GLOBE Bulletin Board Vandalism

Maria announced that during the past weeks all GLOBE materials had been removed form the public bulletin board on the B level of the Main Interior Building.  She has since re-posted all information and spoke with NAAFBE (Black employees' group) colleagues who noted that their material had been removed from the same board at various times in the past.

Negative Reactions to Gay Pride

The above announcement prompted Jay to discuss the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) complaints in Oregon and California by BLM employees about posting of the Presidential Proclamation on Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.  The BLM Oregon State Office Director received numerous negative comments and complaints from employees about the posting of the Proclamation.  Also a stack of editorials stating "Don’t Silence Gay Opposition" were posted anonymously next to the Proclamation.  In response to these negative reactions, the Oregon EEO Office is developing short and long-term action plans to address the issue in the Oregon State Office.  In California, an employee used the Proclamation as a reason to send an offensive homophobic message out to all 900 BLM California State employees.  The California State Director responded by sending an e-mail to all employees stating that the expression of personal opinions that conflict with official policy (e.g., the Proclamation) is improper use of government computer systems and is not acceptable.

There was also a report of the Minerals Management Service Regional Director in New Orleans who declined to post the President’s Proclamation.  With some encouragement from a local employee, he ultimately relented and posted the Proclamation.

This discussion segued into Jim’s discussion of two National Park Service employees who used the NPS All Employee Bulletin Board to make homophobic statements following the Proclamation and the recent Supreme Court decision against gays in favor of the Boy Scouts of America.  Both sent apologies to all NPS employees as did their Park Superintendents.  The Director of the NPS, Bob Stanton, also sent a memo to all employees stating that he expects zero tolerance for this negative behavior and " we must demand zero tolerance of discriminatory behavior from ourselves as well as those around us."  The President of Interior GLOBE lauded this very positive statement in an e-mail to the Director, thanking him for his support of gay and lesbian employees.

Interior GLOBE encourages all members to send thank you messages to the Director, NPS at Bob_Stanton@nps.gov.

Diversity Conference

Maria discussed the upcoming Diversity Conference in Ellicott City, Maryland, August 7-10, 2000.  The registration fee is $475.  Contact Felicia Baker on 202-208-4727 if you can attend.  The target audience is EEO officers and Diversity Offices.  Maria has been asked to represent Interior GLOBE on a panel about employee organizations.  Fed GLOBE will also be represented at the Conference.

AIDS Ride Report

Jay spoke of his recently completed 375 miles AIDS Ride from Raleigh, NC to Washington, DC.  The Ride raised over $4 million dollars for Food and Friends and the Whitman-Walker Clinic.  Jay stated that this year he was the only Interior rider that he was aware of.  He spoke about his accident in the last miles of the Ride in Falls Church, VA, when a SUV turned directly in front of him as he was going down hill with fifty other bikers at speeds of 29 MPH.  Jay fortunately sustained only minor injuries.  But for a large tire placed in the back of the SUV, Jay’s injuries could have been much worse.  We all commend Jay for his efforts to keep AIDS awareness in front of the membership and the Department.

Community Work for Interior GLOBE

Jay brought up the need to provide support to Food and Friends in their work to provide daily meals to people with AIDS and other terminally ill Washington Area citizens.   Jay will work with the staff at Food and Friends to set up a work support program for Interior GLOBE members on September 20 after work.  More information will follow.

GLOBE Get-Together

Maria stated that the membership had requested a happy hour at Radisson Barcelo Hotel’s Gabriel’s, at 2121 P Street, NW. 202-293-3100.  The Bar in the lower level of the hotel is known as Gabriel’s.  GLOBE members who wish to participate are encouraged to meet there at 6 PM on Friday, July 28, 2000.  There is a Tapas Buffett for $9.25 and special drink prices during that time.  Hope to see everyone there.

Status of By-laws

Maria stated that the By-Laws were in surnaming limbo, awaiting the sign-off of both the Solicitor and the Department’s Human Resources Office.  The Assistant Secretary - Policy Management and Budget will sign them when the surnaming process is completed.

Newsletter

Letter #2 is being prepared for the end of July publication.  Articles have been / are being prepared by Corie on Oregon Pride efforts, Jay on the DC Pride Celebration and the DC AIDS RIDE, and Richard Nolan, the Departmental liaison to the gay and lesbian employees, about his work.  Daphne Berwald will cover her efforts about AIDS WALK DC and Ike Kelly will contribute an article about his work on the Departmental Diversity Council.  Graham is working on an Interior GLOBE logo. Keep on the lookout for the second newsletter and remember to pass them around.

National Park Sevice (NPS) Law Enforcement Fitness Standards

The background on this begins with David Liboff’s efforts during his temporary assignment as the Departmental liaison to gay and lesbian employees.  The Fitness Standards for the NPS are used government wide for all uniformed enforcement officers.   They were found discriminatory as they could be read to exclude gay and lesbian employees who are part of the leather and transvestite community.  Revisions have been made, but the standards are based on the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) lists of mental disorders, which DOI has not authority over.  The list of disorders was removed from the DOI Fitness Standards, and the revision inserts the language "homosexuality is not a mental disorder," which is consistent with the APA's policy.  The revised standards also cites in several places the President's 1998 Executive Order barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.  There is a meeting with the Assistant Secretary - Policy Management and Budget on Thursday, July 13, 2000, to review all the revisions.

DOI Task Force on Domestic Partner Benefits

Nancy Fischer, from the NPS Human Rights Office provided information on the DOI Domestic Partners Benefits Task Force.  She spoke about the work of the Task Force, headed by Lynne.  Richard Nolan, the DOI liaison to gay and lesbian employees is also on the task force.  They are looking to create a policy for all Departmental Offices and Bureaus to use to support domestic partnerships in such areas as employee assistance, dual career, and duty assignment moves.  The Fish and Wildlife Service currently has a temporary Domestic Partners Policy set to expire December 31, 2000.  The next meeting of the Task Force is on Friday, July 14, 2000, in room 5425 in the Main Interior Building.  It is anticipated the A/S - PMB will sign the policy in the next few months.

AIDS WALK WASHINGTON 2000

Saturday, October 7, 2000, will be the date of the Washington DC AIDS WALK.   Daphne Berwald will be the Interior coordinator.  Daphne will be looking for Office and Bureau representatives to work with their participants on the WALK.   Please call Daphne on 202-208-7163 and lend your support.  The Interior Department will have a team number as in the past.

Nominations and election of the new Treasurer

Maria stated that Michael Sadie resigned as Treasurer at the last meeting in June.   We therefore need to replace Michael for six months until the next elections.   Nominations were opened for the office of Treasurer.  Daphne Berwald was nominated by Maria and seconded by Jay.  A show of hands was counted and there were 9 votes for Daphne and no one opposed.  Bob will ask Daphne for information to update the Interior GLOBE web site.