NEWS
2000 NEWS STORIES
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Contents © 2000
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
NEWS
JANUARY 2000
TO PROTECT THE DIGNITY OF MARRIAGE, an organization calling it self the Committee for the Protection of Marriage is promoting an initiative that will appear on the March 2000 California state ballot as Proposition 22. According to the committee's website (http://www.protectmarriage.net/) this "Protection of Marriage Initiative," written by state Senator Pete Knight (Republican, Palmdale) is supported by a "bipartisan coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents," as well as "civic and community organizations, [and] church groups." According to the committee, to date, the initiative has garnered nearly 700,000 signatures, enough to put it on the March 2000 ballot.
The text of the Protection of Marriage Initiative reads, "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The initiative is necessary, say supporters, because, though California currently only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman, courts in other states may soon rule in favor of same-sex marriage. Since California law recognizes marriages contracted in other states, California may be forced to recognize same-sex marriage. The initiative would close such a legal loophole.
The initiative has the support of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops, who in a June 18, 1999 press release, stated: "We invite our Catholic people as well as all the people of California to recommit ourselves to uphold the dignity of every person, to acknowledge individual rights and responsibilities, and to support forthrightly the unique and irreplaceable role of marriage as an institution which is fundamental to society. Consequently, we urge the passage of the Protection of Marriage Initiative."
PROPONENTS OF PROPOSITION 22 went to court on Monday, December 6 to challenge California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who changed the title of the proposition from "Definition of Marriage" to "Limit on Marriage." All of the signatures garnered were gathered under the former title. In changing the title, say proponents, Lockyer is pandering to the proposition's opponents. "Bill Lockyer is playing politics with California's initiative process to score points with his special interest allies," said Robert Glazier, spokesman for the Protection of Marriage Initiative campaign. In a news release, Glazier said Lockyer was "trying to placate the opponents of Prop 22 by putting a misleading political spin on the title and summary, which he hopes will help defeat the measure."
PROTEST FROM THE PULPIT. Father Peter Liuzzi, Director of the Los Angeles archdiocese's homosexual outreach, is protesting the fact that eight out of twelve dioceses in California are contributing money to the Proposition 22 campaign. To date, the California bishops have contributed a total of $310,000 to the campaign.
A November 19 Los Angeles Times article quotes Father Liuzzi as saying, "I was aware the bishops would be supporting the initiative because that's the official teaching of our church. I did not know there would be money involved." On November 19, Father Liuzzi, along with members of the Los Angeles Catholic homosexual community, met with Ned Dolejsi, the executive director of the California Conference of Catholic Bishops to discuss the Catholic homosexuals' concerns regarding the bishops' campaign contributions. According to the Times, Dolejsi told the group that the bishops had contributed funds so they could have some input in the campaign. Father Liuzzi responded that some parents feel that by funding the campaign, the bishops are slighting homosexuals. "There were parents who said they had baptized their son as a child. Then when he says he's gay, it seemed he's unwelcomed in the church," Liuzzi said.
Liuzzi also said that the initiative would give rise to "an awful lot of feelings of anger and fear." This, in turn, he said, would "be expressed at the pulpit. It's important to express our support for the gay community."
WATCH THE CATHEDRAL GROW. Those interested in what's happening with Cardinal Mahony's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (and who are on-line) can view the day-to-day progress at the archdiocesan website (http://cathedral.la-archdiocese.org/webcam1/webcam_entry.html). According to the website, "web cams" bring the curious "up-to-the-hour images from the Cathedral construction site... from the corner of Temple and Hill Streets." From that vantage point, at the lower right, one views the parking garage, above which will rise the rectory and conference center. To the left of the parking garage the viewer can see the excavated hole for the cathedral.
LOS ANGELES' HAS "SHADOW LEADERS," according to a November 28 Los Angeles Times article, men, who though "unelected and unaccountable," nevertheless hold the reins of power in the city. In this number (which includes Hollywood magnate Lew Wasserman, newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch), according to the Times, stands Roger Cardinal Mahony. Mahony, said the Times has "many of the attributes of traditional political influence," and though he "operates within the constraints and customs of his vocation ... he uses power when he needs to -- to get his cathedral, to fight Proposition 187, to urge support for construction of Staples Center."
According to the Times, the cardinal "polls extremely well." In fact, only Mayor Richard Riordan and Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks rival Mahony's popularity. Mahony and Riordan, said the Times, have been friendly. It was Riordan who helped to straighten out archdiocesan finances, and it has been Mahony who has been "an enthusiastic supporter of Riordan's efforts to revitalize downtown" Los Angeles -- his new cathedral becoming one of the key components in the remaking of the city's center. However, noted the Times, Mahony has disagreed with Riordon on some issues. When Riordan opposed the enactment of a city "living wage," the cardinal demurred. Too, Mahony refused to bless Riordan's third marriage. Mahony and Riordan also differ on the issues of capital punishment and abortion, the mayor being pro-abortion and a defender of the execution of criminals.
PRO-FAMILY ACTIVISTS proclaimed victory in Orange County when they convinced the Orange Unified School District not to approve a controversial pro-homosexual club dubbed the "Gay-Straight Alliance." Gay Students Anthony Colin and Heather Zetin wanted to have the club meet at El Modena High School in Orange. Alarmed by the pro-homosexual bent of the club and the possibility that the club would be allowed on campus, parents and pro-family activists held a press conference and rally while the school board met to decide whether or not to allow the club to meet on campus. Over 300 people turned out for the meeting. Most of those present were parents, though a small group of pro-homosexual activists showed up and behaved in a hostile manner according to some of the parents present. By the end of the meeting, the school board unanimously voted not to allow the club access to the school.
Earlier this month, Colin and Zetin had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court arguing that the 1984 Equal Access Act forbids schools from barring a club from meeting on the school campus if another non-curricular club is allowed to meet there. Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Campaign for California Families who was instrumental in organizing the press conference, said, "this [victory] shows that parents and pro-family school boards can successfully defend children from the radical homosexual activists. People need to step out in faith ... when they do, real blessings can happen."
DEMONSTRATORS IN ORANGE COUNTY joined a nationwide protest, November 19, against the School of the Americas, which offers programs training Latin American military in tactics and conduct of military procedures. The Orange County Interfaith Council organized the protest, which was an all-day march that began at the Federal building in Santa Ana and ended at the United States Army recruiting office in Garden Grove.
The United States Army opened the School of the Americas in 1946 in Panama, it is said, to professionalize Latin American military in order to bring stability to Latin America. In 1984, the school moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. Since its opening, the school has graduated 60,000 men.
Opposition to the School of the Americas began in 1989 after Maryknoll priest, Father Roy Bourgeois, discovered that several graduates of the school had been involved in the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador. In 1990 Bourgeois founded the School of the America's Watch, and set up his office in Fort Benning, just outside the gates of the school. Since then, School of the America's Watch has held annual protests in front of the school. This year's protest at Forth Benning drew over 12,000 participants.
According to their webpage, the School of the America's Watch "has sought to close the US Army School of the Americas through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work." The Watch charges that the School of the Americas has graduated "some of the most notorious human rights abusers from Latin America." Furthermore, "SOA graduates have led military coups and are responsible for massacres of hundreds of people." In 1996, according to the School of the America's Watch, the Pentagon released some of the school's Spanish-language training manuals. These books, according to the Watch, "recommended interrogation techniques like torture, execution, blackmail and arresting the relatives of those being questioned."
Defenders of the School of the Americas say that the school has contributed to the democratization of Latin America by training their military in United States military tactics and decorum. They say that it is unfair to blame the School of the Americas for the few "bad apples" they have graduated, since only one percent of the 60,000 graduates have been accused of human rights violations. Furthermore, say defenders, Hector Gramajo, a Guatemalan general cited for human rights abuses, and a number of violators cited by School of the Americas Watch never attended the school.
The School of the Americas Watch counters that "the few 'bad apples' argument is not very convincing, given the weight of the evidence about the involvement of SOA graduates in human rights abuses. The two of three officers cited in the assassination of Archbishop Romero; three of five officers cited in the rape and murder of four U.S. churchwomen; ten of twelve cited for the El Mozote massacre of 900 civilians; over 100 of 246 cited for atrocities in Colombia." According to an e-mail message sent from the Watch, "Every time a human rights report comes from Latin America, SOA graduates are 'front and center.' For example, over two-thirds of the Salvadoran officers cited by the United Nations Truth Commission Report for human rights abuses are SOA graduates. Over 50% of the Colombian officers cited in a definitive human rights report on Colombia are SOA graduates, and 40% of the cabinet members under three brutal Guatemalan dictatorships were SOA graduates. Furthermore, the 1998 Pentagon short list of prominent graduates contains at least five graduates cited for human rights abuses, including torture and kidnapping. Graduates of the SOA have left a trail of blood and suffering in the countries where they have returned."
"We recognize," continues the message, "that General Hector Gramajo was not a graduate of the school. However, his picture hung in the Hall of Fame and he was an honored speaker at the School in 1991 even after his involvement in human rights abuses was well documented."