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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