30-June-2000 10:21 AM
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Lunch at Cowtippers
Our Friday lunch at Joe's on Juniper was a great success, and we are going to have another lunch. This time we will meet at Cowtippers. We look forward to seeing y'all there!
Date: 14-July-2000
Time: 12:30pm
Cowtippers
Midtown's spirited roadhouse serves the finest steaks, chops, ribs, chicken, BBQ, and GIANT specialty Margaritas. Eclectic art and artifacts fill the interior of this 60 year old building, while a Texas sized patio tempts guests to park their plates outside. Since opening in 1993, Cowtippers has been voted "Best of Atlanta" for ribs, burgers, and fries. And "Taste of Atlanta's" tastiest steaks and new restaurant. Cowtippers has become the place to gather when nothing but the juiciest steaks will do! Y'all come on down!
1600 Piedmont Road NE, Atlanta, GA (Near Monroe Avenue, Next to Smith's Olde Bar)
Phone: 404-873-3469
Cuisine: American Steak House
Upcoming DP Benefits
I have spoken with Coretha Rushing (VP of HR) about the upcoming DP benefits. She has a process in place to look at other companies with existing DP benefit plans. It is rather ironic that we can take advantage of waiting so long to implement DP benefits. After talking with her, I am confident that the policy will be reasonable and equitable.
Pride 2000
Pride was a tremendous success. There was a huge turnout for the parade which covered many facets of our community. The ESC is working with the appropriate departments to ensure that Pepsi is not the preferred beverage provider for future Pride events. By virtue of the Company's announcement regarding DP benefits we were not targeted by GEP during the parade.
The other nine Georgia based companies that were targeted by GEP are:
- Delta Airlines
- Home Depot
- Shaw Industries
- Atlanta Gas Light
- United Parcel Service
- BellSouth
- Georgia Pacific
- GulfStream Aerospace
- Wachovia Bank
These companies are all self-insured and have the opportunity to offer DP benefits -- so let's hope they follow Coke's example. If you have friends or family working for these companies, encourage them to start talking to their management about DP benefits.
The ESC will be working with KOLAGE members to see if there is an active interest in banding together either to have a tent or to be an active presence in the parade itself. This process will start soon and we will communicate it at that time.
Future Direction of KOLAGE
We have received some great ideas for the future direction of KOLAGE. The ESC will be meeting on the 18th to discuss these ideas. we will send out an update once we have determined where to go from here.
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or concerns, send them to or call any member of the ESC (Robert C. Marshall 404-676-6200, John Lane 6-3914, Sam Clapp 3-4440, or Keith Poss 6-5887)
Boy Scouts Ruling
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000628/12/news-scotus-boy-scouts
Court Says Boy Scouts Can Bar Gays
Updated 12:58 PM ET June 28, 2000
James Dale, Who Was Kicked Out of the Boy Scouts Because He... (AP)
By LAURIE ASSEO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Boy Scouts can bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders, the Supreme Court said Wednesday, a ruling that may also allow the Scouts to reject gay boys as members.
The 5-4 decision said forcing the Scouts to accept gay troop leaders would violate the organization's rights of free expression and free association under the Constitution's First Amendment.
The ruling did not specifically give the Scouts permission to bar homosexual boys from membership, but its language left room for that interpretation.
"I think it suggests that they can" keep gay youths out, said Evan Wolfson, attorney for James Dale, a New Jersey assistant scoutmaster ousted when the organization learned he is gay. "They won the right to declare themselves an anti-gay group."
"The Boy Scouts asserts that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the values it seeks to instill," Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court. Requiring them to accept a gay scoutmaster "would significantly burden the organization's right to oppose or disfavor homosexual conduct."
The ruling reversed a New Jersey Supreme Court holding that the Scouts wrongly ousted Dale. The state court had said the scouts' action violated a New Jersey law banning discrimination in public accommodation.
Dale, who was an Eagle Scout, had sued the Scouts under the New Jersey law. But the Supreme Court said Wednesday that law must yield to the Scout organization's right of "expressive association" under the Constitution's First Amendment.
The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative advocacy group that filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Boy Scouts, said the ruling "will have a dramatic impact on all private organizations - including religious groups - to define their own mission and set their own criteria for leadership."
The Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights organization, called the ruling a "travesty of justice that may allow large, open membership groups to be above the law and evade state and local nondiscrimination laws."
Rehnquist's opinion was joined by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.
Dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.
Writing for the four, Stevens said the New Jersey law "does not impose any serious burdens" on the Boy Scouts' goals, "nor does it force (the Boy Scouts) to communicate any message that it does not wish to endorse. New Jersey's law, therefore, abridges no constitutional right of the Boy Scouts."
Dale was 19 and an assistant scoutmaster of a Matawan, N.J., troop when in 1990 he was identified in a newspaper article as co-president of a campus lesbian and gay student group at Rutgers University.
The Scouts' Monmouth Council revoked Dale's registration as an adult leader, telling him the organization does not allow openly gay members. Dale sued, contending the Scouts violated New Jersey's anti-discrimination law.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in his favor, saying the expulsion of Dale was based "on little more than prejudice."
During oral arguments in April, the Scouts' lawyer, George Davidson, said the group had a right "to choose the moral leaders for the children in the program."
The Scouts relied on a 1995 Supreme Court decision in which the justices let the private sponsor of the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade exclude a group of gays and lesbians, saying parades are a "form of expression."
Dale's lawyer, Evan Wolfson, said giving public accommodations the broad freedom to exclude people who do not match their message could swallow the civil rights laws.
Dale's attorneys cited Supreme Court decisions during the 1980s that let states force the Jaycees and Rotary International to admit women as full members. The court also let New York City bar large private clubs from discriminating against women and minorities.
Rehnquist's opinion said "it appears that homosexuality has gained greater societal acceptance" in recent times.
"But this is scarcely an argument for denying First Amendment protection to those who refuse to accept those views," the chief justice wrote. "The First Amendment protects expression, be it of the popular variety or not."
The Supreme Court has dealt with gay rights infrequently. In 1996, the justices struck down a Colorado measure that barred ordinances giving gays legal protection from discrimination, such as in housing or employment. But the court also has repeatedly turned away challenges to President Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military.
Dale now lives in New York City and is advertising director for a magazine for people who are HIV-positive.
The case is Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 99-699.
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On the Net: For current Supreme Court decisions:
Problem with external email
Some members of KOLAGE who use an external email address (e.g. somename@someplace.com) have had problems receiving these updates. Sometimes the updates get truncated right after the header information. Attachments seem to get through, so I have attached an RTF version of the update to the end of the update (which you can open in WordPad, Word, or WordPerfect) The updates are also published to the website (www.gw.total-web.net/~kolage) and can be viewed there.
Currently the site is quite a bit behind. I have been traveling and have not had a chance to update it. Not to worry though, I plan to update it when I return on the 10th.
Miscellaneous
Distribution List Changes
Only two members of the ESC maintain the distribution list for the KOLAGE update: Robert C. Marshall and John Lane.
For any changes to the distribution list (e.g. moving your name from blind copy to carbon copy, vice versa, or changing your email address) please contact either Robert or John.
If you know someone who would like to be added to the distribution list please have them contact either Robert or John.
Clearing House
If you would like to host or organize an event for KOLAGE members, let the ESC know. We will publish it in the next bulletin. If you do not want your name included in the bulletin, one of the ESC members will act as the contact, and pass the information on to you.