Philadelphia Gay News Vol. 33 No. 3
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Jan. 16 - 22, 2009
Obama names gay agency head
Gay bishop to give inaugural invocation
By Lisa Keen PGN Contributor The last week leading up to the inauguration of the new president has brought several LGBTrelated political developments: Following the announcement that openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson would give an invocation during the pre-Inauguration celebration, nine new appointments were revealed to be in the works and an unexpected skeleton emerged from a completely overlooked archival closet. Most significant by far, in terms of political importance, are the new appointments, albeit in various stages of being vetted, finalized and announced. President-elect Obama named openly gay National Zoo director John Berry to head the Office of Personnel Management. It’s a bit short of the Secretary of Interior position gay leaders had hoped for but, it’s the highest-ranking position ever for an openly gay appointee. The Office of Personnel Management, with more than 5,000 employees and an annual budget of about $1.5 billion, is the hiring agency of the federal government’s 3-million-strong civilian workforce. In addition to being director of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Berry was assistant See BERRY, Page 14
Judge OKs jury trial in samesex battery case By Timothy Cwiek PGN Writer-at-Large For the past three years, as H.E. tells it, he has been on a mission for justice, hoping to get compensated for enduring samesex harassment and battery that nearly ruined his life. H.E., 42, of Washington, a small town in southwestern Pennsylvania, worked as a machinist for the Perryman Co., a titanium manufacturer based in Houston, Pa., from 19912003. At first he enjoyed his time at Perryman, and looked forward to a long career at the company. But H.E., who is heterosexual, didn’t conform to gender stereotypes at the plant, and said male coworkers eventually picked up on his differences. Slurs started to be hurled his way, including “pretty boy,” “faggot,” “queer,” “sissy,” “gay See EHNERT, Page 8
Obama invites gay supporter on whistle-stop train ride By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
DONE WITH DOMA: About 30 protesters braved the cold Jan. 10 at City Hall to speak out against the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans same-sex marriage and other unions at the federal level. During the event, local LGBT activist Brandi Fitzgerald read from a letter that was to be sent to President-elect Barack Obama, which urges him to work to overturn DOMA. The local protest, as well as demonstrations in dozens of other cities around the country, was suggested by Join The Impact, which authored the letter to Obama and encouraged protest participants from across the country to add their names to it. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Clinton says she’d review State Dept.’s LGBT policies During Sen. Hillary Clinton’s confirming hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, the Secretary of Statedesignate pledged that if she assumes the position, she would review the Department of State’s same-sex benefit policies. U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) questioned Clinton during the Jan. 13 hearing about her position on the department’s regulations that prevent samesex employees and their partners from obtaining the same rights as heterosexual employees, specifically asking whether she would support the extension of benefits to the same-sex partners of foreign-service officers living overseas. “This issue has been brought to my attention during the transition. I’ve asked to have more briefing on it because I think that we should take a hard look at the existing policy,” Clinton said. “As I understand it, but don’t hold me to it because I don’t have the full briefing material, but my understanding is other nations have moved to extend that partnership benefit. And we will come back to you to inform you of decisions we make going forward.” Currently, the same-sex partners of FSOs are considered Members of Household and not Eligible Family Members — as are the heterosexual spouses of FSOs — and thus
Demonstrating his inclusive politics, Presidentelect Barak Obama has asked Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the denomination’s first gay bishop, to give the invocation at the opening celebration of the Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 18. A d d i t i o n a l l y, Obama’s whistlestop train tour — which departs tomorrow from Philadelphia en route to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration — will BISHOP V. GENE include an openly ROBINSON gay supporter and her partner.
often do not have access to the same jobs, healthcare, training and emergency care as heterosexual partners. Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies, which represents LGBT Department of State employees, released a statement Jan. 13 welcoming Clinton’s comments. The group said it plans to present Clinton with a letter signed by more than 2,000 current and former Department of State employees, urging her to provide more equitable treatment for LGBT employees and their families. ■
Lisa Hazirjian, an out history professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and her partner were invited to join dozens of other “everyday Americans” for the trip to D.C. with the LISA HAZIRJIAN president-elect and (RIGHT) AND his wife and Vice PARTNER MICHELLE President-elect Joe Biden and his wife. Of some 40 people accompanying the Obama and Biden families, Hazirjian and her partner are the only openly gay participants. Hazirjian said that she and her partner, Michelle, were caught off-guard by the invitation, which came on New Year’s Eve. “We got a phone call around dinnertime from someone with the inaugural committee extending an invitation to us on behalf of the president- and vice president-elect. We were incredibly surprised and excited,” she said. “We could not have imagined anything like this. It was a pretty cool way to ring in the New Year.” In addition to riding the train to D.C. with Obama and Biden, Hazirjian and her partner were also invited to one of the several inaugural balls Jan. 20, which she said was a bit daunting at first. “We were both a little anxious until we found
— Jen Colletta
See INAUGURAL, Page 12
AP Photo: Gerald Herbert