Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 18:12:11 -0800 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines - January 18, 2000 GLAADLines Contact: Bob Findle, GLAAD (323) 658-6775 ext. 31 findle@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 18, 2000 News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community 1. INPUT SOUGHT FOR POST-GRADUATE HEALTH PROGRAM 2. HIV EDUCATION REPORT AVAILABLE TO HOMELESS SHELTERS 3. BOY SCOUTS CASE HEADS TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT 4. GLAAD ANNOUNCES 11TH ANNUAL MEDIA AWARDS NOMINEES INPUT SOUGHT FOR POST-GRADUATE HEALTH PROGRAM: A post-graduate program to provide mental health professionals with the tools to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members and their families adequately is targeted to start this fall. It is being called the first of its kind and is being developed by Chicago-based Howard Brown Health Center, the largest health center in the Midwest serving the above mentioned community; The Chicago Center for Family Health, an affiliate of the University of Chicago; and Horizons Community Services, Chicago's oldest gay and lesbian social service agency. Jon Cole, director of psychosocial services at Howard Brown, said there is a definite need to develop such a program. "What we are hearing from a lot of people who go through a graduate program is there is no effective specialized training to work with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients. Some may have a course in diversity; there may be a brief section. =8A Overall, just taking one course doesn't give people enough information to be out there in the real world doing this." Cole also said his center hears from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients who are looking for high quality treatment particular to their issues and not finding it. "We just hear over and over again from our clients that when they go to therapy they want someone to put them at ease." To help develop the certificate program, coordinators are asking for input from health care professionals and those in other related fields such as sociology and anthropology. A survey can be obtained by contacting The Chicago Center for Family Health at 312-321-6040. Cole said once the program is up and running it could be used as a model in other parts of the country. Contact Cristal Mendlen, Howard Brown Health Center manager of communications, at 773-388-8993 for more information. HIV EDUCATION REPORT AVAILABLE TO HOMELESS SHELTERS: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is making a report on HIV and homelessness available to homeless shelters. The newly printed 62-page publication, HIV and Homelessness: Policy and Practice, contains a five-part teaching guide, suggestions for improving conditions for residents with HIV and a model nondiscrimination policy. The ACLU began work on the report after it filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission on the behalf of HIV-positive Patrick Biggers, who was evicted from an Ellsworth, Maine homeless shelter. The settlement arrived at was for the shelter to adopt an anti-discrimination policy and require HIV education courses for residents and staff. The ACLU used the policy and education courses as a basis for its report. "It was really an important issue for us to wade into," said Michael Adams, associate director of the ACLU's AIDS Project and the report's writer. "This was not an isolated incident. There are many shelters in this country that are run by religious organizations and they have all kinds of viewpoints about AIDS and homosexuality." He said the report, which is about all HIV-positive homeless people and not just lesbians and gay men, is a guide for shelters to give equal treatment and to not let personal biases get in the way of providing the services. It is also a blueprint on how to provide such things as confidentiality, medical information and access to HIV-related community services. Contact Adams at 212-549-2623 for more information and a copy of the report, which is also available at www.aclu.org BOY SCOUTS CASE HEADS TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: An appeal to the 1999 New Jersey Supreme Court letting a ruling stand that says the Boy Scouts of America can not discriminate against gay scouts and leaders will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in April. Evan Wolfson, senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, says he is confident the high court will agree with the state court ruling. The first court to hear the 1990 suit brought by James Dale against the Boys Scouts New Jersey ruled the youth group to be a private organization with a constitutional right to limit its membership (the Scouts also does not permit atheists to join). That ruling was overturned by a state appeals court that said the Scouts is a "place of accommodation" and therefore subject to New Jersey's anti-discrimination law. The State Supreme Court agreed. Lenora Lapidus, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said, "We think the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling was well reasoned, and we are hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will affirm that decision." She said the state court relied on U.S. Supreme Court precedent to arrive at its ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court will determine if requiring the Boy Scouts to open its membership to follow state civil rights law violates the group's First Amendment right to freedom of association. Contact Lapidus at 973-642-2086 or Wolfson at 212-809-8585, ext. 205. GLAAD ANNOUNCES 11TH ANNUAL MEDIA AWARDS NOMINEES: To honor individuals and projects in the media and entertainment industries for fair, accurate and inclusive representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members and the issues affecting their lives, GLAAD presents its Media Awards in New York (April 2), Los Angeles (April 15), Washington, D.C. (May 13) and San Francisco (June 3). Contact Scott Seomin, GLAAD Entertainment Media Director, at 323-658-6775, ext. 14. A complete list of nominees is at www.glaad.org GLAAD, the nation's lesbian & gay media advocacy organization, promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. To subscribe, contact Wonbo Woo at (212) 807-1700 or at woo@glaad.org. 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