FED LAWSUIT FOR FLA. ADOPTION BAN
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and a Florida child-welfare group are challenging the state's ban on gay and lesbian adoptions, the Associated Press reports.
The groups have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of several gay and lesbian foster parents. The suit alleges that the 1977 ban unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians, and limits opportunities for the 3,000 state foster children awaiting adoption. Under a glitch in Florida law, gays can be foster parents but cannot adopt.
Conservative groups have said the law is Florida's way of protecting "traditional families."
Observers expect the case to advance all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last year, two other states—Utah and Mississippi—enacted gay adoption bans. Florida's remains the toughest, banning adoptions by any gays and lesbians, whether they are single or in couples.
Hyundai ad wins Gayest Commercial award
Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc. and Hyundai Motor Company have received the Gay.com and PlanetOut.com Gayest Commercial of All Time Award for the 1999 commercial Boy Toy.
Gay.com and PlanetOut.com worked in conjunction with the Commercial Closet project ( www.commercialcloset.org ) on the award.
"While more ads today are including lesbians and gays, those that avoid stereotypes and break barriers are getting noticed and bringing social change," said Commercial Closet executive director Mike Wilke. "Hyundai's win should come as little surprise—the ad was so widely liked it sped around the world via the Internet by members of the gay community, who were happy to share it with the global gay community."
The Boy Toy ad, which was shown mainly in Europe, depicts a husband and wife who pull up next to each other in separate cars at a stoplight. After they say hello and drive away, a young man is shown hiding in the wife's car. A few seconds later, it is revealed that the husband has a young man of his own hiding in his car.
To view the winning and nominated clips from this year's commercial Award, visit: http://content.gay.com/channels/arts/gaywatch/ad_awards_winner.html
International group applauds UN for
reaching out to GLBTs
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ( IGLHRC ) is applauding the United Nations for including GLBTs in its investigations of human rights abuses worldwide.
In a letter from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, six independent investigators urged GLBT activists to notify them of human rights violations. The investigators report annually to the UN and can address governments about suspected wrongdoing. The move is a first for the UN.
"This is groundbreaking," said Scott Long, IGLHRC's Program Director. "Many UN member States still bristle at the merest mention of homosexuality. These experts—and the High Commissioner for Human Rights— deserve credit for their courage. Today the United Nations has lived up to its promise: to defend the dignity of all people without exception."
HRC calls for boycott
of ExxonMobil
The Human Rights Campaign is calling for a boycott of ExxonMobil because the company has refused to reinstate a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation and to open its domestic-partner benefits program to gays and lesbians.
HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch is set to make the announcement today, Wed., June 13.
When Exxon merged with Mobil in late 1999, it became the first employer to ever rescind a non-discrimination policy protecting gays and lesbians. Exxon also stopped offering Mobil's domestic partner benefits to any additional employees.
HRC co-filed a shareholder resolution asking the company to reinstate the policies. At a news conference after the annual shareholder meeting, CEO Lee R. Raymond told a reporter that it doesn't reach out to gays and lesbians because, "We don't want to know [ who they are ] ," he replied. "That's the whole point of the policy."
Public health journal
dedicates issue to GLBTs
For the first time in 91 years, the American Journal of Public Health ( AJPH ) has featured GLBT issues as the theme for its monthly magazine.
Over 25 articles, commentaries, field reports and editorials present new information on the health concerns facing GLBTs in the June 2001 issue.
Topics include violence and victimization of LGB youth; health behaviors, including risks related to cigarette smoking and preventive health practices; health status and needs of transgender individuals; innovations in studying gay populations; HIV and other STDs; and commentaries and field reports addressing state and federal responses to the needs of LGBT populations, health and human rights.
The Journal is a publication of the American Public Heath Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world.
"This issue of the Journal represents a turning point in LGBT health," said Ilan Meyer, PhD, guest editor of the issue and assistant professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "For many years the majority of LGBT research published focused on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. This research must continue, but there is a broad range of health care concerns in the LGBT population that must also be examined. The publication of this issue broadens the scope of research and reveals areas where research is needed."
Catholic University
refuses 'ex-gay' confab
Catholic University of America last week cancelled plans to let a conference of "ex-homosexuals" use its campus, the Washington Times reports.
The 10th annual Healing for the Homosexual Conference is being sponsored by Parents and Friends, a D.C.-based group for "ex-gays," their families, clergy and activists. It was scheduled to begin on June 8.
Parents and Friends director Anthony Falzarano says he was told about three weeks ago that Catholic University felt that he had misrepresented the intent of the conference—leading administrators to believe it would dealt with ministering to victims of child abuse—when he signed the contract April 3.
Falzarano reportedly told the university that the gathering would deal with the "sexually broken," never specifically mentioning homosexuality.
"We do not rent space when people come to us under false pretenses," a spokesman said.
The conference has moved to Trinity College, a Catholic institution across the street from CUA.
Majority in U.S. favor gays in military, Gallup poll says
A majority of Americans, 72%, are in favor of letting gays serve openly in the military, according to a recent Gallup poll. The release came on the heels of a report that the Pentagon has discharged a record 1,231 men and women in uniform on the basis of sexual orientation during the past year.
"The American people overwhelmingly support gays in the military," said C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) . "Congress should do the same and repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass." See http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr010604.asp
AIDS conference changes location
To highlight the extent of the AIDS crisis in the Asia-Pacific region, the location of the International AIDS Society conference in 2004 has been shifted from Canada to Bangkok, Thailand.
DP benefits challenged
The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund is urging the Washington Supreme court to reject a conservative taxpayer's suit against Vancouver's domestic-partner benefits plan, and to leave in place the city's 1998 family benefits plan for unmarried city employees, gay and non-gay.
The Virginia-based Northstar Legal Center then sued the city on behalf of a local resident, contending that Vancouver cannot extend health benefits to unmarried employees because doing so would conflict with Washington state marriage law. Heinsma's arguments were rejected in court. The case is currently being appealed.
Savage named editor
of Seattle newsweekly
Openly gay author and sex-advice columnist Dan Savage was recently named editor of The Stranger newspaper in Seattle. Savage, a Chicago native, has been with the alternative newsweekly since its founding in 1991. His book The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Get Pregnant: An Adoption Story was released last year.
ACLU suspends lawsuit
The ACLU and the University of Pittsburgh, who for years have engaged in litigation over the provision of extending health benefits to the domestic partners of lesbian and gay employees, have agreed to temporarily suspend litigation, in an attempt to decide the matter amicably. The University have agreed to appoint a committee to study the issue and report back to the Chancellor with recommendations. The ACLU will reassess the need for continuing litigation after seeing the recommendations.
Pink Triangle gets grant
The Pink Triangle Coalition has received $504,210 from the U.S. portion of the International Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund. The funds were granted "to promote public education and remembrance of gay men and lesbians who were murdered by the Nazis or otherwise persecuted during the Nazi period."
See iglhrc.org/issues/nazi/index.html