Transgender Awareness
Grows

WASHINGTON — According to a
recent poll, most people accept that a
person can be transgender, but more
education is needed to help people
better understand the lives of trans-
gender Americans. —

“The data shows that most
people want to treat transgender
Americans fairly and protect them
from workplace discrimination and
hate crimes,” said HRC
Communications Director and Senior
Strategist David M; Smith. “Still, the
majority ofAmericans report being
uncomfortable about transgender
issues."

Celinda Lake, of the
polling firm Lake Snell Perry &
Associates lnc., said. “Most people
accept that it is possible for a person
to be ‘born as one sex but inside feel
like the other sex.’ However, many
are confused about what transgender
means, and which people would be
considered transgender.

“Three-quarters of those
who say being transgender is a
choice also see it as a moral issue,”
said Lake, “while two-thirds who do
not see it as a moral issue say people
are bom transgender.”

Among other findings:

0 61 percent believe the country
needs laws to protect transgender
people from discrimination.

0 57 percent incorrectly believe
that it is not legal to fire a person just
because they are transgender.

0 53 percent believe it is “all
right” for a person to be transgender,
while 37 percent believe that it is
wrong.

0 77 percent of people believe
that transgender students should be
allowed to attend public schools.

0 48 percent of Americans would
have “no problem” working with a
transgender person, while only 8 per-
cent claim they “would not” be will-
ing to.

New Hampshire Governor
Meets with Gay Dems.

BOSCAWEN, NH — The New
Hampshire Stonewall Democrats
made history last month by hosting
Governor — and U.S. Senate candi-
date — Jeanne Shaheen. Shaheen met
with gay and lesbian Granite Staters
for a discussion on civil rights and
the fall elections at a campaign event
at the home of former openly gay
State Senator Rick Trombly on
October 12 in Boscawen.

‘ Although Shaheen has pre-
viously hosted gay citizens at state
functions, this marked the first time
in state history that a sitting governor
has attended a gay and lesbian event.

Jeanne Shaheen has a long
history of support for New
Hampshire’s lgbt community.
Shaheen, as governor, overturned the
state’s ban on gay adoption, imple-
mented the New Hampshire Safe
Schools Act, and officially pro-
claimed each June as Gay Pride
Month. Shaheen remains the only
elected official in the nation -to vote
for non-discrimination law while in
the state Senate, and then sign it as
Governor.

Anti-Gay General’s Promotion
Opposed By SLDN

WASHINGTON — President Bush
has nominated Major General Robert
T. Clark, former Commanding
General of Fort Campbell, Kentucky,
for promotion to Lieutenant General,
the Army's second-highest rank.
Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network (SLDN) has called" on the
Senate Armed Services Committee to
reject Clark’s nomination in light of
the anti-gay climate that festered at
Fort Campbell during his command.
In 1999, PFC Barry
Winchell was murdered by fellow
soldiers at Fort Campbell. Targeted
because he was believed to be gay,
PFC Winchell endured constant anti-
gay harassment in the months leading
up to his murder. A Department of
Army Inspector General’s report
found that Major General Clark
failed to order training on policies
and issues involved in the murder.
“Major General Clark’s
conduct both before and after the
murder of PFC Winchell raises seri-
ous questions about his leadership
and commitment to the safety of
those under his command,” said
SLDN Executive Director C. Dixon
Osburn. “Clark’s confirmation would
be a dangerous endorsement of the
pervasive anti-gay sentiment that
infects our armed forces.” ‘
PFC Winchell’s mother,
Patricia Kutteles, has joined the
organization in calling for Major
General Clark’s nomination to be
rejected. “MG Clark’s nomination by
President Bush is disrespectful to
every parent who has lost a child to
the shadows of hate,” said Mrs.
Kutteles. “It disrespects our men and
women in unifonn, and sends a dan-
gerous message that anti-gay harass-
ment is condoned in our armed
forces.” .
No opposing testimony was

permitted at the hearing on the gener-
al’s nomination for his third star.

Jeb Bush shamed for
Homophobic “Juicy Details"

WASHINGTON — The Human
Rights Campaign called on Gov. Jeb
Bush, R-Fla., to apologize for insen-
sitive, homophobic remarks he made
about two caregivers of a missing girl
who were arrested on allegations of
welfare fraud.

Rilya Wilson’s mysterious
disappearance in Miami eight months
ago made national news and spot-
lighted Florida’s embattled child wel-
fare system, which has had difficulty
keeping track of the whereabouts of
children in its care.

When Wilson's caregivers,
Pamela Graham and Geralyn
Graham, were arrested, Bush told
visiting legislators that he had .“some
juicy details”: allegations that the two
women were lesbians.

“While Bush is giving
‘juicy details,’ the details that people
want to hear about are where is Rilya
Wilson and what can Florida do to
improve the health and welfare of its
children?" said HRC National Field
Director Seth Kilboum. “Bush should
apologize for his insensitive remarks

and focus on the real issue that affect

the lives of Floridians.”

“Bush’s comments were the
kind of childish, locker-room homo-
phobia all too prevalent on school
campuses,” said Nadine Smith, exec-
utive director of Equality Florida, the
statewide GLBT organization. “His
comments have the potential to send
a dangerous message to those who
run Florida's child welfare system, a
message that disparages lesbian and
gay childcare workers and foster
parents.”

No Gov’! Money for Dyke
Health

WASHINGTON — Despite the with-
drawal of $75,000 in promised — and
budgeted — federal funding, more
than 300 researchers, providers,
activists, consumers and caregivers
shared information, experiences and
strategies at a national lesbian health
conference in Washington, DC, in
late September.

“The National Lesbian
Health Conference is crucial to the
advancement of lesbian health on all
levels,” said Kathleen DeBold,
Executive Director of the Mautner
Project, which organized the three-
day conference.

Because of higher risk fac-
tors for certain diseases and barriers
to accessing health care, lesbians are
recognized as a medically under-
served population by the‘U.S.
Cehters for Disease Control and
Prevention.

The U.S. Department of

\Health and Human Services (HHS)
Oflice on Women’s Health (OWH)
had budgeted $75,000 to help under-
write the 2002 National Lesbian
Health Conference. But senior HHS
officials overrode the OWH decision,
informing the Mautner Project that
the Conference did not fit HHS
Secretary Tommy Thomson’s vision
for women’s health.

“It’s shocking that the
agency charged with guarding our
nation’s health actively undermined
the advice of their own experts.” said
DeBold. “Thanks to the support of
[conference] sponsors —— including
American Airlines, the Susan G.
Komen Foundation, American
Legacy Foundation, Uncommon
Legacy, Astraea, Human Rights
Campaign, and the Gill Foundation —
the Mautner Project was able to pro-
vide scholarships and sliding-scale
registration fees to speakers and par-
ticipants who would otherwise have
been unable to attend.”

The conference was
planned and sponsored by a coalition
of more than 60 groups and agencies.

LSNB Launches
“Shame On You!" Campaign

SUNNYVALE, CA ~'Love Sees No
Borders, an educational organization
focused on raising awareness of the
plight of same-sex binational couples
and their fight to remain together, has
announced the launch of the “Shame
on You!” public relations campaign.
The campaign’s goal is to raise
awareness in the international arena
about issues faced by same-sex bi-
national couples in the United States,
while also providing Americans and
their foreign partners living abroad
an avenue to fight for their rights.

“The lack of same-sex
immigration rights in the U.S. affects
people in many countries,” said
Leslie Bulbuk, co-founder of Love
Sees No Borders. “Educating the
international community and garner-
ing its support is as vital as educating
Americans in our fight for immigra-
tion equality.”

Love Sees No Borders is
asking for help from Americans and
their foreign partners who are forced
to live abroad because of lack of
recognition of their relationships for
immigration purposes. Everyone is
encouraged to participate, especially
individuals living in any of the IS
countries that do recognize same-sex
couples for immigration purposes:
Australia, Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, South Africa,
Sweden and the United
Kingdom.

Information on the cam-
paign is available at
www.loveseesnoborders.org.

church Political Speech’
Protection Act Defreated

WASHINGTON —A bill opposed by
a broad coalition of allies in the civil
rights and religious community, the
House of Worship Political Speech
Protection Act (H.R. 2357) failed in
the House of Representatives. The
bill would have permitted churches,
synagogues, and other houses of wor-
ship to engage in partisan political
activity without losing their tax-
exempt status. It not only failed to
garner the two-thirds vote necessary
to pass the legislation under suspen-
sion of the rules, but failed to receive
even a majority vote. The legislation
failed on a 239-178 vote, with 46
Republicans opposing the measure.

I “While we are troubled that
the bill was able to come up at all,
we are relieved that the House very
clearly recognizes that churches, syn-
agogues and other religious institu-
tions should continue to have the
same rights and privileges as other
non-profit groups,” said Human
Rights Campaign Political Director
Winnie Stachelberg. “We believe that
all tax-exempt advocacy organiza-
tions should be treated equally under
the law — regardless of where they
fall on the ideological spectrum.”

Under current laws all
50l(c)(3)s, including organizations
like the Human Rights Campaign
Foundation, Mountain Pride Media,
and most churches, synagogues and
other religious institutions, are strict-
ly prohibited from engaging in parti-
san political activities. If a tax-
exempt organization’ participates in
partisan political activity, it must for-
feit its tax-exempt status.

Among the groupsjoining
the HRC in opposition to the measure
were the Interfaith Alliance, the
American Jewish Committee, the
Congress of National Black
Churches, the NAACP and the
Presbyterian Church.

» Mcc calls for Peaceful

Resolution with Iraq.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA — The
Board of Elders of Metropolitan

, the rest of our world  

Community Churches, a predomi-
nantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender Christian denomination,
has issued a declaration of con-
science and a call to peace in US
relations with Iraq.

“Today we call for all gov-
ernments, faith communities, and
international justice organizations —
along with all people ofgoodwill — to
work for peace and to call for
restraint in the conflict with Iraq,”
read the declaration.

“We call upon all people of
faith and people of goodwill every-
where, especially our sisters and
brothers in the lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender communities who ’
know first hand what it means to be
vilified, labeled and violently
attacked  tojoin with the friends
and members of Metropolitan
Community Churches to oppose any
further acts of aggression against
Iraq. We must stand together
unequivocally for peace,” the state-
ment read in part.

Further, the statement
declared, “This is neither an issue of
political affiliation nor nationalistic
loyalty.” The elders called upon Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein to “honor
U.N. resolutions,” upon President
George Bush to foster peace “by
encouraging people of diverse faiths
and cultures to come together” and V
on “all nations to avoid the danger-
ous precedent of the use of preemp-
tive military force.”

supreme court Rejects 1t-ans
Inheritance Case

WASHINGTON — On the first
Monday of October, the opening of
the Supreme Court Session, the Court
rejected a case brought by a transgen-
der wife, J’Noel Ball Gardiner, over
who should inherit the estate of her
husband, who died without a will.
Under Kansas law, Ms.
Gardiner, whose marriage was called
into question after her husband,
Marshall Gardiner, died in 1999,
should have been entitled to half of
her husband’s estate. Her husband’s
son, Joe Gardiner, wanted the mar-
riage invalidated on the grounds that
J’Noel, a transsexual, had been born
male.
Joe Gardiner challenged
J ’Noel's inheritance claims in probate
court, and a trial court agreed with
the son. But a Kansas Appellate
Court later overturned the decision.
The Appellate Court ruled that gen-
der is not fixed and that gender at the
time of marriage is the determining
factor in the validity of that marriage.
The Kansas Supreme

Court, in a 9-0 decision, ruled that
J’Noel was “male for purposes of
marriage.” Relying heavily on dic-
tionary definitions, the Kansas
Supreme Court announced: "The
words "sex," "marriage," "male," and
"female" in everyday understanding
do not encompass transsexuals.  A
post-operative male-to-female trans-
sexual does not fit the common defi-
nition of a female.” V