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Provost Nancy Cantor, the university is “com
pletely in support of both professor Halperin’s
course and his freedom to teach this course.”
In a late March news release, University of
Michigan Regent Dan Homing said the course
“crosses the line” and added that he would ask
for a review at the regents’ April meeting.
N A T IO N A L
he G O P is in big trouble— so says conserv
ative Pat Buchanan, formerly a Republican
booster, who now feels the party has abandoned
the American family.
According to an April 16 Associated Press
report, Buchanan made the remarks after GO P
presidential hopeful George W. Bush met with
gay Republicans.
“He’s raising the white flag and stacking arms
[surrendering] in the cultural war for the soul of
this country,” Buchanan said on Fox News Sun
day.
Buchanan, who abandoned his quest for the
2000 G O P presidential nomination in October,
is the leading contender for the Reform Party’s
nomination.
Regarding Bush’s April 13 meeting with a
dozen gay Republicans, Buchanan said: “He’s
sending a signal that this really is not a matter
that we ought to let trouble us. But you know,
what he’s doing is he’s walking away from the
pro-family Republicans. Look, Republicans
believe— or used to believe— the idea of pre
serving the family is critical, and any assault
upon the family was really one of the reasons
why this country is in such
profound trouble.”
The civil suit was filed in U.S. District
Court.
The school district banned all nonacademic
clubs in 1996, after students tried to form a sup
port group for gay, lesbian and bisexual students.
Last October, a federal judge ruled that the ban
on nonacademic clubs is constitutional.
T
*
Earlier in
the month,
Bush
met
with a group of
gay supporters
in Austin, Texas.
“I welcome gay
Americans into my
campaign,” Bush told reporters after the meet
ing. "I want the Republicans, conservative
Republicans to understand we judge people
based upon their heart and soul, that’s what the
campaign is about. And while we disagree on gay
marriage, for example, we agree on a lot of other
issues and it’s important for people to hear that.”
Bush had previously been reluctant to meet
with gay Republicans.
Robert Stears, chairman of Log Cabin
Republicans, a gay G O P group, said the meeting
is “a positive first step in an historic dialogue
with a Republican presidential nominee, in an
election cycle that has been truly historic for gay
Americans.”
Those at the meeting included openly gay
G O P elected officials such as Mayor Dan Stew
art of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Councilman David
Catania of Washington, D.C.
UTAH
wo East High School students are suing the
Salt Lake City School District. An April 11
story in The Salt lake Tribune reports that the stu
dents are claiming discrimination because the
district will not allow them to form a club to dis
cuss gay and lesbian issues.
In their suit, Jessica Cohen and Margaret
Hinckley contend the school district violated
their First Amendment rights to freedom of
expression when it denied their requests to form
the Rainbow Club in 1999 and PRISM (People
Respecting Important Social Movements) in
January 2000.
T
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In their lawsuit, Cohen and Hinckley main
tain their clubs have an academic tie to history,
sociology, government and biology classes,
because they examine homosexual perspectives
on those subjects. The clubs would be open to
students of all sexual orientations.
Currently, nonacademic clubs can meet after
hours on public school property as community
groups. They must pay rent for the space, obtain
insurance, and they cannot advertise their clubs
at school.
Cohen and Hinckley are asking the court to
force the school district to allow the PRISM and
Rainbow clubs to meet as school-sponsored
clubs and to pay their attorney fees.
School district officials declined to com
ment on the lawsuit.
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Under the bill, gay and lesbian couples could
obtain a license from their town clerks and then
have their unions certified by a judge or member
of the clergy. They then would qualify for the
wide array of benefits available to married cou
ples, from being able to make medical decisions
on behalf of their partners to qualifying for cer
tain tax breaks. To break up a civil union, cou
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obtain dissolutions, just as when married couples
divorce.
Unlike marriage, civil unions might not be
recognized in other states.
Democratic Gov. Howard Dean has said he
will sign the bill.
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VERMONT
| he state Senate approved a bill April
.!. 19 that allows same-sex couples to
form “civil unions," entitling them to an esti
mated 300 rights and benefits available to mar
ried couples under state law.
The vote was 19-11; the bill returns to the
House for consideration of changes to the
House-approved version.
According to The Associated Press, the
biggest difference between the House and Sen
ate bills is the effective date. Under the Senate
proposal, civil unions could take place begin
ning July 1. The House set the date two months
later.
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