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Following pressure
from several politi
cians, the agency
issued a press release
in April asserting that
“it is the policy of this
adm inistration that
discrimination in the
federal work force on
the basis of sexual ori
entation is prohibit
ed." However, the
n o n d is c r im in a tio n
directives have not
yet been restored on
the office’s Web site,
and several of the
agency’s actions since
April have sparked
 _______ I________ hiL
concern among feder
U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., criticized a Bush adm inistration official
al employees.
for
failing to protect gay federal employees from discrimination
U.S. Reps. Eliot
Engel, D-N.Y.; Bar
ney Frank, D-Mass.; George Miller and Henry
NEW YORK
W axman, D-Calif.; and Tammy Baldwin,
New York state court ruled June 10 in favor
¿4 of same-sex marriage because denying gays
D-Wis., sent a letter June l to special counsel
Scott BliKh about the lack of evidence that his
and lesbians the right to wed goes against equal
office has genuinely reversed its policy of ignor protection measures in the state’s constitution,
ing the rights of gay, lesbian and hi federal
Reuters reported.
employees.
“This marks the first official step in the
“Mr. Bloch is continuing his right-wing
march toward full equality for gays and lesbians
assault on the rights of gay and lesbian federal
in New York state,” attorney E. Joshua
employees,” Engel said. “The W hite House
Rosenkranz said. “The court has ruled that
issued a statement publicly opposing Mr. Bloch’s same-sex couples have not just some of the same
policy after it became well-known, hut consider- rights, and a modicum of legal protection from
ing he is still employed and using his authority blatant discrimination, hut full equality in the
to subvert federal law, I am concerned that the
eyes of the law. It is the first time that any court
president is allowing Mr. Bloch’s homophobic
in this state has declared that same-sex couples
agenda to move forward."
have the same rights, same status and same dig
T he office has reportedly ordered all discrim nity as every other citizen. If history is any guide,
ination complaints to he assigned to political
this is the beginning of an unstoppable trend in
New York.”
appointees instead of career employees. It has
also issued a gag order preventing staff from dis
T he New Paltz Justice C ourt also threw out
cussing its nondiscrimination policy.
charges that the tow n’s mayor, Jason West, vio
lated the law by marrying dozens of same-sex
couples in February without licenses. “With
he National Black Justice Coalition con-
remarkably clear vision, th e...court has seen
vened May 28 in W ashington, D.C., for its | what anyone who has approached the question
first physical board meeting since the organiza
thoughtfully knows to he the truth: that there’s
tion’s inception in December 2003.
no fair reason for keeping same-sex couples from
Among the strategies and ideas discussed, the
marrying,” said James Esseks, litigation director
coalition solidified a July launch date for an adver of the American Civil Liberties U nion’s Lesbian
tising campaign aimed at African American news and Gay Rights Project.
papers featuring black gay and lesbian couples and
he Office of Special Counsel— the federal
their families. The areas targeted include New
agency responsible for investigating work York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Detroit,
I « ambda Legal urged Geico Insurance on
J U June 14 to comply wirh state law and respect
place discrimination— has failed to fully reinstate
Chicago, New Orleaas, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
protections from bias based on sexual orientation.
Washington, D.C., and Birmingham, Ala.
valid marriages of all same-sex couples in deter
mining car insurance rates and coverage. During
the past few months, the New York-based com
pany has recognized the marriages of some same-
sex couples and denied recognition to others.
Two New York couples who were married in
Canada have been treated unequally by the
insurance giant in their auto coverage. Martin
Farach-Colton and his spouse recently received
written confirmation from the statewide under
writer that their marriage would he respected by
Geico and that the two men could share Farach-
C olton’s policy just like any married hetero
sexual couple. Bur Geico refused to recognize
the marriage of Thom as Hroncich and his
spouse, which could require the couple to pay
hundreds of dollars more annually in premiums
to receive the same level of insurance coverage.
“New York law says that marriages validly
performed elsewhere must he respected here,”
attorney Alphonso David said. “Geico is break
ing the law by denying Mr. Hroncich and his
spouse benefits that the insurer provides to its
other married policyholders. Geico must stop its
practice of randomly recognizing some married
From left, National Black Justice Coalition board members Alexander Robinson, Irene
gay or lesbian couples hut not all of its married
Monroe, Donna Payne, Mandy Carter, Jasmyne Cannick, Sylvia Rhue and Keith Boykin meet
gay or lesbian policyholders.”
May 28 in Washington, D.C.
onservative leader Paul Weyrich believes
kw President Bash should shift the focus of his
re'-election campaign
from the war on Iraq to
the Federal Marriage
Amendment, The Asso
ciated Press reported
June l.
“If [Bush] wishes to
he re-elected, then he
better he upfront on this
issue, because if the
election is solely on
Paul Weyrich
Iraq, we’ll he talking
about President Kerry,” he said. “If he wants to
change the subject— which if I were president I
would certainly want to do— then I think he
would he well-advised, in fact, to take the leader
ship on this particular point.”
Human Rights Campaign president Cheryl
Jacques urged Bush-Cheney '04 campaign manag
er Ken Mehlman to reject Weyrich s recommenda
tion. “This kind of cynical advice...further illus
trates that the movement behind the FMA is not
about ‘protecting marriage’ hut about partisan elec
toral politics,” she wrote in a letter sent June 2.
The Senate Republican leadership is aiming for
a mid-July vote on the amendment, forcing Demo
crats to take a stand on the controversial topic just
before the party heads to Boston for its presidential
nominating convention. Bush reaffirmed his sup
port for the marriage ban during an interview with
religion reporters and editors May 26.
“This dialogue needs to he a dialogue worthy
of a nation and worthy of a debate over a consti
tutional amendment,” he said. “And it’s a very
important discussion. And it’s one that should
not he politicized. It should he debated in a very
profound way. Politicized means, put it in a con
text of a real process which to me will change the
debate from where it needs to he. You don’t want
people making up their mind whether or not this
benefits a candidate or not. You want people
making up their mind on this issue about
whether it benefits America— in the long term
for America, I think is the best way to put it.”
Bush also underscored the lack of
groundswell support for the amendment. “I will
tell you the prairie fire necessary to get an
amendm ent passed is simmering at best...I’m
not sure people quite understand the issue yet.”
T