ngout
out
participation of Oscar winner Whoopi
Goldberg, Grammy winner Cyndi Lauper,
T.R. Knight of Grey’s Anatomy, Lance Bass
and others, with a musical performances by
the cast of A Chorus Line and Stephanie J.
Block, who sang “You’ll Never Walk
Alone," the AIDS Walk theme song.
AIDS Walk New York benefits-Gay
Men’s Health Crisis and more than 50 oth
er local AIDS organizations.
VERMONT
Vermont Enacts
Nondiscrimination Law
iustiout>
out
out
Serious Wines
Scrumptious Morsels
Comfy Chairs
2755 N.E. Broadway
Lynne and Dick Cheney welcome their newborn
grandson, Samuel.
Republican Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas signed
into law a bill extending existing nondiscrimina
tion laws to prohibit bias on the basis of gender
identity in employment, public accommodations,
housing, insurance and credit services May 22.
The measure had strong and bipartisan support
in both chambers of the Legislature. The Senate
voted 27-1, and the House of Representatives vot
ed 118-28 to pass the bill.
When the law becomes effective July 1,
Vermont will be the ninth U.S. state to ban work
place discrimination on the basis of gender identi
ty. Workplace protection laws exist in California,
Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New
Mexico, Rhode Island and Washington, as well as
Washington, D.C. Iowa and Colorado have also
passed legislation banning discrimination based on
gender identity. In 1991, Vermont amended its
nondiscrimination laws to prohibit bias based on
sexual orientation.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
a bipartisan piece of federal legislation, was intro
duced April 24 in the U.S. House of
Representatives. This legislation would prohibit
employment discrimination based on sexual orien
tation or gender identity.
NATIONAL
Cheneys Welcome Baby Boy
Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice
President Dick Cheney, gave birth to an 8-pound,
6-ounce baby boy at 9:46 a.m. May 23 at Sibley
Hospital in Washington, D.C.
She and her partner of 16 years, Heather Poe,
named their son Samuel David Cheney. Samuel is
the sixth grandchild of Lynne and Dick Cheney.
Cheney and Poe live in Virginia, where a con
stitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage
does not allow gay second-parent adoptions.
According to Jennifer Chrisler, executive direc
tor of Family Pride, those laws leave the new parents
without the safety net that heterosexual couples
have. “There’s a question of whether they could even
replicate through legal contract the rights and
protections that they might have if they could get
legally married,” said Chrisler in a statement.
The organization will host a virtual baby show
er via its Web site, www.familypnde.org/baby.
Judge Finds Discrimination
by Fire Department
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance celebrat
ed an opinion April 3 by Washington, D.C., Superior
Court Judge Geoffrey M. Alprin finding probable
cause against D.C. Fire & Emergency Medical
Services personnel, including top management.
Alprin’s ruling owtrsed an Office of Human
Rights decision and remanded the case. The case
was brought by former Fire & Emergency Medical
Services expert/training specialist Kenda Kirby and
raised issues of a hostile work environment and
discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation,
gender identity, personal appearance and physical
characteristics.
Kirby had been hired to implement the Tyra
Hunter Human Diversity Training Series, which
was created as part of a 2000 settlement concern
ing the wrongful death in 1995 of Tyra Hunter,
a transgender woman who died from injuries
sustained in an auto-pedestrian accident.
“FEMS management willfully blocked the Tyra
Hunter Training that they had pledged to
conduct,” said Barrett Brick, president of Gay and
Lesbian Activists Alliance. “This culture of bias
and corruption is absolutely unacceptable. We urge
Mayor [Adrian) Fenty to order a just and speedy
settlement with Kenda Kirby so that the case does
not drag on any further.”
On May 15, 2003, Kirby found printouts in her
work mailbox of Web postings containing
numerous gender-based derogatory references. The
postings were later found to have been posted from
government computers and on agency time. Kirby
reported the incident to her chain of command as
well as Fire & Emergency Services diversity
management officer Fredreika Smith, General
Counsel Theresa Cusick and Fire Chief Adrian H.
Thompson. Although Kirby’s immediate supervisor,
Deputy Fire Chief Michael L. Smith, initiated an
investigation into the incident, he was ordered to
stop. Judge Alprin found substantial evidence to
support Kirby’s claims against Fredreika Smith,
Cusick and Thompson.
The opinion states, “Apart from ‘the Watch
Desk Forums’ incident and its aftermath, petition
er cites severalother events that demonstrate
a hostile work environment.” Among them, Kirby
cites blockage by Smith of resources and procure
ments necessary for delivery of the Tyra Hunter
Training. The court also found that Smith retaliat
ed against Kirby.
Moreover, the court found: “The sum total of
this evidence supports findings of a history and
culture of homophobia and sexism in [the D.C. fire
department). This ethos, which characterized peti'
tioner’s work environment, created impediments to
her responsibilities and cover for her colleagues to
belittle her.”
The district had 30 days to appeal the decision,
and no appeal was reported.
Kirby expressed appreciation for the support of
her family, community and colleagues. “1 hope the
judge’s ruling helps others, and I hope the fire
department can change from the fop down," she
said. ©
Compiled by J aymef . R. Cl m
Portland, OR 97232
503.288.POUR (7687)
MK. MOTO
RICE
f
1
1
BOX
fir?
t
ßßL
XL
1
MENTION
THIS AO FOR
10% OFF!
healthy asian food
5O3-221-3O45
dine in or out
413 NW 21st Ave. • Portland, OR 97209