NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
Eddie's Ready!
Judge Eddie Sapir has been ready
since the 1960's. An independent leader, Eddie has fought to preserve the French Quarter from a concrete jungle high rise 
expressway to protecting the Napoleon Avenue corridor from a bridge across the Mississippi. His actions on behalf of the people have seen him at odds with a Mayor, a Governor and other City Councilmen. His determination and passion would not allow him to take the easy path and for that the residents and business leaders of Districts B and C should be grateful.
Sapir has been a leader in the Civil Rights movement long before it became popular to recognize the needs of all citizens of New Orleans. As well as serving District B, he also served in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Sapir introduced the Public Accommodations bill and co-authored the Louisiana Superdome bill. Sapir stepped down as Councilman in his last year of service to insure that the first African-American Councilman, A. L. Davis, could serve out Sapir's term on the City Council.
Sapir's efforts on behalf of tourism brought to New Orleans exhibition baseball, the Super Bowl, the Final Four basketball tournament, Championship boxing, minor league baseball and more. He was a co-founder of the New Orleans Sports Foundation.
Sapir's first priority is to work with the Mayor and Police Chief to rid the City of crime and drugs. In 1969, he introduced a program to provide drug education in the school system-public, private and parochial. Believing that early drug education will stem the abuse of drugs which leads to crime, Sapir will work towards implementing like programs.
After going to New York at his expense to study Methadone clinics and the effect on the community and the heroin addict, Sapir returned to New Orleans and introduced the Methadone treatment. This allowed addicts who wanted to "kick" the drug habit to become productive citizens. Sapir hopes that a similar program may become available to combat crack cocaine.
As the father of a twelve years old boy who takes part in three sports, he wants the playgrounds, parks and gyms safe for all children to enjoy. He also voiced praise for and an interest in working with NORD.
Sapir's experience on the "bench" gives him additional tools to face the job of crime fighter. He has served in five different areas of the judiciary. Perhaps the most of important are criminal court judge and juvenile court judge which will lend an understanding and fairness to his duties on the Council.
Sapir has been endorsed by Forum for Equality and LAGPAC in the Gay community. Although there has not been an official endorsement by the Mayor, the cover of Gambit is a clear indicator that Eddie is one of the Mayor's chosen kids. Eddie is most definite ready. He is experienced and dedicated and his thinking is inclusive and visionary. And like the Mayor, Sapir wants to help "to build New Orleans and make it work."
Put Your
Face On, Girl!!!
One of the hottest topics at the
HRC town meeting was why
aren't transgenders being recognized and represented by many GLBT organizations and specifically by HRC. Red Wing, National Field Director for HRC, insists that the general public can't put a "face" on TGs. Unless you've had the experience of talking at length with a TG friend, it isn't so easy for most Les/Gays to understand or accept either.
All TGs are not gay, all TGs do not perform on stage; yet all TGs are in danger of the same targeted discrimination that we GLs suffer. One view expressed at the town meeting was that TGs are not being represented by HRC and other groups because it would be too hard a fight to include them now that GLs are making forward steps in the National and State Legislatures. GLs are becoming more accepted now that there are Gays in Congress and notable personalities are "outing" themselves.
So what's a girl to do? The same thing that Gays have been doing to force recognition-put your face out in public. If the transgender community would support more events as they did the town meeting and PRIDE, perhaps the leaders in the GL community would be more agreeable in supporting their issues. And they did support that meeting-with as many TGs from all walks of life as there were self identified Lesbians. From show girls to medical doctors to blue collar workers, the transgender community was there to take their place on the issues of employment protection, bashing and just being allowed to be themselves.
Over the years, I've read some unkind articles on why Lesbians should refuse to be accepting of TGs. Before doing my homework, I believed every word. I have had a total change of heart since spending time with outstanding people like Crystal Little and Nancy Sharp.
Three years ago when my sweet friend, Marsha Delain, and I left our table at the HRC dinner to freshen up, I was greeted with "which bathroom did you use" when I returned to the table. What a moron!! As if Marsha was interested in anything that anyone else was doing in the ladies room. Marsha was there to take care of her needs and to make sure that perfect hairdo was still perfect. I was truly offended by the remark-then and now-and realized that I thought nothing was amiss walking into the ladies room with her.
Yes, there are heterosexual cross dressers. And that could be reason for concern. These persons I have found are usually honest enough not to offend females in their company or at the Clubs we have attended together. Of course, everyone is not ethical and it is our responsibility as women not to allow ourselves to be abused. We must address each occurrence as it presents itself for there are no pat answers.
No matter which side of this issue you find yourself, there is a bigger issue facing the local community over whether GLBTs should refuse to attend the May, 1998 HRC dinner. There is concern and interest among HRC members as to how the GGA will vote at its up coming meeting. The discussion and vote will revolve around boycotting the dinner. There was talk of a boycott last year which failed when GGA members decided to give HRC more time to reconsider their stand.
HRC does not at this time include TGs in their Mission Statement. Yet I never hear an HRC representative speak without using the phrase, "no one is free unless we are all free". I am an HRC Federal Club member and I am embarrassed by the present exclusion. Many political activists, some paid employees of HRC, stated that they feel the same. The contradiction could be the down fall of many years of difficult work by HRC locally and nationally should the Gay community take a stand against HRC policy. In speaking with past HRC dinner attendees, I have learned that at least twenty people who attended this year will not be attending in 1998. This is a loss of $2,500.00 plus bids to the silent auction without a boycott.
When asked why the dinner boycott, long time community leader and activist, Stewart Butler, told me that he is not ready to announce or back a boycott although he was seriously considering the possibilities. The best way to get HRC's attention is to withhold money, Stewart reminded me. And hasn't that been our cry for many years in dealing with Gay issues-our money is green too. Well, so is the money of the transgenders and their friends who wish to back them in their fight for equality. It is with confidence that we look forward to a change in the HRC Mission Statement.
ACLU 1997 Reports
American Civil Liberties Union has issued the 1997 Lesbian and Gay Rights
Docket. Of interest to Louisiana is the following: Civil Rights Law--AntiDiscrimination Legislation--The ACLU of LA testified in favor of a bill prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation before the House Labor Committee. Although the bill failed by a 6--4 margin, this was its best showing to date and is a good sign for the future.
Free Expression--Censorship at Barnes & Nobles--The ACLU of LA persuaded a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Metairie to remove signs declaring the "Lesbian and Gay Studies" and "Human Sexuality" sections off-limits to teens under 17. In October 1996, soon after the store's opening, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office paid a visit to the bookstore and threatened to shut it down if Barnes & Noble did not post signs barring minors from seeing any books on gay and lesbian issues. According to Barnes & Noble staff, the Sheriff's Office claimed that those books fell under a LA law requiring that persons under 17 be denied access to materials that are "harmful to minors." Barnes & Noble immediately complied with the Sheriff's demand. The ACLU of LA spoke to the store's management, notified the media, and wrote a letter to the store pointing out that barring minors from the "Lesbian and Gay Studies" section "is injurious to lesbian and gay teen-agers, who have a high rate of suicide because of their isolation in the face of societal homophobia and often are sorely in need of the information and positive images contained in these books." Barnes & Noble reversed its policy and reopened the section to all customers, regardless of age.
Job Discrimination--Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services--While employed by Sundowner Offshore Services on an offshore oil rig, Joseph Oncale was repeatedly sexually assaulted and harassed by two male supervisors and a co-worker. In one instance, Oncale was forcibly held down while one defendant shoved his exposed penis at Oncale's head. In another episode, Oncale was violently grabbed in the shower by two of the defendants while a third forced a bar of soap between his buttocks. The Project got involved when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Same-sex harassment cases are becoming increasingly common, with some courts ruling that this type of harassment is covered by federal law (Title VII) and other courts ruling that it is not. The Project authored an amicus brief with Lambda that argues that sexual harassment is covered by Title VII, regardless of whether the perpetrator and victim are of the same sex or different sexes. The Supreme Court will issue its decision in 1998.
Youth, Students & Schools--David S.v. Ouachita Parish School Board--The ACLU of LA has filed suit to challenge the banning of numerous books and periodicals from a public high school library in Monroe, LA, including a U.S. Government Accounting Office pamphlet on the Congressional debate over gays in the military, and a Newsweek magazine issue featuring a cover story on lesbian rock musician Melissa Etheridge and her then pregnant partner. The GAO pamphlet was one of four books banned because they allegedly are "related to sex." Other banned books include two in a series of guides for teens, Everything You Need To Know About Incest (informing victims about how to get help), and Everything You Need To Know About Sexual Abstinence (banned because the text uses the work "masturbation" twice). Under a recently amended library book selection policy, 49 different issues of a wide variety of magazines have been removed or withheld from the shelves, subjected to restricted access policies, or excised of allegedly "offensive" contents. This case is being litigated by ACLU cooperating attorneys James Hashek, Michael Rhymes and Charles Kincade, and LA ACLU staff attorney Martha Kegel.
Marriage--Anti--Gay Marriage Bill--The ACLU of LA played an important role in a coalition of groups that defeated a proposed amendment to the Louisiana Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The bill sailed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee but failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority when it came up for a vote on the Senate floor during the spring 1997 legislative session.
Parenting--Recruiting Lawyers to represent Lesbian and Gay Parents--The ACLU of Alabama receives many requests for assistance from gay and lesbian parents who need legal representation in custody and visitation cases. Unfortunately, there are very few attorneys in Alabama who are willing to take these cases, and even fewer who are familiar with the legal arguments and evidence that must be marshaled to win them. Recognizing this problem, the ACLU has been working to recruit and train local bar members to handle gay and lesbian parenting cases, as well as providing them with expert assistance.
AIDS Docket--Cuts to Drug Assistance Programs--The Mississippi AIDS Drug Assistance Program, a national program funded under the Ryan White Care Act to subsidize AIDS-related medications, faced a severe funding crisis this year. When state officials realized that they would not have the money to continue providing medications to everyone who had been on the program, they considered terminating assistance to people on "triple combination therapy"--the new, highly successful AIDS drugs which include expensive protease inhibitors. Individuals taking this medication are extremely vulnerable to dosage fluctuations; if they do not maintain the regimen they can develop resistance to the drugs and lose any benefit from them. Moreover, if that individual infects another person, the strain of HIV in the newly-infected individual will likely already be resistant to the new drugs. The AIDS Project contacted Mississippi state officials and informed them that we would litigate on behalf of people whose medications were terminated if they went ahead as planned. While the program was forced to cut subsidies to many individuals dependent on them for a variety of medications, the state took the ACLU's advice and maintained assistance to everyone in the program on triple combination therapy.
AIDS Docket--Parenting--In Florida, Janice Gaiter was deprived custody of her two children by a Dade County family court judge because she has AIDS, even though Gaiter's doctor certified that she is able to care for her children. Gaiter did not have an attorney in her custody dispute, however, and the trial judge did not appoint either a lawyer for her or a guardian ad litem for the children, as Florida law requires. Gaiter appealed the custody ruling, and the ACLU of FL filed a brief forcefully arguing that the custody award violated numerous provisions of FL statutes and the state and federal Constitutions. At the hearing on the appeal, Chief Judge Alan Schwartz took the unusual step of announcing from the bench that the court would vacate the decision below and grant Gaiter immediate custody of her children.
[from ACLU 1997 Lesbian and Gay Rights Docket and 1997 AIDS Docket]
