Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 17:02:14 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines July 7, 1998 GLAADLINES- July 7, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org NINE CITIES JOIN TOGETHER TO SEEK EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL: Aspen (Colo.), Atlanta, Boulder (Colo.), Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland (Ore.), and Seattle have agreed to join San Francisco in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a law that repeals Cincinnati, Ohio's ordinance protecting against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and which prohibits any future laws granting lesbians and gay men equal protections from discrimination in housing and employment. According to the San Francisco weekly Bay Area Reporter, the nine cities have argued that Cincinnati's 1993 law "undermines the ability" of cities "to treat all their citizens impartially," and violates the Constitution's equal protection guarantees. In 1996, the high court struck down a similar anti-gay Colorado law known as Amendment 2. For more information contact Mark Slavin (Communications Director, San Francisco City Attorney's Office) at (415) 554-6397. VATICAN'S RED PENCIL MARS GAY-FRIENDLY CATHOLIC STATEMENT: Dignity/USA, an organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Roman Catholics, said in a July 1 press release that changes in a pastoral letter on homosexuality serve to "dilute the message and spirit" of the highly-publicized 1997 document. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Committee on Marriage and Family Life drafted the changes which were announced June 28 after approval from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. The letter, "Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers," was issued Oct. 1, 1997. Geared toward encouraging Catholic parents to be more supportive of gay children, it won wide praise from many people of faith. Subsequently however, seven changes were made to the document. One example: A sentence originally calling sexual orientation a "fundamental" dimension of one's personality now instead terms it "deep-seated." Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, who leads the marriage and family committee, said the modifications were "to ensure the completeness and to clarify the intent." But Dignity Executive Director Charles L. Cox said, "Each of the changes represents a capitulation to the conservative voices in the Church." For more information contact Charles L. Cox (Dignity/USA) at (202) 861-0017. LOTT'S HORMEL BLOCK MAY MAKE APPOINTMENT CLINTON'S DECISION: Senate Majority Leader Trett Lott says there will not be time for a vote on James Hormel's nomination as ambassador to Luxembourg before Congress recesses for the summer, according to the Web site of the Advocate. That said, the ball is now back in President Clinton's court: When lawmakers are in recess, presidents may make interim appointments for specified periods without congressional approval. Clinton has used that power repeatedly in the past on other issues but has not said whether he will employ it for Hormel, who would be the first openly gay U.S. ambassador. For more information contact David Smith (Human Rights Campaign Communications Director) at (202) 628-4160. VIRTUAL POPCORN IN HOLLYWOOD: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, OUTFEST '98, is going surfing: Morgan Rumpf, festival director, announced July 2 that Gay Wired and Earthlink will host Interactive@OUTFEST throughout the July 9-20 festival. For the first time, computer terminals at the festival will showcase original lesbian and gay video productions made exclusively for the Internet, video trailers made by independent lesbian and gay film producers and a display of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender multimedia artists. Also planned is a panel discussion entitled "Get Wired: Queer Filmmakers & The Web." Rumpf said, "We're hoping to create a dialogue that will help these communities take advantage of this new mass broadcast medium." Interactive@OUTFEST will also premiere "Brandon" by Shu Lee Cheang, the first artist piece for the Web commissioned by the Guggenheim. For more information contact Matthew Skallerud (OUTFEST/GayWired) at (760) 724-5299. 'OMINOUS' TREND IN AIDS ATTITUDES: University of California, Davis, research psychologist Gregory Herek, in a study presented at the 12th World AIDS conference in Geneva, reported "ominous" patterns that could signal increased discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients. The Davis (Cal.) Enterprise reported June 23 that Herek found "more than one American in four feels uncomfortable about being around a person with AIDS. And a large portion of the population still doesn't understand that AIDS is not spread through casual social contact. Moreover, the extent to which people with AIDS are blamed for their illness seems to be increasing.'' Herek warned, "As these perceptions increase, there is a real possibility that prejudice and discrimination against people with AIDS will also increase.'' Herek said his study did produce some good news, relatively speaking: "Support for extremely coercive policies, such as quarantine and public identification of people with AIDS, has declined over the past decade.'' It is now 17 percent and 19 percent respectively, compared to 36 and 30 percent in 1991. For more information contact Dr. Gregory Hereck (UC Davis) at (530) 757-3240. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy 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. "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. 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