the rest of our worl

The Drop of a Shoe?

Zurich — Founded seven years ago by
two Swiss women, Shoe International
is an internet community open to all
women, currently boasting over
70,000 members from 140 countries.
The thought behind the name was
simple enough: there are as many dif-
ferent types of shoes as there are
women.

Looking for a way to raise
lesbian visibility all over the world,
the group solicited ideas from mem-
bers of their lesbian website. After
much on-line discussion, the “Italian
housewife” idea was chosen. SHOE
members hang shoes outside their
windows in a demonstration some-
how similar to a traditional daily
activity of Italian women. The first
international SHOE day will be on
March 4, 2004.

“Know HIVIAIDS" at the
Superbowl

New York — A multimedia campaign
called “Know HIV/AIDS” will kick
off its second year of delivering HIV
awareness and prevention messages
on Super Bowl Sunday. As
announced last month, Viacom and
the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation will
premiere one of 34 new public serv- «
ice ads during the pre-game show of
the Superbowl in what is promised to
be a $200 million media campaign
reaching the United States, Europe,
Africa and the Caribbean.

The campaign, including
television, print, on-line, and outdoor
advertising will be present on major
and cable networks, radio stations,
billboards, and buses..Throughout the
year, there will be special HIV/AIDS
related programming on MTV,
Nickelodean. BET, and the Sundance
Channel.

UNAIDS projects that
nearly two-thirds of all new HIV /
AIDS infections worldwide could be
eliminated by 2010 with more effec-
tive education and prevention.

HRC & Conservatives
Defend Constitution
Washington DC ~ The Human Rights
Campaign launched an ad campaign
last month highlighting conservative
opposition to a proposed constitution-
al amendment that would permanent-
ly deny marriage rights to same-sex
couples. In partnership with conser-
vative and state groups, the campaign
includes print and radio ads quoting
well-known conservatives George '
Will, former Wyoming Sen. Alan
Simpson and former Georgia Rep.
Bob Barr, among others, all voicing

opposition to the Federal Marriage
Amendment.

“This ad campaign will
show that people of all political stripes
see this amendment for what it is — a
divisive and reckless use of our
Constitution,” said HRC President
Cheryl Jacques.

“There is nothing conserva-
tive about mandating a one-size-fits-
all national social policy in a govem-'
ing-from-the-grave amendment that
will handcuff future generations.
When it comes to the Constitution, we
should defend it, not amend it,” said
Chuck Muth, president of ad cospon-
sor Citizen Outreach, a limited—gov-
emrnent non-profit hosting a website
featuring conservative opposition to a
federal marriage amendment.

Radio ads will run in 12
cities across the country during con-

servative talk shows, including those .

of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and
Dr. Laura. Print ads ran in January in
newspapers around the country.

Cheney Still Against
Marriage Amendment
Denver — In an interview published
in the Rocky Mountain News last
month, Vice President Dick Cheney
said he would support President Bush
if he backs a constitutional amend-
ment banning gay marriage.
However, he reiterated his belief that
whether to allow gays and lesbians to
enter civil unions is “a matter best
left to the states.”

Cheney, whose daughter is
a lesbian, said he would not discuss
any advice she had given him on the
proposed amendments.

Lambda Legal Helps Out
(Married) Parents

New York — Because gay or lesbian
parents leaving a marriage too often
feel they have to choose between
their children and being out, Lambda
Legal is offering assistance. Two
publications, released last month,
provide guidance in resolving child
custody and visitation issues that
arise when a couple divorces because
one is gay.

“You Don’t Need to
Choose” provides guidance in estab-
lishing custody arrangements, pro-
tecting the best interests of the child
and maintaining parental rights for
the gay or lesbian parent. “What’s
Best for Your Kids?” urges straight
spouses not to use sexual orientation
against their newly out co-parent and
will be distributed by the Straight
Spouse Network and on-line.
“Sexual orientation should-

n’t be used as a weapon in child cus-
tody battles. Most courts now recog-
nize that sexual orientation has no
bearing on what it means to be a
good parent,” said Michael Adams,
Director of Education and Public
Affairs at Lambda Legal.

I Love a Parade!

Pasadena, CA — The Tournament of .
Roses announced the theme of the
2005 New Year’s Day parade will be
‘Celebrate Family’ and that it
includes ALL families. As reported at
365gay.com, in a statement to the
Pasadena Star News last month,
David Davis, parade president, said
‘I’m not going to judge anybody’s .
lifestyles. We don’t have any preju-
dice or bias.’ Although a traditional-
ist, Davis welcomes all definitions of
family, including gay and lesbian
couples with children.

Companies spend millions
of dollars on their floats. It is unlike’-
ly that any specific LGBT organiza-
tion will have its own float in the '
parade due to the prohibitive cost.
However, the gay market is worth an
estimated $500 billion and businesses

' are anxious to cash in. It is expected

that several companies will include
same-sex families in their floats.
With the Tournament of

Roses parade shown around the
world the parade could offer the
biggest exposure of gay families ever
seen on television in a single event.

Methodists to Put Lesbian
On Trial

Seattle ~ For the first time in sixteen
years, the United Methodist Church
will put a minister in good standing on
trial for being a lesbian. The UMC’s
Pacific Northwest Conference
Committee on Investigation voted to
send Rev. Karen P. Dammann, minis-
ter at Ellensburg United Methodist
Church, to trial for violating church
law which bars non-celibate gays from
serving in the denomination’s clergy.

As reported at 365gay.com
Dammann came out in 2001 to the
Conferences bishop, Elias P. Galvan,
in a letter advising him she was living
in a partnered, covenanted relationship
with another woman, and that they
had a son together.

Bishop Galvan filed charges
against Dammann but twice failed to
get the required votes to send her trial.
Galvan appealed, and last month, the
Committee on Investigation voted to
send Dammann to trial.

“The case has become
much bigger than me now, and I hope
it will give the church an opportunity

to grow. The ultimate act of trying
someone for being gay is bound to
shake the tree, I hope, in the direction
of inclusiveness,” said Dammann in a
statement released by her attorney.

Transwoman Seeks Seat
in Michigan
Lansing, MI — Melissa Sue Robinson
is running for office again. Robinson,
founder and president of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Transgender People, filed to seek
election to the 68th District of the
Michigan House of Representatives.
This bid follows her unsuccessful
campaigns last year for mayor and
school board, and in 1997 for city
council. Robinson, a transsexual, ran
her first campaign as Charles
Staelens Jr., her birth name.
Robinson, 53, describes
herself as “a male to female, post-
operative child of God and contribut-
ing member of society.” She received
over 3,000 votes in the school board
election and placed third in the may-
oral primary. In an effort to advance
the transgender cause, she is running
for the State House with the goal to
provide civil rights legislation to
transgender, taxpaying citizens. If
elected, Robinson will pursue the
inclusion of “gender identity and
expression” into all civil rights laws.

School District Must
Eliminate Harrassment
San Francisco — The Morgan Hill
Unified School District, where les-
bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
students have suffered harassment
and violence, agreed last month to a
wide-ranging training program and
policy protections. The settlement
ends a five-year-long federal lawsuit
brought by the ACLU and the
National Center for Lesbian Rights.

‘ The settlement requires that all

administrators, teachers, campus
monitors, custodians, safety officers,
and bus drivers in the district take
part in annual training programs
devoted exclusively to issues of
harassment and discrimination based
on sexual orientation and gender
identity. The district will implement
an age-appropriate training program
for students and an anti-discrimina-
tion policy barring harassment on the

4 basis of sexual orientation or gender

identity. Damages will also be paid to
the plaintiffs.

Jewish Groups For Same-
Sex Marriage

Boston — An overwhelming vote by
the Massachusetts Jewish

Community Relations Council in
favor of same-sex marriage placed
the group squarely opposed to the
Catholic bishops. The powerful
umbrella group represents primarily
the liberal element within the Jewish
community. The vote last month
came as the state’s Roman Catholic
bishops were stepping up the rhetoric
against same-sex marriage.

The Catholic bishops
recently announced they will mail
more than a million fliers to Catholic
households in Massachusetts, urging
support for a Constitutional amend-
ment banning same-sex marriage.
The flier also calls on the faithful to
lobby lawmakers to support an
amendment defining marriage as a
union between a man and a woman.

As reported at 365gay.com,
the Jewish Community Relations
Council also “opposes any effort to
amend the state Constitution to bar
same-sex couples from marrying, or
to deny legal benefits to same-sex
couples and their families.”

Reform and
Reconstructionist Judaism have sup-
ported LGBT rights for a number of
years, permit gay and lesbian rabbis,
and allow temples to perform bless-I
ing ceremonies for same-sex couples.

Chilean Trans Leader
Threatened

New York — According to Amnesty
International, someone repeatedly
fired a gun at trans activist Rodrigo
Lopez Barrera as he was walking in
San Felipe two days after he received
an anonymous telephone death threat.
The organization is mobilizing its
membership to write Chilean authori-
ties, demanding guarantees for
Barrera’s safety.

As president ofTravesChile
ofAconcagua, Barrera has filed legal
complaints and publicly reported
harassment and attacks against the
transvestite community. Authorities
are not known to have carried out
any investigation, and in the past,
have failed to follow up adequately
reports of similar threats and attacks.

Amnesty International is
concerned that the violence and
threats directed at Lopez are part of a
pattern of harassment of LGBT peo-
ple in Chile, where two transgender
men have been killed in unexplained
circumstances. The organization is

*' working to send a signal to the

Chilean authorities that the failure to
respond to such actions is unaccept-
able and will not be tolerated by the
international community. V