Out in the Mountains Anti-gay Activity The following is a state-by-state listing of antigay legal activity, summarized from a recent People for the American Way re- port, Hostile Climate. Organizations fight- ing antigay discrimination are listed where known. ALABAMA The state legislature in 1992 approved a bill prohibiting gay student groups from re- ceiving state funds or using campus build- ings, asserting that the group encouraged violation of the state sodomy law. ALASKA In April, 1993, the Anchorage Assembly repealed a previously approved gayrights ordinance. A similar humanrights law lost in Juneau in 1992. ARIZONA The Traditonal Values Coalition of Ar- izona, related to Rev. Lou Sheldon’s TVC in California, plans to add an antigay meas- ure to the state ballot in 1994. ARKANSAS In April, the Assembly approved the state's first civilrights bill. Antigay discnnination was included in the original draft of the bill, but was amended partly because of Re- ligious Right protest. CALIFORNIA A statewide antigay measure is planned for the 1994 ballot, according to Rev. Lou Sheldon of "the Traditional Values Co- alition. TVC also wants the state constu- tion, rather than statutes, to make gay mar- riage illegal. That bill, introduced to the state senate in March, is currently in com- mittee. Fundarnentalists are threatening a boycott of San Francisco for its progay laws and reputation as home of the gay movement. COLORADO _ Amendment 2. which won by 53 percent in November, 1992, is still in legal limbo, awaiting a ruling by the Colorado state trial court to turn the preliminary injunction against Amendment 2 into a permanent one. The twoweek trial ended Oct. 22. If the permanent injunction is granted, the state is expected to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court. In May, the chair of Col- orado for Family Values would offer a sim- ilar measure in 1994 if Amendment 2 is in- validated. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Dist1ict’_s sodomy law was repealed in April, becormng law in September. In July, the U.S. Senate voted to stop funding to District's Health Care Benefits Expansion Act, which allowed city workers to include domestic partners in their health insurance. FLORIDA Florida’s American Family Association is planning an antigay measure for the No- vember elections. Tampa’s gayrights or- dinance was repealed last year. but a gay- rights ordinance was passed 32 In another county in April. Write: Human Rights Task Force, 1222 S. Dale Mabry, Tampa, FL 33629/(813) 273-8769. GEORGIA The Georgia House of Representatives’ House Educabon Committee is reviewing a bill which allows parents and local school boards to decide that “If homosexuality is mentioned at all (in the curriculum) it must be pointed out that homosexuality is illegal in the state of Georgia.” The house can act on the bill when it reconvenes in January. Despite the lobbying of Family Concerns, a Religious Right group, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson signed a bill in July al- lowing domestic partner registration and extending health benefits to domestic part- ners of city employees. HAWAII In May, the state Supreme Court over- turned a lower court’s dismissal of a law- suit challenging the state’s ban on sarnesex marriage. The case will go to a lower court for trial, but the deputy attorney general and The Straight Majority, a group organized to fight the “radical, militant homosexual agend” have expressed oppositon to a sa- mesex marriage ruling. IDAHO The Idaho Citizens Alliance, led by a for- mer Oregon citizens Alliance vice chair- man, plans to put an annigay initiative on the 1994 ballot. The City Council of Idaho Falls, which originally supported the meas- ure, has decided to oppose it after carefully reading its texct. Write to: Idaho for Human Dignity, P.O. Box 797. Boise, ID 83701 (208) 344-4295. ILLINOIS The 1993 gayrights bill made it through the House in April but was rejected in Senate committee. The Illinois Federation for Hu- man Rights and other groups are currently lobbying for the 1994 bill. INDIANA The Lafayette City Council approved an an- tigay discrimination law in May; the Bloonrington City Council adopted an or- dinance discouraging, but not banning, anti- gay discrimination in July. IOWA In March the Des Moines City Council implicitly approved gay rights by adopt- ing an ordinance that prohibits dis- crimination against any group, so long as they obey local, state and federal laws. The council rejected adopting a specif- ically gay-oriented measure. 16 KANSAS Eighteen House Republicans are spon- soring an antgay rights bill to be introduced to the legislature in 1994. Rev. Fred Phelps. a militant antgay activist, has led protests for two years, including picketing the funer- als of people who died of AIDS. KENTUCKY The state Supreme Court overturned the ban on sodomy in 1992, but a state rep. plans to add a measure to the 1994 ballot that would constitutionally criminalize sod- omy. The state legislature will take action on the bill in 1994. MAINE Concerned Maine Families has planned a Coloradostyle antigay measure for the 1994 state ballot Gov. John McKeman vetoed a gayrights bill in May. The Lewiston gay- rights ordinance, first approved in 1992, was overturned in the Nov. 3 elections. Write to the New England Fight the Right Field Office, 1151 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 492-6393. MARYLAND In January, a state Senate committee de- feated a bill that would have made dis- crimination against gays and lesbians in housing and employment illegal. The 65 vote came after lobbying by Concerned Women for America. MASSACHUSETTS In May, the state Board of Education en- dorsed guidelines for sensitivity training for gay and lesbian issues for teachers and pro- tection against harassment for gay and lesbian students. The endorsement, which schools are not required to adopt was opposed by Family First, an anti—gay rights group. MICHIGAN The Michigan Family Values Committee plans to introduce an antigay rights bill in the November, 1994 election and has begun collecting signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Write to: Michigan Campaign for Human Dignity, PO Box 28363, Lan- sing, MI 48909-8363/ (517) a87-2605 MINNESOTA In April, Minnesota became the eighth state to add sexual orientation to its humanrights ordinance. In May, apparently in response to the Hawaii marriage case, a bill was in- troduced to the state senate to invalidate all marriages from other states “Contracted be- tween persons of the same gender.” The senate can take action in February. MISSOURI The Amendment Coalition is planning to put an antigay rights bill on the November, 1994 statewide ballot. If passed, the bill would nullify gayfights ordinances in four cities, including Kansas City, which passed its ordinance in June. In January. a state senator attempted to institute a ban on