3 the rest of our world j VWASHINGTON, oc A Banner Year for LGB Ts in Office The New Year got off to a great v start for openly gay lawmakers across America. In January. in. addition to seeing New Jersey's first openly gay mayor sworn . .,in, the first openly gay Speaker ‘: of the New York City Council i took office, an openly gay state ~ legislator took her seat in the Arizona State Senate, the first _: openly gay man to win an elec- tion in Oklahoma was re-elected, and the nation's first openly gay and black mayor was returned to office in Cambridge, Mass._ ’ in Long Hill Township, NJ, Democratic candidate Gina Genovese won a close election to t_l1eftown council by nar- rowlydefeating a twelve-year incurnbent.Republican in a pre- dominantly« Republican town in 'jpredo_mlnantly Republican Morris County.__ Following the election, V ‘Genoyese was unanimously ‘ .jelected.by the town council to ». serve as the first openly ‘gay mayor in New Jersey history. 3 New York City Democratic Coun- . cilwoman Christine Quinn was 'lected the first openly gay City Council spealcer, largely consid- red tliesecond most influential piu_blicf,o‘F_ficial in New York City afterhthe mayor. I ' Vin? Arizona, Democrat" Paula Aboud was sworn in this week following her appointrnentlto the State Senate. Plus, two trailblazé ing lawmakers were returned to-oflice, this week. Former : emocratic Mayor" Ken Reeves from Cambridge, Mass. - who jf‘ had served as the first openly gay and black mayor in the country from” 1992-1995 - was returned to office, and Oklahoma County Commissioner Jim Roth, who : became the first openly gay man to win an Oklahoma election in 2002. was re~elected as Chair: SAN i='RANcisco: eto Marrlage ‘I in eight amicus briefs filed with the California Court of Appeal, : more than 250 religious and civil . rights organizations urged the court to put an end to state laws f that deny same-sex couples the 7 protections of marriage. The Court is hearing the state's ap- pealof the March 2005 decision , _ by Sanfrancisco Superior Court I Judge Richard Kramer, which heldthat California's current statutory ban on marriage of same-sex couples violates the ‘California Constitution. "l am proud to join with other civil rights leaders in standing up for fairness and dignity for all,’.' ‘ said Alice Huffman, President " of the California Conference of ',tl1e National Association for the dvancement of Colored People. Neverlbefore has such a diverse . One transgender woman in Gua- ' both were shot in the head by . to be the message Tennessee j Groups Say ‘I Do’_ array of groups stepped forward to call for an end to the unfair treatment faced by same-sex couples and their families when they are denied the ability to marry." The group filed an amicus brief asking the Court of Appeal to’ apply the holding in , Perez v. Sharp, the 1948 Califor- nia Supreme Court decision strik- ing down laws banning interracial marriage, to the current case. GUATEMALA _ TransWomen Shot temala was killed and another remains in serious condition after ' men whom witnesses believe were police, Amnesty Interna- tional said today. "This is, sadly, only the latest in a stringof murders of transgender people in Guate- I rnala," said Dr. William F. Schulz. Executive Director of Amnesty lnternational_‘USA. "Once again, not only have police and govern- ment authorities failed to protect transgender people, but they I also may be directly complicit in their deaths." : Accordingto a local organi- zation, there have been seven , homicides oftransgender sex workers in Guatemala City this year. 7 l ANDERSON COUNTY, TN No Pumping for Girls Boys will be boys and if that , means they just can't be trusted around girls, thengirls will have to give w’ay.’That seems administratorsare sending to a star athlete who was involuntarily removed from a weight-training ‘ class because *‘there weren't any : other girls in the class a situa- tion that's really not good." _ On the second day of’ classes, Anderson County High School senior Ambrea Phillips, :3 straight-A student and member of the track and field team, was told by school officials that she had to drop the course because _of a safety issue. - According to the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, Ambrea was told to work in the school office instead. ‘ "Pencil pushing is a far cry from a substitute for weightlift- ing," said Sam Sewell, Gender- PAC's Youth Program Director. Ambrea and her family are now planning to file a formal Title IX complaint with the state. Title IX of The Education Amend- ments of 1972 mandates that schools not deny anystudent participation in an ‘educational POLlT|CS Burlington Mayoral BURLINGTON ~ The three can- didates for Mayor of Vermont’s largest city were interviewed briefly, primarily on their atti- tudes toward the city’s hosting of LGBT Pride and retaining a di- verse workforce among the city’s employees. Ms Mayor? OITM contributor Peggy Lulus spoke with Democratic mayoral candidate Hinda Miller, a state Senator from Chittenden County, who if elected would make history as Burlington’s first woman mayor. Miller co-founded Jogbra (later bought by Champion Sportswear). PL: What's the theme of your campaign or the main issues? HM: Well some of the issues are fi- nancial challenges in city govem— ment, in the schools with a shrink- ing number of students. I think its time to renew the plan for the Wa- terfront. The revitalization plan is ten years old and we need a better process that gets stakeholders to the table early. I’m wa.iting to see what people have to say about the Moran plant. Education is very important to me. PL: Would you issue a proclama- tion in support of LGBT Pride? HM: Absolutely! Is that an annual event? PL: Yes. Would you continue city policy of support for domestic partners? HM: Yes of course. PL: How do you feel about plans to close Barnes and Wheeler schools? HM: I support neighborhood schools, they provide a lot of things in addition to education, like cultural gatherings, and we don't really have the public trans- portation for schools. Walking to school is good. We have to sup- port the family. There are 450 single mothers in this town and it’s a hard life. We need every kid to have an education, every kid needs to go to college in this world. People need leadership skills and emotional intelligence. The federal guidelines don't ad- dress these things. PL: Did you support increas- ing the minimum wage as a Vermont Senator? HM: Yes I did. I voted yes in the conference committee and helped get it out and I voted for it. I felt the COLA [cost of living adiust- ment] should be l'1nked to a na- tional matrix so businesses would know what their costs were and calculate them. I, certainly did support it. PL: In the past the Community Economic and Development Office has done a lot to as- sist low income homeowners and has focused on affordable housing. Would you? HM: I absolutely applaud the Burl- ington Community Land Trust and - nonprofits have made significant progress in this area. I would con- tinue work with the Land Trust. PL: Are you looking to more people living downtown,_ high- er buildings? HM: Well everything in modera- tion. I do support more density downtown. We need to keep Bur- lington strong. It needs to be liv- able, inclusive and economically strong. . The best social policy is a good job. Burlington is poised to be a great hub for entrepreneurship and small business. People want to live here. We have the resources, the combination of education and sup- port at UVM for new telecommuni- cations. I’d like to see the Burling- ton Business Associaiion mentor new businesses on North St. and with different groups. That can be a really vital part of the City. Bos- njans have told me that no one has leveraged their connections over- seas. This could be done. This stuff really excites me. PL: A good job as the best poli- cy is a great idea but tough for women with children. HM: The City can’t solve all of this but I would like to sit down with single moms and those working with them to brainstorm what more ca.n be done. Burling- ton’s current policy subsidizes 3-5 year olds in childcare through the education fund. that's good but it doesn’t solve everything. It is tough to be a parent working with children even with a partner. PL: Do you think that being a woman mayor will make a dif- ference? HM: Women get the need for sup- port. It is women who are starting Candidates Speak a lot of small businesses. Women see the value in things, see Where we can make things better. I think maybe we're more willing to ne- gotiate. You know in politics you cant just bull ahead you have to deal with everyone’s position. Purposeful Progressive? Editor Euan Bear spoke with Pro- gressive Party mayoral candidate and three—term state Representa- tive Bob Kiss about his vision for the city. The 58-year-old Kenosha, Wisconsin native moved to Bur- lington in 1972. He is currently self-employed as a consultant ‘ with Germane Solutions, Inc. He began our interview by relating What the Progressives stand for and how he became the party's candidate. BK: The first important thing to . know about my candidacy is that Burlington voters have chosen Progressive candidates for the last 20 years.- -I was the chair of the city Progressive Party com- mittee with the idea of finding a good progressive candidate who would run, and no idea that it would be me. Burlington vot- ers deserve to have a Progressive choice, to be represented by Pro- , gressive values. We put people first. Burlington needs an efficient and effective government that meets the needs of working people, and part of that is accessible healthcare as one of the common benefits of good government, just as clean airand water are. We need to build economic development in a way that is sustainable, that includes a liv- ing wage and affordable hous- ing, because it’s the right thing to do. We stand for economic and social justice. We don’t leave people behind. As for the other candidates, I’m with [mathematician and philosopher] Alfred North White- head, who said, ‘There are no true conservatives; there is only going forward or backward.’ I want to move the city forward. EB: If you win, would you sign a proclamation for Gay Pride? BK: Of course! I was actually one of the [peacekeeping] marshals for the first parade. We all wore """""-‘rag *n:—-(-— A-— -———«,.. -N.-....J ._._‘ ,,__.,. ._