Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, November 14, 1997 Page: 1 of 60
sixty pages : ill. 14 x 12View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Ly^)ICE :
T"U. .—. ( ' . . ■—» . 4-» i IV I /—»« n i«— >—v «—* r-. r—\ t—* C f—\ r~» f * *—»\ / B I r~l C* K I Cl n I 1 Cl I ! Cl tZ?
November 14, 1997
Volume XIV
Clinton delivers ‘historic’ speech to gay group
By Dennis Vercher
Greeted by a standing ovation inside
and pickets outside, President Clinton
became the first sitting president to
address a gay and lesbian civil rights
organization when he delivered the
keynote speech at a Human Rights
Campaign dinner in Washington, D.C.
last Saturday evening.
In a speech cast as routine by White
House officials but seen as something
much larger by gays and their oppo-
nents, Clinton evoked the words of
President Harry Truman, who con-
demned segregation by saying, "All
Americans means all Americans."
"Well, my friends, all Americans still
means all Americans," Clinton said.
He becomes 1st sitting
president to address gay
civil rights organization
"We all know that there is continuing
discrimination against gays and les-
bians. But we also know that if we're
ever going to build one America, then
all Americans, including you and those
whom you represent, have got to be a
part of it."
The nation suffers, he said, "when
any person is denied or forced out of a
job because of sexual orientation. Being
gay,. the last time I thought about it,
seemed to-have nothing to do with the
ability to read a bal-
ance book, fix a bro-
ken bone or change a
spark plug."
In calling for pas-
sage of the
Employment Non-
Discrimination Act,
which would extend
federal employment
protections to gays, the president said
denying opportunity because of sexual
orientation "is wrong. And it should be
illegal."
He told the audience of about 1,500
that people who "aren't comfortable yet
with you" need to learn more about
See CLINTON on Page 12
Clinton
BULLISH ON TGRA
Texas Gay Rodeo Association
member Frank Elam of
Lewisville breaks out of the
gate during the bullriding com-
petition last weekend at the
Texas Gay Rodeo, held in
Houston. Nearly 90 competi-
tors took part in the event,
which also featured TGRA’s
annual royalty competition.
Story, Page 14.
Employee protests agency’s policy on gay foster parents
By Tammye Nash
Staff Reporter
A Child Protective Services worker
has filed a grievance against the
agency, protesting her demotion after
she took a child out of its foster home
because the foster parents were a les-
bian couple.
Ten-year employee Rebecca Bledsoe
also has threatened to file a lawsuit
against CPS over the agency's curent
policy permitting gays and lesbians to
serve as foster parents.
CPS spokeswoman Linda Edwards,
speaking at a press conference Monday
afternoon in Dallas, said that in evalu-
ating potential foster or adoptive par-
ents, the agency looks at "their ability
to protect, to nurture and parent a
child. That's our primary criteria."
Number 29
The Community Newspaper For Gay*- .‘ I esbian Dallas
PROFILE: JM/t
Varla Jean
Merman, Ethel
Ernest
Borgnine’s love
child, makes . iFtJj
Dallas stop pro- , T •• -
moting drag
queen CD. f
STAGE:
Alan
Ayckbourn’s
latest romantic
comedy,
Dreams from a
Summer i
House, hits the
boards at
Theatre Three.
Mi
PAGE
SCREEN: £
Robert Downey ■
Jr. proves again ■
why his foibles 1 jr ^
are worth over- |p -
looking with his |F. ' JM
performance in
uneven but
successful One
Night Stand.
ALSO:
Past Out: Calendar: Artsnotes;
Q Puzzle: Comics; Starvoice:
Scene.
Edwards added that Bledsoe was
demoted "with no change in pay"
because she failed to follow established
procedure in removing the child, an
African American male infant, from the
foster mothers' home. "These proce-
dures are set up to prevent a child from
suffering emotionally, as can often hap-
pen when they're moved from one
See GRIEVANCE on Page 9
' f.....■
I til
■■■■
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 29, Ed. 1 Friday, November 14, 1997, newspaper, November 14, 1997; Dallas, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616301/m1/1/: accessed May 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.