friday. november 13, 1931
page 4
daily nebraskan
pODD00
Lincoln isn't immune to bigotry
City law should protect gay and lesbian rights
Civil rights in the United States is a passionate
and often divisive issue.
It's hard to admit, but many people in the Uni
ted States would deny many rights to others that
they have. The city of Lincoln is about to con
duct a litmus test to determine how supportive it
is of equal rights for all citizens.
This Tuesday, the city's Human Rights Com
mission will sponsor a public hearing to discuss a
proposed lesbian and gay rights amendment to
Lincoln's Human Rights ordinance.
The amendment seeks to add lesbians and gay
men to a list of protected classes in the ordinance.
The ordinance was created in 1966 to protect cit
izens from discrimination.
Five groups were protected in the original ver
sion and the ordinance has been amended to in
clude five more groups.
The ordinance states that it "is the intent, pur
pose, and public policy, of the city of Lincoln to
protect, preserve and perpetuate all constitutional
Babbling, ballroom,
Bush and Brooke
Some papers call it "All in One Paragraph." Others call
it "From the Editor's Desk." Still others call it "The
World Around Us." What "it" is is babble about the news
of the day. 111 be equally as cliche and call what follows
"On My Mind."
On my mind:
If Paul Volcker wasn't a shot in the arm for the image
of UNL students, 1 don't know who ever will be. Volcker,
chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, drew a crowd of
students and others that filled the Nebraska Union Ball
room, an adjoining room and the surrounding halls.
gallaghsr
After only 30 students showed up to hear Ramsey
Clark, former U.S. attorney general, speak last month. I
was beginning to think maybe UNL students really only
are interested in football and beer. Hats off to the College
of Business Administration, organizers of the speech, for
proving me wrong.
A sidenote to the Volcker speech. Because the ball
room was so full, because the halls were so crowded and
because NU President Ronald Roskens arrived so late,
Roskens and his men-in-suits had to sit in a sideroom
where the speech was piped in. It was truly pleasing to see
Roskens folded into a tacky crushed velvet couch in a
room with 46 other people, about half of them students.
Who says our president never comes down from his ivory
tower to mingle with his subjects?
"Majestic" was the word ABC's Frank Reynolds used
when the Columbia Space Shuttle lifted off Thursday
morning.
Continued on Page 5
nebraskan
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rights ... by using the most effective lawful
means or methods."
The law prohibits discrimination in housing,
employment and public accommodations based
on "race, color, sex, religion, disability, national
origin, age, ancestry, marital status, or receipt of
public assistance."
The question of civil rights for gays and lesbi
ans has faded from the national scene since Anita
Bryant began her senseless inquisition. Neverthe
less, society cannot stop its fight for all citizens
being able to benefit from equal protection under
the laws.
While some cities like San Francisco have re
cognized their large gay community, and dealt
with its members as people entitled to fair hous
ing and employment, many other cities have re
mained cautiously behind.
It is time for Lincoln to take the necessary
steps to afford adequate protection from narrow
minded people who. if given the chance, would
deny lesbians and gay men an equal opportunity
to find a job, buy a houseor rent an apartment
and have access to basic public services.
The Lincoln Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Civ
il Rights, which is organizing support for the
amendment, lists over twenty local and state or
ganizations endorsing the proposed amendment.
The list includes the ASUN Senate, the UNL
Human Rights Committee, the Women's Resource
Center, the American Association of American
Professors, the Lancaster County Democratic Par
ty and the League of Women Voters.
By including "sexual and affectional orienta
tion" to the ordinance, Lincoln will ensure its
lesbian and gay community the equal rights it de
serves. Discrimination and bigotry exist in America
and Lincoln is not immune to its poison. We hope
the proposed amendment is greeted with strong
support so the city council will react favorably to
its inclusion in the ordinance.
nwfi Infill
6 I I t TAWiS
Attitudes change but doubts linger
Boston -
This city is talking again about rape. The subject keeps
coming up, rather like a sore we can't ignore and can't
heal.
Because of two highly charged legal cases, we are argu
ing about sexual violence and sexual consent, about super
ficial change and ancient prejudices, about new laws and
old attitudes.
The current controversy was ignited just when it
should have been quelled: after two sentences of rape
were handed down. In one case, three doctors were con
victed by a jury of raping a nurse. In a second case, after
plea-bargaining, five young men pleaded guilty to the rape
of a 40-year-old woman.
00od goodman
The doctors, who knew the nurse, and the young men
who had met the woman at a bar, all maintained that the
women were willing participants, not victims. The prose
cution in both cases called it rape: the defense called it
"consensual sexual adventure."
Despite the conviction of the doctors and the guilty
plea of the five young men, it was lingering doubt about
"consent" which cast the longest shadow over these cas
es. Because of the doubt of colleagues, one of the doctors,
out of jail on appeal, was given glowing letters of recom
mendation by superiors at the Harvard Medical School
and even at the hospital where he and the nurse had work
ed. These letters - which never mentioned the rape con
victions - smoothed his way into another hospital in Buf
falo, N.Y.
Because of the doubt of a judge, all five of the young
men who pleaded guilty to gang rape were given suspend
ed sentences and S500 fines. These fines were to be paid
at the rate of S5 a week.
Of course, we might never have noticed these addenda
of doubt, these bizarre footnotes to the judicial process.
But a few weeks ago the doctor with the perfect resu
me was accused of rape and assault by two more women
who had been patients. Then last week, the ;udge who ac
cepted a plea-bargain of gang rape discovered that such a
light sentence was probably illegal as well as unconscion
able. An outraged public did not agree that it was enough,
as he claimed, to "put the fear of Cod into these guys.
These two cases were enough to jog out minds into
thinking about what has and hasn't changed, in the law, in
society, in our minds.
In the law, rape is defined neatly, as intercourse with
out consent. But consent is much tougher to define. The
best of the new rape laws no longer allow testimonyabout
a woman's sexual history. Yet in many minds there are
only two sorts of victims: the virginal and the question
able. These same new laws use staircase sentences to differ
entiate between levels of crime. Yet in many minds there
are only two levels of rape: the "real" rape by a stranger
with a knife in a back alley, and the questionable rape by
an acquaintance.
According to FBI statistics, one out of every three wo
men in this country can expect to be sexually assaulted.
Of those who are raped, 60 percent will be raped by some
one they know. Yet, virtually every rape defense between
people who are not strangers will hinge on whether or not
he forced her, whether or not she "consented.'
So there is this further psychological gap over the very
issue of "consent," between those women who identify
with the victims, and those men who identify with the
accused.
Continued on Page 5