Boycott Ires RuPauI

Los Angeles — According to his
‘blog’ (for the uninitiated, ‘weblog,’ a
kind of online diary or commentary,),
RuPaul, the actor and diva of drag,
has no use for the NGLTF’s call to
boycott a white comedian’s black
face act.

Comedian Chuck Knipp, a
white gay man, portrays the character
of“Shirley Q. Liquor,” a black
woman on welfare. The NGLTF and .
the National Association of Black
and White Men Together have called
for a boycott of the comedian’s act,
encouraging gay clubs not to book
the comedian and gay and lesbian
audiences to shun his performances.

RuPaul wrote that in an
earlier entry he had “lambasted the
protesters ofa ‘SHIRLEY Q.’ night-
club appearance for being unsophisti-
cated barbarians and transparent
opportunists with misguided rage.”
Further. he asked whether there
weren’t more important issues for the
NGLTF to spend time and energy on.

ACLU Hires Anti-Gay Former
Pols

Washington — The American Civil
Liberties Union, known for defend-
ing gay and lesbian rights and whose
executive director is gay, has hired
two virulently anti-gay former politi-
cians as consultants. Former House
Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-
Texas) and former Rep. Bob Barr (R-
Georgia) will join the ACLU to con-
sult on “privacy rights,” according to
a brief report in the Washington
Blade.

Armey is notorious for his
disrespect toward Rep. Barney Frank
(D-Massachusetts), calling him
“Barney Fag.” He retired this month
from the House. Barr was a sponsor
of the Defense of Marriage Act, pro-
hibiting recognition of any same—gen-
der unions. He was defeated in
Georgia’s Republican primary last
summer.

cutest Couple in Chicago are
Dykes .

Chicago — One Chicago high school
senior class made a different choice
as it voted for those titles so dear to
yearbook editors: it chose two les-
bians as its “cutest couple.” Sixty
seniors at Crete-Monee high school
staged a walkout toprotest the dou-
ble-standard the school is using to
delay publication of the yearbook,
requiring parental permission for the
designation. Critics pointed out that
when het couples are chosen for this’
yearbook honor, no such permission
is sought.

‘Het Panic’ Turns Deadly
Chicago —A gay man has been
charged with the murder ofa woman
who tried to get him to change his
sexual orientation, according to the
Washington Blade. Nicholas
Gutierrez, 19, has confessed to
killing 51-year-old Mary Stachowicz,
whose body was found in the crawl
space of his apartment.

In some cases where gay
men have been murdered by straight
men, defense attorneys have used a
so-called "gay-panic" defense, sug-
gesting that their clients became
enraged and panicked when the vic-

tim allegedly made a sexual
approach. There is no word on
whether Gutierrez’s defense counsel
will attempt the opposite defense as a
mitigating factor. Gutierrez could
face the death penalty.

Russian Club ‘flashed After
Seige

Moscow - Sharing a building with
the Dubrovka Theatre turned out to

be hazardous for the health of Central .

Station, a gay club. The club was
seized when Moscow police stormed
the theatre to release hostages held
by Chechen rebels. According to wire
reports, the authorities used the club
to gain entrance into the theatre, and
afterward, “large quantities of alcohol
and the sound system” were stolen
and homophobic graffiti were
scrawled on the walls.

Gay Men's Chorus at
Kennedy center Honors
Wasington — The Gay Men’s Chorus
of Washington, DC performed two
songs as part of the 25th annual
Kennedy Center Honors. It was the
first time that a gay chorus had been
invited to participate in this highly
celebrated cultural event.

In a salute to the British-
born Elizabeth Taylor, one of the five
honorees, the Chorus sang a custom
rendition of “There Is Nothing Like a
Dame.” The chorus laterjoined Burt
Bacharach and Dionne Warwick for
an arrangement of “That's What
Friends are For,” in recognition of
Taylor’s commitment to AIDS
research.

The 160 members of
GMCW, along with the other per-
formers for the evening, also partici-
pated in a rousing finale of “America
the Beautiful,”

“This was a shining
moment both for the Chorus and for
the gay and lesbian movement” said
Jeff Buhrman, Artistic Director of
GMCW, “The Chorus was proud to
represent our fellow gay men and les-
bians at such a prestigious event, in
front of the President of the United
States, and through the broadcast, in
millions of homes across America.”
The show was broadcast on
December 27.

Cracker Barrel Board Passes
Pro-Gay Policy

Washington — The Board of Directors
of Cracker Barrel restaurants
announced last month that it is
adding sexual orientation to the list
of characteristics covered by the
company's nondiscrimination policy.
The announcement ends a more-than-
decade-long campaign on the part of
gay rights advocates who have been
pressuring the restaurant chain
because of its policy of firing
employees who fail to “demonstrate
normal heterosexual values.”

“This small step has enor-
mous significance for every gay or
lesbian employee who has ever expe-
riencedjob discrimination,” said Kim
I. Mills, education director for the
Human Rights Campaign.

The board of CBRL Group
Inc., parent company of Cracker
Barrel Old Country Stores and
Logan's Roadhouse restaurants.

voted unanimously to change the pol-_

iey following its annual shareholder
meeting in November. A shareholder
proposal to add sexual orientation to
the company's nondiscrimination pol-
icy would have received a majority
of the votes cast, a company official
told HRC, but because no sponsor
was present at the meeting to intro-
duce the proposal, no fomial vote
was held. CBRL Group Inc. is based
in Old Lebanon, Tenn.

Cracker Barrel drew
national attention in 1991 when it
instituted a company policy that
called for terminating employees
“whose sexual preferences fail to
demonstrate normal heterosexual val-
ues which have been the foundation
of families in our society.” At least
I] workers were fired as aresult. The
company's blatant discrimination —
which was legal in the states where it
occurred and remains legal under
federal law — touched off a wave of
protests and boycotts at Cracker
Barrel restaurants.

Liz Taylor Photo Book to
Raise Funds for AmFAR
Madison, WI — According to a press
release, a new collection of photos of
Liz Taylor by Gianni Bozzacchi is
being released by the University of
Wisconsin Press and a percentage of
the “net royalties” are being donated
to AmFAR in recognition of its cru-
cial work and Elizabeth Taylor's ded-
icated service to AIDS research and
prevention. '

Bozzacchi became "Taylor’s
“personal photographer” in I965, fol-
lowing his work on the set of The
Comedians, which starred Taylor and

‘Richard Burton. The 129 black and

white photos in Elizabeth Taylor: The
Queen and I are reportedly mostly
previously unpublished. Barnes and
Noble is also kicking in a donation to
AmFar when purchasers follow the
link to its website from AmFAR's
website (http://www.amfar.org/).

Gay Bank Robber & Murderer
Executed in Oklahoma

McAlester, OK — Jay Wesley Neill, a

37-year-old gay man, died by lethal
injection in Oklahoma on Thursday,
December 12, despite a last-minute

appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to
stay the execution.

Neill was one of two men
who robbed a bank in Geronimo,
Okla., in 1984. During the robbery,
Neill and his partner Robert Johnson
stabbed three bank employees to‘
death, and also shot four customers,
one of whom also died. Neill was 19
at the time, while Johnson was 2l.

Amnesty International and
other advocates pled for clemency on
Neill’s behalf because of anti-gay
bias during his trial and sentencing.
Addressing thejury during the sen-
tencing phase ofNeill's trial in I992,
the prosecutor said:

“I’d like to go through
some things that to me depict the true
person, what kind of person he is. He
is a homosexual. The person you're
sitting in judgment on — disregard Jay
Neill. You’re deciding life or death
on a person that’s a vowed [sic]
homosexual  But these are areas
you consider whenever you deter-
mine the type of person you're sitting
in judgment on.  The individual’s
homosexual."

In a separate trial, the other
man involved in the crime, Robert
Johnson, was sentenced to life in
prison.

Fed. court Dismisses
Religious Challenge to Gay
Rights

Louisville, KY — A federal appeals
court dismissed a lawsuit by a
Kentucky doctor that sought to strike
down a local ordinance making it
illegal to discriminate on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender identi-
ty. The court found that the ordinance
did not affect the religious practices
of Dr. J. Barrett Hyman, a Baptist
and local gynecologist, and therefore
his lawsuit was baseless. -

“This case was never about
Dr. Hyman’s religious liberties. It
was an attempt to tear down impor-
tant civil rights protections,” said
Leslie Cooper, the American Civil
Liberties Union Lesbian and Gay
Rights Project staff attorney who
defended the ordinance on behalf of
the Fairness Campaign, which had
lobbied for the passage of the ordi-
nance.

Hyman brought suit claim-
ing that his religious rights were vio-
lated by the anti-discrimination ordi-
nance because it made it illegal for
him to bar gay and transgender peo-
ple from working in his medical
office. The Appeals Court found that
he didn't have the right to bring the
lawsuit because the ordinance didn't
affect his religious practices.

“The kind of arguments
that Hyman is advancing are as old
as the civil rights movement itself,”
said Diane Moten of Fairness
Campaign.

“It’s shameful how our reli-
gious freedoms are being contorted to
stand for bigotry and discrimination,”
said Jeff Vessels of the Kentucky
ACLU. “This result is a clear victory
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-
gender rights.” ’

‘It-ansgender Appointed to
DigrIityUSA Board

Washington — Michelle (“Chellie”)
Griffin, an “out transsexual lesbian
cradle Catholic” has been appointed
to the DignityUSA Board of
Directors. Board President Pat
McArron reported that Griffin
“received a unanimous vote of confi-
dence from the current members of
the board.

Griffin has two grown chil-
dren, three grandchildren and is
employed as a Management
Information Systems Consultant. She
has been active in her church and in
DignityUSA for several years, join-
ing Dignity in Dallas in l998, and

. becoming a member of Regional and

National Houses of Delegates from
1999 through 2001. Griffin has
served.as Chapter Liturgy Committee
Chair person since I999, Chapter
Board member since 2001 and as
Chapter vice president in 2002.
Dignity is a grassroots

organization for gay, lesbian, and
transgender Catholics.

Supreme Court to Rule on
Texas Sodomy case
Washington — The Human Rights

- Campaign praised a decision by the

Supreme Court to hear a case that

 

could lead to sodomy laws being
ruled discriminatory and unconstitu-
tional. .

“Sodomy laws are unfair,
un-American and used to discrimi-
nate against gay and lesbian
Americans in a number of ways,”
said HRC General Counsel and Legal
Director Kevin Layton.

The case the Supreme
Court agreed to hear is Lawrence v.
Texas. In I998, Houston police broke
into John Lawrence’s apartment
shortly before midnight seeking an
armed intruder. Instead, they saw
Lawrence having sex with Tyron
Garner and jailed both men on
charges of violating a state law that
bans sex between consenting adults
ofthe same sex — but not of the
opposite sex.

Lawrence and Garner
pleaded no contest to the misde-
meanor charge and were each fined
$200. The state courts upheld the
conviction. Lambda Legal asked the
Supreme Court in July to hear the.
case and declare a violation of priva-
cy and equal protection.

_ “As a result ofthe convic-
tions, neither man can holdjobs in
dozens of professions in Texas and
may have to register as sex olfenders
if they move to some other states,”
said Liz Seaton, HRC’s senior coun-
sel. “Thcse laws are used to deny gay
workers jobs, refuse lesbian mothers
custody. oppose non-discrimination
laws and block hate-crime legisla-
tion. Until these laws are overturned,
a basic step on the path to freedom
remains blocked.” I ,

In I986, the Supreme Court
upheld sodomy laws 5-4 in Bowers v.
Hardwick. Only three justices who
participated in that ruling remain on
the bench. In I996, the current
Supreme Court struck down an anti-
gay amendment to Colorado’s
Constitution on equal protection prin-
ciples. Additionally, since Bowers v.
Hardwick, the number of state
sodomy laws has declined from 28 to
13, in large part because of the per-
sistent court efforts of Lambda Legal
and the American Civil Liberties
Union, as well as state organizations
fighting to overturn these laws.

No Philippine Visas for Same-
sex spouses

The Philippines has ruled that it will
not grant visas to same-sex spouses.
According to a report on Gay.com,
the country’sjustice department has
declared that a family visa cannot be
granted to the same-sex spouse of a
foreigner working in the country.

Justice secretary Hernando
Perez said that the Philippine consti-
tution and the family code do not rec-
ognize gay partnerships.

A ruling was requested by
the department of foreign affairs on
dealing with same-sex marriages of
foreign diplomats and staff of inter-
national organizations running out of
the Philippines. V

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