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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2004)
februaiy 6. 2ÛÛ4 • J m t aaftj news NATIONAL epublican Senate Leader Bill Frist believes gay families do not consti tute a family unit. He made the remarks Jan. 23 at the Conservative Political Action Conference Reagan Banquet. After asking the audience, “What is family?” the Tennesseean said, “The issue before us today is that activist judges in Massachusetts are intent on destroying the traditional definition of family.” Frist added that he supports amending the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. As a result of President Bush’s com mand that the country “defend the sanc Republican Senate Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee told tity of marriage” in his State of the Union conservatives last month that gay families do not exist address Jan. 20, Republicans unleashed a rash of anti-gay legislation. GO P members of the D-N.C., and John Kerry, D-Mass., for opposing Arizona House of Representatives and the Vir 1996’s Defense of Marriage Act. ginia House of Delegates introduced resolutions He said the presidential candidates’ position is the day after the speech that voiced support for that “a gay couple should be able to get married in the Federal Marriage Amendment. John Kerry’s Massachusetts, move to John Edwards’ North Carolina, and Tarheel State citi “Millions of American families are legally threatened because lawmakers like Sen. Frist zens would be compelled to recognize that mar riage.” Gillespie continued to mock the records of simply pretend that they don’t exist,” said Dave Noble, National Stonewall Democrats execu both senators in an effort to demonstrate that they are “out of sync with most voters” on social issues. tive director. “We have continually heard what the Republican leadership is against, hut we When elected as R N C chairman last July, have yet to hear what it is for. Congressional Gillespie was hailed by gay Republicans as a Republicans still have no plan that addresses moderate party activist; however, his tenure has • legal inequality faced by gay families.” seen a torrent of anti-gay attacks. Most recently, he told A BC News that it would he the fault of ❖ gay families if Republicans chose to use same-sex ddressing the Republican National Com- marriage as a wedge issue in the 2004 election. J, mittee’s winter meeting Jan. 29, chairman He also has pledged that the R N C will codi Ed Gillespie blasted “unelected, activist judges” fy its support for the Federal Marriage Amend for recognizing marriage equality in Massachu ment in its national platform this summer. setts while ridiculing U .S. Sens. John Edwards, Additionally, under Gillespie, the R N C ’s Web R SO MANY SHOES... site continues to attack Democratic presidential candidates for supporting queers. Meanwhile, the R N C dismissed a nation wide queer voter mobilization program recently launched by the Democratic National Commit tee. Press secretary Christine Iverson reacted to the “Pride at the Polls” effort by stating Jan. 27, “We don’t target our voter outreach on sexual orientation.” DN C chairman Terry McAuliffe was quick to criticize her remark. “After President Bush’s anti gay comments during the State of the Union address, and now Iverson’s clear ignorance of the 1.1 million G LBT Americans who voted for Bush in 2000, it is now evident how little respect Bush has for G LBT Republicans,” he said. KANSAS he Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 30 that it is constitutional to give a bisexual teen-ager a sentence 13 times longer than a straight teen-ager would receive for the same crime. The 2-1 decision upholds the state’s “Romeo and Juliet” law, which gives much lighter sentences to heterosexual teen-agers who have sex Matthew Limon with younger teens but specifically excludes gay teen-agers. Matthew Limon is serving 17 years in prison, instead of the 13 to 15 months he would have faced if he were heterosexual. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated his conviction and instructed the appeals court to give it further consideration in light of the historic ruling on sexual intimacy in Lawrence vs. Texas. In its decision, the court gave three explana T ^ Elise Campbell, gri , abr Service Is the . S i lts that Simple! Hom e Buying Tip #1 There are many details which should be factored into making an offer on a home. Wnting the offer incorrectly could cost you thousands of dollars on appliances, services or other attached items that you ’’assumed " were part of the home. Let me guide you to make sure ^ your offer is made correctly. Call Today! 503 307-1353 - EhseC@ Com passRealty.com www.EhseCampbell.com AND J U S T ONE PAIR OF G L A S S E S ? E_agle o «LompassA Eye exams by an independent Doctor of Optometry O 5 0 3 . 335.7173 LO O www.eagleeyeopticalshop.com O penly gay U .S. Rep. Barney Frank has declined a solicitation from the Boy Scouts of America asking him to endorse a new nation al service initiative called Good Turn for Amer ica. In a letter sent Jan. 27 to chief executive Roy Williams, the Massachusetts Democrat expressed surprise at the organization’s request, considering it has characterized gay men as unfit to associate with, and he declined to engage in an act of “hypocrisy.” “Where there is much about what the Boy Scouts do that I admire and I am a former Scout myself, I was under the impression that you con sidered people like myself to be unworthy of association with the Boy Scouts,” Frank wrote. “I am a gay man, which, according to your poli cy as I read it in various court decisions, means that I am neither ‘morally straight’ nor ‘clean.’ Why do you want a person you so characterize to he signing a tribute to you T' OHIO he Legislature passed a bill Jan. 21 that not only prohibits marriages between same-sex couples but also precludes the “recognition or extension of the specific statutory benefits of a T Continued on Page 21 Mechanics that fix everything.1 Including your cons* o PD X Automotive Is a certified Eco-Loglcal Business. e ( 503 ) L a ser S u rg ery Now A v a il a b l e 282-3315 ! 2808 N E M L K Jr Blvd, Suite C Portland, O R 97212 Located next to Billy Reed’s Restaurant MASSACHUSETTS Rf ALTVU O p t ic a l PRESCRIPTION EYEW EAR GLASSES & C O N T A C T S tions for sentencing gays so much more severe ly: that doing so will reduce the spread of sexu ally transmitted diseases, that doing so encour ages “traditional sexual mores" and that doing so promotes procreation and marriage. “The court’s* opinion in this case defies comprehension, and we intend to seek an appeal,” said Dick Kurten- bach of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri. 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