Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 16:17:27 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines 05.27.97 GLAADLINES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 1997 contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org News, Tips and Breaking Stories about the Gay & Lesbian Community GAY YOUTH ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL PENDING IN CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY: A bill to prohibit discrimination against California public school students will be voted on by the state Assembly within the next week or so, according to LIFE, a lesbian and gay lobbying group. The Education Code already prohibits discrimination on a host of other issues, and the bill, AB 101, would add "sexual orientation" to that list. "The real crux of the bill creates a situation where teachers and administrators must step in when a student is being harassed or beaten because of her sexual orientation," said Ellen McCormick, legislative advocate for LIFE. For more information contact Ellen McCormick (LIFE) at (916) 444-0424 or e-mail at ellen.mccormick@lifelobby.com. TWO BAY CITIES HIT THE ROAD FOR FAIR TREATMENT OF LESBIANS AND GAY MEN: Both Boston and San Francisco have begun awareness campaigns about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and are using public transportation to get the message across. On May 20, buses and subway trains in Boston began carrying ads pushing for equal treatment in health care for the gay community, under the slogan "Homophobia in Health Care in Unhealthy." According to State Health Commissioner David H. Mulligan, the project is an attempt to "further broaden the dialogue and bring the issues into sharper focus." He added that this campaign was the first of its kind in the nation. In San Francisco, District Attorney Terence Hallinan unveiled a new project on May 22 to raise awareness of domestic violence in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community through ads placed on MUNI buses and targeted educational pamphlets. For more information contact Commissioner Mulligan (Massachusetts) at (617) 624-5200 or Crystal Weston (Family Violence Project-San Francisco) at (415) 553-1035. CLASS ACTION SUIT CHALLENGES GAY DISCHARGES IN CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD: On May 27, First Lieutenant Andrew Holmes, a former officer in the California Army National Guard who was discharged after he told his supervisor he is gay, filed a class action lawsuit in the San Francisco Superior Court against the State of California and the California National Guard. "In bringing this suit, I hope to end discrimination against gay men and lesbians who are serving their state and country as members of the California National Guard," said Holmes. According to Todd Thompson, a partner with Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Flak and Rabkin, which is representing Holmes pro bono, "California law, unlike federal law, expressly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and in government agencies. Regardless of the validity of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy under federal law, the California National Guard may not discriminate against gay men and lesbians." For more information contact Todd Thompson (Howard, Rice) at (415) 434-1600. INTERSEX PEOPLE SPEAK TO APA: The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) hosted a hospitality suite, sponsored by the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) convention in San Diego last week. This marked the first time the intersex community was able to address the APA and appeal to psychiatrists to help stop the harmful, medically unnecessary practice of genital surgery on intersex infants. "Oppression of intersexuals stems from the same source as homophobia," says Cheryl Chase, Executive Director of ISNA, "in fact, surgeons emphasize to parents that genital surgery will ensure a heterosexual outcome for their child with ambiguous genitalia." For more information contact Cheryl Chase (ISNA) at (707)775-3121 or e-mail cchase@isna.org. PIONEERS HONORED AT HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS CEREMONY: The 1997 Felipa de Souza Awards, recognizing those who have made a significant contributions to the freedom of sexual minorities throughout the world, will be awarded at a ceremony at the New York Academy of Art in New York City on June 2. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), which sponsors the event, named the award to honor a Brazilian woman convicted by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1591 for sexual relations with another woman. The awards this year honor Demet Demir, a transsexual women from Turkey who was the first-ever Amnesty International prisoner of conscience based on sexual orientation-related persecution; the Sister Namibia Collective, a feminist organization in Namibia publicly fighting against the recent homophobic crackdowns of the government; and Genc Xhelaj, founder and president of the first and only gay and lesbian organization in Albania. For more information contact Sydney Levy (IGLHRC) at (415) 255-8680 or e-mail sydney@iglhrc.org. To report events that merit media coverage, or news stories breaking in your area, please contact us. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is the nation's lesbian & gay news bureau and the only national lesbian & gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. 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