Several
gay
groups
within
federal
agencies
are
planning
Pride-related
events
during
the
next
few
weeks
despite
a
White
House
refusal
to
issue
a
proclamation
recognizing
June
as
Gay
Pride
Month.
Even
though
some
groups
are
planning
activities,
some
agency
officials
find
themselves
in
an
awkward
position
because
they
are
not
permitted
to
provide
official
support
or
statements
promoting
Pride
events
without
the
approval
of
the
Bush
administration.
Leonard
Hirsch,
president
of
Federal
GLOBE
—
the
Gay,
Lesbian,
Bisexual,
Transgender
Federal
Employee’s
organization
—
said
events
are
scheduled
at
the
departments
of
Transportation,
State,
Interior
and
the
USDA,
while
other
agencies
have
said
they
will
not
sanction
Pride
events
without
White
House
approval.
“We
have
continued
to
be
boxed
in
a
Catch-22
because
agencies
are
saying
that
they
can’t
provide
support
or
statements
unless
the
White
House
puts
forth
a
proclamation,”
Hirsch
said.
“And
of
course
the
White
House
has
not.”
One
of
those
agencies
is
the
Department
of
Justice,
which
came
under
fire
last
year
by
gay
rights
advocates
after
officials
announced
they
would
not
sponsor
a
Pride
gathering.
The
decision
meant
that
employees
associated
with
DOJ
Pride,
a
group
of
gay
and
gay-supportive
Justice
employees,
would
have
to
pay
for
event
expenses
themselves.
Attorney
General
John
Ashcroft,
a
longtime
social
conservative,
initially
refused
the
group’s
request
to
hold
any
Pride
events
at
all.
Allison
Nichol,
president
of
DOJ
Pride,
said
she
is
“not
at
all
confident”
that
her
request
for
the
department
to
sponsor
a
Pride
event
would
be
approved.
A
public
information
officer
for
the
Department
of
Justice
did
not
return
Blade
calls
seeking
comment.
Nichol
said
that
last
year,
the
FBI
scheduled
a
Pride
event
but
Ashcroft
canceled
it.
“Given
what’s
happened
in
the
last
two
years,
one
can
hope
that
the
attorney
general
recognizes
that
it
is
his
job
to
represent
the
equal
rights
of
all
citizens,”
Hirsch
said.
“I
was
sanguine
that
they
would
make
a
different
determination
this
year,
and
I
look
forward
to
being
surprised.”
Last
year,
Sen.
Frank
Lautenberg
(D-N.J.),
who
strongly
criticized
Ashcroft
and
the
Department
of
Justice’s
initial
decision
not
to
allow
its
employees
to
celebrate
Gay
Pride
Month,
scheduled
an
alternative
celebration
for
DOJ
Pride
members
and
other
gay
federal
employees
at
the
Capitol.
Nichol
said
she
was
in
discussion
with
officials
to
provide
an
alternative
setting
for
DOJ
Pride
festivities
and
hinted
that
her
group
is
considering
legal
action
against
the
Justice
Department.
Prior
to
2003,
the
department
paid
for
overhead
expenses,
including
use
of
the
Great
Hall,
set-up
and
breakdown
of
microphones
and
added
security
costs
because
the
event
is
held
after
hours.
Last
year,
President
Bush
issued
a
series
of
proclamations
honoring,
for
example,
National
African-American
History
Month,
Save
Your
Vision
Week
and
Leif
Erikson
Day,
which
honors
the
memory
of
the
11th
century
explorer.
He
has
yet
to
issue
a
proclamation
declaring
June
Gay
Pride
Month,
breaking
with
a
precedent
set
in
the
1990s
by
President
Clinton.
The
White
House
did
not
return
Blade
calls
seeking
comment.
David
K.
Johnson,
the
author
of,
“The
Lavender
Scare:
The
Cold
War
Persecution
of
Gays
&
Lesbians
in
the
Federal
Government,”
a
book
that
chronicles
the
purging
of
gay
and
lesbian
civil
servants
from
the
1940s
through
the
1970s,
was
scheduled
to
speak
on
June
10
at
the
State
Department’s
Pride
event.
Tom
Coleman
an
economic
officer
at
the
State
Department
and
president
of
the
Gays
&
Lesbians
in
Foreign
Affairs
Agencies,
the
department’s
official
gay
group,
said
GLIFAA
has
a
variety
of
events
planned,
adding
that
the
State
Department’s
Office
of
Civil
Rights
is
“not
putting
their
name
on
it.”
“They
normally
don’t
give
much
in
the
way
of
financial
help
and
assistance
even
though
we
asked
for
very
little,”
Coleman
said.
“However,
we
feel
the
office
should
sponsor
something
like
this.”
Joe
Crea
can
be
reached
at
jcrea@washblade.com.
