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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2002)
rmmmnews ed nondiscrimination policy approach used by every Fortune 500 company that has incorpo rated sexual orientation into their policies.” The number of shareholders opposing dis crimination nearly doubled from last year, when HRC co-filed the shareholder resolution, which garnered 13 percent of the vote, representing a value of $25.8 billion worth of stock. T he effort was spearheaded by the New York City Employ ees Retirement System. Earlier, the resolution received a major boost when Institutional Shareholder Services recom mended that people vote in favor of it. “ISS says most of ExxonMobil’s competitors ban discrimi nation based on sexual orientation in their equal employment policies, and ExxonMobil’s failing to do so puts the company at a disadvantage and invites possible litigation,” according to a May 29 news report in the Wall Street Journal. In late March, the Securities and Exchange Commission denied the company’s request to delete the question from the ballot. In Decem ber 1999, when Exxon merged with Mobil, it became the first U.S. employer ever to rescind a nondiscrimination policy covering sexual orien tation. A t the same time, executives closed Mobil’s domestic partner benefits program to any additional employees. O H IO he O hio Supreme Court ruled May 15 that the state’s soliciting law, which criminalizes expressions of sexual interest between people of the same sex, is unconstitutional. In a unani mous decision, it ruled that the statute violates the equal protection clauses of the U.S. and O hio constitutions. Under the law, it was a first-degree misde meanor for someone to make a sexual advance toward a person of the same sex, should that advance he found offensive. The penalty could include up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. T he law covered advances that involve nothing more than words, hut only if the words arc directed at somebody of the same sex. “This is a stark rejection of anti-gay discrimi nation in criminal laws," attorney Heather C. Sawyer said. “We don’t throw men in jail for mak ing passes at women, and there can be no double standard for gay people doing the same thing.” The case stems from the conviction of a man who made passes at a male jogger. W hen the jogger asked to he left alone, the man complied, hut the jogger then complained to the police. The man was charged and convicted of vio lating the soliciting law and sentenced to six months in jail; he appealed. T he state’s 11th District C ourt of Appeals found that the law violates equal protection rights, hut it upheld the law and the m an’s conviction based on a prior ruling from the O hio Supreme Court. T P E N N S Y L V A N IA “morally bankrupt” report issued May 10 advises University of Pittsburgh not to begin providing health benefits to same-sex partners of lesbian and gay employees, the American Civil Liberties U nion said. A Mark Nordenberg A special committee was appointed by uni versity president Mark Nordenberg in May 2001, five years into an ongoing lawsuit by les bian and gay employees seeking equal benefits. Both the university and the ACLU agreed to suspend all litigation so the committee could weigh whether or how to provide equal benefits. “The question here has always been whether gay employees should be compensated the same as straight employees,” said Witold Walczak, ACLU of Pennsylvania Greater Pittsburgh Chapter exec utive director. “Instead of answering that question, the committee looked around to see which way the wind is blowing.... It reported on what it thinks others believe is right and wrong and decided it’s too risky to provide equal benefits now.” In a two-page memorandum issued with the report, Nordenberg thanked the committee for its work but did not indicate whether he accepts its recommendation. “We call on President Norden berg to assume leadership where this committee failed...and change this policy,” Walczak said. ❖ he Philadelphia City Council voted 15-2 on May 16 to add gender identity to a city ordinance pro hibiting discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment. “Statewide protec tions do not exist," said Stacey Sobel, C enter for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights executive director. “Therefore, it is incumbent upon lo cal jurisdictions to do the right thing by pro tecting all of its most vulnerable inhabitants and visitors.” Mayor John F. Street has pledged to sign the updated ordinance into law. Two other major U.S. cities— Dallas and New York C ity— recently voted to include trans-specific language in anti-discrimination ordinances. T C A L IF O R N IA n award-winning high school teacher, harassed and denied a promotion for being a lesbian, has settled her discrimination case against a Southern California school district, Lambda Legal said May 23. T he lengthy and expensive battle emphasizes the consequences for school districts that fail to take sexual orientation harassment seriously. The settlement requires the Oceanside Unified School District in San Diego County to pay Dawn Murray more than $140,000 and to pro vide annual sensitivity training to its employees on issues of sexual orientation discrimination. A biology teacher hired in 1983, she suf fered severe harassment that began when co- workers learned she is gay. Although she had won state and national awards, she was denied a promotion. Murray became the target of vicious anti-gay remarks, false rumors and obscene graffiti that was painted repeatedly outside her classroom. Officials at Oceanside ignored the abuse and threatened disciplinary action against her when she complained. “This lawsuit shows other school districts that if they respond to harassment in an inappropriate way, we will stand up, the laws will protect as, and they will be made to stop," Murray said. “Young people leam from adult behavior, and it was important to wage this fight to show students all people have to he treated fairly.” A C ontinued on Page 23 Will You Be Shut Out When Your Partner NeedsYou? i Richard B. Schneider A ttorney A t L aw is well versed in the special estate planning needs of the GLBT community and can help vou with care and professionalism. FREE REPORT! “Gay & Lesbian Couples Face Special Challenges In Estate Planning." 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