In a blow to the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward homosexuals, a U.S. district judge ruled Friday that it is unconstitutional to dismiss homosexuals in the military who openly state their sexual preference. District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong ordered the National Guard Friday (3-30) to reinstate Lt. Andrew Holmes who says […]
On April 1, Revenue Secretary Janice Faulkner will be sworn in as the first Secretary of State in North Carolina. Faulkner, who has a history in the Democratic Party and at East Carolina University, says she intends to restore morale in the department in which the outgoing Secretary is under criminal investigation for lax management […]
While in Greece, Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed the origins of democracy and said that women must become “equal partners in society” for the system to truly succeed in the U.S. and elsewhere. Urging nations to give women what she called the “tools of opportunity”–better health care, jobs, credit legal protection and political rights — Rodham […]
According to an international Gallup poll on gender and society, many people feel their countries would be better governed if more women were in political office. No country said that its government would be less effective with more women involved. Released Tuesday (3-26), the poll showed that a majority of respondents in 12 of the […]
According to HumanSERVE, the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, about 11 million people have registered to vote or have updated voting records under the “motor voter” law that went into effect on January 1,1995. The 1993 law forces states to make voter registration accessible through motor vehicle administrations, welfare and disability agencies, the […]
New data from the Census Bureau has found that women own one-third of all U.S. businesses, employing 26 percent of the nation’s work force. Sales from the 7.95 million women-owned businesses jumped 236 percent since 1987, and employment in those businesses rose to 18.5 million workers from only 6.6 million in 1987. According to the […]
During a goodwill trip through Southeastern Europe, Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke of the need to increase opportunities for women stating, “where women prosper, countries prosper.” Noting that “much remains to be done” to advance women’s rights in every country, including the United States, Rodham Clinton commented that Kemal Ataturk, founder of the secular Turkish republic […]
In a vote of 286-129, the House of Representatives voted Thursday (3-28) to approve a controversial bill that would outlaw a rare form of late-term abortion used to save the life, health, or future fertility of the woman carrying the fetus. The vote fell primarily along party lines with 72 Democrats joining 214 Republicans is […]
On March 10 the ex-boyfriend of Karen Mitsoff, a respected teacher in Alexandria, VA broke into Mitsoff’s condominium and threatened to kill her and himself. The stalker, Fisseha Senbet was later charged with burglarly and released on $2500 bond. On Monday (3-25), Mitsoff made good on his threat, breaking into Mitsoff’s home and fatally shooting […]
According to historians, the Japanese military forced more than 200,000 Asian women into sexual slavery by during World War II. On Thursday (3-28), 69 women from four Asian nations attended a conference in Manila sponsored by Asian Women’s Solidarity and refused an offer from a private fund set up by the Japanese government. The women […]
On Tuesday (3-26), the Immigration and Naturalization Service issued a new rule to allow battered spouses and children to apply for permanent residence in the USA on their own. The rule is aimed at preventing abusive husbands or wives from holding the victims of their abuse captive. According to officials, close to 400 applications from […]
Jennifer Sperle and Clark Martin, Virginia anti-abortion activists, were indicted on federal conspiracy and arson charges for fires at two clinics. Each could face 45 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted of causing the 1994 fire at the Newport News clinic and the 1995 fire at the Tidewater Women’s Health Center in […]
On Tuesday (3-26), Texas Attorney General Dan Morales announced he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision made last week by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that would wipe out affirmative action programs implemented to increase diversity at the University of Texas. Since the ruling could have dramatic effects on institutions […]
In the first move to ban any form of abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the House of Representatives was expected to pass legislation Wednesday (3-27) that would outlaw a rare form of late-term abortion used to save the life of the woman carrying the fetus. The procedure, technically referred to as intact […]
Former GOP fund-raiser Deborah Henson has launched $21.5 million lawsuit against the Republican National Committee amid allegations supported by colleagues that the environment at the RNC headquarters is hostile to women, people of color, and homosexuals. The suit alleges, “The RNC maintains a work place wherein sexual, racial, homophobic, appearance-based and anti-Semitic comments, jokes and […]
On Tuesday (3-26), President Clinton nominated Marine Corps Maj. Gen Carol Mutter, 50, to be the first woman promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in the Marines. If confirmed by the Senate, Mutter would become the first female officer elevated to the rank of three-star general in the Marines. The ranking equals a vice […]
Stating that same-sex unions may deserve legal recognition, Colorado Gov. Roy Romer vetoed a bill that would ban same-sex marriages. It is unlikely that state legislators will have enough votes to override the veto. The legislation is similar to bills in other states where measure supporters hope to exempt the state from recognizing gay marriages […]
A woman using the 1994 federal Violence Against Women Act to sue Virginia Tech and two football players on rape charges will get support from the Justice Department. The Department decided to intervene in the $10 million case; one of the defendants has challenged the constitutionality of the law which allows victims of sexual assaults […]
Close to 200 couples participated in a ceremony Monday (3-25) to publicly acknowledge their status as domestic partners. Although the unions in the nation’s first mass “gay marriage” ceremony are not recognized by state law, couples felt their gestures were symbolic to their relationships and also to members of the California Assembly where a bill […]
Jurors in the New York state Supreme Court deliberated for four hours before finding Mark Hartle, 29, not guilty of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse. Hartle was accused of a gang rape in a restaurant bar in upstate New York the night of October 26, 1991 and had pled guilty to lesser charges in […]
