Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 13:20:51 -0800 From: GLAAD Subject: GLAADLines - December 14, 1998 GLAADLines - December 14, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Contact: Liz Tracey, Publications Manager (212) 807-1700 x18 tracey@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org GLAADLines Index: 1) OREGON COURT FINDS FOR LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS 2) MOTHER AWARDED $2.9 MILLION FOR WRONGFUL DEATH OF TYRA HUNTER 3) HUFFINGTON, WARREN COME OUT 4) TOLEDO CITY COUNCIL PASSES RIGHTS ORDINANCE 5) NEW STUDY DEBUNKS "GAY WEALTH" MYTH 1) OREGON COURT FINDS FOR LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS: In a decision issued Wednesday, December 9, the Oregon Court of Appeals found that the state constitution requires same-sex domestic partners of state and local government workers to be offered the same benefits as those offered to opposite-sex spouses. While Oregon began to comply with this voluntarily last June, the decision in the case, Tanner v. Oregon Health Sciences University, makes the current policy binding. The judges found that "denial of insurance benefits to the unmarried partners of its homosexual employees" violates the "equal privileges and immunities" clause of the state constitution. Beatrice Dohrn, legal director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (LLDEF), which filed an amicus brief in the case, observed, "The court said that the state discriminates against gay people when it uses marital status to determine which workers are entitled to government-controlled protections and benefits." She continued, "This ruling should help us stop anti-gay discrimination in other contexts - from family law to the right to make medical decisions for a partner who is incapacitated." For more information, contact Peg Byron (LLDEF Director of Communications) at (212) 809-8585, or via pager at (888) 987-1984. 2) MOTHER AWARDED $2.9 MILLION FOR WRONGFUL DEATH OF TYRA HUNTER: On Friday, December 11, a Washington, DC Superior Court jury awarded Margie Hunter nearly $2.9 million in damages in the wrongful death civil suit she had brought against the city. Hunter is the mother of Tyra Hunter, born Tyrone Michael, who died on August 7, 1995. After sustaining critical injuries in a car accident, Tyra Hunter was denied treatment by firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) Adrian Williams when he learned that the transgender woman was anatomically male. While Williams was not himself held liable, the DC Fire Department was, as were the DC General Hospital and its attending emergency room physician Dr. Joseph Bastien, who allegedly misread x-rays (which are now missing) and neglected to provide her with blood which was at that point available. "The jury members obviously believed the material facts that were carefully presented in attorney Rick Silber's case," said Jessica Xavier of Transgender Nation. "Moreover, I think they came to see Tyra as an ordinary human being, just trying to make her life work, when it was taken from her by the proven negligence of city health care professionals whose duty it was to treat her." For more information, contact Xavier at (301) 949-3822 voice mail box #8, or by e-mail at TheXGrrrl@aol.com . 3) HUFFINGTON, WARREN COME OUT: During the past week, former Senate hopeful and California congressman Michael Huffington, as well as North Carolina Superior Court Judge Ray Warren both made their sexual orientations public: Huffington in an interview with Esquire magazine, and Warren in a press conference held in Raleigh, NC. Both have run as Republicans during their careers. Huffington, who ran the most expensive House and Senate campaigns in the history of the state of California, discussed his marriage (to syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington), his political career, and his struggles with his sexual orientation with David Brock, a reporter who also recently came out. With his announcement, Judge Warren becomes the highest ranking openly gay official in the state of North Carolina. Rich Tafel, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), a lesbian and gay Republican organization, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "[Warren's announcement] is another reminder to the GOP leadership that there are gays and lesbians all throughout the Republican PartyŠ." For more information, contact Rich Tafel (LCR) at (202) 347-5306, or via e-mail at info@lcr.org . 4) TOLEDO CITY COUNCIL PASSES RIGHTS ORDINANCE: On December 8, the Toledo, OH City Council voted unanimously to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other characteristics, in housing, employment, and public accommodations. The bill, which was introduced by openly gay Council member Louis Escobar, bans discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, handicap, age or sexual orientation. Few speakers at a hearing on the bill opposed it, and those on the City Council were surprised at the lack of controversy. Councilman Escobar was quoted in the Associated Press as saying. "This does not just benefit the lesbian and gay community. It benefits the entire community." For more information, contact Councilman Louis Escobar at (419) 245-1050. 5) NEW STUDY DEBUNKS "GAY WEALTH" MYTH: A report released on December 3 debunks the widely cited figures regarding the relative wealth of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. "The Myth of Affluence Among Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Americans" was issued jointly by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and the Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies (IGLSS.) The author, M.V. Lee Badgett, Ph.D., is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and is executive director of IGLSS. "The evidence from many different scientifically sound data sources point to the same clear conclusion: gay, lesbian and bisexual people do not earn more than heterosexual people, either as individuals or as couples." She went on to state, "Some [gay, lesbian and bisexual] people are poor, some are rich, and most are in the middle, just as heterosexual people are. Now that we have credible data, we can stop relying on flawed studies that were designed to find high income gay people." For more information about the report, or to request a copy of the study, contact Tracey Conaty (NGLTF Director of Communications) at (202) 332-6483, or via pager at (800) 757-6476. The report is also available online at http://www.ngltf.org . GLAAD is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy organization. GLAAD 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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