Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, August 13, 2010 Page: 4 of 56
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texasnews
Gramidc Equality is a Catholic value
Nun began working toward
acceptance of gays and lesbians in
the Catholic Church in 1971
DAVID TAFFFT I Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
In 1971, Sister Jeannine Gramick became
friendly with a gay man while she was working
on her doctorate in mathematics education.
"Sister, what is the Catholic Church doing for
gays and lesbians?" he asked her.
She realized the answer was, "Very little."
That's when Gramick began working on LGBT
issues in the Catholic Church and has since dedi-
cated her career to helping gays and lesbians.
In 1977, Gramick co-founded New Ways Min-
istry, a Catholic social justice center working for
the reconciliation of lesbian and gay people and
the church. She founded several local Dignity
groups and has served on the board of Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund.
"I do this because I believe this is what God is
calling me to do," said Gramick, who was in Dal-
las this week for the Leadership Conference of
Women Religious with Francis DeBernardoy,exec-
utive director of New Ways Ministry.
DeBernardo said he came of age after Vatican 2
SOCIAL JUSTICE | Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo spoke to a group of Metroplex
Catholics at Resource Center Dallas on Aug. 11. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
in the social justice tradition of the church. He said gjes to do that.
what's more important isn't someone's sexual ori-
entation but that people are not being treated
equally.
New Ways helps parishes that want to become
more gay friendly and helps them develop strate-
Gramick said that since she began her work, a
number of bishops in the United States have sup-
ported her. But more and more conservative mem-
bers of the clergy have been appointed to higher
■ GRAMICK, Page 11
Young Stonewall wants to 'Light Up Oak Lawn
Political group seeks money from
grants and other sources to fund
lighting safety program for
entertainment district
DAVID TAFFFT I Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
Dallas Stonewall Young Democrats this week
unveiled their new effort to make Oak Lawn safer
by improving lighting in the area.
DSYD announced the "Light Up the Night"
campaign during a meet on Tuesday, Aug. 10 at
JR.'s Bar & Grill, explaining that the group plans
to raise money to add lighting to the neighbor^
hood bounded by Oak Lawn, Maple, Wycliff and
Lemmon avenues, according to DSYD Communi-
cations Director Michael Maldonado.
The Cedar Springs area is included in one of the
Dallas Police Department's 26 Target Action Area
Grids. Last year that TAAG recorded the third-
most violent crimes in the city.
Reported violent crimes in the area have de-
creased considerably this year.
Latisha McDaniel, who lives on Hall Street in
Brian Stout
Oak Lawn, was one of those attending the meet-
ing. She said poor lighting is a real problem for res-
idents.
"It's scary to walk alone because it's,So poorly
lit," McDaniel said.
Several holdups in the neighborhood were
mentioned, including an incident in which two
people were robbed near the Seville apartments
on Reagan Street, and another in which three peo-
ple were held up in front of an apartment behind
the CVS Pharmacy on Lemmon Avenue.
David Richardson, who owns Skivvies and has
had other stores along Cedar Springs over the past
for 30 years and was among the founders of the
Cedar Springs Merchants Association, said he has
seen "huge improvements" in Oak Lawn over the
years,
He said safety has always been a concern and
recalled when prostitutes were a common sight
along Cedar Springs Road and drug dealers and
hustlers hung out on the streets behind the bars.
He attended the meeting and said he: is delighted
with DSYD's efforts.
"I'm glad to see another group step up to help
us," he said.
DSYD President Pennington Ingley said the
group looked at studies from around the United
States and Great Britain that showed that crime
decreased in neighborhoods when lighting im-
proved.
One concern was that crime would simply
move from the newly-well-lit streets to other
nearby streets. But Ingley said that the studies
showed that improved lighting in one area has a
positive effect on neighboring areas as well.
■ DSYD, Page 12
instantTEA
DallasVoice.com/Instant-Tea
Abbott declines to issue
opinion on marriage
controversy in El Paso
El Paso County attorney Jo Anne
Bernal's office sent Dallas Voice a copy of a
letter from Attorney General Greg Abbott.
His office has formally declined to issue a
legal opinion regarding the granting of mar-
riage licenses to individuals who have un-
dergone sex change operations.
She wrote, "On April 19, 2010 El Paso
County Attorney's Office requested a legal
opinion as to whether the County Clerk
could legally issue a marriage license under
a new Texas law when one of the parties is
a female and the other was born a man but
subsequently underwent sexual reassign-
ment surgery and is now living as a
woman."
Her office
asked the attor-
ney general for
guidance after
two women re-
quested a mar-
riage license
earlier this year in
El Paso. One of
the applicants
presented a birth
certificate identify-
ing her as a male, a court order approving
his name change from a male to female,
and an Arizona driver's license with her new
identity as a female.
El Paso denied the application for the
marriage license because of the conflicting
documents.
Abbot wrote, "It is the policy of this office
to refrain from issuing an attorney general
opinion on a question that we know to be
the subject of pending litigation. ... This
policy, which has been in effect for more
than sixty years, is based on the fact that
attorney general opinions, unlike those is-
sued by courts of law, are advisory in na-
ture. By contrast, court decisions are
binding. ..."
Funny, although courts ruled in same-
sex divorce cases, Abbott intervened to
stop those despite the "binding" decisions
of the courts. In this case, however, the
marriage license was already denied, giving
him the victory he wanted without interven-
ing.
— David Taffet
Virgin America to add daily
flights from DFW to LAX and
San Fran
Since Los Angeles and San Francisco
are likely quite popular destinations for
LGBT travelers, I am sure there are plenty
of you in Instant Tea Land who will be
happy to know that Virgin America airlines
will offer two flights daily to L.A., and two
flights daily to San Franciseo, beginning in
December.
— Tammye Nash
dallasvoice.com
08.13.10
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 27, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, August 13, 2010, newspaper, August 13, 2010; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth239129/m1/4/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.