Quest News     Volume 13 No. 1   February 2, 2006
Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick

Four Students Face Hate Crime Charges
Group Vandalized UW-Madison Gay Student Center’s Bulletin Board
Madison - Four students  have been charged with felony hate crimes, accused of shouting slurs at a gay University of Wisconsin-Madison student and vandalizing his property, authorities said January 23.
  No one was injured in the early morning altercation in Ogg Residence Hall that occurred laston December 21, and property damage was limited to torn photographs and posters promoting a campus center for lesbians, gays and others.
  The nature of the attack and the fact that it was directed at a student based on his sexual orientation prompted Dane County prosecutors to elevate misdemeanor disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property charges to felony hate crimes. "The fact that they went back to the room three times (that night), that says a lot,” UW-Madison Police Detective Carol Ann Glassmaker said.  “They were truly victimizing this person.”
  Caleb Moore, 18, Michael Riha, 19; and Kevin Sochacki, 18 -- all from the Naperville, IL area and graduates of Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora -- and Benjamin Chamberlain, 19, of Crystal Lake face a combined 17 felony counts including hate crime enhancers on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.  Riha also is charged with obstructing an officer. All four are free on bail and are scheduled to appear in court February 13.
   Chamberlain and Riha are UW students, Sochacki is a freshman at Purdue University, and Moore attends Auburn University, but came to Madison to visit Riha, police said.
  Ogg Hall students say several similar, but less severe, incidents happened late last year. UW residence official Larry Davis said the UW is working on some diversity programs on campus that will focus on understanding sexual orientation and identity issues.  “Trying to figure out what do you believe,” Davis told WISC-TV. “Why, how does what you believe affect others? And it’s OK to have different values. We just have to agree to disagree.”

Right Wing Campus Paper Prints Victim’s Name And Photo
  In a related story, University of Wisconsin officials met with representatives of The Mendota Beacon, a conservative bi-weekly student newspaper, January 26, to express concern over the paper’s recent coverage of the alleged hate crime in Ogg Hall. The Beacon printed a photo and revealed the name of the alleged hate-crime victim, an LGBT liaison.
  “There’s this unspoken rule that you would never print a person’s name or picture of a person that had been the victim of a crime,” UW Housing Assistant Director Larry Davis said. “It just seems morally offensive to me that you would print someone’s name and picture without their consent.” Davis met with the Beacon staff.
  According to Davis, the decision to include such information was made by Beacon News Editor Grant Anderson, whom Davis said added the information after reporter Chelsey Lewis excluded it.

Bipartisan Bill Limiting Funeral Protests Introduced
Madison - The recurring recent, rabidly anti-gay antics of Fred Phelps and members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church at funerals of Wisconsin service personnel killed in the Iraq war have brought disgusted Republicans and Democrats legislators together. In a rare show of bipartisan support Assembly Bill 944 was introduced here January 26.
  Under this bill protests within 500 feet of a church, funeral home or cemetery are prohibited an hour before, during or after  a funeral or memorial service, including a wake. Prohibited activities include engaging “in a loud
protest that involves singing, chanting, whistling, yelling, or honking a motor vehicle horn,” or displaying “any visual image that conveys fighting words or actual or veiled threats against any other person” if the protest is intended to disrupt the service.  Protesters are also prohibited from intentionally blocking access to a facility being used for the service or “impede vehicles that he or she knows are part of the procession.” 
  In general, the bill will allow a person who violates these prohibitions is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned in the county jail for up to nine months or both. But if a person violates one of these prohibitions after having been convicted of a prior violation of either of them, the person is guilty of a Class I felony and may be fined up to $10,000 or sentenced to a term of imprisonment of up to three and one-half years.  
  Current law generally prohibits disorderly conduct, which is defined as engaging in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud, or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance but does not contain specific geographic definitions on the proximity to any event.
  Twenty-five Assembly Representatives and ten State Senators are co-sponsoring the legislation. Openly gay Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) is a co-sponsor, though openly gay Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) is not. The bill was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
  Governor Doyle has indicated he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. “The right to protest is a fundamental American right,” Doyle said January 25 in a statement pledging his support for the legislation. “But the right of families to grieve the loss of a loved one in quiet and private is a basic human right, and one that deserves protection.”
  One Wisconsin law enforcement official who has felt the brunt of the “God Hates Fags” Phelps clan for his efforts maintain order at a recent funeral has mixed feelings about the proposal. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says part of him supports the proposal, but the other part believes existing laws give police the tools they need to control protests.
  Nehls was confronted with the issue last October when a contingent of the Westboro group decided to protest at the funeral for Spc. Michael Wendling of Mayville. Wendling was one of two local soldiers killed in the same attack in Iraq.
  Nehls moved the picketers down the road about 300 yards from the church to avoid confrontations between picketers and those attending the funeral. “Any time we can shield grieving families and loved ones while they are paying their last respects — any way we can protect them — is a good thing,” Nehls said.
  Nehls also believes that Westboro Baptist’s message incites violence and that alone is cause to arrest members of the group for disorderly conduct. “I would never want to deny any one of their First Amendment rights,” he said, “but in this particular case, I don’t think Westboro Baptist Church is covered (by First Amendment) because of their message and the way they are spreading it. It’s like going to a movie theater and yelling, ‘Fire’ — that’s not First Amendment.”
   The group has since targeted Nehls, accusing him of illegal tactics and running anti-Nehls propaganda on its godhatesfags.com site.

Washington Passes Gay Civil Rights Bill
Olympia -  Both houses of the Washington legislature passed the state’s first-ever gay civil rights bill here January 27. The Senate passed the bill by a 25-23 vote. The House passed the measure 61-37 a short time thereafter. Governor Christine Gregoire announced that she will sign the legislation, but some lawmakers were anticipating a possible referendum to ask voters to overturn the law.
 “I’m very happy. You know this is about so many people who worked so hard for so long,” said Rep. Ed Murray (D-Seattle), who has sponsored for the gay rights bill for the past several years.
 The House bill, which has been around in some form for almost 30 years, passed on a largely partisan vote. Two conservative Democratic senators, Jim Hargrove and Tim Sheldon, sided with Republicans. GOP Senator Bill Finkbeiner (R-Kirkland) joined Democrats. He was the only Republican supporting the measure.
  The Senate vote came after an emotional debate lasting more than an hour. Opponents warned the legislation was unneeded, would lead to gay marriage and force people to hire gays and lesbians against their religious beliefs.
  “This is a very sad day for the state of Washington,” Senator Val Stevens (R-Arlington) said. “We all know it’s going to pass.”
 Senator Bob Oke (R-Port Orchard) argued the legislation would endorse homosexuality. “I believe homosexuality is morally wrong,” he said, contending that the Bible views it as “an abomination.”
  Supporters said the bill is needed to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. State law bans discrimination based on race, sex, religion, marital status, disability and other categories. The bill would add sexual orientation to that list.
  “It’s not special privileges. It’s merely saying treat me the same,” Senator Rosa Franklin (D-Tacoma) said. “It’s extending rights to a group that has been treated very badly”
  Senator Finkbeiner also spoke in favor of the bill. “What the debate is about ... is whether it’s OK to be gay or lesbian in the state,” he said. “People don’t choose this. People don’t chose who they love. The heart chooses.”
  Democrats have been saying for several months that they expected the measure to pass this session. Their confidence seemed to grow with each passing week. There was spontaneous applause in the observation galleries after the bill passed.
  However, Senator Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville) said opponents weren’t likely to give up their fight. “Emotions run high, and I think it’s very realistic that there will be a referendum,” he said.
  For his part, Murray was savoring the victory. But he also acknowledged the possibility of gay rights going before voters. “It’s a moment of joy,” he said. “I realize there are people who disagree with us. I just hope, before they reach for a pen to sign an initiative they’ll reach for the phone and call somebody who’s gay or lesbian and talk to them first.”

United States Aligned With Iran in Anti-Gay UN Vote
Washington, D.C. - In a reversal of policy, the United States on January 23 backed an Iranian initiative to deny United Nations consultative status to organizations working to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, a coalition of 39 organizations, led by the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called for an explanation of the vote which aligned the United States with governments that have long repressed the rights of sexual minorities. “This vote is an aggressive assault by the U.S. government on the right of sexual minorities to be heard,” said Scott Long, director of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. “It is astonishing that the Bush administration would align itself with Sudan, China, Iran and Zimbabwe in a coalition of the homophobic.”
  In May 2005, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which is based in Brussels, and the Danish gay rights group Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske (LBL) applied for consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Consultative status is the only official means by which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world can influence and participate in discussions among member states at the United Nations. Nearly 3,000 groups enjoy this status.
  States opposed to the two groups’ applications moved to have them summarily dismissed, an almost unprecedented move at the UN, where organizations are ordinarily allowed to state their cases. The U.S. abstained on a vote which would have allowed the debate to continue and the groups to be heard. It then voted to reject the applications.
  “The United States recklessly ignored its own reporting proving the need for international support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,” Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said. “The State Department’s ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices’ show severe human rights violations based on gender identity and sexual orientation occur around the world.”
  As the U.S. government acknowledged in its 2004 country report on Iran, Iranian law punishes homosexual conduct between men with the death penalty. Human Rights Watch has documented four cases of arrests, flogging, or execution of gay men in Iran since 2003. In its 2004 country report on Zimbabwe, the U.S. government noted President Robert Mugabe’s public denouncement of homosexuals, blaming them for “Africa’s ills.” In the past, Mugabe has called gays and lesbians “people without rights” and “worse than dogs and pigs.” The U.S. has reversed position since 2002, when it voted to support the International Lesbian and Gay Association’s request to have its status reviewed. Officials gave no explanation for the change.
  “It is deeply disturbing that, at the UN, the United States has shifted gears toward an aggressive stance against human rights for LGBT people,” Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, said. “Unfortunately, denying LGBT groups a voice and a presence within the United Nations – the world’s most important human rights institution – is fully in keeping with the U.S.’s assault on basic human rights principles worldwide.”
  In voting against the applications to the NGO committee, the U.S. was joined by Cameroon, China, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Votes in favor of consultative status came from Chile, France, Germany, Peru, and Romania. Colombia, India, and Turkey abstained, while Côte d’Ivoire was absent.
  “It is an absolute outrage that the United States has chosen to align itself with oppressive governments – all in an effort to smother the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world,” NGLTF Executive Director Matt Foreman said. “It is deeply disturbing that the self-proclaimed ‘leader of the free world’ will ally with bigots at the drop of a hat to advance the right wing’s anti-gay agenda.”
  In addition to the Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, nearly two dozen other organizations signed the letter.

82nd Airborne Do Gay Porn - Army Will Investigate
Raleigh - Army officials are investigating allegations that members of the celebrated 82nd Airborne Division appear on a gay pornography Web site, a spokeswoman said January 27. Authorities at Fort Bragg have begun an inquiry into whether the paratroopers' actions violated the military conduct code.
  Division spokeswoman Major Amy Hannah declined to say how many paratroopers are involved or identify their unit within the division. A defense official speaking on condition of anonymity said up to seven soldiers are involved. Hannah said soldiers questioned will be allowed to seek legal assistance, but she declined to say if any one had been charged. "Once the investigation is complete, the chain of command will take appropriate action," Hannah said.
  The military-themed website does not appear to make any direct reference to the 82nd Airborne or Fort Bragg. The registered owner of the website's domain name lists an address in Fayetteville, the city that adjoins Fort Bragg. E-mails to the registered owner were returned January 27 as undeliverable, and the phone number listed on the domain-name registration is no longer in service. The website includes a disclaimer, asking users to agree that they are not agents of the U.S. government, Department of Defense, members of law enforcement or reporters.
  Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon, said soldiers accused of gay activity might be removed from their units, although she did not have specific information about the investigation of the 82nd. When asked if the soldiers involved had been moved out of barracks, Hannah declined to comment. "We are concerned about the privacy and rights of each trooper involved and that they are treated with dignity and respect," Hannah said.
  Major Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman in Washington, said the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy states that "homosexual orientation alone is not a bar to service, but homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service."
  "We define homosexual conduct as homosexual acts or verbal or nonverbal communication that a member is homosexual," Vician said.
  The 82nd Airborne is one of the most celebrated units in the military. Its 15,000 troops are trained to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours. Soldiers from the division have served extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan, and several thousand troops remain overseas.

Pioneering Gay Activist Betty Berzon Dead At 78
Los Angeles - Betty Berzon, a psychotherapist and author who championed gay rights after struggling for more than half her life with her own sexuality, has died. She was 78. Berzon died at her San Fernando Valley home January 24, according to her longtime partner Teresa DeCrescenzo. Berzon had battled breast cancer for many years, DeCrescenzo said.
  Berzon was considered a pioneer within the gay and lesbian community because she provided therapy to clients during a time - the early 1970s - when there were very few psychologists or psychiatrists willing to openly discuss homosexuality.
  Her books also provided a road map for fellow homosexuals. In “Setting Them Straight,” she suggested how to handle homophobia. In “Permanent Partners” and “The Intimacy Dance,” she talked about building long-term gay relationships.
  As a young woman, however, Berzon had problems dealing with her own homosexuality. In her 2002 memoir, “Surviving Madness; A Therapist’s Own Story,” she recounts a botched suicide attempt when she was in her early 20s. It wasn’t until she turned 40 that she said publicly she was a lesbian.
  Born in St. Louis, her family moved to Arizona when she was young because she suffered from respiratory ailments. She started at Stanford University but graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She also earned a doctorate at the International College in Los Angeles.
  Berzon kept good company during her studies. She worked with Carl Rogers, who helped develop group therapy, and she was involved in the human-potential movement - the cultivation of extraordinary potential believed to be largely untapped in most people - at an institute in Big Sur. In 1971, she helped start the first gay group within the American Psychiatric Association, which dropped homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses two years later. Soon after, she entered private practice and worked with gay men and lesbians.
  Berzon co-founded the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and wrote a relationship advice column for PlanetOut.com. She also served as the national president of the Gay Academic Union between 1977 and 1979 and served on several boards of directors for gay organizations.
  She is survived by DeCrescenzo; a sister, Stephanie Miller; and her stepmother, Trude.

$13 Million Spent On 2004 Gay Marriage Amendment Battles
Helena - The 2004 election campaigns that ultimately banned same-sex marriages in 13 states were funded by a mix of national groups, churches and individuals, with ban supporters narrowly outraising opponents and total contributions breaking $13 million, according to a new analysis of state-level fundraising.
  Supporters of the state constitutional amendments raised $6.8 million for ballot committees; opponents raised $6.5 million, according to the study by The Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonpartisan research organization here.
  The single largest block of givers were advocates of gay and lesbian rights, donating more than $3 million. Conservative organizations affiliated with a network called the Arlington Group gave nearly $2 million, the report found. Churches also invested heavily, contributing $1.9 million, overwhelmingly in favor of bans on same-sex marriage.
  Despite the nearly even split of the $13.3 million raised by ballot committees, the amendments passed overwhelmingly, sometimes by as much as a 3-to-1 ratio. The closest vote, in Oregon, passed with 57% in favor of a ban and 43% against.
  The two sides together spent more than $2 million in each of several battleground states, including Michigan, Oregon and Ohio. But much less went into campaigns elsewhere, with under $100,000 spent in a half-dozen states, and less than $10,000 total in Mississippi and North Dakota.
  The fight over gay marriages isn’t over. Texas voters last November approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, though Maine voters rejected a conservative push to repeal a new law that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation.
  Efforts have begun to put same-sex bans before voters in at least seven more states, including Wisconsin, according to the report. “There was a coordinated effort to bring this issue to the ballot in a number of states,” said research director Sue O’Connell.
  Conservative groups affiliated with the Arlington Group included Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, whose leaders had been outspoken against gay and lesbian marriages after Massachusetts’ high court found that the state constitution allowed same-sex marriages. Among the big-spending advocates of gay and lesbian rights were the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.
  In all, 19 states have passed constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage. Only one state - Connecticut - has enacted a law legalizing civil unions without a court order.

New Conservative Canadian PM Will
Move Quickly To Repeal Gay Marriage
Ottawa - Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he wants to move quickly as leader of a fractious new Parliament to reopen the same-sex marriage debate. However, the makeup of the new House of Commons suggests the prime minister-designate knows there’s a good chance such a motion will be rejected.
  It would not be a total loss, however. In fact, an honorable defeat on equal marriage would satisfy obligations to Harper’s most right-wing supporters while defusing a politically explosive issue. Winning a vote to wade back through that political quagmire would lead the Conservatives straight into a legal morass, most experts say. It would also be a costly and perhaps fruitless attempt to redefine marriage as the sole domain of one man, one woman -- a fight that would only shine a spotlight on the party’s most extreme social conservatives.
  Still, Harper has promises to keep to the most traditional members of his team. He has said he’ll put a free-vote motion before Parliament on whether the heterosexual definition of matrimony should be restored.”I would prefer to do it sooner rather than later -- but not immediately,” he told a news conference yesterday.
  There are 124 Tory MPs compared to 103 Liberals, 51 Bloc Quebecois, 29 New Democrats and one Independent. Any vote could be close.
  But at least one Conservative insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said social moderates in the party would welcome the issue’s demise. “There would be a quiet hurrah.”
  Last summer, Parliament passed a law allowing gay weddings across Canada after two years of intense debate.
More than 3,000 same-sex couples had already wed after courts in eight provinces and the Yukon cleared the way. Moreover, the highest provincial courts in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario ruled that an exclusively heterosexual definition of marriage violates equality rights.
  Harper has stressed that existing gay marriages will be allowed to stand. But Sujit Choudhry, a law professor at University of Toronto, and a long list of other experts say new legislation would be a recipe for confusion and fresh legal action. “It could be a mess,” he said January 26. “I have to say, I think it’s a little bit reckless.”
  What would happen, Choudhry asked, if some provinces recognized a new law reversing same-sex marriage but others decided to await the outcome of inevitable constitutional challenges?
  Martha Jackman, a constitutional law professor at the University of Ottawa, says the best outcome would be for a majority of MPs to “resoundingly reject” any bid to reverse gay marriage. “That would reflect an understanding on their parts that they’re obliged to comply with the Constitution ... and not just because they’ve gone back to the courts” and lost.

Study: Pentagon Has Fired Over 200 Gay Health Care Professionals
Shortage in Medical Personnel Prompts Experts to Question Policy
Santa Barbara - A University of California research center released data today showing that the military has fired 244 medical specialists under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  The figures, which cover 1994 through 2003 - the first ten years of the policy - were obtained from the Pentagon by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM) with the help of Rep. Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat who sits on the House Armed Services Committee.  The Associated Press is reporting the information today.
  Dr. Aaron Belkin, Director of CSSMM and an associate professor of political science at University of California, Santa Barbara, said the discharges provide evidence that the gay ban is hampering military readiness.  “The consequences of shortfalls in medical specialists during wartime are serious,” he said.  “When the military lacks the medical personnel it needs on the front lines, it compromises the well-being not only of its injured troops, but of the overextended specialists who have to work longer tours to replace those who have been discharged.”
  According to the new data, the 244 medical personnel discharged under the gay exclusion policy included physicians, nurses, biomedical laboratory technicians and other highly trained medical specialists.  The revelation comes at a time when the military has acknowledged it is struggling with significant shortfalls in recruitment and retention of medical personnel for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
   According to a Senate report issued in 2003 by Senators Christopher Bond and Patrick Leahy, hundreds of injured Guard and Army Reserve soldiers “have been receiving inadequate medical attention” while housed at Ft. Stewart because of a lack of preparedness that includes “an insufficient number of medical clinicians and specialists, which has caused excessive delays in the delivery of care.”  The situation created the perception among soldiers that they were receiving care that was inferior to that received by active duty personnel, which had a “devastating and negative impact on morale.” 

Czech Republic to Offer Gay Unions
Prague -The Czech Republic is set to become the first post-communist country to offer legal recognition to same-sex couples, as a bill has passed Senate, and now just needs to be signed by the President. 45 of the 65 senators voted in favor of the bill to allow gay and lesbian couples to enter into a civil union January 26. The legislation gives couples most of the same rights as married heterosexual couples, although same-sex couples still cannot adopt children together.
  If approved by the President, the Czech Republic will become the 13th European nation to offer legal recognition to same-sex couples.

Virginia Lawmakers Approve Ban on Gay Marriage
Richmond - Virginia lawmakers gave final legislative approval January 25 to a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, despite warnings the measure is so broadly worded it could have dire unintended consequences for all unmarried couples.
  The 28-11 Senate vote, combined with the House’s earlier passage, clears the way for the proposed amendment to be placed on the November ballot. If voters approve it, Virginia will join 18 other states with constitutional amendments against gay marriage. Most of those amendments were adopted after Massachusetts’ highest court legalized gay marriage in 2003.
  Opponents argued that the amendment is so sweeping that it could undermine contracts affecting unmarried people, including heterosexuals. Among the examples cited were insurance and joint ownership of property.”I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness today to think we are deliberately doing something so intolerant, so discriminatory and so overreaching,” Senator Mary Margaret Whipple said.
  Gay marriage is already against the law in Virginia, but lawmakers said an amendment was needed as an extra insurance to stave off a court ruling like the one in Massachusetts.

Action Wisconsin, HRC  Release Wisconsin Marriage Benefits Survey
Madison – Action Wisconsin and the Human Rights Campaign have released a survey outlining the nearly 200 legal benefits and protections of  marriage under Wisconsin law. The Wisconsin Assembly is nearing final approval of a proposed constitutional amendment that would permanently deny these protections to lesbian, gay and unmarried heterosexual couples.
  “This survey brings into sharper relief what it means for Wisconsin’s lesbian and gay families to be frozen out of legal recognition,” Action Wisconsin communications director Joshua Freker said. “Gay families in every part of the state are doing the work of taking care of each other and their children, yet they are denied important legal protections that would make them stronger and more secure.”
  The twelve page survey finds that numerous state statutes confer legal protections to married spouses implicating taxes, health care, property, and other areas.
  A few examples noted in the survey noted that spouses can seek workers compensation claims in the event of a  spouse’s untimely death; transfers of real estate between a husband and wife are exempt from the state’s real estate transfer fee; and spouses can see medical records relating to treatment of the other spouse.
  In addition to state-level benefits and protections, a 2004 General Accounting Office report found that marriage confers 1,138 benefits at the federal level. Those benefits are effectively denied to any same-sex couple in either a legal marriage or civil union permitted by state laws. Currently Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut permit same-sex marriages or civil unions.
  “This study underscores the devastating effects the proposed constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage would have on Wisconsinites. This information should inform the debate over these family’s lives,” Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said. “The amendment would make the denial of these basic family protections a permanent feature of the Wisconsin Constitution.”
  The survey was conducted by Washington D.C. law firm Covington & Burling at the request of the Human Rights Campaign, which is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political organization in the country.
  The full survey is available online at: http://www.actionwisconsin.org/pdfs/wi-marriagebenefits.pdf

ACLU & Lambda Legal Challenge Law Barring Transgender
People Access to Medical Treatment in Prison
Milwaukee - Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today in federal court on behalf of two transgender women challenging a Wisconsin law that bars them from access to appropriate medical treatment while they are incarcerated. 
  “The Wisconsin legislature should stick to solving the problems of the state, not interfering in the medical treatment of prisoners,” said John Knight, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project.  “This law bars prison doctors from properly treating their patients and puts lives at risk.”
  Over the objections of the Department of Corrections, the Wisconsin legislature passed a law last year that bars prison doctors from deciding the best course of treatment for transgender people by denying them access to any type of hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery while in state custody.  Lambda Legal and the ACLU are representing Kari Sundstrom and Andrea Fields, who are both serving time in Wisconsin prisons on forgery charges.  Sundstrom, 41, has been on hormone therapy since 1990.  Fields, 29, has been on hormone therapy since 1996. 
  “It is well-established medical practice to prescribe hormone therapy to transgender people,” said Dr. Randi Ettner, a clinical psychologist who practices in Evanston, Illinois.  “Blocking people from access to hormone treatment after they have been on the treatment is especially dangerous and could cause life-threatening damage including hypertension, diabetes, muscle wasting, osteoporosis and potentially even heart failure.”
  Legislators supporting the law claimed that it was necessary to reduce expenses.  However, when the law went into effect on January 24, 2006, only a handful of people in the Wisconsin prison system were receiving hormone therapy. 
  “This legislation has absolutely nothing to do with costs.  It is designed to punish transgender people and deny them access to necessary medical care,” said Cole Thaler, Lambda Legal’s transgender rights attorney.  “Doctors, not lawmakers, should be the ones deciding what health care is appropriate for their patients.”   
  The lawsuit charges that it is a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection as well as the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment to bar transgender inmates from access to individualized medical care.  In legal papers filed today, the organizations asked the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin to issue an immediate order barring the law from going into effect so that the two women will continue to receive the prescribed medication they have been taking for years.  The legal groups base their challenge on federal case law which establishes that health care providers must determine proper treatment for all prison inmates.  The plaintiffs in the lawsuit do not seek sex reassignment surgery, but merely seek to continue the hormone therapy they have received for all of their adult lives. 
  According to the ACLU and Lambda Legal, Wisconsin is believed to be the only state in the country to have enacted a law denying transgender people access to medical care while in state custody. 
  For additional information about the case visit, www.aclu.org/caseprofiles or www.lambdalegal.org.

Marquette University “True Life” Program On Being Gay Draws Record Crowd
Milwaukee - A student residence hall educational program on real life issues At Marquette University saw record attendance for its first program of the new semester January 19. “True Life... I’m Gay,” had the highest attendance in the program’s history last Thursday with 85 people, according to Frank McAlpin, a College of Arts & Sciences senior at the school who
  “True Life” is a programming series that creates awareness for students about issues that are very prevalent in today’s society, McAlpin told Marquette Tribune reporter Mark Kane. The series, which began in the winter of 2004, was created by McAlpin and Angel Robinson, a College of Arts & Sciences senior.
  The series consists of programs that deal with topics chosen by the “True Life” committee. “Topics were created when we sat down as a group and brainstormed,” said Schroeder Hall Council president Katie Shay, a College of Arts & Sciences sophomore. “We picked the ideas that we liked the most.”
  The programs will continue at the school twice in February and April and once in March, McAlpin said.

Three Wisconsin Churches Deserting UCC Over Gay Marriage
Sheboygan - Several Wisconsin congregations of the United Church of Chist have begun the process to disaffiliate themselves from the denomination, in many cases primarily because of the recent decision to support same -sex marriage. This past week, the congregation of the Zion Church here decided the faith being promoted by its denomination, the United Church of Christ, wasn’t eye-to-eye with theirs.
  On January 22 at the church’s annual meeting, 121 members of the congregation voted in favor of leaving the UCC for another, more conservative Christian denomination because of disagreements with the UCC over biblical authority and the nature of who Jesus is, Pastor Steve Pedersen told reporter Eric Rose of The Sheboygan Press. Of the 500-member congregation, 143 church members voted at Sunday’s meeting.
  “It’s very anguishing,” Pedersen said. “This was not an easy thing to do. It was very painful thing to do, and it was not taken lightly at all.” Zion’s choice to leave the UCC is being echoed by a small number of congregations both nationally and in the state.
  Since a controversial General Synod in July in which the denomination embraced gay marriage, 49 of the UCC’s 5,725 churches have voted to disaffiliate, according to the denomination’s research office. The total is lass than 1% of all the affiliated churches across the country
  Though the issue has come up at many other churches, Pedersen claimed Zion did not base its decision on the UCC’s stance on gay marriages. “That never came up at all in the meeting,” Pedersen said. “People talked about the Bible and the need to follow the Bible.”
  One congregation member felt the national UCC is straying from the teachings of the Bible. “I felt that they were letting society mold what the Bible was saying, rather than having the Bible mold society,” Steve Bastien, a church member who voted to leave the UCC said. “There is truth in the Bible and it’s truth that will live to the end of time. We need to live according to that. It’s what’s best for us.”
  Karl Kuhn, associate professor of religion at Lakeland College, which is affiliated with the UCC, told reporte Rose the denomination’s stance on gay marriage frustrated many churches. “The decision by our General Synod to affirm equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians is one issue that has been the focus of a lot of attention,” Kuhn said. “Many churches have been concerned about that, and have led (members) to the place where they no longer want to be a part of the church.”
  Keith Hunholz, pastor of St. Peter UCC and St. Paul UCC, both in Elkhart Lake, said the churches, with a combined membership of 250, are also leaving the UCC. St. Paul UCC made it official January 15 and the congregation of St. Peter UCC will vote on the issue February 5. Hunholz said while gay marriage “was the issue that was the last straw,” there were other reasons to leave the congregation.
  “The UCC kind of picks out certain themes, and things that they like, like God is a God of love and compassion, which is true,” Hunholz said. “We believe that everything in the Bible is true, and there are a lot of things that are violated by the decisions (the denomination) making.”
  Not all Wisconsin churches are leaving the denomination, however. In fact many churches in the last decde have become “open and affirming” of gay and lesbian congregants and conducted same-sex holy unions, decisions that predate the General Synod’s pro-gay decision of last year.

Pabst Opens LGBT Fund At Cream City Foundation
Milwaukee - Joseph Pabst and the Cream City Foundation (CCF) have joined forces to create the first donor advised fund within the Cream City Foundation.  The Joseph R Pabst Community Infrastructure Fund will directly target Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) infrastructure and capacity development by ensuring funding towards the CCF’s effort of providing free board development, grant writing, and leadership development workshops and one-on-one counseling to LGBT organizations and leaders in Southeastern Wisconsin.
  “I believe strongly in our community and in the way donors can step up to make change happen,” Joseph Pabst said. “Cream City Foundation’s dedication in ensuring a strong infrastructure to guide and ensure the success of its granting process encouraged me to support their effort.”
  “We are proud to allow Cream City Foundation to serve as a vehicle for additional support to the community,” Kevin Loos, president of the Cream City Foundation, said. “Joseph Pabst maybe the first to step forward as a donor who uses the donor advised fund structure within CCF to build our community, but we hope that others take the challenge and join him.”
  The Cream City Foundation will be offering donors the choice of starting a fund with a minimum donation of $10,000 and with no administrative fees in an effort to encourage greater philanthropic commitment to LGBT communities. The funds may be established on an endowment basis or to allow for immediate use of capital.  The only requirement would be that donors use the funds to support LGBT work.
  “As a community foundation, Cream City has a special responsibility to pull together all LGBT people in the Southeastern part of the state, through a vehicle such as this fund, to develop and educate our current organizational leaders,”  CCF Executive Director Maria Cadenas said . “We are proud to be the home of the fund and to work closely with Joseph Pabst to have a real impact on LGBT infrastructure.” 
  Cream City Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that has been serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community throughout the Southeastern Wisconsin area for over 24 years. Joseph Pabst is also the advisor of the Johnson and Pabst LGBT Humanity Fund and the Joseph R Pabst Animal Care Fund at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
  For more information on how to establish a donor advised fund call the CCF at 414-225-0244.

AIDS Network’s Camp Bingo Begins with “Hee Haw” Theme
Madison - It’s not your grandmother’s bingo. It’s a whole lot more fun! Hosted by female impersonator GiGi Monroe, with Representative Mark Pocan calling the numbers AIDS Network’s Camp Bingo fundraiser series began at the High Noon Saloon here January 29. The theme for the first event was “Hee Haw Bingo” with attendees so dusting off their overalls and Daisy Dukes.
  Proceeds from Camp Bingo benefit AIDS Network and everyone 21 years or older is welcome. Admission is $15 per session which includes seven  games of bingo (with six cards for each game), prizes, entertainment and lots of laughs.
  “We?re very excited about Camp Bingo, our newest ‘fun-draiser,’” AIDS Network Executive Director Bob Power said. “This crazy game of bingo has become a popular event with AIDS organizations around the country and we’re thrilled to bring it come to Madison.” Power said there would be two more bingo events in February and March and if successful it will return in the fall.
  Camp Bingo takes place at the High Noon Saloon on East Washington Avenue. Doors open at 1 PM and the first numbers are called at 2:30 PM. For more information visit the official Camp Bingo website at: www.madcampbingo.org  or call Bob Power at: 608 252-6540, Ext. 12.

Dear Ruthie To Star In “The Actor’s Nightmare”
Milwaukee -  RSVP Productions will present a hilarious evening of camp comedy featuring two one-act plays next month. Columnist and comedian Dear Ruthie will delight everyone in “The Actor’s Nightmare” by Christopher Durang. This fun, campy show is about all the problems that take please when a unknown actor, is thrown on stage as the Understudy.  If you have ever been on stage, or wanted to be - remember your high school musical - you will love this play.  The second act of the evening is a camp parody on the teenage mystery serial books “The Hardy Boys”.
  RSVP has a new location at the Astor Theatre on Brady Street.  Play dates for “the Actor’s Nightmare” and “The Hardy Boys are February 23,24, & 25 and March 2,3, & 4 at 8 PM. The Astor Theatre is located at 1696 N. Astor Street  Tickets are $12. For reservations call 414-272-5694 or 414-272-4384.       

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