18 justout AUGUST
17. 2007
national
NATIONAL
Bush Vows to Veto
Hate Crimes Law
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said
Aug. 7 that President Bush plans to veto any hill to
which the Matthew Shepard Act is attached.
Fratto said, “The qualifications [in the bill] are
so hroad that virtually any crime involving a homo
sexual individual has potential to have hate crimes
elements.”
Matt Foreman, executive director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, disagreed
with the administration’s assessment of the law.
“The provisions of this legislation are extreme
ly narrow, however not as narrow as the minds of
the current administration,” he said. “The legisla
tion establishes narrow and specific guidelines for
determining whether an incident constitutes a hate
crime, including a provision that prohibits the
consideration of any evidence not directly linked
to the incident, which is why it has the support of
law enforcement and civil liberty advocates” such
as the American Civil Liberties Union.
According to Foreman, the provisions of this
legislation are identical to those that have been on
the books since the 1960s. The difference is that it
adds sexual minorities to the existing legislation.
GLAAD Grades Networks
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The Gay &. Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation released its first GLAAD Network
Responsibility Index on Aug. 6. This report maps
the quantity, quality and diversity of images of
queers on network television.
ABC, with shows like Brothers & Sisters and
Ugly Betty, received the highest ranking of the five
networks. NBC, once home to Will & Grace,
ranked fourth, and Fox scored lowest.
“We know that seeing multidimensional,
diverse people represented on television changes
public perception,” said GLAAD entertainment
media director Damon Romine, editor of the
report. “Millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual apd trans
gender Americans fight every day for equality and
for the right to live their lives without fear of
discrimination and violence. True equality will be
in our grasp when network television presents our
stories in a fair, accurate and inclusive way.”
GLAAD examined all primetime program
ming—4,693 hours—on the five major networks,
ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox and NBC, from June 1,
2006, to May 31, 2007. Each hour was reviewed for
any major or minor queer representations. Based
on the overall quantity, quality and diversity of
these representations, a grade was assigned to each
network.
For the full report visit www.glaad.org.
Support for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Repeal Grows
Five new lawmakers, including the highest-
ranking military veteran in Congress, have joined
126 other lawmakers in supporting legislation to
repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on
queer service personnel.
U.S. Reps. Michael A. Arcuri, D-N.Y., Brian
Baird, D-Wash., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Joe Sestak,
D-Penn., and Brad Sherman, D-Calif., became co
sponsors of the Military Readiness Enhancement
Act, House Resolution 1246, Aug. 3. Sestak is
Congress’s highest-ranking veteran, having served
31 years in the U.S. Navy and retiring as a three-
star admiral.
“Congress is steadily moving toward
lifting the ban and welcoming lesbian
and gay Americans who want to serve
our country,” said Sharra E. Greer, direc
tor of law and policy for Servicemembers
Legal Defense Network. “When it
comes to capturing terrorists, decipher
ing intelligence and protecting our
nation, sexual orientation is irrelevant.
It is talent and skill that is paramount to
our success at home and abroad.”
U.S. Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif.,
chairwoman of the House Armed
Services Subcommittee on Military
Personnel, said she intends to hold
hearings on the issue.
Adm. Michael Mullen, President
Bush’s nominee for chairman of the
joint chiefs of staff, told U.S. Sen.
Susan Collins, R-Maine, that he would
welcome a congressional inquiry about
“don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“I really think it is for the American
people to come forward, really through
this body, to both debate that policy
and make changes, if that’s appropri
ate,” said Mullen.
CALIFORNIA
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Feinstein in Hot Water
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Sexual minority activists were not
pleased with U.S. Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., Aug. 4 when she
cast the tiebreaking vote for a contro-
ABC'» comedy Ugly Betty helped the network earn top
marks on GLAAD’s Network Responsibility Index.