Badpuppy Gay Today |
Wednesday, 29 April 1998 |
INTERNET FILTERING FACES UNCONSTITUTIONALITY AROUND THE COUNTRY: In a number of states, the use of Internet filtering software (IFS) is being challenged in court. On April 7, a U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the Loudoun County library system must cease using the IFS X-STOP in its public computers, saying it violated the First Amendment, and ruled it must prove that the state has a "compelling interest" to filter Web sites because libraries are "places of freewheeling and independent inquiry." A lawsuit by civil right organizations against the library system is expected this summer even though Library Board Chair John Nicholas pledges to fight the current case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In New Mexico, Oasis Magazine, a popular Webzine for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, has joined the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit against the state after passage of SB 127, which criminalizes Internet materials that are "harmful to a minor." Oasis Magazine editor Jeff Walsh noted the vagueness in language could potentially block his site that has served as a resource to an estimated 40,000 readers worldwide. In Utah, the Utah Education Network, which serves as the hub of all statewide public school computer activity, is working with a filtering service called Secure Computing to offer weekly blacklists. "While the Virginia decision is heartening, new censorship laws and growing arbitrary use of Internet filtering software in public settings is startling," GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry said. "GLAAD pledges to work with other groups and continue our own education around this vital issue." Along with GLAAD's Access Denied, a groundbreaking report detailing the impact of IFS on the gay community, GLAAD is teaming up with the Internet Free Expression Alliance in its fight against proposed federal Internet filtering legislation. For more information, contact Loren Javier (GLAAD Interactive Media Director) at (415) 861.2244 or javier@glaad.org. FIRST-EVER CONFERENCE ON AGING IN THE GAY COMMUNITY CONVENES IN NEW YORK: On May 1 and 2, the First National Conference on Aging in the Gay and Lesbian Community, sponsored by Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE), will be held at Fordham University in New York City. Keynote speakers Dr. Robert Butler and Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon will highlight the conference's theme, "Gays and Lesbians Growing Older-Expanding the Family Portrait." Other presenters will include GLAAD Deputy Director Jason Heffner addressing the issue of older lesbian and gay media representations, longtime gay activist Frank Kameny, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute Director Urvashi Vaid, Shevy Healey of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, and many others. For more information contact Dawn Martin (SAGE) at (212) 741-2247. |
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