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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1999)
•^ 1 5 k'm i ( ih ni* news ow will the U .S. Senate’s impeachment trial of President Clinton impact lesbian and gay rights efforts on Capitol Hill? If impeachment “drags on and on, that does not bode well for our issues or any body else’s issues,” assesses Seth Kilboum, lob byist for the Human Rights Campaign, a Wash ington, D.C.-based gay and lesbian political group. “That is why we are urging our friends on the Hill to get this over quickly.” Former U .S. Rep. Steve Gunderson, an openly gay Wisconsin Republican, meanwhile, says he thinks “Washington will continue to be increasingly irrelevant in the eyes of the Amer ican public and their daily lives.” Republican J. Dennis Hastert, elected Speaker of the House on Jan. 6, seems a blank slate to many people. The 57-year-old congress man has relatively quietly represented an Illi nois district west of Chicago for a dozen years. “Other than the issue of health care, he has not even attempted to do a lot of public speak ing,” says Gunderson. Hastert is credited with playing a leading role in shaping the 1996 legislation that guarantees access to health insurance for people who change or lose their jobs. “The strength that Hastert brings is that he has been an insider within the party” who is well liked, says Gunderson. At the same time, he adds, Hastert hasn’t been a vocal antagonist of Democrats and, therefore, hasn’t been a light ning rod for their opposition. Still, Hastert’s voting record is solidly con servative, with 100 percent scores from the Christian Coalition and the American Conser vative Union. The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Campaign rate him a zero. Kilboum also points out that Hastert was the O yez , O yez - Oi, V ai Brace yourself: The 106th Congress is called to order by B o b R o e h r driving force behind the ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs. “So we have a lot of concerns. His past his tory suggests that he would not be favorable to our issues,” says Kilboum, “but given the November election results, we are hoping that he will be a fair and bipartisan speaker.” He adds, “We are going to give him the ben efit of the doubt for now and take a guardedly optimistic approach.” Rich Tafel, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, a gay G O P group, acknowledges Hastert’s poor voting record. “But we could do a lot worse,” he notes, adding that G O P moderates strongly support Hastert. “There is a difference between South ern Republicans and Midwestern Republicans; there tends to be a little bit more moderation. He certainly is not a right-wing ideologue and he seems to have gotten the message that his job is to get things done." As for sexual orientation-related legislation, Tafel rates passage of a federal hate crimes bill as a “distant possibility” this session. Kilboum, however, sees “a lot of momentum on the hate crimes bill.” The Democratic spon sor in the House, Charles Schumer of New York, moved to the Senate and HRC is discussing strategies for reintroducing the bill. In the wake of Matthew Shepard’s murder, and if the Republican Party seeks to change its reputation for insensitivity, Gunderson rates passage as “still viable.” B aldwin P aves the W ay ammy Baldwin made history when she was sworn into Congress Jan. 6 as the rep resentative from Wisconsin’s 2nd congression al district. An out lesbian, Baldwin is the first openly gay nonincumbent ever to serve in the U.S. Congress. “Tammy Baldwin’s very presence on the floor of the House will have a phenomenal impact on breaking down anti-gay barriers across the country,” says Brian Bond, execu tive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, via a press statement. The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund is the T S ee V ue Rxperiertce the unusual Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., being sworn in by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert only national organization whose sole mission is to increase the number of qualified openly S u r p r is e , S u r p r is e ! It was Anna’s 40th birthday and Penny wanted to give her something she would never forget. She decided to surprise the love of her life by getting Anna’s friends to join them at the See Vue Motel on the central Oregon Coast for a special birthday weekend. Penny booked the entire motel for a very reasonable price. Penny led Anna to believe they were going to the See Vue for a reflective time away. Anna was surprised and delighted when her friends greeted them upon their arrival with chilled sparkling cider and rainbow-colored helium balloons. She had been out of touch with some of them for far too long. The weekend was full of love, memories and laughter. It was a great way to celebrate and the sweetest gift Penny could have given her. ■' »V- iìmé. G ay A ctivist T apped to B olster P eace C orps ictor J. Basile, the first executive director of the Human Rights Cam paign, has been appointed director of the Peace Corps’ office of private sector coop eration and international volunteerism. T he position does not require U.S. Senate confirmation, and he started the job in December. “I am what I am, something of a knee- jerk, bleeding-heart liberal from the 1960s who is something of a do-gooder. That’s my personality,” says Basile, 53. In his new capacity, he will raise private sector funding in support of Peace Corps volunteer projects around the world. According to Basile, the U.S. govern ment appropriation for the Peace Corps covers only the stipends and transportation expenses of volunteers. Funding for text books, tools, computers and other materials is provided through donations— either cash or in-kind. T he Peace Corps operates in 83 nations. “We have a very large presence in Eastern Europe now, in Russia,” Basile says. “And last summer China opened up.” Basile is a gay activist of long standing. His volunteerism turned into a career in 1983 when he was hired as the first execu tive director of what was then called the Human Rights Campaign Fund. The group was founded in 1980 as the political action committee of the Gay Rights National Lobby, a group that later folded. Volunteers and consultants initially ran HRCF, but under Basile’s six-year tenure, the group’s budget grew to $2 million and its staff to 20. In 1991, Basile co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a national organiza tion that supports openly gay and lesbian candidates running for office at all levels of government, local through federal. During the last decade, he has worked as a consultant to gay and political organi zations, helping them to raise money and strengthen their fund-raising capacities. But Basile says he was ready “to do something a little different.” The Peace Corps fit the bill. V Steve Gunderson Most observers see the Employment Non- Discrimination Act, which would bar employ ment discrimination on the basis of sexual ori entation, as less likely to advance. Gunderson says, “We have not done a good job of surfacing enough cases of blatant discrim ination to convince certain members of C on gress that they have an obligation to override state law.” Increased funding for AID S programs may be harder to find this year, in part because Clinton is promoting a major increase in military spend ing and Republicans are supportive, which may mean fewer public dollars for other programs. “It is going to be an increasingly tough envi ronment to get adequate funding for a whole host of programs,” surmises Kilboum. gay and lesbian public officials. It has generat ed more than $2.2 million for qualified candi dates at all levels of government. “Thanks to live televised coverage of C on gress, millions of Americans will now see an extraordinary congresswoman— who happens to be a lesbian— fighting for things they care about, like health care and education,” adds Bond. Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund officials also hailed Baldwin’s place in history as a role model for sexual minority youth. “Like all young people, gay kids need some one to look up to, something to aspire to and someplace they can feel safe,” says the group’s political director, Kathleen DeBold. “The opening of Tammy Baldwin’s congressional office has given them all three.” ■ Reported by B ob R oehr The H aw thorne Coffee M erchant G ift B a s k e ts y e a r ro u n d 6 . 2 m ile s so u th o f Y a c h a t s , o n th e O r e g o n c o a s t (5 4 1 ) 5 4 7 - 3 2 2 7 • w w w .seevue.com * 3562 SE Hawthorne Blvd. • 230-1222 • Open 7 days a week • Since 1980