National/International News

Cracker Barrel Protests Continue

Atlanta, GA - The latest round in the
fight against the Cracker Barrel chain of
restaurants was a unanimous call by the
Atlanta City Council for the repeal of
anti-gay policies. The chain, located
through out the south, has been the focus
of protests by Queer Nation and other
groups since early this year when it in-
stituted a policy of firing gay employees.
About a dozen employees are thought to
have lost their jobs because of the pol-
icy.(0utlines)

Wellesley Waffles on Hiring Decision

Wellesley, MA - Administrators at
Wellesley College hired a lesbian to run a
dormitory with her partner, but at the last
minute assigned her to a upperclass dorm
rather than the freshman dorm she was
originally chosen for. Some students op-
posed the hiring; “We don’t want to see
the college celebrate this”, one said. “We
prefer a situation of mutual respect and
tolerance but not going beyond that.”
Other students complained the move was
a “cop—out” in response to fears that ex-
posing freshmen to lesbians might be
“catching”. (Burlington Free Press)

Gay Rights Suit in Japan

Tokyo, Japan - In J apan’s first gay rights
case, the Association for Gay and Les-
bian Rights has sued the city of Tokyo
for refusing to rent space in a city you ac-
tivity center for a retreat. President of the
Association Hiroshi Niimi said they de-
cided to file the suit because bigotry to-
ward Japanese homosexuals is “wide-
spread”. “It has been said that Japanese
homosexuals are relatively free because
there is no law banning homosexuality
and every major city has gay bars. But
elementary school students, not to men-
tion adults, daily utter words such as
‘fag’ and ‘queer’. We came out (about
this) so that we would never have to lie
about who we are.”(0utlines)

Canadian Armed Forces to End Anti-
Gay Policies

Toronto, Canada - Senior Canadian mil-
itary officials said that the policy baring
lesbians and gays from serving in the
armed forces is about to end. While no
formal announcement has been made, the
change is in the works. The admission of
women into all roles in the armed forces
(except submarines) and pressure from
court cases going back to 1982 both lead
to the impending change. The move was
hailed as long overdue by gay advocates
and human rights supporters. “It’s a sim-
ple employment-equity issue,” said
Christine Donald, of the Coalition for
Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario. (New
York Times)

New York City School Board May Bar
Scouts’ in Schools

New York, NY - Lawyers for the New
York City Board of Education are re-
viewing whether the Boy Scouts’ ban on
gays violates anti-discrimination policies.
Board president H. Carl McCall made the
announcement the day before a Sep-
tember 19th demonstration by Queer Na-
tion outside the offices of the Greater
New York Council of the Scouts. Joe
Dalton, a former Eagle Scout said the
purpose of the demonstration was to en-
courage the Scouts to change their policy.
“Gay people are parents and teach-
ers...they serve as elected officials and
are leaders in business. The Boy Scouts
must recognize that Gay adults can be
good role models.”

The Boy Scouts of America has no plans
to reverse its ban. “Our standards of
membership are the same today as they
were 81 years ago, and we will not
change them based on pressure from any
activist group”, said spokesperson Blake
Lewis. The New York City action is only
the latest in the challenge of the Scouts”
discriminatory policies. In September the
San Francisco Board of Education voted

December 1991

to bar a new Scout program from its
schools and earlier this summer United
Way of the Greater San Francisco Area
refused to fund a $9,000 grant request by
the Scouts. (Washington Blade)

MGM Fights Pink Panther Patrol

New York, NY - The Pink Panther Pa-
trol, a New York City group which pa-
trols the streets to help deter violence
against lesbians and gays, is being sued
by MGM studios for using the name
“Pink Panther”. While waiting for the
case to come to trial, MGM asked for an
preliminary injunction to bar the group
from using the name and a pink paw
print on its shirts. A New York judge
agreed that the use of the name might
“Seriously impair the value and con-
tinued usefulness of the trademar ” the
group’s “decidedly serious image could
amend the character’s carefree, comedic,
nonpolitical fun”, and perhaps suggest
that MGM is a sponsor of the street pa-
tml. The patrol pointed out that there is a
bar and liquor store in New York also us-
ing the name and that , rather than
“harm”, MGM had experienced an in-
crease in merchandising revenue in the
past year. The judge did allow the patrol
to continue using the pink pawprint and
suggested it might have a stronger case if
it simply changed its name to the plural
form - the Pink Panthers. (Washington
Blade) V

  

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