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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2003)
may 16,2003 * ‘i 11»] ; m i news cursing, cursing in front of women and children, blasphemy, cohabitation and cohabitation after divorce. “Michigan is the only state in the nation that charges ‘gross indecency between men,’ ” said Jeffrey Montgomery, Triangle Foundation execu tive director. “This law has been abused by law enforcement as a form of intimidation against gay men and as the pretext for profiling. It is used to ruin careers, families and smear someone’s name as a so-called ‘sex offender’ for sexual behavior that is consensual and does not involve money, a minor or force.” Tobocman added: “As a new policymaker in Lansing, 1 was shocked to see that these laws were still on the books. Michigan is in financial trou ble, and the last thing we need is to waste time and money enforcing laws like these.” From left, H ouse Speaker D ennis H astert, R-Ill.; the Rev. Steven Torrance; U .S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lenthinen, D-Fla.; and the Rev. Daniel Coughlin, U .S. H ouse of Representatives chaplain, make history May 1 in W ashington, D .C . - 2 - he House of Representatives passed legisla tion May 8 that would allow faith-based institutions to discriminate with taxpayer money. The Workforce Protection A ct offers federal funds to charities operating job training programs. “Taxpayers should not be subjected to funding their own discrimination,” said Dave Noble, National Stonewall Democrats executive direc tor. “This bill would allow the Bush administra tion to federally fund anti-gay prejudice in the guise of religion.” House R esolution 1261 was approved 220-204 on largely a party-line vote after numerous Democrats raised objections on the House floor to the legislations discriminatory language. Historically, such exceptions have served as a back door for anti-gay bigotry. In March, Christopher Van Hollen, D-Md., introduced an amendm ent that would have stripped this discriminatory provision from the bill. However, it was defeated in a party-line vote in his Republican-controlled committee. T •s* t wasn’t the first time a clergyperson opened the U.S. Congress with a prayer for justice and equality for all. W hat made the opening prayer before the House different May 1— the U.S. National Day of Prayer—was that it was delivered by the Rev. Steven Torrance of Metropolitan Community Churches, the world’s largest church group with a primary, affirming ministry to queers. “Torrance has had a long and distinguished career working for social justice and equality for G od’s gay and lesbian children,” said the Rev. Troy D. Perry, moderator of the 35-year-old Christian denomination. “W hile gays and les bians continue to seek full equality under the law, it is especially moving that Rev. Torrance stcxxl in the well of the U.S. House of Representatives, where our nation’s laws are crafted, and prayed for justice and equality for all of our citizens.” Torrance, former pastor of M CC of Key West, Fla., serves as a police officer and chaplain with the Key West Police Department. His prayer marks the first time an openly gay cler gyperson from the denomination has delivered the opening prayer before Congress. Torrance delivered the prayer at the invita tion of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lenthinen, D-Fla. W hile on Capitol Hill, he met with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Colombia President Alvaro Uribe Velez. I A bout 74 percent of U.S. adults surveyed last m onth favor the U.S. Supreme Court overturning state laws that criminalize private, consenting sexual relations between same-sex couples yet allow that same private conduct to occur between opposite-sex couples. This was the latest finding of a national online poll released May 6 by Witeck-Combs Communications and Harris Interactive. The survey of more than 2,000 adults, of whom about 7 percent were queer, was conducted online between April 17 and 23. The poll also reveals that U.S. citizens almost equally oppose laws regulating consenting sexual relations that occur in the private homes of opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Nearly nine out of 10 people (87 percent) oppose state statutes regulating private, sexual relations that are applied to opposite-sex married adult couples, and almost as many (82 percent) oppose such laws that are applied to same-sex adult couples in a domestic partnership. “Even when we exclude respondents who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgen der, support for overturning state sodomy laws does not change significantly,” said Darin John son, Witeck-Combs vice president. “It is clear that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court should overturn all state laws that interfere with private sexual rela tions between consenting adults, whether same- sex or opposite-sex couples.” The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argu ments March 26 testing the Texas same-sex sodomy statute. This case, Lawrence vs. Texas, will examine the constitutionality of imposing criminal charges on same-sex couples who have consenting sexual relations in the privacy of their home. MICHIGAN Michigan civil rights organization is part nering with legislators to help bring the state into the 21st century. Triangle Foundation and state Rep. Steve Tobocman, D -Detroit, announced May 5 a new repeal package to elim inate “arcane” or antiquated statutes from M ichigan law, including gross indecency. This is the first time legis Steve Tobocman lation has been introduced to repeal the state’s gross indecency laws, which many believe are unconstitutionally vague and unnecessary. T he statutes punish adult, consen sual, noncommercial sex as a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Additional legislation would repeal several other laws that prohibit A NEBRASKA harging th at N ebraska’s constitutional amendm ent banning any kind of same-sex relationship recognition blocks gay people from advocating for even the most basic protections for their families, attorneys asked a Lincoln fed eral court April 30 to strike down the law. “This is by far the most extreme anti-gay family law in the country,” said David Buckel of Lambda Legal. “This law prevents gay couples from seeking even the most basic protections for their families— it blocks them out of the politi cal process entirely.” Section 29 was passed in N ovem ber 2000 in a heavily debated election th a t received the second-highest turnout in the state’s history. Promoted to voters simply as protection of tra ditional marriage, the law goes far beyond restricting the right to marry to heterosexual couples. It specifically voids the uniting of two people of the same sex in a “civil union, domestic partnership or other similar same-sex relationship.” “States and voters can— and should— have broad discretion to pass laws, but there are some limitations that are spelled out in our nation’s C onstitution,” said Tama ra Lange of the American Civil Liberties U nion. “It’s clear that it’s uncon stitutional for a state to have a law th at’s only pur pose is to express disap proval toward gay people or to block gay people out N ancy Thom pson of the political process.” Earlier this year, state Sen. N ancy T hom p son, D-Papillion, introduced a bill th at would give same-sex couples the right to make burial arrangements for their partners. In response, N ebraska A tto rn ey G en eral Jon Bruning issued an opinion M arch 10 stating th at the legislation was unconstitutional because of Section 29. C KENTUCKY ovington city commissioners voted unani mously April 28 to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the classes protected under their human rights ordinance. T he vote also expands the law to include disability, place of birth and marital, parental and familial status to the existing classes of age, sex, race, color, religion, ancestry and national origin and adds em ploym ent and public accommodations to existing housing protec tions. “T he quality of life not just for GLBT people, but for all historically oppressed Kentuckians, is that much better due to this fair-minded vote by the C ovington city com missioners,” said M att Nicholson, Kentucky Fairness Alliance organizer. J D C Compiled by News Editor JlM R a ix ì STA, who can be reached at jim@justout.com. 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