[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              FAA EMPLOYEE OBJECTS TO GAY-PRIDE VOICE MAIL

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                         HON. ROBERT K. DORNAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 29, 1994

  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, are we going to hell in a hand basket? Or is 
this just the pagan irreligious left pushing sodomy and the worship of 
Baal. Read this latest dispatch on the evil seeping through the Clinton 
appointments.

                      [From the Washington Times]

              FAA Employee Objects to Gay-Pride Voice Mail

                            (By Ruth Larson)

       Anthony R. Vanchieri got a surprise when he checked his 
     voice mail on morning in May--a message inviting him to 
     ``celebrate with us the diversity of the gay and lesbian 
     community.''
       The operations researcher got another surprise when he 
     complained to his superiors at the Federal Aviation 
     Administration--his voice-mail system was deactivated.
       The message--broadcast to all 4,100 voice-mail users at the 
     Department of Transportation, the FAA's parent agency--
     announced a series of events to mark June as ``Gay Pride 
     Month.'' It was sponsored by the 150-member DOT chapter of 
     Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Employees (GLOBE).
       ``I was appalled,'' Mr. Vanchieri wrote in a computer 
     message later that day to FAA Administrator David Hinson. ``I 
     am upset, I am angry, and I feel that I have been 
     specifically identified for ridicule because of your VMX 
     [voice mail] message.''
       Mr. Vanchieri is not alone in his frustrations. At least 36 
     DOT and FAA employees have reportedly complained about the 
     ``Gay Pride Month'' messages.
       In response to Mr. Vanchieri's complaint, the FAA's Office 
     of Civil Rights said, ``The Department of Transportation has 
     officially recognized the organization [GLOBE]. . . . The FAA 
     complies with this recognition of an employee association 
     which contributes to employee welfare and morale, and assists 
     in fostering a climate of diversity and inclusion.''
       The civil rights office suggested Mr. Vanchieri could fast-
     forward through such messages or delete them. It also said he 
     could cancel his participation in the system-wide broadcasts 
     by notifying the agency's telecommunications branch.
       Mr. Vanchieri asked that he be taken off the list of 
     subscribers who receive systemwide broadcasts on their voice 
     mail. But instead, the FAA deleted him from the voice-mail 
     system on June 14.
       According to Mr. Vanchieri, FAA officials told him ``VMX is 
     government property, and anyone who doesn't like what they 
     hear on the system doesn't deserve the privilege of using the 
     VMX.''
       GLOBE Chairman Thomas A. Sachs said: ``I'm sorry he was 
     offended. Maybe he should have come to some of our events, so 
     he could see who we are, and that he shouldn't have been 
     offended. We just did what every other employee organization 
     is doing.'' Other organizations, such as those for women, 
     blacks or Hispanics, are allowed to broadcast similar 
     announcements, he said.
       He added: ``I'm very sorry he lost his voice mail. I would 
     not have gone that far--I would have sent him to sensitivity 
     training.''
       Late yesterday, a DOT spokesman said Mr. Vanchieri's voice 
     mail had been turned off by mistake and had just been 
     restored. The agency only recently learned of the problem.
       Rep Robert K. Dornan, California Republican, said: ``This 
     is just another sign that this administration is utterly 
     corrupt--to promote bisexuality using government equipment. 
     This will be brought before the full House.''
       In a letter to Rep. James L. Obserstar, Minnesota Democrat 
     and chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation 
     Committee's aviation subcommittee, Mr. Vanchieri said he had 
     been warned that this FAA career could be ruined by going 
     public with his complaint But he defended his decision to 
     take the risk.
       ``I believe the DOT/FAA went too far and [voice mail] 
     changed from an information tool to a tool of humiliation and 
     intimidation.'' Mr. Vanchieri wrote.
       Mr. Obsertar's office declined to comment on the matter.
       ``The people who were so upset are not bigots, or 
     intolerant, or `homophobes,''' Mr. Vanchieri wrote. ``Rather 
     they are honest, hard-working men and women appalled by the 
     cavalier attitude shown by the DOT/FAA in cheerily inviting 
     all to celebrate the homosexual lifestyle when the 
     appropriateness of that lifestyle is, at this very moment, 
     not yet decided in the public domain.''

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