Where Has Doug Ross Gone?
Doug Ross
T
hese days, Doug
Ross' political re-
sume is looking
pretty good. He has
served in the Michigan
legislature and in the
state cabinet position of
commerce director under
former Gov. Jim Blan-
chard.
Then he moved to
Washington to work as a
consultant. Next, he
returned to Michigan to
try and "fix" government
through the private sec-
tor.
It seems as if he's back
on the insider's track —
yet this time at the presi-
dential level.
If he is confirmed by the
U.S. Senate as assistant
secretary of labor, Mr.
Ross will become the first
Bill Clinton presidential
appointment among
Michigan's Jewish Demo-
crats.
The only other high pro-
file Jewish politico from
the state is Faylene Owen
of Lansing, who has been
named to the commission
that selects White House
Fellows. Fellows, ranging
in age from 20 to 40, are
selected to spend a year at
work in the White House.
Meanwhile, as he
awaits word of his
appointment, which insid-
IDF Discusses
Homosexual Rights
p
Jim Blanchard
ers suggest will sail
smoothly through the
Senate, Mr. Ross and his
wife, Carol, are living in
Alexandria, Va., in the
same apartment complex
with friends Jim
Blanchard, the proposed
U.S. ambassador to
Canada, and Janet
Blanchard, now a White
House scheduler.
resident Bill Clinton
is not the only one
bringing the gay and
lesbian rights issue
to the forefront. Nearly 10
years ago, the Israel
Defense Forces put policy
on its books that prevents
discrimination against
homosexuals and lesbians
who openly declare their
sexual orientation.
Yet homosexuality in
Israel had not been dis-
cussed openly before
President Clinton took
office and immediately
called for a ban on the
U.S. policy that discrimi-
nates against gays in the
military.
In February, Yael
Dayan, who chairs the
Knesset committee on the
status of women, orga-
nized a press conference of
homosexuals in the parlia-
ment building.
Eleven members of the
Knesset showed up for the
meeting, while the reli-
gious wings of the Knesset
boycotted in protest. The
meeting aroused debate
among government and
military leaders.
Gays in the
military is an
issue in Israel.
Despite complaints by
some homosexuals that
they were forced to retire
from the military, the IDF
maintains that homosexu-
ality is not grounds for dis-
charge and should not
affect promotion or
advancement.
Assisted Suicide, Religious Freedom On Agenda
of American Jewish Committee
A
ssisted suicide and
religious freedom
top the agenda of
the local chapter of
the American Jewish
Committee.
Executive
Director
Sharona Shapiro and
AJCommittee Legal
Director Sam Rabinove,
who came to Detroit last
week for the AJCommittee
annual meeting, have
spent much time dis-
cussing the organization's
role in Michigan's assisted
suicide debate.
Now the organization
has launched a task force
to study assisted suicide,
made illegal by both hous-
es of the Michigan legisla-
ture.
The commission will be
chaired by attorney
Barbara Smith, who ran
unsuccessfully for the
state legislature last fall,
and AJCommittee national
board of governors liaison
Mary Shapero, who is
married to federal bank-
ruptcy judge Wally
Shapero.
The task force will
report findings to its
national board in
February, at which time
AJCommittee will consider
taking a position on the
issue that has been
brought to center stage by
Royal Oak pathologist
Jack Kevorkian, dubbed
"Dr. Death" by the media.
AJCommittee also has a
host of other issues up for
discussion. The human
rights organization recent-
ly signed a friend of the
court brief in support of a
U.S. Supreme Court reli-
gious freedom case in
which a Caribbean tribe
based in Hialeah, Fla., has
been restricted from per-
forming ritualistic animal
sacrifices in its church.
The case, Church of
Lukumi Babalu Aye vs.
City of Hialeah, is await-
ing a decision by the High
Court.
Mr. Rabinove said that
although Jewish religious
practice abandoned animal
sacrifice after the Romans
destroyed the Second
Temple, "the overriding
principle is religious free-
dom for all."
"The Court's decision
could have negative impli-
cations for Jews," he said.
"Should government ever
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w
forbid for religious purpos-
es an activity it freely per-
mits for all kinds of non- 59
religious purposes?"