july 4 .20Q3 » J u t a u t 2 i
FTTÏÏïTTm news
the likelihixxl of being in prison until he was 36
years old, while he would have been released
before turning 20 it he were heterosexual,” said
James Esseks of the American Civil Liberties
Union. “This is a great first step toward correct
ing the massive injustice that has been done to
Matthew Limon.”
In addition to the Kansas law, sexual conduct
laws that treat young gay people differently from
heterosexuals remain on the Kxiks in Texas,
Alabama, California, Virginia and Georgia,
Esseks said. The Lawrence decision calls all such
laws into question.
Bill Frist
❖
S
enate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R'Tenn., crit
icized last months Supreme G>urt decision
Hanning state sodomy laws June 29 on A B C ’s This
Week, saying it could lead to increased prostitu
tion and dnag dealing. He went on to say he
endorsed an amendment to the U.S. Gmstitution
to ban legal marriage for gay and lesbian couples
in long-term, committed relationships.
In his majority opinion in Lawrence vs.
Texas, Justice Anthony Kennedy specifically
addressed the issues raised by Frist. This case
“does not involve persons who might he
injured or coerced or who are situated in rela
tionships w-here consent might not easily he
refused. It does not involve public conduct or
prostitution,” Kennedy wrote. “The petitioners
are entitled to respect for their private lives.
The state cannot demean their existence or
control their destiny by making their private
sexual conduct a crime."
Speaking on the subject of gay marriage and
a proposed constitutional amendment prohibit
ing gay marriage, Frist went on to say: "I very
much feel that marriage is a sacrament, and that
sacrament should extend and can extend to that
legal entity of a union between— what is tradi
tionally in our Western values has been
defined— as between a man and a woman. So 1
would support the amendment.”
NEVADA
ambda Legal has filed appeal papers in fed
eral court on behalf of a woman who was
fired from Harrah’s Casino in Reno after 21
years for not adhering to rigid sex stereotypes in
its new dress axle.
In August 2000, Darlene Jespersen was termi
nated from her position as a bartender after the
company enacted the “Personal Rest” program,
requiring all women in the beverage department
to wear makeup, specified as foundation or pow
der, blush, lipstick and mascara. The women also
were required to wear their hair teased, curled or
styled and to wear nude or natural color stock-
ings. Women wishing to wear nail polish were
limited to clear, white, pink or red color only.
“To me, wearing makeup should he a person
al choice. I’m doing the same job as male bar
tenders, and they don’t have to wear makeup,”
Jespersen said.
Tate last year, a federal judge niled against Jes-
person, saying the appearance standards were
applied evenhandedly to Kith sexes, and Lambda
Legal stepped in to help handle her case at the
U.S. Quirt of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where
papers were filed June 16. “Employers are certain
ly allowed to require their workers to present a pro
fessional appearance— hut Harrah’s went ttxi far
by requiring women to fit extreme, burdensome
stereotypies, which is exactly what federal civil
rights laws forbid,” attorney Jennifer C. Pizer said.
FUNDRAISING EVENT!
L
KANSAS.
he U.S. Supreme
Quart ordered the
case of a yixing gay man
back to a Kansas appeals
court tor further consider
ation June 27 in light of its
historic niltng on sexual
intimacy issued June 26.
The decision vacat
ed Matthew Lim on’s
sentence and instnict-
ed the Kansas Q iurt of
Appieals to review his
case. By doing so, the
court further affirmed
its mandate in Law
rence vs. Texas that Harrah’s Casino in Reno, Nev., fired Darlene Jespersen because she
states no longer can refused to conform to its sexist dress code
penalize the sexual
conduct of gay pieople differently.
TEXAS
Limon is appealing a 17-year prison sentence
ichael Charles Hurd was shot and killed
he received because shortly after he turned 18
June 19 as he drove down a street in Hous
he performed consensual oral sex on a nearly 15-
ton. He was dressed as a woman at the time of
his death.
year-old male at a residential schixil for devel-
opmentally disabled youth where they Kith
“ PFLA G condemns the hatred and mis
lived in Miami Qiunty. If he had instead per understanding that leads to crimes against
formed oral sex on a female of the same age, he
those o f us who don’t appear to conform to
would have received 12 months in jail under the
society’s repressive norms,” said Sam Thoron,
“Romeo and Juliet Law," which applies only to
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and
heterosexuals. The Kansas statute stipulates that
G ays national president. “T his cold-hloixled
consensual oral sex between two teens is a less killing would appear to he a hate crime. If so,
it is yet another chilling example of the
er crime if the younger person is 14 to 16, if the
older pierson is younger than 19, if the age dif violence perpetrated against transgender
people.” j n
ference is less than four years, if no third parties
are involved and if the two teen-agers “are
C (tmpiled by News Editor JlM R aposta , who can
members of the oppxisite sex.”
be reached at jim@just<tut.com.
“Until yesterday, Matthew Limon was facing
T
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■Æ
V
B ig B and
S wing D ance
and
S ilent A uction
W ith dance music by R ose C ity S w in g .
PCMC’s first silent auction! Featuring artwork,
getaways, personal services, travel, accommo
dations, jewelry, antiques and much, much
more. Help the chorus sustain their cultural
arts budget!
Saturday, July 12, 2003 @ 8 p.m. 4
DoubleTree Hotel—Lloyd Center
Ticket Prices: $35 Appetizers/Dance/Auction
$75 for VIP Dinner/Dance/Auction (6:30 p.m.)
Ticket are availab le by calling the PGM C