Antigay presidential candidates sign pledge
Fed Ex domestic partners to get some services
Dubuque rejects gay rights
DNC outreach to increase goals for gay participation
ETrade lesbian boss gives $300,000 for gay battle
Gay activists concerned about Boston gaybashings
Falwell won't change
D.C. murder clues sought
Arson attack on lesbian couple's home unsolved
2 charges dropped in carving in student's back
Army reservist is subject of investigation
Woman fearing genital mutilation has asylum
Antigay presidential candidates sign pledge
Several Republican candidates have signed an antigay pledge sponsored by religious political organizations. The signing marks the first shift toward antigay rhetoric in this presidential race.
The GOP candidates who have signed the pledge are: Dan Quayle, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Sen. Orrin Hatch, RUtah, Alan Keyes and Pat Buchanan. The other GOP candidates, George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole, and Sen. John McCain, RAriz., have not signed the pledge.
The two Democratic candidates, Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, have also not signed the pledge.
The pledge was first unveiled in a fullpage ad in The Des Moines Register preceding the Republican straw poll in Iowa. George Bush won.
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Federal Express offers DPs
Federal Express, one of the airline industry's leading voices in a lawsuit against San Francisco's domesticpartners benefits law, last week became the latest carrier to say it will offer such benefits, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.
But unlike United and American airlines, Fed Ex will offer only noneconomic benefits, such as bereavement leave and travel discounts, and will cover only its San Francisco employees, the paper reported. Fed Ex's action came one day before the Aug. 20 deadline for the company to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a U.S. Court of Appeals decision against Fed Ex and other carriers.
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Dubuque rejects gay rights
The Dubuque City Council Aug. 16 rejected an amendment that would have protected lesbian and gay residents from discrimination, reports The des Moines Register
The ordinance would have made it illegal to deny someone an apartment, a job, a promotion, service at a business, credit, or housing solely on the basis of sexual orientation.
The vote was 5 2 after little discussion. Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Ames have ordinances similar to the one Dubuque was considering, the paper said.
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DNC outreach to increase goals for gay participation
At least five state Democratic parties have set goals for the number of openly gay delegates that they hope to seat at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, reports The Washington Blade. In 1992 and 1996, California was the only state to include gay men and lesbians in its goals for its delegation makeup. But so far this year, four other states New York, Iowa, Ohio, and Rhode Island have joined California, and other states may follow, according to DNC officials.
The DNC voted unanimously in May 1998 to include language in its delegate selection rules that would require state parties to submit outreach plans that include those "historically underrepresented" in the Democratic Party because of "race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation or disability, the Blade reported.
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ETrade lesbian boss gives $300,000 for gay battle
Silicon Valley powerhouse Kathy Levinson and her partner are donating $300,000 to defeat a March ballot initiative banning gay marriages, one of the largest donations ever made to fight a state proposition, reports The San Francisco Examiner.
Levinson is president and chief operating officer of the internet stock company ETrade Group. A multimillionaire, she lives in Palo Alto with her partner, Jennifer Levinson, and their two children, the paper said.
The donation puts the campaign on an equal financial footing with backers of the Definition of Marriage initiative.
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Gay activists concerned about Boston gaybashing
On June 1, three gay men walking in the Fens¯a gay men's cruising area in Boston¯were threatened by three men carrying a twobyfour. One of the gay men was hit over the head with a chain, knocked to the ground, and beaten, reports The Boston Globe.
Again, on June 21, another gay man was found lying on a path in the Fens, his jaw and nose broken and his teeth spilled across the walkway.
But as police investigate the attacks, activists say the extent of the upsurge in violence is unknown, in part because of tense relations between gays and police, after Norman Hill, the police liaison, moved to another job last year.
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Falwell won't change
Rev. Jerry Falwell says he'll tone down his antigay rhetoric, but he won't change his view that homosexuality is a sin, reports Associated Press. The founder of the defunct Moral Majority met Aug. 17 with another preacher, the Rev. Mel White, who plans to bring 200 gays and lesbians to an Oct. 23 dinner in Lynchburg, Va., with Falwell and 200 of his supporters.
White said he sees the dinner as an opportunity for people to share their experiences, AP said.
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D.C. murder clues sought
On Aug. 17, detectives continued to investigate the stabbing death of a 39yearold Alexandria man, questioning patrons at Washington gay bars and trying to find the man's stolen vehicle, reports The Alexandria Journal.
An autopsy confirmed Ray Heidebrecht, whose body was discovered in his Mount Jefferson apartment by a neighbor, died of a single stab wound the previous weekend.
Alexandria Crime Solvers are offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible for the stabbing.
Arson attack on lesbian couple's home unsolved
Gordon County investigators have yet to charge anyone with torching the home of a lesbian couple in May, although the Georgia Fire Marshall declared the fire an arson, reports Southern Voice.
Part of the holdup, according to Gordon County Compliance Officer Chris Johnson, is that the homeowners' insurance company is hesitant to rule the fire an arson.
Connie Chastain and Renee Wilbanks, who rented the house in Calhoun, are still living in the trailer the Red Cross helped them rent after the fire, says The Voice. The women said they suspected a man who had verbally taunted and threatened them for months, shouting antigay insults.
2 charges dropped in carving in student's back
In Greenfield, Mass., prosecutors dropped two charges Aug. 13, against a former private school student accused of carving an antigay slur in the back of a schoolmate, said AP.
Jonathan Shapiro, 18, of Keene, N.H., was charged instead with a single count of assault with a dangerous weapon. He pleaded innocent in Franklin Superior Court in Greenfield.
Prosecutors said a second student, Matthew Rogers, of Franklin, Tenn., actually did the cutting, AP said.
Rogers was expected to be charged at a later date.
The attack occurred in May in a dorm room at Northfield Mount Hermon School, a private academy in Gill.
After an argument over the rock band Queen and the characterization of its music as "gay," the victim was held down and "homo" was cut in shallow markings into his back, AP said.
Army reservist is subject of investigation
The Washington Post reports that Steve May, an Army reservist, who is also an openly gay member of the Arizona legislature, is the subject of an investigation that could result in a lessthanhonorable discharge from the military.
The offense is that he violated the "don't ask, don't tell" rule. May was essentially out of the service when his problems began. He had completed his ROTC training, done two years' active duty (winning a promotion to first lieutenant) and was expecting to serve out the remainder of his eightyear obligation in the inactive reserve. Then the Kosovo crisis occurred, and May received notice that he would be going on active reserve status, the Post reported.
In 1996, he ran unsuccessfully for the statehouse, during which time he was outed by a supporter. In his 1998 campaign, May, a conservative Republican, came out as gay and was elected.
His superiors reported his public stance on gay issues, saying this was violating the "don't tell" policy.
Woman fearing genital mutilation has asylum
A woman who fled Africa two years ago to avoid genital mutilation has been awarded political asylum, reports AP. The Board of Immigration Appeals granted the petition of Adelaide Abankwah on the ground that she had good reason to fear genital cutting if she returned to her native Ghana.
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