October 4. 2002
1
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‘Serving O ur Community.. .by Meeting Your Needs'
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right thing and remove himself from the land
scape,” executive director Kevin Jennings said.
“He has proven himself uninformed and unfit to
he a role model and leader."
In early September, Silber pulled the plug on
the Gay Straight Alliance at BU Academy, a
private school including grades eight through 12
on the college campus. The club had been oper
ating successfully for two years and had spon
sored events that drew participation from as
much as a quarter of the student body.
"We’re not running a program in sex educa
tion,” Silber told the Boston Globe in an inter
view published Sept. 9. “If they want that kind
of program, they can go to Newton High
School. They can go to public school and learn
how to put a condom over a banana.”
The Globe article continued: “Silber com
plained that children get messages about sex
‘pounded’ into them ‘from the time they’re 6
years of age.’ He referred to slain child beauty
queen JonBenet Ramsey as an example: ‘Look at
that little girl out there in Denver that got
killed— all dressed up like a whore when she was
5 years old.’ ”
Adding salt to the wound, Silber made a
two-hour appearance Sept. 27 before 40 stu
dents and faculty to deliver a speech titled “Tol
erance and Its Consequences," in which he
defended his actions and said: “I think you can’t
exercise tolerance intelligently without discrim
ination. If you don’t discriminate, how are you
going to decide what to tolerate and what not to
tolerate?”
Silber then said the G S A was founded to
“focus the attention of young people on issues of
sex." He called this activity “homosexual mili
tancy” and “evangelism,” according to the Daily
Free Press student newspaper.
At least one BU faculty member, massage
therapy instructor Eric Lindemer, already has
resigned in protest of Silber’s attack on the
G S A . “He’s either extremely ignorant or
extremely homophobic,” he said.
with New York City, so the local law is expect
ed to have enormous repercussions all across
the nation. “Virtually every sector of American
enterprise— both for-profit and nonprofit—
does business with New York City, and that
means every sector will have to stop discrimi
nating in the extension of benefits to their
employees if they want to keep that business,”
Foreman said.
The bill is expected to generate opposition
from some businesses and religious groups. “We
will be able to convince the majority of the
council and the people of New York City that
this bill is only about basic fairness— equal pay
for equal work— nothing more,” Foreman said.
he Buffalo City
Council extended
protection against dis
crimination in employ
ment and housing to
trans people Sept. 17.
Mayor Anthony Masi-
ello has announced he
will sign the amend
ments into law.
The proposal add
ing protection for “gen
der identity and expres
sion” was initiated by Councilor Antoine
Thompson. “It’s another step to break from Buf
falo’s past and encourage tolerance and diversi
ty,” he said.
Earlier this year, Thompson met with com
munity leaders to help draft amendments to
Buffalo’s anti-discrimination laws. Although
"sexual orientation” already was covered, the
advisory group decided the phrase “gender
identity and expression” needed to be explicit
ly included as a protected class.
“ In my outreach and education efforts
throughout the Buffalo area, I often encounter
transgender individuals who are in constant
fear of losing their job, their
apartment or being the victim
of a hate crime,” said Camille
Hopkins, a City Hall employ
ee and male-to-female trans
sexual who testified before
the council that she lost her
apartment simply because her
landlord did not like trans
people. “I just want to live an
From left, queer New York City Councilors Christine
ordinary life without fear of
Quinn, Margarita Lopez and Philip Reed sponsored the
reprisal from those who want
nation’s “ single most important piece of pro-gay legislation” me to disappear.”
T
r.S
( 503 )
C A LIFO R N IA
he New York City Council introduced leg
islation Sept. 23 requiring that firms and
contractors doing business with the Big Apple
provide the same job-related benefits to the
domestic partners of their employees that they
provide to their employees’ married spouses.
The Equal Benefits Law is being sponsored
by Councilors Christine Quinn, Margarita
Lopez, Philip Reed and many others. During the
2001 campaign, Mayor Mike Bloomberg sup
ported the legislation in principle.
“This is the single most important piece of
pro-gay legislation on the table anywhere in the
United States,” said Matt Foreman, Empire
State Pride Agenda executive director. “Its
enactment will extend health insurance and
other benefits to hundreds of thousands of les
bians and gay men— here in New York and
across the nation.”
Similar legislation passed in San Francisco
five years ago and resulted in an estimated
50,000 people obtaining health insurance bene
fits. Oakland, Calif., and Seattle since have
adopted such ordinances.
An estimated 100,000 firms do business
"< ov. Gray Davis signed a groundbreaking
J bill Sept. 23 providing paid leave to work
ers who need to care for a seriously ill domestic
partner, spouse or other family member. The leg
islation was sponsored by lesbian state Sen.
Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles.
The bill will provide up to six weeks of leave
in which workers can be paid 55 percent of
their salary to care for an ill partner, spouse,
child or parent or to bond with a newborn or
adopted child. The new program will be funded
entirely through contributions from employees,
which will average less than $3 a month per
employee.
“This is really a momentous occasion for
LG B T Californians,” said Geoffrey Kors, C ali
fornia Alliance for Pride and Equality executive
director. “For perhaps the first time, same-sex
partners are being recognized as equal family
members for a newly created benefit. I predict
that the success of this bill heralds a new era for
gay rights.” JH
C
Compiled by News Editor JlM R a d o s t A, who can
be reached at jim@justout .com.
—presents—
Gay Games VI
Sydney, Oct 30-Nov 15
Ip p
“Join our group o f Team Oregon members
and supporters to Sydney fo r the Gay Games ”
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