Ex-Gay leader confronted in D.C. bar
The Southern Voice reports that a prominent ex-gay leader once featured as "going straight" on the cover of Newsweek was confronted and photographed by activists last week in a gay bar in Washington, D.C.
Daryl Herschaft, a gay man who works for the Human Rights Campaign, recognized Paulk and called Wayne Besen, HRC's associate director of communications, who rushed over with a camera.
Paulk and his ex-lesbian wife Anne appeared in ads placed in newspapers about "conversion" to heterosexuality through prayer. He is also the author of Not Afraid to Change; The Remarkable Story of How One Man Overcame Homosexuality, board chair for ex-gay group Exodus International, and on the staff with Focus on the Family.
While Herschaft waited for his colleagues, he engaged Paulk in conversation, asking him if he was gay. Paulk replied "yes." Besen later confronted Paulk, who said that he had only gone in to use the bathroom, and that he had been in the bar for 20 minutes.
Herschaft said Paulk was in the bar "at least 40 minutes" and socialized with a number of men during that time, including "speaking intimately with one man," reports Southern Voice.
Besen took a photo of Paulk inside the bar. Outside the bar, Besen said he "took him ( Paulk ) to task for all the damage he's done, the way he's hurt families all across America. He took off at a run and disappeared into the night."
Paulk later released a statement. "I had not been in ( a gay bar ) in 15 years and I was curious because I speak frequently about the gay-bar experience. I stayed a while. That was my mistake."
Besen said Paulk called him and "pleaded for this not to go public." He urged him to come out and start living with some integrity and to start undoing some of the damage he's done. His response was, "I'm not interested. I'm married."
Bob Davies, director of Exodus International, North America, told The Colorado Springs Gazette that the board is now considering whether Paulk should keep his post, and that a decision would be made in the next two weeks.
Jeffords endorsements stir trouble
The Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont for re-election last week, and declared his re-election as a "top priority race" for 2000.
Rich Tafel, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, criticized the decision by the Human Rights Campaign to issue a "dual endorsement" of Jeffords and his Democratic opponent, State Auditor Ed Flanagan, who is openly gay and was elected to state office in 1992.
"You cannot compare 26 years of service in Congress, and the caliber of leadership of Jim Jeffords, with the record of Ed Flanagan," Tafel said. "A dual endorsement is no endorsement at all— everyone in politics understands that."
In a Sept. 19 press release, the HRC said their Board of Directors voted in favor of endorsing Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., and openly gay Democrat Edward Flanagan for their strong records supporting gay and lesbian equality.
"It is highly unusual for the Human Rights Campaign to offer dual endorsements," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "This race provided unique challenges to our endorsement process and the criteria by which we judge candidates. Jeffords deserves our support for his strong and vigorous advocacy of our issues in the Senate and in the Republican Party. At the same time, as the first openly gay candidate for Senate, Flanagan's candidacy is of historical importance to the gay community and is also deserving of HRC's support."
The National Stonewall Democrats announced its endorsement of Flanagan, noting that earlier this year Vermont became the first state to recognize civil unions for gay couples, and that Flanagan was a powerful advocate on the issue.
Teens admit attack on Arthur Warren
The Charleston Gazette reports that both teens accused in the murder of Arthur "J.R." Warren, 26, a Black, gay man told investigators that they attacked him over rumors that he was sexually involved with one of them.
David Allen Parker told a detective that he was "upset" with Arthur "J.R." Warren, 26. Jared Wilson gave a similar statement about the rumored sexual affair between Parker and Warren.
A third teen, considered a key witness and an accessory after the fact, allegedly told investigators that the theft, of $20, and not the sexual rumors, prompted the attack.
Though arrested as juveniles, Parker and Wilson have since been indicted as adults under state law
Coretta Scott King to appear at conf.
Coretta Scott King will appear at the 13th Creating Change, scheduled for Nov. 9-13 in Atlanta, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announced last week.
King will appear Nov. 10, at a plenary that will focus on organizing in the South and the connections of race, class, gender and sexual orientation with community organizing. The plenary, entitled "Southern Cookin': Stirrin' Up Change in the South and the Nation," will feature stories, vignettes, and song with Southerners on New Ground. Presenters include Pam McMichael and Kim Diehl, co-directors of SONG.
See www.CreatingChange.org .
Judge denies name change for lesbian
The New York Times reports that the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said last week that it would appeal a state judge's refusal to let a lesbian hyphenate her surname to include her partner's.
The judge said he denied the request to avoid giving the impression that the court officially recognized same-sex marriages.
The case involves Jill Bacharach, 32, and her unnamed partner, 42, who have lived together for a year and a half, and were joined at a civil union in Vermont Sept. 10.
Legal experts said the Aug. 10 ruling was out of step with New Jersey law, which allows name changes for virtually any reason, except for criminal purposes.
Florida court squashes challenge to domestic-partnership law
A Florida Court of Appeals upheld Broward County's domestic-partnership ordinance, derailing another right-wing effort to block partner benefits for public employees, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund reported.
With Lambda Staff Attorney Marvin Peguese, Stephen R. Scarborough of Lambda's Southern Regional Office, co-authored Lambda's amicus brief in Lowe v. Broward County, successfully urging the court to allow Broward to join the many cities and counties nationwide that have instituted partner coverage for their workforces.
Broward County adopted its Domestic Partner Act ( DPA ) in April 1999, creating a domestic-partner registry and providing health and other benefits for partners of county employees.
2 more women obtain Texas marriage license
For the second time in two weeks, the Bexar County clerk's office in Texas issued a marriage license to two women, reports The San Antonio Express-News.
The couple, who live in New Mexico, presented County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff with two Ohio drivers' licenses that identified both as female.
However, one of the two, Lori D. Killough, 63, had changed her sex, and was able to present a birth certificate showing she was born a man.
In Texas, a year-old ruling states that one's sex at birth determines one's sex for life, the paper said.
Just 14 days earlier Rickhoff had issued a license to Jessica Wicks and Robin Manhart Wicks of Houston.
Each couple based their request on an appeals court decision that rejected a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a San Antonio transsexual, Christy Lee Littleton, against Dr. Mark Prang, whom she accused of malpractice in the death of her husband, reports the paper.
The 4th Court of Appeals, by a 2-1 vote, ruled that Littleton had never been legally married because she was born male and thus had no standing to sue. The case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ad implies Hillary Clinton may be lesbian
The Roanoke Times reports that a Virginia lobbying organization wants to broadcast an ad that implies Hillary Clinton is a lesbian.
The Christian Action Network ( CAN ) is searching for New York television stations to air its 30-second ad. So far, according to executive director Phillip Vaught, it has had no takers. Vaught said the ad is composed of video images of Clinton and a voice-over that says, "It is rumored that Hillary Clinton is a lesbian. It is rumored that Hillary Clinton supports homosexual marriage. It is rumored that Hillary Clinton will leave her husband upon taking office. It was rumored that Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky. Sometimes rumors are true. For more information on traditional family values, please contact the Christian Action Network."
CAN were the group who, in 1992, aired an ad called "Bill Clinton's Vision for America." The ad said that vision includes "job quotas for homosexuals, giving homosexuals special civil rights, allowing homosexuals in the armed forces."
Oakland elects 1st gay councilman
The Oakland City Council last week appointed the city's first openly gay council member, Danny Wan, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.
Wan will succeed John Russo, who last week stepped down from the council to become city attorney.
In a close vote, Wan was selected over former Russo chief of staff Judy DeVries and Wells Fargo attorney Paul Garrison.
