Jan 07, 2005   | COMMENTS     

Virginia lawmakers may consider a bill that would enable residents to show their support for traditional marriage on their car’s license plate, according to a story in the Washington Times. Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) proposed the license plate bill. It would depict two wedding bands interlocked over a red heart and cost extra for those who want to show their support for heterosexual-only marriage, the Times reported. Lingamfelter said proceeds from the sale of the plates would go to the state’s general fund, the Times reported. “If you support traditional marriage, you might want to make a statement about your views,” Lingamfelter said. “The American people in November made a very, very clear statement in favor of traditional marriage. You saw it again and again across the country. It’s for people who want to signify their support for something that has seemed to have worked for 4,000 years.” Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said he isn’t sure whether the issue should be featured on license plates. “Our license plates kind of turn too much into political sloganeering on either end of the spectrum,” Warner told the Washington Times last month.
KEN SAIN

Defrocked lesbian minister to speak at local church
Rev. Beth Stroud, who garnered national attention after losing her ministerial credentials from the First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia for speaking publicly about her lesbian partner, will preach at a local church next week. Stroud, who continues her ministry at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, is scheduled to preach at 11 a.m., on Sunday, Jan. 16, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, located at 3655 Calvert St., NW. St. Luke’s pastor Anne Yarbrough, who has been serving at the church for five years, said she hopes Stroud’s appearance sends a message to the gay men and lesbians of Washington. “There are many congregations and churches within the mainstream that recognize what a need there is for open minds and open doors,” Yarbrough said. Yarbrough did not have information on the subject of Stroud’s upcoming sermon. A Methodist court of 13 clergy found Stroud guilty, by a 7-6 vote, of “practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings,” on Dec. 2. The church then withdrew the 34-year-old lesbian’s ministry credentials. Stroud had served as minister at the Philadelphia church for more than four years. Stroud was taken to trial initially in April 2003, for speaking openly about her 33-year-old lesbian partner, Chris Paige, during a sermon. Stroud continues to serve at the First United Church of Germantown, which is accepting of gay men and women in “church life,” but as in Stroud’s case not ministry. Her case was featured in a Dec. 29 PBS documentary entitled “The Congregation.”
YUSEF NAJAFI

D.C. Council creates new health committee
The D.C. Council has decided to break up the committee that oversees the Department of Human Services and create a separate committee on health. According to a Jan. 4 news release from the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, gay Councilmember David Catania (I-At-Large) will chair the new Committee on Health. GLAA made the inclusion of a separate committee on health its No. 1 priority during the 2004 Council race, which was initially sparked two years ago when the group’s president, Kevin Davis, sent a letter to the D.C. Council citing the importance of a separate committee. “The former Council Committee on Human Services was clearly overwhelmed by having jurisdiction over two mammoth agencies: the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health that account for one-quarter of the District’s annual budget,” spokesperson Rick Rosendall said in the release.
YUSEF NAJAFI