CONFERENCE ON GAY RIGHTS AGENDA AND STATUS, 1997
Sponsored link.
Source: USA Weekend Magazine. Article titled "GAY RIGHTS: WHAT'S THE
AGENDA?: by Carol Clurman, with Myron B. Pitts and Sandra McElwaine
A conference is being held in Washington DC by the 175,000-member Human Rights
Campaign, (HRC) the largest US gay-right group in the US. Their priority
will be to urge Congress to pass a bill to ban discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation in the workplace. Such a bill, Employment
Non-Discrimination Act failed by only one vote in the Senate last
fall. Other main topics to be discussed are marriage, parenthood and job benefits
for gays and lesbians.
HRC head, Elizabeth Birch, sees a "tremendous mainstreaming" of gay issues
"We are sitting at the table of power...We have to be reckoned
with...Gays are most concerned about employment, personal safety and
AIDS...Only half of them think marriage is an important issue."
One of the leading opponent to equal rights for gays is Robert Knight
of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. He
said that there is a limit to public tolerance on gay-rights, which he
believes that Americans view as a moral debate, not a conflict over rights.
"They've made rocket-like progress over the past five years toward
normalization of homosexuality in culture, but they are about to hit a
stone wall." [We don't think that he intended this as a pun on the
Stonewall riot]
Status of the fight for equal rights:
 | Same-Sex Marriage: 16 states have banned gay marriage; 17 are
considering such a bill. Many people predict that same-sex marriages will
be legal in Hawaii when the state Supreme Court rules on a lower court's
decision. A bill is being debated in Hawaii to amend the state
Constitution to ban gay marriage |
| Job Benefits: Tremendous gains are being made with respect to
equal access to health and insurance benefits. At least 313 companies,
including IBM and Disney, extend benefits to "domestic partners." The
16 million membership of the Southern Baptist Convention called
for a boycott of Disney for its equal treatment of gays and lesbians
Even the Roman Catholic Church is extending benefits to homosexual
employees in San Francisco in a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
The Virginia legislature is considering a bill to extend benefits to its
homosexual employees. |
| Parenting: Gay and lesbian couples are increasingly raising
children via adoption, foster parenting or artificial insemination. 13
states allow gay and lesbian adoptions, only Florida and New Hampshire
ban them. A Virginia mother gave up a three year court battle to regain
custody of her 5 year old son; she had been ruled unfit because of her
sexual orientation. |
| Job Discrimination: The HRC considers a federal anti-job-bias
bill as the top priority. Republican Jesse Helms, NC, has introduced
a bill to roll back regulations banning discrimination against gays
in the federal workforce. |
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