|
NEWS ITEMS AFFECTING GAYS AND LESBIANS
FOR 2003 - APRIL to JUNE
Sponsored link.
News of 2003-APR:
 | 2003-APR-4: USA: GOP leader meets with gay activists: The
Washington Blade, a gay-positive magazine, discussed a speech by Marc
Racicot, the Republican National Committee Chairperson before the
Human Rights Campaign. This is the first time that a sitting GOP
chair has addressed a gay audience. Racicot said that he would push for
fairness and equality for all Americans, including gays and lesbians, and
that he would not tolerate "gay-baiting" ads in Republican election
campaigns under his control. RNC spokesperson, Dan Ronayne, said: "Governor
Racicot believes the most important obligation we have as a party is to
engage with all of our citizens in respectful and insightful dialogue to
explain and debate our positions. The Human Rights Campaign luncheon was a
wonderful opportunity to do just that." He added that Racicot was "honored"
to speak before the HRC event and to address "our party's commitment to
tolerance and inclusion." 1 |
| 2003-APR-10: MA: Most adults support gay marriage: The
Massachusetts Family Institute, a fundamentalist Christian group, reported
the results of a new poll from the Boston Globe and WBZ-TV which was
released early in April. It showed that 50% of Massachusetts residents
support gay marriage whereas 44% oppose it. 2 |
| 2003-APR-15: WI: Conservative Christian vs. gay student conflict:
AgapePress, a conservative Christian news service, reported a conflict
in the Evansville High School in Evansville, in south-central Wisconsin, some
twenty miles south of the state capitol, Madison, WI. Presumably using the
Equal Access law, students had formed a Gay Straight Alliance Club in
the school. They held a "Day of Silence" presumably on the National
Day of Silence held in over on 2003-APR-9. AgapePress is a little
skimpy on details. 3 "Founded in 1996, the
Day of Silence Project has
become the largest single student-led action towards creating safer
schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or
gender expression." 4 Students who support equal rights for persons of
all sexual orientations in over 1,900 middle schools, high schools,
colleges and universities across the U.S. Participating students do not speak
during this day. Some hand out "speaking cards" stating: "I am
participating in the 'Day of Silence,' a national youth movement
protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which
is caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination." 3
According to AgapePress, "The
club was permitted to advertise the event through posters, literature, and on
the school intercom." This, of course, is required by the Equal Access act.
"The school even provided them with a 'safe room' to sit in
if they felt they were being harassed during the day." It is fairly common
for the verbal and physical harassment of homosexual and bisexual students --
and their supporters -- to reach a peak on this day. In response to the Day
of Silence a group of Christian students -- presumably conservative
Christians -- prayed and shared Bible verses in the school commons during
classroom time. They were given unexcused absences, despite having permission
slips from their parents, because they had skipped class. One of those Christian
students, Justin Wallestad, expressed his disappointed that an entire day at his
school was dedicated to promoting the acceptance of homosexuality, but past
events organized by Christian students had been restricted. He said: "In the
past they [presumably the administration] were putting [a stop] to some of the
stuff that we wanted to do, such as 'See You at the Pole' and stuff like that --
they wouldn't allow us to put up posters. But when people come in with a Day of
Silence for homosexuality, they [permit use of] the intercom. It was really
frustrating, so we wanted to do something about it." Wallestad felt some of
his classmates who participated in the Day of Silence were promoting
immorality. He said: "The majority of these people who did participate are my
friends because I want to be friends with a variety of people. So I actually did
lose quite a few friends because of this."
Wallestad and other students plan to organize a "Christian Purity Day"
which presumably promotes sexual abstinence. They plan to promote the event
through posters, literature, and over the school intercom. If they take
advantage of the Equal Access Law, and organize a conservative Christian
student-run club, then they will have every right to fully advertise their cause
on campus. If they remain unorganized, then they may well continue to experience
restrictions from the administration. Whether they organize a club or not, they
probably will not be allowed to skip classes. |
| 2003-APR-23: PA: Senator Santorum attacked and complemented for
homosexual comment: On APR-7, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) was
interviewed by the Associated Press about a currently active case before
the U.S. Supreme Court which will determine the constitutionality of a
Texas "sodomy" law. If the law is overturned, then rights now enjoyed by
heterosexuals would be extended to homosexual couples. Santorum appears to
believe that all sexual expression would then be legalized in the state.
He allegedly said: "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right
to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to
bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you
have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything." This
statement appears to be factually untrue. Allowing gays and lesbians to
have the same freedom of sexual expression as heterosexuals would not have
any impact on the laws banning bigamy, polygyny, polyandry, incest, bestiality,
sexual abuse of children, adultery, statutory rape, etc. Santorum also
allegedly described homosexual acts as a threat to society and the family.
He said: "I have no problem with homosexuality. I have a problem with
homosexual acts."
 | The Log Cabin Republicans, an organization of
gay Republicans criticized Santorum's comments. |
| Howard Dean (D), a
presidential candidate called on Santorum to resign from his Senate
leadership post. Dean said: "Gay-bashing is not a legitimate public
policy discussion; it is immoral. Rick Santorum's failure to recognize
that attacking people because of who they are is morally wrong makes him
unfit for a leadership position in the United States Senate. Today, I call
on Rick Santorum to resign from his post as Republican Conference
chairman." |
| Santorum has defended his comments, saying that "all are
equal under the Constitution" and that his remarks in the interview
were not meant to be a statement on "individual lifestyles." He
also said that his comments were "taken out of context."
|
| Concerned
Women for America, a Fundamentalist Christian group criticized the "gay
thought police" and said that Santorum was "exactly right."
|
| Genevieve Wood of the Fundamentalist Christian Family Research Council,
said: "I think the Republican party would do well to follow Senator
Santorum if they want to see pro-family voters show up on Election Day."
|
| At a town hall meeting, a 23-year-old man who identified himself as "a
proud, gay Pennsylvanian" and said he was offended by the remarks. He
commented: "You attacked me for who I am....How could you compare my
sexuality and what I do in the privacy of my home to bigamy or incest."
|
| Robert Knight of the Culture and Family Institute said that
the president's refusal to support Sen. Santorum "looks like a
suicide move." 7 |
Although the White House earlier criticized what some consider racist
comments by Senator Trent Lott (R_MS) and what others considered anti-semitic
comments by Jim Moran (D-VA), the White House remained silent on
Santorum's statement. 5,6 |
| 2003-APR-25: World: U.N. Commission on Human Rights
discusses gay rights resolution: This commission is charged with the
responsibility of monitoring and promoting human rights worldwide. Brazil introduced a draft resolution titled, "Human Rights and Sexual
Orientation," which addresses the topic of equal rights for gays and
lesbians. Rather than vote on the resolution, the Commission, decided to
defer further discussion until next year's session. |
| 2003-MAY-10: UK: Government legislation allows discrimination
against gays: The British government has drafted the 2003 Employment
Equality Regulations to combating harassment and bias in the workplace
on grounds of sexual orientation and religion. They were written to comply
with an EU directive on workers' rights. An employer found to discriminate
on these grounds when hiring, promoting, demoting or training staff would be in breach of
the law. The main groups who appear to be in need of protection are Muslims, gays and
lesbians. However, the
proposed legislation will make religious employers exempt from the law if
they feel that they must discriminate "so as
to comply with the doctrines of the religion – or so as to avoid
conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant
number of the religion's followers." The law would allow an employer
to dismiss or fail to hire an individual if he is "not satisfied"
that they fit his own "ethos based on religion or belief." Evan
Harris, the opposition Liberal Democrats' equality spokesman,
condemned the new regulations. He said: "When faced with pressure from
those who wish to continue to harass and discriminate against people on
the basis of lawful private behavior or their sexuality in circumstances
where sexuality is patently irrelevant to their ability to do the job, the
Government has simply caved in." Keith Porteous Wood of the
National Secular Society said the regulations were a "witch-hunter's
dream come true...Organizations with a 'religious ethos' employ around
200,000 people, most of them in jobs paid for out of the public purse.
This includes over 100,000 teaching posts in faith schools. The Government
has given in to religious pressure at every stage of this process."
8 |
| 2003-MAY-24: USA: Presbyterian Church led by woman: At the 215th General Assembly in Denver CO, Rev. Susan Andrews of Bethesda, MD,
became the first female parish pastor to be elected as moderator of her
denomination. In a demonstration of the liberal-conservative split in the
denomination, she narrowly won with 53% of the votes against the Rev. Harold
Kurtz, a conservative with missionary experience in Africa. Rev. Andrews said
that it was her "fondest dream" that the church will lift its ban on
ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians during her lifetime. But she feels
that now is not the time to attempt this change. Referring to the ban on
ordination, Rev. Kurtz said: "This is what the church has said and we have
to abide by this."
The Assembly will debate a number of controversial issues, including whether
to repeal its ban on the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals, whether
those who defy the ban should be dealt with more harshly, and whether to
adopt a more restrictive abortion stance. 9 |
| 2003-JUN-8: Church elects its first gay bishop: Episcopalians
in New Hampshire elected Rev. V. Gene Robinson, 56, to be their next
bishop coadjutor on only the second ballot. This is the first time that an openly gay person has been
elected bishop in the denomination. He succeeded over three other
candidates for the position. Otis Charles, former bishop of Utah,
announced in 1993 that he was gay. However he had waited until he
retired to make the information public. After his election, Robinson
said: "We will show the world how to be a Christian community...I
plan to be a good bishop, not a gay bishop." 10
More details |
| 2003-JUN-10: ON: Appeals court legalizes same-sex marriages:
The Ontario Court of Appeal handed down a ruling in Toronto which
legalizes same-sex marriages within Ontario, Canada. The province was
ordered to register a number of existing marriages of lesbians and gays.
They were also ordered to issue marriage licenses to other same-sex
couples who wish to marry. 11
More details. |
| 2003-JUN-15: Convention to consider blessing homosexual unions:
The 2003 General Convention will be held in July. There is a proposal to
compose and allow a blessing -- a formal rite -- for same-sex unions.
Conservatives are outraged. 12 |
|
2003-JUN-20: Gay couple denied marriage license in Alberta:
Keith Purdy, 41, and Rick Kennedy, 37, were refused a marriage license in
Calgary AB. The clerk said that "The laws of Alberta, at this point, do not
allow same-sex marriage." The couple then crossed the street to the office
of the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, and obtained a
complaint form which they planned to file on JUN-23. Purdy said: "We're
setting the groundwork for what's going to come up in the future. We want to
exercise our rights as Canadian citizens under the Charter. We consider
ourselves married already but we want to be legally recognized with all the
rights and responsibilities that come with that." The couple have been
together for 13 years and held a commitment ceremony in 1992. 13 |
|
2003-JUN-26: USA: U.S. Supreme Court overturns 13 state
sodomy laws: CBS News reported that the U.S.
Supreme Court "overturned a Texas law that banned gay sex, a landmark
ruling for gay rights activists that overturned an unpopular decision the court
made 17 years earlier." In addition, 12 other state sodomy laws apprear
to have been declared unconstitutional as well. further, the court found that
states are severely limited in their ability to pass laws dealing with sexual
morality. More details |
|
2003-JUN-27: USA: President asks Congress to allow churches
to discriminate: President Bush asked Congress to allow churches to accept
federal support funding and be free to actively discriminate against employees
on grounds of religion, sexual orientation, etc. So, for example, a Protestant
church could get federal funding to run a drug addiction program, advertise for
a janitor, and say "no Catholics, gays, or women deed apply." A White
House position paper says that such groups should be free to hire employees who
are best able to further their goals and mission. The Reverend Barry Lynn of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that it's
government-sponsored bigotry. Lynn says it's appalling to "deny government
jobs to qualified Americans because they believe in the wrong religion."
14 |
|
2003-JUN-26: Kansas: U.S. Supreme Court orders new trial for
gay youth: After its ruling of the Lawrence v. Texas
case which legalized private same-sex activities between consenting adults, the
U.S. Supreme Court ordered a Kansas appeals court to rehear the case involving
two inmates at a residential school for developmentally disabled youths.
Matthew Limon was barely 18 years of age when he engaged in consensual
homosexual sex with another inmate, who was almost 15 years of age at the time.
If Limon had engaged in sex with a girl of that age, he would have been tried
under the "Romeo and Juliet Law" that gives minimal sentences to cases
of this type -- typically 12 months in jail. But that law only applies to
opposite-sex encounters. Limon was tried under a different law, and was given
17 years in jail. James Esseks, litigation director of the American Civil
Liberties Union's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, said: "The Romeo and
Juliet Law, similar to the Texas law that was struck down yesterday, treats
lesbian and gay people much more harshly than it does straight people who
engage in the same behavior, and states can no longer get away with that kind
of unequal treatment...We hope that this is the first of many wrongs that
yesterday's ruling will correct." 15 |
Sponsored link:
References:
- Lou Chibbaro, Jr., "GOP leader meets with gay activists,"
The Washington Blade, 2003-APR-4.
- "***Gay Marriage Poll Reports Skewed Results***,"
E-Alert, Massachusetts Family Institute, 2003-APR-10.
- Jim Brown, "Christian Students Punished for Countering Pro-Homosexual
Observance." AgapePress, 2003-APR-15, at:
http://headlines.agapepress.org/
- "Day of Silence 2003," GLSEN, at:
http://www.dayofsilence.org/
- Sean Loughlin, "Santorum defends comments on homosexuality; White House
maintains silence on issue," CNN.com at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/
- "Santorum: 'I have a problem with homosexual acts'," Recorded
2003-APR-22, CNN.com, at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/
- "Bush has 'confidence' in Santorum. But Fleischer says president's view
not based on religion," WorldNetDaily, 2003-APR-25, at:
http://wnd.com/news/
- Paul Waugh, "Blair gives religious employers the right to sack gay
workers," The Independent.co.uk, 2003-MAY-11.
- Eric Gorski, "Liberal female pastor elected head of Presbyterian
assembly," Denver Post, Denver, CO, 2003-MAY-25, at:
http://www.denverpost.com/
- Anne Saunders, "Church elects its
first gay bishop," Associated Press, at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/
- Tracey Tyler & Tracy Huffman, "Wedding bellwether for same-sex
couples: Gay duo wed hours after court ruling; Judges rewrite definition
of marriage," The Toronto Star, 2003-JUN-11, Page A4.
- "Impact of gay issues on Episcopal
church policy," WNET, week of 2003-JUN-13, at:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/
- "Gay couple fighting Alberta for marriage licence," The
Kingston Whig Standard, 2003-JUN-21, Page 17.
- "Bush Asks Congress to Make It Easier for
Religious Groups to Hire According to Beliefs and Sexual Orientation,"
This Week in Religion News, 20-03-JUN-27, at:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/This is a temporary listing. After 2003-JUN,
consult:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/
- "Supreme Court applies sodomy ruling to case involving a gay youth,"
Advocate.com, 2003-JUN-28 to 30, at:
http://www.advocate.com/
Notice:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. sec 107: The news items
contained in the above hyperlinks are provided without profit by the
Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, PO Box 27026, Kingston ON
Canada K7M 8W5, and are intended to be available to anyone
interested in the topics included, for educational purposes only. Any
editor, author, Webmaster, writer, publisher, news service, etc. that
objects to being part of this listing may request that future works be
excluded. We will also attempt to delete previous entries from the
same source.
Copyright © 2003 by the Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2003-APR-9
Latest update: 2003-JUN-29
Compiler: B.A. Robinson
| |
|
Page Translator: