Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, October 17, 2003 Page: 1 of 72
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Hutchison supports
marriage amendment
Log Cabin Republicans dismayed, vow to educate senator on gay families
By David Webb
Staff Reporter
Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
plans to support the Federal Marriage
Amendment and to oppose the Permanent
Partners Immigration Act of 2003 because it
would sanction same-sex marriages, according
to her correspondence with a constituent.
"The recognition of same-sex marriages has
serious and far-reaching implications,"
Hutchison said. "I [would vote] to define mar-
riage in the United States as consisting only of
the union of a man and a woman."
Hutchison voted for the Defense of
Marriage Act that was signed into law in 1996.
Log Cabin Republicans national board
member Carla Halbrook of Dallas said that
Hutchison had not taken a public stand on the
marriage amendment or the immigration
measure prior to writing the letter.
"That's the most public ... she has been on
this issue," Halbrook said.
The senator had previously penned a letter
to constituents saying she was uncertain if she
would support the marriage amendment.
Halbrook said that Hutchison's position
dismayed her.
"As a group we are disappointed that this
is her opinion, and it just proves that we've got
more education to do," said Halbrook, who is
a spokeswoman for the Log Cabin
Republicans of Dallas. "We will be contacting
her and trying to educate her a little more on
this issue."
Halbrook said that Hutchison, who adopt-
ed two children within the last two years and
lives in Dallas, should be more tolerant about
family issues.
"As a new mom she really ought to be con-
cerned for all American families, not just some
American families," Halbrook said.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison previously
said she was undecided about support-
ing a proposed constitutional amend-
ment against gay marriage. In a recent
letter to a gay constituent, however, she
pledged to support the measure.
Halbrook said her group enjoys a dialogue
with Hutchison.
"Now that she has made this position clear,
See HUTCHISON on PAGE 20
Aeriol Achusi was visiting her daughter
at a U.S. Air Force base in Japan when
she noticed the need of many service
members for greater support.
Achusi's group offers support
to U.S. soldiers, gay or straight
By Angela Geralds
Staff Reporter
A Dallas woman who just returned to the
U.S. is continuing a project she started while
visiting an American Air Force base in
Okinawa, Japan.
Aeriol Achusi, 41, was visiting her daugh-
ter and son-in-law in Japan, when she saw that
spouses of deployed military personnel need-
ed a support network.
Bases offer support groups and resources,
Achusi said. But not all military family mem-
bers and friends live on base.
Another thing she noticed while she was
there was no support for gay military person-
nel.
Achusi, who served a short time in the U.S.
Army until she learned she had epilepsy,
knows what it's like to be gay and in the mili-
tary.
"I know what it's like to be overseas and go
to that mailbox and there's nothing there," she
said.
She also knows what it's like to be a mili-
tary parent.
Besides her daughter and son-in-law, she
has a biological son in the Army, several god-
children in the military and brothers who are
military veterans.
' "I've seen the things they go through," she
’said.
While Achusi was in Japan, she was laying
the foundation for her project — On A Mission
for the Troops.
The project involves a support group that
will meet every month, she said.
See ACHUSI on PAGE 12
TELEVISION
Jackie Collins includes
swishy gay spouses in
the glitzy Hollyv/ood
Wives sequel that's so
awful and over-the-top
it could become a cult
ART
Exquisite in simplicity,
the Nosher Sculpture i
Center opens its doors * 2
to reveal one of
the greatest
modern collec-
tions, housed
in an architec
tural jewel.
October 1 7, 2003
Vol 20 No 25
COMEDY
Revolutionary stand-up
Margaret Cho performs
at Dallas' PFLAG con-
vention on Sunday. The
gay activist says liberals J
need to be slapped into—
In the clunky French
comedy Confusion of
Genders, a bisexual
stud comes to terms
with commitment pho-
bia, hurting everyone >
ALSO
Scoop, Music, Travel, Stage,
Community Events, Broadcast Listings,
Artsnotes, Cartoons, Starvoice, Scene.
dallasvoice.com
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, October 17, 2003, newspaper, October 17, 2003; Dallas, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616348/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.