RA-news

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Newsletter of the Rainbow Alliance at the University of Florida May 2004, Vol. 2, No. 8 Next Rainbow Alliance Dinner Meeting, Wednesday, May 12, 2004, 6:30 pm, at Harry's in downtown Gainesville. Other Dates to Remember: May 22, 6-11 pm: May-Lei Hawaiian-themed Fundraiser for Pride Community Center (more details below) The Rainbow Alliance is the staff and faculty organization at the University of Florida concerned with matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity. RA welcomes all members of the University community who share its goals.

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Contents First Words Stay Tuned... Features Campus Major LGBT Survey Needs More Participants Local Pride Community Center Plans Fund-Raising Luau PFLAG Returns to Gainesville National N. Carolina High School Student Loses Right to Gay Campaign Massachusetts Machinations: Group Seeks to Remove Pro-LGBT Judges Oklahoma Off-Limits to Gay Parents Books Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexuality in Nature and People by Joan Roughgarden The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government by David K. Johnson Departments Update on RA Projects Contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund Resources How To Join Rainbow Alliance Contributors to This Issue of RA-News

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First Words Stay Tuned... At midnight on May 17, the state of Massachusetts will issue its first same-sex marriage license. That license will go into effect on May 20, after the three-day waiting period. After much effort to stop the marriages, they will begin. And, as of today, they will continue for the next two years while the process of amending the Massachusetts Constitution proceeds... or as we say these days, goes forward. Both sides are waiting to see what effect the actual marriages will have on the body politic. About 60% of Americans say they are against same-sex marriage, but about 60% of Americans oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to prevent these marriages. On May 16, 17, and maybe 18, same-sex marriage will push its way onto the front page, maybe even eclipsing the powerful stories that have been in the news lately. People will have a chance to consider the issue again. New polls will be taken. How will the poll numbers change as same-sex marriage becomes a fact of life in Massachusetts? Stay tuned. Cambridge, Massachusetts is currently the winner in the race to be the first community to offer fully legal, court-sanctioned licenses to same-sex couples. City hall will be open at 10:30 pm on May 16 and greet prospective couples with wedding cake and sparkling cider. At midnight sharp, the first license will be issued. The governor of Massachusetts, a conservative Mormon Republican, has allied with some of the state's Roman Catholic Democrats in efforts to oppose same-sex marriages. All efforts so far have failed as mayors and clerks across Massachusetts have shrugged off the governor's threats on the basis of civil rights. The governor's main weapon at this point is a 1913 law that states that Massachusetts cannot give marriage licenses to individuals whose states of residence would otherwise prohibit their marriage. The original law was created to prevent Massachusetts from becoming a target for interracial couples who wished to marry but were prohibited from doing so in their home states. That situation is very similar to the one today in which the laws of one state conflict with another. Mayors and clerks in Massachusetts point out that the 1913 law has never really been enforced, that it was questioned in a 1995 court ruling, and that it would not likely stand a court test. (One asks why this law is even on the books.) They do not plan to ask for proof of residence. The governor has threatened some kind of reprisals against the clerks or possibly the out-of-state couples. One hundred years later, the prevention of interracial marriages seems old-fashioned, if not patently absurd, yet there are still those who still feel that such marriages are not appropriate. How long will it be until same-sex marriage has the same general acceptance? Stay tuned. At the other end of the spectrum from Massachusetts, Oklahoma has just sealed a loophole in its law that prevented same-sex couples from adopting children. Apparently, out-of-state same-sex couples were adopting Oklahoma children, which in-state same-sex couples were prohibited from doing. This was the proverbial hole in the proverbial dike, seeming to give approval to same-sex couples on some level. Could this then be used in court to leverage approval of actual Oklahoma same-sex couples? Shudder! We gotta head 'em off at the pass! Many states are rushing to shore up their laws to prevent what is happening in Massachusetts from happening in their states. Numerous states have drafted amendments to their state constitutions to outlaw same-sex marriages. Many of these efforts fail to make it through state legislatures, and others face uncertain futures with the voters. Even the Federal Marriage Discrimination Amendment is stumbling in Congress. In the meantime, Florida is on the spectrum with Oklahoma. It used to be that conservative north Florida Democrats dominated Tallahassee. That is shifting to conservative south Florida Republicans. See the difference? Tallahassee still fails to represent a rapidly growing and progressive state. Granted there are plenty of places in Florida where the local environment is supportive of LGBT people, but the overall context still rejects fundamental rights... ie, the Florida Adoption Ban... ie, the Florida Defense of Marriage Act. I am very grateful for the open-minded, progressive people here at UF that are helping to create the kind of atmosphere that a major university should provide LGBT people. Yet, these efforts are undermined because we live in a state that trails miserably in many sociological measures. We need to work together across the state to take these efforts to the next level. Will Florida take the necessary steps to protect the civil rights of all its citizens? Will Florida take up the challenge to look to the future? When will Florida have the courage to absolutely reject unconstitutional and discriminatory laws? Will our traditions of tolerance and liberty win? Stay tuned. [top]

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Features

Major LGBT Survey Needs More Participants You've read in this newsletter before about the major survey of LGBT people that is being conducted by RA Member and Psychology Professor Bonnie Moradi. More participants are needed. It pays $20. What could be bad. Spread the word! More details follow. What will you receive for participating? You will receive $20 reimbursement for your time. What does participating involve? We want to represent the wide range of racial/ethnic, gender, "outness," and other diversities among LG persons in our sample. So, we invite everyone who is 18 years or older and identifies as lesbian or gay to participate. Participation involves completing a survey that will take approximately 40 minutes. How do you participate? Contact us at 392-0601 x447 or survey@grove.ufl.edu to make participation arrangements Who are we? We are a team of diverse LGBT affirming researchers conducting a study on lesbian and gay persons' life experiences and well-being. With this study, we hope to contribute to the understanding of the experiences and needs of lesbians and gay persons. Earn $20 This research has been approved by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board (IRB 02) Protocol #2003-U-193 [top]

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Pride Community Center Plans Fund-Raising Luau On Saturday, May 22 , from 6-11 pm, the Pride Communicty Center of North Central Florida will be hosting a fund-raising Luau call May-Lei. The event will be held at the Pride Community Center at 1107 NW 6th Street. The flier says there will be live entertainment, music, food, fun, door prizes, raffles and a special prize for the winner of the UGLIEST Hawaiian-shirt contest. Admission is $7 for non-members and $5 for PCCNCF members. It's for a great cause. The Center adds so much to Gainesville and to the LGBT community. Check them out at: <http://www. pridecommunitycenter.org.> [top]

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PFLAG Returns to Gainesville Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) will hold a kick-off organizational meeting on May 22, at 10 am, at the Pride Community Center in Gainesville (see address above). PFLAG is a national non-profit organization that serves as a support group for parents of gay and lesbian children with over 200,000 members and almost 500 chapters in the United States. Anyone interested should contact Ralph Bowden at 352-376-9404. More info at <http://www.pflag.org/>. [top]

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N. Carolina High School Student Loses Right to Gay Campaign Jarred Gamwell, an openly gay student at James B. Hunt High School in Wilson, North Carolina, ran for student body president recently. He had prepared campaign posters that read: "Gay Guys Know Everything!" and "Queer Guy for Hunt High." The posters caused a sensation in the high school -- especially among administrators, who prohibited Gamwell from displaying the posters or from using the slogans in his campaign speech. These prohibitions were the basis of a lawsuit brought on Jarred's behalf by the ACLU. On April 28, Wilson County Superior Court Judge Dwight Cranford denied without comment ACLU's request for an order forcing school administrators to allow Gamwell's posters. School officials stated that they objected to the posters because they did not address issues in the campaign. According to Gamwell, publicity about his free-speech fight made him an instant celebrity and garnered him newfound support among his peers before Wednesday's election. Gamwell lost the election, but he won a lot more. More at: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/04/27/gay.student.posters.ap/ http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/2004may/0301.htm [top]

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Massachusetts Machinations: Group Seeks to Remove Pro-LGBT Judges The Article 8 Alliance has joined with a Massachusetts legislator to file a bill to have four judges who voted in favor of same-sex marriage removed from office. The Alliance is named for the article in the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights that affirms the right of the people to remove public officials from office, in order to "prevent those, who are vested with authority, from becoming oppressors..." The legislator, Rep. Emile J. Goguen, has no cosponsors for the legislation. The measure seems to have no future. Many legislators that the Alliance approached refused to sponsor the legislation. According to the Alliance, these legislators first wanted to determine whether they would be facing opposition in Fall elections. Learn about the Alliance: <http://www.article8.org/> [top]

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Oklahoma Off-Limits to Gay Parents On May 4, the governor of Oklahoma signed into law a strident new law tha instructs all officials in Oklahoma not to honor adoptions by gay parents, regardless of what jurisdiction approved the adoption. According to the Human Rights Campaign, gay parents could encounter difficulties while visiting or passing through Oklahoma, especially if medical treatment became an issue. Gay parents might be prohibited from gaining access to their children or from making medical decisions for their own children. The case began when a same-sex couple from Seattle, Washington, sought an adoption certificate for a child in Oklahoma.The OK Health Department refused to issue the certificate on the basis of Oklahoma's law that forbids same-sex couples (but not gay singles) from adopting. However, the state Attorney General declared that Oklahoma law required the Health Department to comply. Conservative legislators developed a measure to remove this ambiguity in Oklahoma law. Effectively, the law allowed out-of-state couples to do something that Oklahoma coules were prohibited from doing int heir own state. The measure was perceived as closing this loophole. But in closing the loophole, the law declares that no couple adoptions will be honored in Oklahoma. Only one individual in a same-sex household can be the adoptive parent of a child in Oklahoma. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund has promised to fight this law on the basis that it defies the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to Lambda, laws like this create an absurd situation in which the legal standing of an adoption can vary from state to state. Read more: <http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/05/0504040okaAdopt.htm> [top]

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Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender and Sexuality in Nature and People by Joan Roughgarden University of California Press: 2004. 472 pp. $27.50, It is obvious to many those in the LGBT community that human sexuality does not follow a simple binary formula. Evolution's Rainbow explores the diversity of sexuality across species and across human societies. To paraphrase the Nature review: Roughgarden's book is the richest and most authoritative compendium of information on sex and gender diversity in the natural world available. The author is herself and eminent Stanford biologist and, more significantly, a transgendered person. As such, she knows her subject from the inside out. For the author, the most significant portion of the book argues against Darwin's theory of sexual selection and its characterizations of sexaul selection as a battle. She sees sexual selection in a newer, cooperative model. She challenges the binary system of gender as an improper generalization of the (apparently?) binary nature of gametes themselves. For some, this will recall work done in the 1970s and 1980s by a number of female sociobiologists, who "called for a broadening of evolutionary theories to include selection pressures at more levels and on a broader range of individuals (such as females and juveniles)." Roughgarden's book does not engage these theories at length, but it benefits from them. The book provides a special point of view and a major step toward integrating transsexuality into our understanding. Read more about this book on the University of California's Web site: <http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10139.html> [top]

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The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government by David K. Johnson University of Chicago, 277 pp., $30.00 ($21.00 on Amamzon.com) (David K. Johnson is visiting assistant professor in the history department at the University of South Florida.) Editorial reviews from Amazon.com: "David Johnson's riveting account of how the federal government ferreted out and purged its gay employees in the 1940s and '50s is based on exhaustive research and careful analysis. It definitively establishes the central role antihomosexual politics played in the domestic Cold War and provocatively argues that this hostility drew on public anxieties about the rapid expansion of the federal government during the New Deal and Second World War. Johnson also offers a vivid portrait of the social world built by lesbians and gay men in Washington, D.C., and shows how the most enduring and unexpected consequence of the purges was to galvanize them to campaign for full citizenship rights. After this remarkable book, we will never be able to view the McCarthy Era the same way again." --George Chauncey, author of Gay New York "In this eminently readable and vitally significant book, David Johnson moves the reader through thirty years of federal government policies on the employment of homosexuals in civil service and the shifting responses of a broader public. Johnson has the rare ability to bring cultural, political, social, and sexual history together in telling a story that will alternately surprise and move readers. The Lavender Scare is one of the most engaging and provocative studies I have read in recent years." --Leisa D. Meyer, author of Creating G.I.Jane Read an interview with the author: <http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/404811in.html> More about this book at the University of Chicago Web site: <http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/15801.ctl> [top]

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Departments

May 2004 Update on Rainbow Alliance Plans If you haven't had a chance to attend a dinner, it might be difficult to keep up with the progress of 2004 projects. We'll try to keep you current with a monthly update. 1) Rainbow Alliance Fund at the University of Florida Foundation The Fund (established March 2003) is the only one of its kind at the UF Foundation specifically dedicated to the support of the LGBT community at UF. The Fund needs continuing support if we are to realize our goals. As always, details about contributing to the Rainbow Alliance Fund can be found at the end of the newsletter. Details about payroll deduction will be e-mailed to RA members soon. 2) Work will continue to identify LGBTA alumni. We have been working with Pride Student Union on this. New Gator Graduate and Rainbow Alliance Member Phillip Perry has contacted the Florida Foundation about adding "LGBT" as an interest area that alumni can select. Good work, Phillip! 3) Of course, we'll continue our monthly dinners. We hope to see you there! 4) We're working on outreach to LGBT faculty and staff at other universities and junior colleges in Florida. If you have any contacts who would like to be on the Rainbow Alliance mailing list, please send them to cmb@ifas.ufl.edu. We're very interested in what is going on on other campuses. Maybe we can support and help each other. 5) Rainbow Alliance depends on the efforts of dedicated volunteers. A little of your time could go a long way. Get involved. Make a difference. [top]