
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 19, 1994                   TAG: 9402190100
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: washington post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

QUAKE AID BILL BANS BIAS AGAINST GAYS

With two words inserted into the California earthquake assistance package that President Clinton signed into law a week ago, the federal government has for the first time banned discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation" in a federal program.

Advocates and critics of gay rights said that the little-noticed ban on discriminating against homosexuals by federal agencies in the distribution of emergency earthquake aid marked a narrow, but significant, departure in civil rights law.

Congress has previously taken into account sexual orientation only in regulations affecting the military and a 1990 law requiring the Justice Department to compile and report statistics on hate crimes, including those directed at homosexuals. - The Washington Post

by CNB