sablescort
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Damn Aschroft shows his true colors and bar gay and lesbian employees from holding their pride event at HQ
What next not allowing disabled ppl and ppl of other races to hold event even though it had been held for many years.
Story follows:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Homosexual employees of the US Department of Justice (news - web sites) have been forbidden to hold an annual "Gay Pride" event at the department's headquarters, a gay DoJ employee said Friday.
AFP/File Photo
Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) "will not allow us to hold our annual pride ceremony in the building," said Melissa Schraibman, who works in Justice Department (news - web sites)'s tax division.
The Justice Department has held gay pride events at the Department headquarters annually since the early 1990s, when Bill Clinton (news - web sites) -- a gay rights supporter -- was president and Janet Reno (news - web sites) the US attorney general.
In 2002 Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, the most important DoJ official after Ashcroft, was at the event. Thompson's presence however resulted in sharp criticism from influential conservative groups.
The event, organized by a group of gay employees known as the "DoJ Pride" -- using the acronym for the Department of Justice -- had been scheduled for June 18.
The group includes several hundred homosexual DoJ employees.
The cancellation "is definitely a surprise," Schraibman told AFP. All the preparations for the event, to be held in the Department's main hall, had already been finalized.
According to Schraibman, the prohibition is "in accord with a new department policy that prohibits commemoration unless it is supported by a presidential proclamation."
"This is something we have never heard of before," she said. "It doesn't exist in writing yet."
Schraibman said that other groups of DoJ employees -- including those belonging to ethnic or special interest groups -- continue to use the Department building as a meeting place.
"It's certainly a discriminatory position," Schraibman added.
A Department of Justice spokesman, contacted by AFP, refused Friday to comment on the issue.
The son of a Pentecostal preacher, Ashcroft has long been an outspoken social conservative, opposed to abortion and gay rights, and supporting the death penalty and few restrictions on gun ownership.
What next not allowing disabled ppl and ppl of other races to hold event even though it had been held for many years.
Story follows:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Homosexual employees of the US Department of Justice (news - web sites) have been forbidden to hold an annual "Gay Pride" event at the department's headquarters, a gay DoJ employee said Friday.
AFP/File Photo
Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) "will not allow us to hold our annual pride ceremony in the building," said Melissa Schraibman, who works in Justice Department (news - web sites)'s tax division.
The Justice Department has held gay pride events at the Department headquarters annually since the early 1990s, when Bill Clinton (news - web sites) -- a gay rights supporter -- was president and Janet Reno (news - web sites) the US attorney general.
In 2002 Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, the most important DoJ official after Ashcroft, was at the event. Thompson's presence however resulted in sharp criticism from influential conservative groups.
The event, organized by a group of gay employees known as the "DoJ Pride" -- using the acronym for the Department of Justice -- had been scheduled for June 18.
The group includes several hundred homosexual DoJ employees.
The cancellation "is definitely a surprise," Schraibman told AFP. All the preparations for the event, to be held in the Department's main hall, had already been finalized.
According to Schraibman, the prohibition is "in accord with a new department policy that prohibits commemoration unless it is supported by a presidential proclamation."
"This is something we have never heard of before," she said. "It doesn't exist in writing yet."
Schraibman said that other groups of DoJ employees -- including those belonging to ethnic or special interest groups -- continue to use the Department building as a meeting place.
"It's certainly a discriminatory position," Schraibman added.
A Department of Justice spokesman, contacted by AFP, refused Friday to comment on the issue.
The son of a Pentecostal preacher, Ashcroft has long been an outspoken social conservative, opposed to abortion and gay rights, and supporting the death penalty and few restrictions on gun ownership.
