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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2003)
nTiïïnHTnTïnewsbrie/s her after the A C LU sent a letter explaining the students’ rights. Bowing to opposition from min isters— including Lively— the hoard of educa tion then reversed the council’s decision and suspended all clubs. Attorneys charge that the schtxil has permit ted many student groups— including cheerlead ing and sports teams, the drama cluh and the student council— to continue meeting since the suspension. Permitting some clubs to meet while not allowing the G S A is a clear violation of the federal Equal Access Act. A b st a in Q in I d aho ueer Oregonians who have travel plans might be wise to remember that they aren’t allowed to have sex just across the border in Idaho. It is one of 13 states that still have stxJomy laws, which typically criminalize oral and anal sex and are widely used to justify dis crimination against gay men and lesbians. With the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear arguments in a historic case challenging Texas’ “Homosexual Conduct” Law this spring, Lamb- . da Legal announced Jan. 7 plans for a meeting to educate people about the harms caused hy the Idaho statute and to empower them to help fight it. Presentations also will be made in Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia and Utah. “In some towns we’re having small gather ings with a couple of dozen community leaders, while in other areas we’ll have much larger town hall meetings with the general public,” said Lee Taft, director of Lambda Legal’s South Central Regional Office. “But our work in all of these 13 states is grounded in the same core principle: Sodomy laws are a danger to gay Americans, and together we can eliminate them.” The Supreme Court announced in early December that it will hear arguments on whether the Texas law violates the U.S. Consti tution’s guarantee of equal protection as well as the right to privacy. In 1986 it ruled that Geor gia’s statute banning consensual stxlomy did not violate privacy rights. “Since the day the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear our case, there’s been a tremendous amount of interest and energy from LGBT people and straight allies nation wide who want to seize this historic moment with us,” said Hector Vargas, director of Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office. “We’re look ing forward to working within communities that are affected by sodomy laws to increase under standing of this case, the many ways sodomy laws hurt gay people and the need to get rid of these laws once and for all.” PFLAG S ch o lar U n v eils P rogram I I arents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has named a national scholarship pro gram after Esera Tuaolo, the nine-year National Fix)thall League veteran who revealed in Octo ber that he is gay. The Oregon State University graduate was joined at a Jan. 23 press conference hy U.S. Rep. Robert T. Matsui, D-Calif. The program was developed to challenge and enable underrepresented queer youth, who all too frequently face highly charged and hostile envi ronments in their schtxils, to know that they can fulfill their potential and their dreams while being PHOTO BY C (mtinued from Page 13 true to themselves as individuals. The Esera Tuaolo Student-Athlete Scholarship honors the defensive tackle for his “unparalleled courage, leadership and commitment to family values.” A T llia n c e rans A H ono rs dvocates he Northwest Gender Alliance honored sev- i eral people who work for gender justice dur ing its annual awards dinner Jan. 25 in Beaverton. The Ellen Summers Award was presented to It’s Time, Oregon! executive director Lori Buck- waiter, who recently spearheaded Outside In’s ID Project, which helps low-income trans kids change their legal identification. Last year she also advtKated for the expansion of civil rights protections to trans people in Salem and Eugene. Dixie Darlington was named Woman of the Year for her outreach to the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court through the drag show “Dixie and the Good-Time Girls.” Carrie Sue Baldwin received the Debutante Award, which honors a new member who most personifies the spirit of From left, Carrie Sue Baldwin, Lori Buckwalter and Dixie Darlington were honored Jan. 25 by NW GA. the Northwest Gender Alliance P o rtlanders for I m to m ig r a n t R R ally ig h t s r~|P he Portland chapter of the Lesbian and I . Gay Immigration Rights Task Force will hold a Valentine’s Day Action in front of the Immigration and Naturalization Building, 511 N.W. Broadway. From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 14 mem bers will engage passersby with heart candy, information and the chance to chat with a giant human heart, who will he happy to explain how many binational queer couples cannot be together on Valentine’s Day because of discrim inatory U .S. immigration laws that do not con sider same-sex couples family. 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