Philadelphia Gay News April 10 - 16, 2009
Vol. 33 No. 15
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Iowa and Vermont make it official
On the down low The Hawkeye State strikes down same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional doesn’t mean By Jen Colletta principles of equal greater HIV PGN Staff Writer protection embodied in our constitution.” Last week Iowa became the third state in Joe Solmonese, risk, study says
the country, and the first in the Midwest, where same-sex marriage is legal. In a unanimous ruling issued April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. Same-sex couples will be able to obtain marriage licenses beginning April 27. The ruling stemmed from a 2005 lawsuit filed by national LGBT group Lambda Legal on behalf of six same-sex couples who applied for, but were denied, marriage licenses. Iowa adopted a law in 1998 that limited marriage to between one man and one woman. Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled in August 2007 that the law was unconstitutional, but stayed his ruling later that day, pending the state’s appeal to the Supreme Court. The court based last week’s decision on its belief that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is a violation of the equal-protection guarantees in Iowa’s constitution. “The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient
executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, hailed the court’s decision as a step forward for the national LGBT community. “The Iowa Supreme Court did its job by recognizing that gay and lesbian couples who form committed relationships EQUALITY IN THE HEARTLAND: College students loving families celebrate on the campus of the University of Iowa and deserve the same level following the Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision of respect afforded to April 3 to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. heterosexual couples,” Photo: Liz Martin/AP he said. “The unanimous justification,” stated the court’s opinion, court made forcefully written by Justice Mark Cady. “There is no clear that the state constitution guarantees material fact, genuinely in dispute, that can the same rights and protections for all affect this determination.” Iowans. This decision strengthens Iowa The ruling strikes the “one man-one families and makes a strong statement for woman” language from Iowa law and equality all across the nation.” “further directs that the remaining statutory The court further rejected the argument language be interpreted and applied in a of assistant Polk County attorney Roger manner allowing gay and lesbian people full Kuhle, who spearheaded the state’s appeal, access to the institution of civil marriage.” that gay and lesbian couples don’t deserve The seven justices also found that equal protection because they are not civil unions would not be an adequate “similarly situated” as heterosexual couples compromise, as they are “equally suspect and difficult to square with the fundamental See IOWA, Page 13
The Green Mountain State overrides veto to legalize same-sex marriage By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer Vermont, which in 2000 became the first state in the country to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples, achieved another LGBT milestone this week when it became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through legislative means. On April 7, both the state’s Senate and House voted to override a veto from Gov. Jim Douglas, making Vermont the fourth state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber is required to vote for override and, while the Senate overwhelmingly achieved that majority — 23-5 — the House scraped by with just one vote — 100-49. Same-sex couples can begin obtaining marriage licenses in the state on Sept. 1. Supporters and opponents of marriage equality, still unsure at the time if there were enough votes in the House to
override the veto, packed the Statehouse on Tuesday, capping off several weeks of intense lobbying from both sides. The Senate initially approved the bill late last month, and the House also voted in favor of it, 96-54, last week. Before the House vote, however, Douglas announced he would veto the bill if and when it reached his desk. The bill went back to the Senate for final approval of amendments April 6 and the governor issued his veto just minutes after the Senate sent the bill to his desk. Douglas included a memo to the legislature with his veto that stated he recognized “this is an issue that is intensely personal, with strongly held beliefs and convictions on both sides. But I am charged by our constitution to act on this legislation and by its return, I have fulfilled that responsibility.” The governor said Tuesday that he anticipated the legislature’s override. “The outcome was not unexpected.
I prepared myself for this outcome and predicted it.” Three Democrats — Reps. Bob South, Jeff Young and Debbie Evans — who initially voted against the bill switched their vote during the veto override, and House Speaker Shap Smith, a strong proponent of the bill but whose position typically doesn’t permit him to vote for legislation, backed the override. Young, a freshman Democrat, said he initially voted with his “gut” against samesex marriage but changed his vote as a strategic move. “This wasn’t the easiest decision, but I realized that as a freshman, I don’t have a lot of chips on the table,” he said. “I want to have an impact for my district. This is politics, and maybe this was time to step to the plate.” Evans said she supported the override because she felt the governor’s veto See VERMONT, Page 13
By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer Researchers from the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation recently completed a study that found that men who identify as “down low” do not pose any higher risk of spreading HIV to female partners than openly bisexual men. The study, published in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Public Health, was created to assess the sexual practices of African-American men who identify with the down low — commonly thought of as those who engage in sex with other men without their female partners’ knowledge — and if this practice affects the high rates of HIV in the black community. “Scientifically speaking, there’s very little known about the down low,” said Dr. Lisa Bond, PHMC senior researcher. “Almost everything we know has come from personal accounts of a handful of individuals and the stories we’ve heard on TV and read about in the mainstream news. The impetus of this was to learn more about what it means to be on the DL and, in particular, whether or not being on the DL is associated with engaging in a greater risk for HIV transmission.” The study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control, included interviews with more than 1,100 gay, bisexual and heterosexualidentified men of color who have sex with men — 361 of whom identify as DL — in the Philadelphia and New York City areas. Bond said researchers recruited participants through respondent-driving sampling, in which each interviewee was asked to refer several other men for the study. See STUDY, Page 6
Black men who identify themselves as down low and have sex with other men categorize themselves as follows: 55.6% bisexual 28.1% homosexual/ gay 11.1% heterosexual/ straight 5.3% other