15,2000»
l'v jtu u 'iL ìn n e w s
gots keep eggin me on til I have you at knife­
point, then you beg me to stop? S H U T U P !”
(from “Killing”).
he Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unan­
imously ruled Aug. 24 that Geovanni
Hemandez-Montiel, a gay man from Mexico
whose gender presentation is female,
should be granted asylum. The
ruling marks the first
instance in which a fed
eral court has recog­
nized
persecution
based on sexual ori­
entation as a basis
for receiving asy­
lum under U.S.
law.
The
court
overturned
a
Board of Immi­
gration Appeals
decision rejecting
H ern an d ez-M on -
tiel’s asylum case.
The court stated that
sexual identity and orien­
tation is “so fundamental
one’s identity that a person
should not be required to abandon them.”
“This case makes the important point that
persecution based on sexual identity violates
human rights principles and warrants asylum
in the United States,” said Suzanne Gold­
berg, Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights
Task Force president. “The court’s ruling
holds out some hope for lesbians, gay men
and transgendercd people around the world
that there may be some escape from official
abuse and persecution in their home coun­
tries as there already is for other groups of asy­
lum applicants.”
Hernandez-Montiel sought refuge in the
United States from a life of harassment,
assault and sexual abuse in Mexico. On
numerous occasions, he was detained, strip-
searched and sexually assaulted by police.
His family placed him in therapy to “cure”
his sexual orientation. Despite the change in
his appearance, his gay sexual orientation did
not change. Without the results his family
T
★
★
%ea[[y CooC
S tu ff
desired, he was ostracized.
or the first time, the cover of POZ Magazine
depicts a dead AIDS victim, leading treat­
ment activist and provocative columnist
Stephen Gendin.
The October issue, on newsstands
Sept. 19, features a rousing call to arms
by Larry Kramer, the father of
AIDS activism. In a piece
called “Be Very Afraid,”
he argues that the anti-
HIV drugs recently
touted as turning
once-fatal A ID S
into a chronic,
manageable dis­
ease now are fail­
ing and that a
dramatic
new
phase of secret
activism is needed
to push the phar­
maceutical industry
to develop more effec­
tive, less toxic treat­
ments.
The piece challenges people
with HIV and others to establish
“cells”—underground, possibly violent groups
modeled on the French Resistance and the
Israeli Irgun. In the piece— the text of a speech
he delivered at Gendin’s memorial service
July 27 in New York City— Kramer writes, “The
use of cells is the next phase of any movement
when progress has stopped and death stares you
in the face.”
To underline this message, the issue features
four separate covers that together track the short
yet eventful life of Gendin, who died of AIDS-
related causes July 19 at the age of 34. POZ
founder Sean Strub writes in the editorial, “The
four covers—empowered Gendin marching
with A C T UP in 1990; sex radical Gendin pos­
ing naked on a Hawaiian beach in 1996; sick
Stephen with his beloved dog in 1998; and his
cold corpse in 2000—serve as a calendar for the
different periods of AIDS activism.
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CAMPAIGN
2000
★ *
primary victory brings us closer to
d Flanagan of Vermont nar­
the day when everyone recog­
rowly won his Democratic
nizes that.”
primary Sept. 12, making him
Despite the milestone, Bond
the first openly gay or lesbian
cautioned
that the road to a victory
candidate in history to be cho­
remains challenging. Flanagan now
sen as a U.S. Senate nominee
will face incumbent Sen. James Jef­
by either of the two major polit­
fords in the general election.
ical parties.
The primary provided voters
His victory came despite
their first opportunity to weigh in
fallout from the civil unions
on the civil unions law in Vermont,
debate and the presence of Ed Flanagan
which remains deeply divided over
gay-baiting during the cam­
paign. Flanagan, Vermont’s state auditor, is the issue. And the results sent an equally mixed
message, The Associated Press reports.
the country’s only openly gay statewide
The bad news: Five Republican state leg­
elected official.
“This victory is a triumph for fairness islators who supported the law granting gay
over fear," said Brian K. Bond, executive couples many of the rights and benefits of
director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory marriage were defeated. And one lawmaker
Fund, which works to elect qualified openly who was challenged for opposing the law was
gay and lesbian candidates to public office as re-elected.
The good news: Four Republicans and
a means of ending discrimination. “For the
second time this year, Vermont has made one Democrat who were targeted for defeat
because they backed the law survived their
history and broken an important barrier.
primaries.
And one Democrat who opposed
What should matter on Election Day is pub­
the law was ousted.
lic service, not personal orientation. This
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