. mi Free: 1(8881777-5432 WntáftN Iktn km: (202) 333-4100 WWW.W8Slilltllfi8tie8l.C8B fficials at Catholic University of America refused to allow Candace Gingrich, sister of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to speak on campus April 22, despite the fact that she had been invited by the Rev. Robert M. Friday, vice president for student life, and the university’s Organization for Lesbian and G ay Student Rights. “Religious dis agreements do not justify suppression of free speech,” says Elizabeth Birch, the Human Rights Cam paign’s execu tive director. “Appar ently, administrators at Catholic Univer sity do not have enough faith in their students to allow them to hear differ- Candace Gingrich ent points of view. The students at the universi ty are the big losers today.” Gingrich, who is H R C ’s associate manager of the National Coming Out Day Project, said she was disappointed “I’m surprised that this happened in our nation’s capital, where major issues are freely debated every day,” she said. “C atholic University has sent the message that they choose to be an island of ignorance in a sea of free speech.” In a one-paragraph statement, Catholic University President Brother Patrick Ellis wrote, “I have concluded that the presentation could not be compatible with the Catholic identity of the Catholic University of America.” Ellis’ statement contradicts the university’s history of occasionally inviting speakers whose views are in opposition to those of the Roman Catholic Church. These guests have included speakers who favored abortion rights and sup porters of the death penalty. The decision sparked disagreement from some students and faculty members. “My understanding was that Gingrich was going to speak about what life was like as a gay person in America,” Friday told H RC. "I do not think what she was going to say was incompati ble with the Catholic identity of the university. This is a place where diverse points of view should be heard and the students can make up their own minds.” The school’s decision followed a letter writ ten earlier that week by representatives of Graduates for Life, an anti-abortion student group, which asked the university president to rescind Gingrich’s invitation. The letter said Gingrich’s message “directly contradicts the truth of Catholic moral doctrine.” Q ueer C hristian H aven he evolution o f homosexuality in Christianity continues with the Rancho Amanecer Retreat Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the 22-acre ranch in Southern California’s Leona Valley is the only ecu menical spiritual retreat in the country specifically for gay men and lesbians. Aside from offer ing a retreat site for queer Christians, Rancho Am anecer’s mission is to counter the antagonism toward religion often T seen in the sexual minorities community, said one of the retreat’s founders, James L. Colburn, who is Catholic. That sentiment was echoed by Episcopalian priest Malcolm Boyd at the center’s April 18 opening conference. “Our profession of faith within the gay movement has too often led to our being treat ed as second-class citizens and falsely stereo typed as hypocrites and accomplices in social oppression,” Boyd said. Colburn said he tried to be inconspicuous about his orientation when he first arrived in the valley, but several residents knew he was gay even before he purchased the site. “One time the postmistress, an older lady, took my hand and said, ‘It’s so nice to have you boys in the valley,’ ” he said. F rank D own on M arch O penly gay Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., thinks the time and money going into planning a year 2000 march in Washington, D.C., in support o f queer civil rights could be better spent, reports the Washington Blade. In an interview with syndicated gay colum nist Hastings Wyman published in early April, Frank said he thinks the march “is not a good idea. It’s a diversion of resources.” He also told Wyman he wants to see sexual minorities rushing to participate in one of the two main political parties rather than marching in Washington. PHOTO BY BOB ROEHR 14 Barney Frank “I’d like to see [gay people] spending all their time trying to be delegates to the Democratic convention— and the Republican convention, though that’s not going to be as successful,” he said. Plans for the Millennium March on Washington were announced in February by the Human Rights Campaign and the Universal Fellowship o f M etropolitan Com m unity Churches. The march has stirred controversy, with a number of queer organizations charging they were not consulted on key decisions in the march’s planning, including discussions about the political platform that will be presented. Several have reserved their endorsement of the march pending further discussion of these issues. A T axing S ituation W hen Kathys’ Group, a nonprofit support group for lesbians with cancer, applied for tax-exempt status, an Internal Revenue Service agent ordered the group to alter its mission statement to read “all women” instead of focus ing on lesbians. Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund sent a letter to the IRS April 14 insisting the agency treated the Rhode Island group improp erly. Lambda also said Kathys’ Group meets all tax-exempt criteria, which should be the IR S’s only concern. “Dealing with the IRS is a scary thing, so we thought we might have to give up our mission," says Lorry Gavin, president of Kathys’ Group.