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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
2 oJMSt out ' decomber 1.2QQÚ ¡TTTTT7TIT1 news *v Civil Rights Into ll cc lual Property L ak e ierrlgucy Esq. aw MINNESOTA Contract negotiations 5o3.227.257o D illi Risonai Injury vvww. I aw-'works, com htlalcs 8c Will« AUTHOR SIGNING-SAT, DEC 2 AT 2:pm Join us for an exclusive Oregon signing with Caldecott win ner ALLEN SAY (Grandfather's Journey) who will talk about his work and sign his new book THE SIGN PAINTER. Portland's only independent children's bookstore— we can help you chose that perfect holiday gift from our large collection of children's books, music, games and puzzles. 4807 N E F R E M O N T S T ., P O R T L A N D 503 284-8294 Tifie (Potters H ouse M inistries Want to Connect with Others? Improve your connection! At the Potters House Family L IFE Center JOIN US SUNDAY AT 10:45 A.M. Website: www.pottershouseministrics.org G ov. Jesse Ventura quickly came to the defense of his gay chief of staff after a brush with the law became public, The Associated Press reports Nov. 23. Steve Bosacker pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for allegedly proposi tioning a male police officer, while nude, in a steam room. “There’s people out there in the hetero world that like bondage," Ven tura told KFAN- AM, where he worked as a talk radio host before Steve Bosacker mnning for gover nor. “It’s not my cup of tea, but I’m not going to sit there and say that it’s right, wrong or what- ever. People do not apply the same standard to straight folks who have sex in public as they do to gays, Ventura added. “We can do it, and people just shake their fingers at us and tell us we’re spirited,” he said. “Is there any of us talking here that hasn’t gone out and had sex in a place they’re not supposed to?” Ventura did not defend his aide’s actions. However, he said the situation could have been handled differently. “I know in my alpha-male world, and I get in situations like that, I don’t call the police,” he said. “This is just me personally. 1 would just laugh it off if I’m propositioned and I’m not gay, if I’m a hetero.” 3830 SE 62 nd AVE. • PORTLAND • 503-775-5024 NEBRASKA N Let us offet H H P ndependence” formula Holidays & upcoming ye I > f ' \ '' Q J Ip A Ci - ■ "Í - ^ m ili r^Jm x mmm > ^ if 5 i 1 503-493-7271 for pre-registration u A S e a tin g is lim ited - Energy of Money % Stated Income Informi • LLCs • Real Estate Investmc workshops U ebraska’s initiative prohibiting legal recog nition of same-sex marriages or civil unions will be heading to court before it can join the state’s constitution, the Lincoln Journal-Star reports. “Our board has been against 416 since its inception,” said Tim Butz, Ameri can Civil Liberties Unions Nebraska executive director. “We’ve been against it because of its constitutional flaws. It denies gays and lesbians the same protection of the law afforded het erosexuals.” The ACLU board of directors voted unanimously Nov. 18 to challenge the constitutionality of Ini tiative 416, approved in the Nov. 7 election. Butz said he realizes the action clearly will not be pop ular with Nebraskans. “But the organization has never let populari ty define what we would do,” he said. “Just because 70 percent of the people voted for the amendment doesn’t mean what they voted for is constitutional. It is wrong to enshrine bigotry in the state constitution, and we think that is what has happened.” At least 33 other states have passed what are called Defense of Marriage Acts and are similar to the first sentence in Initiative 416. But none has adopted language like the second sentence of the amendment, which says the uniting of two people of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska. “As far as we know, this language has a broader sweep than anything else we’ve seen when it comes to anti-marriage statutes,” said David Buckel, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund senior staff attorney. The New York-based group might assist the A C LU with the case. MICHIGAN heterosexual students have banded together to form a club in response to Jackson High School’s controversial Gay-Straight Alliance, The Associated Press reports Nov. 18. Lifting Our Voices for Excel lence will offer a message of “a spir it of love,” according to organizers Eian Wright, the Rev. Ira Combs Jr. of the Greater Bible Way Tem ple and Gary Glenn, American Family Asso ciation of Michigan president. They say the alliance shouldn’t be allowed because more students have been discussing homosexual acts in school since it was formed in October. “This is disturbing the education of students, and that is not bringing a positive image to the school,” Wright said. Combs, whose son attends Jackson High, said he doesn’t want homosexual ity forced on his children. Junior Tyler Hampton, co-founder of the alliance, said he is gay but "wouldn’t know how to promote homosexuality.” He said the club’s purpose is to “break the silence so students would know that they’re not alone.” Hampton said he formed it “for students who are trying to understand their sexuality or the sexuality of their friends. We don’t dis cuss sex acts of any kind or sexual relations in the group.” Hampton said gay students sometimes are called names, bullied or ostracized in school. He said he has been asked why he hasn’t cut off his genitals and has been pushed on the stairs and had a bottle thrown at him. Principal Jim Graham said that Lifting Our Voices for Excellence followed procedure for forming and that the school can’t exclude one club without excluding them all. Religious and pro-violence groups are the only ones not allowed, he added. ARIZONA A homeless shelter said “thanks, hut no thanks” to a gay congressman who agreed to be a celebrity waiter during its annual Thanksgiving dinner, the Tucson Citi zen reports Nov. 25. Then after receiving tons of bad press, the Gospel Rescue Mission sud denly got back in to the holiday spir it and offered a “tearful apology” to U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. “The action we took did not proper ly effect our Christ ian belief that God loves and desires a personal relation ship with every per son,” a letter from Rep. Jim Kolbe the board stated. “We hope that you accept this apology, and we ask for your forgiveness.” Quite a change from earlier in the week, when Kolbe was told not to bother volunteer ing his time serving meals even though he was allowed to last year. Gospel Rescue Mission board member Evelyn H. Haugh scolded him in a faxed memo for being inconsistent with her beliefs. “This decision is based on your publicly announced sexual orientation that is diamet-
