LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
In Brief |
Commissioners to Discuss HB99 The City of Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners will be considering a resolution to call on the State Legislature to pass House Bill 99 at their meeting on Monday, May 19 at 7 p.m. Please come to Rehoboth Beach City Hall to attend the meeting and show your support for the measure.
HB 99 will prohibit discrimination against persons on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance. It also grants Superior Court exclusive criminal jurisdiction over violations of equal accommodations, fair housing and employment discrimination and deletes the addition to the Recorder of Deeds duties. The Commissioners meet on the lower level of the Rehoboth Municipal Building, 229 Rehoboth Ave. Historical Society Hires Fundraiser The Rehoboth Beach Historical Society (RBHS) announced that they have hired Ms. Lynne Maloy to help organize the capital campaign for the Rehoboth Beach Museum. Maloy is credited with raising close to a million dollars for the renovation of Possum Hall, the theatre in Georgetown managed by Possum Point Players. The Museum, which will be located in the Old Ice House at the entrance to Rehoboth Beach, has a $750,000 price tag for renovation and development. RBHS has been in existence for almost 30 years and its mission is to broaden the appreciation for Rehoboth Beach by showcasing and preserving historically significant elements that characterize the development of our community. For more information on the Rehoboth Beach Museum and the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society, call Maloy at 302-684-1505, or write to RBHS at PO Box 4, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971. Wine Tasting Raises Funds for HTP Chad Moore from the Bellmoor along with Stephen Kogler and Lesley Cowan, owners of Teller Wines, presented Henlopen Theater Project with a check for $750, the proceeds of the first annual Rehoboth Beach Wine Expo held at the Bellmoor on April 12. The Expo featured 100 wines from around the world and showcased seven local area food vendors. The Bellmoor Inn, Spa and Conference Center, with its elegant yet cozy seaside retreat atmosphere, provided the perfect setting for an afternoon of wine tasting. Teller Wines is a specialty wine store in Lewes, Delaware. Teller Wines goal is to sort through the complexities of the wine industry and find delicious, high quality wines and offer them at a great price. The Henlopen Theater Project, a non-profit organization, produces professional Equity Theater and educational programs in the arts for the mutual enrichment of artists and communities of southern Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 2003 Best of Gay Delaware Awards The 4th Annual Best of GayDelaware Favorites 2003, sponsored by GayDelaware.com, were announced at Delaware Pride's Foundation dinner/dance on May 9 in Wilmington. George Meldrum of Wilmington, involved in leadership positions in many organizations including AIDS Delaware, Rainbow Chorale and the Delaware Liberty Fund, was recognized as the GLBT Leader of the Year. Other individual favorites included Kristin Nichole of Bear as Favorite Female Impersonator, Will Coxe of 814 Club in Wilmington as Favorite DJ and SandiGirl of Rehoboth Beach as Favorite Karaoke DJ. The 814 in Wilmington was selected as the Favorite Overall Men's Bar and the Favorite Overall Women's Bar. CAMP Rehoboth was voted the Favorite GLBT Community Service Organization, while Delaware Pride was selected as the Favorite GLBT Social Organization. A complete list of the Best of Gay Delaware honorees is provided below. The Best of Gay Delaware 2003 Favorites were selected in balloting through the GayDelaware.com web site and printed ballots distributed through the web site from February 1 through April 1, 2003. Individual Contributions To The Community: GLBT Leader of the Year: George Meldrum. Delaware Gay Bars and Clubs: Favorite Overall Men's Bar: 814; Favorite Overall Women's Bar: 814; Favorite Dance Bar: Baxter's; Favorite Karaoke Bar: Purple Parrot; Favorite Cruise Bar: Double L; Favorite Happy Hour Bar: Blue Moon; Favorite Drag Bar: 814; and Favorite Bartender: Mark Anderson (814) Delaware GLBT Entertainers: Favorite DJ: Will Coxe (814); Favorite Karaoke DJ: SandiGirl; Favorite Female Impersonator: Kristin Nichole; Favorite Male Impersonator: Jake MacIntosh Delaware GLBT Activities/Events: Favorite Female Impersonator Production/Show: Empress of All Crowns, Bobby White Producer; Favorite GLBT Community Education Event/Activity: CAMPsafe; Favorite GLBT Social Event/Activity: Rainbow Chorale; Favorite GLBT Social Organization: Delaware Pride; Favorite GLBT Community Service Organization: CAMP Rehoboth; Favorite GLBT Show or Production: Rainbow Chorale; Favorite GLBT Film Series: Rehoboth Beach Film Festival; Other Categories: Favorite Restaurant: Cloud 9; Favorite Coffee House: Brew Ha Ha (Wilmington); Favorite Brunch: Blue Moon; Favorite Server: Jaime Parks (Bennigans); Favorite Hair Salon: Trilogy Salon; Favorite Hair Stylist: Jeremy Clark (Trilogy Salon); Favorite Florist: Bayberry Florists; Favorite Interior Decorator: Mark Showell; Favorite GLBT B&B, Guest House or Other Accommodation: Shore Inn; Favorite Venue For GLBT Books and Videos: Lambda Rising, and Favorite Area GLBT Publication (Newspaper/Magazine/ Website): Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. Americans Support Overturning Same-Sex Sodomy Laws Seventy-four percent of American adults surveyed last month favor the U.S. Supreme Court overturning state laws that criminalize private, consenting sexual relations between same-sex couples, yet allows that same private conduct to occur between opposite-sex couples. This was the latest finding of a national poll released recently by Witeck-Combs Communications and Harris Interactive. The new survey also reveals that Americans almost equally oppose laws regulating consenting sexual relations that occur in the private homes of opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans (87%) oppose state laws regulating private, sexual relations that are applied to opposite-sex married adult couples and almost as many (82%) oppose such laws that are applied to same-sex adult couples in a domestic partnership. "Even when we exclude respondents who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, support for overturning state sodomy laws does not change significantly," said Darin Johnson, vice president at Witeck-Combs Communica-tions. "It is clear that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court should overturn all state laws that interfere with private sexual relations between consenting adults, whether same or opposite-sex couples." These are highlights of a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 adults, of whom approximately seven percent self-identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT). The survey was conducted online between April 17 and 23, 2003 by Harris Interactive, with analysis of GLBT data provided by Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with special expertise in GLBT issues. "These numbers tell the same story we've been telling courts in this country for years: the vast majority of Americans support the right to privacy of all people, including gays and lesbians, and oppose anti-gay discrimination," said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the national gay rights organization bringing the Supreme Court challenge to consensual sex laws. On March 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments testing the Texas same-sex sodomy statute. This case, Lawrence v. Texas, will examine the constitutionality of Texas law (and other similar state laws) that imposes criminal charges on same-sex couples who have consenting sexual relations in the privacy of their home. This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive between April 17 and April 23, 2003, among a nationwide cross section of 2,046 adults. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 13, No. 5, May 16, 2003 |