Quest Vol. 12 No. 14

*Quest News* Volume 12 No. 14 August 4, 2005 Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick Top Stories: Wisconsin Amendment Fight Heats Up Six Join Action Wisconsin Board, Fundraising Increases, Statewide Labor Union Opposes Ban Madison -- The campaign against a state constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage for gay couples has gained steam in the last few weeks as Action Wisconsin continues to expand its network of activists opposing the proposed amendment. The civil rights group also announced that along with Milwaukee-based partner Center Advocates, i t has already raised over 70% of a matching grant awarded the organizations three weeks ago. Additionally a statewide labor union representing over 3,500 workers formally announced its opposition to the Republican-sponsored bill. On July 27 AW announced that six new members from eastern, southern, northwest and southwest Wisconsin had joined the organization’s board of directors. The new board members include Francie Ball, Peter Bock, Angie Nichols, Beth Olson, Michele Perreault and Aaron Sherer, AW is the statewide advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and is leading the campaign against the amendment. Ball, from La Crosse, has been active in LGBT advocacy in the Coulee region for nearly two decades. She has been involved with the LLN newsletter, one of the longest-lived lesbian newsletters in the country, the LGBT youth group GALAXY, and the Seven Rivers LGBT Resource Center. She and her partner Mary O’Sullivan have been together for 22 years. Ball has worked as the dietary director for Bethany St. Joseph Care Center for 16 years. Two Superior women, Angie Nichols and Beth Olson, also have joined the board. A native of Minnesota, Nichols has lived in Superior since June 2004. Nichols is the LGBT Services Director at the University of Minnesota - Duluth. Olson has lived in Superior for eight years and works for the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault in Duluth. She and Nichols were married in Canada last year. “I decided to get involved with Action Wisconsin because many state lawmakers want to make it even more difficult for gay couples to have critical rights and responsibilities,” Nichols told Quest. “I’m committed to informing northwestern Wisconsin communities about this amendment that would hurt real Wisconsin families, including mine.” Olson cited concerns for the child the couple is raising. “I want to make sure that our seven-year-old daughter does not grow up in a society where hatred is not only tolerated, but is written into the constitution. We are teaching her about fairness, justice, equality and community mindedness. This amendment runs contrary to those values,” Olson said. Nichols and Olson are planning a number of house parties and speakers trainings in the region to raise public awareness about the amendment. Last November, Action Wisconsin helped organize a town hall meeting in Superior about marriage equality and the amendment. Oshkosh resident Aaron Sherer moved to Wisconsin from Massachusetts with his partner Paul Smith in 2002. They live in Oshkosh, where Sherer is the director of the Paine Art Center and Gardens, and Smith teaches special education at West High School. Sherer says, “When we moved here, the rights of gay citizens were essentially identical in both states. Now, Massachusetts offers full marriage equality for gay couples, while Wisconsin is moving towards banning all legal protections for our family.” Sherer’s primary reason for serving on the board of Action Wisconsin is to help defeat the amendment in the Oshkosh area. “We like living here and would like to stay. We think we’re making a contribution to our community. But this amendment goes too far. Paul and I are each other’s family, and this amendment would hurt our ability to take care of one another.” Sherer also serves on the boards of the Oshkosh United Way and the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, a religious congregation, recently took a stance in support of marriage equality for gay couples. In 2004, most Oshkosh-area lawmakers supported the amendment. Senator Carol Roessler and Assembly Representatives Carol Owens and John Townsend voted for it, while Rep. Greg Underheim was one of only two Republicans in the Legislature to oppose the amendment. Also joining the board earlier this summer were former Milwaukee Assemblyman Peter Bock and Madison attorney Michele Perreault. Several other individuals from southeast Wisconsin are also in discussions about joining the AW board. “Having these six highly qualified activists joining the board will be a major boost to our effort to increase support for equality around the state,” Action Wisconsin executive director Christopher Ott said. The proposed constitutional amendment is likely to be on the November 2006 statewide ballot. Lawmakers passed it once in March 2004, but the Legislature must approve it a second time before it goes before voters in a statewide election. The amendment would not only permanently ban marriage for gay couples but would also foreclose the possibility of civil unions, which could offer many of the rights of marriage in Wisconsin, for unmarried couples regardless of their sexual orientation.. States that have already passed similar amendments are seeing them used to overturn straight and same-sex domestic partner health insurance policies and domestic violence safeguards for unmarried heterosexuals. Action Wisconsin also is conducting a nationwide search to hire a campaign manager and additional staff to build the statewide campaign, including an organizer to be based in northeastern Wisconsin. To fund these positions the group has been aggressively raising funds in what is typically a fallow period for such outreach. Activists have repeatedly pointed to the $3.9 million raised by Oregon in its unsuccessful 2004 ban battle as the kind of money needed at minimum to turn the tide in Wisconsin. Others suggest the dollar amounts might have too be double the Oregon campaign for the lower turnout mid-term election. In early July, the Human Rights Campaign and the Milwaukee-based Brico Fund announced their $125,000 contribution to defeat the ban on civil unions and marriage. This early investment suggested their confidence in Wisconsin’s potential to defeat the constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage. The organizations made this gift in the form of a challenge grant for the state’s citizens, gay and straight, to match that amount to support the AW campaign. AW reports that of of Quest’s deadline, supporters have responded by giving 72% of the total - over $90,000 - leaving the organization just $35,000 away from meeting their goal. Opposition to the amendment has been growing in many communities, but there is particular momentum among people of faith. Recently, a number of regional mainline Protestant denominations voted to publicly oppose it, including three Lutheran synods and the statewide United Methodist conference. On July 28 the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199W joined the ranks of non-gay groups taking formal positions against the amendment. SEIU is the largest and fastest growing union in North America, and this branch represents over 3,500 healthcare workers working at more than 300 facilities throughout Wisconsin. For more information on Action Wisconsin and Milwaukee partner Center advocates, visit their respective websites at www.actionwisconsin.org and www.centeradvocates.org. Canada Becomes Fourth Nation To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage Ottawa - Canada legalized gay marriage July 20, becoming the world’s fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the legislation making it law, hours after it was approved by the Senate late July 19 despite strong opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders. The bill gives gay and lesbian couples the same rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in eight of Canada’s ten provinces and in two of its three territories. The legislation drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority Liberal Party government easily passed the Senate, which essentially rubber stamps any bill already passed by the House of Commons, which passed it late last month. The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are the only other nations that allow gay marriage nationwide. The law comes after years of court battles and debate that divided families, religious groups and even political allies. The Roman Catholic Church, the predominant Christian denomination in Canada, has vigorously opposed the legislation. But Martin, a Roman Catholic, has said that despite anyone’s personal beliefs, all Canadians should be granted the same rights to marriage. Alex Munter, national spokesman for Canadians for Equal Marriage, which has led the debate in favor of the law, was triumphant. “It is a signal to the world that Canada is an open and inclusive society that believes in the notion of full citizenship for all.” Churches have expressed concern that their clergy would be compelled to perform same sex ceremonies. The legislation, however, states that the bill only covers civil unions, not religious ones, and no clergy would be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies unless they choose to do so. Charles McVety, a spokesman for Defend Marriage Canada and president of Canada Christian College, said he was “very sad that the state has invaded the church, breached separation of church and state and redefined a religious word.” McVety vowed his group would work to vote out lawmakers who supported the legislation in the next general elections. “A new Parliament is going to readdress this issue and common sense ultimately will prevail,” McVety said. The Vatican was quick to attack Canada’s legalization of gay marriage, calling it a distortion of God’s plan for the family. “The distortion of God’s plan for the family continues,” said L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily on July 21. “In Canada, homosexual unions have become equal to marriage.” Though hundreds of foreigners have come to Canada to seek civil ceremonies since gay marriages were first allowed in Ontario and British Columbia in 2003, not all countries or states recognize the unions. The U.S. government does not recognize same-sex marriage, and most states refuse to acknowledge marriage certificates from gay and lesbian couples, regardless of where they wed. Conversely, same-sex marriage may be legal in Canada, but the government has issued a warning to gay and lesbian couples to be aware of cultural – and legal – differences abroad. “We cannot take for granted that rights that are recognized in Canada will be recognized or accepted abroad,” Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement July 24. “We must also acknowledge that many countries still do not permit such marriages,” he said. “Whether visiting or moving to another country, Canadians should always take the time to learn about the laws of the country for which they are destined before leaving home.” World & National News: Outcry Over Iran’s Execution of Gay Teens Dubai, UAE - Iran’s recent executions of two teenagers violated international law, a New York-based human rights group has said. Human Rights Watch condemned the July 19 public hangings of the two, aged 18 and 16, after they were found guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy more than a year earlier. The older convict was 17 at the time of the offense. The hanging also brought condemnation from many foreign governments, including the United States. “Death is an inhumane punishment, particularly for someone under 18 at the time of his crimes,” Hadi Ghaemi, Iran researcher for the rights group, said in a statement issued July 28. “All but a handful of countries forbid such executions. Iran should as well.” Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and other rights advocates in Iran also protested the hangings, which took place in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the verdict and allowed the execution. In letters to Iran’s president and the head of the country’s judiciary, the rights group asked Iran to refrain from “inhumane” executions, especially of minors. Besides Iran, only China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and the United States are known to have put juvenile offenders to death in the past five years, Human Rights Watch said. Before the two youths were executed, each received 228 lashes for theft, disturbing public order and consuming alcohol. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibit imposing the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18, the rights group said. Iran has ratified both treaties. Iran is thought to have executed at least four other juvenile offenders in 2004, and at least 30 juvenile offenders are on the country’s death row. Repeal of Maine’s Gay Rights Law On November Ballot Bangor - For the fourth time in a decade, Maine voters will be asked whether they want to extend legal protection from discrimination to people who are gay. On July 28, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced that gay-rights opponents had gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the civil rights law passed this year by the Legislature and signed by Governor. John Baldacci. Opponents had to gather at least 50,519 signatures, or the equivalent of 10% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, to force a “people’s veto” referendum on Election Day. Dunlap declared that 56,650 signatures collected this spring were valid, paving the way for a vote on November 8. The latest gay-rights referendum will likely be the highest-profile and most hotly contested issue on the off-year ballot, which will probably include a state bond issue package and a constitutional amendment to protect working waterfronts, but no candidates running for statewide election. The announcement did not surprise either side. Even before the bill made its way through the Legislature, its supporters and opponents were preparing themselves for a political fight in the fall. This time, however, the focus of the campaign is likely to be the opponents’ charge that the civil rights extension would be the first step toward legalizing same-sex marriage. Even though the law would only outlaw discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit, opponents say it could provide the rationale for a court to find current marriage laws unconstitutional, as happened in Massachusetts in 2003. “This law will help secure the right to marry (for gay and lesbian people),” claimed Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic league of Maine and one of the leading opponents of the measure. “It is establishing the idea that sexual orientation is a legitimate orientation when it comes to individual rights. When it comes to your sexual expression, the state is going to come to your aid.” Supporters of the law say the focus on marriage is an attempt to scare voters who have become more comfortable with the concept of protecting gay people from discrimination since the last referendum in 2000. The latest version of the law includes language saying it does not address the definition of marriage. “This is about discrimination in those five areas of the law, nothing more, nothing less,” spokesman Jesse Connolly of Maine Won’t Discriminate, the organization coordinating the fight to uphold the law, told Portland Press Herald reporter Gregory Kesich. Maine’s first gay-rights vote came in 1995 when Carolyn Cosby of Portland led a petition drive to prevent the state and municipalities from amending laws to make sexual orientation a protected class. The measure was defeated. In 1997, the Legislature passed a gay-rights bill that was signed into law by Governor Angus King. But opponents forced a people’s veto vote, where it was defeated in a low-turnout special election on February 10, 1998. In 2000, the Legislature and King produced a new gay-rights law that included a provision seeking the approval of Maine voters in the presidential election that fall. The measure failed by less than 7,000 votes out of more than 600,000 cast. Since his election in 2002, Baldacci has supported a gay-rights law and has pledged to “do what it takes” to make the law stand, although his role in the campaign has not been defined, said spokesman Lynn Kippax. He noted that all the other New England states outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the Canadian provinces that border Maine also provide the same protection. Maine Won’t Discriminate is attempting to raise more than $1 million and plans to go on television with ads supporting the law. Heath said his side would probably raise and spend half that much. In 2000, both sides together spent less than $600,000, and Maine Won’t Discriminate ran the only advertisement. Utah Allows Pro-Gay License Plate Messages Salt Lake City - Positive gay messages are now okay on personalized license plates in Utah. That’s the ruling of the state tax commission, which voted to allow three such plates that were earlier rejected. For the ACLU it’s a victory for free speech. Gay-friendly, personalized license plates are no longer considered offensive in the same way swear words are. You can tell by looking at Elizabeth “Beano” Solomon’s car that she’s not afraid to proclaim her support for gay rights and her children, who are gay. That’s why she decided to apply for personalized Utah license plates “Gay We Go,” “Gays ROK,” and “Gay Rights.” “I applied for them to, yes be in your face, but more importantly to convey a positive message,” Solomon said. The state division of motor vehicles rejected two of the plate proposals, unsure if the messages crossed the line of ‘appropriateness’. Solomon decided to fight for all three messages. “I was on fire because my mommy button had been pushed. Not my gay activist button.” Officially, the State Tax Commission considered the application, eyeing it with the same criteria it would for a message that had swear words, sexual connotations and drug messages, a decency standard. “There’s a statutory basis that guides the commission to preclude statements that might arouse negative feelings,” Mark Johnson, a State Tax Commissioner said There is a chance for further appeal, but for now the three plates are allowed. And Solomon plans to put them on the road as soon as she can, mostly for the sake of her kids, one of whom struggled with being gay. “It’s very important for those children to know and all those parents to know that there are parents out there who don’t think this is a problem.” Outed Aide Supports Anti-Gay Senator Santorum Washington, DC - The senior spokesman for Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) confirmed to a web log that he is gay July 15. According to PageOneQ, an online gay and lesbian publication, director of communications Robert L. Traynham, said that he was an “out gay man who completely supports the senator.” In the online interview, Traynham defended his decision to work with the senator. “Senator Santorum is a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in. I strongly do support Sen. Santorum. Asked whether he supported Santorum’s views on lesbian and gay issues, Traynham told PageOneQ, “Sen. Santorum is a family man. I have been with him for eight years and I am very proud to be with him.” Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate leadership has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights and a leading proponent of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The two-term senator is up for reelection next year. His expected Democratic opponent is State Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr. In supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit gay marriage, Santorum has equated homeland security with the sanctity of traditional marriage. He has referred to gay marriage as “messing with the basic family unit.” During a 2003 interview with The Associated Press about a challenge to the constitutionality of Texas’s sodomy law, Santorum said that if the Supreme Court allows gay sex at home (which it ultimately did), “you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.” On the marriage issue, Santorum also said: “In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be.” Traynham began working for Santorum since 1997 as a press assistant and then deputy press secretary. He was press secretary for the senator’s 2000 reelection campaign in Pennsylvania. Just prior to becoming communications director in the Senate office, Traynham served as director of communications for the Senate Republican Conference. In response to the outing Santorum released the following statement: “Robert Traynham ... is widely respected and admired on Capitol Hill, both among the press corps and among the congressional staff, as a communications professional. Not only is Mr. Traynham an exemplary staffer, but he is also a trusted friend confidente to me and my family. Mr. Traynham is a valued member of my staff and I regret that this effort on behalf of people who oppose me has made him a target of bigotry in their eyes. “It is entirely unacceptable that my staffs’ personal lives are considered fair game by partisans looking for arguments to bolster my opponent’s campaign. Mr. Traynham continues to have my full support and confidence as well as my prayers as he navigates this rude and mean spirited invasion of his personal life.” Mark Rodgers, chief of staff at the Republican conference, which Santorum chairs, said, “Robert is a tremendous employee and we’re all for standing by him.” Traynham’s homosexuality was not news to the senator or his staff, he added. State News: OutReach Opens Harassment Report Website Madison - In response to recent claims of police harassment at a popular Madison park, the city’s gay community center has established a website to report such incidents. In response to complaints received by OutReach, center staff Nikki Baumblatt met police officials on July 18 to discuss ways the center could take a proactive role in educating the LGBT community on the police crackdown. Olin-Turville Park is a City of Madison property that is well known in the LGBT community as a cruising spot. According to one nationally known gay website, the park has been under volunteer citizen and police surveillance since last April. According to Baumblatt, the Madison Police Department has stepped up enforcement of prohibited activities in this location. Complaints received by OutReach suggest that the officers engaged in these increased patrols may be harassing innocent people of all sexual orientations. At least one publicized report noted that some police were targeting “gay looking” men as soon as they parked their vehicles. However, police counter that they have arrested at least one heterosexual couple engaged in sexual activity at the park as well Baumblatt noted that OutReach does not in any way condone sexual activity by anyone in public places, but that the harassment of people who are not engaging in illegal activities is something that the center can not condone either. “As such we are gathering information about alleged instances of harassment and want to hear from you,” Baumblatt told Quest in an email announcing the website. A link to the harassment site is located on the agency’s main page at: www.outreachinc.com. Individuals of any sexual orientation who feel that they have been harassed are asked to fill out the secure form on the website completely as without this information OutReach will be unable to assist them. Baumblatt added that OutReach that can help LGBT community members meet new and interesting people in safe and sane ways through its wide variety of support or topical discussion groups and social events. If you do meet someone in a park and engage in these activities you risk fines and jail time. To contact someone directly about OutReach’s new harassment website or about any of the center’s programs, contact Baumblatt by email at: commrel@outreach.com or call 608-255-8582. Guernsey Gala Tops $7500 Green Bay - The 14th annual Guernsey Gala raised more than $7500, according to final results announced at the grand finale held at Cricket’s Fox River Lounge on July 22. In an another close competition, Earl Deisinger took the tiara for the Napalese Lounge, edging out runner-up Howard “Tippy” Tipler of The Shelter Club by about $400. Deisinger raised $2600.16 to Tipler’s $2215. Third and fourth places went respectively to Joe Mercier, who represented Cricket’s Fox River Lounge, and Tommy Witt, who was the Club XS’ candidate. For the first time in a half decade every candidate topped the thousand dollar mark. The $7518.16 final Guernsey tally has been donated to the Social Services program at ARCW. The funds augment the agency’s Emergency Financial Assistance program which helps those living with HIV/AIDS deal with disease-related budgetary crises. $166 of the total was designated for use to supply the agency’s hard goods pantry, which dispenses paper products and personal care items such as soap and shampoo. All money raised by the Guernsey Gala is distributed to clients and other PWAs working with the Green Bay office. According to 2005 Guernsey coordinator Marilyn Schroeder, the 14th edition of the gala tipped the fund raiser’s lifetime total of funds raised past $130,000. The Guernsey Gala has been sponsored and organized by Rainbow Over Wisconsin since 2003, and is the longest continuing fundraiser for HIV/AIDS by any gay community in the state of Wisconsin. Lesbians’ Rainbow Flag Ripped, Set Afire Stoughton - A lesbian couple were the targets of a suspected hate crime in the early hours of July 23 when someone ripped a rainbow flag off their door, burned it and left it in a neighbor’s yard. Margaret Funk and her partner Lou Made have lived in Stoughton for about a year after living in Washington, D.C. “I couldn’t believe it -- it was completely torn - tattered pieces missing,” Funk said. “When I looked at it closer, it was burnt.” The couple said they feel angry, frustrated and disappointed. “We see it on TV in other countries -- people are taking the American flag and trying to burn it,” Funk said. “That is a desecration. That’s the way it feels to us, too.” Despite their anger, the women said they don’t want to live in fear, though that may be more difficult. “Obviously the first thought is, what’s next?” Made said. “Are my tires going to be slashed? Are the windows going to be broken out? Where does it end?” The couple have passed out flyers about the incident and filed a police report. They said they hope it will help raise awareness and open eyes to the ongoing fight for civil rights. They have also wrote to Governor Jim Doyle, their Congressional Representative Tammy Baldwin and other community leaders about the incident. “We have a lot of work to do to have people understand there’s not need for the hatred,” Made said. The couple doesn’t believe the person or people who burned the rainbow flag live in their neighborhood. They have been told that someone spotted a stranger in the Keenan Lane area at about 3:30 AM the morning of the incident. Stoughton police continue their investigation. If anyone has information, call the police at 608-873-3374. International Effort Goes Into ARCW Benefit Concert Appleton - Russian and Fox Cities high school students are teaming up to host a benefit concert to benefit ARCW at the Harmony Cafe here. Participants in the Fox Cities-Kurgan Sister City will hold the concert on Wednesday, Aug 10 beginning at 7 PM at the cafe. Concert headliners will be the band Left at Atlantic. The Harmony Cafe is also the site for a number of LGBT support groups. Etcetera and organization for LGBTQA young adults 18 years old and over holds its weekly gatherings every Monday at 7 PM. The LGBT Partnership meets Tuesdays from 6-8 PM. The Partnership is a weekly support and youth development group for teens ages 14-18 who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning or straight ally. The Harmony Cafe, a peaceful place to celebrate diversity of people, ideas and activities, is located 124 North Oneida Street in Appleton. Visit them online at: www.harmonycafe.org or call 920-734-CAFE for more information about programs and upcoming events. The Harmony Cafe is a program of Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, Inc. Rainbow Community Potluck Picnic Planned Milwaukee - An intergenerational picnic with the Milwaukee LGBT Center’s Project Q, SAGE, PFLAG, BWMT and Lesbian Alliance has been set for Saturday, August 6, from Noon - 3 PM at Humboldt Park, Area #4. The park is located near the intersection of Howell and Oklahoma Avenues. Potluck attendees are asked to bring a dish to share based by the first letter of your last name. Those whose names begin with A-H should bring munchies and beverages, I-O are asked to bring desserts, and P-Z are asked to bring any kind of side dish. this will be an alcohol-free event, as the youth will be attending.. For more information call the center at 414-271-2656, Ext. 120. “Naked Boys” Debut To Benefit Center Advocates Milwaukee - The opening night of “Naked Boys Singing!” here August 11 will raise more than the expected eyebrows: the show’s premiere performance will also benefit Center Advocates in its ongoing efforts to stop the ban on civil unions and gay marriage. Tickets for 8 PM show at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, 703 South 2nd St., are $18 with proceeds going to support Center Advocate’s No on the Amendment Coalition. The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center has chosen Center Advocates to receive all the proceeds from their opening night. This popular all-male, nude, cabaret-style musical was originally conceived and directed by Robert Schrock and has played in New York City, Chicago, Madison and major cities all over the world. The songs range from comedy to ballads, and celebrate the male form. The Cream City premiere of “Naked Boys Singing!” will be directed by Uncommon Theatre Artistic Director Mark Hooker. “I wanted to cast regular guys rather than ‘models’ – people who everyone can identify with,” says Hooker. “These songs tell stories of love, insecurity, as well as celebration of the male body, and I think it’s important to let the songs be the focus of the show.” Tickets can be ordered by calling the Uncommon Theatre Box Office number 414-248-6481 between the hours of 11AM -3PM Monday through Saturday. Indicate that you are calling as an invited guest of Center Advocates to get the $18 rate. Duluth Mayor Proclaims Twin Ports Pride Days Superior - In honor of the annual Twin Ports pride celebration, Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson has proclaimed September 1-4 as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Days in the city at a press conference July 15. Bergson also announced that the Duluth-Superior LGBT Pride Festival 2005 will be held at Bayfront Festival Park. It will be the first time the festival, which is set for September 3, will take place in the park. “It’s a huge deal for us,” Tamara Jones, festival co-chair, said of moving to Bayfront. “It has a lot to do with the fact that we are becoming much more visible. To our local community as a whole, this really is like coming out of the closet.” Bergson said the festival has outgrown its site at the Park Point Recreation Area and he looks forward to it becoming even larger. Jones estimates they attract more than 3,000 visitors to this year’s festival. Event organizer Sherry Berhow also said that the Duluth Superior LGBT Pride Festival was recently voted as the “Hottest” Small Town Pride festival by OUT magazine. Bergson continues to distance himself from the previous administration when it comes to cooperation with LGBT organizers. For years, former Mayor Gary Doty refused to officially support the event, which celebrates sexual diversity and supports the gay community. Last year, Bergson became the first Duluth mayor to publicly endorse the festival. The event will kick off with a mayor’s reception at The Depot on September 1 from 5-7 PM. The mayoral pride proclamation predictably has brought howls of protest from anti-gay factions in the area. Duluth minister Helen Millen complained in a letter published in the Duluth News Tribune July 22 that she “cannot help but be concerned about the direction our city is headed. To read that the Gay Pride festival has the mayor’s approval is deeply distressing.” Millen then proceeded to pepper her comments with Biblical quotes. Her letter set off a flurry of additional letters to the editor from both sides. ARCW’s LifePoint Needle Exchange Program Wins Award Milwaukee - ARCW has been selected to receive a “Program Award for Making A Difference” that recognizes the impact of the agency’s Lifepoint needle exchange program. The award is made by the Wisconsin AIDS Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and will be presented at their Summer Celebration and Awards Dinner at the Milwaukee Country Club on Friday, August 26. This is the second time that the Wisconsin AIDS Fund has honored Lifepoint, according to ARCW’s Executive Director Doug Nelson. “They are very impressed with the expansion of Lifepoint throughout Wisconsin,the holistic approach to HIV and Hepatitis C prevention that Lifepoint embraces, and the continuing success that Lifepoint has in saving lives from HIV infection,” Nelson said. Nelson added that the recognition reinforces that Lifepoint as a national model as an enlightened, life-saving AIDS prevention program. Registration For AIDS Walk Wisconsin 2005 Begins Milwaukee - “A World Without AIDS Begins With You!” So began the announcement of the opening of registration for ARCW’s AIDS Walk ‘Wisconsin 2005 recently. A toll-free phone hotline, outreach mailings to previous year’s walkers, statewide distribution of posters and point-of purchase displays and a revised website (at www.aidswalkwis.org) offering online registration are among the tools being used this year to recruit walkers and teams. Thousands of walkers from all corners of the state are expected on Sunday, September 25 on Milwaukee’s lakefront the the annual AIDS Walk Wisconsin to support HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services. As new HIV infection rates have increased by over 14% in Wisconsin, support is vital to provide the necessary medical, prevention, legal and housing services to help curb this rising statistic. Free round-trip transportation for walkers and teams outside the Milwaukee area will be available. In addition to visiting the abovementioned website, interested walkers may call 800-348-WALK. Ovadal’s Traffic Disrupting Anti-Gay Signs Are “Free Speech” Madison - Self-identified “Pastor”Ralph Ovadal had a constitutional right to display traffic-disrupting banners over the city’s busy Beltline in 2003, despite the threats to public safety caused by driver’s reacting to the messages. That was the unanimous July 19 decision of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The court ruled that the city of Madison may have violated Ovadal’s free speech rights when it ordered him to remove anti-gay banners from overpasses. The decision overturns a ruling made a year ago by U.S. District Judge John Shabaz, who said the actions by Madison police were permissible to ensure public safety. The case will be returned to Shabaz to answer questions the appeals court considers key to deciding whether the city deprived Ovadal of his First Amendment rights. “It is the obligation of police to maintain order when unpopular speech disrupts it, not to silence the speaker,” Nate Kellum, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) said. ADF, which has represented Ovadal in the case, is also seeking inclusion of the state Assembly the recent ACLU domestic partnership lawsuit brought by six lesbian state employees. “The law does not allow a driver to act irresponsibly because he sees a sign with a message he doesn’t like. Likewise, the police cannot squelch someone’s free speech rights because someone might fail to properly control their vehicle as the law requires,” Kellum added. In September and October 2003, Ovadal, then leading a protest by the now-defunct Wisconsin Christians United, briefly displayed banners reading “Homosexuality is sin” and “Christ can set you free”on highway overpasses. Police told him the banners were a traffic hazard and ordered them removed. Shabaz denied a temporary injunction that would have barred Madison police from ordering the removal of the banners, ruling that such a ban would have been overly broad and would have prevented police from acting to ensure public safety. However, Judge Michael Kanne, wrote in the panel’s decision that unpopular speech is protected by the First Amendment. “It cannot be denied that drivers who yelled, gestured and slammed on their brakes when they saw Ovadal’s signs created a safety hazard on the Beltline,” Kanne wrote. “However, it is the reckless drivers, not Ovadal, who should have been dealt with by the police, perhaps in conjunction with an appropriate time, place and manner restriction on Ovadal.” Kanne said there is no “heckler’s veto” and that police must permit the speech and control the crowd, even if other drivers are travelling at 60 miles per hour. According to Catherine Rottier, a private attorney representing the city of Madison in the case, the city is considering options for its next step in the case. While the city was disappointed that Shabaz’s decision was overturned, “we take some comfort in noting from the decision that the appellate court recognizes the city’s ability to prohibit signs and protests on Beltline overpasses in order to protect traffic safety,”Rottier said. The appeals court ruling instructs the lower court to explore issues of fact to determine whether the city deprived Ovadal of his free speech rights. Among them is whether the ban on Ovadal was narrowly tailored and content- neutral and whether anyone else with a different message would have been banned from doing the same thing. “The key question is whether the city’s rule that no protests may take place on overpasses when those protests cause a traffic hazard is capable of content-neutral application, or whether the city has imposed a content-based and impermissible ‘no-Ovadal-on-overpasses’ rule,” Kanne wrote. Rottier believes that Madison’s decisions about Ovadal’s signs were made without regard to their content. Local gay activists have compared Ovadal’s actions to other free speech that might be considered reckless or dangerous. “If I add the word ‘hell’ before shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, is that protected religious speech?” one quipped. Wisconsin AG Seeks DP Lawsuit Dismissal Madison - Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked a judge on July 27 to dismiss a lawsuit seeking benefits for the domestic partners of gay and lesbian state workers. Lautenschlager’s memo is the second defense against the ACLU suit. In a legal brief filed June 8, Lautenschlager said there is no guarantee of equal rights to same-sex couples in the Wisconsin Constitution, basing her argument on a 1992 appeals court ruling. Lautenschlager, a Democrat, has been accused by Republican lawmakers of not vigorously defending the state against the lawsuit brought by six lesbian employees and the American Civil Liberties Union. The criticism increased after news that Lautenschlager appeared at a gay pride rally in Madison alongside the ACLU lawyer handling the case and two of the plaintiffs. Rep. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin), who is the lead Assembly sponsor to a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar any legal recognition to same sex couples, claimed that Lautenschlager was responding to criticism that she was being soft in this case. The ACLU suit seeks state-funded health insurance for the domestic partners of gay employees, as well as changes to the state’s family and sick leave policies. Lautenschlager’s spokesman, Kelly Kennedy, said that the July 27 brief asking Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan to rule in the state’s favor shows the Department of Justice is forcefully defending the state. “The attorney general’s political opinion on something is completely separate from our defense of the state’s interests in this case, and that is clear by the motions we filed today,” Kennedy said. The second brief again notes that a state appeals court in 1992 ruled that Wisconsin’s refusal to offer gay workers the same benefits as their married colleagues did not violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s equal-protection clause. Top of Page Quest Home QNU Home

Quest News Volume 12 No. 14 August 4, 2005
Compiled & written by Mike Fitzpatrick

Top Stories:

Wisconsin Amendment Fight Heats Up
Six Join Action Wisconsin Board, Fundraising Increases, Statewide Labor Union Opposes Ban
Madison -- The campaign against a state constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage for gay couples has gained steam in the last few weeks as Action Wisconsin continues to expand its network of activists opposing the proposed amendment. The civil rights group

also announced that along with Milwaukee-based partner Center Advocates, i t has already raised over 70% of a matching grant awarded the organizations three weeks ago. Additionally a statewide labor union representing over 3,500 workers formally announced its opposition to the Republican-sponsored bill.
On July 27 AW announced that six new members from eastern, southern, northwest and southwest Wisconsin had joined the organization’s board of directors. The new board members include Francie Ball, Peter Bock, Angie Nichols, Beth Olson, Michele Perreault and Aaron Sherer, AW is the statewide advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and is leading the campaign against the amendment.
Ball, from La Crosse, has been active in LGBT advocacy in the Coulee region for nearly two decades. She has been involved with the LLN newsletter, one of the longest-lived lesbian newsletters in the country, the LGBT youth group GALAXY, and the Seven Rivers LGBT Resource Center. She and her partner Mary O’Sullivan have been together for 22 years. Ball has worked as the dietary director for Bethany St. Joseph Care Center for 16 years.
Two Superior women, Angie Nichols and Beth Olson, also have joined the board. A native of Minnesota, Nichols has lived in Superior since June 2004. Nichols is the LGBT Services Director at the University of Minnesota - Duluth. Olson has lived in Superior for eight years and works for the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault in Duluth. She and Nichols were married in Canada last year.
“I decided to get involved with Action Wisconsin because many state lawmakers want to make it even more difficult for gay couples to have critical rights and responsibilities,” Nichols told Quest. “I’m committed to informing northwestern Wisconsin communities about this amendment that would hurt real Wisconsin families, including mine.”
Olson cited concerns for the child the couple is raising. “I want to make sure that our seven-year-old daughter does not grow up in a society where hatred is not only tolerated, but is written into the constitution. We are teaching her about fairness, justice, equality and community mindedness. This amendment runs contrary to those values,” Olson said.
Nichols and Olson are planning a number of house parties and speakers trainings in the region to raise public awareness about the amendment. Last November, Action Wisconsin helped organize a town hall meeting in Superior about marriage equality and the amendment.
Oshkosh resident Aaron Sherer moved to Wisconsin from Massachusetts with his partner Paul Smith in 2002. They live in Oshkosh, where Sherer is the director of the Paine Art Center and Gardens, and Smith teaches special education at West High School. Sherer says, “When we moved here, the rights of gay citizens were essentially identical in both states. Now, Massachusetts offers full marriage equality for gay couples, while Wisconsin is moving towards banning all legal protections for our family.”
Sherer’s primary reason for serving on the board of Action Wisconsin is to help defeat the amendment in the Oshkosh area. “We like living here and would like to stay. We think we’re making a contribution to our community. But this amendment goes too far. Paul and I are each other’s family, and this amendment would hurt our ability to take care of one another.”
Sherer also serves on the boards of the Oshkosh United Way and the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, a religious congregation, recently took a stance in support of marriage equality for gay couples.
In 2004, most Oshkosh-area lawmakers supported the amendment. Senator Carol Roessler and Assembly Representatives Carol Owens and John Townsend voted for it, while Rep. Greg Underheim was one of only two Republicans in the Legislature to oppose the amendment.
Also joining the board earlier this summer were former Milwaukee Assemblyman Peter Bock and Madison attorney Michele Perreault. Several other individuals from southeast Wisconsin are also in discussions about joining the AW board.
“Having these six highly qualified activists joining the board will be a major boost to our effort to increase support for equality around the state,” Action Wisconsin executive director Christopher Ott said.
The proposed constitutional amendment is likely to be on the November 2006 statewide ballot. Lawmakers passed it once in March 2004, but the Legislature must approve it a second time before it goes before voters
in a statewide election.
The amendment would not only permanently ban marriage for gay couples but would also foreclose the possibility of civil unions, which could offer many of the rights of marriage in Wisconsin, for unmarried couples regardless of their sexual orientation.. States that have already passed similar amendments are seeing them used to overturn straight and same-sex domestic partner health insurance policies and domestic violence safeguards for unmarried heterosexuals.
Action Wisconsin also is conducting a nationwide search to hire a campaign manager and additional staff to build the statewide campaign, including an organizer to be based in northeastern Wisconsin. To fund these positions the group has been aggressively raising funds in what is typically a fallow period for such outreach. Activists have repeatedly pointed to the $3.9 million raised by Oregon in its unsuccessful 2004 ban battle as the kind of money needed at minimum to turn the tide in Wisconsin. Others suggest the dollar amounts might have too be double the Oregon campaign for the lower turnout mid-term election.
In early July, the Human Rights Campaign and the Milwaukee-based Brico Fund announced their $125,000 contribution to defeat the ban on civil unions and marriage. This early investment suggested their confidence in Wisconsin’s potential to defeat the constitutional ban on civil unions and marriage. The organizations made this gift in the form of a challenge grant for the state’s citizens, gay and straight, to match that amount to support the AW campaign. AW reports that of of Quest’s deadline, supporters have responded by giving 72% of the total - over $90,000 - leaving the organization just $35,000 away from meeting their goal.
Opposition to the amendment has been growing in many communities, but there is particular momentum among people of faith. Recently, a number of regional mainline Protestant denominations voted to publicly oppose it, including three Lutheran synods and the statewide United Methodist conference.
On July 28 the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199W joined the ranks of non-gay groups taking formal positions against the amendment. SEIU is the largest and fastest growing union in North America, and this branch represents over 3,500 healthcare workers working at more than 300 facilities throughout Wisconsin.
For more information on Action Wisconsin and Milwaukee partner Center advocates, visit their respective websites at www.actionwisconsin.org and www.centeradvocates.org.

Canada Becomes Fourth Nation
To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Ottawa - Canada legalized gay marriage July 20, becoming the world’s fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the legislation making it law, hours after it was approved by the Senate late same sex rings

July 19 despite strong opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders.
The bill gives gay and lesbian couples the same rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in eight of Canada’s ten provinces and in two of its three territories. The legislation drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority Liberal Party government easily passed the Senate, which essentially rubber stamps any bill already passed by the House of Commons, which passed it late last month.
The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are the only other nations that allow gay marriage nationwide.
The law comes after years of court battles and debate that divided families, religious groups and even political allies. The Roman Catholic Church, the predominant Christian denomination in Canada, has vigorously opposed the legislation. But Martin, a Roman Catholic, has said that despite anyone’s personal beliefs, all Canadians should be granted the same rights to marriage.
Alex Munter, national spokesman for Canadians for Equal Marriage, which has led the debate in favor of the law, was triumphant. “It is a signal to the world that Canada is an open and inclusive society that believes in the notion of full citizenship for all.”
Churches have expressed concern that their clergy would be compelled to perform same sex ceremonies. The legislation, however, states that the bill only covers civil unions, not religious ones, and no clergy would be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies unless they choose to do so.
Charles McVety, a spokesman for Defend Marriage Canada and president of Canada Christian College, said he was “very sad that the state has invaded the church, breached separation of church and state and redefined a religious word.”
McVety vowed his group would work to vote out lawmakers who supported the legislation in the next general elections. “A new Parliament is going to readdress this issue and common sense ultimately will prevail,” McVety said.
The Vatican was quick to attack Canada’s legalization of gay marriage, calling it a distortion of God’s plan for the family. “The distortion of God’s plan for the family continues,” said L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily on July 21. “In Canada, homosexual unions have become equal to marriage.”
Though hundreds of foreigners have come to Canada to seek civil ceremonies since gay marriages were first allowed in Ontario and British Columbia in 2003, not all countries or states recognize the unions. The U.S. government does not recognize same-sex marriage, and most states refuse to acknowledge marriage certificates from gay and lesbian couples, regardless of where they wed.
Conversely, same-sex marriage may be legal in Canada, but the government has issued a warning to gay and lesbian couples to be aware of cultural – and legal – differences abroad. “We cannot take for granted that rights that are recognized in Canada will be recognized or accepted abroad,” Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement July 24.
“We must also acknowledge that many countries still do not permit such marriages,” he said. “Whether visiting or moving to another country, Canadians should always take the time to learn about the laws of the country for which they are destined before leaving home.”

World & National News:

Outcry Over Iran’s Execution of Gay Teens
Dubai, UAE - Iran’s recent executions of two teenagers violated international law, a New York-based human rights group has said. Human Rights Watch condemned the July 19 public hangings of the two, aged 18 and 16, after they were found guilty of sexually Iran Teens Hanged assaulting a 13-year-old boy more than a year earlier. The older convict was 17 at the time of the offense.
The hanging also brought condemnation from many foreign governments, including the United States.
“Death is an inhumane punishment, particularly for someone under 18 at the time of his crimes,” Hadi Ghaemi, Iran researcher for the rights group, said in a statement issued July 28. “All but a handful of countries forbid such executions. Iran should as well.”
Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and other rights advocates in Iran also protested the hangings, which took place in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the verdict and allowed the execution.
In letters to Iran’s president and the head of the country’s judiciary, the rights group asked Iran to refrain from “inhumane” executions, especially of minors. Besides Iran, only China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and the United States are known to have put juvenile offenders to death in the past five years, Human Rights Watch said.
Before the two youths were executed, each received 228 lashes for theft, disturbing public order and consuming alcohol. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibit imposing the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18, the rights group said. Iran has ratified both treaties.
Iran is thought to have executed at least four other juvenile offenders in 2004, and at least 30 juvenile offenders are on the country’s death row.

Repeal of Maine’s Gay Rights Law On November Ballot
Bangor - For the fourth time in a decade, Maine voters will be asked whether they want to extend legal protection from discrimination to people who are gay.
On July 28, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced that gay-rights opponents had gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the civil rights law passed this year by the Legislature and signed by Governor. John Baldacci.
Opponents had to gather at least 50,519 signatures, or the equivalent of 10% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, to force a “people’s veto” referendum on Election Day. Dunlap declared that 56,650 signatures collected this spring were valid, paving the way for a vote on November 8.
The latest gay-rights referendum will likely be the highest-profile and most hotly contested issue on the off-year ballot, which will probably include a state bond issue package and a constitutional amendment to protect working waterfronts, but no candidates running for statewide election.
The announcement did not surprise either side. Even before the bill made its way through the Legislature, its supporters and opponents were preparing themselves for a political fight in the fall.
This time, however, the focus of the campaign is likely to be the opponents’ charge that the civil rights extension would be the first step toward legalizing same-sex marriage. Even though the law would only outlaw discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit, opponents say it could provide the rationale for a court to find current marriage laws unconstitutional, as happened in Massachusetts in 2003.
“This law will help secure the right to marry (for gay and lesbian people),” claimed Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic league of Maine and one of the leading opponents of the measure. “It is establishing the idea that sexual orientation is a legitimate orientation when it comes to individual rights. When it comes to your sexual expression, the state is going to come to your aid.”
Supporters of the law say the focus on marriage is an attempt to scare voters who have become more comfortable with the concept of protecting gay people from discrimination since the last referendum in 2000. The latest version of the law includes language saying it does not address the definition of marriage. “This is about discrimination in those five areas of the law, nothing more, nothing less,” spokesman Jesse Connolly of Maine Won’t Discriminate, the organization coordinating the fight to uphold the law, told Portland Press Herald reporter Gregory Kesich.
Maine’s first gay-rights vote came in 1995 when Carolyn Cosby of Portland led a petition drive to prevent the state and municipalities from amending laws to make sexual orientation a protected class. The measure was defeated. In 1997, the Legislature passed a gay-rights bill that was signed into law by Governor Angus King. But opponents forced a people’s veto vote, where it was defeated in a low-turnout special election on February 10, 1998.
In 2000, the Legislature and King produced a new gay-rights law that included a provision seeking the approval of Maine voters in the presidential election that fall. The measure failed by less than 7,000 votes out of more than 600,000 cast. Since his election in 2002, Baldacci has supported a gay-rights law and has pledged to “do what it takes” to make the law stand, although his role in the campaign has not been defined, said spokesman Lynn Kippax. He noted that all the other New England states outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the Canadian provinces that border Maine also provide the same protection.
Maine Won’t Discriminate is attempting to raise more than $1 million and plans to go on television with ads supporting the law. Heath said his side would probably raise and spend half that much. In 2000, both sides together spent less than $600,000, and Maine Won’t Discriminate ran the only advertisement.

Utah Allows Pro-Gay License Plate Messages
Salt Lake City - Positive gay messages are now okay on personalized license plates in Utah. That’s the ruling of the state tax commission, which voted to allow three such plates that were earlier rejected.
For the ACLU it’s a victory for free speech. Gay-friendly, personalized license plates are no longer considered offensive in the same Utah Plate Utah Plate 2 way swear words are.
You can tell by looking at Elizabeth “Beano” Solomon’s car that she’s not afraid to proclaim her support for gay rights and her children, who are gay. That’s why she decided to apply for personalized Utah license plates “Gay We Go,” “Gays ROK,” and “Gay Rights.”
“I applied for them to, yes be in your face, but more importantly to convey a positive message,” Solomon said.
The state division of motor vehicles rejected two of the plate proposals, unsure if the messages crossed the line of ‘appropriateness’. Solomon decided to fight for all three messages. “I was on fire because my mommy button had been pushed. Not my gay activist button.”
Officially, the State Tax Commission considered the application, eyeing it with the same criteria it would for a message that had swear words, sexual connotations and drug messages, a decency standard. “There’s a statutory basis that guides the commission to preclude statements that might arouse negative feelings,” Mark Johnson, a State Tax Commissioner said
There is a chance for further appeal, but for now the three plates are allowed. And Solomon plans to put them on the road as soon as she can, mostly for the sake of her kids, one of whom struggled with being gay. “It’s very important for those children to know and all those parents to know that there are parents out there who don’t think this is a problem.”

Outed Aide Supports Anti-Gay Senator Santorum
Washington, DC - The senior spokesman for Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) confirmed to a web log that he is gay July 15. According to PageOneQ, an online gay and lesbian publication, director of communications Robert L. Traynham, said that he was Santorum & Aide an “out gay man who completely supports the senator.”
In the online interview, Traynham defended his decision to work with the senator. “Senator Santorum is a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in. I strongly do support Sen. Santorum.
Asked whether he supported Santorum’s views on lesbian and gay issues, Traynham told PageOneQ, “Sen. Santorum is a family man. I have been with him for eight years and I am very proud to be with him.”
Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate leadership has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights and a leading proponent of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The two-term senator is up for reelection next year. His expected Democratic opponent is State Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr.
In supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit gay marriage, Santorum has equated homeland security with the sanctity of traditional marriage. He has referred to gay marriage as “messing with the basic family unit.”
During a 2003 interview with The Associated Press about a challenge to the constitutionality of Texas’s sodomy law, Santorum said that if the Supreme Court allows gay sex at home (which it ultimately did), “you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.”
On the marriage issue, Santorum also said: “In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be.”
Traynham began working for Santorum since 1997 as a press assistant and then deputy press secretary. He was press secretary for the senator’s 2000 reelection campaign in Pennsylvania. Just prior to becoming communications director in the Senate office, Traynham served as director of communications for the Senate Republican Conference.
In response to the outing Santorum released the following statement: “Robert Traynham ... is widely respected and admired on Capitol Hill, both among the press corps and among the congressional staff, as a communications professional. Not only is Mr. Traynham an exemplary staffer, but he is also a trusted friend confidente to me and my family. Mr. Traynham is a valued member of my staff and I regret that this effort on behalf of people who oppose me has made him a target of bigotry in their eyes.
“It is entirely unacceptable that my staffs’ personal lives are considered fair game by partisans looking for arguments to bolster my opponent’s campaign. Mr. Traynham continues to have my full support and confidence as well as my prayers as he navigates this rude and mean spirited invasion of his personal life.”
Mark Rodgers, chief of staff at the Republican conference, which Santorum chairs, said, “Robert is a tremendous employee and we’re all for standing by him.” Traynham’s homosexuality was not news to the senator or his staff, he added.

State News:

OutReach Opens Harassment Report Website
Madison - In response to recent claims of police harassment at a popular Madison park, the city’s gay community center has established a website to report such incidents. In response to complaints received by OutReach, center staff Nikki Baumblatt met police officials on July 18 to discuss ways the center could take a proactive role in educating the LGBT community on the police crackdown.
Olin-Turville Park is a City of Madison property that is well known in the LGBT community as a cruising spot. According to one nationally known gay website, the park has been under volunteer citizen and police surveillance since last April.
According to Baumblatt, the Madison Police Department has stepped up enforcement of prohibited activities in this location. Complaints received by OutReach suggest that the officers engaged in these increased patrols may be harassing innocent people of all sexual orientations. At least one publicized report noted that some police were targeting “gay looking” men as soon as they parked their vehicles. However, police counter that they have arrested at least one heterosexual couple engaged in sexual activity at the park as well
Baumblatt noted that OutReach does not in any way condone sexual activity by anyone in public places, but that the harassment of people who are not engaging in illegal activities is something that the center can not condone either. “As such we are gathering information about alleged instances of harassment and want to hear from you,” Baumblatt told Quest in an email announcing the website.
A link to the harassment site is located on the agency’s main page at: www.outreachinc.com. Individuals of any sexual orientation who feel that they have been harassed are asked to fill out the secure form on the website completely as without this information OutReach will be unable to assist them.
Baumblatt added that OutReach that can help LGBT community members meet new and interesting people in safe and sane ways through its wide variety of support or topical discussion groups and social events. If you do meet someone in a park and engage in these activities you risk fines and jail time.
To contact someone directly about OutReach’s new harassment website or about any of the center’s programs, contact Baumblatt by email at: commrel@outreach.com or call 608-255-8582.

Guernsey Gala Tops $7500
Green Bay - The 14th annual Guernsey Gala raised more than $7500, according to final results announced at the grand finale held at Cricket’s Fox River Lounge on July 22. In an another close competition, Earl Deisinger took the tiara for the Napalese Lounge, Geurnsey Earl edging out runner-up Howard “Tippy” Tipler of The Shelter Club by about $400. Deisinger raised $2600.16 to Tipler’s $2215. Third and fourth places went respectively to Joe Mercier, who represented Cricket’s Fox River Lounge, and Tommy Witt, who was the Club XS’ candidate. For the first time in a half decade every candidate topped the thousand dollar mark.
The $7518.16 final Guernsey tally has been donated to the Social Services program at ARCW. The funds augment the agency’s Emergency Financial Assistance program which helps those living with HIV/AIDS deal with disease-related budgetary crises. $166 of the total was designated for use to supply the agency’s hard goods pantry, which dispenses paper products and personal care items such as soap and shampoo. All money raised by the Guernsey Gala is distributed to clients and other PWAs working with the Green Bay office.
According to 2005 Guernsey coordinator Marilyn Schroeder, the 14th edition of the gala tipped the fund raiser’s lifetime total of funds raised past $130,000. The Guernsey Gala has been sponsored and organized by Rainbow Over Wisconsin since 2003, and is the longest continuing fundraiser for HIV/AIDS by any gay community in the state of Wisconsin.

Lesbians’ Rainbow Flag Ripped, Set Afire
Stoughton - A lesbian couple were the targets of a suspected hate crime in the early hours of July 23 when someone ripped a rainbow flag off their door, burned it and left it in a neighbor’s yard. Margaret Funk and her partner Lou Made have lived in Stoughton for about a year after living in Washington, D.C.
“I couldn’t believe it -- it was completely torn - tattered pieces missing,” Funk said. “When I looked at it closer, it was burnt.”
The couple said they feel angry, frustrated and disappointed. “We see it on TV in other countries -- people are taking the American flag and trying to burn it,” Funk said. “That is a desecration. That’s the way it feels to us, too.”
Despite their anger, the women said they don’t want to live in fear, though that may be more difficult. “Obviously the first thought is, what’s next?” Made said. “Are my tires going to be slashed? Are the windows going to be broken out? Where does it end?”
The couple have passed out flyers about the incident and filed a police report. They said they hope it will help raise awareness and open eyes to the ongoing fight for civil rights. They have also wrote to Governor Jim Doyle, their Congressional Representative Tammy Baldwin and other community leaders about the incident.
“We have a lot of work to do to have people understand there’s not need for the hatred,” Made said.
The couple doesn’t believe the person or people who burned the rainbow flag live in their neighborhood. They have been told that someone spotted a stranger in the Keenan Lane area at about 3:30 AM the morning of the incident.
Stoughton police continue their investigation. If anyone has information, call the police at 608-873-3374.

International Effort Goes Into ARCW Benefit Concert
Appleton - Russian and Fox Cities high school students are teaming up to host a benefit concert to benefit ARCW at the Harmony Cafe here. Participants in the Fox Cities-Kurgan Sister City will hold the concert on Wednesday, Aug 10 beginning at 7 PM at the cafe. Concert headliners will be the band Left at Atlantic.
The Harmony Cafe is also the site for a number of LGBT support groups. Etcetera and organization for LGBTQA young adults 18 years old and over holds its weekly gatherings every Monday at 7 PM. The LGBT Partnership meets Tuesdays from 6-8 PM. The Partnership is a weekly support and youth development group for teens ages 14-18 who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning or straight ally.
The Harmony Cafe, a peaceful place to celebrate diversity of people, ideas and activities, is located
124 North Oneida Street in Appleton. Visit them online at: www.harmonycafe.org or call 920-734-CAFE for more information about programs and upcoming events. The Harmony Cafe is a program of Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, Inc.

Rainbow Community Potluck Picnic Planned
Milwaukee - An intergenerational picnic with the Milwaukee LGBT Center’s Project Q, SAGE, PFLAG, BWMT and Lesbian Alliance has been set for Saturday, August 6, from Noon - 3 PM at Humboldt Park, Area #4. The park is located near the intersection of Howell and Oklahoma Avenues. Potluck attendees are asked to bring a dish to share based by the first letter of your last name. Those whose names begin with A-H should bring munchies and beverages, I-O are asked to bring desserts, and P-Z are asked to bring any kind of side dish. this will be an alcohol-free event, as the youth will be attending.. For more information call the center at 414-271-2656, Ext. 120.

“Naked Boys” Debut To Benefit Center Advocates
Milwaukee - The opening night of “Naked Boys Singing!” here August 11 will raise more than the expected eyebrows: the show’s premiere performance will also benefit Center Advocates in its ongoing efforts to stop the ban on civil unions and gay marriage.
Tickets for 8 PM show at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, 703 South 2nd St., are $18 with proceeds going to support Center Naked Boys Advocate’s No on the Amendment Coalition. The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center has chosen Center Advocates to receive all the proceeds from their opening night. This popular all-male, nude, cabaret-style musical was originally conceived and directed by Robert Schrock and has played in New York City, Chicago, Madison and major cities all over the world. The songs range from comedy to ballads, and celebrate the male form.
The Cream City premiere of “Naked Boys Singing!” will be directed by Uncommon Theatre Artistic Director Mark Hooker. “I wanted to cast regular guys rather than ‘models’ – people who everyone can identify with,” says Hooker. “These songs tell stories of love, insecurity, as well as celebration of the male body, and I think it’s important to let the songs be the focus of the show.”
Tickets can be ordered by calling the Uncommon Theatre Box Office number 414-248-6481 between the hours of 11AM -3PM Monday through Saturday. Indicate that you are calling as an invited guest of Center Advocates to get the $18 rate.

Duluth Mayor Proclaims Twin Ports Pride Days
Superior - In honor of the annual Twin Ports pride celebration, Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson has proclaimed September 1-4 as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Days in the city at a press conference July 15. Bergson also announced that the Duluth-Superior Mayor Bergson LGBT Pride Festival 2005 will be held at Bayfront Festival Park. It will be the first time the festival, which is set for September 3, will take place in the park.
“It’s a huge deal for us,” Tamara Jones, festival co-chair, said of moving to Bayfront. “It has a lot to do with the fact that we are becoming much more visible. To our local community as a whole, this really is like coming out of the closet.”
Bergson said the festival has outgrown its site at the Park Point Recreation Area and he looks forward to it becoming even larger. Jones estimates they attract more than 3,000 visitors to this year’s festival.
Event organizer Sherry Berhow also said that the Duluth Superior LGBT Pride Festival was recently voted as the “Hottest” Small Town Pride festival by OUT magazine.
Bergson continues to distance himself from the previous administration when it comes to cooperation with LGBT organizers. For years, former Mayor Gary Doty refused to officially support the event, which celebrates sexual diversity and supports the gay community. Last year, Bergson became the first Duluth mayor to publicly endorse the festival. The event will kick off with a mayor’s reception at The Depot on September 1 from 5-7 PM.
The mayoral pride proclamation predictably has brought howls of protest from anti-gay factions in the area. Duluth minister Helen Millen complained in a letter published in the Duluth News Tribune July 22 that she “cannot help but be concerned about the direction our city is headed. To read that the Gay Pride festival has the mayor’s approval is deeply distressing.” Millen then proceeded to pepper her comments with Biblical quotes. Her letter set off a flurry of additional letters to the editor from both sides.

ARCW’s LifePoint Needle Exchange Program Wins Award
Milwaukee - ARCW has been selected to receive a “Program Award for Making A Difference” that recognizes the impact of the agency’s Lifepoint needle exchange program. The award is made by the Wisconsin AIDS Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and will be presented at their Summer Celebration and Awards Dinner at the Milwaukee Country Club on Friday, August 26.
This is the second time that the Wisconsin AIDS Fund has honored Lifepoint, according to ARCW’s Executive Director Doug Nelson. “They are very impressed with the expansion of Lifepoint throughout Wisconsin,the holistic approach to HIV and Hepatitis C prevention that Lifepoint embraces, and the continuing success that Lifepoint has in saving lives from HIV infection,” Nelson said.
Nelson added that the recognition reinforces that Lifepoint as a national model as an enlightened, life-saving AIDS prevention program.

Registration For AIDS Walk Wisconsin 2005 Begins
Milwaukee - “A World Without AIDS Begins With You!” So began the announcement of the opening of registration for ARCW’s AIDS Walk ‘Wisconsin 2005 recently. A toll-free phone hotline, outreach mailings to previous year’s walkers, statewide distribution AWW 2005 of posters and point-of purchase displays and a revised website (at www.aidswalkwis.org) offering online registration are among the tools being used this year to recruit walkers and teams.
Thousands of walkers from all corners of the state are expected on Sunday, September 25 on Milwaukee’s lakefront the the annual AIDS Walk Wisconsin to support HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services.
As new HIV infection rates have increased by over 14% in Wisconsin, support is vital to provide the necessary medical, prevention, legal and housing services to help curb this rising statistic. Free round-trip transportation for walkers and teams outside the Milwaukee area will be available. In addition to visiting the abovementioned website, interested walkers may call 800-348-WALK.

Ovadal’s Traffic Disrupting Anti-Gay Signs Are “Free Speech”
Madison - Self-identified “Pastor”Ralph Ovadal had a constitutional right to display traffic-disrupting banners over the city’s busy Beltline in 2003, despite the threats to public safety caused by driver’s reacting to the messages. That was the unanimous July 19 Rantin' Ralph decision of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
The court ruled that the city of Madison may have violated Ovadal’s free speech rights when it ordered him to remove anti-gay banners from overpasses. The decision overturns a ruling made a year ago by U.S. District Judge John Shabaz, who said the actions by Madison police were permissible to ensure public safety. The case will be returned to Shabaz to answer questions the appeals court considers key to deciding whether the city deprived Ovadal of his First Amendment rights.
“It is the obligation of police to maintain order when unpopular speech disrupts it, not to silence the speaker,” Nate Kellum, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) said. ADF, which has represented Ovadal in the case, is also seeking inclusion of the state Assembly the recent ACLU domestic partnership lawsuit brought by six lesbian state employees.
“The law does not allow a driver to act irresponsibly because he sees a sign with a message he doesn’t like. Likewise, the police cannot squelch someone’s free speech rights because someone might fail to properly control their vehicle as the law requires,” Kellum added.
In September and October 2003, Ovadal, then leading a protest by the now-defunct Wisconsin Christians United, briefly displayed banners reading “Homosexuality is sin” and “Christ can set you free”on highway overpasses. Police told him the banners were a traffic hazard and ordered them removed.
Shabaz denied a temporary injunction that would have barred Madison police from ordering the removal of the banners, ruling that such a ban would have been overly broad and would have prevented police from acting to ensure public safety.
However, Judge Michael Kanne, wrote in the panel’s decision that unpopular speech is protected by the First Amendment. “It cannot be denied that drivers who yelled, gestured and slammed on their brakes when they saw Ovadal’s signs created a safety hazard on the Beltline,” Kanne wrote. “However, it is the reckless drivers, not Ovadal, who should have been dealt with by the police, perhaps in conjunction with an appropriate time, place and manner restriction on Ovadal.”
Kanne said there is no “heckler’s veto” and that police must permit the speech and control the crowd, even if other drivers are travelling at 60 miles per hour.
According to Catherine Rottier, a private attorney representing the city of Madison in the case, the city is considering options for its next step in the case. While the city was disappointed that Shabaz’s decision was overturned, “we take some comfort in noting from the decision that the appellate court recognizes the city’s ability to prohibit signs and protests on Beltline overpasses in order to protect traffic safety,”Rottier said.
The appeals court ruling instructs the lower court to explore issues of fact to determine whether the city deprived Ovadal of his free speech rights. Among them is whether the ban on Ovadal was narrowly tailored and content- neutral and whether anyone else with a different message would have been banned from doing the same thing.
“The key question is whether the city’s rule that no protests may take place on overpasses when those protests cause a traffic hazard is capable of content-neutral application, or whether the city has imposed a content-based and impermissible ‘no-Ovadal-on-overpasses’ rule,” Kanne wrote.
Rottier believes that Madison’s decisions about Ovadal’s signs were made without regard to their content. Local gay activists have compared Ovadal’s actions to other free speech that might be considered reckless or dangerous. “If I add the word ‘hell’ before shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, is that protected religious speech?” one quipped.

Wisconsin AG Seeks DP Lawsuit Dismissal
Madison - Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked a judge on July 27 to dismiss a lawsuit seeking benefits for the domestic partners of gay and lesbian state workers. Lautenschlager’s memo is the second defense against the ACLU suit. In a legal brief filed June 8, Lautenschlager said there is no guarantee of equal rights to same-sex couples in the Wisconsin Constitution, basing her argument on a 1992 appeals court ruling.
Lautenschlager, a Democrat, has been accused by Republican lawmakers of not vigorously defending the state against the lawsuit brought by six lesbian employees and the American Civil Liberties Union. The criticism increased after news that Lautenschlager appeared at a gay pride rally in Madison alongside the ACLU lawyer handling the case and two of the plaintiffs.
Rep. Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin), who is the lead Assembly sponsor to a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar any legal recognition to same sex couples, claimed that Lautenschlager was responding to criticism that she was being soft in this case.
The ACLU suit seeks state-funded health insurance for the domestic partners of gay employees, as well as changes to the state’s family and sick leave policies.
Lautenschlager’s spokesman, Kelly Kennedy, said that the July 27 brief asking Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan to rule in the state’s favor shows the Department of Justice is forcefully defending the state. “The attorney general’s political opinion on something is completely separate from our defense of the state’s interests in this case, and that is clear by the motions we filed today,” Kennedy said.
The second brief again notes that a state appeals court in 1992 ruled that Wisconsin’s refusal to offer gay workers the same benefits as their married colleagues did not violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s equal-protection clause.

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