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Gay GOP Group
Barred From ConventionIn an unmistakable move to stifle dissent on social issues within the party, Texas GOP leaders have rejected a Gay Republican group's request to have an exhibit booth at the state Republican convention, according to a letter from the state GOP organization released by the group, the Log Cabin Republicans of Texas. Log Cabin was also denied a booth at the state GOP convention in 1996.
"The party's decision to deny a Republican group a display booth at the state convention is an unwarranted act of exclusion," said Log Cabin State President Steve Labinski, noting that even pro-choice groups who disagree with the party's stand on abortion are permitted exhibit booths at the state convention. "We're not asking for 'special rights. ' We're Republicans asking for the same opportunity to be heard that other Republicans have. Are party leaders afraid of a debate among Republicans?" Labinski noted that exhibit booth applications have been routinely accepted from other political groups and commercial vendors with no relationship whatsoever to the party.
Labinski said that he and others in the organization have even been asked to volunteer at the Fort Worth convention. "Many of us helped setup our district conventions two months ago, and have also been asked to help out in Fort Worth."
Log Cabin applied for an exhibit booth at the state GOP convention in May, sending an application along with a check for $500 to cover the booth fee, said Labinski. State GOP executive director Wayne Hamilton sent a letter to the Log Cabin Republicans informing them that their request for a booth had been rejected, but did not give a reason for the rejection.
Labinski noted that he has made numerous efforts over the past two weeks to discuss the situation with the GOP State Chair and Executive Director and resolve the issue. He also noted that many of his group's members hold leadership positions in the party. In the March primary, more than three dozen Log Cabin members and supporters were elected to GOP precinct chair positions. Subsequently, more than fifty Log Cabin members were elected as delegates or alternates to the state convention.
"I believe the party's decision will not sit well with fair-minded Republicans across this state, including some party officials and delegates and alternates to the state convention," predicted Labinski, himself a Republican precinct chairman and state convention delegate. He added that Log Cabin would consider all appropriate responses to the party's decision, including possible legal action.
Log Cabin is a nationwide organization of Republicans who believe the party should welcome Gays and Lesbians and should support the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It has more than 10,000 members with over fifty chapters in 30 states. In Texas, the group has chapters in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.
IL Custody Case Settled
A Gay sperm donor has dropped his efforts toclaim parental to a Lesbian couple's son, and while that's probably in the best interests of the child, it fails to clarify a muddy legal situation for others. What began as an agreement among friends, Gay male couple Kevin Green and Thomas Askounis and Lesbian couple Lynn Alleruzzo and Charlene Crotty, degenerated into a legal struggle shortly after the birth of the child known as "E.P.A.," now 21 months old. Green contributed the sperm and Alleruzzo bore the child after performing a home insemination with medical advice.
Had the procedure been performed in a medical setting, the law would have clearly denied Green's claim to parenthood. In order for Crotty to co-adopt the child, the women wanted Green to sign a waiver, which they believed to have been the agreement all along. But Green's understanding was that he would be actively involved in the child's life, as he had been in the pregnancy and delivery, and when the women refused to allow him to see "E.P.A." without the waiver, he filed for joint custody.
On June 2, Green gave up, tired of the struggle and fearing he would lose the opportunity for early bonding with "E.P.A.," and said he would sign the waiver if it proved necessary for Crotty's adoption proceedings, in exchange for visitation. The attorneys are hopeful that the once-close friendship between the two couples can now be renewed. A Cook County Circuit judge had previously dismissed Green's claim "with prejudice."
Task Force Applauds Clinton
Anti-Discrimination OrderThe National Gay and Lesbian Task Force recently praised President Clinton's signing of an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the federal civilian workforce.
"We applaud President Clinton for this act of leadership and fairness," stated Task Force political director Rebecca Isaacs. "Federal civilian workers will now be covered by a uniform policy."
The Executive Order ensures that all federal agencies ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Many, but not all, federal agencies currently have some form of policy prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination.nation," said Isaacs.
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