STONEWALL N
Vol. VIII, No. B
e W S 'Y N O r t h W e S t
I'm 'Coming Out' for Human Rights
- Sharon O'Brien
See page 8
Flagship for the Gay and Lesbian Community of Spokane and the Inland Northwest
Silence Broken
Bulletin:
Human rights law challenged
Spokane AIDS Network officially endorses city's human rights ordinance, condemns discrimination.
The words are few hut the message is official and its meaning crystal clear. In a precedent-setting action July 7, the board of directors of Spokane AIDS Network unani mously enacted legislation to announce the agency's unqualified endorsement of the city's human rights ordinance and opposition to any form of discrimination. The board action marked an end to the agency's history of non-involvement in political and gov ernmental issues. "We cannot tolerate discrimination in any form - 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, "But we ·re attracting hroad-based en•· · · • .. in volvement now hecau. C the disea_,..., ·� _il1ecting everybody. mostly women infected b'y hetero sexual men."
In acknowledging the cit_ 's passage of the hu man rights ordinance. the SA resolution states: "individuals living with HIV and AIDS have faced extreme prejudice and discrimination; "prejudice and discrimination are major driv ers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Washington State and across the nation: "toleration of prejudice against one group cre ates an open door for prejudice against others; "Spokane AIDS Network supports the human rights ordinance as passed hy the Spokane City
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Troy Nickerson, Dianatftfi .·•· . Heppler were happily si,rpris c rowd greeting their rf}turn International Airport See story, .• Council on Jan. 25, 1999, and oppo. �- discrimi nation of any kind." Bartley said the resolut _ _,eveloped as the first project hy a public policy advisory committee cre ated hy the board this s in . He said the committee also intends "to review policies for names reporting, needle exchange and other legislative issues of concern." Bartley, newly elected president of the board, has been involved with SAN since 1990, when he served as a kitchen volunteer for the meals pro gram. He has served on the board since 1996 and as secretary the last two years. Also elected were W. "Dub" Evans, vice-presi dent: Kim Buck, secretary, and Jan Loux, trea surer. All board members are volunteers and serve without pay.
Pride is a Model-T (tired) and it's time to redesign
'"We're here. we ·re queer;' I'm sick of it," says national gay journalist Chris Ott. "The gay Pride agenda is about partyiAg. not politics. It's time to talk about 'gay equality:·· 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. Millions o(people commemorated the Stonewal I rehel I ion. the shot-heard-'round-the world brawl in 1969 that catalyzed a movement. We got together and restated positions on ev erything from hate-crimes to gay marriage, and if dykes on hikes. feather hnas and shirtless gym boys are any measure. a good time was had by all. In the midst of this good-natured celebration of Stonewall. however.�a reappraisal of the Pride strategy is beginning to emerge. After three de cades, the politics of Pride are beginning to look a little stale and out of step with the times, and it is becoming clear tn hoth gay people and our straight allies that we need to take a new step forward. With June ·s Pride celebrations over, that
August 1999
step is to ask what the politics of Pride has left undone, and why. Gay Pride has been an enormous success. It's increasingly safe to come out, we've won passage of a few gay-rights laws and it's becoming politically expedi ent (at least for Democrats) to sup port us. But there ' have been setbacks. Anti-gay legislation like the 1996 De fense of Marriage Act is the law of the land. Brutal hate crimes like the murstaff photo der of Matthew The Eastern Washi ngton Shepard are re Universi ty eagle mascot minders of what can made his maiden March still happen to any appearance this 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
A citizen group calling itself Equal Rights, Not Special Rights filed signature petitions with the City Clerk's office July 26 in an effort to remove references to "sexual orientation" from Spokane's human rights ordinance, an informed source told Stonewall News as it prepared for press. The petitions contain some 5,000 signatures; approximately 3,000 valid signatures are neces sary to subject the matter to a citywide vote this November. The group missed a February filing that would have immediately prevented the ordinance from becoming law. They announced they would pur sue signature-gathering into the summer. In response, a local group of citizens orga nized under the name of No on Discrimination to fight for fairness and preserve the ordinance, and registered with the state as a political ac tion committee. Speaking on behalf of the NOD campaign, Dean Lynch told Stonewall News, "We are a local group representing fair-minded citizens of Spokane. We're parents 1 employees, employers, taxpayers, homeowners, renters, and we believe in fairness for all." No on Discrimination may be contacted by writing P.O. Box 922, Spokane. WA 99210-0922, telephoning 532-9803 or by e-mail at NODSpokane@juno.com.
Second Kentucky city bans discrimination Two more to consider equality provisos in fall LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Lexington-Fayette Ur ban County Council last month voted 12-3 to amend the merged city-county's human rights or dinance by banning discrimination in employment, 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 vote a move to eliminate gender identity from the measure. According to the Gay People's (Cleve land, Ohio) Chronicle, gender identity in the final draft was defined as applying to "individuals who had undergone a sex change operation or mani fested their transgendered identity in a manner other than dress." The city-county council vote mirrored public opinion. A marketing poll conducted June 10-14 re vealed that three-fourths of Lexington voters felt it should be illegal "to fire or not hire people sim ply because of their sexual orientation." Lexington joins Louisville as the only two Kentucky cities to have nondiscrimination ordinances that include sexual orientation or gender identity, although two more jurisdictions are expected to consider similar measures this fall. Louisville's law, which also includes limited protections for gender identity, only covers work place discrimination, but a council committee is considering recommending the inclusion of hous ing and public accommodations. Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, plans to consider a countywide version of the city's ordinance, and Henderson, on Kentucky's west ern border with Indiana, also is expected to dis cuss a similar ordinance this fall, according to the Chronicle.