Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 20:21:48 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines - August 2, 1999 GLAADLines - August 2, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Contact: Sean Lund, GLAAD (323) 658-6775 x 18 lund@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org 1. CLINTON, LESBIAN/GAY ELECTED OFFICIALS HOLD HISTORIC MEETING 2. UNITED AIRLINES TO OFFER DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS TO LESBIAN AND GAY EMPLOYEES 3. COALITION TO PROTEST AUGUST 7 NEO-NAZI MARCH IN D.C. 4. FEDERATION DRAWS STATE ACTIVISTS, YOUTH LEADERS TO FIVE-DAY EVENT CLINTON, LESBIAN/GAY ELECTED OFFICIALS HOLD HISTORIC MEETING: A contingent of state- and local-level lesbian and gay elected officials met Wednesday July 28th with President Clinton in a historic dialogue covering education, hate crime prevention and job discrimination. "Today's meeting marked a milestone on the long road to full inclusion of gay and lesbian Americans in the civic life of our nation, " said Brian K. Bond, executive director of the Victory Fund, which works to increase the number of openly lesbian and gay public officials. The meeting's participants - the first such audience to meet with a sitting U.S. president - encouraged Clinton to make discrimination and hate crime legislation a top priority. "It was a very substantive and productive meeting," said Mass. State Rep. Liz Malia. "We are hopeful that the president will take action that will ensure that his administration leaves a legacy of fairness for future generations." For more information, contact Sloan C. Wiesen, Victory Fund's Communications Director, at (202) 842-8679, ext. 310. UNITED AIRLINES TO OFFER DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS TO LESBIAN AND GAY EMPLOYEES: United Airlines became the first U.S. airline Friday to offer equal domestic partner benefits to its lesbian and gay employees and their partners. The United decision came on the heels of a Friday federal appeals court ruling that the airline must follow specified parts of San Francisco's domestic partners ordinance - an ordinance United has challenged in court as intrusive and illegal. "As we have said from the very outset, this case has never been about gay and lesbian rights," said United Chairman and CEO James Goodwin. "We value diversity at United, both among our employees and among our customers." The extension of benefits was hailed by United With Pride, the company's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual employee network. "We were ecstatic to hear the news," said United With Pride Executive Director Nick W. Morse, who noted that the group will continue to work for other diversity-related policies. "While this is a remarkable step for the many members of our community, we recognize that there are more steps that need to be made to ensure an equal workplace and community." For more information, contact United Airlines Manager of Media Relations Matthew Triaca at (847) 700-6689 and United With Pride's Nick Morse at (415) 908-6776. COALITION TO PROTEST AUGUST 7 NEO-NAZI MARCH IN D.C.: In response to a planned neo-Nazi march in Washington, D.C., a broad-based coalition of cultural communities will sponsor a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, August 7th. The coalition, comprised of the NAACP, the American Jewish Committee, GLAAD, the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, the Latino Civil Rights Center, the National Council of La Raza, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, the National Conference of American Indians and others, seeks to unify diverse communities of color, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. "Our coalition stands for respect of the diversity of the communities we live in," said Bev Silverberg, Chair-Elect of the National Conference for Community and Justice, which will also host a community roundtable on August 10 to discuss community responses to prejudice. "As we saw in the Redding-area synagogue burnings and the murders of Gary Matson and Winfield Scott Mowder, prejudice against one community is often linked to prejudice against another," said GLAAD Director of Community Relations Cathy Renna. "We hope that our unified message of diversity and respect for all will rise above the messages of the neo-Nazis." For further information, please contact National Conference for Community and Justice's Bev Silverberg at 202-822-6110. FEDERATION DRAWS STATE ACTIVISTS, YOUTH LEADERS TO FIVE-DAY EVENT: Political activists from 45 states and the District of Columbia converged on Minneapolis last weekend for the mid-year meeting of the Federation of Statewide Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Political Organizations. Participants evaluated the success of Equality Begins at Home, a nationwide campaign begun in March, and began strategizing for the 2000 elections. "As a result of the Federation's work, we witnessed more pro-GLBT bills files in state legislatures this year than in the history of the GLBT movement," said Federation Co-Chair Gina Reiss. "None of this happened by accident." Concurrent with the Federation meeting, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) sponsored its annual Youth Leadership Institute, drawing youth activists from across the nation for five days of skill-building programs and meetings with Federation representatives. "State groups are ground zero in our struggle for equality and justice, and it is essential that we support them," NGLTF Executive Director Kerry Lobel said. "It is equally important that we both teach - and listen to - today's youth leaders." For more information, contact the Federation's Gina Reiss at (732) 828-1266 and NGLTF Communications Director David Elliot at (202) 332-6483, ext. 3303. 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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