National/International News

Canadian Immigration
Grants Lesbian Status

Canada - Canadian Immigration officials grant-
ed immigrant status to an Irish lesbian, Bridget
Coll, whose application they had earlier re-
jected. Coll's lover, Canadian citizen Christine
Morrisey sued the Immigration Department in
February when she was told she could not
sponsor Coll’s request. Lawyer for the couple,
Rob Hughes, speculated that the granting of
immigrant status was an attempt to “subvert the
litigation”; expecting the government to move
to have the lawsuit dismissed now that Coll’s
request has been granted.

The Immigration Department has refused to
comment on the case, the first in which im-
migrant status like Coll’s has been granted to
“legal family members” of Canadian citizens.
In response to the precedent set by the decision
in Coll’s case, The Lesbian and Gay Irnmigra-
tion Task force plans to test the ruling by filing
complaints with the Canadian Human Rights
Commission on behalf of 12 binational couples
whose immigration petitions have been denied.
(The Advocate)

Weld Signs Partner Benefits Orders

Boston, MA - Massachusetts Governor Wil-
liam Weld signed two executive orders in Oc-
tober, granting domestic partner benefits. One
executive orders allows gay state employees to
take bereavement leave or personal leave for
the death or serious illness of a partner or fami-
ly member. The other order allows visitation
rights at state institutions (including hospitals,
and prisons) for partners of gays or lesbians
who are inmates, residents or patients. Partner
relationships are defined as caring, mutual sup-
port between two competent unmarried adults
who share living space and expenses and have
“a mutual expectation that the relationship is
exclusive and will endure overtime.” (The
Washington Blade)

D.C. Allows Domestic Partner
Registration

Washington, D.C. - Despite action by the U.S.
House of Representatives to kill the D.C. do-
mestic partnership law in late September, the
Ctty has found a way to allow registration by

having couples pay for and perform the paper-
work themselves. The House voted 235-173 to
ban the D.C. government from using any of its
fimds to implement the measure approved by
the city council in July. Under orders from
D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt-Kelly, district of-
ficials implemented the partnership registration
by requiring couples to prepare their own dec-
larations of domestic partnership, obtain sig-
natures from notaries public, and mail their
declarations to the D.C. government with a re-
quest for a return receipt. (Outlines, The Ad-
vocate, The Washington Blade)

Marines Threaten Suit Over Tattoo

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Marine Corps has
threatened to sue an AIDS service group over
its use of an ad for safe sex in which two men
are hugging and one has a Marine Corps em-
blem tattooed on his arm. Marine Major K.H.
Winters, a legal official for the Marines wrote
the San Francisco AIDS Foundation threat-
ening to sue for copyright infringement if the
group continued to run the ad. Winters said the
ad could “create the inference that the Marine
Corps is somehow partially responsible for the
spread of AIDS in the San Francisco area." and
that people viewing the ad could infer that the
Marines have given “tacit approval of homo-
sexuality." AIDS Foundation director Pat
Christen has refused to pull the ad. (The Wash-
ington Blade)

Lesbians May be at Especially High
Risk for Breast Cancer

Washington, D.C. - As many as one in three
lesbians may develop breast cancer, according
to a report by Dr. Suzarme Haynes an epidemi-
ologist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
(The NCI estimates that about one in eight of
all women in America eventually develop
breast cancer.) Haynes found that lesbians have
a high tendency to fall into several of the high
risk factors for breast cancer. These include the
following:

Childlessness: Women who never bear chil-
dren have a higher incidence of breast cancer
than women who do. Haynes said that as more
lesbians decide to have children through al-
temative insemination, their risk may decrease.

High Body Mass and Alcoholism: Consump-
tion of a high-fat diet and alcoholism have
been tied to increased risk for breast cancer in
a number of studies. The National Lesbian
Health Care Survey and other studies have
found a higher incidence of both these factors
among lesbians than among heterosexual
women.

Lack of Regular Gynecologic Care: A number
of studies, including the National Lesbian
Health Survey, have found that lesbians are far
less likely than heterosexual women to seek
regular gynecologic care. Unlike lesbians,
many heterosexual women receive Pap-smear
tests and breast exams when they visit health
care providers to get oral contraceptives.

Haynes said her report synthesizes several pre-
viously conducted studies and is the first to
link risk factors for breast cancer to an in-
creased incidence among lesbians. The report
was prepared independently and received no
funding from the NCI (part of the National In-
stitutes of Health). While National Institutes of
Health Director Dr. Bernadine Healy initiated
the first ever federal study of women's health
issues, the program has been criticized for not
including studies of lesbian health issues. (The
Advocate, The Washington Blade)

Navy Ordered to Reinstate Gay Sailor

Los Angeles, CA - A Federal district judge is-
sued an injunction in mid November, ordering
the Navy to temporarily reinstate a petty of-
ficer who disclosed his homosexuality on na-
tional television and was discharged three
months later. Following his discharge, Keith
Meinhold sued in Federal court contending
that the discharge violated the Constitution's
equal protection guarantee and that the Navy
had acted unfairly by refusing to tell him at the
hearing by what standard he was being
judged; for acknowledging his homosexuality
or for having engaged in homosexual acts,
something Meinhold has never acknowledged.
Unless the governments successful in an ap-
peal against the injunction it will remain in ef-
fect, allowing Meinhold to return to active
duty, until his suit is resolved. (The New York
Times) V

December 1992

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