anuary 21. 2000
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When an ordinary
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CALIFORNIA
y a unanimous vote, the West Hollywotxl
City Council defeated a measure that would
have required bars and nightclubs to distribute
condoms.
Establishments that would have been affect
ed by the m andatory program
include those with liquor licenses,
adult businesses, coffeehouses and
nonprofit organizations that serve
those at risk for HIV, reports a Jan. 3
Associated Press story.
Speaking about the proposal,
C ouncilm an Steve M artin said:
"Mandatory condom distribution does
not adequately address the issue of safe
sex. A fish bowl of condoms just doesn’t
compare to aggressive street outreach
and one-on-one education.”
Supporters of the measure included
health advocates.
Said Ged Kensela, spokesperson for the
AIDS Healthcare Foundation: “It’s not an
imposition to have a condom made available to
you in a city whose principal economy is night
life-driven.”
The city currently has a voluntary program
that last year provided 300,000 condoms to
approximately 30 nightclubs. The clubs agreed
to place the condoms in containers accessible to
customers.
B
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new law that created a statewide domestic
partnership registry went into effect Jan. 1.
O n the first business day of the year, 71 Califor
nia couples took advantage of the law to register
with either county clerks or the secretary of
state s office.
According to a Jan. 4 San Francisco Chronicle
story, lesbian and gay couples and straight cou
ples older than 62 can register their relation
ships for $10.
A
Those living in Sacramento, San Francisco,
Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego now have
the right to visit their partner in the hospital.
Retired state workers can obtain health care
benefits for their partners. C urrent state and
local government employees who are enrolled
in the state’s retirem ent program also get bene
fits for their partners.
T he law was authored by Assemblywoman
Carole Migden, D -San Francisco, who called
the registry “a step toward legitimization” for les
bian and gay couples.
To he eligible to register, couples must share
a common residence, agree to be jointly respon
sible for each o thers basic living expenses, be at
least 18 years old and no t be related by blood in
a way that would forbid them from marrying.
KENTUCKY
second soldier at Fort Campbell has
been sentenced in the beating death of
Pfc. Barry W inchell.
U nder a plea agreement, Army Spc.
Justin R. Fisher, 26, adm itted he lied to
investigators and obstructed their inquiry.
Fisher wiped blood from the baseball
bat used by Pvt. C alvin G lover to bludgeon
W inchell while he slept. He was sentenced
to 12 and a half years in prison.
A ccording to m edia reports, the Army
dropped other charges, which included partici
pating as a principal to premeditated murder
and acting as an accessory after the fact.
Fisher apologized to his family and to
W inchell’s family members.
“Barry, I hope you can hear me,” Fisher said.
“I’m sorry for the part I played in this. I know
you are now in a better place. I hope you know
that if I could go back to the morning it hap
pened, 1 would have changed it all.”
W inchell was plagued by rumors that he was
gay. Prosecutors contended he was murdered
because G lover hated gays.
A
NATIONAL
he U.S. Supreme C ourt let stand without
com m ent or dissent an appeals court ruling
that allows an insurance company to place a
low cap on health care benefits paid for AIDS-
related conditions.
T he appeals court ruling stated that the
Americans with Disabilities A ct does not apply
to insurance companies.
In 1997, two HIV-positive Chicago-area
men sued M utual of O m aha Insurance Co. over
insurance policies th at had payment caps of
$25,000 and $100,000 for AIDS or AIDS-relat-
ed conditions. Both policies provided lifetime
limits of $1 million for other illnesses, reports a
Jan. 10 story from Reuters.
T he initial ruling by a federal judge found
that the policy limits violated the federal Amer
icans with Disabilities A ct. T h e ruling was over
turned by an appeals court, which found that,
while denying coverage to someone with AIDS
T
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