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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 2000)
f • 16 J“ « * august 4.2000 HTM a news Fire- G rilled N . Y Steak # ^ a real stereo store for real music lovers rO s STf Bf O to •5 ... b ec a u s e m u sic m a tters. $ r 2627 N.E. B roadw ay/Portland/ 280-0910 www.stereotypesaudio.com ‘J\e affli C ool Stuff to Antiques <! Treasures K E N TU C K Y n investigation by the Army’s inspector general has cleared all the officers at Fort Campbell of any blame in connection to the murder last year of Pvt. Barry Winchell. He was beaten to death with a baseball bat by another soldier because he was thought to be gay. Two men were convicted of the murder. C BS News reports the investigation placed the blame on Winchell’s first sergeant, who since has been relieved of his duties, for allow ing the harassment to take place. The report also blamed a lack of training on what the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy means. Maj. Gen. Robert Clark, who commanded Fort Campbell at the time of W inchell’s murder, said: “There is not, nor has there ever been dur ing my time here, a climate of homophobia on post. The climate here is one that promotes just the opposite, respect for all.” Winchell’s mother, Pat Kut- teles, voiced her concern months ago. “There has been nobody that has been held accountable for the Army’s part in the harassment and the lack of safety." A NEW JE R S E Y A 3 ¿0 7& 72 SW C apitol H ighw ay Portland, OR 37219 • 5 0 3 -2 4 6 -6 2 6 7 •3 We are located In Multnomah Village near The dridge. Call for direct-tone. O r i v e w it h P r id e > ■» * J GQ 5o C h r is t in a S ig w a rt 503 256-3700 - REY REECE DEALERSHIPS Ço 0LDS-ISUZU-V0LKSWAGEN-USED clsigwar t@ho t mail. com 122nd & East Burnside www.vwcitv.net GQ GET THE LATEST * News, Sports, Events & 56K Internet Access 3 %KW iff UNLIM ITED ACCESS BRIDGEPORT f ALE HOUSE W $1 9 95/ m o • s 99°°/6 mos NO START UP FEES • C A LL TODAY 503 240-8200 * 3652 S E Hawthorne Blvd. E-mail: infoQSpiritOne.com 7902 N Richm ond Ava • Portland O R 97203 fax 503-240-0205 www. bridgeportbrew. com LOCALLY W E S T V IR G IN IA he U .S. Justice Department has opened a X. preliminary investigation into the killing of Arthur “J.R .” Warren, a black gay man from Grant Town. Various media sources report Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder met in July with family members and friends o f W arren’s and representatives of civil rights and gay rights groups. T h e Justice De partm ent’s civil rights division will conduct the investigation with the FBI and the U .S. attorney’s office in W heeling. Two white 17-year-olds have been charged with the murder of Warren, 26. According to authorities, the suspects beat him to death, then ran over his body with a car to make the inci dent look like a hit-and-run. Although many think the murder was a hate crime, Marion County Sheriff Ron Watkins and Prosecutor G . Richard Bunner have insisted hate was not a factor. Bunner has not yet decid ed whether to try the two suspects as adults. Officials with the Justice Department said they doubt federal law would apply to the case. ■ Com piled by KRISTINE CHATWOOD, a Portland- based free-lance uniter and longtime Just Out contributor. Ä - f Schedule your appointment today with: £ judge in New Brunswick has ordered Wal- Mart to pay more than $2 million to a for mer cashier who was harassed and fired after a boss learned he was undergoing a male-to- female sex change, The Associated Press report ed July 18. Ricky Bourdouvales, 27, filed a lawsuit last May against the retailing giant, alleging it vio lated New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws by firing him in January 1999. W hen Wal-Mart failed to respond, attorney Mark Stanton sent it a notice in June that his client intended to seek a default judgment. Again, the company did not respond. In addition to the $2 million in punitive damages, Bourdouvales was awarded $100,000 in com pensatory damages and legal fees. A spokesman for W al-M art’s corporate headquarters said the retailer will request that the judge vacate the award. He said the compa ny knew a document had been served in May but did not realize what it was. According to Bourdouvales, who dresses as a woman, the Piscataway Wal-Mart had no prob lem when everyone thought he was a woman. T h e trouble began when a store manager reviewed his job application and noticed the box “male” was checked. W hen asked about it, Bourdouvales revealed he was undergoing a sex change. After that, he said, the harassment and discrimination began. Eventually, Bourdouvales was fired. A Wal- Mart spokesman said the dismissal was for “mis conduct.” * * -1 I CAMPAIGN on’t the real Dick Cheney please stand up?” That’s the question on the minds of lib erals everywhere after Texas Gov. George W. Bush formally offered the Republican vice presidential nomina tion to his father’s former defense secretary, an ultra-right-winger with an openly lesbian daughter. The Human Rights Campaign issued a report July 25 examining Cheney’s record on gay and A ID S issues. Its conclusion: Like his running mate, he seeks to package an extreme- Dick ly conservative record with a moderate image. During the Bush administration, Cheney supported Pete Williams, the Defense Depart ment’s chief spokesman, when The Advocate revealed his homosexuality. “I have operated on the basis over the years with respect to my personal staff that I don’t ask them about their private lives,” he said. “As long as they perform their professional responsibilities in a responsible manner, their private lives are their business.” However, Cheney opposed President C lin ton s effort to lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military. “I am one of those people who believes that people’s sexual preference and orienta tion are a private matter,” he told CNN in 1993. “It’s something that is a personal matter 2000 ★ ★ for them and no one else’s business. And that’s the way 1 ran the civilian side of the Penta g o n .... O n the military side, though, you can’t pursue that policy." Later in the interview, Cheney said, “I basically don’t believe in dis crimination, but I did conclude, as secretary of defense, that the ban on gays in uniform was appropriate." A t the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, gay attention focused on his daughter, Mary. She hasn’t yet spoken to the Cheney media, but plenty of activists and reporters were talking about her. “We understand they love each other very much,” H RC spokesman David Smith said. “...T h e crux of it is, it’s going to focus atten tion on Bush’s anti-gay policy positions, and Cheney is going to look quite mean if he comes out and says: ‘Yeah, I support a law that bans my daughter from adopting a child. I don’t support a law that would protect my daughter from discrimination.’ ” The Democratic National Committee was quick to label Bush-Cheney as “one of the most anti-choice tickets in our nation’s histo ry” and “the all-oil ticket.” Cheney is the chief executive officer of the Halliburton Co., a publicly traded company that supplies equip ment to the oil industry. — Jim Radosta
