Silence Broken
Spokane AIDS Network officially endorses city's human rights ordinance, condemns discrimination
The wordsarefewhutthemessageisofficialanditsmeaning crystal clear.
In a precedent-setting action July 7, the board of directors of Spokane AIDS Network unanimously enacted legislation to announce the agency's unqualified endorsement of the city's humanrightsordinanceandoppositiontoanyform of discrimination.
Theboardactionmarkedanendtotheagency's history of non-involvement in political and governmentalissues.
"Wecannottoleratediscriminationinanyform - and discrimination against gays, in particular, has contributed to the AIDS epidemic," charged Board President Tim Bartley.
He said that Spokane AIDS etwork initially was supported solely hy lesbians and gay men, "Butwe·reattractinghroad-based en•· ··•.. involvement now hecau. C the disea_,..., ·�_il1ecting everybody. mostly women infected b'y heterosexual men."
Inacknowledging thecit_ 'spassageofthehumanrightsordinance. the SA resolutionstates:
■ "individuals living with HIV and AIDS have faced extremeprejudiceand discrimination;
■ "prejudice and discrimination are major driversoftheHIV/AIDSepidemicinWashingtonState andacrossthe nation:
■ "tolerationofprejudiceagainstonegroupcreatesanopendoor for prejudice againstothers;
■ "SpokaneAIDS Network supports the human rights ordinance as passed hy the Spokane City
Troy Nickerson, Dianatftfi .·•· Heppler were happily si,rpris crowd greeting their rf}turn InternationalAirport See story, .• Council on Jan. 25, 1999, and oppo �-discriminationofany kind."
Bartleysaidtheresolut _,evelopedasthefirst projecthyapublicpolicyadvisorycommitteecreated hy the board this s in .
He said thecommitteealsointends "toreview policiesfornamesreporting,needleexchangeand other legislativeissuesofconcern."
Bartley, newly elected president of the board, hasbeeninvolved withSANsince 1990,whenhe served as a kitchen volunteer for the meals program. He has served onthe board since 1996 and as secretary thelast twoyears.
AlsoelectedwereW. "Dub"Evans,vice-president: Kim Buck, secretary, and Jan Loux, treasurer.Allboardmembersarevolunteersandserve without pay.
Prideis a Model-T (tired) andit's timetoredesign
'"We'rehere. we·requeer;'I'msickofit,"says national gay journalist Chris Ott. "The gay Pride agendaisabout partyiAg.notpolitics. It'stimeto talkabout 'gayequality:··
by Christopher Ott
Gay Pride Month is finally over, after a big weekend of partying and parades in New York, San Francisco. Chicago and other cities around the world. Millionso(peoplecommemoratedthe StonewalI rehelIion. the shot-heard-'round-theworld brawl in 1969that catalyzed a movement.
We got together and restated positions on everythingfromhate-crimestogaymarriage, andif dykes on hikes. feather hnas and shirtless gym boysareanymeasure. agoodtimewashadbyall. In the midst of this good-natured celebration ofStonewall.however.�areappraisalofthePride strategy is beginning toemerge. After three decades, thepoliticsof Pridearebeginningtolook alittlestaleand outofstep withthetimes,andit is becoming clear tn hoth gay people and our straight allies that we need to take a new step forward. WithJune s Pridecelebrationsover,that
step is to ask what the politics of Pride has left undone, and why.
Gay Pride has been an enormous success. It's increasinglysafeto come out, we've won passage of a fewgay-rightslaws and it's becoming politically expedient (at least for Democrats) tosupport us. But there ' havebeensetbacks. Anti-gaylegislation like the 1996 Defense of Marriage Actisthelawofthe land. Brutal hate crimeslikethemurstaff photo der of Matthew The Eastern Washington Shepard are reUniversity eagle mascot mindersofwhatcan made his maiden March still happen to any appearancethis year. gay person in the country - or even straight people suspected of being gay - if we're in the wrong place at the Continued on page 5
Bulletin: Human rights law challenged
AcitizengroupcallingitselfEqualRights,Not Special Rights filed signature petitions with the City Clerk's officeJuly26 inan effort toremove referencesto"sexualorientation"fromSpokane's humanrights ordinance, an informedsource told StonewallNewsasitpreparedforpress.
The petitions contain some 5,000 signatures; approximately 3,000 valid signatures are necessary to subject the matter to a citywide vote this November.
Thegroupmisseda Februaryfilingthat would have immediately prevented the ordinance from becoming law. They announced they would pursuesignature-gatheringintothesummer.
In response, a local group of citizens organized under the name of No on Discrimination tofightforfairnessand preservetheordinance, and registered with the state as a political action committee.
SpeakingonbehalfoftheNODcampaign,Dean LynchtoldStonewallNews,"Wearealocalgroup representing fair-minded citizens of Spokane. We'reparents1 employees,employers, taxpayers, homeowners, renters, and we believe in fairness forall."
No on Discrimination may be contacted by writingP.O.Box922,Spokane.WA99210-0922, telephoning 532-9803 or by e-mail at NODSpokane@juno.com.
SecondKentuckycity bansdiscrimination
Two more to consider equality provisos in fall
LEXINGTON, Ky. -TheLexington-FayetteUrban County Council last month voted 12-3 to amendthemergedcity-county'shumanrightsordinancebybanningdiscriminationinemployment, housing and public accommodations based on a person's actual or imputed sexual orientation or gender identity
The council on July 1 had rejected by a 10-4 voteamovetoeliminategenderidentityfromthe measure.According to the Gay People's (Cleveland, Ohio)Chronicle,genderidentityinthefinal draftwasdefinedasapplyingto"individualswho had undergone a sex change operation or manifested their transgendered identity in a manner otherthandress."
The city-county council vote mirrored public opinion.
A marketing poll conducted June 10-14 revealedthatthree-fourths of Lexington votersfelt itshouldbeillegal"tofireornothirepeoplesimplybecauseoftheirsexualorientation."
LexingtonjoinsLouisvilleastheonlytwoKentuckycitiestohavenondiscriminationordinances thatincludesexualorientationorgenderidentity, although two more jurisdictions are expected to considersimilarmeasuresthisfall.
Louisville's law, which also includes limited protectionsforgenderidentity,onlycoversworkplace discrimination, but a council committee is consideringrecommendingtheinclusionofhousing andpublicaccommodations.
Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, planstoconsideracountywideversionofthecity's ordinance, and Henderson, on Kentucky's western border with Indiana, also is expected to discussasimilarordinancethisfall, accordingtothe Chronicle.
EqualRights:
You can help bridge the River of Denial guestcomme11taiyhyMai·acioLorenz
Gay liberation has come a long way over the past several years. There are places where gay couples can reapthe benefits of domestic partnership and somecities, like Spokane, have ordi'nances that prohibit discrimination based on actual or perceivedsexualorientation. Weevenhave openly gayand lesbian legislators, from local governments to the federal government. We still havea long way to go, but progress is evident all overthe place.
But suppose gays and lesbians were considered to beminorities in the same way as people of color under federal and state laws. There would be programs toensure that homosexuals are represented in the workplace, schools, etc. The month ofJune wouldprobablybemandated by the federal government as Gay History Month. I could learn about Langston Hughes in February and in June. That would be great. But I foresee a can of worms opening up if this should ever happen.
Notonly would there be the �bvious opposition from religious fundamentalists and conservatives, but also from within the gay and lesbian community ofcolor. The gay populace is pretty much !he same as our heterosexual counterparts when 11 comes to dealing with the issues of race. TheAmerican gay liberation movement is predominately white men with middle class incomes. Just like their heterosexual counterparts. gay white men have better access to healthcare education andjobs. White gay men are still ver'y much privileged in the pursuit ofhappiness, unless they choose tocome out of the closet. When faced withthe ugliness of homophobia, gay white men feel that their experience of hate is just as legitimateand oppressive as racism and sexism. Such a statement is very complex and debatable. A person of color could make the assessment that it is a "choice" for gay white men to be open about their sexuality.African. HispanicorAsianAmericans cannot make the --choice·· to face racism. On the ?lher hand. white gay men can argue that a person 1snot born Christian but it isa choice, and that "choice" is protected in the Bill of Rights. But the bottom line is that homosexual white men still uphold such institutionalized privileges, unlike theirlesbian sisters and gay brothersof color. There arenot so many gay white activists trying to break this status quoeither.
Ifhomosexuals were a federally recognized minority. gay white men could play two cards. One beingprivy to the advantages brought on by the
•August news.
Look in the mirror; is bigotry reflected?
legacy of institutionalized racism. Or they might choose to be openly gay ifit proved to be advantageous to obtain employment and educati?nal ?pport�nities through such programs hke affumativeaction. Gaysandlesbians of color �o�ld �ave �o fighta battleon two fronts. Fighting mstltut1onahzedracismand thehistorical op�ression oftheir sexualorientationin whichgay white men are very much a partof inbotharenas, could work forand againstthem. This would most likely depend on which card gay white menchose to play, leaving the fate of gays and lesbians of colorin thehandsof the privilegedclass again.
Historically, theoppressedinheritthe foesoftheir oppressors, likewhentheAthenianstookcontrolof theGreek city-statesin454 B.C. inwhichtheywere slaughteredanddeniedthecivillibertiesofthose whochallengedthem.TheirPersianrulershaddone thesameunto themfor severalhundredsofyears. Homosexualsof color willmorethanlikely fall undera similarsubjugationfrom white gay menif theydonot playtheircardsright.Thegayliberation movement(gaywhitemen) mustconfronttheirown prejudicesandbiasesandworktoend institutionalizedracism. Qaysandlesbiansof color m�stcontinuetoraisetheissuesof race andgender w1thmthehomosexualcommunity, because homophobiaisnotnecessarilysynonymouswith rncismandsexism. Becauseofthelikelihoodofthis disparity, the movement shouldnotfocus its attentionon �u��afederalmandate. It wouldonly provetobe d1v1s1vefromtheoppositionandwithin ourown community
The movementrarely addresses these problems andsome whitehomosexuals do not believe it shouldbe th1 e agenda of gayliberation. Such a statement is clearly ignorantto the diversity within thehomosexual population.AfricanAmericanscall thisthe Riverof Denial. Itis whenmajorityculture does not acknowledge subtle racismas opposed to overt racism. Both are just as damaging as the other. Wemust follow the example of Harvey Milk �ho sat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors m the 1970s. This brave man was assassinated' along withthe mayor, for standing up forhuman rights thatincludedthe unprivilegedclasses of color, the poor, women, immigrants, the working class-and he just happened to be a gay white male ofJewish descent. He was inclusive in his Eberationfor socialjustice.The gayliberation movementneeds to beinclusiveand it should also ?e emphasizedthat it is a human rights issue, not JUSta gayissue.The gayliberationmovementmust understand thelegacy of its "whiteness" as it clearly affects the livelihood of all racial minorities· and women.
Ftve Years Ago - l3ack two proposed anti-gayfi tiatives fail to gather en natures toqualify themfo lotbox showdowninWas stateinNovember.InIdaho, zen group gathers enough tures for Proposition One..t stateand local lawsfrom.pr inglesbiansandgaymen, crimination, and lead, Aryan Nation annou seeka parade perm' Coeur d'Alene nexf Meanwhile, Eugene b, Oregon'sfourth cityft(:t crimination ofgays.
< oyearsa mmermeyer NationalGua ntthehighlyde eran is reinstat trorder rulin edon sexual o ·nstitutionaL Di ayed Sama $�and on .·· witched" exuali tecan
PumpsII.
Letters
AllareequalbeforeGod
Conflictavoidance and/orresolutionis absolutely essentialto survivalonourplanetas well asto personalgrowthandfulfillment.
Only equalscanbeatpeace, so to avoid warwemustrecognize all whom wemeet asbrothers/sisters andhavenojudgmentormental reservationsaboutthematter. Because God'sequal sons/daughters haveeverythingincommon with their Creator, thereisno basis for competition orone seeking power or control overanother.
AfocusonGod'skingdom and theequalplacethat weall shareas oneinitputsanendto all formsof combatinonefell sweep, and anythingshortofthiswill atbe t serveina palliativewa ·rat eT - � bringingcure.
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