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JULY
PROGRAM: Don Carrel: HIV/AIDS Educator
"I was infected with HIV in 1982, and diagnosed with AIDS in 1995. After I became a person living with AIDS, I made the decision to dedicate myself to preventing HIV infection in the youth of America. Since 1996, I have been fortunate enough to speak with thousands of teenagers and young adults about how AIDS has affected my life and the lives of many of my dearest friends. I have been speaking to teens, young adults and parents about HIV/AIDS prevention since 1996. More than 50,000 teenagers have heard "the story" about my life with AIDS. If you are interested in information concerning the possibility of scheduling me to speak to your school or other organization, feel free to contact me for details. My discussion with youth helps put a face on this disease and helps teenagers and young adults better understand the losses that occur in one's life as a result of HIV infection. I believe that a cure or vaccination for HIV/AIDS will not be discovered for many years. Our best hope of bringing this epidemic under control in the near future depends on increased education and prevention efforts."
Come and bring your friends to this most important and informative program. July 8, 200l
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Thousands of people of the Church of Christ Assembly in K.C. will be gathering at Bartle Hall in the middle of July . It seems they are a very gay-friendly church and have asked if PFLAGers could be at their gay literature table on:
- Saturday, July 14 from 11:00AM to 2:00PM
- Monday, July 16 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM (Helen can do this time)
- Tuesday, July 17 from 10:00AM to noon.
If you can cover the table on Saturday or Tuesday, please let Helen know. (816-942-8747)
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D.C. panel rules against Boy Scouts
by Lou Chibbaro Jr.
In a sweeping decision that is certain to generate controversy, the D.C. Commission on Human Rights ruled this week that the Boy Scouts of America violated the city's Human Rights law in 1992 when it refused to allow two gay men to become Scout leaders.
The 75-page ruling, which the commission released June 20, orders the Boy Scouts to admit former District resident Roland Pool, 40, as an adult member of the Boy Scouts, and orders the group to reinstate District resident Michael Geller, 39, as a "full, active adult member" of the organization. In addition, the commission ordered the Boy Scouts to "cease and desist from revoking of memberships of individuals solely because of their status as homosexuals."
It also ordered the organization to pay Pool and Geller $50,000 each in compensatory damages for the "embarrassment, humiliation and indignity" the two suffered when Boy Scouts officials informed them they were not qualified to be scout leaders because of their status as homosexuals.
The commission declared in its ruling that the facts in the discrimination cases brought against the Boy Scouts by Pool and Geller were different from those reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, when it ruled last year that the Boy Scouts have a First Amendment right of "expressive association" which allows them to discriminate against gays.
"Using [the Supreme Court's] analysis, the commission finds that applying the [D.C.] Human Rights Act's public accommodation provision to the Boy Scouts of America will not infringe upon its First Amendment right of statement association."
Among other things, the commission said Geller and Pool never engaged in gay-related political activity, similar to the activity that ousted Boy Scouts leader James Dale engaged in. Dale won his challenge against the Boy Scouts policy in a New Jersey appeals court, but the U.S. Supreme Court later reversed that ruling and upheld the Boy Scouts' longstanding policy of barring gays from becoming scouts and scout leaders.
"Because Mr. Geller and Mr. Pool are not advocating any particular message, their inclusion into an adult leader position would not infringe upon BSA's core message," the commission states in its ruling. "Therefore the commission finds that the First Amendment expressive association right cannot shield BSA from the public accommodations provision of the Human Rights Act."
In their case against the Boy Scouts, Geller and Pool argued that the Boy Scouts should be classified under the Human Rights Law as a place of public accommodation. The law bans discrimination on a variety of grounds, including sexual orientation.
The commission states in its ruling that it finds "that the BSA's expressed positions on the morality of homosexuality fails to support the BSA's adoption of a general exclusion of homosexuals," adding, "the BSA's argument on this issue is a pretext for discrimination."
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Assembly sends out an amendment to delete G-6.0106b.
Proposal to open the way for gay ordination passes with 60 % approval
by Jerry Van Marter
LOUISVILLE -- By a vote of 317-208, the 213th General Assembly recently voted to send a proposed constitutional amendment to the presbyteries that - if ratified by a majority of them in the coming year - would delete G-6.0106b (the commonly called "fidelity and chastity" provision) from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Book of Order.
Elder Ted Mikels of Salem Presbytery in North Carolina, speaking in opposition, said, "Twice in the last five years we've voted on this and each time it tears the fabric of our presbytery." "To send this out again will create greater rancor and polarization. We need prayer and study and dialogue, not more legislation."
But former General Assembly moderator John Buchanan, a minister member of Chicago Presbytery and co-founder of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, the largest pro-gay ordination group in the PC(USA), said G-6.0106b has created "an absence of peace in the church since 1996," producing "wrenching confrontations" each year for the General Assembly. "The approval (of the proposal) creates space to live and work together," he said.
Opponents of the measure appealed to what they called the clear teaching of the Bible. The Rev. Robert Thornton of Abingdon Presbytery in Virginia said "G-6.0106b represents standards of scripture, our confessions and our tradition" that must be preserved. "Someone will be hurt either way we vote," he added, "but I'd rather err on the side of the word of God."
But proponents countered that Presbyterians cannot possibly come together if some are excluded. "How can we talk openly and honestly while preserving legislation that prevents openness and honesty," said Elder Kathryn Morgan of West Jersey Presbytery, "and where some are kept away from the table?"
The presbyteries have until the next General Assembly convenes - June 15, 2002, in Columbus, Ohio, to cast their votes on the proposed amendments deleting G-6.0106b and adding the sentence to G-6.0106a.
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SENATE BACKS BOXER'S BOLD MOVE AIMED TO ASSURE EQUALITY TO ALL GROUPS REGARDLESS OF THEIR STANCE ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION
The Human Rights Campaign called the recent passage of an amendment sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a bold move to offset a previous anti-gay amendment offered by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C. The Boxer amendment, which passed 52-47, ensures that all federally chartered organizations are guaranteed access to school facilities regardless of their position on sexual orientation, asserts HRC.
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