Just out., April 06, 2001, Page 21, Image 21

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he Presbyterian C hurch (U .S.A .) has
voted to reject a ban on holy unions.
Passed by a deeply divided 212th General
Assembly in June 2000, Amendment O was
intended to ban pastors from conducting same-
gender blessings as well as the use of church
property in offering such blessings. But 87 of the
173 presbyteries so far have voted against the
measure, which many considered an unaccept­
able intrusion into pastoral ministry.
“If the church is serious about the importance
of faith to family life, to wholeness of relationships,
it cannot continue to ignore the commitments of
same-gender couples,” said Mitzi Henderson, More
Light Presbyterians co-moderator. “The public
blessing of love and fidelity, before family and
friends, has a profoundly spiritual significance.”
However, Leslie Scanlon of the Presbyterian
Outlook said the result of the vote does not nec­
essarily indicate a change in stance on homosex­
uality. Her assessment soon might be put to the
test: Many overtures already have been sent to
the upcoming General Assembly proposing to
lift the ban on the ordination
of practicing homosexuals.
T
KEN TU C K Y
n a resounding victory for
civil rights laws in general—
X.
and gay rights laws in par­
ticular—a federal court
March 21 dismissed a
Kentucky gynecolo­
gist’s lawsuit that
Bigoted
sought to strike down
gynecologist
a local ordinance he
J. Barrett
claimed violated
Hyman seems
his religious liber­
to be preoccupied
ties and free speech
with other people’s
rights.
private parts
“This is a total
victory for fairness,”
said Leslie Cooper,
staff attorney at the km
American Civil Liberties U nion’s Lesbian and
Gay Rights Project. “Today’s decision says that
everyone has to obey civil rights laws.’
J. Barrett Hyman sued the city of Louisville
and Jefferson County two years ago. He claimed
that by barring him from discriminating on the
bases of sexual orientation and gender identity in
his medical business, the ordinances would pun­
ish him for his Baptist religious beliefs.
Hyman was represented by Pat Robertson’s
American Center for Law and Justice in a case that
quickly became a national focal point in the debate
about whether individual religious beliefs “trump”
gay rights laws. Similar legal challenges were filed
elsewhere, but courts dismissed them on technical
grounds. Last summer, the U.S. Justice Department
filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Kentucky
case, siding with the ACLU and citing concerns
that if Hyman prevailed, the government’s ability
to enforce a broad range of civil rights laws would
be jeopardized.
Like similar ordinances nationwide, the ones
in Louisville and Jefferson County include exemp­
tions for religious organizations, such as churches,
that do not receive government funding. This
decision will have no effect on these exemptions.
I
\
domestic violence between gay men.
It ruled that a judge may not issue “mutual
restraining orders” without written findings that
the orders are warranted against both parties.
Although this case involved gay men, the deci­
sion applies to all cases of domestic violence.
The case involved Samuel Ayer, who lived
for a time with a male couple. He claimed a pat­
tern of abuse culminating in an argument
Dec. 26, 1998, caused him to leave the home
and obtain restraining orders against them.
Three days later, the couple went to another
court and obtained orders against Ayer. The
judge ruled there was abuse among all the par­
ties and issued mutual restraining orders without
written findings, so the appeals court lifted these
orders against Ayer.
Recognizing the teaching function of appel­
late opinions, the legal rights organization Gay
and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders submit­
ted a brief addressing factors to consider in cases
involving alleged domestic violence among sex­
ual minorities. The appeals court did not address
these issues in its opinion, which disappointed
attorney Anthony Mirenda.
“The GLAD brief explained how homopho­
bia can be a weapon of abusers and the myth
that just because everyone is of the same sex,
they all have the same power,” he said. “Trial
judges need to be aware of this because these
cases occur regularly.”
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I
M A S S A C H U S E TTS
he Massachusetts Appeals C ourt has
decided its first known case involving
c
M AR YLAN D
n a major civil rights victory, the Maryland
House voted overwhelmingly March 30 to
prohibit discrimination based on sexual orienta­
tion in housing, public accommodations and
employment.
The Senate approved the legislation after an
emotional and often contentious debate
March 27. Earlier in the month, the Anti-Dis­
crimination Act of 2001 cleared the largest hur­
dle for passage when the Senate Judicial Pro­
ceedings Committee, which stymied the mea­
sure in 1999, voted 6-5 to pass the bill.
Gov. Parris Glendening, the legislation’s most
ardent supporter, is expected to sign it into law in
mid-April. Civil rights leaders in Maryland said he
has made a tremendous contribution on this issue.
“To say that we are elated would be an under­
statement,” said Blake Humphrey, managing
director of Free State Justice, the state’s gay rights
lobby. “The House vote makes this a historic day
for civil rights. Maryland’s elected officials have
listened to their constituents and voted to end
discrimination.”
This was a personal victory for Glendening,
whose passion to
pass the measure
was ignited by the
memory of his
brother, Bruce,
who was gay and
had to conceal
his sexual orien­
tation during his
Air Force career.
He later died of
an AIDS-related
illness.
“Clearly, the
leadership of Gov.
Parris Glendening
Glendening in ad­
vocating for fairness and combating discrimina­
tion against gay and lesbian Marylanders was key
in passing this historic legislation,” said Nancy
Meyer, Free State Justice board of directors co­
chair. “In voting by such a wide margin in both
the Senate and the Houses, legislators sent a mes­
sage that bias and hate will not be tolerated in the
Free State." j f l
21
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