current issue | main page | infotainment | past editions | special events | classifieds...a-l | classifieds...m-z | feedback!

by Toni Pizanie
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

MAC Efforts For Protection
For Transgenders Realized

Gays and Lesbians obtained protection in housing and employment last year. The wording in the ordinance excluded Transgenders. As the Chair of the MAC, I met with the Mayor when I learned through Nancy Sharp that the city attorney ruled that the ordinance did not cover Transgenders. The Mayor appointed Nancy and myself to a sub-committee of the Human Relations Commission which prepared corrective wording for the ordinance. Chris Daigle represented LAGPAC on this sub-committee.

Councilman Troy Carter authored the change. On Wed., July 1, the change was made law for the City of New Orleans in a vote of 5 for, 1 against, 1 absent. Voting against was Oliver Thomas.

Thomas used a member of his staff as an example by asking if this person came to work in a mini-skirt and heels could Thomas say something without being sued. Thomas, who seems not to understand the protective wording for employers, criticized the new law on the noon and evening television news programs.

When UPI picked up the story, a mother of a Gay son wrote that Mr. Thomas could say, "I like your shoes." That about sums up how very ridiculous Thomas' statement was. This isn't the way to endear yourself to the GLBT community and get votes in the future. Is Thomas using the GLBT community to posture himself for a run for Mayor?

Councilman Jim Singleton apologized to Thomas' staff member. Singleton called Thomas' outburst inappropriate.

Channel 4 News showed film of Thomas saying that the ordinance did not protect the employer, was bad for businesses and that the wording was vague. This is a negative action on the part of Oliver Thomas against the GLBT community. The Community is being encouraged to write letters or E-mail Mr. Thomas and those TV stations that treated the ordinance with a negative slant.

It is time that we made people accountable for their wrongful actions against the GLBT Community. If businesses are pushed by Thomas to challenge this ordinance, not only will Transgenders lose, so will Gays and Lesbians.

Since the MAC started this action, I will be asking the MAC to take action to protect this ordinance at the July 14 meeting. If you are interested in assisting, please contact me at 504.522.8049 or E-mail at Psalmwrite@aol.com.

Mayor's Advisory Committee Report

As promised, I have gathered the reports from the MAC for 1996-97 and 1997-98. Robert Udick headed the committee in its first year during Mayor Marc Morial's administration.

Dr. Ron Wilcox chaired the By-laws Committee. The by-laws were approved by the committee Oct., 1997.

Members of the Legislative Committee met at the home of Dr. Carol Tully on Dec. 5, 1996 and directed their energies towards hate crimes, employment nondiscrimination, inheritance law changes, AIDS funding, repeal of the sodomy statute and defeating the anti-same sex marriage bill. Chair Jan Harrell invited LEGAL and LAGPAC to take part in a planning session. Harrell represented MAC and LAGPAC on the Louisiana Coalition for Individual Dignity.

Louisiana became the 40th state to enhance penalties for hate crimes and the 18th state to include "sexual orientation" as a class. The anti-same sex marriage bill was withdrawn for lack of support--a huge win for the Gay community. And in a meeting with the Mayor in April, he announced he would be issuing an Executive Order to extend health benefits to registered same sex domestic partners.

The Criminal Justice Committee was chaired by yours truly and undertook working with NOPD to renew police sensitivity training. Capt. Robert Williams met with the MAC and answered questions on Gay and Transgender problems with the NOPD. Dr. Tully created a survey to study the GLBT views on police sensitivity. Ambush Mag 2000 published the survey and it was distributed widely in bars, restaurants, coffee shops and Gay owned businesses.

Social/Civil Issues chaired by Ron Wilcox and James Donovan pursued the rights of same-sex partners to have an announcement of their engagement or commitment ceremony published in the Times-Picayune.

Randal Beach, Community Resources Committee, kept a watchful eye on the LGCCNO. Rev. Dexter Brecht was invited to speak on the Center and how the MAC could assist the Center.

Commissioner of Justice Bridget Bane was appointed by the Mayor as his liaison.

August, 1997, Udick passed the chair to me and left the MAC to pursue other interests. Eddie Domingue took the chair of the Legislative Committee, Wilcox and Donovan stayed on as co-chairs of the Social/Civil Issues Committee and Dr. Carol Tully became chair of the Criminal Justice Committee. James Donovan was voted Vice-Chair and Nancy Sharp agreed to service as Secretary.

I spoke with Bridget Bane in reference to the Mayor acknowledging MAC members, after which appointment citations were issued for all members. A party was thrown to honor Robert Udick, our first "Morial" Chair, attended by Mayor Morial, Troy Carter and the MAC.

Randal Beach is working on an Oregon legal contact before the Social/ Civil Issues Committee continues its project with the Times-Picayune.

Tully and I met with police Superintendent Pennington. We invited PFLAG & LAGPAC to join us. The Chief requested Tully to draft a sensitivity training program for NOPD. The first training session took place in June, 1998 with Tully and myself addressing a class of officers waiting to be promoted to sergeant. The class went exceptionally well and we all learned more about each other. Findings of the police survey were made public.

When it was learned that the word "Transgender" was dropped from the Hate Crimes Bill and Employment Discrimination Bill, the Mayor appointed Nancy Sharp and myself from the MAC to service on a sub-committee of the Human Relations Committee. That correction became law on July 1 for the City through the efforts of Troy Carter. The vote was 5 for, 1 against, 1 absent. The vote against came from Oliver Thomas. Lobbying the state for wording correction will begin in 1999.

Eddie Domingue and I now serve on the District Attorney's committee to work on the repeal of the sodomy statute. 1998 La. Legislature is a fiscal session. Domingue will begin his work in earnest in 1999.

Donovan contacted Rabbi Ed. P. Cohen to assist in having GLBT people included in the Holocaust Memorial which is scheduled to be placed in City Park. The committee was successful.

As there are no dues or financial support of the MAC, members generously donated funds to support the Upstairs Lounge Fire Memorial. Several MAC members donated their time to represent individuals who perished in the fire.

In a show of inclusiveness, MAC members elected Transgender Nancy Sharp to serve as Vice-chair, and Dr. Jami Buth will serve as secretary beginning in August when James Donovan takes the reins as Chair of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues.

Lifetime's Change of Heart

Lifetime's Gay oriented movie Change Of Heart will air on July 20 at 8pm. This nicely written Aaron Mendelsohn movie stars Jean Smart as the devastated wife who learns after 20 years that her husband is Gay. John Terry does a good job as the husband although he does not seem to suffer as much as I believe a man in his position would over the loss of family, profession and friends.

The teenage children, played by Phillip Geoffrey Hough and Shawna Waldron, are excellent. Watching them work through their anger and pain is very touching. They were an attractive distraction from Smart's premature aging. She certainly looked older than the 40 year old she was playing. Still she is a pretty woman so I was shocked by her "bad hair day" throughout the movie. I wanted to yell at the screen, get a comb.

The time sequence was a little confusing. There were too many personal revelations for the time period from fall to spring. It would have played better over a longer period so that the growth of the characters would be more believable.

The minor actors were all good and convincing. This gave an air of believability to a fairy tale ending where everyone ends up happy and loving one another. We know that is not the case in the real world, don't we?

I do appreciate having the opportunity to view the film without commercial interruption. I also encourage you to watch on the 20th if you've nothing special planned. Commercials or not, this should be an entertaining two hours for Gay and Gay friendly people. The radical right will hate it not only because of the content but for the message of tolerance and forgiveness. This movie could be reality if we all worked a little harder at respecting our diversity.

current issue | main page | infotainment | past editions | special events | classifieds...a-l | classifieds...m-z | feedback!