the rest of

Child returned

CATHEDRAL CITY,
Calif.—A - gay couple has
regained custody of a 10-year-
old boy whose grandfather had
abducted him.

Miguel Washington was sur-
rendered to authorities by rela-
tives in Pennsylvania and
returned to the home of’his
uncle, Paul Washington, Jr.,
and Timothy Forrester.

“Right now he’s really
happy to be home,”
Washington Jr. said. “We’re
absolutely elated. Our family is
united again.”

An attorney for Paul
Washington Sr. and Sandra
Washington, Miguel’s grand-
parents and Washington Jr.’s

parents, saidhis clients intend '

to pursue custody.

“My clients don’t feel that’s
the best home for him,” said
attorney Bill Hence, Jr. “I’m
very disappointed in the agen-
cies that were supposed to be
protecting the rights of the
child.”

Miguel was born to
Angelena Washington, the
younger Washington’s mental-
ly disabled sister, who was
impregnated while living in an
assisted-care facility, family
members said. At the time,
family members informally
agreed to have him raised by
Washington, Jr., a hardware
store salesman, and Forrester, a
teacher. I

Advertising wars

OMAHA, W Neb.—
Opponents of a constitutional
ban on gay marriages or civil
unions tried to use some emo-
tional symbolism in their cam-
paign.

But Nebraska television sta-
tions wouldn’t let them.

Their television ads were
rejected by three stations
because the message used a
swastika.

Advertising time was pur-
chased on three ABC affiliates
for airing during a Nebraska-
Oklahoma football game.

The ad opened with the state
motto, “Equality Before the
Law” in big letters on the
screen. The slogan then
changed to “Equality for some
Before the Law” as a swirling
swastika slowly became visible
in the -background. The adver-
tisement ' ended with a
voiceover saying, “Things like

416 have happened before.’

Let’s make sure they don’t hap-
pen in Nlebraska.”

Opponents of Initiative 416,
the so-called Defense of
Marriage Act, said they were
being censored.

“While controversial we do
not believe it is .offensive,”
Michael Jones, treasurer of the

Vote No on DOMA Committee
said.

He said gays as well as Jews
were "persecuted in Nazi
Germany and laws are" now
being enacted against gays as
they were in pre-World War II
Germany.

Time for the advertisement
was bought on stations KETV
in Omaha, KHGI in Kearney,
and KLKN in Lincoln. After
seeing the advertisement, sta-
tion officials all said it was
inappropriate and would not be
aired. ‘ ,

The proposal passed in
November. I

Journalists’ bene-.
fits .

COLUMBUS, - Ohio—A
professional group for journal-
ists is urging the news industry
to offer domestic partnership
benefits to its gay and lesbian
employees. I

The Society of Professional
Journalists approved a resolu-
tion at its annual meeting call-
ing for such benefits.

The measure, approved 85
to 36, was opposedby some
members who said the profes-
sional organization should not
be involved in employment
matters such as benefits.

“It’s not about employment
from our perspective,” said SPJ
diversity chairwoman Sally
Lehrman. “It’s about fairness
and accuracy in content, which
emerges in part from fairness
in the newsroom.” V

Gay initiatives
Four states had initiatives on

their ballots last month affect-

ing the rights of gay and les-
bian citizens. ’

Voters in Maine, Oregon,
Nebraska and Nevada all had
initiatives before them.

In Maine, voters narrowly
refused to adopt a gay rights
measure that has been a politi-
cal" football in that state for

0 years.

Oregon defeated a proposal
that would have barred class-
room instruction “encouraging,
promoting, sanctioning” homo-
sexuality or bisexuality, and
would have.applied to public
schools fr.om kindergarten to
community colleges.

“This is an incredible victo-
ry for gay youth; Oregon voters
have sent a message that you
can’t choose which students
are legitimate and which stu-
dents are not,” said Jim
Anderson, a-spokesman for the
Gay, Lesbian and. Straight
Education Network.

Also on Election Day,
Nebraska and Nevada adopted

a

proposals to amend their con-
stitutions to say only marriage
between a man and woman is
valid.

Since 1995, 34 states have
enacted a ban on recognizing
same-sex marriages, according
to the National Conference of
State Legislatures.

Clinton-gay vote
“ WASHINGTON—President

Clinton found a warm recep-

tion among gay audiences, and
it’s one of the Democratic con-

stituencies that he continued to‘

court for Vice President Al
Gore in theclosing days of the
campaign.

The Gore campaign tried to
distance itself from the presi-
dent in many battleground
states. I

But Clinton was a headliner
at a gay and lesbian event
where he said Gore as presi-
dent would continue many of
the gay-friendly policies he
had implemented. 0

- “The vice president support-
ed everything I did for this
community,” Clinton told
about 50 gay and lesbian lead-

_ers. “I hope, for what -it’s

worth, 100 percent of your

community will know that on

Election Day.” .

Speaking at -a fund-raiser
organized by the Democratic
National Committee and the
Gay and Lesbian Leadership
Council, Clinton said a Gore
administration would be much

better for homosexuals than‘

one headed by Texas Gov.
George W. Bush, the
Republican presidential nomi-
nee. I

About 50 gay and lesbian
leaders were at the $10,000-
minimum fund-raiser, which
administration spokesmen said
took in more than $1 million
for the DNC.

Nun disciplined

BOSTON—A Roman
Catholic nun has been disci-
plined for helping to perform
baptism rites on the adoptive
babies of two gay couples.

Sister Jeannette Normandin
was fired from Boston’s Jesuit
Urban“Center, and presentation
of an award she was to receive,
the annual Imago Deo “in the
image‘ of God” award, was
postponed. '

Her punishment sparked a
furor in the community. That
prompted the center to post-
pone the dinner until next
spring. a °

“It’s simply to have the
event in a peaceful time,” the

 

December 2000‘ I Out in the Mountains |3
= news =

Rev. Thomas Carroll, director
of the center, said.

Carroll wouldn’t comment
on the baptism.

“We reflect on many things
in weekly staff meetings,” he’

said. “I’m sure we will talk-

about these things.”

Church officials believe
Normandin was making a
political statement when she
helped baptize the adoptive
sons of two gay couples Oct.
22. Under church law, baptisms
‘can only .be performed by
ordained ministers, except in
an emergency. Normandin has
said women should be
ordained as priests.

Normandin and the Rev.
George Winchester, , who
watched as she ‘performed the

baptisms, were both fired and _

were ordered to move out of
the Jesuit center.

, Korean coming out

SEOUL, South Korea—
Coming out in Korea can be a
difficult thing.

Just ask Hong Suk-chon, a
29-year-old actor who became
the first Korean celebrity to’
reveal that he is gay.

’Hong’s coming out is a sen-
sation in South Korea, a deeply
Confucian society with a

. strong Catholic church. Here,

homosexuality has been treated
as if it’s a disease and exists
only in the West.

At a loss for an indigenous
term to describe Hong’s deed,
local media resorted to borrow-
ing the English term “coming
out.”

“I at least have gotten peo-
ple talking about homosexuali-
ty. I dream of a day when par-
ents tell their kids that homo-

sexuals are no freaks,” said-

Hong, who rose to celebrity

-playing an effeminate male

designer in a television sitcom.
He also was a regular
latenight talk show guest and
appeared on South Korea’s
leading children’s program. '
His coming out was costly.
MBC TV banished Hong from
the children’s program. A radio
station canceled his sitcom
contract. His distraught par-
ents, who are 65 and live in a
conservative rural town,
begged him to tell the media

that he was mistaken when he

said he was gay.

Hong, best known for his
shaved head and often hyper-
active and flamboyant TV
roles, said he lost 90 percent of
his jobs virtually overnight.

Gay family .
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A

new tax ruling in California

recognizes that one partner in a

same-sex partnership can be,

recognized as the head‘ of the
household.

Such a designation is signif-
icant for tax purposes.

The state Board of
Equalization on Wednesday
upheld an earlier ruling that
Helmi Hisserich could file as
head of household, a tax classi-
fication mainly used by unmar-
ried taxpayers supporting fam-
ily members.

Hisserich, a 37-year-old
economic development consul-
tant from Los Angeles, pursued
the issue for three years after
she was denied the filing status
by the Franchise Tax Board.

She and her partner, Tori
Patterson, have been together
14 years. Patterson gave birth
to a daughter, conceived by
artificial insemination, in 1997
and has stayed home to raise
the child since then.

The ruling will save
Hisserich about $1,000 a year
in state taxes.

“This sounds corny, but I’m
really a good citizen who con-

tributes to society, and I felt I

was really being wronged by
the tax system,” Hisserich said.

The board said it ‘could not
estimate how many couples
might benefit from the new rul-

ing.

French novelist
dies

PARIS——A French novelist
who authored a classic among
gay literature has died.’

Roger Peyrefitte, a prolific ‘

writer whose novel about male
friendship in a religious school
won France’s prestigious
Renaudot prize in 1945, died at
the age of 93.

Peyrefitte, who died in
Paris, made his reputation with
Amities ’ Particulieres, or
Special Friendships, which
dealt with bonds among young
teen—age boys in a strict Roman
Catholic boarding school.

The book, which has been
hailed as a classic of gay litera-
ture, was followed by several
other novels, as well as plays
and essays on Voltaire,
Alexander the Great, and
Charles de Gaulle.

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