lune 20.2003
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he U.S. Department of Justice has reversed
its decision to han its annual Gay Pride
ceremony.
However, the event will not enjoy the spon
sorship of the agency as it has in the past, and as
other events do. O th er federal agencies—
including the State Department, which is head
ed hy Secretary of State Colin Powell—are
holding similar Pride events that enjoy full
departmental support.
Officials at DO] Pride, the agency’s voluntary
group of queer employees, were told earlier this
month that they would he prohibited from hold
ing their annual Pride event at the department.
List year’s DOJ Pride event featured a depart
ment-sponsored speech hy l\'p u ty Attorney G en
eral Ltrry Thompson to roughly 150 employees.
Department officials claimed this year’s event
would he disallowed because the White House had
not issued a proclamation acknowledging Gay
Pride Month. There was no proclamation from
President Bush prior to last year’s event either.
During Attorney General John Ashcroft’s
nomination hearing to head the department, he
responded to a question hy U.S. Sen. Russ Fein-
gold, D-Wis., about whether he planned to dis
criminate against gay and lesbian employees or
IX3J Pride: “I would not tolerate discrimination
against any employee at the IXpartm ent of Jus
tice based on sexual preference. I have no intent
to ...treat this group differently than any other.”
Feingold called on Ashcroft to honor his word
in a letter sent June 10: “Congress and the Ameri
can people expect the attorney general to ensure
equal treatment and equal protection for all Amer
icans. I urge you to reverse the department’s deci
sion immediately and allow DOJ Pride to use
department facilities to hold meetings and events.”
After caving to the pressure, the department
said the ceremony could he held in the Great Hall
of Justice at the agency’s headquarters in Washing
ton, D.C., as it has been for several years, hut with
out agency sponsorship— which would force DOJ
Pride to pay more than $1,000 to use the space,
unlike every similar employee group. DOJ Pride
rejected this deal, opting to hold the June 20 event
at the Russell Senate Office Building instead.
“T he board has decided to decline the
department's offer of second-class citizenship,” it
said in a statement. “We will not pay a toll to
access the Great Hall of Justice."
Honorees at the event will include Lambda
Legal for its historic challenge of the Texas
“Homosexual C onduct" Law. T he U.S.
Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in
the case June 23.
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U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., has reintroduced a bill providing benefits for federal employees’
domestic partners
Liw and Justice, which regularly litigates cases
against gay rights. In contrast, his Web site dixis
not connect visitors to groups that support queer
civil rights.
Pryor also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in
Lawrence vs. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court case
challenging the state’s “Homosexual Conduct"
Law, likening homosexuality to incest, necrophil
ia, pedophilia, prostitution and adultery. He also
argued that sodomy is a chosen behavior un
worthy of constitutional protection and failed to
recognize queers as people worthy of the same
rights that other U.S. citizens take for granted.
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark believes the time
has come to reconsider “don’t ask, don’t tell”
%
retired N A TO commander and four-star
general told NBC’s Meet the Press June 15
that he would “absolutely” lixik at changing the
U.S. military’s ban on gay, lesbian and hi serv-
icemembers.
“I don’t think it works,” Wesley Clark said
when asked about the “don’t ask, don’t tell” pol
icy. "Essentially, we’ve got a lot of gay people in
A
I p re sid e n t Bush has nom inated anti-gay
1 Alabama Attorney General William Pryor
to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11 th C ir
cuit. He is on record using mean-spirited
rhetoric that compares same-sex relationships
with incest and pedophilia and perpetuates
hurtful myths.
Pryor abused
his position by
utilizing govern
m ent resources to
directly and indi
rectly
attack
queer U.S. citi
zens across the
country.
He
linked the state
attorney general’s
Web site to vehe
m ently anti-gay
groups, including
the Family R e
search C ouncil
and the A m eri
can C en ter for William Pryor: another “inclusive” Republican
the armed forces, we always have had, always
will. A nd 1 think th at...w e should welcome
people that want to serve.”
Clark went on to say that the ban is “an issue
that the leaders in the armed forces arc going to
have to work with and resolve.” T he United
States “should welcome people that want to
serve,” he told host Tim Russert.
Clark also pointed out that many N A TO
allies have abandoned their policies of discrimi
nation against queer trixips. Openly gay trixips
from allied nations “already are” serving togeth
er in joint exercises with the U nited States, he
said. "A nd they served together in Kosovo and
in Bosnia and so forth."
Clark is considered a possible candidate for
the 2004 Dem<x:ratic presidential nomination.
O f the party’s nine declared candidates, eight
have voiced support for repealing “don’t ask,
don’t tell.”
A n article published in the summer issue of
Parameters, a publication of the U.S. Army, co
ncludes that the ban is “based on prejudice, not
on military necessity.” T he report examines the
experiences of foreign military allies who have
lifted their ban on gay servicemembers.
It finds no detrimental impact on unit cohe
sion, morale or retention of recruiting. In inter
views with numerous military officers and schol
ars from Britain, Israel, Canada and Australia,
the study found that lifting the gay ban was a
“non-event" for U.S. allies.
he Domestic Partnership Benefits and
Obligations A ct was reintroduced June 11
in the Senate and House. T h e legislation, intro
duced hy U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, D-M inn., and
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would grant
the same benefits, including health insurance
coverage, to the domestic partners of federal
employees that are currently granted to employ
ees’ legal spouses.
U nlike married couples, unmarried federal
employees currently receive no health insurance
coverage for their partners, representing a signif
icant form of discrimination against gay and les
bian employees. Health care and other benefits
account for a considerable portion of an employ
ee’s compensation package. T he current lack of
coverage, consequently, denies federal employ
ees with domestic partners equal compensation
for equal work.
T
he Associated Press began offering domes
tic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian
employees effective June 1. T he far-reaching
decision will cover the same-sex unmarried part
ners of the A P’s 3,700 employees working in 242
bureaus around the world.
Founded in 1848 and considered the back
bone of the world’s information system, the AP
T