January 14, 2005
The Liberty Line is a monthly e-communications update from the Liberty Education Forum.
2005 National Symposium Update
Symposium Agenda Now Available
 Now is the time to register for the 2005 Liberty Education Forum National Symposium and Log Cabin Republicans National Convention. It will be held in New Orleans at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in the heart of the French quarter on historic Bourbon Street. The LCR Convention and LEF National Symposium is set for Thursday, March 31-Sunday, April 3, 2005. We're putting together an informative and interesting program that you won't want to miss. Click here to see a brief video promoting the 2005 Symposium. Click here to see the latest Symposium agenda. Click here to register.
Please consider becoming an individual or corporate sponsor for the 2005 convention and symposium. Send Chris Barron an email for more details.
Please let us know if you would like to donate an item for the LEF auction. The Liberty Education Forum is a tax-exempt organization so your donation will be completely tax-deductible. Please email Patrick Sammon at LEF if you can help out. Thanks so much for your support.
 Gay and Lesbian Families
Gay Conservative Presents New Strategy for Success
Jonathan Rauch recently outlined a case for incrementalism as the best way to achieve basic fairness for gay and lesbian families. Rauch, the author of 'Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America,' writes in the Wall Street Journal, "The public's realization that gay people cannot reasonably choose straight unions has shattered the cultural consensus on marriage, and building a new consensus, whether around gay marriage or civil unions or something else, will require years of political skirmishing and individual soul-searching. As Robert Frost said, the only way out is through.
"The public is right to want to avert another abortion-style culture war, right to want to move deliberately (in all senses of the word), and right to resist being hustled toward an all-or-nothing national policy. The best chance of averting a culture war is to localize the issue by leaving it to the states, letting them go their own way at their own speed." Click here to read the entire article.
Ohio Amendment Creating Confusion
Ohio's recently passed anti-family state constitutional amendment went into effect on January 1 and already it's creating confusion for both gay and straight couples. The sweeping amendment not only bans gay marriage, it prohibits any basic protections for domestic partners. The Marietta Times recently published a story about the confusion and concern created by this amendment. Click here to read the entire story.
Thousands of Gay Couples Register as Partners in New Jersey
The New Jersey State Health Department reports that nearly 3,000 couples have registered as domestic partners in the first six months of a New Jersey law that gives added rights and benefits to same-sex couples. The law entitles them to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner, visit each other in the hospital and enjoy other rights on health insurance and inheritance. Same-sex couples who register as domestic partners gain some of the benefits of marriage, but there are hundreds of other rights and obligations that go with being married, such as the right to sue over a spouse's death or the law's protection for the secrets spouses tell each other.
Some Massachusetts Firms Cite U.S. Law in Bid to Block Gay Benefits
The Boston Globe recently reported, "Some of the largest employers in Massachusetts have decided not to extend health benefits to spouses of gay and lesbian employees, saying their federally regulated health plans are not bound by the Massachusetts court ruling permitting gay marriage.
"NStar Corp., General Dynamics Corp., FedEx Corp., the Adecco temporary employment agency, and Caritas Christi Health Care are among employers that do not provide the same health benefits to spouses of married gay workers in Massachusetts available to heterosexual married couples.
"These employers provide medical care through what are known as self-insured health plans, in which the employer, not an insurer, collects the premiums and pays the medical and hospital bills of its workers. These employers said they are not required to cover same-sex spouses because self-insured plans are regulated by federal law, which defines marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Sixty-six percent of large US employers with more than 500 workers are self-insured, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting." Click here to read the entire article.
Battle Continues Over Country Club Bias in Georgia
An Atlanta country club is suing the City of Atlanta in an effort to block the city from fining the club for not treating partners of gay members the same as spouses of married members. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, "Druid Hills Golf Club has filed suit against the City of Atlanta, seeking to block the city from fining the east side club for not treating partners of gay members the same as spouses of married members. The club also is seeking to have the city's human rights ordinance, passed in 2000 but not challenged until now, thrown out for violating the state Constitution. The 18-page suit, filed two weeks ago came days after Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin put the club on notice that she soon would start fining the club $500 a day - up to a maximum penalty of $90,000 - if the club did not grant partners of its gay members the same club privileges as spouses of straight members. Those fines have not yet begun. The club is seeking the ordinance be thrown out and unspecified damages be levied against the city for "grave and irreparable harm to the reputation and status of the Club in the community as a result of the City's false and baseless charges of discrimination." It also wants the city to pays its attorney's fees.
Meanwhile, a Georgia state legislator said he will submit legislation that would block Atlanta from penalizing Druid Hills Golf Club for denying spousal benefits to partners of gay members. State Representative Earl Ehrhart's bill would forbid the state government "or any political subdivision thereof" from imposing "any penalty on or withhold any benefit from any private social organization engaged in lawful expressive association."
Chuck Bowen, executive director of Georgia Equality, the largest gay rights organization in the state, called Ehrhart's bill "a very unfortunate, misguided attempt to usurp the authority that has been given to political subdivisions through home rule. It's an attempt to interfere with local communities."
Doctoral Candidate Seeks Assistance
A doctoral candidate has asked for LEF's help on his thesis. He's in search of gay men currently in a relationship of at least three months to take a brief survey. The anonymous Internet survey examines gay relationships, social networks, and couple identity. For participating he will make a donation to a national LGBT organization on your behalf. To participate, or for more information, please e-mail Brad van Eeden-Moorefield.
Reaching the Heartland
Oklahoma Gays Pledge Renewed Push for Fairness
In the wake of a mean-spirited campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Oklahoma's Constitution, equality leaders in the Sooner State are pledging a renewed push for basic fairness. The Associated Press recently reported, "Far from the coastal strongholds of the same-sex marriage movement, gays in the red states of the Bible Belt are struggling to maintain confidence and optimism in the aftermath of an election that many viewed as a stinging personal rebuff.
"In Oklahoma, the 76 percent support for a constitutional ban on gay marriage has prompted some gays to leave the state or consider leaving. In many cases, however, the dismay is accompanied by renewed determination.
"'Some people talk about leaving, but there's a larger group more invested in fighting than they were before,' said Mark Bonney, a gay activist who heads Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights. They're saying it's time to come out to their families, to draw a line in the sand.'" Click here to read the entire article.
Amendment Issue Creating Debate in the Heartland
A Racine, Wisconsin newspaper recently interviewed two pastors with very different views of same-sex marriage. The article highlighted different views among ministers. Rev. Patrick Faulk, family ministries pastor at Calvary Memorial Church in Racine interprets the Bible literally. He justifies his support for an anti-family state constitutional amendment in Wisconsin by examining the book of Genesis. "We feel like the Bible as God's word is the inspired text that guides our lives."
The Rev. Tony Larsen, pastor at the Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church does not interpret the Bible literally. He opposes the amendment.
"When people say we need Biblical marriage between one man and one woman that's not Biblical marriage," Larsen said. "Biblical marriage was between one man and as many women as he could afford." Click here to read the entire article.
 Healthwatch
Researchers Discover New Drugs with Potent Anti-HIV Action
Researchers at Rutgers University have developed a trio of drugs they believe can destroy HIV, according to a published report. The drugs, called diarylpyrimidines (DAPYs), mimic the virus by changing shape, which enables them to interfere with the way HIV attacks the immune system. Tests conducted in conjunction with Johnson and Johnson have shown the drugs to be easily absorbed with minimal side effects. They also can be taken in one pill, in contrast to the multi-drug cocktails currently taken by many HIV patients. Click here to read more about this story.
Mysterious Virus May Thwart HIV
NewScientist.com reports that "[a] new study reports that HIV patients who are also infected by a second, mysterious virus are less likely to develop AIDS and die of the disease, suggests a new study.
"Up to six years after their initial HIV-infection, men whose blood contained the second virus - known simply as GB virus C (GBV-C) - were nearly three times less likely to die than HIV-positive men who did not have the secondary infection." Click here to read more about this story.
ADAP Waiting List Shrinks
The number of people on waiting lists for access to AIDS Drug Assistance Programs nationwide has dropped to 813 people in nine states as of November 22, down from more than 1,100 people in July, according to a report by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Much of the drop is credited to a one-time release of $20 million in emergency funding by President Bush in June to help eliminate the waiting lists. Five of 10 states eligible for the emergency funding had eliminated their waiting lists by November--Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Colorado, and South Dakota. Colorado and South Dakota also used additional state appropriations to help eliminate their waiting lists. A total of 13 states have implemented some sort of cost-containing measures--including starting waiting lists, cutting the number of drugs provided, or tightening financial eligibility requirements--because of budget shortfalls for their ADAPs, according to the report. Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Wyoming also are expected to enact new or additional ADAP restrictions before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2005.
"It is clear that in a short period of time, a large number of people have accessed lifesaving medications through the president's initiative," said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles, in a statement. "What is less clear is how these people will get their drugs next year, or how we will account for the people who weren't eligible in June but need drugs now. This report proves that circumventing the current system will not work. We need a broad, structural solution to ADAP, not a quick fix."
Bush Administration Gives Mixed Marks on Drug Importation
The New York Times recently reported that a new Bush Administration analysis gives mixed views on whether drug importation should be allowed, "In a recent report, the Bush administration said that commercial importation of some low-cost prescription drugs from Canada might be feasible. But the savings to consumers would be small, it said, and the federal government would have to spend hundreds of million dollars a year to ensure the drugs' safety.
"The administration said in a report to Congress that legalizing imports would probably hurt the development of new drugs for Americans. The report was released amid growing support for laws on importing drugs." Click here to read more about this story.
 Keeping the Faith
Lutheran Church Sidesteps Gay Issues in New Report
The Chicago Tribune reports that "Both gay rights advocates and Lutheran conservatives panned a long-awaited sexuality report released by the nation's largest Lutheran denomination on Thursday, saying it showed no signs of progress in the discussion about same-sex unions and gay clergy. During a study process launched in 2001 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, scientists, theologians, gay and lesbian Lutherans and congregations weighed in on whether to alter the denomination's policies. The report from a 14-member task force leaves those policies largely untouched. The task force did not propose that sanctions be created for individual churches that bless same-sex partnerships. But it also did not suggest rewriting a non-binding statement from more than a decade ago in which bishops condemned such ceremonies." Click here to read the entire story.
Pope Takes Stronger Stance Against Same-Sex Marriage
The International Herald Tribune reports, "Pope John Paul II used his annual message to diplomats accredited to the Holy See to deliver an unequivocal condemnation on Monday of gay marriage in an exceptionally strongly worded message meant to define the position and agenda of the Roman Catholic Church at a time when the Vatican feels its values to be under fierce assault. 'Today the family is often threatened by social and cultural pressures which tend to undermine its stability; but in some countries the family is also threatened by legislation which - at times directly - challenge its natural structure, which is and must necessarily be that of a union between a man and a woman founded on marriage,' said the pope." Family, he said, "must never be undermined by laws based on a narrow and unnatural vision of man." Click here to read the entire article.
Before Christmas, the Pope had a similar message. Reuters reported that the Pope condemned same-sex unions as an attack on society. "Pope John Paul on Saturday condemned same sex marriage as an attack on the fabric of society and called on Catholics to combat what he said was [an] aggressive attempt to legally undermine the family. 'Attacks on marriage and the family, from an ideological and legal aspect, are becoming stronger and more radical every day,' the pontiff said. 'Who destroys this fundamental fabric causes a profound injury to society and provokes often irreparable damage.' Click here to read the entire article.
Spanish Archbishop Labels Homosexuality an "Epidemic"
With the Spanish government moving closer to legalizing gay marriage the Catholic Church in Spain is trying to stop it. The Daily Telegraph reported on the comments of a Spanish Archbishop. "Spain's government may be bent on delivering legislation to allow marriages between same-sex couples, but Catholic church opposition hardened today with an archbishop labeling homosexuality an "epidemic".
"(There is) a veritable epidemic of homosexuality, a fount of psychological problems and painful frustrations," said Fernando Sebastian, archbishop of Pamplona in northern Spain and secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. "Homosexuals, if they wish, and with well-targeted help, can change their situation," he said, adding: "For me, all are sons of God, and all deserve the same respect."
Canadian Catholic Church Fighting Civil Marriage Equality
Roman Catholic Bishops in Canada are working to stop Parliament from passing civil marriage equality. In a letter to be distributed this weekend at Catholic parishes in the diocese of London, Ontario, Bishop Ronald Fabbro has called upon the area's 400,000 Catholics to lobby their Members of Parliament to preserve marriage as a union between a man and a woman. "As your bishop, I ask you to take an active role in defending the traditional meaning of marriage," Fabbro wrote in a letter that has gone out to the 145 parishes of the Diocese of London. Click here to read more about this story.
U.S. Catholic Church Debating How Children With Gay Parents Should be Treated
The U.S. Catholic Church is debating whether to allow children with gay parents to attend Catholic schools. The Chicago Tribune recently reported on the issue. "When two boys were enrolled at a Roman Catholic school in Southern California at the start of the school year, word quickly spread that they were the sons of a gay couple.
"Parents of other children at St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa demanded the boys be removed from the 550-student elementary and middle school. Eighteen parents wrote a letter complaining about the presence of the boys and arguing their admission violated Roman Catholic doctrine on homosexuality.
"The case, along with a similar one at another Roman Catholic school, have raised questions about the church's policies regarding the education of children of same-sex couples.
"In the California case, the parish's pastor agreed to keep the two adopted sons of the gay couple in school. But in the second incident in Eugene, Ore., school officials refused to admit the adopted daughter of two lesbians." Click here to read the entire article.
The Los Angeles Times reports that a group of parishioners and parents angered that a gay couple have been allowed to enroll their two boys in a California Catholic diocese school have appealed to the Bishop requesting that he clarify the diocese's stance on homosexuality and domestic partnership. Click here to read the entire article.
American Baptist Churches Pledge to Shun 'Homophobic Behavior'
The American Baptist Churches in the United States is debating how to deal with the issue of sexual orientation. The Associated Press recently reported that "The 25 regional executives of the 1.5 million-member American Baptist Churches in the USA jointly announced that the denomination's ongoing controversy over homosexuality 'threatens to break us apart.'
"A pastoral statement to 'preserve unity,' released this month after a meeting of denomination leaders, said they had personally agreed to 'voluntarily refrain from' naming sexually active gays and lesbians to national and regional positions.' The church leaders also said they would not participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies, but pledged to shun 'homophobic behavior.'" Click here to read the entire article.
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