novamber 15.2002
Auto, Home, Life, Health & Business
CALIFORNIA
espite a shortage of qualified Arabic lin
guists in the intelligence and defense
fields, the Anny has fired a significant number
of language specialists trained at the military’s
Defense Language Institute in Monterey
because they are gay.
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has
assisted in the cases of seven Arabic speakers
trained at the institute, including Pfc. Patricia
Ramirez, who recently came out in a letter to
her command. Officials originally informed her
in writing that, despite her sexual orientation,
she was being retained in the Army and should
continue to report for duty.
Within weeks of that announcement, how
ever, SLDN learned that the command appar
ently had reopened Ramirez’s case and illegally
was questioning servicemembers on base to
obtain information about homosexual conduct.
Additional servicemembers at the institute
reportedly were threatened with disciplinary
action if they did not cooperate with the
renewed investigation.
Shortly thereafter, Ramirez was informed
that, despite the institute’s earlier promises to
allow her career to continue, she was being fired
under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
She indicated to her command that, if the Army
would allow openly gay, lesbian and bi personnel
to serve -.vithout prejudice, she would he happy
to continue serving.
“The command at DL1 should have closed
this case when it told Pfc. Ramirez to continue
with her career,” said C. Dixon Osbum, SLDN
executive director. “Brave, patriotic Americans
should not he fired in the name of federally
sanctioned discrimination. That is blatantly un-
American.”
Officials within the intelligence communi
ties have spoken publicly about the impact a
shortage of Arabic linguists has had on the
nation’s fight against terrorism. A recent
report from the House o f Representatives
noted "a significant shortfall in linguists.
After the [Sept. 11, 2001] attacks, this short
fall actually increased slightly. A long-term
linguist and analyst hiring strategy is
required.”
NEW YORK
ast month the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force joined a New York coalition of
organizations in condemning the racist drag per
formances of Chuck Knipp, a gay white man
who performs in blackface as the drag queen
persona “Shirley Q. Liquor.”
His act caricatures an
impoverished black wom
an and draws from a
number of stereotypes
about African Americans.
Shirley speaks pidgin Eng
lish, spends her days wait
ing for government checks
to arrive in the mail and has
dozens of children (some
named after venereal dis
eases), the fathers of whom
are unknown to her.
In addition to Knipp’s
performances at enter
tainment venues acrtxss /
the United States, the /
Shirley Q. Liquor /
personality also is
aired on radio sta
tions, and mer
chandise is sold
online at Cafe-
Shops.com , where Chuck Knipp performs
she greets visitors ¡n blackface as the drag
with: “Hello, hahy! queen persona “ Shirley
How you durrin? Q . Liquor”
Welcome to my boutique of ignunce...please
do not shoplift while you is up in here!”
About 50 activists protested Knipp’s per
formance Sept. 13 at The View in New York.
When police arrived, they shut down the gay
bar and threatened demonstrators with arrest.
Black drag performer RuPaul Charles
defended Knipp and criticized the protesters in a
Nov. 3 letter posted on his Web site: “ If 1 had
sensed any malicious intent in his comedy rou
tine, I would not he able to laugh at it.... Not
unlike the school bully who picks on the small
est kid to create fear and gain control of the
playground, these power mongers have pulled
out the race card to instigate panic and incite
fear to achieve their goal.”
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Atheist Christopher Amtzen “ comes out”
Nov. 2 during the Godless Americans March
on Washington
NATIONAL
A
bout 2,400 atheists and humanists from
more than 200 organizations joined
together Nov. 2 for the Godless Americans
March on Washington, the first national civil
rights march by and for freethinkers. The
show of unity and diversity at the event was a
historic step in building the movement for
nonbelievers.
A speech by Christopher Amtzen, Gay and
Lesbian Atheists and Humanists chairman,
received an enthusiastic response from the
crowd. He noted that one in seven U.S. citizens
are nonreligious.
“It is time to come out of the closet,”
Amtzen said. “What difference will it make if
we are 14 percent of the population...if we are
silent and invisible T’
ILLINOIS
he Chicago City Council voted Nov. 6 to
add explicit coverage for trans people to
local anti-discrimination laws. Mayor Richard
Daley has expressed his support for the measure
and is expected to sign it.
The effort to pass the hill was led by Illinois
Gender Advocates. The council’s Human Rela
tions Commission O K ’d the amendment unani
mously Oct. 31.
The hill adds “a person’s gender identity,
appearance or behavior” to Chicago’s Human
Rights and Fair Housing Ordinances, which
cover employment, housing and public accom
modations. Sexual orientation was added to the
law in 1988.
With Daley’s signature, Chicago will
become the 12th jurisdiction in 2002 to pass a
law adding explicit gender identity and/or
expression protections to a local anti-discrim
ination law. This will bring the U.S. total to
51 jurisdictions, including 42 cities, seven
counties and the states of Rhode Island and
Minnesota. j n
T
Compiled by News Editor JlM R a POSTA, who can
be reached at jim@justout .com.
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