Spring, 2002 Newsletter (Apr - May)
Defeat
Super DOMA
[EqualMarriage.org]
On
June 19, the Massachusetts legislators have scheduled
a Constitutional Convention to consider the proposed
antigay Amendment. The committee that reviewed
this bill voted 15-0 to recommend a 'no' vote.
However, no legislator is bound by that recommendation,
and many legislators support it. Only 25% need
to vote in favor--that's just 50 'yes' votes out
of 200--to move the amendment forward. If the
legislature were to vote today, H4840 would pass.
The radical right has increased its efforts to
pass H4840. They have hired another lobbyist,
and they are spending more money on outreach.
H4840 is nasty and divisive, and would deny basic
rights to same-sex couples and their families.
If you've contacted your legislator, thank you!
You made a difference. But some legislators--especially
in certain parts of the state--still refuse to
say they will vote against this discriminatory
legislation. PLEASE contact your legislator again
by telephone or on the web at EqualMarriage.org.
Ask for a commitment not just to 'oppose' but
to vote against H4840.
The proposed amendment contains the following
language: "... Only the union of one man
and one woman shall be valid or recognized as
a marriage in Massachusetts. Any other relationship
shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal
equivalent, nor shall it receive the benefits
or incidents exclusive to marriage from the Commonwealth,
its agencies, departments, authorities, commissions,
offices, officials and political subdivisions."
Gay Couples Will Appeal
[Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff, 5/9/2002]
Ruling
that bearing children has long been considered
central to marriage, a Suffolk Superior Court
judge threw out a lawsuit filed by seven gay couples
who had challenged the state's ban on single-sex
marriage.
Judge Thomas Connolly concluded that nothing in
state law gives same-sex couples a constitutional
right to marry. “Although public attitudes
toward marriage ... are still evolving, he wrote,
those attitudes do not run as deep as the historical
concept of marriage between people of opposite
sexes. ...The plaintiffs' request ... should be
directed to the Legislature, not the courts.''
The plaintiffs are planning to appeal.
Cape
Cod Gay Pride 2002
Gay Pride Cape Wide - Marching for Equality!
The
13th annual Gay Pride celebration will be held
in Hyannis on Saturday, July 20, from 11am to
3pm rain or shine. The March is scheduled for
11:30, beginning at CIGYA House, corner of Barnstable
Rd and Elm St. A portion of Elm St. will be blocked
off for an afternoon block party with vendors
and music.
It’s important that we have a sizeable representation
from PFLAG to march in the parade. PFLAG’s
contingent has been dwindling over the last several
years, and last year we had trouble finding a
second person to carry our banner. Please come
and march with us!
All along the parade route, we receive applause
and cheers of thanks just for being there and
demonstrating our support for all GLBT’s.
Also, there may be parents watching the parade
who will be empowered by our presence to be more
accepting and loving with their own gay children.
PFLAG/Brewster will again have a table at the
event with pamphlets, books, and t-shirts. If
you don’t want to march, but want to show
your support, we can always use another person
to sit at the table. For more information, come
to our regular meetings in June and July, or call
Pem at 508-432-8119.
For last-minute information call 508-778-7744
x21 or visit their webpage at www.capecodgaypride.org.
Fed.
Anti-Gay Amendment
[Human Rights Campaign - HRC.org]
The
House and Senate introduction of the "Federal
Marriage Amendment" was announced May 15
by a group of religious political activists known
as the Alliance for Marriage.
"Marriage in the United States shall consist
only of the union of a man and a woman,"
reads the proposed amendment. "Neither this
constitution or the constitution of any state,
nor state or federal law, shall be construed to
require that marital status or the legal incidents
thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or
groups."
"The US Constitution is a revered document
and should not be used for cynical posturing.
This amendment is designed to create a divisive
anti-gay wedge issue," said HRC Director
Elizabeth Birch. "At a time when not a single
gay couple can marry in any state of this nation,
and as our country faces much larger challenges,
this is hardly the kind of sideshow anyone needs.
Homosexuals
& Pedophiles
[Excerpted from Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., webpage;www.psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_cameron.html]
Members
of disliked minority groups are often stereotyped
as representing a danger to the majority society's
most vulnerable members. Historically, black men
in the United States were often falsely accused
of raping white women, and commonly lynched as
a result. Jews in the Middle Ages were accused
of murdering Christian babies in ritual sacrifices.
In a similar fashion, gay people have often been
portrayed as a threat to children. When Anita
Bryant campaigned successfully in 1977 to repeal
a Dade County (FL) ordinance prohibiting anti-gay
discrimination, she named her organization "Save
Our Children," and warned that "a particularly
deviant-minded [gay] teacher could sexually molest
children."
In more recent years, antigay activists have asserted
that gay people are child molesters. This argument
has been raised in debates about the Boy Scouts’
policy to exclude gays. It has also been raised
in connection with recent scandals about the Catholic
church's attempts to cover up the abuse of young
males by priests. Indeed, the Vatican's early
response to the 2002 revelations of widespread
church cover-ups of sexual abuse by priests was
to declare that gay men should not be ordained.
Even though most Americans don't regard gay people
as child molesters, confusion remains in this
area. To understand the facts, it is important
to examine the results of scientific research.
Pedophilia and child molestation are used in a
variety of ways. Pedophilia usually refers to
an adult psychosexual disorder characterized by
a preference for prepubescent children as sexual
partners; this preference may or may not be acted
upon. The term hebephilia is used to describe
adult sexual attractions to adolescents and children
who have reached puberty.
Whereas pedophilia and hebephilia refer to psychological
propensities, child molestation and child sexual
abuse are used to describe actual sexual contact
between an adult and someone who has not reached
the legal age of consent.
Not all incidents of child sexual abuse are perpetrated
by pedophiles or hebephiles; in some cases, the
perpetrator has other motives for his or her actions
and does not manifest an ongoing pattern of sexual
attraction to children.
Thus, not all child sexual abuse is perpetrated
by pedophiles (or hebephiles) and not all pedophiles
and hebephiles actually commit abuse. It is important
to choose one's terms carefully.
Scientific research provides no evidence that
homosexual people are less likely than heterosexuals
to exercise good judgment and appropriate discretion
in their employment settings. Data from studies
using a variety of psychological measures do not
indicate that gay people are more likely than
heterosexuals to possess any psychological characteristics
that would make them less capable of controlling
their sexual urges, refraining from the abuse
of power, obeying rules and laws, interacting
effectively with others, or exercising good judgment
in handling authority.
One individual, however, has claimed to have data
that prove homosexuals to be child molesters at
a higher rate than heterosexuals. That person
is Paul Cameron. However, Cameron's survey data
are subject to so many methodological flaws as
to be virtually meaningless. Even so, his assertions
are often quoted by antigay organizations in their
attempts to link homosexuality with child sexual
abuse.
In a 1985 article published in Psychological Reports,
Paul Cameron reviewed published data to answer
the question, "Do those who commit homosexual
acts disproportionately incorporate children into
their sexual practices?" He concluded that
"at least one-third of the sexual attacks
upon youth are homosexual"
Cameron's findings are based on his assumption
that all male-male molestations were committed
by homosexuals. Moreover, a careful reading of
Cameron's paper reveals several false statements
about the literature he claimed to have reviewed.
Conclusion: The empirical research does not show
that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than
heterosexual men to molest children. This is not
to argue that homosexual and bisexual men never
molest children. But there is no scientific basis
for asserting that they are more likely than heterosexual
men to do so. And, as explained above, many child
molesters cannot be characterized as having an
adult sexual orientation at all; they are fixated
on children.
Prom Time for All
[Excerpted from GLSEN.org]
Every
year, as millions of students around the country
prepare for their prom by finding dresses and
tuxes, and planning after-parties, thousands of
GLBT students are left waiting for it all to be
over.
However, there are inclusive and safe proms that
welcome and embrace all students, regardless of
their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender
expression.
What makes a safe and inclusive school prom? Of
course, a prom can only be as inclusive as the
students who attend, but here is some food for
thought:
1. Prom Policies: Work to ensure that policies
are inclusive of same sex/gender and non-partnered
couples. This way, students can attend with anyone
they wish, or alone.
2. Dress Codes: Work to ensure that dress codes
are inclusive by allowing students to wear the
prom attire of their own desire, regardless of
their sexual orientation or gender identity.
3. Prom Activities: Find activities or ceremonies
other than the naming of a prom king and queen,
as this alienates students who may not fit the
traditional heterosexual King and Queen roles.
4. A Night Without Hate Pledge: Upon picking up
their prom tickets, students sign a pledge towards
creating a safe space for all students, regardless
of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender
expression.
5. Chaperone & Staff Training: Discuss with,
and provide training for, staff and chaperones,
ensuring they understand and will treat all students
equally, regardless of their sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender expression, or that of
their partner.
Making
a Difference Back Home
[Excerpted from Cyd Zeigler Jr., Outsports.com]
Some
told me it was brave. Some said that it took courage.
To me, it simply had to be done.
When my mother called in late March and said the
PFLAG chapter on Cape Cod was hosting a forum
about tolerance for gay and lesbian students in
my high school, and that they wanted me to come
speak, it was a no-brainer.
I wasn’t out when I was young. I don’t
remember having a gay thought before I was in
junior high school. But when I was in fourth grade,
a girl who had a crush on me decided to try to
kiss me. I wasn’t interested in her, so I
backed off. That day she and the rest of my classmates
decided that I was gay. And for the better part
of the next five years, I heard about it.
It wasn’t until I submerged myself in track
and cross-country early in high school, and began
to make headlines in the local papers and setting
school records, that the snickering went away.
Somehow, maybe because I was suddenly a “jock,”
it seemed less likely that I was, in fact, gay.
From a position of power as a top athlete, I watched
quietly as the younger, slower, weaker kids on
the team got teased about being gay – and
the cycle continued.
Unfortunately, that cycle again became news the
week I was on Cape Cod, as the Provincetown baseball
team caught the brunt of homophobic bullying.
Apparently, after a baseball game between Provincetown
High and South Shore Christian Academy, which
Provincetown won, 15-3, on April 25, South Shore
coach Nicola Nasuti "lisped" a homophobic
slur at the Provincetown team. When the Province-town
coach approached Nasuti to tell him that Provincetown,
where the game was played, had an anti-hate crime
law, Nasuti said, "I'll show you a real hate
crime." The police were called and Nasuti
said the Provincetown - team was being "hypersensitive."
Nasuti has since been fired for his remarks.
With events like this happening every day in high
schools, and in my old high school in particular,
when the call came from my mother, it was my chance
to help end the cycle and maybe help save one
kid from having to hear every day that he is a
fag.
As chance would have it, my father gave the opening
remarks at the forum. When he spoke about the
history of my hometown, the multiculturalism that
has always been there, and the need for further
tolerance for gays and lesbians, it was like having
my father tell the crowd of 250, “My son
is gay and, not only am I OK with it, but you
should be too.” My mother, of course, cried.
When it was my turn, I spoke about growing up
being teased; I shared my attempts to hide within
the confines of the church and sports; and I made
an impassioned plea to the parents, teachers and
students in attendance to help stop the intolerant
bullying before one more kid decides to take his
life.
The applause was loud and very satisfying.
[In answer to a father’s complaint that he
didn’t want “homosexuals to change his
child’s classroom into a battleground of
sexual mores,” I replied:] “We want
the high school to address homosexuality in the
classroom for the sake of your son. “God
forbid he's gay and you’ve been telling him
he’s wrong all his life. I don’t want
your son to become part of the gay teen suicide
statistics. Do you?”
He was silent. The crowd cheered
. Today, right now, a kid is being bullied in
high school because he's smaller, or he's slower,
or he's stronger, or he has a lisp. He's being
called "fag," "queer," "cocksucker"--every
name in the book. If he's lucky, someone will
step in to help him
As I did last week, I hope that every gay man
or woman reading this will call someone in their
small hometown, or write to them, and come out
to them. It may not be easy but, to that gay kid
who's in kindergarten right now, it can make a
world of difference. [Cyd Zeigler is co-founder
of Outsports.com.]
Gay
Adoptions
[excerpted from The Ecomomist, 4/5/02]
A fresh
front in the battle to gain equal rights for homosexuals
has opened up in Florida, which has some of America's
least welcoming laws for homosexual families.
Several homosexual couples with foster families
face the prospect of hav-ing children taken away,
despite the harm this could do to them.
The ACLU has sued the state on behalf of three
such couples, and the case has gained wider publicity
thanks to the involve-ment of Rosie O'Donnell,
who is herself a lesbian foster-mother.
More scientific support for scrapping Florida's
ban on adoption by homosexuals has recently come
from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which
in February issued a summary of research into
whether parental homosexuality affects children.
The report concluded that medical evidence, .
. .suggests that children with homosexual parents
face the same prospects for their health and development
as those with heterosexual parents. The departure
of a parent from home through divorce, death,
or another cause of separation has far more impact
on children than a parent's sexuality. The academy
urged full legal rights, including adoption, for
homosexual parents, saying that children "deserve
the security of two legally recognised parents."
Success
in Toronto!
[PlanetOut.com]
Nearly
300 people turned out in Toronto's gay village
on May 11 to thank Marc Hall and his supporters
for their stunning court victory over a Catholic
high school that had attempted to prevent him
from taking his boyfriend to the prom.
Hall didn't set out to be a role model, he said.
"I was just a gay 17-year-old who wanted
to go to his prom and stand up for his rights."
The court injunction granted Friday prevented
the Durham Catholic School District from refusing
to admit the couple. The school board accepted
the ruling but said it would appeal.
"It's been really hard on J.P. and me,"
said Hall. But I'm going to fight this at a trial
so no other kid will ever have to go through what
I’ve gone through.”
Note from Pem
PFLAG
Brewster, PFLAG Safe Schools, Mass. Dept. of Health,
and the Governor's Commission on Gay & Lesbian
Youth presented an evening to remember in Harwich
May l. The program was Creating a Safe and Supportive
Community for Our Youth--Respecting Our Differences.
Introductory remarks were given by Cyd Zeigler,
Harwich Head Selectman, Mike O'Keefe, Ass't. District
Attorney, and Shirley Gomes, State Rep. Helen
Helfer, consultant/author on diversity issues
was facilitator. The keynote address was skillfully
presented by Dr. Chip Gidney, Tufts Univ. He spoke
on "Bullies & Bystanders -- Dealing with
the Language of Hate."
An impressive panel of former and current Harwich
students, Susan Pike, our own Pflag parent, and
Dr. Myke Johnson, 1st Parish, Brewster, rounded
out a most powerful evening.
Pam Chamberlain (Mass. Dept. of Ed Safe School
Program), Pam Garramone (PFLAG Safe Schools),
and Pem Schultz (PFLAG Brewster) worked on making
this all happen.
Many Harwich organizations including churches,
Selectmen, Fire and Police Depts, Harwich School
System, Chamber of Commerce, Library, CIGYA, Harwich
Jr. Theatre, Cranberry Goose, and P'town Film
Festival joined in endorsing the event.
There was standing room only, and most of the
audience was very positive. About 30 individuals
helped in the planning. Some twenty community
persons will now meet to help plan ways to educate
and make positive changes in the community.
Anyone interested in helping to organize another
such event, call Pem at 508-432-8119.
Spring
Fling: Evening with Kate Clinton
Tickets
are still available for the GALE Fund benefit
on Thursday, May 23, from 6 to 10 pm at the Ocean
Edge Resort Carriage House in Brewster.
Nationally known political comedian Kate Clinton
will be the featured performer. Music will be
by singer/songwriter Peter Donnelly. There will
also be a silent and live auction, dancing, “lavish”
hors d’oeuvres, and cash bar. Suggested donation
is $100; minimum donation $60. Call 508-790-3040.
“A
Matter of Choice?”
"A Matter of Choice?," reported and anchored by Ted Koppel, is an in-depth look at the complexities of the gay experience in the United States, from senior citizens to teenagers. Five segments of Nightline will focus on the many gay men and women whose lives do not normally attract media attention. The series is scheduled to air Monday, May 20, thru Friday, May 24, at 11:35 p.m. on ABC.
GLBT
Group Info
Brewster
Gay Men meet the first and third Mondays of each
month at the First Parish Church, Brewster. 430-2818
Straight Spouse meets third Thursday of each month.
896-9060
Transgender Support meets fourth Sundays. 432-8119.
Metropolitan Community Church meets 1st and 3rd
Sundays, 3pm, Sanctuary of First Parish Church.
385-2873 or 430-2682
Dates
to Remember
May
20, Jun 17, Jul 18. Aug 19: Brewster PFLAG, 7
pm
May 22, Jun 19, Jul 20. Aug 21,: Straight Spouse,
896-9060
May 26, Jun 23, Jul 28. Aug 25: Transgender Sppt
432-8119
May 23: Evening With Kate Clinton, 6-10pm. 790-3040
July 20, 2002 Cape Cod Gay Pride Day in Hyannis
Sep 27 - 29: PFLAG National Conference, Columbus
OH
PFLAG/Cape
Cod, Brewster
PO Box 1167 Orleans, MA 02653
MISSION:
Promote the health and well-being of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered persons, their families
and friends, through Support, to cope with an
adverse society; Education, to enlighten an ill-informed
public; and Advocacy, to end discrimination and
secure equal civil rights.
MEETINGS: 7 pm on the third Monday of each
month at First Parish Church, Brewster; everyone
is welcome. For information call 240-2737 or 432-8119.
MEMBERSHIP: Dues-paying members support
the efforts of PFLAG both locally and nationally.
Ten dollars goes to PFLAG National (includes subscription
to Pflagpole), and the balance is used for our
own Newsletter and the purchase of pamphlets,
books, and videos. Our fiscal year begins October
1.
OFFICERS: Co-Leaders, Pem Schultz &
Rob Lewis; Treasurer, Martha Berndt; Corresponding
Sec’y, Betsy Cochran; Publicity, Martha Berndt;
Newsletter, Doris Scherbak and Joann Figueras;
Program, Sandy Bayne; and Library, Randy Kendell;.
NEWSLETTER: Published four times a year.
Send articles to above address or e-mail joann@pflagcapecod.org.
WEBPAGE:
www.pflagcapecod.org
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_____$35 Family_____$25 Individual _____$15 Limited
income
$________________Additional donation for our local
chapter.
Name_______________________________________________
Address_____________________________________________
City, State, Zip________________________________________
Telephone___________________________________________
Checks are payable to PFLAG/Cape Cod, Brewster.
Mail to Martha Berndt, 2 Englewood Dr. H-5, Harwich,
MA 02645