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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2003)
novembei 7 .2QQ3 • trilli ih rii* news READY FOR his tkx:tor disclosed that the 34-year-old is HiV- positive, the foreign service informed him that he did not qualify for medical clearance and wouldn’t he considered for employment. Smith has been living with HIV for seven years, never experiencing any long-term illness es or opportunistic infections. His T-cell count is on the level that rivals most HIV-negative peo ple. Smith’s own doctor has said, “He is in excel lent care and excellent health.” On Sept. 3, Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf Lorenzo Taylor, a federal government employee who was denied a posi- tion as a foreign service officer because he has HIV. The 47-year-old, who holds a foreign serv ice degree from Georgetown University, easily passed the tough written and oral exams required to be a foreign service officer and is flu ent in three languages. NEW JER SEY he American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief Oct. 15 urging the Stxrial Security Administration to provide sur vivor benefits to the child of a lesbian mother. Early in their seven-year relationship togeth er, Eva Kadrey and Camille Caracappa talked about having a child. Caracappa was the princi pal breadwinner in the family, so they decided Kadrey would carry their child. In March 1998, Kadrey gave birth to a boy named Nicolaj. Caracappa continued to work hill time as a free-lance oncology nurse while Kadrey stayed at home and helped out part time keeping the btxiks for Caracappa s business. Shortly after Nicolaj was bom, Caracappa made plans to adopt him and even contacted a lawyer to start the process. She died suddenly of an undiagnosed brain aneurysm at 38, before the paperwork for the adoption was completed. At the urging of Caracappa s mother, Kadrey filed for Social Security survivorship benefits for Nicolaj in November 2000. Less than a month later, the Social Security Administration denied Nicolaj s claim because the couple weren’t mar ried and because Caracappa wasn’t the biologi cal mother. The case is now up for review by an admin istrative law judge in Voorhees. If the couple had been allowed to marry, Nicolaj would be entitled to Caracappa’s benefits. The adminis tration even allows the children of stepparents to receive survivor benefits, the ACLU noted. “Camille paid into the Social Security sys tem just like everyone else, and now she’s being treated like a stranger to her son,” Kadrey said. “It’s just not right that Nicolaj should lose the benefits she paid for because our government ignores same-sex families.” T C A L IF O R N IA U niversity of California Sch(X)l of Medicine scientists have added to the htxly of research supporting the theory that a person’s sexual orientation and gen der identity are genet ically based. The study, pub lished in the October edition of Molecular Bram Research, identi fied 54 genes in mice that may explain why male and female brains kx>k and func tion differently. Since Eric Vilain the 1970s, scientists have believed that estrogen and testosterone were wholly responsible for the development of male and female genders. Recent evidence, how ever, indicates hormones cannot explain every thing about the sexual differences between male and female brains. “Our research implies that genes accixmt for some of the differences between male and female brains,” said Eric Vilain, a genetics pro fessor at UCLA who was the study’s principle investigator. “We believe that one’s genes, hor mones and environment exert a combined influence on sexual brain development.” In explaining sexual orientation Vilain opined: “It’s quite possible that sexual identi ty and physical attraction is ‘hard-wired’ by the brain. If we accept this concept, we must dismiss the myth that homosexuality is a ‘choice’ and examine our civil legal system accordingly.” he National Center for Lesbian Rights announced Oct. 20 that it is opposed to the nomination of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the U.S. Court of Ap peals for the District of Col umbia Circuit. According to public educa tion director Janice Rogers Brown Marta Donayre, she has a long and extensive history of hostil ity to civil rights, including affirmative action, repnxluctive rights and discrimination claims. In a case decided by the Supreme Court this year, she was the only dissenting voice in an opinion affirming the validity of second- parent adoptions by gay and lesbian parents. Although thousands of such adoptions have been granted during the past 20 years, Brown’s dissent relied on a hypertechnical reading of California statutes to conclude that these adoptions are not permissible under state law. “The people of this country need and deserve federal judges who will apply the law in a fair and evenhanded way to ensure that the rights of all people are protected,” Donayre said. “Rather than ensuring justice for all, Justice Brown has undennined the rights of vulnerable minorities and made the world a more dangerous place for women, people of color, immigrants, and les bians and gay men.” your dirtfufay SPANK? Congratulations on 20 years. (You look half your age, darling). From your friends at Spartacus... indulging your every pleasure since 1987. © CLACKAMAS 15536 se 82nd drive 503.657.7666 DOWNTOWN 300 sw 12th eve. SPARTACUS 503.224.2604 T Automotive Maintenance & Repair n*ss ADVENTURES AT ITS B E S T! m m toMMM * incur ra mmmtomm Adventure Club for Women Activities Include: Hiking, Biking, Kayaking, Volleyball, Snowshoeing, and a lot more. ALL FOREIGN & DOMESTIC AUTOMOBILES QUALIFIED, HONEST, QUICK & FAIRLY PRICED SATISFIED CUSTOMERS TELL THEIR FRIENDS — THEY ALL COME BACK! (references on file) Call Nikki Becker, owner East Bank Commerce Center 1001 SE Water Ste 220 503-233-4567 www.missjitadventures.com AUTO-MARINE 4230 NE SUMNER ST. 503 282-0159 - L ambda Legal is urging the Board of Immi gration Appeals in Washington, D.C., to grant asylum to a man who faced severe anti- gay persecution in Tuxpan, Mexico— but was rejected for asylum by a California immigra tion judge who said he didn’t seem gay and could hide his sexual orientation to avoid persecution. Jorge Soto Vega faced severe harassment and violence from the community and his own family from an early age. He was detained and beaten severely by police who threatened to kill him if they saw him again because they wanted to get rid of gay people. Earlier this year, a Southern California immi gration judge ruled that there was credible evidence that Soto Vega was persecuted in Mexico because of his sexual orientation, but rejected his application for asylum in the United States, saying the 34-year-old didn’t appear gay to him and could keep his sexual orientation hidden if he chose to. “We grant people asylum in America because their countries have told them they have to change who they are in order to be safe,” attorney Jon Davidson said. “The basic Continued on Page 19 Fi ne A me r i c a n Cr af t D o w n to w n P o rtland 901 SW Y a m h i l l • 503.223.9510 W ashington S quare P ortland A irport 503.620.2243 503.284.9929 www.therealmothergoose.com \