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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2005)
lune 17. 2005 ’ just OUt 31 nrunTm news entrepreneurs and is committed to forming a broad-based coalition of queer-owned and friendly businesses, professionals and students of business for the purpose of promoting economic growth and prosperity for its members. —SD Texas Gov. Rick Perry, fresh from a contro versial bill-signing session in a church, said June 5 that gay veterans returning to Texas from Iraq could move elsewhere if they didn’t like a law banning gays and lesbians from marrying. He was responding to a question from a reporter. “Gov. Perry’s remarks were, outrageous and offensive and do not reflect the views of fair- minded Texans who value the service of our men and women in uniform,” said Col. Paul W. Dodd, a retired Army chaplain who lives in Texas. —SD and body lickings prior to copulation—with “normal” females. The researchers carefully examined rhe bod ies of the fly lines and could discern no physical changes that might explain these actions. The flies in every way kxiked like males and females of the species should kxik, but they did not behave the same as their sexual features would indicate. The second paper kxiked at neurons in the fly brain that have been associated with the fru gene. It said, “We could not detect any major anatomical differences in this circuit that might explain the different sexual behaviors of males and females, suggesting that the essential differ ence between the sexes lies in the functioning of this circuit, not its construction." It also showed how male- and female specific pheromones—a chemical signaling sys tem that parallels the sense of smell, is wired to the most primitive portion of the brain and reg ulates sexual attraction—can be affected by male and female fru genetic variants. Dickson says, “We have shown that a single gene in the fmit fly is sufficient to determine all aspects of the flies’ sexual orientation and behavior.” His findings demonstrate that instinctive behavior can be regulated by the same genetic forces that regulate height or eye color. “The notion of a behavioral switch gene implies that at least some instinctive behaviors develop according to the familiar genetic logic of morphological [btxlyl development.” It does not deny the role of other genes and the environment in strengthening or weakening the influence of that gene in developing pat terns of behavior. —Bob Roehr F ruit F lies , G enes and S exual O rientation N ew J ersey A ppeals C ourt R ules A gainst M arriage E quality M aine L egislators D efeat A nti -G ay A mendment By a vote of 88-56, the Maine House of Rep resentatives defeated an effort to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage June 14- “1 believe we should not scribble the graffiti of fear and discrimination into Maine’s most sacred political document,” Democratic House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings said. A last- minute effort by proponents to limit rhe ban to marriages, not civil unions, only eroded existing support by conservatives, but a petition drive may yet force the matter to a voter referendum. —SD T exas G overnor I nvites G ay V ets to L eave A single gene is responsible for mating actions and sexual orientation in Drosophila, that bountiful font of genetic research known as the common fruit fly. A pair of articles in the June 3 issue of the journal Cell powerfully reinforce the case for the innate biological nature of sexual orienta tion. After all, distant mothers, weak fathers, recruitment” and embracing Jesus are not major factors in shaping the “im pressionable” fly pupa. Barry J. Dickson and colleagues at the Institute of Mol ecular Biotechnolo gy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna focused on the “fruitless” gene (fm), which comes in four variations. They hypothesized that a switch gene for sexual behavior should act to specify either male or female behavior, irrespective of the physical sexual characteristics of the fly. Through a complex series of gene splicing and breeding, they generated lines of fruit flies that carried one of the four distinct variants of fru, then they observed their behavior. They found that the male flies with the female variant of the fni gene were significantly less likely to court and breed with females than were the males with the other variants of the gene, anil they were more likely to engage in courtship behavior with other males. Among female flies, those with the male ver sion of the gene were significantly less likely to mate with “normal” male flies, while more than 40 percent of them engaged in male courtship behavior—a ritualistic series of wing beatings A New Jersey appeals court issued a 21 ruling June 14 in favor of the state in Lambda Legal’s case seeking marriage equality for same-sex cou ples. The ruling clears the way for the case to move to the New Jersey Supreme Court. “We are disappointed but not discouraged. We’ve always known that this case is headed for the New Jersey Supreme Court, and now we’re that much closer to the final word,” said David Buckel, director of Lambda Legal’s Marriage Proj ect and the lead attorney on the case. “In cases of this magnitude, much like our landmark victory in U.S. Supreme Court striking down sodomy laws nation wide, losses at the lower court levels are typical, and we have seen that the opinion of the dissenting judge often later becomes the law of the land.” Judge Donald G. Collester Jr. said in his 31-page dissent: “By prohibiting them from a real right to marry, plaintiffs as well as their children suffer rhe real consequences of being ‘different.’ While the Domestic Partner ship Act gives, at some cost, many, but not all, of rhe benefits and protections automatically grant ed to married persons, we have learned after much pain that ‘separate but equal’ does not substitute for equal rights.” Lambda Legal plans to appeal the decision “as quickly as possible,” Buckel said. The lawsuit was filed against New Jersey in June 2002 on behalf of seven gay and lesbian cou ples seeking full marriage. In November 2003, a state court trial judge denied Lambda Legal’s motion for summary judgment in the case, and the group appealed. The lawsuit is based solely on the New Jersey Constitution, which means the state Supreme Court’s decision will be final. —SD jFI Jen Nelson Jen Bell Realtor, Broker Listing Specialist Dyke Little League Mom Spoken Word Poet Loan Officer Dyke Horse Whisperer Fire Dancer Veteran 100% Financing First-time Buyers OREGON HOME MORTGAGE Jen Nelson 31 628 St 58th Avenue Portland, OR 972 15 Office: 503 232 2475 Direct : 503 31 0 2284 jencairootsrealty.com rootsrealty.com Jen Bell Coordinating Both Buying & Selling (=} 8755 SW Citizens Ur «206 Wilsonville, OR 97070 Office: 503 682.3040 Direct: 503.939.4130 jbell@oregonhomemtg.com www oregonhomemtg.com
