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August, 1997
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The Montana Supreme Court has voided a 24-year-old law that criminalized sex for lesbians and gay men in the state, concluding that the government had no place in the private bedrooms of consenting adults. The decision came in a case brought in 1993 by six lesbians and gay men who successfully argued that while almost no one is prosecuted under the law, it nonetheless has a chilling impact on lesbians and gay men who have to live under the constant threat of criminal prosecution.
Representatives from 12 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations met with President Clinton July 22 at the White House. Participants at the meeting, organized by Richard Socarides, White House liaison to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, covered a wide range of issues including gays in the military, youth, HIV/AIDS, family issues including marriage, adoption and custody, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, sodomy, and the intersections of race and sexual orientation. According to Kerry Lobel, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director, "we found the president to be open and knowledgeable on issues affecting the LGBT community. ... At those places where we disagree with the president, and there are many, we know for certain now that he acts, not out of ignorance, but out of his political analysis for advancing his agenda." Other participants at the meeting were Kevin Jennings, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network; Tim Gill, founder of the Gill Foundation; Gloria Nieto, executive director of the People of Color AIDS Foundation of New Mexico; Brian Bond, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund; Lorri Jean, executive director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center; Martin Ornelas-Quintero, executive director of the National Latino/a Lesbian and Gay Organization; Jeff Soref, Co-Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda; Dale McCormick, Treasurer of the State of Maine; Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; Nancy McDonald, national president of the board of directors of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays ; Verna Eggleston, executive director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute; and Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign.
Steve Loomis, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and career Army officer, hopes to recover benefits after being kicked out before qualifying for full retirement after his sexuality was discovered, reports UPI and The Dallas Morning News. Reports UPI: "Loomis was discovered after a soldier he had a brief encounter with set his house on fire after looking for pictures they had taken. Investigators confirmed Loomis' homosexuality when they found pictures of him with other men while investigating the arson. Loomis was wounded in Vietnam but went on to win numerous commendations before nearly rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The Army gave the 50-year-old Loomis an 'other than honorable' discharge after 19 years, 11 months and three weeks of active duty - about a week short of qualifying for full benefits."
A proposal to recognize same-sex marriages in the Episcopal Church was rejected in July but by such a narrow margin that backers remained encouraged, AP reported.
n the first asylum case regarding persecution based on sexual orientation to reach the federal court level, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled June 24 in favor of Russian lesbian Alla Pitcherskaia. The ruling came after appealing a previous ruling deeming that threats of forced psychiatric institutionalization, including shock treatment, did not constitute persecution because the Russian government had "good intentions." The unanimous decision overturning that ruling stated, "Human rights laws cannot be sidestepped by simply couching actions that torture mentally or physically in benevolent terms such as 'curing' the victims ... Persecution by any other name remains persecution." Contact the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission at (415) 255-8680.

The Herald-Sun in NorthCarolina reported that a Durham judge "is being asked to address the thorny question of whether an out-of-state adoption involving two lesbians should be recognized there. ... The case involves two women who lived together in Washington state. One of the women, Sheryl Rose Erez, gave birth in 1993. The other woman, Aviva Shira Starr, became an adoptive parent of the child the following year. The couple moved to North Carolina with their child in 1995. But in 1996, the couple separated and Erez moved to another state for a new job, leaving the child with Starr. Starr then filed for custody of the child, sparking a court fight with Erez."
The Internal Revenue Service has admitted it was wrong to demand that a support group for young gays show it discouraged "homosexual attitudes and propensities,'' reports Reuters. The Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Support System of Greensboro, N.C., received the demand in a letter from the IRS after the group applied for tax-exempt status as an educational and social welfare group, but Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund wrote the IRS saying it had no business inquiring about "homosexual attitudes'' any more than it had business asking about "heterosexual attitudes.'' The IRS agreed with Lambda.
Rep. Barney Frank has called for an end to the Whitewater investigation after gay former White House liaison for the Interior Department Bob Hattoy reported that independent counsel Kenneth Starr repeatedly asked him if he tried to place gay people in high-ranking jobs with the Clinton administration, reports GLAAD. Frank, accusing Starr of "insensitivity and incompetence," said "the implicit bigotry which this displays is one more reason why it is clear that the time has come for Mr. Starr to wrap up his unsuccessful investigation."
President Clinton has been criticized for the lack of openly gay appointees to top administration posts. But he has reportedly tapped at least three gay people for posts - and is waiting for FBI checks before announcing their names. One may be for an ambassador post to a European country, reports the Washington Blade, and two others would be for domestic posts. Richard Socarides released names of 26 open gays Clinton has appointed in his second term (compared to 100+ in the first term).
A tear gas bomb was thrown into Remington's, a gay bar in Washington, D.C., July 12. While no one was seriously injured, some patrons reported that paramedics and police on the scene did little to investigate and administer emergency care, reports GLAAD. Several Marines, possibly from a nearby base, were seen outside the bar; no arrests have been made.
The home of an openly gay man in Detroit was firebombed June 29, possibly by neighbors who had shouted anti-gay epithets at him in the past. The Detroit News had a sympathetic report on the bombing, which killed four Dalmatian puppies, another dog, and more than 24 Angora rabbits. Donald Sullivan, 42, and his partner, Robert Lee Warner, 64, believe Sullivan was targeted as part of a long-running feud with several anti-gay neighbors. The Triangle Foundation has established a fund to assist Sullivan, whose uninsured home was almost burned to the ground. The police have yet to categorize the burning as a hate crime, but have labeled it "suspicious." Contributions: Triangle Foundation - Sullivan Fund, mailed to Triangle Foundation, 19641 West Seven Mile, Detroit, Michigan 48219; (313) 537-3323.
A jury has awarded a lesbian in the San Francisco Bay area $360,000 after determining that her superiors - one of whom also is gay - discriminated against her, reports The Advocate. The jury found the woman's supervisors in the West Contra Costa County School District oppressive, malicious, and fraudulent, The Advocate said. Jack P. Dougherty, an attorney for 39-year-old Jan Overholtzer, told the San Francisco Examiner that his client was demeaned in front of other employees after she told her boss about her sexual orientation.
The Honolulu Advertiser reports that some large businesses in Hawaii are suing the state "to clarify just how far they must go in providing benefits to employees' partners in reciprocal beneficiary relationships." They want to stop the law from taking effect until the law is clarified (and maybe changed to just include same-sex partners). The bill, which covers any two adults who cannot legally marry, became law July 8 without the signature of Gov. Ben Cayetano, the Advertiser reported. Couples who qualify are entitled to dozens of benefits - the state must provide family health coverage to partners and their dependents, and private employers with family health plans must offer coverage to employees in reciprocal beneficiary relationships.
Three gay couples filed suit July 22 claiming that the Vermont state constitution entitles them to marriage, making the state the latest front in the national battle for same-sex marriage, reports the Boston Globe. The couples, Stan Baker and Peter Harrigan, Nina Beck and Stacy Jolles, and Lois Farnham and Holly Puterbaugh, sued the state as well as Shelburne, South Burlington and Milton, respectively, because the clerks in those towns refused to issue marriage licenses to them.
Activists from statewide political groups from 32 states gathered in July to launch the Federation of Statewide Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Political Organizations. The Federation will consist of 13 Executive Committee members, selected from each region of the country, who will set forth the mission of the Federation. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will serve as coordinator.
State auditors are looking into allegations that the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has engaged in "discriminatory enforcement" by stepping up raids on minority bars - particularly gay ones, reports the L.A. Times. The audit marks the latest round in a battle that began last fall between the ABC and factions of the gay, Black and Latino communities after a dramatic increase in raids, the Times said.
A Texas lesbian is entitled to sue for visitation rights to her ex-lover's child, a state appeals court ruled July 3, providing gay partners a legal standing denied in some other states, reports Associated Press. "The ruling by the 3rd Court of Appeals didn't turn on the question of Lisa Ann Fowler's sexual orientation nor decide whether she actually should be allowed to visit the child, who was conceived with the help of a sperm donor. Rather, the decision was based on a provision in state law that says such a lawsuit may be brought by a person 'who has had actual care, control, and possession of the child for not less than six months preceding the filing of the petition.' ... The woman who gave birth to the child while the two lived together, Tonia Jones, will appeal. ... The San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights assisted Ms. Fowler," AP reported.
The Los Angeles Times reported July 1 that Retired Sgt. Maj. Brenda L. Hoster, who "embarrassed the Army by publicly accusing its top enlisted man of sexual harassment, is declining to testify in a pretrial hearing on the charges for fear of attacks on her reputation, according to her lawyer. Hoster, a former aide to Army Sgt. Maj. Gene C. McKinney, is seeking to avoid attacks from defense attorneys who want to explore an allegation that she had a homosexual encounter with another soldier in the barracks during her active-duty service. ... The allegation of a homosexual encounter involving Hoster surfaced last March in a sworn statement volunteered to Army investigators by retired Sgt. Maj. Elizabeth D. McCullum, who said she saw Hoster and her roommate at Fort Bliss, Texas, having sex."
One of the highest-ranking officials in the Orange County Sheriff's Department has been hit with a second sexual harassment suit, this one filed by a lesbian deputy accusing him of groping her and harping on her sexual orientation, reports the L.A. Times.
A Harris County, Texas jury sentenced Ronald Gauthier, 23, to 10 years probation last month for his part in the slaying of a gay man who was stabbed 35 times, reports the HoustonChronicle. The jury required 10 hours of deliberations to find Gauthier guilty, and about an hour to decide on punishment. Gauthier's half-brother, Daniel Bean, is serving life for the 1996 killing of Fred Mangione outside a Katy, Texas, bar.
The Nebraska, Louisiana, and Delaware legislatures, following the recent surprise passage of Arizona's hate crimes measure, all passed hate crime bills recently.
Miranda Prather, 23, who told police she was attacked in her home after her name appeared on an anti-gay 'hit list' was arrested July 23 for allegedly faking the crime in Portales, N.M., reports Associated Press.
The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 vote, struck down the Communications Decency Act, saying it violates the right to free speech.
President Clinton released a statement in support of Gay and Lesbian Pride: "We must never believe that our diversity is a weakness. ... America's continued success will depend on our ability to understand, appreciate, and care for one another. We're not there yet, and that is why our efforts to end discrimination against lesbians and gay men are so important. Like each of you, I remain dedicated to ending discrimination and preserving the civil rights of every citizen in our society. We have begun to wage an all-out campaign against hate crimes in America - crimes that are often viciously directed at gay men and lesbians." Clinton, a Southern Baptist, also said recently he will not be supporting his church's boycott of Disney.
Associated Press reports the following progressive ruling on a Black transvestite murder in Fayetteville, Ark.: "A man was convicted and sentenced to life in prison July 11 for beating and strangling a transvestite after realizing that the woman about to get into bed with him was a man. A jury took four hours to find Yitzak Abba Marta, 21, guilty in the November slaying of Alan Fitzgerald Walker. 'This was nothing more than a hate crime,' Circuit Judge William Storey told Marta. 'This person was killed because he was gay.' Marta and another man, Adam David Blackford, met Walker - dressed as a woman - outside a gay nightclub. Marta testified that he was stripped to his underwear and lying in Walker's bed when Walker emerged from the bathroom, also mostly undressed. 'No more breasts, no more makeup, no more hair,' Marta said. Marta testified that he laughed, got dressed and left. He said Blackford returned and killed Walker. ... Police found Walker's naked body inside a bedroom. 'KKK' in 2-foot letters was scrawled in blood by a closet door at the black man's home. Blackford was convicted of the murder and testified against Marta."
Keith Boykin, executive director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum, has called on the federal government to enhance its efforts to reduce HIV infection and AIDS deaths among African Americans. New data indicates a widening racial gap in AIDS relief - African Americans surpassed whites in 1996 to account for the highest racial proportion of AIDS cases (41 percent). The CDC reported a 28 percent decline in AIDS deaths among whites during the first nine months of 1996, a 16 percent drop among Hispanics, and only 10 percent decline among Black Americans. ... Meanwhile, Boykin will be the first gay leader to participate in an official U.S. delegation to the annual summit of Africans and African Americans in Zimbabwe.
The Ocala, Florida, Star-Banner reports that U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns is asking state officials to set dress standards for government workplaces after a male state health agency employee in Ocala began reporting for work dressed as a woman. Stearns said employees in the Ocala offices of the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Juvenile Justice and Developmental Services were offended and distracted by the cross-dressing of Sabrina Marie Theodora Robb, formerly Dale T. Robb, The Banner said.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors has passed a resolution in favor of needle-exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS.
The first reported HIV transmission from a kiss was reported last month - but it should be carefully noted that the route of the transmission was via blood contact. Both the man who had HIV and the woman who contracted it had gum disease and open sores.

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