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M
embers of the religious gay and lesbian
rights group Soulforce once again demon
strated outside the gathering of a major religious
denomination. This time Soulforce was protest
ing at a gathering
of the Presbyterian TflB UBflBiQI
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n a ruling with potentially broad-ranging
implications for people who purchase disabil
ity insurance policies, the state Supreme Court
ruled last month in favor of a man who claimed
disability benefits for AIDS-related conditions
even though he did not inform the insurance
company of his HIV status when applying for
the policy, reports the Associated Press story.
In March 1989, Mark Galanty purchased a
disability policy from Paul Revere Life Insurance
Co. The application did not ask whether he had
AIDS or was HIV-positive, nor did the policy
exclude people with
either of those condi
tions. Galanty had tested
positive for HIV in 1987.
Galanty claimed dis
ability because of AIDS
and an AIDS-related
condition in September
1994. At first Paul
Revere paid the benefits.
When the company dis
covered Galanty’s posi
tive HIV test, approxi
mately two years after it
began paying him bene
fits, the company denied
coverage. Paul Revere
claimed Galanty’s HIV
status amounted to a pre
existing condition.
The courts June 19
ruling essentially requires insurers to ask about
medical conditions before issuing a disability
policy or to ferret them out within two years.
After two years, the court ruled, policyholders
must he compensated for illnesses—even pre
existing ones— not specifically excluded from
the policy.
Said Jon Davidson, Galanty’s lawyer and an
attorney with the Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund: “People who become dis
abled— regardless of the cause—need no longer
worry that an insurance company will dig
through their medical files in an attempt to find
a previous lab result, genetic test or medical con
dition to use as an excuse for refusing payment.”
The Supreme Court ruling, which overturns
two lower court rulings, entitles Galanty to
approximately $72,000 in compensation.
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listened as the outgoing presiding officer urged
them to consider current problems to be oppor
tunities.
Outside, Soulforce activist Rev. Jane Spahr
told the crowd: “We are here to demand that the
church think of us as whole people rather than
sexual acts.... We are here not only to claim our
civil rights, hut our baptismal rights.”
Spahr, who was intnxJuced as a "lesbian
evangelist,” was ordained by the church before
homosexuality became such a hot-button issue.
Her San Rafael-based ministry is called “That
All May Freely Serve.”
Back inside, the General Assembly of
the 2.6 million-member denomination
voted to continue a two-year moratorium
on discussion of ordination of gay men and
lesbians as ministers and elders.
The group was expected to discuss the
issue of same-sex unions before the con
ventions end. Current policy forbids per
forming same-sex unions in such a way
that they are understood to he “the same as
a marriage ceremony.” In May, however,
the church’s highest court, the Permanent
Judicial Commission, ruled that the
church’s constitution, or Book of Order,
does not prohibit all such unions.
While some would like to see the pro
hibition against same-sex unions strength
ened, others, including Soulforce, want to
see it removed entirely.
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COLORADO
coalition of Denver police, gay and lesbian
activists and neighborhood residents has
come together to combat problems such as after-
hours cruising, loud noise and public sex at
Cheesman Park.
Once so prevalent that it prevented the
reporting of hate crimes and same-sex domestic
violence, mistrust of police by lesbians and gay
men in the area has decreased due, at least in
part, to the new cooperation.
A June 25 story in the Rocky Mountain News
reports that police, gay-rights activists from
Equality Colorado and people who live near the
park have joined together to hand out fliers to
motorists in Cheesman and nearby neighbor
hoods.
The fliers inform people that the police are
increasing enforcement of traffic problems, park
curfew violations and inappropriate activity on
nearby streets.
According to Lt. Jimmy Martinez, head of
the community policing team in District 6, the
joint efforts have resulted in a dramatic decline
in complaints from neighbors about after-hours
activities around the park.
Cheesman Park is a well-known gathering
place for lesbians and gay men from throughout
the Denver metro area. There was at one time a
great deal of friction between park users and
nearby residents.
According to Martinez, positive results
occurred when the police brought together the
neighborhood association and Equality Col
orado, a statewide gay-rights organization.
Others agree with him.
“For one thing, our work with the Denver
police has become a model for how an organiza
tion like ours can work with law enforcement,”
said Lori Girvan, director of Equality Colorado.
Dede DePercin, head of Equality’s Anti-Vio
lence Project, said that cooperation with the
police has “built bridges” over the gay and les
bian community’s fear and mistrust of law
enforcement.
“Not everyone in our community is at that
place of having a gtxxJ relationship with law
enforcement," she said. “It’s a process. And not
everyone in law enforcement has a g(xxl rela
tionship with our community. Each year things
get better, we take different steps."
Assem
2.6 million-member
denomination voted
to continue
a two-year
moratorium on
dlSCU of
ordination of gay
story from Cox
News Service.
As at recent
d e m o n s tra tio n s
targeting
the
United Methodist
General Confer
ence and
the
Southern Baptist
C o n v e n t ion,
members of Soul
force were arrested _____ j i
i.
June 25. Roughly tTIBfl 0 0 0 IBSulOilS OS
so protesters were ministers and
charged by police
with blocking a
roadway, a misdemeanor, said Long Beach police
spokeswoman Nancy Tahing.
More than 120 members and friends of Soul-
force gathered outside the Long Beach arena
where the Presbyterians were meeting.
Inside the arena, thousands of Presbyterians
A