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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2005)
16just aut january 7. 2005 _ 7TÎV7TÎTÎ7ÎTI news COLDUieiX BANIÇeR □ FERNANDO RUIZ Multi-Million Dollar Producer REALTOR (760) 325-4500 BUSINESS (760) 831-2798 CELLUIAR (760) 325-4578 FAX (888) 453-3414 TOLL FREE RESIDENTIAL BROKERACE 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA 92264 ps4good@aol.com It’s a you parade. Herzog-Meier D. Fulps/George Kettner 503-644-9121 •cars© herzogmeier.com _ . , /£>\ Drivers wanted. «Mil Raines Globe Travel Person to Person Travel Planning International Specialists Vacation Packages • Cruises • Tours • Group Travel A rkansas A nti -G ay F oster C are B an O verturned “no person may serve as a foster parent if any adult member of that person’s household is a homosexual,” the ACLU filed a lawsuit in state Finding that children are not harmed hy liv- ing with gay or lesbian parents, an Arkansas court challenging the policy on behalf of three Arkansans: court Dec. 29 struck down a state regulation • William Wagner of Waldron, who works that banned gay people and anyone living in a in an optical laboratory. He has been married household with a gay adult from being foster j for 31 years and has two adult children. parents. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the lawsuit against the state in 1999 on ’ Although he is a married heterosexual, he is dis qualified from serving as a foster parent because behalf of three prospective foster parents. his gay son sometimes lives at home. Wagner “Throughout this case, the state has relied and his wife hope to serve as foster parents on ugly stereotypes to deny children in the Arkansas foster care system the chance of hav because they already provide emergency shelter ing the widest possible p<x)l of foster families to teens who have been physically abused and available to them,” said Rita Sklar, ACLU of kicked out of their homes for being gay or les Arkansas executive director. “We’re very bian and would like to he available to take care pleased that the court saw through these argu of teens in the foster care system. ments and has recognized that gay and lesbian • Matthew Lee Howard of Little Rock, a people can provide homes just as loving and sta teacher who lives with his partner, Craig ble as anyone else’s.” . Stoopes, a librarian. The couple have been in a In his findings, Circuit Court Judge Timothy committed relationship for 19 years, are raising Fox flatly rejected many of the claims the state two children and hope to serve as foster parents. • Anne Shelley of Fayetteville, a communi ty organizer for various nonprofit organizations. She would like to serve as a foster parent hut is prevented from doing so under Arkansas law because she is a lesbian. Downtown Salem Since 1948 129 Commercial NE • 503-399-1800 • 800-971-7210 M ontana C ourt S ays U niversity S ystem M ust P rovide D omestic P artner B enefits Big City Produce 2004 BEST Award winner - Best Sustainable Food System * Little Store... Big on Diversity. 722 N. Sumner (at N. 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He wrote: “(Psychology pio neer] Jerome Bruner has suggested that one of the reasons people believe in our system of jus tice may he as simple as ‘our faith that con frontation is a gtxxl way to get to the bottom of things.’ The ‘confrontation’ in this case has pre sented us all with an excellent opportunity to replace ignorance with knowledge and to make an informed decision based on information as opposed to assumption.” Among Fox’s findings of fact: • Being raised by gay parents doesn’t increase the risk of psychological, behavioral or academic problems for children. • Children of gay and lesbian parents are just as well-adjusted as children of straight parents. • There is no factual basis for saying that heterosexual parents might be better able to guide children through adolescence than gay parents. • There are no reasons that health, safety or welfare of a foster child might be negatively affected hy living in a foster home where a gay person is present. • The blanket exclusion can hurt children hy excluding a pool of effective foster parents. “Throughout the trial we presented a variety of experts who proved that the state’s justifica tions for this han were nothing but baseless myths about gay people,” said Leslie Cooper, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. “This is a victory not only for gay families, hut for the many children in the Arkansas foster care system who now have a better shot at finding a gixxl home.” After Arkansas’s Child Welfare Agency Review Board established a policy in 1999 that In a lawsuit brought hy the American Civil Liberties Union, the Montana Supreme Court ruled Dec. 30 that the state must provide gay and lesbian employees of the University of Montana System with the option of purchasing health insurance and other employee benefits for their domestic partners. “This is an incredible victory for the lesbian and gay employees of the University of Mon tana System who need to protect their families just like their straight colleagues do,” said Scott Crichton, ACLU of Montana executive direc tor. “The court has said that same-sex couples who form committed relationships can no longer he denied the same protections and ben efits that it affords different-sex couples.” The court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that the university system’s policy of excluding gay and lesbian employees from equal employment ben efits violates the state constitution’s equal pro tection guarantees. In a concurring opinion, Judge James C. Nelson wrote: “The equal protection clause states that ‘No person’ shall he denied rhe equal protection of the laws. The language is clear and unambiguous. ‘No person’ means simply that—there is no language in this clause excepting out of this guarantee gay and les bians. At least our society has not come to the position that homosexuals are not even to be considered as persons.” Carol Snetsinger and Nancy Siegel are two of the plaintiffs represented hy the ACLU. They have been in a committed relationship for more than eight years. Snetsinger works in the biology department at University of Montana, Missoula, and Siegel is a physical therapist. Because of the small size and limited purchasing power for health care of the place where Siegel works, she has no access to group insurance through her employer and has been forced to purchase private insurance that is inferior to and much more expensive than coverage that the married university employees are able to purchase for their spouses. “We are ecstatic about this decision. It’s been a long wait, and now we’re thrilled that gay and lesbian employees of rhe university system will he able to insure their families,” said Snetsinger. "1 was moved to tears when I heard the decision. It’s an incredible way to end this year.” The ACLU hrixight the lawsuit in February 2002 on behalf of two lesbian couples and Pride