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Serving M id -C o u n ty Since 1968
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore
(right, with wife Kayla and son Caleb) called
homosexuality “ abhorrent, immoral” and
“ detestable” as well as “ an abominable sin”
[homosexual] conduct with physical penalties such
as confinement and even execution...to prevent
the subversion of children toward this lifestyle.”
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
which called for Moore’s removal 21 months
ago, bailed the nine-member panel’s unanimous
decision. "We are glad that, nearly two years
after Chief Justice Moore shocked the Ameri
can public with his medieval endorsement of
capital punishment for gay people, fair-minded
Alabamians have agreed that Mtxire is not suit
ed to lead this most sacred and important insti
tution of our judicial branch of government,”
executive director Matt Foreman said.
G E O R G IA
ambda Legal announced Nov. 5 a lawsuit
settlement requiring civil rights safeguards
when faith-based organizations receive taxpayer
dollars to provide child welfare scx'ial services.
The terms dictate that these charities must not
infringe on the rights of employees, taxpayers,
recipients of services or religious groups.
‘This settlement is a significant breakthrough
in the national debate over whether more taxpay
er money should he given to religious organiza
tions," attorney Susan Sommer said. “There can’t
he a sign on the dcxir of a government-funded
social services provider saying ‘Taxpayer Funded
Position: Jews and Catholics Need Not Apply.’ ”
The closely watched case, filed in August 2002,
said taxpayer money was being used unconstitu
tionally to discriminate in employment and serv
ices at the United Methodist Children’s Home.
Sommer represented Aimee Bellmore, a highly
capable youth counselor who had been told she
s(x>n would be promoted but instead was fired after
the agency learned she was a lesbian. Another
plaintiff, Alan Yorker, an exceptionally qualified
psychotherapist with more than 20 years of experi-
ence, interviewed for a position
at the children’s home but was
turned away when, its the inter
view began, a senior staff mem
ber realized he was Jewish and
told him the agency does not
hire Jews.
founded in 1968 by the Rev. Elder Troy D. Terry.
Today, it boasts almost 300 churches lor its
43,000 members and adherents in 22 countries.
In Bush’s letter dated Oct. 14 to M CC’s
founding congregation in Los Angeles, he
wrote: “By encouraging the celebration of faith
and sharing of G od’s love and boundless mercy,
churches like yours put hope in peoples hearts
and a sense of purpose in their lives. This mile
stone provides an opportunity to reflect on your
years of service and to rejoice in G od’s faithful
ness to your congregation."
The letter was written during “Marriage Pro
tection Week," an effort endorsed by Bush and
organized by religious right leaders such as Jerry
Falwell, James Dobson, the Southern Baptist
Convention and the American Family Associa
tion to deny equality under the law to gay men
and lesbians.
Bush’s letter left the Rev. Neil Thomas, senior
pastor of M CC Los Angeles, baffle I “H,™ Tv««
one denounce the right of gays
and lesbians to marry in their
churches and suggest they are
incapable of having healthy
marriages in one moment, and
in the next rejoice in God’s
faithfulness to a gay and lesbian
congregation that perfonns such
same-sex marriages?”
told him that because he has HIV they would
not continue to employ him. Cusick describes
the Cirque du Soleil position as a “dream job"
tor any gymnast.
In the letter Cirque du Soleil is sending
members of the public who write to complain
about the discrimination, senior staffer Renee-
Claude Menard says Cusick was fired “solely for
safety reasons." Cusick was hired to perform on
the Russian high bar and the Chinese poles.
Menard’s letter and Cirque du Soleil’s other
public statements on the issue offer no explana
tion for how a highly trained gymnast could
transmit HIV while performing in such a heavi
ly rehearsed and choreographed show.
NEBRASKA
he American Civil Liberties Union filed
lawsuits Nov. 1 3 on behalf of an HlV-posi-
tive 19-year-old woman against two of her former
pmnl,w.>rv j N].-Kr.i«Ta restaurant and Casey's
General Stores Inc., for
illegal discrimination.
Priscilla [Ax, who is
suing under a pseudo
nym to protect her pri
vacy, was fired from her
job as a hostess at a
restaurant in the small
town where she lives
when
the
owner
learned she was HIV
/
ne week after Lambda
positive. Just one week
* Legal and San Francisco
later, she suffered signif
activists launched protests
icantly reduced hours
against Cirque du Soleil for
and was forced to wear
discriminating against people
protective gloves by the
with HIV, the company has
manager at Casey’s after
i started sending a six-paragraph
the manager learned of
her HIV status.
letter to members of the pub
lic— admitting it fired a gym
Dix* was hired as a
nast solely because he has HIV
hostess at a restaurant
hut claiming such action is not
in August 2002. She
“discrimination.”
Cirque du Soleil fired gymnast Matthew got along well with the
“Today, it’s clearer than Cusick because he has HIV
owners until May 9,
2003, when she was
ever that Cirque du Soleil just
called just before she was to report to work
doesn’t get it,” attorney Michael Adams said.
“People with HIV can work safely in a wide
and terminated over the phone. She later
variety of jobs, and it’s illegal to fire people
learned from other employees that the owners
because they have HIV.”
fired her because they found out she was
Protesters launched the campaign, “Discrimi HIV-positive.
[Ax also had a second job as a shelf stocker
nation: Another Side of Cirque du Soleil,” by
greeting people waiting in line to see the opening at Casey’s, a convenience store chain with more
night perfonnance of Alegría Nov. 6 with leaflets than 1,300 stores throughout the Midwest. She
started off working just two nights a week. By
and materials on the company’s discrimination.
March 2003, she was working five evenings a
Lambda Legal filed a federal discrimination
complaint in July against Cirque du Soleil on
week and was told by her manager that she was
the store’s best stocker.
behalf of Matthew Cusick, who was fired
because he has HIV. Although the company’s
In May, shortly after she was fired from the
own doctors cleared him to safely perform for restaurant, her manager at Casey’s asked if she
the Las Vegas-based show M ystere, managers
was HIV-positive. When she answered that
she was, the manager told her
that she would have to wear
rubber gloves at all times, that
she could not tell anyone
about her HIV status and that
if she came in late or violated
any of these rules she would
ietropoutan
be fired. She also told Doe to
look for another job. Her
COMMUNITY CM
hours were reduced from five
evenings a week to three.
“When 1 tested positive, my
whole world turned upside
down, and 1 had to reevaluate
everything,” Doe said. “ I knew
that living with HIV wasn’t
going to be easy, but I wasn’t
prepared for people to be so
mean and ignorant." J H
T
CALIFORNIA
all it a mixed message at
best. Or maybe politics at
worst. [Airing the same week
President Bush issued an anti
gay marriage proclamation, he
sent enthusiastic 35th anni
versary congratulations to the
predominantly gay Metropoli
tan Gimmunity Churches, a
grtnip that performs more than
6,000 same-sex weddings
annually.
MCC, one of the worlds MCC founder/moderator the Rev. Elder Troy D. Perry (left) and MCC Los Angeles
largest gay organizations, was pastor the Rev. Neil Thomas show off their congratulatory letter from President Bush
C
Complied by New s Editor JlM
R aix ^STA, who can he reached
at jim @ justout.com .
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