The New Mexico bill to ban anti-gay discrimination has been killed in
committee in the House of Representatives.  After passing the Senate 23-18,
it made it through the House Government and Urban Affairs Committee with a
"do pass" recommendation, and then survived a threatened rejection of that
committee's report on the House floor.  It was tabled this morning during
hearings in the House Judiciary Committee.  The bill would have added the
phrase "sexual orientation" to the already existing Human Rights Act.

We got some outstanding support for this bill, and I'm confident that the
bill will make it into law during the next regular legislative session (which,
unfortunately, is not until 1995).  The city councils of Las Cruces and Santa
Fe both supported the bill, as did the NM ACLU, the Albuquerque chapter of
NAACP, the New Mexico Psychological Association, the state's Evangelical
Lutherans, and four of the state's five Jewish congregations, among many other
endorsements.

I am now more convinced than ever that, though it would be nice to have films
like "Hate, Lies, and Videotape" and good public relations people, the most
powerful tool we have had in this struggle has been the willingness of ordinary
unstrait New Mexicans to come out of the closet and ask for the support of
their strait friends.  Time after time, it has been these personal encounters
that have made the difference.  Though the stereotypes have hurt us, they are
powerless against personal connections with queers.  The lesson is:  come out,
to everyone who knows and cares about you.

Gabriel (in New Mexico)