aprii 16. 1999 * J(*at out j 7
*7*1 « [ ihm * news
Christi O’Hara,
S a le s and L e a s in g C o n s u lta n t
*■ .■* *
■
go through the hassle of defining what is a
domestic partnership.”
The only dissenting vote was cast by Super­
visor Mike Antonovich, who claimed that it
was “pandering to special interests.”
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who proposed
the law, countered by saying: “This is a part of
the American landscape now, it has become a
part of the relationship between employers and
employees. It is not the novelty it was years
ago.”
hile the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
celebrated their 20th anniversary with a
street party in the Castro on Easter Sunday, the
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
called on all Catholic organizations across the
nation to boycott San Francisco.
The March 29 issue of the San Francisco
Chronicle included a half-page ad signed by
William A. Donohue,
president of the Catholic
League. In the ad, Dono­
hue denounced the San
Francisco Board of Super­
visors’ vote to allow the
Easter celebration. He
even attacked San Francis­
co’s much-vaunted image
as a city of tolerance. The
ad went on to state the
boycott would be canceled
if the Sisters’ celebration
was rescheduled to occur
after Easter.
That did not happen. Wimples and whimsy
were out in full force as the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence and supporters celebrated with
musical performances and a “Hunky Jesus"
beauty contest.
“City government has gone out of its way to
associate itself with this ridicule and blasphe­
my,” wrote Archbishop William Leveda in a col­
umn published on Good Friday.
Tom Ammiano, the gay and Roman
Catholic president of the San Francisco Board
of Supervisors, opened the festivities saying:
“The message of Easter is one of resurrection
and 1 think that it’s time in San Francisco that
we resurrect the spirit of coexistence that has
existed for the past 20 years.”
Ammiano and Leveda are expected to con­
duct peace talks.
“There is a gulf, and we need to bridge it,”
Ammiano said.
W
ILLINOIS
L
ast September, the Rev. Gregory Dell, a
Methodist minister, presided over the “holy
union" of two Chicago men. By participating in
that ceremony, Dell violated the Methodist
Church’s ban on
same-sex
cere­
monies, The Asso­
ciated Press report­
ed March 27.
The Methodist
Church retaliated
late last month by
suspending
the
Downers
Grove
minister. The sus­
pension begins on
July 5. It will con­
tinue until Dell
signs a statement
promising to comply with church law in this
matter, or until the law is changed.
“I will never sign such a statement," said
Dell, who’s been in the church for 30 years. “If I
can’t be a pastor fully to all the people...you
don’t want me as a pastor. You really don t.
The jury was comprised of 13 pastors. Nine
were needed to find Dell guilty. The final vote
was 10-3 against Dell. The same group of pastors
decided the penalty. While the suspension is
considered harsh, Dell could have been
defrocked.
Last year, the Rev. Jimmy Creech of Omaha,
Neb., was acquitted for perfonning a lesbian
wedding because the jury decided the church’s
position against same-sex ceremonies was only
in an advisory capacity.
Following Creech’s acquittal, the church’s
position was elevated to church law. Dell was
tried under that law.
More trials of this nature are expected. A
California bishop recently filed a complaint
against 69 Methodist ministers who participated
in the union of a lesbian couple in January.
NATIONAL
O
ne can find many fun, amusing, informa­
tive, educational and silly things on the
Internet. One can also find many ugly, hateful,
infuriating and just plain scary things on the
Internet.
Among the latter are the 1,426 Internet sites
identified by the Simon Wiesenthal Center as
promoting racism,
anti-Semitism, hate
music, neo-Nazism
and bomb making.
Other sites on the
list include those that
advocate anti-gay,
anti-Catholic, anti-
Muslim, pro-violence
and anti-abortion po­
sitions, according to a March 24 Agence
France-Presse story.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that we have
more members in these different groups,” said
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the
Los Angeles-based Wiesenthal Center. “But the
Internet does two things. It gives [racists] a sense
of empowerment and an unparalleled, unprece­
dented opportunity for marketing themselves 24
hours a day.”
According to Cooper, in 1995 “there was
exactly one hate site on the World Wide Web.
By the end of 1997 there were 600, and now the
report lists almost 1,500.”
The report involved 14 months of research
in Europe and both North and South America,
the areas of the world with the most Internet
users.
.
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WYOMING
R
ussell Henderson, 21, one of two men
charged with the brutal murder of gay stu­
dent Matthew Shepard, pleaded guilty earlier
this month to felony murder and kidnapping.
He has been sentenced to consecutive life sen­
tences.
Had he gone to trial, various media sources
report, Henderson could have faced the death
penalty.
Standing before Shepard’s parents, Hender­
son apologized for kidnapping their son, pistol­
whipping him, lashing him to a fence and leav­
ing him to die on the cold prairie.
“I know what I did was wrong. I’m very sorry
for what I did,” he told them.
Two other defendants, Aaron McKinney, 21,
and his girlfriend, await trial.
Henderson’s girlfriend pleaded guilty to
charges that she was an accessory after the fact
and is awaiting sentencing. McKinney’s girl­
friend will go on trial in May on an accessory
charge.
McKinney, who is charged with first-degree
murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery
charges, faces trial in August. He could be sen­
tenced to the death penalty if found guilty.
■ Com piled by KRISTINE CHATWOOD
cWoo^Mode
F
I N I C U ^ S T O M
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