Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 16:22:50 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines 06.30.97 GLAADLINES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 1997 News, Tips and Breaking Stories about the Gay & Lesbian Community contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org CDA RULING RAISES NEW INTERNET QUESTIONS: As the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) joins civil liberties and free speech organizations in applauding the Supreme Court's decision that found the vaguely-worded Communications Decency Act (CDA) unconstitutional, Internet filtering software and rating systems are now posing a greater challenge for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. In an effort to regulate the Internet, filtering software has become a standard feature on technology platforms. As new companies form to meet the need of regulation, anti-gay filtering is starting to crop up. Recently, GLAAD found that the new Sega Saturn game console uses an anti-gay content filter through its PlanetWeb browser. At the same time, Internet rating systems are also being created in an effort for consistent regulation. "GLAAD is here to work with companies to educate on the importance of keeping gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender educational and support resources open and available," said Loren Javier, Interactive Media Director for GLAAD, For more information contact Loren Javier at (213)658-6775 ext. 18 or via e-mail at javier@glaad.org. GROUPS FACE LONG HAWAII MARRIAGE ROAD AHEAD: While Hawaii's high court reconsiders the constitutionality of forbidding same-sex marriage, a proposed constitutional amendment giving the legislature the right to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman may win popular approval in the November 1998 statewide vote. National groups, including Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (LLDEF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) have already begun strategizing with local grassroots activists on a public education campaign to turn public opinion against the amendment and in favor of equal rights for same-sex couples. For more information contact Peg Byron (LLDEF Director of Public Education) at (212) 809-8585. LESBIAN ASYLUM VICTORY: "PERSECUTION REMAINS PERSECUTION": In the first asylum case regarding persecution based on sexual orientation to reach the federal court level, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled June 24 in favor of Russian lesbian Alla Pitcherskaia. The ruling came after appealing a previous ruling deeming that threats of forced psychiatric institutionalization, including shock treatment, did not constitute persecution because the Russian government had "good intentions." The unanimous decision overturning that ruling stated, "Human rights laws cannot be sidestepped by simply couching actions that torture mentally or physically in benevolent terms such as 'curing' the victims....Persecution by any other name remains persecution." According to Sydney Levy, Program Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), "The ruling brings a measure of sanity to this case. It is just common sense that persecution is persecution, no matter what your intentions." For more information contact Sydney Levy (IGLHRC) at (415) 255-8680. BOWERS ADULTERY RAISES DOUBTS ABOUT SODOMY LAW: Former Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers, who has aggressively defended the state sodomy law, has admitted to committing a ten-year adulterous affair, which is also illegal in the state. Since Bowers' admission, state legislators have announced plans to introduce bills to decriminalize private sexual acts between consenting adults, including sodomy, adultery and fornication. While the latter two are misdemeanors carrying a maximum one-year jail sentence, sodomy is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Additionally, lawyer Robin Shahar, whose firing from Bowers' office after a private religious wedding with her lesbian partner was deemed constitutional in a May 30 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling, has asked the court to either rehear her case or vacate the ruling. "In light of Bowers' admission, the basis for the court's decision to uphold Shahar's dismissal is on very shaky legal ground," said Michael Adams, staff attorney with the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Marriage Project. "When it came to his own heterosexual affair, Bowers understood that there's a difference between an employee's professional and personal life. The Court should apply the same standard to Shahar's job." For more information contact Michael Adams (ACLU) at (212) 549-2500. 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. To subscribe contact Don Romesburg at (415) 861-2244 or at romesburg@glaad.org. 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