Out in the Mountains National/International News Law on Same Sex Couples Prepared Chicago, IL — Attorneys for Oak Park and the Oak Park Lesbian and Gay Association were cleared November 29th to begin crafting an ordinance that would make the village the first in Illinois to formally rec- ognize same—sex couples as families and to expand the village’s employee benefits package to include domestic partnerships. Authorization for the attorney to begin drafting the landmark ordinance came at a meeting in Village Hall between associa- tion officials and Oak Park President Law- rence Christmas. Christmas said he ex- pected a draft of the general domestic partnership ordinance calling for, among other things, the establishment of a registry of same—sex couples in Oak Park to be ready for Village Board debate no later than February. Although several govem— mental jurisdictions in other parts of the country have adopted such ordinances, the ' sle JOSIE ]Ul-IASZ, M.A. Licensed Psychologist - Master and LYNN GOYETTE, M.S., M.A. Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor announce their affiliation as the COUNSELING CENTER or NORTHERN VERMONT with offices in Burlington 860-6360 Montpelier 229-5220 insurance accepted Marianne Marsh, M.D. Oak Park proposal would be unique to ll- linois, according to association officers. (Chicago Tribune) Federal Court Puts Cincinnati Anti-Gay Initiative on Hold Cincinnati,OH—Larnbda Legal Defense and Education Fund has obtained an order from an Ohio federal court to block an anti-gay amendment to Cincinnati’s char- ter passed by the city’s voters on No- vember 2nd. In the absence of his in- junction, the charter amendment, which threatened to prevent Cincinnati’s city council from prohibiting discrimination against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals and repeal existing laws, would have taken effect December 1st. Beatrice Dohm, Lambda’s Legal Director, noted, “Just as the DC Circuit found in the Steffan ruling announced today, the court recognized that the prejudice of others against lesbians and gay men may not form the basis of law or policy.” Ruling that the amendment appeared to vi- olate the fundamental constitutional rights of the plaintiffs and could cause them ir- reparable harm if allowed to take effect, Judge Arthur Spiegel issued the pre- liminary injunction to block the proposed law until a full trial on its merits. “The court recognized that fundamental civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals cannot be voted away by popular elec- tion,” said Patricia M. Logue, managing Attorney of Lambda’s Midwest Regional Office. (Lambda Legal Defense & Educa- tion Fund) Military Recruiters Baned From SUNY New York, NY- A New York state su- preme court judge ruled that SUNY— Buf- falo Law School may not permit military recruiters on campus because of the mil- itary’s policy of discrimination against les- bians and gay men. Allowing the military use of school facilities such as the place- ment office was held to be in violation of Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 28.1, which prohibits state agencies from dis- criminating on the basis of sexual orienta- tion. The potential impact of he order is enormous, as it applies throughout the SUNY system, which is the second largest public university system in the country. Evan Wolfson, senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, who represented the law student along with Lambda cooperating attorneys Carey Wagner and Timothy Reinig, hailed the decision as “putting teeth in the Gov- ernor's order which compels state em- ployees not to discriminate, or permit dis- crimination, against lesbians and gay men.” Wolfson said, “Scores of schools across the country have adopted policies protecting their students and other mem- bers of the campus family against sexual orientation discrimination. It’s time the military started protecting gay and lesbian service personnel as well.” “Five courts in the past few months have held that military discrimination against gay people is irrational, unconstitutional, and just plain un-American,” said Beatrice Dohm, Lambda’s Legal Director The strong, closely-reasoned decision by Jus- rice Diane Lebedeff rejected the school’s claim that it had to admit military re- cruiters. “The focus must be upon the Uni- \ersity's compliance with the Executive Order. The Govemor’s policy was clear, and it was as head of the executive branch that he addressed the ‘complex societal and governmental issues’ involved in an anti- discrirnination policy,” said the court. “Every court to consider the issues has found that law schools have no duty under federal law to cooperate with military re- cruiters’ who discriminate.” The case began in October 1990, when SUNY—Buffalo’s Lesbian and Gay Law Student Organization (LGLSO), along with the student chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG), filed a complaint Janet K. Brown, M. A, C. A C Jean Townsend, M.A. Licensed Psychologist Certified Alcohol Counselor Certified Mental Health Counselor Psycmaw - ACOA - IDENTITY ISSUES ° TRAUMA AND LOSS 177 Battery Street ° DEPRESSION Burlington Vermont 05401 Individuals Couples Families Mansfield Psychotherapy Associates 802-865-3230 Milton VT Burlington VT (802) 893-4816 (802) 863-8162 05/94