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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2001)
august 17.2001 » Ju st out :|21 Drive with Pride A LA S K A N A TIO N A L F or the first time, polls now show a majority of U.S. citizens in favor of allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. In a new study to he published this fall hy MIT Press, two sociolo gists report that 56 percent of the general public responded affirmatively to a survey asking whether they thought gay men and lesbians should he allowed to serve openly in the armed forces. In a related trend, anti-gay sentiment within the military has declined during the past decade. A March 2000 study hy Maj. John W. Bicknell of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., found U.S. Navy officers who “feel uncomfortable in the presence of homosexuals” decreased from 57.8 percent in 1994 to 36.4 per cent in 1999. According to another poll, since 1992 the percentage of Army men who “strongly oppose” homosexuals serving in uniform dropped nearly in half, from 67 percent to 37 percent. The per centage of Army women “strongly opposed” to gay troops fell from 32 percent to 16 percent. P E N N S Y LV A N IA i n a setback for social justice and equality under the law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that the law pro vides protections based on sex but not sexual orientation. The decision effectively says gay workers Schedule your appointment today with: In and Out o f the Garden L is a C o s t e llo UNUSUAL GARDEN ART 503 256-3700 - F ou n tain s • P ots • A rb o rs Trellises • B ird B ath s & L o ts M ore REY REECE DEALERSHIPS ISUZU-VOLKSWAGEN-USED (503) 603-0411 11935 SW Greenburg Rd 122nd & East Burnside www.re 37 reece.com vdublisac^hotmail .com T ig a rd ( I H lk O f T W W on G re e n b u rg ) • O p e n 7 D a y s The Rev. Elder Troy Perry may not sue under federal sex discrimination laws if they are harassed or denied promotions because of their sexual orientation. The court ruled unanimously that it is up to Congress, not the courts, to write that protection into Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case arose when John J. Bihhy filed a lawsuit against the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. He contended his rights were violated hy co-workers who harassed and physically attacked him after he revealed he was gay. Bihhy’s lawyer noted his client is in an “incongruous situation in which he can sue if he is the target of sexual advances by a woman or another gay man but not if he is harassed by straight male co-workers because of his sexual orientation.” The Rev. Elder Troy Perry, Universal Fellow ship of Metropolitan Community Churches founder, urged Congress to remedy the situation. “It is time.. .to close the loophole which allows this type of legally sanctioned discrimination,” he said. M IC H IG A N 1 i ayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan V V announced Aug. 6 his office is putting a halt to the selective entrapment and prosecu tion of gay men. For years, people have complained of police stings that resulted in arrests for soliciting sex from undercover officers when they had done nothing but flirt or walk away. Some were charged with being an “annoying person,” a misdemeanor; others had their vehicles impounded and had to pay a $900 fee to have them returned. Duggan said his office no longer would Mike Duggan prosecute men who are approached and propositioned hy undercover police decoys. He said such tactics appeared to unfairly target homosexuals. “I’m not going to charge people criminally for what they thought was a consensual act between adults,” Duggan said. “We do not send female officers into sports bars to come on to guys to see which ones respond and then arrest them. We should not he sending undercover decoys...to do exactly the same thing.” Lorri L. Jean, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director, welcomed the new policy. “Decoys, entrapment, vehicle seizures and arresting people for private conduct are tac tics used to harass and intimidate gay men.” JH Com piled by C opy Editor JlM RADOSTA, who can be reached at jim @ justout .com. Specializing in home financing for gay men and lesbians. . Rose CIt Mortgage Specialists FREE consultations $0-down loans all credit & loan types m *' ■rwHfii * ' I Ill I f 111 w WMN fp o lic e found the body of an openly gay man July 26 in Ketchikan, a town in the southeastern part of the state. David Blare, 35, also known as Steve Perry, was an Alaskan Native from the Organized Village of Saxman. Terry L. Simpson Jr., 19, and Joshua A. Anderson, 20, have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, man slaughter, first-degree robbery and second- degree theft. They are being held on $50,000 hail. “My only consolation is that I know David is with the Lord, no longer in pain and safe from harm and hate,” said Paul Zellmer, Blare’s friend and former partner. “ In the 11 years I have lived in Ketchikan, I have seen and been the recipient of many threats and actions against myself and others. It is time to stop denying that anti-gay hate exists here in Alaska.” Police arrested Simpson and Anderson in response to a tip called in to Ketchikan Crime Stoppers, according to news reports. The caller said he overheard the two men bragging that they were planning to “heat up and rob [Blare] because he is a fag,” District Attorney Stephen West said. The Governor’s Commission on Tolerance was formed May 1 after Anchorage police released a videotape of white youths shooting Alaska Natives with paint balls. Its report to Gov. Tony Knowles is due Nov. 30. The U.SrCommission on Civil Rights also is holding hearings later this month to take testi mony on discrimination against Alaska Natives. Last year, Knowles introduced a hate crimes measure including sexual orientation, but the Legislature has yet to act on it. Since 1991, Alaska stands out as having one of the nation’s poorest records on reporting hate crimes. The state has failed to participate in the reporting process in three of the past nine years: 1991, 1992 and 1998. In the other years, only one law enforcement agency, out of a possible 43, has participated. Anchorage reported the following number of hate crimes incidents: 24 in 1993, nine in 1994, eight in 1995, nine in 1996, 10 in 1997 and five in 1999, the latest year for which statistics are available. 503 . 768.4248 WWW f RoseCltyMtg. com D O N ' T J U S T E N J O Y T H E VIEW. O W N IT Resort living at an affordable price. 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